4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2017
Neighbors: ‘It comes
Dinner: Falker found her home at the Legion
down to caring for others’
continued to be an outlet.
Continued from Page 1A
Continued from Page 1A
Washington State University
and going into sales, where he
quickly realized his interests
didn’t lie.
He want back to school,
earned bachelor’s and mas-
ter’s degrees in education with
a focus on language arts, and
spent a decade as an English
and theater teacher at Fort Van-
couver High School.
Fort Vancouver had a rep-
utation as a diverse, low-in-
come, tough school, but he
loved working with the kids
there, and he loved every min-
ute of it, he said.
Wanting to be an advocate
for theater and the other extra-
curriculars that help keep kids
interested in school, O’Malley
turned toward administration.
He interned at Fort Vancou-
ver and applied to be a princi-
pal at Brookings-Harbor High
School, but was offered a posi-
tion as vice principal of neigh-
boring Azalea Middle School.
“It was my first time in
a middle school since I had
attended one,” he said.
O’Malley grew to like
working with kids during the
transitive period of middle
school, with one foot each in
childhood and adolescence, he
said. But eventually, he felt the
pull to be near his family and
started looking at positions in
the Portland metro region.
O’Malley is the third princi-
pal at Warrenton Grade School,
a quickly growing K-8 campus
with a student body of nearly
800. He focuses on fourth
through sixth grade, while his
fellow Vice Principal Rob-
bie Porter covers kindergarten
through third grade. Head Prin-
cipal Tom Rogozinski over-
sees the academics at all levels,
including the district’s on-cam-
pus preschool program.
Still fresh in his position,
O’Malley is focused on build-
ing the Warrior Way, an iden-
tity of self-responsibility and
compassion, he said.
“I think it comes down to
caring for others, having each
others’ backs and being relent-
less,” he said.
Two of the most important
transitions for students come at
third grade, when they switch
from learning to read to read-
ing to learn, and in ninth grade,
where those who stay on track
are twice as likely to graduate.
“We’ve been working to
make sure there’s a sense of
support at the grade school,”
O’Malley said. “When we send
kids off to the high school, we
don’t want to just let them fig-
ure it out for themselves.”
The move from Brookings
was a sacrifice for O’Malley’s
wife, Tessa, who ran a suc-
cessful bakery business, Sweet
O’Malley’s, which she had to
put on hold for the move north.
The school was short some
staff to start the year, and she
transitioned into an educa-
tional assistant position in
kindergarten.
The entire O’Malley fam-
ily now spends their days at the
grade school, including 4-year-
old preschooler Nora and
6-year-old first-grader Emmett.
Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian
American Legion Auxiliary member Marilyn Falker helps
guests at Christmas dinner choose a knitted hat.
different
churches
and
groups, looking for a sense of
community.
With her husband’s service
as a connection, she found her
home at the Legion.
“This is the place that
said ‘you can give what
you have,’” Falker said.
“Reaching out to other
people whose story we don’t
know is so important. We’re
blessed to be able to give,
whether it’s a smile or some
yarn.”
Her volunteer work has
Between the loss of her hus-
band and acting as a full-time
caretaker for her two disabled
sons, the work she does is as
much a benefit to herself as it
is to the community it serves,
she said.
“This is my escape,” she
said, running over to open a
door for an outgoing dinner
guest.
“When you help, you just
stop thinking about the things
you’re going through, because
99 percent of the time, you
know what? They’re not that
bad.”
Bus provider: Funding going to be a ‘game-changer’
Continued from Page 1A
Sunset Empire recently
announced the expansion
of service in South County,
including four connections
with Tillamook County buses
in Cannon Beach. The agency
hopes to expand service
throughout the region, includ-
ing weekend service on buses
running through Hammond
and Warrenton to the large
Emerald Heights Apartment
complex on the eastern edge
of Astoria, Hazen said.
“We’re adding a more
robust circulator route in War-
renton and Hammond, so that
Route 101 can stay on 101,”
he said.
Sunset Empire nearly col-
lapsed in 2010, when for-
mer Director Cindy Howe
left amid accusations of theft
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Steve Smith, left, makes a stop on his route with Sunset
Empire as a passenger boards the bus.
and official misconduct. The
district was in near financial
ruin, laying off staff and cut-
ting service at one point to
only two routes to stay afloat.
Howe pleaded guilty in 2013
to two counts of first-degree
theft and official misconduct.
Jay Flint helped rebuild
the district from 2011 until
leaving in 2014 for a job at
a Seaside law firm. Hazen
took over from interim direc-
tor Diana Bartolotta in 2014
after she also left for another
position.
Hazen recently applied
and was a finalist for another
transportation director’s posi-
tion in Lewis County, Wash-
ington. The move was about
a higher salary, along with the
ability to take part in building
a new transit center for Lewis
County, he said.
He owns a home in West-
port and said he has no inter-
est in moving.
“I’m happy I’m staying
here, because I’m excited
about the challenge and
opportunity of this new fund-
ing source,” he said. “What
a game-changer it’s going to
be.”
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