REGION
Saturday, May 28, 2016
East Oregonian
PENDLETON
IMESD gives ‘Crystal
Apples’ to top teachers
East Oregonian
Staff photo by George Plaven
Staff photo by George Plaven
PHS junior Jon Diehl demonstrates welding Friday
during FFA Farm Day in Pendleton.
Eighth-grader Chauncey Sams lies a drone with help
from PHS sophomore Walker Paullus.
Farm Day introduces students to FFA
Highlights diversity
of the organization
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
There’s more to FFA than
just showing animals. The
organization features a broad
and diverse range of activities,
from diesel mechanics to
gardening to cooking.
Members of the Pendleton
FFA Chapter presented just a
few of the possibilities Friday
morning to eighth-graders
from Sunridge Middle School,
giving them an up close and
personal look at all FFA has to
offer. Students cycled through
each of ive stations at the
chapter’s lamb lab, where
they had the chance to plant
pumpkins, pet a horse, watch
a welding demonstration and
even try their hand at lying an
agriculture drone.
Jake Szumski, a junior at
Pendleton High School and
FFA chapter president, said
the goal was not only to show
what opportunities are avail-
able, but how FFA can help
students develop new skills
for college and careers.
“It really is a learning
opportunity for the rest of your
life,” Szumski said. “There’s
a lot of career development
where you can experience
things you wouldn’t otherwise
do.”
The Pendleton FFA Chapter
Staff photo by George Plaven
PHS senior Tyler Ruth shows off her horse, Porsha, to a group of eighth-graders
Friday as part of FFA Farm Day.
has approximately 50 active
and 80 non-active members,
said Hallie Porter, sophomore
and chapter secretary.
“To be in FFA, you don’t
have to show animals. There’s
so many options,” Porter
said. “You can really do any
competition, and still feel
welcome in FFA.”
More than 20 chapter
members participated at the
State FFA Convention in
Corvallis, and Seely Daniels,
PHS agriculture teacher and
FFA advisor, said she hopes
to take their oficers to the
National Convention and
Expo next October in India-
napolis.
Daniels
said
they
welcomed about 200 eighth-
graders on Friday.
“The kids just loved it,”
she said. “They are so much
fun to work with.”
———
Contact George Plaven at
gplaven@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0825.
“You don’t have
to show animals.
There’s so many
options. You can
really do any com-
petition, and still feel
welcome in FFA.”
— Hallie Porter, PHS
sophomore and Pendleton
FFA Chapter secretary
Expect delays during summer road construction
East Oregonian
As road construction
season enters full swing,
the Oregon Department of
Transportation is reminding
drivers to use caution in
order to avoid tragedy.
This year ODOT crews
and contractors will repair
and resurface hundreds of
miles of pavement, including
the following projects in
Umatilla and Morrow coun-
ties:
• The Exit 209 interchange
of Interstate 84 and Highway
395 in Pendleton will be
under repairs resulting in
lane closures of the bridge
and the temporary closure
of the westbound freeway
off-ramp from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m. on June 16, and again
on June 22 and 23.
• Interstate 84 will
experience lane closures,
reduced speeds and minor
delays for concrete repairs
between exit 188 (Stanield/
Pilot truck stop) and milepost
203
(Pendleton/Wood-
pecker truck stop). Work is
expected to start in August or
September and be completed
in October.
• Interstate 84 will be
reduced to a single lane in
work zones between mile-
post 203 (Woodpecker truck
stop) and milepost 217 (the
bottom of Cabbage Hill)
for pavement grinding and
inlay. Work is expected to
start in July or August and be
completed in September.
• Work continues on
Highway 395 between north
Hermiston and Umatilla,
including lane restrictions,
sidewalk closures and minor
delays during a paving grind/
inlay. The majority of the
project is expected to wrap
up partway through June,
with all aspects complete by
July 4.
