A6
COMMUNITY
East Oregonian
Thursday, April 14, 2022
Umatilla robotics team heads to world championships
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
UMATILLA — Umatilla
High School’s varsity robot-
ics team took the top honor
this past weekend at the
Pacific Northwest District
Championship.
Kyle Sipe, Umatilla
teacher and robotics coach,
explained Team Confi den-
tial’s recent achievement
in which 50 schools were
involved April 6-9 in Cheney,
Washington.
“The kids won what is
called the Chairman’s Award,
which is the award that, basi-
cally, is fi rst place,” Sipe said.
“All of the other robotics
teams try to win this award.”
The team set this goal a
long time ago, he said, and
what was a dream became
a reality thanks to planning
and hard work.
“This isn’t just a one-year
thing,” he said. “It’s not as
if we’re just doing good
this year. It’s been on our
program for a number of
years. We’ve grown it up in
the last 12 years to be at the
level we are at.”
At the district champi-
onship, the junior varsity
team also competed. That
team was vying for Rookie
All-Stars honor. The “train-
ing team,” as the coach calls
it, is made up of freshman.
These younger students
did not win, but they were
promoted to Team Confi den-
tial after the varsity compet-
itors won the Chairman’s
Award.
The unifi ed UHS robot-
ics team of 27 students
next goes to a world-level
competition. The team
Umatilla High School/Contributed Photo
Team Confi dential, Umatilla High School’s robotics team,
poses Saturday, April 9, 2022, with the banner of the Chair-
man’s Award for winning the Pacifi c Northwest District
Championship in Cheney, Washington. The win qualifi ed the
team for the world championships.
goes head-to-head against
other teams from around the
globe, starting April 20, in
Houston. Competitors will
come from China, Japan,
Israel and other countries.
Leaving on Sunday,
April 17, a single bus will
cart the Umatilla students
and supervisors to Texas.
Umatilla County awards AWERE grants for 2022
UMATILLA COUNTY
— Ten local governments
and organizations are bene-
fi ting from Athena-Weston
Education and Resource
Enhancement grants.
The Umatilla County
Board of Commissioners at
its meeting April 6 awarded
the grants totaling $180,000.
Athena Elementary School
received the largest grant
— $46,365.50 for track
shade structures. The other
amounts and receipts are as
follows:
$2,780 to Caledonian
Games for electrical/water.
$2,965 to Kees Blue
Mountain Cemetery for
fence repair.
$5,000 to Umatilla
County Pioneer Association
for Pioneer Days.
$10,369.50 to Umatilla
County Emergency
Management for hazard
preparedness.
$15,819 to the city of
Weston for the park kitchen.
$17,819 to Weston
McEwen High School for
LED lighting upgrades.
$19,819 to East Umatilla
County Ambulance for a
fi re/rescue all-terrain vehi-
cle.
$19,819 to East Umatilla
Fire & Rescue District for
an ATV and software.
$39,244 to Weston
Middle School for a play-
ground court.
E a c h p r oje c t a n d
improvements are to be
completed by Dec. 31.
Florida Power & Light,
a subsidiary of NextEra
Energy, is a developer
of wind turbine farms
in Umatilla County and
provided an annual dona-
tion of $75,000 from 2012
to 2021, which funded
the grants for commu-
nity improvement projects
within its service area.
AWERE also allocates
funds from community
services fees under the
Oregon Strategic Invest-
ment Program, with a
balance available of approx-
imately $180,000. The
AWERE Board recom-
mended recipients of the
2022 grants for the funds
received in December 2021
for that amount.
The AWER E Board
consists of one county
commissioner, one repre-
se nt at ive f rom e a ch
community in the service
area and an at — large
member. It reviews grant
requests for the funds and
makes a recommendation
to the county board for
approval.
Com missioner Joh n
Shafer is responsible for
donations to Athena, Weston
and Milton-Freewater.
Commissioners Dan Dorran
and George Murdoch super-
vise those for Adams and
Echo, respectively.
COMMUNITY BRIEFING
Climate group recaps
UN climate conference in
upcoming program
PENDLETON — The Eastern
Oregon Climate Change Coalition is
set to host its monthly informational
presentation next week.
