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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022
JUN E 29-J
146th Year, No. 82
INSIDE
WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
ULY 6, 202
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WILDHORSE POW WOW SHOWCASES NATIVE CULTURE F o u r t
h
EASTERN OREGON
PA GE 3
Colleges
agree on
equity
strategy
Pendleton High
PA GE 12
School student
Allen “Len” Nguyen
adds rice to her
meal June 22, 2022.
She uses the same
ingredients in her
practice session
at Pendleton Tech
and Trade Center as
she will use at the
upcoming national
Family, Career
and Community
Leaders of America
competition.
PA GE 4
 PA GE 18
East Oregonian
LA GRANDE — A collabora-
tion between three Eastern Oregon
schools aims to close equity gaps for
Eastern Oregon students at two- and
four-year colleges and universities by
2030.
Gov. Kate Brown announced
Monday, June 27, an investment
of $1.6 million for Blue Moun-
tain Community
College, Treasure
Valley Community
College and Eastern
Oregon University
to launch an initia-
tive called “Moon
Shot for Equity.”
Browning
The three schools
will work together
as part of a fi ve-year,
student-centered
comprehensive stra-
tegic plan to iden-
tify and remove
systemic barriers
that are preventing
Insko
access and attain-
ment to a post-sec-
ondary education degree.
BMCC President Mark Brown-
ing said open and equitable access is
what the Pendleton-based institution
strives for.
“We are excited about how Moon-
shot for Equity can help us reach
those goals and deliver even greater
success for students,” he said.
“Every student in Oregon, no
matter who they are or where they
come from, deserves equitable
access to higher education,” Brown
said in a press release announcing the
initiative. “We must invest and inno-
vate to break down the barriers that
have kept too many Oregonians from
succeeding in higher education. This
initial investment is just the start of a
program to deliver lasting and mean-
ingful change this year and in years
to come. Every person in Eastern
Oregon — and throughout the state
— should be able to attend college
and earn a degree.”
The initiative is part of Brown’s
work with public universities and
community colleges to embrace
innovation and focus on working
smarter across education sectors to
support students through every stage
of education. The $1.6 million will
be funded with federal Governor’s
Emergency Education Relief Fund
dollars, which are reserved for allo-
The HEAT is on
Practice is key ingredient
PHS student
readies for
national
culinary arts
competition
By ANTONIO
ARREDONDO
East Oregonian
P
ENDLETON —
In its fi rst full year
back in operation,
Pendleton High
School’s Family,
Career, and Community Lead-
ers of America already is send-
ing a student to the national
competition.
Allen “Len” Nguyen qual-
ified for FCCLA’s Culinary
Arts national competition
thanks to a fi rst-place showing
at the state competition back in
March. Nguyen’s qualifi cation
comes after she, her classmates
and instructor and culinary
arts teacher Melissa Smith put
a year’s worth of hard work.
FCCLA is an organiza-
tion where high schoolers
learn real-life skills, such as
culinary arts, fashion design
and job interviewing. When
Smith started teaching at the
high school four years ago, the
FCCLA program was nowhere
to be found. One may have
existed in the past, but the
Photos by Antonio Arredondo/East Oregonian
Melissa Smith, left, Pendleton High School teacher, poses for a pho-
to June 22, 2022, with her student Allen “Len” Nguyen, who shows
off her fi nished cooking at the Pendleton Tech and Trade Center.
Nguyen is competing in the national Family, Career and Communi-
ty Leaders of America competition in late July in San Diego.
remnants were long gone.
Though she was intrigued
by the idea, dwindling student
interest and pandemic impeded
the start of the new program.
While some students partici-
pated online in 2021, the new
in-person school year was the
perfect time for Smith to go all
in.
“I talked to the kids about
it because I was finally ready
and excited for it,” Smith
said, “Several students were
excited too, and that’s how it
all came to be.”
As the new group started to
fundraise and prepare for state
competitions, Len Nguyen
immediately jumped out as an
engaged member. Despite not
being an offi cer for the group, the
junior — who had just moved
from Houston three years prior
— quickly took control.
“She was a passionate,
hands-on leader,” Smith said,
“and very eager with the fund-
raising. She’d get a lot of other
students excited about it all.”
That passion for raising
money transferred to a passion
for competition — Nguyen
decided to compete in culinary
arts and put her heart into the
work. She practiced with Smith
almost every day, leading up to
the state competition in Port-
land.
“She would come in and
practice during her free period,
during advisory, whenever she
could,” Smith said, “She even
went to neighbors’ houses,
bringing them meals and asking
how it tasted.”
Rising to the top
That practice was tested in
March when Nguyen and her
classmates traveled to Portland
for the state competition. With
no regional for the Eastern
Oregon area, state was Nguy-
en’s fi rst opportunity to show
off her skills.
See Heat, Page A7
See Colleges, Page A7
MORROW COUNTY
Commissioners fi re county administrator
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
HEPPNER — Morrow County
no longer has a country adminis-
trator.
County commissioners at a
packed public meeting Tuesday,
June 28, voted 2-1 to immedi-
ately terminate the employment
of Darrell Green, who has held the
county administrator job for four-
and-half years.
The county board on June 27
called an emergency closed-door
meeting for the next morning to
consider Green’s employment. But
Green insisted on holding the meet-
ing in public rather than in an exec-
utive session.
Board Chair Jim Doherty at the
start of the meeting explained this
was about one topic — consider-
ing Green’s employment. And the
board would hear from only one
person: Green.
Green told the board he learned
in August 2021 there may have
been a complaint against him
and an investigation to see if he
violated nepotism rules. But no one
addressed the complaint with him
at the time.
He told the board that in his
tenure he never received any verbal
or written warnings, and even today
does not have the full information
about what led to this moment.
“I’m struggling to understand
why i’m sitting here,” Green said.
See Morrow, Page A7
Phil Wright/East Oregonian
Morrow County Board of Commissioners listen Tuesday, June 28, 2022,
as Darrell Green, center in the lavender shirt, gives a statement to the
board about the call for his termination as county administrator. The
board voted 2-1 to immediately fi re Green.