REGION
Thursday, January 29, 2015
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Oregon man who
Students celebrate School Choice Week NLOOHGRI¿FHUVHHNV
parole after reversal
HERMISTON
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Hit the bowling alley in the middle
of the school day? Not a problem for
students of the Oregon Connections
Academy.
National School Choice Week
was alive and well in Hermiston on
Wednesday at Desert Lanes Bowling
Alley, where a handful of families
showed up sporting the movement’s
signature yellow scarves.
The students at the event were all
enrolled in Oregon Connections Acad-
emy, Oregon’s largest online charter
school based in Scio.
Jennifer Malcolm, a Hermiston
mom of four, said she made the deci-
sion to pull her kids out of their local
public schools and enroll them online
because of her son Briton, who was of-
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classmates, was “incredibly bored.”
“He also had some health issues, so
keeping him at home seemed a good
option, but I didn’t want to go it alone,”
she said.
Malcolm said having her children
— currently in ninth, seventh, fourth
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also provides more structure and ac-
countability than independent homes-
chooling.
Attending school online isn’t as
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people imagine. Students might be able
to choose what time of day to work
through lessons, but they still contend
with quizzes, homework, deadlines,
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ects within a semester framework.
Malcolm said her children start
school after an early breakfast, each of
them working on one of the family’s
four computers until anywhere from
noon to 2 p.m.
“I try to keep them pretty struc-
tured,” she said.
Her daughter Ashlin, 12, said she
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Ashlin Malcolm, 12, bowls during a School Choice Week event at Desert
Lanes Bowling Alley.
likes online school better than sitting
in a classroom.
“You can go at your own pace,” she
said. “If you do something in a normal
classroom you have to wait for the oth-
er kids to get done before going on.”
Brianne Bishop, a sophomore at Or-
egon Connections Academy, said she
liked attending school online because
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UDQJH RI H[WUDFXUULFXODU DFWLYLWLHV OLNH
the Willow Creek Symphony without
having to miss class for daytime events
or travel.
“I don’t have to take time off school.
I don’t have to get a note to be absent,”
she said.
She also gets a more diverse selec-
tion of elective classes to choose from.
Last semester she took Japanese.
Carrie Spalione said she enrolled
her son Ronn, a high school senior,
and his older brothers in the online
academy for a number of reasons, in-
cluding the fact that the family has
had to move frequently and the moves
wouldn’t disrupt Ronn’s online classes
like they would a regular public school
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She said even though Oregon Con-
nections Academy has teachers hold-
ing their students accountable and
handing out grades, parents are also
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by helping their student avoid distrac-
tions and procrastination at home.
“I’ve heard the success rate of these
kinds of schools depends on the par-
ents’ involvement,” she said.
As for the oft-cited concern about
social opportunities, Oregon Connec-
tions Academy and other online char-
ter schools organize regional events
like the bowling activity Wednesday.
Students present at the event also cited
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participated in, including performance
groups, Boy Scouts, church youth
groups and sports teams.
Ronn Spalione said he likes being a
virtual academy student.
“It’s pretty nice,” he said.
———
Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdow-
ell@eastoregonian.com or 541-564-
4536.
SALEM (AP) — An Or-
egon man who killed a po-
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before the Board of Parole
after it reversed a decision
to release him, saying he
feared for the safety of his
family that night after the
victim used pepper-spray
and failed to identify him-
self.
The hearing Tuesday
came after Sidney Dean
Porter was granted parole
in May 2013 and the deci-
sion was overturned a few
months later after Gov. John
Kitzhaber and law enforce-
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role panel rules in his favor.
Porter acknowledged to
the three-member board that
he was an abusive drunk
back in 1992. Porter said he
struck his wife with the back
of his hand during a night of
heavy drinking in April of
that year.
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a neighbor called 911 to re-
port the sound of a woman
crying for help.
