REGION
Tuesday, March 16, 2021
East Oregonian
A3
Athena-Weston schools promote superintendent from within district
worked with,” Rogers said.
“She is just the epitome of an
educator. … At a small school,
it’s unusual to get someone
with that kind of horsepower
to come in.”
By JEREMY BURNHAM
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
ATHENA — The Athe-
na-Weston School District will
have a new leader this fall, but
her name will be familiar to
students and families.
Middle school Principal
Ann Vescio will be taking over
the superintendent position
from retiring Laure Quaresma,
the two women announced last
week.
Quaresma will remain with
the district part time for a year
to serve as a mentor to Vescio.
Vescio takes over after
being with the district since
2005.
Vescio ready to step up
A satisfying career
Quaresma is retiring after
42 years in education
Quaresma came to the
Athena-Weston School
District five years ago after
a long career in Walla Walla,
Washington. Quaresma had
leadership roles at all levels —
elementary, middle school and
high school — in Walla Walla.
“I had an opportunity to
lead at all those levels,” she
said. “I think that helped
prepare (me) for a superinten-
dent job.”
Of the positions she held in
Walla Walla, Quaresma has
especially good feelings for the
time she spent as the district’s
leader of its dual language
efforts.
Greg Lehman/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
Future Athena-Weston School Superintendent Ann Vescio, left, outside Weston Middle
School with current Superintendent Laure Quaresma on Friday morning, March 12, 2021.
“The opportunity to lead
the dual language program
and really work on language
enrichment programs in
Walla Walla was really huge,”
Quaresma said. “That was
a learning curve for me. But
with an amazing staff, we were
able to build that program and
it has taken off at this point. I
feel very proud of that.”
She said doing so many
jobs in Walla Walla helped
attract her to a superintendent
job.
“Especially a superinten-
dent job in a small district,
because you’re wearing all the
hats,” Quaresma said.
A lot has happened in Athe-
na-Weston since Quaresma
took over. She led the district
through the passing of a
new bond, the opening of a
preschool and the transition to
— and then from — distance
learning due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
However, if you ask her
what her best moments on the
job were, she’ll talk about her
people.
“This year with bring-
ing (director of early learn-
ing) Kerri Coffman on board
… being able to help people
lead and give them opportuni-
ties to lead, I feel really good
about that,” Quaresma said.
“It doesn’t have to be all you.
I like to grow those leaders,
step aside, and then watch it
all happen.”
Scott Rogers, chairper-
son of the school board, said
Quaresma will be missed.
“Laure, to me, is one of the
best administrators I have ever
FFA students prep for state convention
93rd annual
Oregon FFA State
Convention will
be livestreamed
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — After
missing out on a state
convention last year, Herm-
iston High School FFA
students are looking forward
to this year’s event, even if
it’s virtual.
The 93rd annual Oregon
FFA State Convention will
be livestreamed Tuesday,
March 16, through Thursday,
March 18, via the Oregon
FFA social media pages.
Students have already begun
competitions, but will have
the opportunity to watch
workshops, industry panels
and speeches on those days.
Alexis Leathers, a junior,
remembered the moment
last year when she got the
word that the in-person
state convention had been
canceled due to increasing
fears of gatherings during
COVID-19. The group had
been really excited to go, she
said, and it was a letdown
that preceded the early end to
the entire school year. Since
then, FFA students have been
able to meet and compete
virtually.
“It’s really hard to be
interactive and still make it
fun for kids in our chapter,”
she said. “It’s definitely been
interesting to say the least,
but it’s taught us to be resil-
ient and adaptive.”
Leathers said she resisted
the idea of joining FFA at
first, but her mother pushed
her into it an she is glad she
did. She called FFA, includ-
ing her team winning state
for food science and going to
nationals in 2019, an “irre-
placeable experience.”
“The people surround-
ing it are so supportive and
you’re able to learn,” she
said.
FFA — previously known
as Future Farmers of Amer-
ica — was founded in 1928. It
involves youths in all aspects
of agriculture, including crop
science, veterinary science,
agricultural technology,
leadership and business.
In a group interview of
Hermiston FFA students
reflecting on their experi-
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
A Hermiston FFA member departs after dropping off their animal at the 2020 Umatilla
County Fair Modified Youth Livestock Show on Aug. 11, 2020. Those entering animals for
auction weighed their animals and had their photos taken before departing to comply
with COVID-19 safety precautions.
ence during the pandemic,
FFA members said this year’s
convention will be different
than their last experience in
2019, to be sure.
“You definitely don’t get
(to) see the same energy as
in-person competitions,
where you would go back
to the hotel and hang out
and study together,” Abigail
Conner said.
Still, she and others said
they were looking forward
to getting to compete and
participate in local socially
distanced watch parties
for parts of the convention.
That includes the “retiring
address” from Hermiston’s
Jenna Wallace, who has been
serving as Oregon FFA vice
president.
Cidney Estes said one
thing FFA students really
missed during the pandemic
was getting the full “fair
week” experience in August
2020. Estes has been show-
ing steers since she was in
fourth grade, so just drop-
ping off her animal at the
fairgrounds for judging was
a departure from a tradition
she grew up with. She said
it was hard to adjust, partic-
ularly because plans for the
Blazing Fast
Internet!
fair kept having to change
as COVID-19 case rates and
state regulations fluctuated.
