NEWS
NEWS
Wallowa.com
Coronavirus:
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
for up to eight weeks. That would
require either online teaching or
other arrangements, she said.
“People have asked me that if
we are such a rural school and we
don’t have any cases here, do we
have to close down the schools?
The answer is yes, if the state says
so,” she said.
Pinkerton continues to meet with
Oregon and county superintendents
for updates and brainstorming on
how schools can best navigate edu-
cational requirements in light of
mandatory closings.
“At least we were able to sup-
ply lunches today for kids in need,”
she said.” The schools will con-
tinue to provide sack breakfasts and
lunches for those in those programs,
but students will have to pick up
their bagged breakfast or lunch at
the school. Joseph and Wallowa
have similar arrangements for food
availability. The Enterprise School
Board meeting was attended by
nine actual people and another 10
via Go to Meeting or other apps.
School sporting events, includ-
ing baseball, golf, track and field
and softball are on hold, with no
practices being held.
A number of churches have also
halted services, including the Meth-
odist Church in Joseph. The Enter-
prise Christian Church has asked
those who may be susceptible to
coronavirus, including those over
age 60, to consider avoiding Sun-
day services.
And some businesses, including
art galleries and even the U.S. For-
est Service in Joseph, are open or
available by appointment only.
Relatively new rules on public
gatherings imposed by Gov. Kate
Brown as of Monday include:
• Gatherings of more than 25
people are prohibited and fewer
than 10 are encouraged.
• Restaurants are closed to din-
ing in. Restaurants and bars are pro-
hibited from serving food or bever-
ages on-site. They may provide “to
go” service. Food service at health
care facilities, work places and
other essential facilities will con-
tinue. (So we could go out to eat at
Wallowa Memorial Hospital?)
• All schools are closed in Wal-
lowa County (even Troy). They are
anticipated to reopen on April 1.
• School sporting events and
practices are postponed.
Cancellations, postponements,
and temporary closings and general
restrictions in Wallowa County as
of Tuesday morning include:
• “Essential individual visitors
only” at Wallowa Valley Senior
Living. No resident there has been
diagnosed or is showing signs of
COVID-19, and staff intends to
keep it that way, said Angie Train,
assistant manager, on Monday
afternoon. Similar restrictions are
enforced in Joseph.
• Wallowa-Whitman National
Forest offices in Oregon, Wash-
ington and Idaho are now open by
appointment only.
• The Bank of Eastern Oregon
anniversary celebration March 20 is
canceled.
More details and updates online
at Wallowa.com
omon on Thursday, March 12. He
also opened the high school library
for an all-day Friday session for
teachers.
These Thursday student sessions
emphasized the impact and impor-
tance of words that can be uninten-
tionally hurtful.
“You may not mean anything by
using them,” Solomon told students,
“but the words may mean some-
thing different to the person you’re
speaking with than they do to you.
People can interpret language differ-
ently. We all have different mean-
ings for words.”
Students gave examples of how
older relatives miscommunicate
when texting.
“LOL doesn’t mean ‘lots of love’
and it’s not appropriate to text when
you lose a beloved pet,” one student
said.
Solomon cited examples included
calling girls who excel in athletics,
or wish to pursue a demanding and
nontraditional career “crazy”, refer-
ring to someone who doesn’t look
like the rest of the group “exotic”
and using “micro-aggressions,”
including phrases like “That’s so
retarded.”
“If someone tells you that the
term you just used is offensive,” Sol-
omon said, “that’s something you
can apologize for and learn from.”
Student reactions to the 45-min-
ute sessions were mostly positive.
“I thought it was really helpful,”
and “I’ve never thought about any
of this before,” were common reac-
tions. “I understand now that words
may not mean to other people what
you meant them to mean,” one stu-
dent wrote.
But some students took issue
with the session, including com-
ments “I think we should be careful
about what we say, but I also believe
if someone is offended it is some-
thing they have to deal with. … It’s
just a fact of life.”
On Friday, Amit Kobrowski
from the Oregon Department of
Education took the lead in present-
ing a daylong teachers’ workshop
that included suggestions about how
educators could address racist and
other derogatory student comments
in the school. Teachers also learned
about the new K-12 requirements on
the Holocaust, other genocides and
Native American culture and his-
tory. Teachers from other districts,
including Joseph and Pine Eagle,
also attended.
Duncan and Movich-Fields were
happy with the two day sessions.
“I think it really raised awareness
of how words and symbols can be
misused and misunderstood,” Mov-
ich-Fields said.
