OFF PAGE ONE
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
East Oregonian
A11
Sams:
Continued from Page A1
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Pendleton High School graduates cross the stage May 29, 2021, at the Pendleton Round-Up Grounds to receive their diplomas. The Ore-
gon Department of Education’s latest report cards on schools shows local students are falling off the graduation track.
Report:
Continued from Page A1
But Yoshioka said that boost
was a result of the grant-funded
universal free-lunch program
the district operated during
distance learning rather than
a dramatic change in McKay
Creek’s demographics.
“If you look at that, you
would think that everyone is on
welfare,” he said.
Yoshioka and other local
administrators still are trying
to glean relevant data from the
report cards as they attempt
to keep student performance
on-track during COVID-19.
Districts try to keep
freshman on track
One of the more important
pieces of data the state releases
each year is its ninth-grade on
track for graduation rate. Using
the number of credits a fresh-
man has completed by the end
of their first year in high school,
the on-track rate can be fairly
predictive of future graduation
rate.
Hermiston’s 84% gradua-
tion rate was a bright spot in the
2019-20 school year, but Scott
Depew, the director of second-
ary education for the Hermis-
ton School District, said they’re
Adoption:
Continued from Page A1
Her goal is to receive a child
and impart her Christian faith.
Also, they will raise the child
to be productive members of
society and to be good to other
people.
The adoption process could
take five years, which will be
difficult. Still, she is happy to
wait, as long as she can achieve
her dream in the end.
Zach plans for
fatherhood
Sarah’s husband, Zach,
shares her dream. Though a
math teacher at Nixyaawii
Community School in Pendle-
ton, he grew up in Hermiston.
He attended Northwest Naza-
rene University, then trans-
ferred to Concordia University
to join Sarah. She was a student
at Concordia, and he wanted to
be with her as they were dating.
Zach, who has only ever
taught at Nixyaawii, is in his
already taking actions to keep
that rate from backsliding.
Hermiston’s on-track rate
for 2020-21 was only 72% and
Hermiston now is using that
statistic to identify credit-defi-
cient students to get them back
on track.
Pendleton’s on-track rate
is 77%, only a few percentage
points above the state average.
Yoshioka said it’s not where
the district wants it to be, but
Pendleton has had success
boosting the rate by the time
t hose f resh men be come
seniors.
The Umatilla School District
was another local success story
in 2019-20 when it posted a 93%
graduation rate, one of the high-
est in the county. So it came as a
surprise to Umatilla Superinten-
dent Heidi Sipe when the state
showed a 51% on-track rate, the
lowest in the county.
Sipe said 10 students were
one-credit shy of meeting the
on-track requirements, but the
resulting boost to a 65% rate
still is well below Umatilla’s
past rates. Sipe attributed the
decline to online learning and
an ability for Spanish speakers
to earn credits through a profi-
ciency test, but anticipated the
class would rebound in time for
graduation.
“Last year, with so many
students being online until
February, a lot of students ended
up being off-track as freshmen,”
she said. “It does not necessar-
ily mean it’s going to stay that
way. It just means that is where
they were.”
ninth year of teaching. He said
he likes that his school is small
and his town is small. He said
he thinks it would be a good fit
for any child he would have,
adopted or otherwise.
He said the five years he
and Sarah have been trying to
have a child have been diffi-
cult. He said he feels frus-
trated because doctors have
given him little explanation or
solution. They have done tests
and taken medications, but
they seem no closer to their
desired outcome. The doctors
tell them they have fertility
problems, but they have no
other diagnosis.
After five years, Zach and
Sarah realized they could not
go on the way they were doing
things. Zach had always thought
they would have a few kids and
then adopt. Now they were
having trouble with the first part
of this plan, he figured it would
be better to go straight to adopt-
ing.
This, however, was not as
easy as he originally thought.
“It’s been eye-opening,” he
said.
First, they planned to adopt
within the United States, but
that proved difficult. They went
through the Oregon Depart-
ment of Human Services, but
the process stalled. COVID-19
slowed the process even more
than usual, Zach said.
The Gaulkes changed gears
again, planning to adopt a child
from a foreign country, which
also is complicated. Adoption
law varies by nation, but adop-
tion agencies help people navi-
gate these laws. Zach and Sarah
chose an agency, which set them
up with different countries.
They have filled out paperwork,
submitting their qualifications.