Porter told the board that
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shot pepper spray into his
eyes, and that Porter feared
for his and his family’s safe-
ty as he and Ward wrestled
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“I felt threatened — it
scared the hell out of me,”
Porter told the panel and a
crowd of about 30 people in
the visiting room at the Ore-
gon State Correctional Insti-
tution. The crowd included
Ward’s widow, Debra Ward.
Porter said he stopped
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said, Ward pepper-sprayed
him again, prompting him
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gether, they slammed into
a wood stove and a stack of
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stopped moving, Porter said.
Grant County District
Attorney Jim Carpenter said
Porter repeatedly smashed
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wood.
“He doesn’t seem to
recall that he smashed the
wood down on Mr. Ward’s
head,” Carpenter said. “He
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nying and minimizing his
actions.”
One reason cited for the
2013 parole reversal was
that Porter didn’t have a
plan to prevent a relapse into
drinking, if released.
He said Tuesday he
would live on his sister’s
ranch in remote Monument,
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regularly attend Alcoholics
Anonymous meetings.
Debra Ward, meanwhile,
asked the board to keep her
husband’s killer in prison
for life.
“Every time you open
this up, it hurts,” she said.
“This is going to haunt me
the rest of my life.”
PENDLETON
MISSION
206,H[KLELWRSHQV)HEDW7DPDVWVOLNW Student brings airsoft
Resort & Casino. The open-
ing day is free to the public.
Roots of Wisdom will
Now more than ever, pop-
ulations across the globe face VKRZ H[DPSOHV RI VXFFHVV-
serious challenges meeting IXO SURMHFWV WKDW LQFRUSRUDWH
basic human needs in main- both traditional ecological
taining sustainable food sup- knowledge and western sci-
plies, clean drinking water ence. The displays introduce
and healthy communities. visitors to diverse landscapes,
These challenges have in- including tropical mountains,
spired innovative solutions mighty rivers, ancient forests
from diverse cultures work- and coastal inlets.
Visitors will learn how
ing together.
In Roots of Wisdom: Na- time-tested practices and
tive Knowledge. Shared tools of traditional land man-
Science ² DQ XSFRPLQJ H[- agement and resource use in
hibit at Tamastslikt Cultural concert with western science
Institute — visitors will learn and technology are restoring
how native communities are waterways, creating sustain-
using their traditional knowl- able food supplies, helping
HGJH LQ FRQMXQFWLRQ ZLWK save endangered species,
cutting-edge science to suc- solving health problems and
cessfully address some of the reviving cultural practices.
Roots of Wisdom: Native
most pressing issues facing
Knowledge. Shared Science
society today.
The Oregon Museum of is specially designed for fam-
6FLHQFH ,QGXVWU\ H[KLEL- ilies and youth ages 11-14. It
tion tells the story through runs through May 2.
Regular admission to the
the voices of tribal elders and
youth from diverse American museum, which is good for
Indian and Hawaiian cultures. two consecutive days, is $10
It includes hands-on interac- IRUDGXOWVIRUVHQLRUV
tive displays, custom video IRU\RXWKVDJHVIUHHIRU
games, audio and video con- ages 5 and under or $25 for
a family of four. There’s no
tent and engaging graphics.
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)RUPRUHLQIRUPDWLRQFDOO
)HEIURPDPWRSP
at Tamastslikt Cultural Insti- RU YLVLW ZZZ
tute, located near Wildhorse tamastslikt.org.
guns onto school bus
East Oregonian
East Oregonian
A Sunridge Middle
School student carrying
two airsoft guns on a school
bus Tuesday inadvertently
halted an otherwise routine
route in Pendleton.
According to a Pendle-
ton School District press
release, the student intend-
ed to transport them after
school to a family member’s
home.
Not knowing that the
guns were airsoft, at least
one student alerted the bus
driver after the student got
off the bus at the Lincoln
Primary School stop.
