A2 Wednesday, March 25, 2020
HOOD RIVER NEWS | Hood River, Ore.
hoodrivernews.com
Offers of help come in many forms
CGCC classes
scheduled to
start April 6
One way to beat the bore-
dom and occupy your family
time is to take a class from
Columbia Gorge Commu-
nity College, notes Stephen
Shwiff of Hood River, who
is CGCC’s dean of general
education.
“We have delayed the be-
ginning of the term until
Submitted photo
E-BIKES ON CALL: Jodie Gates and Matt Morrow are ready to ride.
In response
to COVID-19
closures and
folks’ need to
self-isolate, local
businesses and
individuals
have extended
hands of
kindness
Pickup and delivery
■ Big Winds and Oregon
E-Bikes has closed its front
doors to in-store visitors,
though they are still available
over the phone and online, and
are offering to pick up and de-
liver for other businesses.
Or, if you’re a local resident
finding pharmacy or grocery
runs challenging, Matt Mor-
row and Jodie Gates and their
e-cargo bikes are available to
help. Call Gates at 541-386-
6086 .
■ Carrie and Steve Dix,
Gorge Oregonian newspaper
delivery team, has offered this
to their clients:
“If you are staying in due to
the virus but need something,
please reach out to us. We
cover a lot of territory ... I can
pick up what you need and
have your carrier deliver it with
your paper,” the Dixes said in
their letter.
“We’ve had a number of
folks tell us, ‘We don’t need
help right now, but we will
keep you in mind in case we
need you.’”
Said Carrie Dix, “So far, peo-
ple are still managing, but we
are here to help.”
ical therapist and yoga teacher,
will be offering yoga classes
online on a donation basis.
English and Spanish options
will be available.
The first episode included
ways to stay calm and feel con-
nected while practicing social
distancing.
VanCott began posting the
classes on March 25. Access
them via www.gorgeyoga.com.
Burchell scholarship
update
In light of the ongoing coro-
navirus situation, the Gorge
Community Foundation’s
Laurie VanCott, MSPT, phys- board of directors has an-
Yoga online
April 6 and we offer a variety
of courses of interest and,
for any high school students,
potential step up for their
college and career goals. All
classes will be delivered re-
motely through Zoom con-
ferencing and our online
learning system. Check out
the offerings at cgcc.edu.”
been $650 to $4,000.
“Joan was self-educated,
mechanically clever and artis-
tic. Her spirit, humor, indepen-
dence, and interest in all things
endeared her to many people.
Joan is a true example of living
life on one’s own terms. Joan
Burchell’s spirit and care for
others lives on through the
Joan Burchell Fund,” said Jill
Burnette, foundation director.
Founded in 2001, the Gorge
Community Foundation’s
assets total over $6 million
and the foundation manages
nearly 50 designated funds
and 30 donor advised funds.
The foundation made grants
and scholarships totaling over
$204,000 in 2019.
The foundation is managed
by a 10-member board of di-
rectors led by Board President
Gil Sharp that includes repre-
sentation from Gorge commu-
nities on both sides of the river.
More information is available
at www.gcf.org.
nounced a change to the 2020
Burchell Fund grant making
program.
This year, grants from the
Joan Burchell Fund will be
dedicated to addressing issues
of food insecurity throughout
the Columbia River Gorge
exacerbated by the necessary
response to the coronavirus
pandemic.
This is a one-time decision
to help communities protect
their most vulnerable citizens
through this time of need, said
a press release. Organizations
that provide meals or access
to safe, healthy food for chil-
dren, families and seniors are
invited to apply for funding.
Applications are due on April
15 and grants awarded by the
end of May.
The purpose of the Joan
Burchell Fund is to provide
charitable grants as the Foun-
dation board determines are
most needed. In this grant
cycle, the total available for
granting is $13,340 and pro-
posals will be accepted for any
amount up to that total. The
range of grants in the past has
UNIFIED: ‘More aware of how much of an impact we have on each other’
continued from A1
week for around 40 minutes,”
she said. “During this time, we
are improving our robots and
programming. We split into indi-
vidual teams and concentrate on
problem solving and having fun.
We make different attachments
for our robots and oftentimes, we
run scrimmages and smooth out
rough patches in our programs.”