• Highway 730 between
Southshore Drive and the
Washington border will
experience lane closures,
reduced speeds, pilot cars
and up to 20-minute delays
in order to complete a pave-
ment overlay. The work is
expected to begin sometime
in late fall and be completed
in August 2017.
• Highway 206 between
Gilliam County and Heppner
will experience lane closures,
reduced speeds, laggers,
pilot cars, delays of up to 20
minutes and parking restric-
tions in Heppner during a
chip seal operation. Work is
expected to start in late July
and take about two weeks to
complete.
• Highway 244 will expe-
rience lane closures, reduced
speeds, pilot cars and delays
of up to 20 minutes for a
pavement chip seal between
its intersection with U.S. 395
near Ukiah and Interstate
84 near Hilgard. Work is
expected to start Aug. 8 and
take about three weeks to
complete.
• Highway 74 between
Gilliam County and Heppner
will experience lane closures,
reduced speeds, pilot cars and
delays of up to 20 minutes
for a chip seal project. Work
is expected to start July 11
and take two to three weeks
to complete.
“ODOT reminds motor-
ists to slow down, pay extra
attention and be prepared for
laggers and trafic pattern
changes when they see
orange cones and construc-
tion signs,” the department
wrote in a news release.
Trafic ines are doubled
in work zones, regardless of
whether there are construc-
Graduation Gifts
Memorial Day
Flowers
Page 3A
tion workers on site. ODOT
emphasized that obeying
the reduced speed limit and
avoiding distractions like
cell phones can prevent an
expensive ticket and save
lives.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
The
InterMountain
Education Service District
awarded 45 educators from
its 18 school districts with
Crystal Apple “Excellence
in Education” awards this
month.
Umatilla and Morrow
county
winners
were
honored on May 17 at the Red
Lion Hotel in Pendleton and
Union County winners were
honored on May 9 at Eastern
Oregon University in La
Grande. Nominations were
submitted over a two-month
period by administrators,
coworkers, parents, students
and community members.
Winners are selected from
these nominations by school
district administration.
At
the
Pendleton
ceremony, Darrick Cope,
superintendent of the Helix
School District, was honored
as the 2016 Doug Flatt
Memorial Leadership Award
winner. The award is named
for the late chief executive
oficer of Mid Columbia
Bus Company who died
in a plane crash while on
business. It is to recognize an
administrator from a school
district served by the Mid
Columbia Bus Company in
Umatilla, Morrow or Union
county who exempliies the
qualities of leadership, atten-
tion to detail and community
service for which Flatt was
known.
“Darrick’s adept manage-
ment of bond funds have
resulted in innovative, state-
of-the-art facilities for Helix
that will beneit learners
for decades to come,” said
IMESD
Superintendent
Mark Mulvihill in a press
release.
Blue Mountain Commu-
nity College was also
honored at the ceremony
with the Community Partner
Award.
BMCC and IMESD are
the two largest providers of
regional P-20 services. The
two entities share staff and
resources for a variety of
collaborative programs and
facilities. This cooperation
provides improved access
to educational opportunities
for families and increased
student
achievement,
according to a press release.
“BMCC is known for its
top-level staff and instruc-
tional programs,” Mulvihill
said. “They are always
eager and willing to problem
solve, share staff and think
outside the box to serve
more effectively.”
Below are the educators
from Umatilla and Morrow
counties awarded with indi-
vidual Crystal Apple awards:
Athena-Weston School
District: Jacque Fox (third
grade), Sara Tucker (secre-
tary, Athena Elementary).
Echo School District:
Jessica Rist (counselor,
Echo High), Brandi Russell
(math/P.E. teacher, Echo
High).
Helix School District:
Victoria Fox (kindergarten),
Don Rydrych (Reading
Buddies volunteer).
Ione School District:
Tara Proudfoot (student
support), Betty Rietmann
(reading volunteer).
