P4 The SpokeSman • WedneSday, december 29, 2021
COMMENTARY
Charged
Looking back on the school year
Continued from P1
BY SHEILA MILLER
For The Spokesman
As every reader knows, 2021 was quite
a year.
At the Redmond School District, we are
hoping for a brighter 2022, but also look-
ing back with pride at the accomplish-
ments of our students and staff.
In 2021, we were able to bring students
back to school full time in the midst of an
ongoing global pandemic that shows no
signs of ending. Our students persevered
through a challenging time, and we’re so
proud of them!
Here’s a look back at some of the Red-
mond School District’s highlights of 2021.
Student accomplishments
After a tough 2020-21 school year, in
June the Redmond School District held
two in-person high school graduations
where approximately 400 seniors cele-
brated the end of one part of their lives and
the beginning of the next.
After an extended period of time in
which gatherings weren’t allowed, our dis-
trict schools were able to hold band and
choir concerts, plays and musicals, as well
as athletic events. Our schools have also
been able to hold many of their traditional
events, including harvest festivals, caroling
performances and jog-a-thons. It’s been
great to see families back in the buildings
and students enjoying themselves!
In May 2021, Redmond High’s girls golf
team won the 5A state championship.
In October 2021, Ridgeview High’s girls
volleyball team took third at the 5A state
championship.
Our school district was able to welcome
volunteers back into the buildings.
In the fall, the district implemented the
BRYT program in nearly every school, an
intensive intervention for students facing
mental health conditions
and extended school ab-
sences who struggle to
stay and succeed in the
classroom.
Over the summer,
more than 1,000 students
Sheila Miller
participated in some form
of summer school. That
meant kids in our K-5
summer camp, students getting ready for
the next step in their education at Camp
6 and Camp 9, and high school students
taking elective courses and participating in
credit recovery classes. At the high school
level, 274 participants, many taking more
than one course, earned 286 half credits
toward graduation. And 82 students com-
pleted a total of 161 credits in the credit
recovery program. That’s a lot of students
getting ahead or getting caught up and
ready to graduate.
COVID-19
Our students were able to return to
classrooms in person, first in February
for the 2020-21 school year, and then full
time this fall. This, despite ever-changing
mandates and uncertainties because of
COVID.
Our school nurses and the COVID Re-
sponse Team conducted nonstop contact
tracing in an effort to prevent the spread of
COVID in our schools, to positive results.
Our high schools worked in conjunc-
tion with the Deschutes County Health
Department and Mosaic Medical to put on
vaccine clinics for students in the spring.
Our staff responded to the state’s vaccine
mandate, with all of our staff members
complying by either getting vaccinated
or completing a medical or religious ex-
ception. Of our staff, 83% were fully vac-
cinated against COVID (including more
than 90% of teachers), while 17% received
religious or medical exceptions.
Facilities and finances
We began planning and implement-
ing facility repairs, additions and safety
upgrades as part of our bond that voters
passed in 2020.
The district sold a PERS bond, which
is estimated to save our district about $35
million over the next 20 years.
The district sold a piece of land to a
company that will eventually bring jobs
to Redmond and used the proceeds from
the sale to improve the Rotary Commu-
nity Fields at the David M. Jaqua Athletic
Complex. The turf has now been laid and
lights will be installed soon. The fields
are expected to be playable by spring, and
other facilities like bathrooms will be com-
pleted by early summer. This project pro-
vides opportunities for the entire commu-
nity, and doesn’t use any bond funds.
The district debuted a new website that
is more user-friendly, intuitive and up-to-
date.
After a two-day meeting with commu-
nity members and school staff, the Red-
mond School District came up with a new
mission and vision, which will be used to
guide the district’s work going forward. Vi-
sion: Thriving students. Engaged commu-
nity. Ready graduates. Mission: Providing
a supportive, inclusive, empowering and
academically rich learning environment
that inspires and engages students, staff
and community.
A big thanks to our Redmond com-
munity for your continued support and
goodwill. We look forward to another pro-
ductive year in 2022 with our wonderful
students and staff!
e
Sheila Miller is the Redmond School District Public
Information Officer
REDMOND
ryan brennecke/The bulletin
The homeless shelter is at 1350 U.S. Highway 97 in Redmond.
WARMING SHELTER IS OPEN
From a press release
Shepherd’s House Ministries will open
a daytime warming shelter in Redmond
from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday through
Thursday, December 28-30.
The daytime shelter will be located at
1350 S. Highway 97 in Redmond, a facil-
ity recently acquired by Shepherd’s House
awaiting renovation in coming months.
With extreme cold daytime temperatures
forecast for these days, Shepherd’s House
will provide a safe and warm space for peo-
ple experiencing homelessness in Redmond.
Extreme cold temperatures pose a risk
to the health and life of persons living out-
side, specifically a risk of frostbite and hy-
pothermia. Shepherd’s House is commit-
Zwicker
Continued from P1
She claims to be neutral
about development but says
“It’s inevitable, especially with
all that Redmond has to offer.”
As a Realtor she sees Red-
mond’s growth and wants to
help make sure that smart in-
frastructure keeps pace with
a growing community. She is
impressed with the work so far
by the city to manage the pace
of change.
Commensurate with the
rapid rise in population,
How to help
Shepherd’s house will welcome volunteers
on site at this daytime warming shelter,
and also invites donations of prepared
food or snacks as well as bottled water.
Financial contributions are welcome at
www.shepherdshouseministries.org.
ted to feeding the hungry and sheltering
the homeless.
Redmond City Director Andrew Hoek-
sema said, “Our commitment to caring
for our most vulnerable neighbors means
going beyond overnight sheltering when
extreme weather conditions demand it. As
Zwicker has concerns with child
care availability and unfilled
jobs. She laments the decline of
affordable housing and would
like to see less emphasis on rent-
ing and more on ownership.
