Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 2016)
Wallowa County Chieftain FACE Continued from Page A1 Thanks to the modern up- grades and commercial part- nerships, students taking CTE courses can come out of Wal- lowa High School with mar- ketable skills. New educational goals That’s the goal of the new CTE fi nancing program being rolled out by the Legislature in the coming years. “Eight years ago the legis- lature and Oregon Department of Education recognized there was a large workforce hole that the traditional college path wasn’t fi lling,” said ODE Regional Coordinator Stefen Maupin. “For three bienniums we had a fi nancing program that revolved around CTE and Sci- ence/Technology/Engineer- ing Mastery (STEM) courses. Now we have a new money stream: Secondary Career Pathways,” Maupin said. “Ag teachers need to know how to access this money.” All three Wallowa County schools currently are listed for funding of $10,000 each, but other opportunities are being created to improve CTE pro- gram offerings. For instance, Secondary FORUM Continued from Page A1 Sen. Hansell and Rep. Bar- retto each spoke briefl y, giving an overview of their histories and the challenges the next term would bring. Areas of concern for the legislators included how PERS payments would be made, transportation packages under discussion, the diffi culties an- ticipated if Measure 97 (tax on business gross earnings) pass- es, and concerns that clean fuel standards require too much too soon. The 13 individuals running for various council positions in Joseph, Enterprise, Lostine and Wallowa were introduced, but those attending did not have the opportunity to speak. The city of Enterprise has LENDER Continued from Page A1 Additionally, the conser- vation plan had the support of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The fact that the lodge was the only collateral the LLC could offer to secure the loan was another issue to be exam- ined, but again Hunter found several facts that supported the risk: lodge management was being retained to preserve busi- ness continuity, group chairman James Monteith’s background as co-founder of the nonprofi t Wallowa Land Trust, and an examination of the makeup of the oversight committee of the group. “We love the idea of com- munity ownership,” Hunter said. “(but) we had to get used to the idea of a community in- vestment group with about 120 members and understand who was on the management com- mittee and determine if they had the diverse skill set to over- News wallowa.com Careers Pathways is actively seeking completed ideas and requests for Industry Recog- nized Credentials programs for high school students. “We began to ask, ‘What set of courses can you offer a kid that sets him or her up for a high wage/high demand job?’” Maupin said. From that questioning, cre- dentialed courses are now be- ing created. culture or manufacturing. “I know there are bril- liant students with great math minds, but if you take a kid that needs to build a barn and put all those math formulas into his individual project — he’s got it,” Yost said. “That was me, too.” October 19, 2016 A9 positions and only eight ag teachers graduating from OSU,” said student teacher Kimi Starner of Wallowa. As a result, many small schools take applicants like Cassidy Corrigan of Jordan Valley, who has a masters de- gree but no teaching degree, and require them to get their teaching degree within three years. Hands-on learning The courses reach and pre- pare students who previously had been all but ignored by the all-students-to-college ideolo- gy of the past. Some student simply don’t thrive in the college environ- ment. Many learn better and faster with a different teaching style. “I literally had kids that would spend four to fi ve class- es with me just to survive the high school experience,” re- called 29-year ag teacher Dave Yost of Joseph. “They needed that hands-on.” Yost says he’s always been a hands-on learner, and he understands that his students are no less intelligent or driv- en than their college-bound classmates. They simply know what they want, and that often includes immediate work out- doors, on the farm and in agri- Toughest job in school Yost is now a volunteer mentor for new ag teachers in Dayville, Prairie City, Cove and Ontario through anoth- er innovative offering being rolled out through the Second- ary Career Pathway program. Another mentor, Les Lin- egar, who taught agricultur- al technology for 35 years at Ontario High, will be help- ing teachers in Ontario, Vale, Harper, Burns, Jordan Valley and Nyssa. “I had so much enjoyment teaching and I want them to have that excitement and fun,” Linegar said. “The fi