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Wallowa.com
Crane:
Continued from Page A1
of laughs. It was serious, but
it was a lot of fun.”
Background
Born on an Air Force base
in Harlingen, Texas, where
his father served, he spent
his growing-up years mov-
ing around the country. He
fi nally settled in Oregon and
earned his bachelor’s and
master’s degrees from what
was then Eastern Oregon
State College in La Grande.
He received his administra-
tive certifi cate/license from
the University of Oregon.
He also attended the Lewis
& Clark College and Port-
land State University.
In addition to his long
educational career, he served
his country in the U.S. Army
in 1973-76 and the Oregon
Army National Guard from
1981-2002 rising to the rank
Mandate:
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schools have about 48 fac-
ulty and staff .
She said the schools’ fac-
ulty are fully in compliance
with the vaccine mandate.
“We are 100% go. We
can continue with in-per-
son learning. Everyone on
faculty has either received
the vaccine or submitted
exemptions,” she said. “We
will be able to be up and
running teaching our kids.”
Staff had through Mon-
day to submit vaccine
cards or exemptions. Jones
said three people who are
of command sergeant major.
After his years as a
teacher in Enterprise, from
2007-16, Crane served as
the secondary school princi-
pal in the Colton School Dis-
trict south of Portland. Prior
to arriving in Colton, he
was the principal at Irrigon
Junior/Senior High School
for one year and superinten-
dent/principal at Pine Eagle
in Halfway for fi ve years.
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
When Crane retired from
Colton in 2016, the plan was
to fi nd a place he and his
wife, Heidi, would enjoy.
“My wife and I started
coming up here a few years
ago camping up at the lake.
She fell in love with this
place, and I was amazed
because I always loved it
here, too,” he said. “We
lived on a Christmas tree
farm in Colton and I never
thought she’d want to move
away. But she said, ‘I think
we ought to look for land.’
The next thing I knew, she
had some places to look
at. We looked at about fi ve
places and ended up going
back to the very fi rst place
we looked at and we bought
12½ acres out Crow Creek
on a big bluff . The view of
the mountains is incredible.”
They’ve been making
progress on their home.
“The fi rst summer we
put in water and electric and
septic and we put two trail-
ers out there for her parents
and us,” he said.
Beginning the summer
of 2019, they lived on Crow
Creek on and off .
“We camped all summer
long, going back and forth,”
he said. “Last summer, we
started building our house.
It’s now close to being
fi nished.”
But plans to simply retire
there weren’t to be.
“Then I saw the posting
for the position,” he said. “I
showed it to my wife and I
said, ‘This timing is incredi-
ble. What do you think?’ and
she said, ‘I think you should
look into it.’ So we looked
into it and applied for it and
it worked out. I think it was
meant to be — the opportu-
nity to come back to where
I started teaching and come
back here and help the com-
munity and come back to the
same school with some of
the same teachers as when I
left; with kids that I had in
fourth grade who are now
teachers here, it’s just been
incredible.”
not teachers did not turn
in vaccination cards or
exemptions by early Tues-
day, but this will not aff ect
classrooms and in-person
learning.
Although the Wallowa
schools had to close a cou-
ple times in the prior school
year because of virus out-
breaks, Jones said this
year they have seen noted
improvement.
“We had a couple groups
have to quarantine early in
this school year,” she said.
Those
groups
have
included classes or teams.
She said that, for exam-
ple, if sports team mem-
bers were in a class that was
exposed, that could’ve dis-
qualifi ed the athlete from
participating in a game, and
thus caused cancellation of
a game if enough athletes
were out.
“But recent times where
a student has tested positive
for the virus have resulted in
students not requiring quar-
antine,” Jones said. “Stu-
dents are staying home
when they are ill this school
year and students are coop-
erating with face masks
and physical distancing
requirements.”
With this, fewer students
are directed by local health
offi cials to quarantine, Jones
said.
None of the administra-
tors had a breakdown of the
percentage who were vac-
cinated versus exempted.