After they are accepted, they
will begin home study, choose a
target country and submit coun-
try specific documents. Then
they will wait for translations,
more approvals and finally a
match with their child.
Attendance craters
during pandemic
Attendance was another
statistic Yoshioka was skepti-
cal of.
Superficially, Pendleton’s
attendance numbers don’t look
good: The state reported less
than two-thirds of the district’s
students attended school regu-
larly during the last school year.
But during the pandemic, the
state redefined what counted as
attendance.
Yoshioka said a student
didn’t need to log into class to
be counted as attending during
distance learning. Activi-
ties such as turning in assign-
ments or having a conversation
with a teacher were counted as
attendance. Yoshioka said that
meant there was no way to truly
measure if a student was being
completely exposed to instruc-
tion.
Even with all the caveats
in mind, Depew said Hermis-
ton wants to work at improving
its attendance rate, especially
in light of the report card,
which showed more than 1 in 4
The expense and the
fundraising
This is an expensive process,
students were considered chron-
ically absent.
Equity gap persistent
Nearly a year of distance
learning tended to only cement
the public school system’s ineq-
uities rather than cure them.
Pendleton’s ninth grade-on
track for graduate rate hid a
glaring disparity: American
Indian students were 11 points
below their white counterparts.
As in past years, Yoshioka
said American Indian high
school student performance
is largely out of Pendleton’s
hands. Most American Indian
students in the area attend Nixy-
aawii Community School on the
Umatilla Indian Reservation, a
charter school that operates
with its own administration and
school board.
While most American Indian
students attend schools in-town
K-8, Yoshioka said the responsi-
bility of addressing on-track rate
lies with Nixyaawii.
In Hermiston, Depew was
concer ned about English
language learners, where less
than half are on track to grad-
uate on time. Depew said its an
area of focus for the district this
year.
———
East Oregonian reporter
Erick Peterson contributed to
this feature.
costing $30,000 to $42,000,
which the Gaulkes do not have.
Their first fundraiser was
a large yard sale, with items
donated by fellow church
members, friends and strang-
ers. It was a big hit, netting the
pair $4,500.
The next fundraiser is
happening now, a drive to
collect gently-used shoes,
which the Gaulkes will hand
over to Shoes with Heart, a
charity organization that pay
the Gaulkes and ship the shoes
to third-world countries. There,
the shoes will be given to shop
owners for sale.
Laura Gaulke, Zach’s mother,
has been helping with organizing
the fundraisers. She said people
can donate their shoes at two
locations in Hermiston — Beth-
lehem Lutheran Church, 515 S.W.
Seventh St., and Sassafras Flow-
ers by Shera, 611 E. Highland Ave.
She said she is excited to
be a grandmother and is a big
believer in the couple.
“They’re going to be great
parents,” she said.
Dora:
Continued from Page A1
Dora had a short, but eventful life. Born in
Pendleton in 1888, she married as a teenager.
At age 15, with her father’s permission, she
wed Willam Waddle, 26, and gave birth to
son, Chester, and daughter, Ida. Waddle even-
tually abandoned the family and she married
Arthur Rhodes, a popular auto mechanic and
they eventually settled in Hermiston.
In 1922, Dora died at St. Anthony Hospi-
tal at age 33 after a long illness. The death
certificate specifies the cause of death as
pernicious anemia with the complications of
flu and hysterectomy. According to the East
Oregonian obituary, mourners at a Pendleton
mortuary filled every seat at her funeral.
Jack said he imagines the anguish Dora
felt on her deathbed, fretting about her two
children.
“She undoubtedly worried about what
would become of them after her death,” he said.
“I wish she could know that her kids went on to
live such happy, meaningful lives. She was their
angel and she gave them the wings to survive.”
photos by Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
The grandsons of Dora Rhodes replaced her gravestone recently after visiting Olney Ceme-
tery, Pendleton, a few years ago and finding the grave had no marker.
Dora’s son Chester, Jack and Don’s father,
was 17 when his mother died. His stepfather
took Ida and headed to California. Ches-
ter lived on his own. He attended Hermis-
ton High School and the University of Puget
Sound, earning money by doing ranch work.
The order is meant to stop “a pendulum that
swings back and forth depending on who is in
public office,” Biden said.
Trump did not fill the National Parks Service
director position when it became vacant in
January 2017, instead naming acting direc-
tors. The move skirted any Senate involvement
with who would fill the position or questions on
National Parks Service policies.