As a sophomore, she
has yet to have the experi-
ence of an in-person FFA
convention. But she said
participating in FFA this
year, including some limited
in-person activity, and gear-
ing up for competition has
helped improve the school
year.
“It’s nice to have some-
thing to do and something to
look forward to, especially
with school being the way it
is,” she said.
Sophomore Kylie Temple
said she misses road trips and
tours of agricultural facilities
right now, but the friendships
she has made in FFA are life-
long friendships, whatever
the rest of the year looks like.
“We don’t have cliques in
FFA,” she said.
Anna Guerrero, a senior,
said she will be sad to say
goodbye to FFA at the end of
the year. She said before she
came to the high school, she
didn’t know anything about
agriculture, but took an ag
biology class was persuaded
by Leah Smith, the FFA
advisor at the time, to get
involved. She loved it.
“This was my safe place,”
she said, gesturing to the ag
sciences classroom.
Through FFA, she had
opportunities to go into
younger classrooms and
teach students about agri-
culture, and it sparked a love
of teaching that she plans to
pursue after graduation this
year. She said if it weren’t
for FFA being a part of her
high school experience, she
probably wouldn’t know yet
what she wanted to do, and
she wouldn’t have gained as
much confidence as she did
over the past four years.
“FFA brought out a side of
me that I never knew I had,
and now it’s who I am,” she
said.
Shandie Britt, the current
FFA advisor and agricultural
sciences teacher at Hermis-
ton High School, said if high
school students aren’t sure
if they might like FFA, she
would encourage them to
come to a meeting and see
what types of learning expe-
riences are available.
“FFA is a place for every-
one,” she said. “It offers an
opportunity for people to
find out who they are.”
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Vescio grew up in Tennes-
see and started her teaching
career in South Carolina. She
and her husband moved to
Oregon in 2003. She’s been
with the school district since
2005. She started as a fifth
grade teacher.
“I taught fifth grade until
2012, and then moved to
seventh grade,” Vescio said.
Then in 2015, I became princi-
pal of Weston Middle School,
which is a fourth through
eighth grade school.”
Quaresma said watching
Vescio grow as a leader has
been rewarding.
While becoming a super-
intendent hasn’t necessarily
been her goal, Vescio decided
to take of the challenge when
she learned Quaresma might
be nearing retirement.
“Last year, pre-pandemic,
we started having these discus-
sions about this possibility that
Laure might step away from
the superintendent position
and that I might think about
stepping into that role,” Vescio
said.
Mentoring program
Quaresma said she’s excited
to be able to stay on for a year
to help Vescio transition to the
position. She referred to the
arrangement as a “grow your
own superintendent” program.
Rogers said Quaresma
being willing to coach and
mentor an in-house replace-
ment made the board more
comfortable with the idea of
not bringing in someone from
the outside with prior superin-
tendent experience.
“We discussed it at the
board level late last fall,”
Rogers said. “The board was
very supportive of Ann transi-
tioning in. But it was a pretty
unanimous that we’d be even
more supportive if we could
retain Laure in some capacity.”
Rogers said the arrange-
ment will benefit the district
and Vescio.
“Ann, to her credit, is very
transparent with where her
strengths and weaknesses lie,”
Rogers said. “Laure is going
to be a great mentor to kind of
round her out.”
Quaresma’s position will be
part time next year.
Vescio said she’s expects
her new role to be challenging
and rewarding.
“It’s a big step to go from a
building principal to a district
level position,” Vescio said.
“I’ll have a lot to learn.”
LOCAL BRIEFING
Noncompetitive
elections due to
candidate refiling
PEN DLETON — A
change in filing has set up
three candidates for three
open spots on the Pendleton
School Board.
In an email, Chris Garri-
gues said he had refiled his
candidacy paperwork so
that he would be running for
Position 4 instead of Posi-
tion 7. That means unless the
school board attracts some
last-minute candidates,
Garrigues, a high school
teacher, and Patrick Gregg,
an attorney, will run unop-
posed in the May 18 elec-
tion. Rodney Thompson, a
retired lieutenant colonel in
the U.S. Army Reserve, is
also running unopposed for
Position 1.
The three seats all became
open when three incumbents
on the school board — Gary
George, Debbie McBee
and Steve Umbarger — all
decided to retire from the
board.
Candidates have until
Thursday, March 18, to file
for one of the three at-large
school board seats.
In recent years, it has
become common for Pendle-
ton School Board candidates
to run unopposed, whether
they’re newcomers or incum-
bents.
Two injured in
multi-car crash on
Highway 11
MILTON-FREEWATER
— A man and woman were
injured on Sunday, March
14, on Highway 11 north
of Milton-Freewater when
a driver attempted to turn
onto the highway, was hit by
another, and then collided
with a third vehicle.
Oregon State Police had
yet to disclose the city of resi-
dence for those involved.
Cesar Ortiz Lopez, 39,
with three passengers, two
of them minors, attempted to
turn left from Ballou Road
onto Highway 11 northbound
around 12:24 p.m., according
to a report from the Oregon
State Police.
His vehicle was hit by a
southbound car, spun and hit
another vehicle.
The other drivers, Sue M.
Wright, 62, and Geoffrey R.
Bailey, 50, were injured and
taken to the nearest hospital,
the report stated.
Ortiz Lopez and the three
passengers, including Rigo-
berto Ortiz, 61, were not
injured.
All three vehicles were
damaged and towed.
Ortiz Lopez was cited, the
report stated.
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3/12-3/18
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