rst year as an ag teacher is traditionally very scary and so hard. Ag is a unique teaching situation; you are a teacher, FFA advisor and community organizer. It’s one of the hardest jobs at the school.” First-year teacher Kristy Riggin of Harper added anoth- er big job to the list Linegar mentioned. “What I didn’t realize is a lot of an ag teacher’s job is just applying for grants,” Riggin said. Her ag students in the tiny town of Harper cannot even dream of the equipment that Wallowa has unless she writes some compelling grant appli- cations. “There’s no way I could have any of that without a big grant. We were very fortunate that Nyssa donated the frames of green houses to us and I’m going to use Perkins money and other grants to fi nish our greenhouse project.” Nicole Merchant, a third- year ag teacher from Prairie City, has been through her fi rst tough years without a mentor and is relieved to both have the help now and know her co- horts will have it. “It’s going to help keep younger teachers in the ag teaching business because it is a pretty exhausting career — you’re not just dealing with students but with community members, industry, compe- titions and more,” Merchant said. Keeping teachers is key because schools may not get an automatic second chance if they overwhelm and then lose their fi rst teacher — there ar- en’t enough ag teachers to go around in the fi rst place. “Last year there were 16 Smooth operators Two more aids to ag teach- ers were presented by Enter- prise High teacher Stephanie Schofi eld and Joseph Charter School teacher Toby Koehn. Schofi eld helped new teachers learn to use a student assignment tracking software program called Ag Experience Tracking. “An example of organiza- tional complications I deal with is that I literally have enough students in ag leadership for a whole extra class, but they’re scattered through numerous classes — a few in each,” Scho- fi eld said. “With this program I can track and they can pull to- gether all the assignments they need for their leadership proj- ects.” And students who don’t like to write are required to keep journals in this program. That writing provides them with an expanded outline for other as- signments. Getting students to simply do the journaling is a step to- ward a larger “buy in” on doing the work to prove profi ciency, Schofi eld said. “I am 95 percent confi dent that there are kids in everyone’s programs that could be state profi ciency winner when they build that ‘want to,’” she said. “They don’t know yet what this work can get them — they just have to do it. The more they do it the more they have buy in. If you can explain that if they do this and do a good job it trans- lates on the farm, in the shop, helping get a loan for farm im- provements or cattle ... it trans- lates,” she said. Koehn introduced the new teachers to another bit of tech- nology that made their work not only easier but provided ag students with valuable compar- ison tools. He discussed a program called Judging Pro, which pro- vides short videos presented by industry experts on judging market animals. The videos give good and bad examples of conformation, but also a visual of the actual fi nished market product (chops, steaks, etc.). “I think the greatest value of this program is that it helps you keep up on industry standards, which is important if you want to win at state fair,” Koehn said. the Mayor’s position and three council positions open. Appli- cants for the council positions are: Bruce Blevins, Pastor Mi- cah Agner, Fred Tippett and Christopher Pritchard. Applicants for three council positions in Joseph are: incum- bants Tyler Evans and George Ballard and newcomers Tom Clevenger and Garik Asplund. Candidates for council in Wallowa are incumbent Garrett Lowe, and Teri Barnhart, Tom Hafer and Shawn Sealey. The lone candidate for city council in Lostine is Rene Ga- routte. There are still no offi cial candidates to replace Lostine Mayor Krag Norton. The four Enterprise Mayor candidates gave brief resumes that included their time in the county and on the city coun- cil, school and work experi- ence and current job outside of council. Those candidates are George Hill, Stacey Karvoski, Bill Coffi n and Danny Paul Sticka. Hill, Karvoski and Coffi n all have served on Enterprise City Council; Sticka has no city council experience. Questions from the au- dience were few, but one in particular tried the patience of experienced candidates: “What will you do to keep all citizens informed of government delib- erations and actions.” It was a question that touch- es a raw spot for city councils the nation over. Karvoski answered the question fi rst. “I think the city council