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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (March 17, 2022)
March 17, 2022 free V E R N O N I A’ S Volume 16 Issue 6 Reflecting the spirit of our community The Little School House That Could The Mist School is a throwback to the old, one-room school houses of yesteryear, offering blended grades and small class sizes. Students, teachers, and parents love the unique approach to education, while embracing some modern updates. By Scott Laird On a recent unusually cold but sunny day in Febru- ary a young girl on the school playground boldly introduces herself to a visitor, and asks excitedly, “Do you want to see the cocoon we found?” before rushing off with some class- mates to a play structure and pointing out the furry blob tucked into a crevice. The teacher explains the students have been observing the cocoon for several days, waiting expec- tantly to see what might emerge. Inside, a small class of older students sit around on couches and the floor working on a history lesson, listening while a boy reads his imagined letter home to Europe from Jamestown, the new world colony in Virginia where hun- dreds of settlers had died from starvation the previous win- ter. The rest of the class offers the student helpful ideas and constructive criticism on how to improve his assignment, while searching through both an online and book thesaurus, looking for alternative words to use in their writing projects. Later, a teacher asks her younger class if anyone would like to stop working on their math assignment and have library time. About half the class heads across the hall with a teaching aide, picks out some reading material from the shelves, and settle in for some quiet time, while the rest of the class continues learning addition and subtraction. Welcome to the Mist School, the remarkable, four- room rural elementary school that is part of the Vernonia School District (VSD), where students are encouraged to learn for themselves and explore their interests, where older students assist the teacher and help their younger school- mates learn new lessons, where community members vol- unteer to teach students life skills like cooking and crafts, and where students can learn at their own pace and instruc- tors can teach more than just the three regular Rs, and expand to teach valuable life skills like resourcefulness, respect, and responsibility. The Mist School offers students and their families an alternative to the larger class- rooms at the District’s main school building of 550 students. Students seem to thrive with the individual attention they receive in the two blended K-2 and 3-5 grade classrooms. Teach- ers appreciate the flexibility the setting offers. And parents love the family atmosphere, the open communication with teachers, and the support the school receives from the Mist and Birkenfeld communities the school serves. Sena Wilmot is in her 30 th year in edu- cation and her second year at the Mist School where she teaches the 3-5 grade class. “As an educator, I believe in raising the whole child, so the Mist School really aligns with my teach- ing philosophy,” she says. “It excites me to see students get excited about learning. We talk a lot about being a community of learners – it doesn’t matter where a student is in their skills, every- one has something to contribute, and we help each other to learn. And it’s so easy to foster that philosophy in this environment. We just have more freedom to encourage students to ask questions and use critical thinking, and then we can dive in to things. It’s just more of an or- ganic way of learning.” “At Mist we’ve put kids together in- tentionally, and then developed our program so we can implemented the curriculum at different years,” says Vernonia School District Superintendent Aaron Miller. “I think there are a lot of advantages to having multi-level classrooms. There are so many things you can do with them together, and there is a wide range of skills to build on, and help each other move forward.” In addition to Wilmot, Celeste Avy teaches the K-2 class, Tabetha Groshong is the instructional assistant School District Relaxes COVID Restrictions The Vernonia School District has an- nounced relaxed COVID protocols, including making the wearing of masks optional for all students and staff. The change was announced in a let- ter dated March 9 from Superintendent Aaron Miller which was addressed to students, staff, inside 3 Ants on the Move 9 Vernonia SK8 Progress 10 Library Art Exhibit and the community. New protocols took effect March 12. Miller wrote that the new protocols were based the Ready Schools Safe Learners guidance provided by the Oregon Department of Education. In addition to making masks optional, the new protocols also address quar- antines, isolation, and contract tracing guide- lines. According to the new protocols staff and students will no longer need to quarantine if exposed to COVID. Anyone that has tested positive for COVID or shows two or more symptoms will be required to isolate at home for five days and then be fever-free for 24 hours before returning to school/work. Masks will be optional in the school building and on the school bus, although it is strongly recom- mended that anyone who tests positive contin- ue to wear a mask during days six through 10. “The ultimate decision on masking will rest with students and families to make the best decision for themselves,” wrote Super- intendent Miller. “As a District, we support whatever decision you choose to make and will not tolerate any unkind or discriminatory behavior based on your choice to continue to wear or not.” “Personal Choice is the new rule, and we ask that parents reinforce at home that wear- ing a mask is a personal choice and regardless of the reason, each student, staff member, and parent will now get to make that decision for themselves… and either choice is ok and ac- ceptable,” continued Miller in his letter. In other changes, the District is now approving facility use requests for community meetings and events. for the classes, and also teaches phys ed while serving as part-time custodian, nurse, and recess monitor, and Megan Peterson is an educational assistant with the students part- time. Because only two classes share the library, gym, and playground, there is a lot of freedom in how teachers structure the school day. Recently a local volunteer from the community began teaching students to crochet, telling the boys that fishermen use those skills, which manages to continued on page 8 Candidates Set for May 17 Elections Heimuller will not seek re-election for County Commissioner seat The March 8 deadline has passed for this year’s May 17 primary election and all candidates are finalized. House District 31, formerly held by Democrat Brad Witt, has three candidates running. Democrat Anthony Sorace from Scappoose will run unop- posed. Sorace is a software and sys- tems engineer for various companies, treasurer for a non-profit foundation, and a youth minister, who has experi- ence as both a Precinct Committee Person for the Democratic Party of Co- lumbia County, and as a Delegate to the State Central Committee for the Demo- cratic Party of Oregon. Drew Layda and Brian Stout have both filed to run as Republicans and will face off in the primary for the right to run against Sorace in Novem- ber. Stout lives in Columbia City and is a small business owner of Sign & Shirt Works in Portland. He is a Precinct Committee Person for the Columbia County Republican Party and was un- successful twice in runs against Witt for the District 31 seat. Layda is a Navy veteran who has worked as a com- mercial diver and lives in Multnomah County, just across the Columbia Coun- ty line. He is currently a Precinct Com- mittee Person for the Multnomah Coun- ty Republican Party, was the Libertar- ian and Green Party nominee in 2018 for Oregon’s 1 st Congressional District election, and has been involved in the Libertarian National Party in the past. Only two candidates filed for former State Senator Betsy John- son’s District 16 seat. Melissa Busch, a home health nurse from Warren will run unopposed as a Democrat, while State Representative Suzanne Weber, a Republican who won election to repre- sent District 32 in 2020, is also running unopposed. Weber is a former school teacher, business owner, and City Councilor and Mayor of Tillamook. In Columbia County, the big news is that current County Commis- sioner Henry Heimuller did not file to run for re-election for Position 2. Four candidates have filed to run for County Commissioner Position 2: Jonathon Barkclay from Deer Island, Brian Brust of Rainier, Kelly Niles of Columbia City, and Kellie Jo Smith from St. Helens. Barclay is the director of maintenance for a hotel management company. Brust is a drywall finisher who grew up in Scappoose, lived in St. Helens for 20 years, and served for four years in the U.S. Marine Corp. Niles is a long-time wildland fire supervisor with the Oregon Department of Forestry. He is the current Chair of the Columbia City Planning Commission, Chair of the Columbia County Homeland Security Emergency Management Commission, is Vice Chair of the Columbia River Fire and Rescue Board of Directors, and continued on page 4
