OFF PAGE ONE
Thursday, March 18, 2021
East Oregonian
A7
Encore: ‘This hasn’t been a vacation for any teacher’ Vaccine: 29.54 million
For HHS band teacher
Sean McClanahan, working
virtually with students who
play a wide variety of instru-
ments means a careful setup
in his classroom where instru-
ments ring the desk where his
camera is set up, making it
easy to grab whatever instru-
ment he needs.
“I’m looking forward to
getting back to a time when I
can sit down and make music
with the kids again,” he said.
Continued from Page A1
to practice on their own at
home if they want to is valu-
able,” she said.
Hermiston School
District students
excited about
performing
In Hermiston School
District, music teachers told
similar tales of trying to
adapt their curriculum to the
pandemic.
Stacy Cooley, who teaches
choir for both Sandstone
and Armand Larive middle
schools, said she has tried to
come up with fun ways to
engage students with music.
She did a unit on music in
movies and had students put
together their own short fi lm
with musical score and back-
ground sounds.
Later, they were asked to
write a quarantine-themed
parody of a famous song. In
one example Cooley provided,
student Abby Goller and her
father Josh Goller sang “I Just
Can’t Wait to be Free” to the
tune of the Lion King’s “I Just
Can’t Wait to be King.”
They also watched the
musical “Newsies,” and are
now learning the music to it.
“This is the most excited
about singing I’ve seen them
so far this year,” Cooley said.
Cooley said with prior
choir classes, middle school
students shy about sing-
ing solos could hang back
and blend their voices with
the rest of their section.
Now, however, everyone is
expected to turn in record-
ings for her to listen to and
give them feedback on their
progress.
“When you have to sing
into a camera and you’re all
by yourself, that’s really hard
and you’re super vulnerable,”
she said.
Teachers in Hermis-
ton have used recordings of
students to splice together
video “concerts” for the
district’s YouTube channel.
While they may look like
students simply all tuned in
and performed together, it
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Hermiston High School band teacher Sean McClanahan in-
structs a virtual class from his classroom at the high school
on Friday, March 5, 2021.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Pendleton School District band teacher Andy Cary teaches
an online class from his offi ce at Pendleton High School on
March 10, 2021.
actually takes hours of work
to carefully sync up each
student’s prerecorded part.
“It’s several hours of
work,” Hermiston High
videos. Bemrose-Rust has
to record herself singing
students’ parts for them, for
example, so they have a frame
of reference while practic-
“THIS IS THE MOST EXCITED
ABOUT SINGING I’VE SEEN THEM
SO FAR THIS YEAR.”
— Stacy Cooley, Sandstone and Armand Larive
middle school choir teacher
School choir teacher Jordan
Bemrose-Rust said. “One
class video takes about 10
hours to do, and I have fi ve
choirs.”
It also takes longer for
teachers to prepare their
students for the concert
ing at home during the self-
guided learning part of their
day. They also need to have
a recording of the instrumen-
tal accompaniment to practice
along with, and to be able to
practice harmonizing with
other sections’ parts.
Drones: Classes help in job training
Continued from Page A1
their vehicles there, most
positions are fi lled either by
transient workers or people
who move into town from
elsewhere. Steve Chrisman,
Pendleton’s airport manager
and economic development
director, said one of the top
questions he gets asked is how
can locals fi nd a job in the new
industry.
Chrisman said most jobs
in UAS can’t be filled by
someone with a standard
high school or college educa-
tion. That’s where the classes
off ered by DelMar can help,
and there’s plans in the works
for the company to work with
Blue Mountain Commu-
nity College and local public
schools to help get students
trained.
“If we can get them
exposed to UAS by the time
they put a diaper on, that’s fi ne
by me,” Chrisman said.
Beyond the school help-
ing DelMar identify poten-
tial candidates for its own
business, Springer said the
company’s ultimate goal for
the school is to help create
a stable labor supply for the
industry.
The school has already
garnered the interest of
DeepTrend Inc., a Louisiana
company that provides deep
sea engineering support for
oil and gas companies.
DeepTrend sponsored two
scholarships for Ammarae
Broncheau, a specialist with
the Oregon National Guard’s
UAS unit in Pendleton, and
Dottie Carrell, a member of
the Umatilla County Search
and Rescue team.
“When my husband and
I joined Umatilla County
Search and Rescue, we
were drawn to fl ying drones
initially because, being retired
we could not hike as far as
we used to,” Carrell said in a
DelMar press release. “As we
got more involved with drones
we saw how useful they can
be, and how well they aid the
searches.”
In a statement, DeepTrend
owner Matt Doan said train-
ing people like Carrell and
Broncheau would create a
talent pool the company could
utilize in the future.
While DelMar and Volatus
are focused on its two-week
UAS Professional Pilot
Program for now, it’s hoping
to expand its off erings as the
COVID-19 pandemic begins
to recede.
Its cu r rent cou rses
are simulation based, but
Springer said the school is
looking to off er fl ight courses
in the future, as well as more
advanced courses for students
that are already working in the
industry.
Heading back to the
classroom
When sixth through 12th
grade students return to the
classroom over the next few
weeks, McClanahan said
Hermiston School District
has been studying best prac-
tices recommended by large
studies on safely practicing
music amid COVID-19. Like
other classes, band and choir
students will only meet with
half the group at a time and
will be spaced at least 6 feet
apart. Special measures for
music classes will range from
using bell covers on instru-
ments to wearing special
“singing masks” for choir
students.
