SIUSLAW NEWS SCHOOL NEWSLETTER ❚ MARCH 2016 ❚ 3
Siuslaw
Nerd Squad becomes one with the whale
Middle school students produce video for nationwide BE the Whale project
S
iuslaw Middle School stu-
dents have joined forces
with Florence artist and
River Gallery owner Jan Jagoe
to promote her endangered
species project by awarding
$1,000 scholarships to art stu-
dents nationwide.
Student Memphis Gliewe
performs the voice of Melody, a
humpback whale, in a short
video for BE the Whale on its
website. She dances over
imagery of whales in the water,
gives a little bit of the whale’s
history and describes the BE the
Whale mission.
SMS teacher Hilary Roach
provided piano marches and
The Siuslaw Nerd Squad pro-
duced the video.
The Siuslaw School District
will now receive 10 percent of
the funding received by the BE
the Whale project, to be divided
between the elementary school,
middle school and high school.
The funds will be distributed
to classroom teachers and staff
to buy much needed school sup-
plies and equipment.
The project targets all types
of endangered species, with a
different animal chosen to rep-
resent each state.
Paris Meyers, from Crescent
Valley High School in Albany,
Ore., received a scholarship in
December 2014 for her water-
color of a humpback whale.
Jordan Merz from Bonners
Ferry High School in Bonners
Ferry, Idaho, received a scholar-
ship in May 2015 for her
graphite and charcoal drawing
of a Woodland Caribou.
Brooks Jones from Herriman
High School in Salt Lake City,
Utah, received a scholarship in
December 2015 for her pen and
ink drawing of a Southwestern
Willow Flycatcher.
The ocelot has been chosen
as this semester’s endangered
S IUSLAW
HOLDS
On Thursday, April 28, from
11 a.m to 1 p.m. there will be a
Career and Job Fair held at the
Siuslaw High School gym for
high school students from
Florence
and
Mapleton.
Presenters from community col-
leges, vocational schools, the
military, local employers, and
representatives from various
professions will be available to
talk with students about career
options. There will also be door
prizes throughout the day.
The idea for the Career and
Job Fair started with Florence
residents Nancy Walker and
Carol Jolley discussing how stu-
dents might benefit from direct
interaction with people from
various professions who could
talk about career paths and jobs.
Nancy comes from a conven-
tion and hotel marketing back-
ground and Carol is the lead
volunteer at the high school and
has been an ASPIRE adviser
over the past several years.
Siuslaw School District
Superintendent Ethel Angal,
Siuslaw High School Principal
Kerri Tatum and Steve Moser,
counselor, are partners in devel-
oping this event for local high
school students for the first
time.
Siuslaw students
named geography
bee semifinalists
S
COURTESY PHOTO
From left: SMS students Levi Spencer, Tyler Johnson, Memphis Gliewe, teacher
Eddie Mielke, student Ross Richmond, teacher Hilary Roach, student Campbell Williams
and project BE the Whale project creator Jan Jagoe
animal. High school students
from Arizona will be submitting
artwork by the April 1 deadline.
Pictures of the winning art-
work and information about the
project can be found on the
project website at www.be
thewhale.com, “BE the Whale”
on Facebook and at The River
Gallery in Old Town Florence.
Promotional items such as T-
shirts and coffee mugs are avail-
able on the website and at the
gallery.
In addition to the 10 percent
of the www.gofundme.com
A PRIL
Promising opportunity
Siuslaw High School seniors are taking advantage of the
Oregon Promise. As of March 1, 35 students applied for this
opportunity for assistance to attend state community colleges.
To date, FAFSA reports 39 submissions. Students still have
time to file their FAFSA and to link it to the IRS for an auto-
matic update. —Submitted by Bou Kilgore
Bowling for gold
account going to Siuslaw
School District, a portion of all
proceeds will be donated to var-
ious endangered species proj-
ects across the country.
Donations to help support
this program can also be made
at Oregon Pacific Bank, 1335
Highway 101, P.O. Box 22,000,
Florence, OR, 97439.
Checks should be addressed
to the “BE the Whale” donation
fund.
The BE the Whale project
will continue as additional fund-
ing becomes available.
CAREER FAIR
PHOTO BY WIN JOLLEY
The Career and Job Fair team
Organizations are coming
from as far away as Portland
and Klamath Falls.
Vocational schools will repre-
sent the construction industry,
culinary and beauty schools.
There will be many presen-
ters to talk about the ever-grow-
ing health care industry.
The Florence police, fire and
ambulance organizations will be
there as well as the Siuslaw
School District representing
teaching and other jobs within
the district.
Banner Bank, the Rotary
Club and Ladies of Elks have all
provided funding for the
Career/Job Fair. Fred Meyer,
Safeway, Three Rivers Casino
Resort, the Florence PTA,
ASPIRE and the Indian
Education program have also
contributed door prizes and/or
support
for
the
event.
—Submitted by Carol Jolley
iuslaw Middle School
student Margot
Fleming and Siuslaw
Elementary School student
Ava Glowacki have been
notified by the National
Geographic Society that they
are each one of the semifi-
nalists eligible to compete in
the 2016 Oregon National
Geographic State Bee.
The contest will be held in
Salem on Friday, April 1.
Fleming is the daughter of
Jerry and Mary Fleming.
Glowacki is the daughter of
Gabe and Ella Glowacki.
