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Columbia Gorge News
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
www.columbiagorgenews.com
Students represented for first time
on White Salmon school board
Jacob Bertram
■ By Columbia
Gorge News
and perspectives into conver-
sations held at the district’s
monthly meetings. The board
voted last spring to bring on
Two students from
two members of the student
Columbia High School in
White Salmon were recently body as representatives to
attend meetings, listen, and
selected to serve a one-year
term as representatives to the discuss with district officials
White Salmon Valley School board actions and other
Board, seated with five elect- school district ongoings.
“The White Salmon
ed board members.
School Board recognizes
Oscar Robles and
the importance of student
Leonardo “Leo” Wilson,
voice,” said School Board
both 17-year-old seniors
Vice Chair Alan Reitz. “We’ve
at Columbia High School,
got two young men who are
attended their first board
excited and involved. The
meeting this November as
student representatives, pav- role of these students is to
ing the way for more student provide a bridge between the
inclusion in decision-making student body and the board
on important decisions. They
at the district level.
will help the board to under-
The decision to appoint
the two students as non-vot- stand what students see as
ing representatives marks the strengths and weaknesses
in the school experience
culmination of discussions
among veteran board mem- and use that information to
inform decisions.”
bers to bring student voices
Leo Wilson
Oscar Robles
Following board approval
of two spots for students
to serve a year as board
representatives, District
Superintendent Sean
McGeeney led the recruiting
process and interviewed the
two Columbia High seniors,
awarded them the spot in
time for the Nov. 18 meeting.
“This decision reflects
the board’s strong commit-
ment to keeping students
at the heart of their work,”
McGeeney said. “The stu-
dents selected are trailblaz-
ers and outstanding K-12
representatives.”
For Robles, the opportu-
nity to represent the student
body comes as a serious
responsibility.
“It’s beneficial for the
student body to have a
representative because most
students have no clue what’s
going on at board meetings
Berendzen new project leader
for Central Washington National
Wildlife Refuge Complex
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service has selected Steve
Berendzen as the new
Project Leader for the Central
Washington National Wildlife
Refuge Complex in the
Columbia Pacific Northwest
Region. He will begin his role
in February 2022.
“We are so excited to have
Steve as the new Project
Leader for these important
public lands,” said Robyn
Thorson, regional director.
“He brings with him unpar-
alleled leadership experi-
ence and natural resource
knowledge, and his ability to
work with partners and the
community makes him the
right fit for this position. I
look forward to the work he
will do in Washington.”
A 37-year veteran of the
Service, Berendzen has
led conservation efforts in
a diverse array of habitats
from the Hawaiian Islands
to northern Alaska. He will
be leaving his most recent
post as the project leader for
the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge to come to central
Washington and tackle
conservation challenges such
as wildfire management and
invasive species control in
support of ongoing habitat
restoration efforts.
As the project leader for
the Central Washington
National Wildlife Refuge
Complex, Berendzen will
lead a team of biologists
and refuge specialists in the
management of Columbia,
Toppenish, Conboy Lake
National Wildlife Refuges,
and the Hanford Reach
National Monument.
“My wife and I are looking
forward moving back to the
Columbia Pacific Northwest
or anything that the school
board is doing,” Robles said.
“I think having that represen-
tative will open the con-
versation more about what
actually goes on at board
meetings and hopefully bring
more student involvement at
the meetings.”
His first month as a student
representative has been
marked by actively engaging
his peers and searching for
feedback on what issues the
district needs to address.
He does not have a specific
agenda to accomplish right
now, and he noted that
his fellow board members
do a “phenomenal job of
addressing the needs of this
school district,” citing district
presentations to the com-
munity on topics related to
COVID-19 and the district’s
budget.
“I like being involved in
this community and knew
that being a student repre-
sentative for the board would
help increase that involve-
ment with this community,”
Robles said. “I am most
looking forward to being that
voice of the students and
bringing any issues that the
student body may have to the
board.”
Wilson said he applied for
the role advantage of the op-
portunity “to be a leader and
voice for my classmates.
“I also applied because
it sounded interesting to
learn what the school board
discussed and what kinds
of actions they take for our
schools,” Wilson said. “I look
forward to learning as much
as I can on being a better
leader and bringing the
student body’s voice to the
board.”
To Wilson, serving as a
representative means being
a messenger between the
student body and the school
board.
“We are able to communi-
cate what is happening at our
schools through a students
perspective and share any
ideas that we the student
body may have. We can also
communicate anything the
board finds important to the
student body,” Wilson said.
Jury duty scams reported in Ore., again
Bogus phone calls,
emails, or texts on
jury service may
lead to fraud
targeted as well.
In these calls, emails, or
texts, recipients are pressured
to provide confidential data
such as bank account infor-
The Oregon Judicial
mation, credit card num-
Department (OJD) is re-
bers, date of birth, or social
security numbers, potentially
porting that Oregonians are
leading to identity theft and
once again being targeted
fraud. These fraudulent calls
by fraudulent phone calls,
or messages — which threat-
emails, or texts threatening
them with fines, prosecu-
en recipients with fines and
jail time if they do not comply
tion, or jail time for failing
— are not connected with the
to comply with jury service.
state or federal courts.
According to the OJD, the
State and federal courts
most recent reports are from
the Willamette Valley, but it is do not require anyone to
likely that other areas may be provide sensitive information
in a telephone call, email,
or text. Oregon state courts
may provide jury notices and
reminders by text, but these
will not request personal
information, make threats, or
demand money.
Persons receiving such a
jury-related telephone call,
email, or text demanding
information or money should
not provide the requested in-
formation or payment, reply
directly to the text or email,
click on any links, or open
any attachments, regardless
of who it appears the com-
munication is from.
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Steve Berendzen, project leader for the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge, will begin as project leader for Central Washington
National Wildlife Refuge Complex in February.
Kyla Berendzen photo
Region after all these years,”
said Berendzen. “Each
landscape presents unique
conservation challenges and
opportunities, and I am excit-
ed to tackle these challenges,
build new partnerships in the
community, and reinforce
our commitments to Tribal
governments.”
The National Wildlife
Refuge System is a network
of protected lands that are
established for the conserva-
tion of wildlife and habitats.
These lands also offer the
public access to wildlife-de-
pendent recreational activi-
ties such as hunting, fishing,
wildlife observation, photog-
raphy, environmental educa-
tion, and interpretation.
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