Peter Fargo, a Baker resident and
co-founder of ClimateVigil.org, will
provide a recap of his time as an offi -
cial observer for the 2021 United
Nations Climate Change Conference.
Fargo observed the UN meeting,
in which member nations pledged to
work collectively toward reducing
emission of greenhouse gases and
limiting the rise of the global aver-
age temperature. His speech at the
virtual meeting, entitled “Mr. Fargo
Goes to Glasgow,” will summarize the
UN meeting and refl ect on impacts on
Eastern Oregon.
The coalition hosts the free
program virtually, Tuesday, April 19,
at 7 p.m. To request Zoom login infor-
mation, email eastoregonclimat-
echange@gmail.com or go to www.
eoc3.org for information about joining
the zoom meeting. The zoom link will
be sent out via email on April 18.
of the Library, according to a press
release from the city. The intention of
her donation was to support children’s
reading programs and technology for
those birth to 18.
During the course of the last year,
PFOL worked closely with the library
to identify fi nancial needs that honor
Blek’s passion for education, the
library and technology, the press
release stated. The fi rst course of action
was to expand the library’s program-
ming space. This new space will allow
for increased participation in library
programs, feature a new mural and
contain a dedication to Blek.
“Pendleton citizen’s have a strong
history of supporting the library
through fi nancial gifts to PFOL such
as Gayle’s,” Library Director Jenni-
fer Costley said in the press release.
“We are extremely fortunate to have
community members who recognize
the value of libraries and ensure our
success through this type of giving.
Pendleton residents can be sure that
Ms. Blek’s contribution will create last-
ing change in the library.”
The ribbon cutting and room dedi-
cation coincide with PFOL’s spring
book sale taking place in the new space
April 15 and 16, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Library dedication honors New dollar-for-dollar
middle school teacher
match program
PENDLETON — The Pendleton
Public Library is holding a ribbon available in Oregon
cutting and dedication Friday, April 15,
at 10 a.m. for its new children’s area.
The area is due to former Sunridge
Middle School Teacher Gayle E. Blek,
who donated approximately one third
of her estate to the Pendleton Friends
PENDLETON — The United Way
of the Blue Mountains announced a
pilot program to increase fundraising
for its partners.
The new program will operate in
Baker, Morrow, Umatilla and Union
counties and offer the possibility
of matching grants up to $2,500 per
agency, according to a press release
Tuesday, April 12. The agencies
approach their donors, receive new
funds and United Way will match it
dollar for dollar.
The program will expand the
services in the area, according to the
press release.
The United Way will not take any
administration fees from these desig-
nated donations. Money must be
received during the matching period
of April 1-30.
Sunridge Middle School
plans talent show
PENDLETON — Sunridge Middle
School is inviting the community to
the “Sunridge’s Got Talent Show” on
April 21 at 6 p.m. at the school. The
event will feature a variety of SMS
students sharing their talents in sing-
ing, playing instruments, comedy, art,
card tricks and more.
Believe It Or Not I Care, or
B.I.O.N.I.C, is organizing the show.
B.I.O.N.I.C is a new program at the
school that seeks to help students and/
or staff members dealing with chal-
lenging life issues.
Brandy Dougherty, SMS counselor,
said several years ago the school had an
annual talent show, and the B.I.O.N.I.C
group decided to try it again as a fund-
raiser to support the group’s activities.
Admission to the show is free,
but there is a $2 suggested dona-
tion. There also will be a bake sale
during Intermission.
— EO Media Group
WHERE YOUR HEARING IS MY CONCERN
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vernashearingcarecenter@gmail.com
Simply natural sounds
“We have, approximately,
a 32-hour bus trip ahead of
us,” Sipe said.
The team will arrive the
morning of April 20, just in
time for the competition.
It is the team’s seventh trip
to the world fi nals, fourth to
Houston. And this year, he
said, Umatilla students could
become the champions of the
world.
“I’m just confident that
our kids are prepared.
They’ve worked hard, and
they’ve built a robotics team
that is the model for other
teams to focus on and copy,”
he said.
