A6
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Tuesday, August 31, 2021
CityFest:
Eagles:
Continued from Page A1
Continued from Page A1
times,” with COVID-19, world-
wide violence, and instabil-
ity. Still, events like this make
people feel encouraged.
In contrast to the smaller
crowd on Aug. 27, the Aug. 28
attracted thousands of people.
Hankel said he was hopeful he
and others would be able to reach
out to people in need of mental
health. Perhaps he could be a
friendly voice to someone and
share hope.
“I’m the guy who does the
triage,” he said. Following
his meetings with people, he
planned to direct those people
in need to proper mental health
professionals.
He also was hopeful people
would not get sick from COVID-
19. He said his own church
congregation includes people
who have gotten sick with
COVID-19 and knows at least
one person who died of the
disease.
As he made his rounds during
the festival, he said he was most
looking forward to Palau’s
message. And many more people
were enjoying the activities on
Aug. 28.
Charles Hearn, Pilot Rock
resident, said he was having fun
and he was happy to bring his
children to experience God.
Jason Estle, pastor of Desert
Rose Ministries of Hermiston,
Hale has been interested in aviation for
around a year and watched a lot of YouTube
videos that made her want to look into flying
more, even though she’d only ever been on
a plane for a trip to Florida once. During
her flight at Young Eagles Day, her pilot let
her take the controls for a minute and turn
the plane.
“It was awesome,” she said.
According to Ron Neeley, the Young
Eagles coordinator, the local EAA hasn’t
had an event like this in several years even
though it has been trying. The Experimental
Aircraft Association was supposed to have a
Young Eagles Day in 2020 until COVID-19
turned that plan upside down. The chapter
then scheduled the day for two weeks ago,
but the smoke from wildfires forced pushing
the day back to Aug. 28.
Neeley said it took a lot of work to put an
all-volunteer-run event like this together,
with pilots offering their time and fuel freely
to get kids interested. Other EAA clubs,
such as College Place, pitched in to help get
the event off the ground as well.
David Miller, the chapter president, said
his own passion for aviation began young
when he participated in a similar program
on a family trip to the coast. After passing
a small airport his parents turned the car
around, pulled over and asked if he wanted
to go on a short little plane ride.
“The guy took us up and flew us up and
down the coast,” Miller said. “I was kind of
hooked from there.”
Unfortunately for Miller, aviation would
have to take the backseat as money and time
blocked him from getting more involved
until he was older. He eventually decided to
jump in and started to learn how to fly after
talking with a friend.
“There’s just so many cool things about
it,” Miller said. “Just the feeling of being
able to get up in the air and just, it’s kind of
hard to describe, I guess.”
“You’re getting to do something that not
a lot of people get to do,” he said.
For Charles and Elizabeth Hearn, an
11-year-old and 12-year-old from Pilot
Rock, they got to do something they never
expected when their mom surprised them
by signing them up. Even though it was a
surprise, they said it was fun and were inter-
ested in aviation now. The feelings Miller
mentioned were on full display.
“It felt like some of my bodyweight just
kind of drifted away,” said Elizabeth. “It felt
like we were floating through the air with
nothing there,” she added later.
“I was kind of nervous at first because
I didn’t know what it would be like,” said
Charles. “It’s comfortable.”
Steve Lawn, the chief engineer at the
Pendleton UAS Test Range who helped set
up the event and provided model drones to
display, had similar feelings when he had
the opportunity as a kid to go up in the air
with one of his dad’s friends who had gotten
a private pilot’s license.
“From then on I was hooked,” Lawn said.
Lawn, who grew up in a military family
with his dad in the Air Force, said he was
surrounded by aviation from a young age
and always wanted to be involved in it.
“Once you get the bug, it’s with you,” he
said. “It’s hard to shake.”
The passion that Neeley, Miller and Lawn
share for aviation is clear, and the enthusi-
asm at Young Eagles Day was palpable in
their efforts to inspire a new generation of
pilots.
“It’s really supposed to be the spark that
kindles the fire that propels them into some
kind of aviation career,” Lawn said.
Their hopes seemed to have worked.
With 28 flights taking youths to the skies
for the first time, Miller and the local EAA
chapter are looking forward to making
Young Eagles Day a yearly event with the
help of those who hope that just a little spark
can go a long way.
Principals:
Continued from Page A1
At a recent Pendleton School
Board meeting, Superinten-
dent Chris Fritsch said the
district was fortunate to have a
deep pool of applicants when it
opened the positions. In a series
of interviews, the three new
principals explained why they
chose to come to Pendleton and
what excited them about their
schools.
A career full circle
The first time Sherri Kilgore
came to Pendleton, it was
because she was a first-year
teacher looking for a community
offering jobs. The second time
around, Kilgore’s
application was a
little more inten-
tional.
K i l g o r e
becom i ng the
pr i ncipal of
McKay Creek
Kilgore
represents a
homecoming of
sorts, having started her educa-
tional career as a middle school
English teacher in Pendleton.
