P4 The SpokeSman • WedneSday, march 30, 2022
Daily attendance creates thriving students
BY SHEILA MILLER
redmond School district
For the past two years, all anyone
has talked about — in schools and out
— has been COVID-19.
It’s been the focus of educators who
were trying to stay healthy and keep
students learning in a challenging en-
vironment.
Sometimes, it felt like a losing bat-
tle, when perfectly healthy students
would end up quarantined for 10 days
just because they had the bad luck
to be sitting next to someone who
Latino
business
festival
set for
April 30
Spokesman staff report
For the first time in
Central Oregon, Gen-
eral Duffy’s Waterhole is
providing the space for a
Latino Business Expo and
Festival Latino in collab-
oration with Oregon Pero
En Espanol, scheduled for
April 30.
It includes a free day
event from 11 a.m. to
4 p.m. and ticketed entry
from 6 to 11 p.m. Tickets to
the evening portion of the
festival is $20 in advance
and $25 at the door.
This is an opportunity
for Latino business own-
ers to network, exhibit
their products/services,
share knowledge and job
opportunities. The fami-
ly-friendly event includes
music from DJ Yogi and
Son de Cuba, as well as
Latino breweries in Ore-
gon such as Xicha Brewery,
Tranquilo Cerveceria and
La Familia Cider.
The event will be initi-
ated by the Oregon Small
Business Association in
Central Oregon, followed
by cultural activities and
incentives for customers
to interact with vendors
throughout the day. It will
be a day dedicated to com-
munity building, celebrat-
ing and connecting.
General Duffy’s Water-
hole is an indoor/outdoor
music Venue, event space
and taphouse with food
trucks in downtown Red-
mond.
Oregon Peron En Es-
panol is an initiative fo-
cused on addressing the
communication with the
Spanish speaking commu-
nity in Oregon. Find out
more at www.Oregonper-
onenespanol.co. Tickets are
on sale now.
Find us
ONLINE
www.redmond
spokesman.com
and on
SOCIAL
MEDIA
@RedmondSpox
got sick. As a result,
there’s been a lot of
unfinished learn-
ing, and a lot of stu-
dents missing out on
classes.
Miller
Now that the state
has changed its guid-
ance and schools are able to operate
a bit more normally, it’s time to fo-
cus on something that can make a
difference: daily attendance. During
the pandemic, the Redmond School
District and others around the state
de-emphasized attendance — it was
hard to take attendance when stu-
dents were learning online, and with
the challenges of the pandemic, it was
important to welcome students as often
as they were able to make it.
But daily attendance is key to en-
suring students are successful. Last I
looked, our districtwide daily atten-
dance was hovering around 89 percent.
In a perfect world, that would be hover-
ing a lot closer to 100 percent.
That’s not the only number we need
to see change. About 40 percent of our
students are considered chronically
absent, which means they attend 90
percent or fewer of the days they’re en-
rolled. That means 40 percent of our
students miss at least one day of school
every two weeks. This isn’t just a Red-
mond issue — one in 6 Oregon stu-
dents are chronically absent statewide.
Missing a day here or there may not
seem like a big deal, especially for little
kids in kindergarten or first grade. But
did you know that students who attend
school regularly are more likely to read
at grade level by the end of third grade?
Students who don’t attend school reg-
ularly, even in the early years, are less
likely to end up graduating. Lost in-
structional time exacerbates dropout
rates and achievement gaps.
Our district’s motto is “Thriving Stu-
dents. Engaged Community. Ready
Graduates.” The first step to making
sure we can live out that vision is prior-
itizing daily attendance. So make a plan
to get to school every day, and let’s fin-
ish out the school year right!
e
Sheila Miller is the public information officer for
the Redmond School District.
Ag Show
Continued from P1
Farming, recreation and
ESA-listed species all depend
on water from the Deschutes
River to thrive, Symons said.
Perfect Balance USA strives to
find “win-win” solutions for
the basin, though catastrophic
drought has only made that
mission all the more difficult.
“It’s never been this bad,”
Symons said. “You really don’t
know how much water you’ll
get. You might be hesitant to
plant, or you might over-plant.
Some crops might be de-
stroyed”
According to the U.S.
Drought Monitor, nearly 94%
of Oregon is in some stage of
drought. That includes 15%
in “exceptional drought,” the
highest category, extending
from the Klamath Basin north
to near the Columbia River
and encompassing most areas
of Central Oregon.
In its latest water supply out-
look, the USDA Natural Re-
sources Conservation Service
predicts streamflows in the
Upper Deschutes and Crooked
river basins will range from
43% to 83% of the median.
