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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 2016)
SIUSLAW NEWS SCHOOL NEWSLETTER ❚ FEBRUARY 2016 ❚ 3 Siuslaw Siuslaw Middle School celebrates College Days A RT I S T O F T H E M O N T H Jacob Molano — Choir B Y B ENJAMIN C AHOON Siuslaw High School Student _____________________________ J acob Molano is a senior at Siuslaw High School who is very enthusiastic about the musical arts. Jacob is in the A’Cappella class, taught by Mrs. Debra Young, during the sixth period of the day. This is the first year he has not taken the Chamber Choir course, but he helps out with A’Cappella and at choral events at the middle school, such as assemblies. Jacob is the son of Sarah Clark and Michael Molano. He describes that it is crucial for the atmosphere of the class to be “upbeat, because if not, nothing will get done.” Jacob hopes that in the future he will be able to per- form at multiple festivals and solo ensembles. He explains that his favorite part of the class is, “when we put in all the hard work and all the small things that make A’Cappella fun, it comes together at the end of class and everyone’s part is put together. It fits perfectly.” Mrs. Young focuses on sight reading as a main teach- ing point, which broadens the musical knowledge of her students. Jacob says that she helped his sight reading skills a lot. He also adds that Mrs. Young implemented “some- thing we did not have before: she listens to what we want and takes into account how we feel and what pieces we want to sing.” Aside from choir, Jacob plays the guitar and was a part of a band before a few of the members went on to COURTESY PHOTO PHOTO BY CAROL JOLLEY face adulthood. Jacob plans to attend college or get involved in law enforcement. He aspires to possibly attend a college in New York to see the East Coast. A few colleges he has his eye on include University of Rochester, University of Washington and multiple performing art schools. Jacob is interested in pursuing a career in musical education, such as a musical professor at a university. He extends a great thank you to Mrs. Young for selecting him to be the recipient of this award. Growing art Siuslaw Middle School (SMS) is celebrating the month of February with “College Days” thanks to the Positive Behavior and Instructional Support (PBIS) team. The team collected ban- ners from the colleges that the staff has attended. The banners are hanging up in the commons for the month. There are posters, infor- mation sheets and signs on all the brick columns that the students can read to gather information on col- leges. Each teacher has a sign posted by their door with their college colors, name, location and mascot for students to see. SMS is having a weekly scavenger hunt where stu- dents hunt to gather infor- mation on the staff col- leges. Every Friday at lunch there will be a prize draw- ing for each grade level and three staff members. Prizes are from local restaurants and purchased with a PTA Grant given last month to help with the College Days celebra- tion. We hope to make the students start thinking about college and realize that the adults in the school all had to go to one of these institutions to be here teaching them. Further questions could be directed at Sarah Girard, the SMS coun- selor. —Submitted by Alice Burns Battle of the books ‘intense’ COURTESY PHOTO COURTESY PHOTO Siuslaw High School’s Advanced Biology class worked with bacteria in a recent lab exercise. Instructor Gina Castro Brandt and the students decided to make “bacteria art.” The designs involved about 6 different strains of bacteria with different pigments. Student Lyndsey Keppol said, “It was one of my most favorite labs so far.” Sydney Pickett agreed, saying, “It was a fun break from hard core learning.” —Submitted by Gina Castro Brandt S ixth graders (from left) Graci Immel, Hannah Warner, Nyah Vollmar and Victoria Schlager make up the winning Team Violet at Siuslaw Middle School’s Battle of the Books. The middle school annually participates in the statewide reading competition. Students that volunteer to be part of this program are put on teams. They read 16 novels over the course of sev- eral months. Teams compete against each other to answer comprehension questions about the books. This year, three teams participated and the bat- tles were intense and very close. Team Violet, the winning team, consists of sixth graders. They will be going to a regional competition on March 5 in Eugene. Best of luck to Team Violet! —Submitted by Kelly Dotson Transformed teachers’ lounge STREAM OF THANKS B Y J ACK D AVIS Siuslaw News COURTESY PHOTOS Stream Team students tour the Sweet Creek Hiking Trail (left) and the Noti Mill (above and right), along with other locations, during field trips this year. S iuslaw Middle School’s Salmon and Watersheds Edu- cation program (Stream Team) would like to thank the following for their help and time volun- teering to educate the sixth grade Stream Team, from the end of last quarter through the current quarter: Volunteers at Sweet Creek Hiking Trail on Jan. 13 for native plant identifi- cation for the students’ research project Staff at Noti Dimension Mill for a tour of the mill on Jan. 19th Staff of the City of Florence: Josh and James from the Florence Water Treatment Plant and Brenda Cervantes with her help at the water gar- den on Bay Street. Thank you! —Submitted by Stephanie Rogers Five Roby’s Furniture and Appliance employees arrived at Siuslaw High School on Jan. 28 at 10 a.m. By 4 p.m. the job was completed: new paint donated by Ron’s Paint and new furnishings from Roby’s completely trans- formed the teachers’ lounge. Each year, Roby’s Furniture stores choose a community service project for each of the five coastal communities in which the stores are located. Dustin Herring, manager of the Florence Roby’s Furniture and Appliance store, said, “This year we thought remodeling the teachers’ lounge would be a great project. We wanted to create a restful atmosphere for the staff of Siuslaw High School.” School principal Kerri COURTESY PHOTO Roby’s employees take a break after completely remodeling the Siuslaw High School teachers’ lounge in January. Tatum said the teaching staff could not wait to express their appreciation and to begin enjoying the new break room. “I love this community,” she said. “Time and time again they have shown sup- port. We are so blessed to work here.” District Superintendent Ethel Angal said, “I was blown away at the care that the Roby’s volunteers took in the planning and deco- rating of the space. What a wonderful gift.”