Jones said she wasn’t
allowed to disclose those
numbers.
Crane was concerned
about
his
employees’
privacy.
“I want to be really care-
ful because there are a lot of
feelings about this issue and
I don’t want people to think
we’re labeling or identify-
ing them,” he said. “We’re
trying to be as respectful as
possible and still try to fol-
low the laws. I’m very sen-
sitive to people’s rights to
privacy.”
Planned to retire
Down to business
One of Crane’s fi rst
orders of business will be to
discuss Blake Carlsen’s res-
ignation letter and develop
a follow-up plan. Carlsen
recently submitted his resig-
nation as secondary school
principal to the district
board. Crane said the resig-
nation letter says Carlsen’s
last day will tentatively be
Dec. 31.
Carlsen, who has been
principal since 2003, for-
merly taught at Enterprise
Elementary School, like
Crane. Carlsen declined to
comment on his reasons for
stepping down or his future
plans.
Crane said he will seek an
interim principal, given that
it’s in the middle of a school
year. Such hiring situations
— as with his own — often
are diffi cult midyear, accord-
ing to school board Chair-
woman Mandy Decker.
She said in a press release
announcing Crane’s hiring
that during its search, the
board didn’t receive nearly
as many applications as it
had hoped for. Only nine
applications were submit-
ted, she said, adding that
most people who are cur-
rently serving as superinten-
dents are unlikely to leave
their posts in the middle of a
A7
school year.
“It’s just too late in the
game to do a search (for a
permanent superintendent),
especially during a pan-
demic,” she said. “It’s too
soon to even think what next
year looks like.”
In the meantime, Crane
has been meeting with
Carlsen and acting Elemen-
tary Principal Landon Bra-
den to work out a plan for
the transition in administra-
tors. Braden’s main job is
as secondary school coun-
selor, and he is only hold-
ing the acting principal’s job
temporarily.
The school district also
needs to fi nd a permanent
superintendent. Asked if he
plans to seek the position,
Crane was noncommittal.
“I don’t know. … I’m just
going to do the best I can for
the next nine months,” he
said.
His current contract runs
through June.
Find more local news online at wallowa.com
Soroptimist celebrates
100 years of giving
Chieftain staff
FREE
Chess Club
No meeting until further notice
but look forward to seeing you soon!
ALL
JOSEPH VOLLEYB e of
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The Joseph volleybal s in program history, and over
on
the best regular seas d their dominance of the Old Or-
te
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15,
the weekend ce
n a match Friday, Oct, ated
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udly
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Pro onsore d b y
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White to move and win.
OF
THE
ENTERPRISE — Sorop-
timist International, which
has a chapter in Wallowa
County, recently celebrated
its 100th anniversary.
Soroptimist was formed
by 80 women in Oakland,
California, in 1921, a club
similar to Rotary in that
it looks for members in
high-ranking positions in
their respective fi elds and
looks to help members serve
their communities.
Soroptimist International
of Wallowa County is a lit-
tle over a year away from
its 75th anniversary. The
local chapter was formed
in December of 1947, with
the focus on local volunteer
work and supporting Sorop-
timist programs.
Soroptimist’s impact in
the county grew in 1957,
when the Thrift Shop was
opened — its largest fund-
raising project ever. Soropti-
mist has helped fund awards
and helps several local pro-
grams and students, includ-
ing providing high school
seniors with scholarships
and giving to the food bank,
senior meals and libraries.
The Thrift Shop is open
Fridays and Saturdays from
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dona-
tions can be dropped off on
Mondays.
For more information,
visit the local chapter’s web-
site (wallowacountysorop-
timist.org) or its Facebook
page, Soroptimist Interna-
tional of Wallowa County.
Wallowa County
“Play golf for your body. Play chess for your mind.”
JOSEPHY CENTER FOR
THE ARTS AND CULTURE
10/13 Solution
R+B+
403 Main Street Joseph, Oregon
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