Win or lose, though, the
students will have a terrifi c
time, Sipe said. According to
the coach, young people are
gaining eye-opening expe-
riences. A trip to Texas, he
said, will be a fi rst for some
of them; some of them have
never left the region.
Sipe said in the trip to
Cheney, the team visited a
buff et. Some of the students
had never eaten at such a
restaurant before. Likely, he
said, they will have more
fi rst-time experiences on the
coming trip.
The coach said in addi-
tion to himself, his wife,
Umatilla School District
Superintendent Heidi Sipe,
and their son, Caden Sipe,
fellow robotics coach, would
be on this trip, too. He said
they would keep a close eye
on the kids.
The Umatilla School
District Offi ce, 1001 Sixth
St., will host a yard sale
as a fundraiser Saturday,
April 16, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Donations are accepted
Friday, April 15, 2-7 p.m.
Easter memories
MARC
MULLINS
MARC’S REMARKS
W
ith Easter just
three days away
from the day this
column appears in print, I
recall a time 47 years ago
when I spent a portion of
Holy Week and Easter in
Gumaca City in the Philip-
pines. That year, 1975, Easter
Sunday was celebrated on
March 30.
I was one month shy of
my 18th birthday then, and
studying my senior year
in high school as a Rotary
exchange student on the
campus of the University of
the Philippines in Los Banos,
Laguna Province. A group of
other exchange students met
me in Los Banos on March
26, and we traveled to visit
Ginnie Grilley who repre-
sented the Pendleton Rotary
Club as an exchange student
in Gumaca that year. (Many
readers will recall Ginnie as
a graduate of Pendleton High
School and the daughter
of Wes and Millie Grilley.)
Ginnie’s host family in the
Philippines had neither elec-
tricity nor running water, and
I remember thinking how
diffi cult it must have been for
her that year. My host home
was much more comfortable,
with reliable electricity, air
conditioning and full bath
facilities.
My journal from that
visit to Gumaca contains the
following entries:
Wednesday, March 26:
“… the Rotary Club here is
treating us like royalty.”
Thursday, March 27: “We
went to the beach today and I
stepped on a sea urchin. That
thing put 12 spines in my
foot. … (went) to the hospital
where they gave me six shots
of Novocaine while they
dug away at my foot … and
I thought stepping on the sea
urchin was painful.”
Friday, March 28: “We
were awakened about
midnight (by) the Catho-
lic community … chanting
and reading out loud in a
sing-song manner from their
prayer books.”
Sunday, March 30: “We
saw a parade of people carry-
ing life-size saint statues
throughout the streets, as
is the custom. … We also
colored about two dozen eggs
and gave them to the children
in Gumaca. It was the fi rst
time they had seen colored
Easter eggs.”
Remembrances can be
good, but they also can bring
to mind some painful and
trying experiences (as was
the case of my encounter
with a sea urchin, or Ginnie’s
experience without electric-
ity or running water). In the
Christian faith, Easter is a
day to rejoice as the resur-
rection of Jesus the Christ
is celebrated. The week
before Easter, Holy Week,
is the observance of Jesus’
fi nal days leading up to his
crucifi xion on a cross. It
is important to remember
his suff ering as well as his
victory over death. Thereby,
we are reminded that indeed
there are silver linings behind
every storm cloud. And this
can be helpful to recall when-
ever we experience hardships
or burdens in life.
———
Marc Mullins is pastor of
the First Christian Church
of Pendleton, where he also
utilizes his gifts as a musi-
cian, singer and songwriter.
4/15-4/21
Cineplex Show Times
Price changes: Adults: $10.00 • Child: $8.00
Senior: $8.00 • Matinees (before 4:00pm): $8.00
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets
of Dumbledore (PG13)
4:30 7:30
extra 1:30 show 4/15-4/17
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (PG)
3:50p 6:30p 9:20p
extra 1:10p show 4/15-4/17
Ambulance (R)
5:00p 8:00p
extra 2:00p show 4/15-4/17
Morbius (PG13)
4:00p 6:50p 9:30p
extra 1:00p show 4/15-4/17
The Lost City (PG13)
4:10p 6:40p 9:10p
extra 1:40p show 4/15-4/17
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