Smoke Signals 7
MARCH 1, 2003
Community Fund Education Grants Go a Long Way
Willamina and Sheridan are recipients; Dallas grant serves students from six school districts.
By Peta Tinda and Ron Karten
With the state of Oregon facing its worset bud
get crisis in half a century, the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde have stepped up to help
the Willamina and Sheridan school districts.
These schools will receive $300,000 in grants from
the Spirit Mountain Community Fund.
"Our children's education is something that we
definitely want to give as much as we can to,"
said Tribal Council member Valorie Sheker
Robertson, who has children attending both
schools.
"Many of our Tribal members live in the
Willamina and Sheridan area," said Tribal Coun
cil Secretary June Sell-Sherer. "If we are com
mitted to the belief that our children are our fu
ture, then these grants are testimony to our com
mitment." Although this is not the first time the Tribe
has helped a publicly-funded institution, it puts
the Tribe in the awkward position of being seen
as a backup for the state.
"We do not want to be seen as a replacement
for state and federal funding for the school, but
if we can help out with books, curriculum or
teachers, then we should." said Sheker
Robertson. "Right now that's the most important
thing."
Spirit Mountain Community Fund Director
Angela Blackwell echoed that dedication. "The
children that attend these schools are not only
our own, but the children of our 1,500 employ
ees and neighbors," she said. "As part of our com
mitment to the surround
ing community, we will
continue to do all we can
through this funding cri
sis to level the playing
field for underserved stu
dents," said Blackwell.
The grant given to
Sheridan School district
will be used to revise the
English language arts
and literacy curriculum.
It will also be used to pro
vide staff training, textbooks, technological
equipment and software. The $125,000 grant
will equal about $260 per student over the course
of the school year.
The Willamina School District is in much worse
shape financially, having already suffered
$500,000 in cuts from their budget with the fail-
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ure of Measure 28, a temporary tax increase.
The $175,000 grant from the community fund
will ensure that no teachers will be laid off, but
the school will still have to cut about ten days
from the school year.
Gus Forster, Willamina School District Super
intendent, said that the grant money will be a
in the tough financial times ahead.
"For those schools outside Willamina, Grand
Ronde and Sheridan, we will continue to sup
port students through a wide variety of indirect
grants to organizations like SMART, Saturday
Academy, The Oregon Zoo, SMILE and others,"
said Blackwell.
"The children that attend these schools are not only our own, but the children
of our 1,500 employees and neighbors. As part of our commitment to the sur
rounding community, we will continue to do all we can through this funding
crisis to level the playing field for underserved students."
Spirit Mountain Community Fund Director Angela Blackwell
reat help.
"If we didn't have the money from the Com
munity Fund we would have to lay off teachers
and make many other cuts to our programs. That
would be devastating to our students," said
Forster. "What the grant enabled us to do is to
maintain our existing programs through the
school year."
Blackwell said the Spirit Mountain Commu
nity Fund will do as much as it can to help out
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Dallas School Grant Will Teach
Construction Skills To Students
Students at six rural schools will soon be
building construction technology skills thanks
in part to a $184,222 grant from the Spirit
Mountain Community Fund. The grant sup
ports an innovative project developed by the
Western Oregon Professional Technical Consor
tium for the Dallas School District.
Students from Dallas, Falls City, Central,
Willamina, Amity and Perrydale school dis
tricts will participate.
With the construction bid process now un
derway, funds will go to remodel the Dallas High
School wood shop, purchase new equipment and
fund transportation to and from job sites. The
project's first job will be to build a Habitat for
Humanity house in Dallas.
The consortium began in the late 1990s as
local school districts explored ways to increase
their capacity to implement the Certificate of
Advanced Mastery mandated by Oregon's Edu
cational Act for the 21st Century. The
consortium's mission is to provide community
access to education and training for the work
place. That access is provided through col
laboration and partnerships with post-secondary
education, business and industry.
"The Oregon Department of Education uses
us as a model for providing regional technical
education in a time of shrinking resources,"
said Dr. Dave Novotney, Dallas School District
Superintendent. "The funding from the Con
federated Tribes of Grand Ronde means our pro
gram will continue to thrive and benefit our
students and our community.'!.,