Under the U.S. Constitution, key presi-
dential appointments require the “advice and
consent” of the Senate.
After stepping down from his leadership
role at the Umatilla reservation, Gov. Kate
Brown selected Sams early this year as a repre-
sentative of Oregon on the Northwest Power
and Conservation Council.
But even before he officially assumed that
position, Brown and Oregon’s U.S. Sens. Ron
Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Democrats, were
advocating Biden select Sams as National Parks
Service director.
“Chuck Sams is among Oregon’s finest, and
I can’t think of a better person for the important
role of National Park Service director,” Brown
wrote to Biden. “I have worked closely with
Chuck for many years, and have witnessed first-
hand his unparalleled devotion and service to
his Tribe, our state, and our nation.”
At the Oct. 19 hearing, Wyden, a member
of the committee, will introduce Sams, who
will make an opening statement and then
answer questions from the 10 Democrats and
10 Republicans on the committee.
If prior hearings before the committee are
any indication, Sams can expect sharp ques-
tions about his plans for the service and his
views on issues from global warming to the
federal government’s annexation of land.
Biden has asked for up to $3.5 billion for the
National Parks Service, saying outdated facil-
ities, roads and staffing levels could perma-
nently endanger the natural areas.
The committee hearings have been the
source of partisan fireworks earlier this year.
The nominations of New Mexico Rep. Deb
Haaland, D, as secretary of the interior and
National Wildlife Foundation executive Tracy
Stone-Manning as director of the Bureau of
Land Management were contentious over envi-
ronmental and land-use priorities.
The Senate eventually confirmed both. With
most of the policy issues already hashed out
with Haaland, who as secretary of the interior
oversees both the National Parks Service and
Bureau of Land Management, the nomination
of Sams is unlikely to generate a similar level
of political heat as earlier confirmations.
A key sign that Sams’ nomination is unlikely
to be contentious is that he will be one of three
Biden nominees to appear on Oct. 19.
The committee also will take up the nomi-
nations of Willie L. Phillips Jr. to be a member
of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
and Brad J. Crabtree to be an assistant secre-
tary of energy.
While Republicans have focused on the
environmentalist philosophies of Biden’s nomi-
nees, some liberals have questioned if Sams is
the best choice to lead the agency. They say
experience is needed to rebuild morale after
more than four years of turbulence over policies
that led many career NPS employees to resign
or retire rather than implement Trump’s orders.
Sen. Angus King of Maine, an independent
who caucuses with Democrats and is counted
among the 50 votes to give the party parity with
Republicans, sits on the committee that will
question Sams.
King had publicly chastised Biden in May
for taking what he felt was too long to nominate
a new head of the park service.
When Biden announced Sams as his choice
in August, King’s reaction was mixed.
In an August interview with Energy & Envi-
ronment, a publication affiliated with Politico
magazine, King said he was concerned that
Sams had no previous experience with the park
service.
Directors had historically been selected
from among the agency’s senior managers.
“I’m reserving judgment,” King said.
But after reassurances from those who had
worked with Sams on public land trust and
conservation issues, King said he could see an
upside to Sams serving as head of the service.
“I’ve heard from people that know him that
he’s very capable and would bring fresh eyes
and new perspective to the department, to the
service,” King said.
The hearing will at 10 a.m. Oct. 19 in room
366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in
Washington, D.C. The hearing will be lives-
treamed on the U.S. Senate website, senate.gov.
He worked as a teacher and eventually
became superintendent of schools in Cheha-
lis, Washington.
Daughter Ida graduated from a technical
school in Oakland, California. She worked
as a telephone operator before marrying and
raising two daughters with her husband Merle
West.
Midway through the graveside ceremony,
Don, age 85, read Psalm 23 from the family
Bible.
“The Lord is my shepherd,” he read, “I
shall not want…”
Afterwards, he mused he wished Dora
could observe the celebration of her life.
“I hope that somehow she will feel our
connection spiritually today,” he said.
Jack said he missed the presence of his
grandmother, who would have been 56
when he was born and 47 at Don’s birth.
Though none of them would ever hear
Dora’s laugh or the sound of her voice,
he said he is sure she would have been a
central part of their lives.
He spoke directly to his grandmother.
“All of us are here because of you and all
of us are in your debt,” he said. “We love
you. Rest in peace.”