She loved teaching in Pendleton,
but when she and her husband
started having children, they
felt like they needed to be closer
to their families in Wallowa
County.
“I did not want to move at
all,” she said. “I was not a happy
camper.”
But the Kilgores made a
life for themselves in Wallowa
County, with Sherri serving
as principal of Joseph Charter
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Rapper George Moss performs Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021, at the Greater Hermiston CityFest with Andrew
Palau in Butte Park in Hermiston.
was likewise impressed, saying
CityFest was great and that it
was “awesome” to see Christ
touch lives.
He said he heard from people
with many problems, including
issues of addiction. The power
of God was making them free,
he said.
Estle was working at a prayer
tent at CityFest, joined by Herm-
iston resident Amy Palmer. She
said she was glad to be meeting
people. People, who were desir-
ing greater connection with God,
had been visiting her to ask for
and offer prayers.
“This is a wonderful place of
prayer,” she said.
CityFest began the day Gov.
Kate Brown’s mask mandate for
large outdoor gatherings went
into effect Aug. 27. The day after
the festival, Levi Park, director
of festivals for CityFest, said he
had a good time. He added all
volunteers were wearing masks,
sanitation stations were placed
at entrances and requests to
mask-up were made from the
stage, as promised prior to the
event.
“We did our part,” he said. He
added he could not force anyone
to wear a mask.
The crowd size, based on
counts throughout the day,
was an estimated 4,800 people.
Masks were rare at the event,
and social distancing was not
followed, even among volun-
teers.
School, a K-12 school, for the
past 17 years. Before she took
over Joseph, Kilgore had always
considered herself a second-
ary-level educator, but she grew
more interested in the elemen-
tary level as she began to work
with it as an administrator.
As time went on, Kilgore’s
children grew up and moved
away from home to go to college
and get jobs. And Kilgore and
her husband grew interested in
returning to Pendleton.
At the same time, Kilgore’s
husband was battling Amyo-
trophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.
Within two weeks of their move
to Pendleton he died, but Kilgore
said it was still a move her late
husband supported.
“The thing about living with
someone with a slow terminal
disease, you do have time to
make a plan,” she said. “He was
absolutely part of this decision
and the plan to move here. He
just needed to know that I was
set up and that I was going to be
okay, see where I was going to
be living.”
Kilgore moved away in 2002,
and although a lot has changed
in Pendleton since then, she’s
already starting to encounter
familiar faces. The children of
her students from her first stint
in Pendleton are now McKay
students themselves.
year as a principal at EDGE High
School, Salem-Keizer’s online-
only high school. But Pendleton
offered several appealing qual-
ities to Dutcher and his family.
Dutcher is as
close to being
from Pendleton
that one can be
without actu-
ally being from
Pendleton.
Dutcher’s wife
Dutcher
is from Pend-
leton and much
of his family also is from the
town, meaning he spent many
childhood summers in Eastern
Oregon.
“Pendleton is really a honey
spot in education,” he said.
While Salem-Keizer is one
of the largest school districts in
the state, Dutcher also has expe-
rience in rural school districts,
having served as a high school
principal in Scio, a small school
district east of Albany. Dutcher
said he plans to be a visible pres-
ence in the high school, not just
during school hours or at sport-
ing events but also at other extra-
curricular activities like FFA
competitions and choir concerts.
Dutcher also serves as the
principal of Hawthorne Alter-
native High School, which has
struggled with its graduation
rate in recent years. He said
he has experience raising high
school graduation rates at previ-
ous jobs, and he plans to support
the school’s current efforts to
make Hawthorne’s curriculum
more project-based.
ards comes from a much larger
district.
Richards came from Bend-La
Pine Schools, where he served
as the principal of Bear Creek
Elementary School. Richards
said he wanted to move to a
smaller district because it was
easier to forge relationships and
make an impact with his deci-
sions in Pendleton than the fast-
est growing metro area in the
state.
“It’s just a
different feel,”
he said.
Richards
started out his
career as a high
school Spanish
teacher, and his
Richards
language skills
have carried over to his admin-
istrative career. Bear Creek is a
dual-immersion school, mean-
ing many classes are taught in
both English and Spanish.
Although Richards is fluent
in Spanish, he doesn’t plan
on turning Washington into a
dual-language school anytime
soon. He helped start a dual-lan-
guage program in Tillamook
from the ground up, and said it
can be difficult to recruit bilin-
gual teachers to a rural area, as
opposed to a larger city such as
Bend.
However, Richards said he
was intrigued by the use of the
Umatilla language at Washing-
ton, where it’s featured prom-
inently in signs across the
school. While not quite dual
language, the signs are meant
to offer cultural support to
students, where more than 1 in
5 students identifies as Ameri-
can Indian.
‘A honey spot’
There weren’t many jobs that
would have enticed Pat Dutcher
out of his job as an administra-
tor for the Salem-Keizer School
District.
Dutcher had been a curric-
ulum principal at West Salem
High School and spent the past
School:
Continued from Page A1
“I’m really excited,” she said.
“In-person school is better because
you learn a lot more.”