The Salem contest is the
second level of the National
Geographic Bee competition,
which is now in its 28th
year. School Bees were held
in schools with fourth-
through eighth-grade stu-
dents throughout the state to
determine each school cham-
pion. School champions then
took an online qualifying
test.
The National Geographic
Society has invited up to 100
of the top-scoring students in
each of the 50 states, District
of Columbia, Department of
Defense Dependents Schools
and U.S. territories to com-
pete in the state Bees.
Each state champion will
receive $100, the National
Geographic book “The
National Parks: An
Illustrated History” and a
medal, and will journey to
Washington, D.C., to repre-
sent their state in the
National Geographic Bee
Championship at National
Geographic Society head-
quarters from May 22 to 25.
The national champion
will receive a $50,000 col-
lege scholarship and lifetime
membership in the National
Geographic Society. The
national champion will also
travel (along with one parent
or guardian), all expenses
paid, on a Lindblad expedi-
tion to Southeast Alaska
aboard National Geographic
Sea Lion, including Glacier
Bay National Park, in recog-
nition of the 100th anniver-
sary of the National Park
Service.
Travel for the trip is pro-
vided by Lindblad
Expeditions and National
Geographic.
For more information on
the National Geographic Bee,
visit www.natgeobee.org.
The 2016 National
Geographic Bee
Championship final round,
moderated for the first time
by journalist and humorist Mo
Rocca, will air on the
National Geographic Channel
and Nat Geo WILD on
Friday, May 27, at 8 p.m. ET,
and later on public television
stations. Check local televi-
sion listings for air date and
time in your area.
How would you fare as a
Bee contestant? At the school
Bees this year, students had to
answer such questions as:
To fish in Lake
Winnipesaukee and ski near
Franconia Notch, you would
travel to which state — New
Hampshire or South Dakota?
(Answer: New Hampshire)
Visitors to Biscayne
National Park in Florida can
go fishing and lobstering
along the shore of which kind
of habitat — mangrove or
desert? (Answer: Mangrove)
Sea kayakers can explore
hundreds of islands off the
Dalmatian coast of which
European country south of
Slovenia? (Answer: Croatia)
For centuries, the Chinese
emperors lived in seclusion in
the Forbidden City, which is
located within what present-
day city? (Answer: Beijing)
National Geographic is a
global nonprofit membership
organization driven by a pas-
sionate belief in the power of
science, exploration and sto-
rytelling to change the world.
It funds hundreds of research
and conservation projects
around the globe each year.
With the support of our mem-
bers and donors, we work to
inspire, illuminate and teach
through scientific expeditions,
award-winning journalism,
education initiatives and
more.
For more information, visit
www.nationalgeographic.org.
A RT I S T O F T H E M O N T H
Breanna Robertson — Pottery
B Y B ENJAMIN C AHOON
Siuslaw High School Student
_____________________________
B
COURTESY PHOTO
Two teams from Siuslaw Bowling qualified for
the state tournament. The Siuslaw Athletic
Booster Club donated $450 to help cover
expenses. —Submitted by Gina Castro Brandt
Perfect attendance continues
The following 12 students
have maintained 100 percent
attendance thus far in the
school year.
Ninth Grade
Burnem, Eli S.
Disalvo, Nicholas J.
McNutt, Scott
Stinnett, Gabriel M.
Tupua, Annabel M.
10th Grade
Hicks, Joshua
Mielke, Edison N.
Stinnett, Darren J.
Valentine, Ramona C.
Williams, Hailee A.
11th grade
Fleming, David A.
12th grade
Hicks, Holly
Congratulations to their
commitment to success.
—Submitted by Kerri Tatum,
Siuslaw High School principal
reanna Robertson is a senior at Siuslaw High School.
She is an advanced student in fifth period pottery and
a Teacher’s Aid in second period pottery.
Breanna is the daughter of Daun Bolling and Ken
Robertson. She states the atmosphere of Kim Pickell’s class-
room is, “very relaxing and calm.”
Breanna explains, “I can express myself in my artwork”
and that is her favorite part of pottery. She recently won third
place in the Fresh Impressions student art show at the
Florence Event Center with an “Alice in Wonderland” sculp-
ture. Breanna describes her sculpture as, “a three-tiered cake.
The base is purple with squares, and has a Cheshire Cat. The
middle is the Mad Hatter’s hat, and is green with leaf tex-
tures. The top is a teapot, to represent Alice.”
Breanna appreciates how Mrs. Pickell teaches.
“It is okay if you mess up, and that not everybody is per-
fect at everything. As long as you try your best, that is all that
matters,” she says.
She shares a bit of knowledge she learned in her years of
pottery: “Instead of being so specific about how to get some-
thing done, sometimes you just let it go and it turns out way
cooler than you expected it to be in the first place.”
Breanna also enjoys reading and drawing. She plans on
going to Lane Community College and majoring in sign lan-
guage. Breanna plans on being a sign language teacher for the
government or school system, but she has a back up plan in
cosmetology.
Breanna’s artwork will be at the Florence Event Center until
the end of March, so be sure to check out her amazing and
award-winning sculpture.
PHOTOS BY CAROL JOLLEY
Senior Breanna
Robertson won third
place for her “Alice in
Wonderland” sculpture
at the Fresh
Impressions Art Show.