REGION
Thursday, June 2, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Unity school extends invitation to Portland students
By ERIC MORTENSON
EO Media Group
A tiny Eastern Oregon school
has an invitation for Portland high
school students: Come stay with us
for a semester and learn about ag
and science.
The program, which will begin
next school year with eight Port-
land girls visiting the irst semester
and eight Portland boys arriving
for second semester, is a deliberate
attempt to span the urban-rural
divide. And Oregon does not get
more rural than the Burnt River
School in Unity, Ore., about 50
miles east of John Day.
The Burnt River School District
has a single building, a K-12
charter school. In the 2015-16
school year — they’re already out
for the summer — the district had
34 students. Fielding an eight-man
football team last fall required an
allegiance with Prairie City School.
Cattle ranching is the primary way
to make a living in the area.
District Superintendent Lorrie
Andrews also serves as school
principal, teaches personal inance
and careers, helps seniors with
their portfolios and advises the
yearbook kids. She’s been there 30
years. “Time for me to go, huh?”
she jokes.
She’s been working on Burnt
River’s invitation to Portland for
a couple of years, with noteworthy
help from state Rep. Greg Smith,
a Republican from Heppner, state
Rep. Cliff Bentz, a Republican
from Ontario, and Baker County
Commissioner Mark Bennett. Now
they are ready to try it.
“It is something we’ve thought
a lot about,” Andrews said. Burnt
River has a “great school and an
excellent staff,” she said, but the
district’s enrollment has declined
BRIEFLY
Oldies Night spins
‘The Genius’ of
Ray Charles
MILTON-FREEWATER
— Ray Charles had his
irst hit on the rhythm
and blues chart in 1949,
broke the pop charts eight
years later and then added
country and western hits to
his repertoire.
To hear 49 songs of Ray
Charles, along with tidbits
about his music and life,
head to Oldies Night in
Milton-Freewater. BJ the
DJ will spin such hits as
“Georgia on my Mind,”
“Hit the Road, Jack,”
“Ruby” and “I Can’t Stop
Loving You.”
The free event is
Saturday beginning at 7
p.m. at Wesley United
Methodist Church, 816
S. Main St., Milton-
Freewater. Refreshments
will be provided by the
Frogs.
For more information,
contact Jones at 541-938-
7028 or email dubuquer@
charter.net.
Radio show
rekindles
memories
PENDLETON —
Reminiscences of the good
old days when people
gathered around the radio
is featured during a special
presentation at McKay
Creek Estates.
The public is invited
to “Reliving Radio, the
Way Radio Was” Sunday
from 2-3 p.m. at the
assisted living facility,
1601 Southgate Place,
Pendleton. The event is
free.
Featuring Dick
Karman’s show, the
presentation showcases
samples of entertainment,
commentary, news and
variety that made up the
time-treasured memories
of radio from the 1920s
to the 1950s. The opening
bars from a favorite theme
song will rekindle the
long forgotten memories
of hearth and home from
childhood.
Due to space
limitations, those planning
to attend are asked to
RSVP by calling 541-276-
1987.
———
Submit information
to: community@
eastoregonian.com or
drop off to the attention of
Tammy Malgesini at 333
E. Main St., Hermiston or
Renee Struthers at 211 S.E.
Byers Ave., Pendleton. Call
541-564-4539 or 541-966-
0818 with questions.
Courtesy of Burnt River School District
The entire student body and staff of Burnt River School poses on picture day in September 2015. The
Eastern Oregon school invites Portland high school students to come stay for a semester and learn
about agriculture and science. Lorrie Andrews, the superintendent and principal who also teaches
careers and personal inance, is on the far right.
for several years. Twenty-eight of
the school’s 34 students are high
school age.
“We were just thinking we need
to think outside the box, so to
speak,” Andrews said.
Over the May 21-22 weekend,
Portland Public Schools sent an
email to its high school families,
telling them of the opportunity
to take part in the Burnt River
Integrated
Agriculture/Science
Research Ranch program, or
BRIARR.
On Monday, May 23, Andrews
responded to 23 emails about the
program. A bunch more arrived
Tuesday.
Portland students will get a
semester of hands-on learning
in what Burnt River describes
as a “variety of natural resource
settings.” They’ll learn about
animal production science, sustain-
able rangeland science and forest
restoration studies, and do water
quality monitoring with the Powder
Basin Watershed Council.
She said it made sense to extend
the invitation to Portland, by far
the state’s largest urban center. The
city has more than 49,000 students
in 78 schools, including 10 high
schools.
“We were thinking there prob-
ably are students out there who
would enjoy a rural experience and
a small school experience at the
same time,” Andrews said. “I think
it’s a way to bridge that divide. I
think there are a lot of misconcep-
tions in both directions. I think we
can all learn from one another. Kids
are usually open to that.”
Attracting more students helps
the district’s budget. The Oregon
Department of Education pays
school districts a standard per-stu-
dent amount of $7,100, and that
funding will follow the Portland
students to Burnt River School.
The students will be hosted by local
parents, but the details haven’t been
inalized.