She recalled having some techni-
cal problems last year when study-
ing online, as occasional internet
failures would lock her out of class.
This will not be an issue this year
because she physically will be
in class. She also said she has no
concerns about COVID-19 because
she believes strongly in masks and
vaccinations. This leaves her free to
think about other matters, such as
her AP classes, her work as a bilin-
gual tutor and her college applica-
tions. She already has applied to
Western Oregon University, and she
expects to apply to other schools,
too.
Senior Katelyn Heideman, a
high school basketball player, also
is eager to start school. She said
she had to find ways to stay moti-
vated at home during the lockdown.
Now returning, she is excited to
play sports, attend classes, see her
friends and involve herself in lead-
ership roles.
A leader at the school, who HHS
success coach Jay Ego praised,
Heideman said she hopes to help the
incoming freshmen be successful.
“You’ve got to come in moti-
Principal experience in
two languages
Like Dutcher, J.P. Rich-
vated and set goals for yourself, and
you’ll be fine,” she said.
472 freshmen, 1,700
students in all
Michael Thomas, assistant prin-
cipal who is starting his sixth year,
is likewise optimistic. There are 472
freshmen enrolled at the school.
Total enrollment is around 1,700
students. He is glad to have them
present in school.
“Having students in school
makes a difference,” Thomas said.
When they are in the build-
ing, working with them is much
easier. He also said he is seeing a
lot of joyful anticipation amongst
students. They will have to grow
accustomed to studying in person,
but they are up to the task and he
does not expect trouble.
“They’ll do great,” he said.
He also is anticipating positivity
from the school’s teachers, though
he said there are some who “aren’t
thrilled” about mask or vaccination
mandates. As for himself, he said,
“I’ll stand on my head every morn-
ing if that’s what it takes to get our
kids in school.”
Hermiston High staff will have
to wear masks in class, and they
will need to get a vaccination by
Oct. 18, unless they file a medical
or religious exemption.
The welcoming
On the morning of Aug. 27,
the school welcomed its fresh-
men through the door with a large
assembly and group meetings.
Kate Thomas, who works
for Link Crew, led the assembly
with Hermiston High faculty and
student helpers. The students played
games that energized them to make
them feel comfortable with their
surroundings and their classmates.
Then, they broke up into small
groups for further discussion, a tour
and lunch.
Thomas, who traveled to Herm-
iston from Portland, said it is
important to start the school year
with a smile. The goal, she said, is to
make freshmen comfortable, show
them their lockers and teach them
how to navigate a lunch line.
“They also make friends and get
to know the people who will look
out for them,” she said.
Maggie Hughes-Boyd, school
counselor, said the Link Crew
program “seems magical.”
“The process works,” Hughes-
Boyd said. It keeps students moving
and having fun and drew about 340
freshmen to an entirely voluntary
first day at school.
The staff and teachers
While students learned the ropes
of their new school, HHS teachers
prepared for instruction the follow-
ing week.
Erika Hearne, math teacher, was
getting set for her first year of full-
time teaching. Prior to this year,
she had been a substitute teacher
for four years.
“I’m very excited,” she said. “I
get to teach a class that supports a
skill that feeds into every facet of
life whether you believe it or not.”
She missed interacting face to
face and found it hard to measure
the impact of her remote instruc-
tion. In-person schooling should be
better, she said, and she hopes the
school can remain open.
Ernest Kincaid, math and special
education teacher, said he also is
happy about this year.
“It was tough last year, espe-
cially for our special ed population,”
he said. Technological problems
hampered his teaching. He also
found student motivation lacking
at times.
“We made it through,” he said.
Jessica Gormley, math teacher,
said many of the same things. It was
difficult to keep student attention
and fully see her student’s skills.
“I think being in the classroom
takes away all those challenges,”
she said.
Tori Scott, business teacher, also
is cheerful about in-person instruc-
tion. This is her first year at the high
school. She previously taught at
Armand Larive Middle School in
Hermiston.
“It was very difficult,” she said
of classes online. Work was not
being turned in, and many students
were failing, especially at the start.
Being in person, she said, she can
get a better read on students to see
when they need help.
Now beginning year 27 with
the school district, Delia Fields is
cheerful to be back behind a desk
as a school librarian. For the start
of her career with the district, she
was a humanities teacher. For the
past eight years she has worked at
the library, except when she covered
art classes recently for Sandstone
Middle School.
“It was an entirely different situ-
ation for everyone,” she said of
her recent stint as an art teacher,
though she made the best of it. She
used her library background to find
resources for teaching, and she
used her knowledge of humanities
to incorporate art history into her
lessons.
Still, she said in-person learning
is superior to online classes, as she
can better form relationships with
students. She said she believes her
work is especially important to
students who might otherwise be
turned loose onto the internet.
More than ever, she said, a
librarian’s work is not just books.
It is about finding quality infor-
mation, effectively and efficiently.
We drown when we stick our heads
under the “Google waterfall” as we
try to take a drink. The librarian’s
job, like the job of other educators,
is to guide students to a faucet.