N EIGHBORS
www.hoodrivernews.com
Head Start programs earn 5-star rating
BY TRISHA WALKER
News staff writer
Two of Mid-Columbia Chil-
dren’s Council Head Start fa-
cilities — Country Club and
Parkdale — recently received
the Quality Rating and Im-
provement System (QRIS)
five-star rating from the state
of Oregon.
The rating means both sites
have met essential evaluation
standards that support quali-
ty learning for all children —
a benchmark the state is sug-
gesting, but not requiring,
early education sites to
achieve.
MCCC is headquartered in
Hood River, but serves Hood
River, Wasco, Sherman, Klick-
itat and Jefferson counties.
Doreen Hotchkiss, associated
director of MCCC, said that
the goal is for all Oregon Head
Start sites to receive the five-
star rating.
A five-star rating shows “all
of the staff at the sites are
highly qualified early child-
hood educators,” she said. The
rating also covers the health
and safety, management and
curriculum at each site.
“The state decided all early
childhood programs (should)
be of quality,” she said, and
the QRIS program is a way to
ensure consistency in educa-
tion across the board in Ore-
gon. Those who chose to par-
ticipate were evaluated on a
range of elements “that are
essential for quality care and
preparing children for kinder-
garten and beyond,” accord-
ing to a press release.
The rating “is not some-
thing Head Start has to do. It’s
voluntary for childcare cen-
ters, family home centers, but
the State really put it out there
for all of us because it’s striv-
ing for quality programs
across the board for all chil-
dren,” Hotchkiss said.
“There’s a standard of qual-
ity,” she said. “That what I like
about the QRIS system, why I
wanted to work with my staff
to do this rating.”
The five-star rating is also
helping to improve four-star
sites, most of which depends
on staff taking further educa-
tion courses.
Submitted photo
STAFF AT THE Country Club Head Start and Early Head Start programs accept the QRIS 5 Star Award,
including Matthew Solomon, Executive Director, back row left.
Hood River News, Wednesday, April 8, 2015
A9
Soroptimist accepts ‘Woman
of Distinction’ nominations
Soroptimist Internation-
al of Hood River invites in-
dividuals and organiza-
tions to honor a woman in
their midst whose profes-
sional or volunteer work
has made a distinctive dif-
ference in the life of Hood
River County or in the lives
of women and girls. Nomi-
nations for the service
club’s annual “Women of
Distinction” award are
being accepted until
Thursday, April 30th.
“We have been honoring
amazing women in our
community for over 40
years. We know we will
never run out of worthy
nominees,” says commit-
tee chair Jean Harmon.
“Our larger community
benefits from the work of
these outstanding citizens
and we ask your help in
making sure they are rec-
ognized.”
Nomination for ms,
guidelines and a list of pre-
vious winners are avail-
able at Waucoma Book-
store, on Facebook at
Soroptimist International
Hood River, or by calling
Barbara Young at 541-490-
1996. Nominations need to
include all activities that
show the nominee’s dedi-
cation, effectiveness and
vision. Letters of support
are particularly helpful.
Winners and their nomi-
nators will be notified in
early May, and their names
and pictures will be an-
nounced in the Hood River
News, on local radio sta-
tions and on the Soropti-
mist Hood River Facebook
page. The Women of Dis-
tinction awards luncheon
is scheduled for Wednes-
day, May 27, 11:30 a.m. to 1
p.m., at the Best Western
Plus Hood River Inn. Tick-
ets are $24 each and will be
available at Waucoma
Bookstore in early May.
Soroptimist of Hood
River, part of Soroptimist
International, is a business
and professional women’s
service organization dedi-
cated to empowering the
lives of women and girls in
local communities and
throughout the world. For
more information about
Soroptimist Hood River,
contact Barbara Young at
barby@gorge.net.
Equipment rentals available
through OSU/Gorge Grown
Submitted photo
DOREEN HOTCHKISS, Associate Director (left) and Matthew Solomon, Executive Director (right) pre-
sent the award to Parkdale staff Rosie Manzo and Susan Owens.