Now, the two will begin pre-
paring their project for presenta-
tion at the FCCLA state convention
that was scheduled for April 2-4 in
Clackamas, but may be delayed due
to COVID-19, said FCCLA adviser
Tamarah Duncan. The top two pre-
sentations will go to the FCCLA
national project competition.
Principal Carlsen applauded the
student’s work.
“They did a great job,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to talking
with them about how the project is
turning out, and listening to their
thoughts about continuing this kind
of thing in the future.” Carlsen said
that teachers’ comments about the
Friday session “… have all been
very positive.”
“This event was amazing for two
18-year-old girls to make it hap-
pen,” FCCLA advisor Duncan said.
“It was a great learning opportunity
for everyone involved.”
Superintendent Pinkerton would
like to continue this type of educa-
tional event in the future.
“We were very enthusiastic about
this FCCLA project, and thankful for
everything that Tishrei and Deedee
have done” she said. “After we
have a chance to talk with the girls
about how all this went, I can also
talk with social studies teacher Tom
Nordvedt about incorporating some
of these subjects into his classes, and
I’d also like to include some of this
in my sixth-grade class.”
For the moment, coronavirus
shutdown of schools is making coor-
dination and future planning diffi-
cult. However, Duncan’s and Mov-
ich-Fields’ FCCLA project won’t be
forgotten. It’s opening a door to the
future, not only for the two students,
but for the Enterprise School Dis-
trict and Wallowa County as well.
SOME WALLOWA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL GUIDELINES FOR COVID-19
Continued from Page A1
Oregon U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
announced late Monday that $7.2
million has been awarded to Ore-
gon by the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention to support Ore-
gon’s effort to control COVID-19.
The funds are part of the $8.3 bil-
lion relief bill passed in a bipartisan
effort by the U.S. House and Sen-
ate, and signed by President Donald
Trump last week.
But Pace was unsure of how
much funding would be available to
Wallowa County and what it might
be used for.
Superintendent Erika Pinkerton
told the Enterprise School Board
on Monday that the school was
told to expect a two-week shut-
down, which would permit Enter-
prise and other districts to treat the
lost time as snow days. That would
allow the school year to end on the
originally scheduled dates, would
not interfere with prom and would
not require any extra measures that
might include online teaching or
one-on-one tutoring.
However, there’s some expecta-
tion that schools statewide — and
even nationwide — will be closed
Students:
Continued from Page A1
Museum and Center for Holocaust
Education (OJMCHE) to do a pre-
sentation to students and a separate
workshop for teachers. Superinten-
dent Erika Pinkerton was support-
ive and pledged financial support
from the school district. That was
augmented by a grant from Building
Healthy Families. The funds cov-
ered travel and other expenses. Plan-
ning took about two months. Even as
the two students planned their proj-
ect, additional incidents plagued
the school, including a video that
circulated showing students draw-
ing swastikas on their hands and
notebooks.
To help with Duncan and Mov-
ich-Fields’ FCCLA project, Prin-
cipal Blake Carlsen arranged the
space and changes in class sched-
ules necessary for high school and
middle school classes to participate
in a session called “Is That Really
What I Said?” led by OJMCHE
Manager of Education Amanda Sol-
A7
Wallowa Memorial Hospital has pro-
vided information about COVID-19 as
of Tuesday, March 17. It includes:
Regarding Testing:
Wallowa Memorial Hospital is cur-
rently looking at alternative testing
through commercial labs providing
they maintain capacity.
Until then, to be tested for corona-
virus you must meet all of these three
criteria: clinical need for admission
to an inpatient facility, evidence of
viral lower respiratory infection, and
tested negative for influenza. All tests
currently are done through state labs
and require about 5 working days.
If you do not meet the criteria for
testing and are still concerned you
have COVID-19 Stay home except to
get medical care
We are currently and will continue
to test for influenza in-house and
provide results quickly (around an
hour). Influenza A, a strain currently
spreading in Wallowa County, has
some symptoms that are similar
to COVID-19. A test for influenza
will help determine which of these
illnesses you may have.
Stay home:
Extra
family
time?
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People who are mildly ill with
COVID-19 are able to recover at
home. Do not leave, except to get
medical care. Do not visit public ar-
eas. Avoid public or shared transpor-
tation: Avoid using public transporta-
tion or ride-sharing.
For patient
health and safety,
Wallowa Valley Center
for Wellness is currently
offering telehealth
appointments and
curbside check in.
Please call
(541) 426-4524
with any questions
or concerns regarding
appointments
or groups.
103 HWY 82 (PO Box 268)
Enterprise, Oregon
If you are feeling
anxious, this FREE
warmline is fully
staffed to listen to
your concerns
Call 1-800-698-2392
Hours of Operation
9am to 11pm,
7 days a week.