JANUARY 28, 2022, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A13
McNary. “Just meeting with them face-
to-face was much better than a phone
call.”
“It involved a lot of problem solving.
There were some kids that didn't have
access to the internet, so we would
get them a mobile hotspot. Others
just needed a place to charge their
Chromebook. For those that didn't
like working on a computer, we would
provide them with printed out assign-
ments. It was a team effort. Everyone
was so supportive and flexible,” added
Claudia Rios, a graduation coach at
McNary.
As a freshman, each student at
McNary gets assigned a teacher who
serves as their advisor for all four years
of high school. Having an advisor
be one of the main points of contact
worked well for the school during dis-
tance learning.
“We are a large high school, but
we are trying to make it as relational
as possible,” Jespersen said. “I am so
proud of our staff. They cared about
kids and made sure that they had what
they needed.”
Over the last few years, Jespersen's
effort to hire teachers that are bilingual
in Spanish and English has resulted
in increased graduation rates for the
school's Latino population.
When Jespersen took over as prin-
cipal in 2014-15, Latino students, which
represent approximately one-third of
the McNary student body, had a grad-
uation rate of 73%. The 2019-20 Latino
cohort improved on that mark by nearly
20 percentage points (91.25%).
That number increased once again
Abbi Covalt was the student speaker for McNary's 57th commencement ceremony in 2021.
last year as Latino students in the class
of 2021 graduated at a 95.32% rate.
“A lot of our Spanish-speaking staff
members have been really good at cre-
ating relationships with our Spanish-
speaking parents, so that when those
parents call the school, they can ask
for a specific person. I feel like that has
played a big part in the grad rate. They
have someone at the school they can
connect with,” Astorga said. “Everyone
is looking out for our kids and people
are going above and beyond to help
them. That is the reason they are
succeeding,”
Two of McNary's additional sub-
groups also saw jumps in graduation
rate. Special education students, or
students on an individualized learning
plan, graduated at a 96.34% clip, a jump
of nearly 14 percentage points from
last year. Economically disadvantaged
students, on the other hand, crossed
the podium at a 95.44% clip, an increase
FILE PHOTO
of four percentage points from 2020.
“We have been committed to closing
all achievement gaps at McNary High
School. We have really been inten-
tional about working with families to
make sure every student receives a
great education,” Jespersen said. “We
look at our framework/data and make
adjustments to fit the needs of our kids.
That's our formula. We know our data
really well and so does our staff.”
Missing cat returned to Friends of Felines
Chedderman, a 2-year-old cat from
Salem Friends of Felines, was recently
found after running away on January
9th. He ran away in the parking lot of
the shelter soon after being adopted by
Brian Butler.
The orange tabby was then found
by 12-year-old Neftali Romero who first
noticed Chedderman hiding under
houses in his neighborhood.
Romero stepped up and brought the
cat inside to be taken care of. A week
later, while out on a walk, he noticed
the photo of Chedderman on a miss-
ing cat poster and returned him to the
shelter.
Butler and Chedderman were
reunited on Tuesday, Jan. 25th. Butler
also had the opportunity to thank
Members of the community came
together to give Romero $150 in cash
and a $50 Nike gift card as a thank you
for his good deed.
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Brian Butler (left) and Neftali Romero snap a photo with Chedderman.
Photo by BEE FLINT of Keizertimes