MCCC is working closely
with Columbia Gorge Com-
munity College “as a re-
source and refer ral,”
Hotchkiss said. Nancy Pat-
ton, director of CGCC’s
Childcare Partners, is work-
ing with MCCC to provide
“training and support at the
college so people can reach
this highest rating of a five.”
Head Start runs in tandem
with county school districts to
ensure children enter kinder-
garten ready to learn. While
the Parkdale site serves chil-
dren ages 3-5 and the Country
Club site children 2-5, Head
Start also has programs that
serve pregnant mothers and
babies ages 0-3.
At that age, Head Start “is
already looking at, what are
the skills we can develop for
children that will help them
be successful when they get
ready for kindergarten and
the rest of their lives,” said
Hotchkiss.
“We’re really proud we did
this voluntarily,” she said.
“The board of directors is
pretty excited two of our sites
in Hood River County re-
ceived what Oregon rates as a
five star.”
Ever want to try out some
kitchen equipment for food
preservation before you buy
them for yourself ? Or need
some kitchen equipment to
use for a short period of time?
Or to try out some equipment
that you might want to use for
your up and coming food busi-
ness?
Oregon State University Ex-
tension Service and Gorge
Grown are pleased to be able
to offer local residents the op-
portunity to rent kitchen
equipment for food preserva-
tion to be used in your own
home!
Rentable items include
crock pots, cookie sheets and
pressure cookers. For a com-
plete listing of items, visit
www.gorgegrown.com/osugg
equipmentrental.
OSU Extension Service has
made every effort to ensure
that the equipment being rent-
ed is in good working order, is
clean, and ready for use. How-
ever, we strongly recommend
that you sanitize all equip-
ment before use to ensure food
safety.
In order to maintain our
equipment and provide a posi-
tive rental experience for all of
our participants, we ask that
you return all equipment to us
on or before the due date. We
ask that you clean, sanitize,
and reassemble the equip-
ment prior to return.
Viola Hutson turns 90
Viola Hutson will cele-
brate her 90th birthday on
April 11, from 2-4 p.m. at
Down Manor, 1950 Sterling
Place, Hood River.
Viola was born in North
Dakota, the third child and
first daughter of a family of
11 children, and raised in
Nyssa, Ore. She moved to
Hood River around 1943 and
Viola Hutson
married Speed Hutson in
December 1961.
She worked for Diamond
Fruit beginning in 1952, a
career that spanned over 50
years.
She has three children:
Eldon, Jerry, and Selma.
The family invites her
friends to celebrate with
her; please, no presents.
Riverside Church dedicates kitchen on Sunday
R ive r s i d e C o m m u n i t y
Church, 4th and State
Streets, invites community
members to celebrate the
completion of its new
kitchen after the 10:30 a.m.
worship service on April 12.
“We are thrilled about the
new ministries that we will
be able to provide to the
community,” stated Rev,
Vicky Stifter. “Planning is
already underway for op-
por tunities such as job
training, community meals,
and education for chil-
dren.” The kitchen upgrade
was made possible by a gift
from Scott and Elaine John-
son. Scott died in June 2014.
Chef Kathy Watson, a
member of the kitchen
planning team, will create
refreshments for the recep-
tion that will follow the cer-
emony.
Forestry employees offers food drive thanks
generous support of the Gov-
er nor’s State Employees
Food Drive.
“Through donations from
local business such as these,
the Oregon Department of
Forestry was able to raise ap-
proximately 224,960 pounds
of food statewide during the
February 2015 Food Drive,”
writes ODF’s Deborah Gon-
zalea. “ODF appreciates
local support in our efforts to
stop hunger in Oregon.”
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The local Oregon Depart-
ment of Forestry, which pro-
vides wildfire protection to
Hood River County, would
like to thank Smokehouse
Products of Hood River and
Maryhill Winery for their