Andrews said the district is
engaged in a number of alternative
ways to stay viable. The school
became a charter school so it could
offer “distance learning,” and
attract students outside the district
who attend class by Skype, the
on-line system. The district also
has successfully hosted a number
of foreign exchange students over
the years, Andrews said.
Burnt River partners with
other institutions. Blue Mountain
Community College, in Pendleton,
put on a short-term welding class
for Burnt River kids. Welding, GPS
use and small engine maintenance
will be offered as mini-courses
next year, and Andrews hopes to
have a mobile livestock artiicial
insemination lab visit the school.
She’s talking to Treasure Valley
Community College about an
equine science unit.
Students can take college credit
courses, and the district pays for it,
she said.
“It’s important,” Andrews said.
“It’s a priority for the school board
to have students prepared to go on,
even though we’re so rural.”
The district will interview appli-
cants in June, looking for students
who will be the right it for Unity,
population 75.
“If it’s important to you to spend
a lot of time at the shopping mall
or the movies, this isn’t the place
for you,” Andrews said. “Because
that’s not where we are.”
Application forms and a
brochure are available on the
district’s website: http://burntriver.
k12.or.us/home
Pools open in coming week Police PENDLETON
arrest man
East Oregonian
The Hermiston Family
Aquatic Center will open for
the summer on Saturday, just
as temperatures near triple
digits for the irst time this
year.
The Pendleton Family
Aquatic Center will open
Thursday, June 9.
Season passes are on sale
at the Hermiston pool, 879
W. Elm St., on Thursday from
6-8 p.m.
On Saturday the preseason
swim schedule begins at 1:10
p.m. Preseason hours run June
4-12 from 1:10-6 p.m. with
the exception of Monday,
June 6 when the pool will be
closed. Regular season hours
run from June 13 to Aug. 14
from 1:10-7 p.m.
Daily admission for 2016
is $4 for children under 13, $5
for teenagers age 13-17, $6 for
adults, $5 for seniors and $20
for a family of up to two adults
and four children residing in
the same household.
Children under age nine
are not allowed into the
aquatic center unsupervised.
Over the spring the city
made repairs to the pool,
including replacement of the
crumbling tile in the multi-use
pool, new rebar and repair of
a leak.
For more information
contact the Parks and Recre-
for park assault
East Oregonian
EO ile photo
Lifeguard Donte Robinson takes a slide during his
break at the Pendleton Aquatic Center during the 2015
season.
ation ofice, 541-667-5018
or Hermiston Family Aquatic
Center, 541-289-7665 after
the pool opens.
At the Pendleton aquatic
center, 1901 NW Carden Ave.,
a 10 percent discount is avail-
able for season passes until
the day the pool opens June
9. There are also discounted
passes for low income families
within Pendleton city limits.
Without a discount, a
season pass is $55 for children
(or $4 for one day) or $65 for
an adult ($6 a day), and punch
cards for multiple visits are
available.
The pool is open daily
from noon-8 p.m.
A Pendleton man
assaulted and fractured
another
man’s
jaw
on
Sunday,
according
to
Pendleton Police
Chief
Stuart
Roberts.
A m o s
Mitchell Burton,
27, faces charges
of fourth-degree
assault, third-de-
gree robbery,
t h i r d - d e g r e e Burton
theft
and
interfering with a peace
oficer. The robbery
charge is a class C felony
in Oregon, the rest are
misdemeanors.
Roberts reported ofi-
cers at 3:40 p.m. Sunday
responded to Roy Raley
Park, 1205 S.W. Court
Ave., to investigate a
report of an assault. Police
found Ezra Bennett, who
said a man he did not
know followed him from
the Bare Bones mini-mart,
1304 S.W. Dorion Ave., to
the restroom at the park.
“Shortly after entering
the restroom, allegedly
Bennett was struck from
behind rendering him
unconscious,” Roberts
reported. “He awoke to
ind his backpack and
wallet gone.”
Bennett
reported
he
had a bump
on his head,
according
to
police records,
and
Roberts
stated a medical
exam
found
he suffered a
broken
jaw
from the assault.
Through the use of
video surveillance and
statements from Bennett,
oficers
established
Burton as a suspect,
Roberts stated, and
found him a little after
5 p.m. on the Umatilla
River levee. Burton had
Bennett’s backpack, but
not the wallet.
Police
arrested
Burton. He is in the
Umatilla County Jail,
Pendleton, in lieu of
$20,000 bail and pleaded
not guilty Tuesday to
charges in circuit court in
Pendleton.
h a m l e y
S TEAK H OUSE & S ALOON
E
A N N I V R S A RY
FOOD & DRINK SPECIALS
PA R T Y STA R T S @ 4 P
•
D I N N E R S E R V I C E @ 5 P
LIVE MUSIC
M U R R AY D U N L A P 5-7:30 P
T Y L O R & T H E T R A I N R O B B E R S 8-11 P
F R I D AY
“on the lawn”
CORNER OF S.E. COURT & MAIN, PENDLETON