“People want to have skin
in the game, equity in their
future,” she posits. For exam-
ple, she hopes that there will
be more condominium-style
housing on the horizon where
younger families can be stake-
holders, not tenants for life.
She prides herself in being a
good listener, preferring medi-
ated solutions that are win/win.
IHS Markit expects more
than 100 models to offer a
battery electric option in
2025. EV share could more
than triple from 1.8 percent
of U.S. registrations last year
to 9 percent in 2025 and 15
percent in 2030.
Toyota is particularly bull-
ish: EV sales will grow to as
high as one in every six ve-
hicles by 2030, predicts Toy-
ota Motor North America.
That would represent greater
volume than all of the Japa-
nese company’s Lexus divi-
sion in the U.S. Over at Ford
you can get in line — a very
long line — for the new 2022
F-150 Lightning, an all-elec-
tric pickup. Not your father’s
truck to be sure.
Tradition and legacy aside,
Redmond will find itself in
the gravitational pull to EV.
Will it be ready? By that we
mean will be there be enough
juice to charge the forecasted
growing number of such
cars? City managers say “yes.”
It’s hard not to say “Tesla”
when thinking EV. Tesla, the
visionary global leader in
battery-powered autos, also
knew that no matter how cut-
ting edge their vehicles might
be, there was no market with-
out filling stations.
Consequently, they built
and maintain nearly 1,000
stations that in some “su-
per charger” locations will
charge a Tesla enough in just
15 minutes to go as far as 200
miles.
The vast majority of EV’s
will be charged at home.
That fact is itself a need for
Redmond’s infrastructure
planners to get ready for the
added electrical demand.
Commuters, tourists, and
shoppers from nearby com-
munities will also rely on
Redmond to get them juiced
up from time to time.
Every EV comes with a
built-in charging cord en-
abling it to connect to stan-
dard 110-volt household
current. Thus, any Redmond
campground or RV park with
electric hook up will get you
juice to recharge, albeit slowly
— in the range of 2 to 6 MRH
(miles range per hour) — es-
sentially a trickle charge.
Redmond currently is
more than meeting demand
with its five — soon to be
six — charging stations. The
Spokesman has conducted
sweeps and in a three-day pe-
riod last week, we found only
one car plugged into a public
charging station, a Tesla at
“They don’t pay for my gas.
And they shouldn’t. It irks
me no end that I walk by
here and see a fancy Tesla
getting free gas in effect.”
— Mike Dunleavy, Redmond
man lives near Centennial Park
Centennial Park parking lot
operated by the city offering
two chargers.
The city will be adding a
second charging location at
its parking lot at Fourth and
Evergreen. Each “pump” can
fuel (recharge) one vehicle
at a time. These are Level 3
“rapid” chargers. At the mo-
ment the city does not charge
for recharging, something
that bothers Mike Dunleavy
of Redmond who lives near
Centennial Park.
“They don’t pay for my
gas. And they shouldn’t,” said
Dunleavy. “It irks me no end
that I walk by here and see a
fancy Tesla getting free gas in
effect,” he added. His walking
pal, Todd Holmes, was even
more offended by the idea.
“Are you kidding me?” he
asks Dunleavy.
Fred Meyer has a sta-
tion, one pump, two hoses.
There you can get Level 2
charging, about 14-35 MRH
(miles range per hour) cost-
ing $4 per session or a Level
3 charging yielding about 100
MRH for $7.50 a charge for
any brand.
Farther south at Central
Community College you will
find two Level 2 charger lanes
(4 cars) and on the edge of
town at the Redmond Air
Tanker base is a Level 2 sin-
gle lane (2 cars) and likewise
at the far south end of town
at Green Acres Market. All
require payment and all are
part of the ChargePoint net-
work.
Future plans hope for
chargers at the Public Works
building, at City Hall and the
new Public Safety building
scheduled for completion in
two to three years. A good
amount of federal and state
grant money is available for
such projects that the City
hopes to tap.
Nobody at the Redmond
Police Department would go
on the record as to if or when
some of its patrol cars might
be EV, but one officer said
with a wink: “You do know
that a Tesla will do zero to 60
in under 4 seconds, right?”
By all accounts Redmond
can get you charged up just
fine.
many of us in Central Oregon enjoy the
holiday season, our unhoused neighbors
are at significant risk in these very cold
days. We will partner with Redmond com-
munity members to welcome them inside,
offering simple food and safety as a way to
care those who need it most.”
Shepherd’s House Ministries has part-
nered with Redmond churches to pro-
vide overnight Cold Weather Shelter since
2014. The overnight Cold Weather Shelter
is open from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m., and is hosted
by Mountain View Fellowship Church De-
cember 16-February 15.
A van will be used to transport guests
between the overnight shelter and the day-
time shelter.
When asked why she wanted
to serve on council she replied:
“I love what I do, and I am not
afraid to say ‘no’ when needed.
I don’t scare. I think I can be a
good liaison to all of our citi-
zens.”
Zwicker, with a degree in
political science, does not find
being a self-described pas-
sionate advocate or serving on
council as political. She sees
her role of public service as just
plain old-fashioned steward-
ship, something she learned
from her parents, particularly
her dad who did three tours in
Vietnam. She credits her mom
for her positive outlook that
she evokes with every answer.
She admits to public service
goals beyond the city council
yet fully expects to run for a
full term in 2022.
Mayor George Endicott had
this to say about Zwicker, one
of the three finalists: “She is
incredibly smart, very logical,
and does her homework. After
watching her on the planning
commission for a number of
years, I was convinced that she
was the right person for the po-
sition. She will do a great job.”
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