In accordance with dis-
trict policy, the driver im-
mediately stopped the bus
and called his superiors at
the Mid Columbia Bus Co.,
who then alerted the Pendle-
ton Police Department.
After taking statements
from the students, police
Photo contributed by OMSI
The Roots of Wisdom exhibit provides hands-on ac-
tivities and displays about how native communities
are using traditional knowledge in conjunction with
cutting-edge science to address some of the most
pressing issues facing society today. The OMSI exhibit
opens Friday, Feb. 6 at Tamastslikt Cultural Institute.
were able to locate the stu-
dent and determine that they
were airsoft guns.
While Assistant Superin-
tendent Tricia Mooney said
she couldn’t comment on
the issue because it would
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Educational Rights and Pri-
vacy Act, she said the inci-
dent fell under the “replica
weapons” section of the dis-
trict’s disciplinary policy.
The policy states that
any student carrying a repli-
ca weapon on campus or a
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zure or forfeiture.
Under the same policy,
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of the student for at least one
year, although the policy is
unclear if an airsoft gun
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Any other weapons vio-
lations mandate discipline
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to local authorities.
All You Can Eat
Seafood Feast!
February 7 • 6:00 pm • $30.00
Proceeds to benefit Pendleton Elks’ Scholarship Program
BRIEFLY
CREZ approves
$1.2 million for
improvements
BOARDMAN — The
Columbia River Enterprise
Zone approved nearly
$1.2 million in funding for
Morrow County community
organizations in 2014.
The CREZ committee
met Dec. 19 and agreed
to split the awards into
four categories: education,
housing, public safety and
community enhancement.
Upon distribution, each
organization is responsible
for using CREZ dollars for
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programs.
Groups receiving CREZ
funding include:
• Morrow Education
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• Willow Creek Valley
Economic Development
*URXS
• Boardman Community
Development Association:
$200,000
• Irrigon (administered
by BCDA): $125,000
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3URWHFWLRQ'LVWULFW
• Boardman Police
'HSDUWPHQW
• Morrow County
6KHULII¶V2I¿FH
• Morrow County Health
'LVWULFW
The enterprise zone
is made up of two
representatives each from
Morrow County, the Port
of Morrow and city of
Boardman. It is managed
by Morrow County
Planning Director Carla
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incentives to businesses
making new investments in
the region.
Blue Mountain
Alliance to hold
annual meeting
0,/721)5((:$7(5
²7KHQRQSUR¿W%OXH0RXQ-
tain Alliance will hold its
annual meeting Wednesday,
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water Public Library in the
building’s Albee Room.
Discussions will include a
brief analysis of the proposed
revised Blue Mountains
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the region. Mike Denny, of
the Blue Mountain Audu-
bon Society, will also give a
presentation on challenges
facing native birds and their
habitat.
The Blue Mountain Alli-
ance is focused on protecting
natural resources in the Blue
Mountains and local sur-
rounding areas. The meeting
is open to the public, and
new members are welcome.
The meeting will begin
DWSPDWWKHOLEUDU\
S.W. Eighth Ave.
Pepsi Primetime @ the Museum
Kids+Art
= Fun!
• Oyster Stew
• 1/2 lb. Sausage
• 1/2 lb. Shrimp
• 1/2 lb. Steamer Clams
• Ear Corn
• Gourmet Potatoes
• Bread
Pendleton Elks Lodge #288
14 SE 3rd, Pendleton
541-969-2765 • 541-276-3882
Join us
Superbowl Sunday!
February 1 st in our Lounge
Food & Beverage Specials
Lounge opens at 1:30 pm
January 31 1pm
FREE!
3 0 4 S E N y e Av e . , P e n d l e t o n , O R
re d l i o n. c o m • 5 4 1-27 6-6111
FIRST FRIDAYS ARE FREE!
Open Mon-Sat 10am-5pm
541.429.7700
www.tamastslikt.org
Don't forget we're open
for lunch daily
11:00 am - 1:00 pm