Milton-Freewater
Uniied School District:
Sarah Ensunsa (reading
intervention,
Ferndale
Elementary), Jose Garcia
(lead custodian, Freewater
Elementary),
Caryn
Houchin (secretary, Fern-
dale Elementary), Brenda
Thomas (language arts,
Central Middle School).
Morrow County School
District: Pat King (special
education, Riverside Jr/
Sr High), Brenda Kittelson
(irst grade, A.C. Houghton
Elementary), Jody Marston
(registrar, Riverside Jr/
Sr High), Barbara Phillips
(head secretary, Irrigon
Elementary).
Pendleton
School
District: Alex Arroyo
(custodian,
Pendleton
Early Learning Center),
Erin Donnelly (P.E./health
teacher, Sunridge Middle
School), Laurie Hummell
(media assistant, Sherwood
Heights Elementary), Liz
Nirschl (irst grade, Lincoln
Primary).
Pilot Rock School
District: Laura Byrnes
(sixth grade), Gary Tester
(head custodian, Pilot Rock
Jr/Sr High).
Stanield
School
District: Marilyn Durbin
(language arts, Stanield
Secondary), Katie Johnson
(social studies, Stanield
Secondary).
Umatilla
School
District: Keith Gebers (busi-
ness education, Umatilla
High), Erin Iveson (ofice
manager, McNary Heights
Elementary).
Ukiah School District:
Laura Orr (science teacher).
InterMountain ESD:
Kari Baybado (autism
consultant,
Regional
Programs
&
Related
Services), Obdulia (Abby)
Munoz (lead recruiter/
parent liaison, Instructional
Services), Heidi Paullus
(instructional
strategies
specialist,
Instructional
Services), Casey Seeger
(E-Rate specialist, Inter-
Mountain Technology).
Thanking Our Sponsors
The Umatilla County Historical Society extends a special
thank you to the sponsors of our 2016 Agricultural Heritage Tour.
Lead Sponsors:
• Columbia State Bank • The McGregor Company
Major Sponsors:
• D. A. Davidson & Co. • Northwest Farm Credit Services •
St. Anthony Hospital • Wheatland Insurance Center
Supporting Sponsors:
• Whitney Land Company
Put a smile on the heart
with the power of flowers
HWY 395, HERMISTON
541-567-4305
Mon-Sat 8am-6pm • Sun 12pm-5am
www.cottagefl owersonline.com
Thank You to the
Community of Pendleton
The Pioneer Relief Nursery of Pendle-
ton, it's Executive Director, Staff, board
Members and Volunteers would like to
thank all who sponsored the "Dancing with
Your Star" event held recently at the Vert
Auditorium. We received a great deal of
support monetarily and emotionally from
many patrons in this community. All the
dancers and their sponsors deserve to be
commended for their efforts. Our person-
al dancer was Megan Furstenberg who
did a wonderful job representing our nurs-
ery. This community and the efforts of so
many people have helped us to continue
to serve our nearly seven-hundred families
in need of support. We have the distinc-
tion of being the fi rst Rural Relief Nursery
in Oregon. Thankfully, there are others
who now have taken up the cause. Again,
Thank You for keeping our mission ALIVE!
Sincerely,
Pioneer Relief Nursery of Pendleton
A HUGE thank you to everyone that
gave their time, energy and dollars to the
Kick'n Cancer New Beginnings (KCNB)
Third Annual Golf Tournament. All pro-
ceeds stay here in the Pendleton area
and will benefi t the KCNB Spirit Pro-
gram. Because of your generous support
and participation, we are able to offer
a program where survivors of cancer
can heal both physically and mentally
and begin to resume their normal lives.
Thank you to all the generous sponsors,
donors, the Pendleton Country Club,
golf participants, volunteers and media.
Silver Sponsors:
Terry Atchison • 92.1 Party FM
DA Davidson • Justin & Tamara Voelker
Walla Walla Country Club • East Oregonian