as a whole has the obligation to try and get that information out there, be that via the website, publications in the newspaper, things mailed out to citizens throughout the city, but all in all its you all’s job to be informed; to take that step, to go to a council meeting, to ask those questions. Were not going to hold your hand and drag you through it.” “Freedom isn’t free,” said Sticka. “The city has a great web- site,” said Coffi n. “And I’d like to say, come to the meetings.” Hill told the sad story of when the city had to make the decision to close the swimming pool. At the public meeting, he said, there was huge crowd, but only two of them were from Enterprise. Only two candidates made a statement of intent beyond the smooth running of the council and commitment to their city. In answer to the question of what the candidate’s priority would be Bill Coffi n said that balancing the budget was key and he thought the city should take “another hard look at” the decision to opt out of allowing a marijuana dispensary within city limits, given the amount of money coming into the state since taxation and legal require- ments have been more defi ned by the state. Coffi n said that an investigation of how much money other cities were bring- ing in ought to be studied. Karvoski spoke about the work recently done in creating good policies and procedures for the city, allowing for ac- curate accounting of service. Building a new fi re hall was also high on her list of prob- lems to resolve. “The fi re hall is a 100 percent failure structure in case of earthquake,” she told the attendees. Sticka said he would come in to listen rather than speak and watch for “a way to sub- mit something that could help a business or help people person- ally ... that’s something I’d defi - nitely submit to the council.” Hill said that the mayor just tried to keep the council mov- ing. “The only thing the mayor does is run the meetings and cast votes, it’s up to the council to do the rest.” The meeting concluded with pros and cons on ballot measures. see this.” In the end, Hunter was con- vinced by the quality of indi- viduals involved. Craft3 has had other expe- riences in the Wallowa County area. It also served as a lender on the Integrated Biomass Plant project in Wallowa, lending over $430,000 to that project back in 2013. Since its inception, Craft 3 has invested more than $399 million in over 4,800 individ- uals and businesses in Oregon and Washington, Hunter said. “It’s about place and caring about community,” said Carl Seip, Vice President for Exter- nal Affairs. “We want the deals we do to be of things that are supported by the community and build family, community and environmental resilience.” areas. Specifi cally, the award rec- ognized Craft3’s Clean Water Loan product, previously im- plemented on the county lev- el and expanded to a regional strategy. The new confi guration allowed on-site sewage system professionals to discuss the same fi nancing option with po- tential borrowers regardless of physical location. National recognition Craft3 was recognized by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Devel- opment Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) for its ex- ceptional work this year. The company earned an honorable mention and $25,000 for inno- vative approaches to increasing investment in underserved rural Co yo T u u h gr nty Wa ank ea fo ll t s r a ow ea no a so th n! er Join us weekendss in October to view the fall colors and enjoy the crisp fall air SEE YOU AGAIN 2017 SEASON: MAY 20 thru OCTOBER • 5 DAYS A WEEK NEXT YEAR P edal through the beautiful Wallowa Valley Book Now at www.jbrailriders.com E-mail jbrailriders@gmail.com 4BU0DUPCFSt2-6 pm A Free and Fun Halloween Celebration at Wallowa Lake Lodge for children of all ages. 2 - 5 pmt#JHGPPUCJOHPDBSBNFMBQQMFTCPCCJOHGPS BQQMFT#JHGPPUDMVFTNVNNZXSBQHBNFBOENPSF $PNFJODPTUVNF #JHGPPU1SFTFOUBUJPOt Bigfoot Presentation! 5 - 6 pm Wallowa Lake Lodge Lobby Ralph Anderson Retired US Forest Service wildlife ield biologist and historic resources ield surveyor Join us for Halloween, if you dare! Halloween Party on Saturday! Trunk or Treat on Monday! Let the Ghoul Times Roll *Now Open Every Day *Open Mic Every Final Friday 111 W. Main in Enterprise New Winter Hours: Sun - Wed 11 am - 8 pm Thurs - Sat 11 am - 10 pm -FBSOBOEEFMJCFSBUFBCPVUUIFSPMF#JHGPPU QMBZTJOUIFFUIPTQTZDIFTBOE FDPTZTUFNPG8BMMPXB$PVOUZGPSFTUT Dinner at the Lodge 4UBSUJOHBUQNt Reservations Recommended t1SJNF3JC4QFDJBMt0SEFSGSPNNFOVt,JEPQUJPOT A Very Special Thank You to Copper Creek Mercantile & Cabin Fever Restaurant at Wallowa Lake Lodge Natural History Discovery Center /.BJOt+PTFQItXBMMPXPMPHZPSH