14
schools
february19
2015
Voices From the Crowd:
The Pursuit of Higher Education
By Quentin Skanes
college programs. Some even offer dual
graduation where a student receives a
high school diploma and an associate
degree. It is normal now to have high
school kids in college, and a vast
majority of them have their “freshman”
year completed. Students now come
out of high school with 30, 60, or even
90 credits while this year’s senior
class will graduate with about eight
students having four credits; a very sad
disparage.

While enrollment at Vernonia
School District is increasing, funding
for the increased number of students
doesn’t kick in until the following fiscal
year. To fund this program means a two
year commitment at the very least to
let the school district make its money
back. Many students in the area not
going to Vernonia get their schooling
in other districts, often driving to Banks
or even Hillsboro for a more diversified
education.

If we were to offer these college
classes, we would bring in more students
to study here because we increased the
diversity in classes offered. This in
turn increases the revenue the school
receives to keep funding this program.
It is a win-win situation. The school
district receives more funding and
provides better or more challenging
classes. This way, we could finally be
on par or near what Banks has to offer
in terms of receiving college credit.

Vernonia High School just
celebrated the end of the first semester
of online college classes offered through
Portland Community College (PCC).
While this was a great feat, the pilot
program itself fell far short of what was
promised.

The program joined together
Vernonia High School and PCC to offer
college classes for eligible high school
students. To enroll in the program, a
student had to demonstrate proficiency
in the COMPASS college placement
test, register him/herself, as well as
discuss a graduation plan with the
guidance counselor and the principal.
Sixteen
academically-motivated
students applied and were accepted.

There were promises of
multiple classes for each student for
both semesters that would be paid for
by the school. The class that was offered
was Writing 121. The students were
split into six different classes to help
increase student exposure to college.
While there was the normal bell curve
to a fast-paced style of learning, the
students excelled with a vast majority
receiving A’s or B’s.

The students were led to
believe that more classes were going
to be offered by the school since the
guidance counselor insisted that the
school would offer more classes for
the 2015-2016 school year. It was a big
shock to everyone, including staff, to
Quentin Skanes is a junior at Vernonia
learn that absolutely no college classes
High School.
were going to be offered by the school
for second semester for those who
had just taken the Writing 121 course.
Students were enraged to find that they
were ineligible for the next semester of
college classes.

Banks, Hillsboro, Forest
Grove, and many others have similar
PTA Press
Extra!! Extra!! Read All About It
By Melissa Zavales

PTA is a great way to become
involved in your school today. We have
many activities from candy grams to
Easter egg hunts, to fall carnivals and
haunted houses, to fundraising and
scholarships, to bring your parents to
school, to milk and cookies too!

Our goal is to ensure that our
children’s school career is a successful
and fun all at the same time. We work
very hard to make things possible for
our students of our small community.
Whether students are homeschooled,
attend Mist, Jewell, or Banks Christian
Academy they are a part of our commu-
nity and we work for all of them. Please
join our team and share your thoughts,
ideas, and concerns. Help us make a
better tomorrow!

We are still working very dili-
gently to raise enough funds to complete
the playground. We have explored av-
enues such as a Nike grant that we have
applied for. Our hopes are high and we
will find out if we have been selected to
receive the grant in April. We have so
graciously been offered from Randall
Harvey of the Lions club to help advo-
cate fundraising for the completion. We
have also asked the Vernonia Boosters
to help us make this possible. We are
working towards completing this goal
and our hopes are to make it happen as
soon as possible.

Spring time is just around the
corner and PTA activities are com-
ing up. We have Bring Your Family to
School Week coming February 23-27.
Bed time stories will be on Thursday
the 26 th at 7:00 PM. Milk and cookies
will be provided by the PTA. We en-
courage parents to jammy up with kids
and come for the evening. Details about
parent/student lunch will be sent out
soon. Watch for a new addition to the
week added by your local PTA. A fam-
ily movie night! More details to come.

Last but in very high demand is
our Annual Easter Egg Hunt. We love
the community turnout and look for-
ward to hosting this event every year.
This year we, and the Easter Bunny, are
asking for your assistance in donating
your plastic eggs, big or small. We will
take them all. We have recycled many
in the years gone by, but now it’s time
to replenish our stock as many eggs
have seen better days. Please help us
to continue to provide this “EGGTAS-
TIC” event. With your help the Easter
bunny will be here with BIG SMILES,
and FLOPPY EARS for pictures. Make
these memories last a lifetime! If you
would like to donate eggs, time, money
etc., please contact your local PTA!
President Melissa Zavales
503-858-8221
Vice President Brett Costley
503-307-3343
Treasurer Stacy Adams 503-429-0317
Fundraising Chair Susan Ely
503-429-5907
Member Chair Camrin Eyrrick
971-258-9994
Community Relations Lacy Rylands
Please visit us on Facebook at Vernonia’s BIGGEST Class
Reunion. We are searching for address/contact information for
Friends/Alumni of Vernonia Schools. To be added to our mailing list
please email us: VernoniaReunion@hotmail.com, private message
us on Facebook or mail to: Vernonia’s Biggest Reunion
c/o Ronda Lennen, 1000 Missouri Ave. Vernonia, OR 97064
Addi Re
Ready for a ne start
Come and
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