COMMUNITY
Saturday, April 30, 2022
East Oregonian
A7
UMATILLA HIGH SCHOOL
Robotics competitors return home from Texas
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
UMATILLA — Having
left Houston on Sunday,
April 24, Umatilla High
School students and their
advisers were exhausted by
the time they arrived home.
The competitors repre-
sented their school at FIRST
Championship, April 20-23.
They did not win honors, but
they came back from their
journey with joy in their
hearts and memories on the
forefront of their minds.
Shor tly after 6 a.m.
April 27, members of the
Umatilla High School robot-
ics team, Confi dential, arrived
in town. Their bus pulled up
to the front of their school,
the doors opened and sleepy
students picked up their back-
packs, sleeping bags and suit-
cases and exited the bus.
Alejandro Escovedo,
junior, was among the fi rst
people off the bus.
“The trip was awesome,”
he said.
Escovedo said he said
he enjoyed seeing diff erent
states. Colorado and Texas
were his favorites, he said.
Texas was of particular inter-
est to him, he added, because
of the food.
At one restaurant, he said,
he ate a sirloin steak. The best
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Rafael Garcia Sanchez embraces his mother and brother on
Wednesday, April 27, 2022, after he and fellow Umatilla High
School students returned home from competing in the FIRST
Robotics World Championships in Houston.
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Rafael Garcia Sanchez embraces his mother and brother on
Wednesday, April 27, 2022, after he and fellow Umatilla High
School students returned home from competing in the FIRST
Robotics World Championships in Houston.
part, though, was watching a
few of his classmates engage
in an eating contest, he added.
One of the eating-con-
test participants was Elias
Gomez. A junior at Umatilla
High, Gomez said he ate 55
ounces of a 72-ounce steak,
with sides.
“It was hard,” he said.
He said this was the fi rst
trip to a world championship
he had made with the robotics
team. It also was, according
to Gomez, the farthest he had
ever been from home, and
he was very happy to have
encountered other people
from many diff erent places.
It was especially interesting,
he said, to have met teenagers
from other countries, includ-
ing Mexico and Israel.
Another junior, Aaron
Ochoa, expressed the same
sentiment. It was his fi rst year
CINCO DE MAYO
Celebration returns to EOTEC
Free community
event is Sunday
By TAMMY
MALGESINI
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The
Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center again is roll-
ing out the red carpet for
the Hermiston Cinco de
Mayo celebration.
After hosting the event
for two years — it outgrew
several previous venues —
EOTEC General Manager
Al Davis is thrilled to
bring the festival back after
pandemic restrictions put
the brakes on large gather-
ings in 2020 and 2021.
T he fa m ily-f r iend ly
event
is
S u n d a y,
May 1, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
at EOTEC, 1705 E. Airport
Road, Hermiston. There is
no admission charge.
“Half of it’s inside and
half outside,” Davis said.
”It’s contingent, depend-
ing on Hermiston weather.”
Davis said he is excited
about t he com mu n it y
stage. In addition to several
Latino bands — includ-
ing La Senal DeOaxaca,
La Orden de Mexico and
Sentencia — the stage
entertainment will feature
local groups.
He said time slots are
available for dance groups,
bands, choirs or other forms
of entertainment who are
interested in performing.
“We want to invite
ever yone,” Davis said.
“They don’t have to be a
Hispanic group — it’s a
community celebration.”
Also, Davis said about
15-20 vendor booths have
confirmed — and there is
room for more. In addition,
food and beverages, includ-
ing beer and wine, will be
available for purchase.
While there’s no carnival
this year, Davis said they
will have plenty of inf lat-
ables provided by Cottage
Event Rentals. In addition,
he said there will be a vari-
ety of games.
The Hispanic Advisory
Committee, Davis said, has
provided support for the
event. In addition, he said
Amazon Web Services is
one of the major sponsors.
“We want people to
come out and have fun,” he
said. “We’re really hoping
to grow the event and make
it a Hermiston tradition.”
For more information,
call 541-289-9800 or search
www.facebook.com/eote-
chermistonor.
in robotics, he said, and he
liked meeting other students
from diff erent countries. He
also said he was impressed
with a jumping robot in the
contest.