The Unified Robotics students
participate in a “Sumo Bots”
competition, which, Bunch ex-
plains, “takes place on a white,
circular table with a black, two-
inch ring around the diameter,
that is about two feet off of the
ground. The object of these
games is to knock the (other per-
son’s robot) off.”
For Franks, seeing her differ-
ently abled students joking and
conversing with their peers and
succeeding at competitions has
been “beautiful.”
“Listening to them at my desk,
just how normal the joking and
conversation is … my students
can’t provide experience for
each other,” Franks said. “We
need typically developing people
to help with that.”
At the FTC Super Qualifier
competition held at HRVHS on
Feb. 8, she “almost broke down
in tears” because “the expres-
sions on my kids’ faces — I’ve
never seen that before.”
Bunch said that she has also
learned a lot from the experi-
ence.
“I feel as though I have be-
come more education about dif-
ferently abled students,” she said.
“I’ve also become more aware of
how much of an impact we have
on each other. To me, the most
impactful moment was after
our first competition and seeing
pride and accomplishment on
my peers’ faces. I am so proud
to be a part of something that
brings new experiences to peo-
ple who didn’t previously have
WKO-High Cascade Mills
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& Timber
Douglas Fir
White Fir
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gram of Special Olympics and is
funded through the U.S. Office
of Special Education and the U.S.
Department of Education. The
goal is to use Special Olympics
“as a way to build inclusion and
tolerance in schools,” said Naomi
Grimsley, a parent and Unified
volunteer who brought the idea
forward to then-Athletic Director
Tom Ames a couple of years ago.
“I first heard about Unified
Sports through a friend and PE
teacher in Walla Walla,” Grimsley
said. “Perhaps because I have
a child with special needs, she
was sharing with me about her
excitement over their Unified
Program … Over the next year,
I chatted here and there with
other community people who
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea showed excitement and support
SHOWING THEIR SKILLS at the Feb. 8 SuperQualifier Coronet event at HRVHS are Unified Ro- for a program like this … Trent
Kroll (current athletic director)
botics are David George, left, and Jesse Bigelow, seated at center, with teammate Taylor Meckoll was excited to pick up the torch
standing at left center. With them are Jaime Rodriquez, left, Payton Bunch standing far left, and Team when he took Tom’s position,
Java members Haley Stuben, center, and Mose Banks, at right.
and he’s been very supportive.”
Grimsley is working on three
aspects of the Unified program
About Unified Sports
access to them.”
He said that, too he has made
Ben Garofalo, who also par- friends with the Unified Robotics
Unified Sports, of which Uni-
ticipates in HRVHS robotics program participants — some- fied Robotics is a part, is a pro-
and worked as a volunteer for thing he didn’t expect. And for
the Unified Robotics program, Franks, that’s another benefit of
said that, at first, he was unsure the program.
of what the program might look
“I want to see our community
like.
be more and more inclusive,” she
“When the program first start- said, and the HRVHS robotics
This week’s Sudoku is presented by:
ed, I was really unsure how it students as an example of what
would work and how well it is possible. “(Jeff) asked his stu-
would go,” he said. “But as the dents, ‘Do you want to be more
season progressed, I started to inclusive?’ and they said, ‘Yeah,
really enjoy our weekly Unified we do.’ I stood in the hallway and
Robotics meetings.
cried the day he told me that.”
“I think it’s so wonderful that
we started this program here to
give these students the oppor-
tunity to try something like this,”
he said. “Now, I look forward to
every meeting and the compe-
titions we set up are super fun.”
SUDOKU
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that would make HRVHS a Uni-
fied Champion School: Inclu-
sive sports, inclusive youth
leadership and whole school
engagement.
“Another goal this year is for
Unified to become more in-
volved in the elementary schools
and eventually becoming a Uni-
fied Champion School District,”
she said.
Franks said that she needs
community members who “are
willing to risk a little bit” to
expand the program to include
more students.
“There’s tons of room to help
— be a coach, be part of setting
up these activities,” she said.
Of course, with the corona-
virus pandemic that has now
closed schools until at least April
28, the rest of this year is up in
the air.
Planning, however, is happen-
ing for the 2020-21 school year.
For more information, contact
Grimsley at Naomi.grimsley@
hoodriver.k12.or.us.
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