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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Graduates celebrated by school board
By Siege Schatza
IVN copy editor
On June 14, the Three
Rivers School District Board
of Directors held their regular
session at the board office on
New Hope Rd. For Zone II
Board Member Susan Fischer-
Maki and Zone IV Board
Member Jamie Wright, it was
the last, as they were both
defeated in their respective
elections last month by JoCo
Republican Party - endorsed
candidates.
I think that it’s very
important for our youth to stay
active and doing fun stuff and
meeting new people and I’m
proud of Three Rivers School
District for doing that,” Wright
said in her last Say Something
Positive speech. “I also wanted
to say that there’s so many
wonderful things happening
and you can feel that at the
graduations, you can feel that
from speeches and I wanted
to keep that momentum going
and I just want to exude
gratitude for the staff, the
students and everyone in Three
Rivers.”
“This is an amazing
community and amazing
district and even though
I wasn’t able to make
graduations this year I know
what those celebrations
feel like and so I actually
want to thank the staff
and from administrators
- classified or certified staff
- our administrative staff for
everything that you have
done to not only help make
those graduation celebrations
special but every step along
the way: the high fives in
the morning, being at our
buildings at all hours of the
day and night and weekends
to make sure our doors
open, thinking about safety,
thinking about inclusion.
Thank you for everything
that you so tirelessly put into
the youth and families of our
community and to my fellow
board members, thank you for
allowing us to be here for the
last year.”
The other board members
had high praise for the
district’s graduates as well,
with Board Chair Jennifer
Johnstun saying, “I just
thought they were wonderful
spectacular events. I love
seeing the looks on the faces
of the youth coming across the
stage.” Board Member Rich
Halsted added, “It’s always
my favorite time of year,”
while Board Member Jenn
Searle chimed in, “You can
feel the emotions of everybody
at the graduations; it’s pretty
amazing.”
Searle also wanted to
honor retiring teachers and
faculty, giving a special shout-
out to Valley educators Laurie
O’Donnell, Susie Garman and
Sally Clements, all of whom
had taught her children. “They
were amazing and I wish them
all the best.”
TRSD Superintendent
Dave Valenzuela used his
Say Something Positive time
to recognize the four district
directors that make graduations
possible from “behind the
scenes.” Casey Alderson,
deputy superintendent; Jessica
Durrant, K-8 curriculum
director; Stephanie Allen-
Heart, special services
director; and Robert Saunders,
technology director.
“We’re talking about
graduations,” said Valenzuela.
“We’re talking about all
the success that students
experienced and it’s because
of those four people over there
and the work that they do
behind the scenes supporting
buildings, administrators,
teachers and so we wouldn’t
be as celebratory, we wouldn’t
have the results that we have
without their hard work.”
Moving onto his
superintendent’s report,
Valenzuela discussed
“longitudinal growth goals”
which he described as “a long
cumbersome spreadsheet.”
Some of the metrics
that factor into those goals,
Valenzuela said, are four-year
cohort graduation, five-year
cohort completion, ninth
grade ontrack and third grade
language arts proficiency.
Onto a different topic,
“It’s a very rare time in Three
Rivers School District where
we’re actually doing sizable
capital improvements, big
projects that are happening and
this typically doesn’t happen
because of funding but we’ve
been leveraging some of those
relief dollars and we have
received some grants that have
allowed us to really do some
amazing work,” remarked the
superintendent. “For instance,
the Fruitdale expansion is well
underway. In fact, the walls are
up and the roof is on, which
happened very quickly.”
In Cave Junction,
portable buildings near Illinois
Valley High School were
established in partnership
with Early Head Start to
accommodate the Southern
Oregon Success Academy
West program. “Both the
portables will have bathrooms
in them and water and sinks
and all that good stuff because
right now they don’t and so
they’ll have a full service
situation going on there.
They’ll piggyback with
lunches from Illinois Valley
High School so kids will
really be able to receive all the
services that they need at that
one spot. We’re really excited
about that.”
The first phase of
the district-wide bathroom
renovation project has
been completed, according
to Valenzuela, with full
completion expected before
the start of the next school
year.
Also, repairs to the IVHS
roof are fully underway and
scheduled to be done before
school starts.
“First time in my career,
28 years here in this district,
that we’ve ever had that many
things going on aside from
when we passed the bond in
2002,” said Valenzuela.
He ended his report by
addressing the outgoing board
members: “I want to publicly
thank Jamie and Susan for
their service on the board. It
can be a thankless endeavor
and it takes a lot of time and a
lot of commitment and I just
really appreciate the work
that you guys have done, the
willingness to step up and
serve in that role, and you will
be missed.”
Wright and Fischer-Maki
were then presented with
plaques to commemorate their
tenures on the board.
Dome School receives multiple grants
In 2023 the Dome School received $10,000
from the Four Way Community Foundation and
$4,000 from the Ford Family Foundation to help
fund the purchase of a new backup generator.
The backup generator is a critical
component of the Takilma Community Building
in which the Dome School operates since it also
serves as an emergency shelter in the event of a
natural disaster.
The Four Way Community Foundation has
also provided $2,500 to fund
scholarships for Dome School
students, Oregon Museum
of Science and Industry and
Bugs R Us presentations, and
art classes as well as $1,800
for scholarships supporting
students in the Dome School
Summer Camp Program. The
Summer Camp Program also
received $2,000 from a local
anonymous donor.
The United States
Department of Agriculture and the Oregon
Department of Education have generously
granted nearly $10,000 for a new commercial
range for the Dome School kitchen, allowing the
school to continue to prepare nutritious meals
from scratch on site and use the kitchen to cater
fundraising events.
Finally, the Oregon Community
Foundation has generously provided $10,000 to
support teacher training and general operating
costs.
These grants expand the Dome School’s
ability to operate, allowing it to make critical
upgrades, and taking a little pressure off of the
tireless community volunteers that organize and
conduct
many fundraising events throughout the
year. The Dome School sincerely thanks these
partner organizations for continuing to provide
support to us and our community.
The Dome School is a local non-profit
private alternative school that provides small
classes and individual attention to students from
preschool to fifth grade.
The school is able to operate because of the
generous volunteer efforts of the teachers, staff,
parents, board of directors, many other members
of the community, and partner organizations that
have provided generous grants over many years.
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