Vernonia's voice., March 17, 2016, Page 13, Image 13

schools
Boys State Basketball Title
a Tribute to our Community
By Aaron Miller

Finishing the season as State
Champions was a great accomplishment
by our Vernonia Loggers boys
basketball team. They brought home
the state title from Pendleton, soundly
beating Regis and demonstrating
that hard work, perseverance,
attitude and caring do matter!
It’s our boys and our kids that won
the title, but I think our school and
community deserve some credit, too.

While the boys achieved their
goal to become State Champions, their
accomplishments off the court at the
tournament, spurred by the teachings of
their coaches, parents, teachers, mentors
and community, are what impressed me
most.

Because of their high seed,
and the continuation of their winning
ways, the Loggers played the last game
of each day, finishing their game and
locker room activities close to 10:00
pm each night. Most teenagers would
be clamoring to get dinner and make
their way back to the hotel, but not our
team. As they left the gym after that first
win over Burns, they noticed the stands
being cleaned by only two custodians.
On their own, they decided there was
something wrong with that scene and
remained in the gym cleaning until the
job was done. Our boys did this after
each of their three wins, including
after winning the championship. What
a wonderful icing on the State Title
cake….responsible students who care
about others and do something unselfish
to make a difference in someone else’s
life.

In addition to their acts of
kindness each night, the basketball
team also received kudos from the
entire staff at the Pendleton tournament
for their attitudes. They noted their
cleaning assistance, but also noted our
student athletes as being far and away
the most polite and well-behaved team
at the tournament.

We heard of similar acts of
kindness from our wrestlers and fans
who attended a match in Monroe and
donated their meal money to help a
Monroe student who had been injured
and whose family was in need.

These are our students and
our teenagers making these decisions,
and we should all be extremely proud
of the attitude and behaviors they are
exhibiting!

Having such a huge crowd of
supporters from the community and the
VHS Band performing at each game
were also evidence of commitment
and support that was noticed by others.
“You must have the whole town here,”
was a common sentiment. Yes we did.

These types of comments have
been coming my way for years from
people putting on assemblies in our
schools and from restaurant workers
who have served our athletes several
times over on regular road trip dinner
stops.

These positive comments about
Vernonia students’ attitude and their
higher level of respect from restaurant
workers and managers, as well as other
people not associated with the team or
school, are music to our ears. These
are people who were looking at our
students’ behavior in relation to other
high school teams and students they
have observed, and found our students
to measure up better than most! That is
what we are striving for and they need
to be commended.

Does this mean our students
are perfect? No. They are people
and they are kids, and they will
make mistakes as we all have and
do. What it does mean is that we as a
community are making a difference.

They have been taught to
be accepting and welcoming to new
people and new families, and to be
compassionate for those in need.
Whether they are helping students
from foreign countries feel welcome,
helping out another student or school
in need, or helping a janitor with their
overwhelming evening of work, our
students are demonstrating a high level
of responsibility and respect for others.

This welcoming, accepting
attitude is taught to them by you,
our community. You, too should be
commended! We as a community are
setting an example for other cities that
are looking at how to recover from
a natural disaster or how to improve
as they continue to develop their
community.

The entire community deserves
to celebrate this championship not only
for supporting our team and students to
win and succeed, but also to always do
so with caring, compassion and class.
march17
2016
Schools Update:
Strategic Planning
By Aaron Miller

The Vernonia School District
would like to invite you to participate in
the gathering of information to develop
a strategic plan for the future of our
education system.

Staff and parent surveys have
been distributed, with returns coming in
at a very high rate.

These surveys can be accessed
on the District webpage by clicking the
Parent button and the Vernonia School
District PARENT SURVEY link, or on
the District Facebook page.

In addition to these surveys, we
13
will gather information at focus group
meetings. The final meeting date is:
• April 2 – Parent/Community Forum
at Vernonia Schools Commons (10:00
am – 12:00 pm)

In short, this is an exciting
process that will create a pathway to
success for our District. We hope you
will join us, whether that involves
completing one of our surveys, or join
us at the community forum. Your input
is invaluable.

If you have any questions
regarding the process or meeting times
and locations, please don’t hesitate to
call the VSD office at 503-429-5891.
Whiteman Recipient of EOU
Inspirational Teacher Award

First-year honor students at Eastern
Oregon University (EOU) have nominated
26 educators from Oregon, Washington, Cal-
ifornia and Nevada to receive Inspirational
Teacher Awards.

Students who maintained dean’s list
standing during fall term in 2015 were given
the opportunity to nominate a teacher who
influenced them on their road to higher edu-
cation and academic excellence.

Makayla Adams, a 2015 graduate of
Vernonia High School and daughter of Lar-
ry and Stacy Adams, nominated Mr. Steve
Whiteman, a member of the chemistry and
physics staff at VHS.

EOU presents these awards annually
in recognition of outstanding high school teachers who encourage and represent
the importance of higher education to their students.
Vernonia Students of the Month
February 2016
Charolette Schlegel
Kindergarten
Charolette is an enthusiastic learner who follows
the rules and is respectful and responsible. She
says math and reading are her favorite subjects.
She is going to play T-ball and she also likes to play
with, and take care of, her four cats, Moose, Jack,
Roxy and Felix.
Lauren Ely
Grade 8
Lauren is a very good student who is also very
active in school and other activities. She plays
volleyball, basketball, and track and field. She is
also part of the robotics program and is in the
middle school leadership class. She raises rabbits
and sheep for 4-H and says she enjoys reading
and running in her spare time.
Tristan Adams
Grade 11
Tristan is a good student who says math is his
favorite subject. He plays basketball and was part
of the VHS state championship team, winning
Player of the Game honors in the second game at
Pendleton. Tristan also plays baseball.
Sponsored by State Senator Betsy Johnson