Rafael Garcia-Sanchez,
freshman, said the trip was
quite an experience.
“I got to meet a lot of
people from diff erent states,
eat at Chick-fi l-A, eat some
Chinese food, and I want to
go back,” he said.
Seeing him come off the
bus, his mother, Maria D.
Sanchez, rushed over to him
and gave him a big hug.
“My boy is home,” she
said.
There were other family
members at the arrival Tess
White, who went on the trip
with the team, is the mother of
Heidi Sipe, Umatilla School
District superintendent, who
was on the trip, too. White
said the competition was
“incredible” and the Umatilla
kids were “amazing.”
Seeing the great size of
the event, and the skill of the
competitors, she described
herself as overwhelmed.
She said that everyone there
represents the top 1% of all
students who are doing this
sort of work. For Umatilla to
be part of that select group,
then, was “just wonderful,”
she said.
Heidi Sipe, who was
standing at the bus with her
mother and the departing
students, agreed. She said
Confidential was part of
something special, and the
team members did “really
well.”
“The best thing was that
they were surrounded by so
many excellent people and
teams,” she said. “They got
a real experience, they got
to see the strengths of those
teams, and they learned what
they can do next time.”
Key takeaways
from the coach
Kyle Sipe, robotics coach,
agrees with others in saying
Confi dential could return to
Houston next year. For that to
happen, though, he stated it
must once again qualify for
the contest. He said the team
must learn from its mistakes
and work to be even more
competitive.
Team members spoke with
diff erent teams to see how
they were organized, accord-
ing to the coach. Confi dential
plans to follow the examples
set by other teams, revisiting
their organizational struc-
ture, separating members of
diff erent skills and assigning
them to diff erent parts of each
build.
“There is so much learn-
ing,” he said.
Then
NOW
2022 Graduates
y
l
n
O
49
$
Includes full color. Three line maximum message.
Umatilla, Morrow & Gilliam County
Jennifer Smith
COMMUNITY BRIEFING
Anit-abortion
group announces
contest winners
PENDLETON — The
Pendleton Right to Life Foun-
dation on April 21 announced
its 2022 billboard contest
winners at The Yogurt
Shoppe, 1803 S.W. Emigrant
Ave., Pendleton. This year’s
theme was “Protect life at
every age.”
The K-second grade divi-
sion winner was Rina White-
sell, 6. The winner for grades
third-fi fth was Mary Feller,
10. Evelyn Montgomery, 12,
won the sixth through eighth
grade division. Honorable
mention was awarded to
Hailey Whitesell, 14.
Feller’s poster was chosen
as the overall winner and her
artwork is scheduled to be
on the Southgate billboard in
early May. In addition, she
was awarded a $50 check.
The other winners each
received a $25 check as their
prize.
The local anti-abortion
group has been hosting its
billboard contest since 2000.
Though this year’s winners
are from the Pendleton
area, students in surround-
ing towns have participated
as well. The contest is open
to K-12 students and is held
annually in February and
March. For more informa-
tion or to receive notice about
next year’s contest, email
PendletonRightToLifeFoun-
dation@gmail.com.
Pendleton chamber
hosts job fair
PENDLETON — Call-
ing all job seekers, the Pend-
leton Chamber of Commerce
is hosting a job fair.
The event is Tuesday,
May 3, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., at
the Pendleton Convention
Center, 1601 Westgate. The
chamber has coordinated
with 40-plus businesses to
assist those looking for work
and local employers.
“We realized there needed
to be a connection made
between these employers and
employees,” said Patti Hyatt,
the chamber’s School to
Careers coordinator. “A job
fair seemed like the perfect
answer.”
Hyatt also said with many
struggling right now, the
chamber decided to hold a
raffle for several $40 gas
cards for those who attend.
Job seekers can obtain a raffl e
entry from each employer
booth they visit and enter it
in the drawing. In addition,
there will be a chance to win
a grand prize, which features
a fl at screen TV.
For more information,
contact Hyatt at School2ca-
reers@pendletonchamber.
com or 541-276-7411.
— EO Media group
High School Name
Congratulations Jen!
We are so proud of you!
Love, Mom & Dad
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Message:
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