Pendleton School District
will take those same precau-
tions, Cary said.
He said he worries students
will feel even more intimi-
dated when singing or play-
ing with half-sized classes
spaced far apart. Making
video recordings may have
felt like a lot of exposure, he
said, but students knew only
he would listen to them and
as a longtime teacher he’s
already seen “the good, the
bad and the ugly” so many
times he won’t judge.
“Now they’ll have an audi-
ence they didn’t have before,”
he said.
Still, all music teachers
interviewed said they were
excited to at least get to see
their students in person again
and start moving back toward
a more typical school expe-
rience.
“This hasn’t been a vaca-
tion for any teacher,” Cary
said.
COVID-19 cases in
U.S., 536,826 deaths
Continued from Page A1
President Joe Biden has
set May 1 as the date when
states should open eligibil-
ity to all those 16 and older.
But Gov. Kate Brown said
the state would stick with its
current priority system until
there is a fi rm commitment
from federal health author-
ities of a major increase in
vaccine being sent to the
state.
Oregon health offi cials
felt burned in January when
they announced eligibility
for everyone over 65 based
on what turned out to be
an erroneous statement by
federal health offi cials in
the Trump administration.
Brown had to reverse the
order and restore a tiered
priority system.
Since the arrival of the
fi rst vaccines from Pfi zer
and Moderna in December
2020, about 1.36 million
people in Oregon are in the
nine priority groups already
eligible.
But the state reports total
shots to date at 1,346,090.
The vast majority of the
shots are the Pfizer and
Moderna vaccines, which
require two shots spaced
about a month apart.
That translates into just
under 674,000 two-shot
inoculations, enough for
less than half of those eligi-
ble. The gap between eligi-
bility and availability has
resulted in widespread frus-
tration over trying to book
appointments with county
health authorities, phar-
macies or other medical
providers.
Recently, the Johnson
& Johnson vaccine that
requires just one shot has
arrived in Oregon.
Through Monday, March
15, a total of 1,642,505
doses of vaccines have been
delivered to Oregon.
Oregon has averaged
about 24,000 shots per day,
putting it in the middle of
states nationwide.
Because of Brown’s
decision to prioritize educa-
tors over seniors in Janu-
ary, the state is below the
national average for seniors
who have been inoculated.
Though vaccine is provided
through the federal govern-
ment and the CDC has a
suggested prioritization
list, states ultimately have
authority to decide who gets
inoculated at what point.
Oregon has been one of
the safest places in the coun-
try during the pandemic.
The state has the fourth
lowest number of COVID-
19 cases per capita among
all states, according to an
ongoing count by the New
York Times. Only Hawaii,
Vermont and Maine have
performed better since the
fi rst COVID-19 case was
reported in Washington on
Jan. 21, 2020.
Over the past week,
Oregon has the second
lowest number of cases per
capita, with only Hawaii
reporting fewer infections.
Oregon has the fifth
lowest per capita fatality
rate since the pandemic
began, with Hawaii,
Vermont, Alaska and Maine
reporting lower.
Over the past week,
Oregon has the third lowest
per capita fatality rate, with
only Alaska and Hawaii
scoring lower.
OHA reported that
Oregon has had 160,050
cases of COVID-19 and
2,346 deaths since Febru-
ary 2020.
Nationwide, there have
been 29.54 million COVID-
19 cases nationwide, with
536,826 deaths, according
to the Johns Hopkins Coro-
navirus Resource Center.
Worldwide, there have been
over 120 million cases and
2.67 million deaths.
G O O D S H E P H E R D H E A LT H C A R E S Y S T E M
Let’s Get Your Sleep
Back on Track
Messaging: Text service not mandatory
Continued from Page A1
hearings compared to a year
ago.
Failing to appear in court
can result in arrest warrants
and new charges in a criminal
case, or a default judgement
or dismissal in a civil case.
The ser vice is also
intended to speed up court
proceedings and “increase
productivity for courts, attor-
neys, law enforcement and
other case participants by
avoiding the cost and delays
of rescheduling,” the press
release said.
The new service comes
after the Oregon Judicial
Department completed a
pilot project in the Jose-
phine County Circuit Court
in February, the press release
said. Umatilla and Morrow
counties will be part of
a small group of “early
adopter” circuit courts.
Blaine added that the
service will be similar to
the text message service that
reminds people about upcom-
ing jury duty, which started in
Deschutes County in Decem-
ber 2020.
The service will only
apply to state circuit courts
and Oregon’s Tax Court, but
will not apply to municipal or
justice courts, according to
Blaine. Victims in criminal
proceedings can also partic-
ipate if they choose. Other
confi dential cases, such as
juvenile proceedings and
civil commitment cases, are
also excluded from the new
service.
Those who wish to partic-
ipate in the new text message
system must have a cellphone
on fi le with the court.
After the “early adopter”
courts are online, the courts
will pause operations for 60
days to ensure the system
works smoothly before circuit
courts statewide begin using
it in July.
Blaine said it’s important
people know the service is
voluntary.
“It’s not something we’re
throwing out and insisting”
people use, he said. “But it is
a way of communicating with
people.”
Blaine added that people
interested in the service
should call him and the
circuit court. Blaine, along
with other court staff , will be
overseeing the implementa-
tion of the service in the two
counties.
Introducing Good Shepherd Sleep Solutions
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