“Water managers in the basin
should prepare for significantly
reduced water supplies in the
coming months if conditions
do not improve,” the report
states.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
has declared a drought emer-
gency in Klamath, Crook, Jef-
ferson and Morrow counties,
making them eligible for state
and federal disaster relief. Gil-
liam and Jackson counties
have also requested emergency
drought declarations.
Symons said agriculture is
the backbone of the nation,
and “needs to be prioritized,
especially right now.”
Perfect Balance USA plans
to resume farm tours in April,
Rodeo
Continued from P1
Rodeo organizers were only
able to attract a crowd about
20% of the size it could have
been, Fast said. And there was
no event in 2019, so many were
looking forward to attending
this year, he said.
“We also tried something
new, which was to have a slack
day on Wednesday at the start
of the rodeo,” Fast said. “It was
a family-fun event and gave
cowboys a chance to ride what
we call rough stock” — a spe-
cial section of bareback, sad-
dle bronc, bull riding and steer
wrestling.
This year the Stampede
was featured as a Professional
Rodeo Cowboys Association
(PRCA) National Finals Rodeo
George plaven/capital press
A vintage tractor at the Central Oregon Ag Show, part of the Early Day Gas Engine & Antique Tractor Display presented by Ed Staub.
Joe Beach/capital press
A future farmer visits the Central Oregon Ag Show.
which Symons said are the best
way to reconnect people with
where their food comes from.
Playoff Series stop. That means
the Redmond roundup was
one of the top 60 rodeos in the
country — out of nearly 700
put on nationwide.
The first rodeo of the year
on the Columbia River Circuit,
the Stampede offered a chance
for cowboys and cowgirls to
secure additional points and
money toward qualifying for
the National Finals in Las Ve-
gas in December.
“Riders came from all over.
The Redmond Airport was
full of cowboy hats as we ran
a shuttle service from there,”
Fast said.
Stock was provided by Brid-
well Professional of Red Bluff,
Calif., which Fast described as
“excellent.”
e
Editor: 541-633-2166, gobrien@
bendbulletin.com
The group is also targeting sev-
eral projects including planting
MegaFlora trees on govern-
ment land to sequester carbon.
That wasn’t the only poten-
tial solution being proposed at
the Central Oregon Ag Show.
Tony Newbill, a cattle
rancher from Powell Butte,
purchased a vendor booth at
the show to promote cloud
seeding — a type of weather
modification where com-
pounds such as silver iodide
are released into the air, bond-
ing with water particles in
clouds and causing them to fall
as precipitation.
Cloud seeding is success-
fully used in other Western
states including Idaho and
California, but not Oregon,
Newbill said. He worries that
deepening drought and water
shortages will eventually lead
to infighting among the eight
irrigation districts that make
up the Deschutes Basin Board
of Control.
“All us farmers and ranchers
in Central Oregon right now
are struggling,” Newbill said.
“What I’m seeing evolve here
is we’re going to start fighting
among the districts.”
Newbill was joined by Paul
Romero, a Republican candi-
date for Oregon governor from
Roseburg, who has adopted
cloud seeding as part of his
campaign.
Elsewhere around the fair-
grounds, crowds gathered each
afternoon for a live working
dog demonstration by trainer
Clint Johnson. A vintage trac-
tor and gas engine exhibition
was presented by Ed Staub,
along with 59 other exhibitors.
Saddle bronc
riding is al-
ways a crowd
favorite at the
High Desert
Stampede.
Bill Bartlett/for The
Spokesman
OBITUARY
Claire Herbert Limbeck
June 17, 1930 - February 28, 2022
Claire was born June 17, 1930, to Ott o and Velma Limbeck
in Scio. He passed away peacefully from cancer on
February 28, 2022, in Bend at age 91.
Claire grew up on a farm in Scio, att ending Stayton High School where he
played football (elected team captain), served in the Naval Reserves, and
then was acti ve-duty Navy briefl y aft er graduati ng in 1948. Draft ed by the
Army, he served in Korea, making the rank of corporal. Returning home, he
courted and married Sally Studnick on February 14, 1957.
Claire was hardworking--log truck driver, mill worker, millwright, and
ulti mately mill electrician, reti ring in 1992. Always acti ve, he farmed the
couple’s 100-acre homestead in Scio, and later relocati ng to Redmond
ranched their 40 acres. Claire loved hunti ng, fi shing, and tending the garden.
He was preceded in death by his wife-Sally, sister-Cleo, brother-Merle, and his
parents. He leaves behind 4 children-Laurie Marsh, Kevin Limbeck, Victoria
Shawgo, and Scott Limbeck, 10 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
Read and
recycle
Private family graveside services (with full military honors) were held on
March 5, 2022.