THE SIUSLAW NEWS SCHOOL NEWSLETTER ❚ February 2018
SCHOOL
ZONE
A Monthly Newsletter for the Siuslaw and Mapleton School Districts and Community Groups
‘THE VOLLMAR PROJECT’
B Y R AMIRO R AMIREZ
Siuslaw High School Student
I
n English Cinema Stud-
ies, we study fi lms and
learn fi lming techniques
to apply to videos. Early in the
school year, Mr. Mielke, my
teacher, said he needed a vid-
eo crew to help student Nyah
Vollmar fi lm a music video.
Nyah is a well-known mem-
ber of the community. She has
sung the National Anthem for
the Oregon Ducks and she has
a beautiful voice. At fi rst, there
were a couple of students who
wanted to do it, but in early
December, nothing was done.
Mr. Mielke asked me if I want-
ed to take over the reins of
the music video project since
there had been no progress.
I was ready. She would sing
“What About Us?” by P!nk.
Aft er spending a month
creating a storyboard, it was
ready to be put into action.
Th e day before fi lming the
video, my fellow student Han-
nah Rasmussen joined us; we
both know each other pretty
well. Hannah did a mini-
assignment on feeling music
and did very well on it, so we
thought this would enhance
the project.
It was Hannah who came up
with the title of our produc-
tion: “Th e Vollmar Project.”
I thought it was a good name
since it had a good rhythm to
it.
In addition, this production
was also the fi rst time Hannah
and I used a clapperboard, a
device that is useful in edit-
“The Vollmar Project” production team (clockwise from lower left) Hannah Rasmussen, Ramiro Ramirez, Isa-
bella Ramirez and Nyah Vollmar, worked with instruction from Mr. Mielke and a professional track mixed by
Nate Kaplan to produce a music video of Nyah’s rendition of “What About Us?” by P!nk. The crew fi lmed on loca-
tion in Historic Old Town Florence.
ing. When you clap it, it will
show a sharp line in the edit-
ing soft ware of the audio track
to help you line up your audio.
We had fun using it.
We met on Th ursday to get
started. With all the necessi-
ties completed and ready —
camera, storyboard, clapper-
board and Nyah — we set off
to record the music video.
My vision for the video
was to have a beautiful sun-
set in the background for the
end of the song. Instead, it
was a gloomy, grey day. Han-
nah and I then got new ideas
for the music video. Since the
song was pretty depressing, we
thought the clouds could en-
hance the music video’s mean-
ing. So off we went with new
ideas to fi lm.
We decided to have Nyah
on a porch looking down the
river, sitting beside a tree in
the middle of the mini forest
in Historic Old Town Florence
and walking down the street
toward a beautiful heart.
Aft er getting all the neces-
sary clips, we called it a day.
We met again on Saturday
due to the fact it got dark and
we didn’t have any lighting
equipment Friday evening, so
we decided to meet at an ear-
lier time the next day.
We had to fi lm Nyah run-
ning through Old Town and
fi lm the dance break. We de-
cided to have Hannah and
Nyah meet earlier so they
could choreograph to the mu-
sic. We then fi nalized on a low
angle shot to make her look
tall and powerful since, in the
video, she is rebounding from
a failed relationship.
See PROJECT Page 3
‘Eye’ on the prize
Florence Elks Lodge 1858 holds annual Eye
Injury Prevention Poster Contest
Fourth- and fi ft h-grade students at Siuslaw Elementary School
participated again in the annual Elks Eye Injury Prevention Poster
Contest, concluding at the end of January.
Nearly 100 students entered their artwork to the Florence Elks
Club. Bob Catterton, from the Elks, oversees the project, working
together with the school teachers to set the parameters for the pro-
gram.
Th is year, the Elks announced three winners:
1st place: June Dee (pictured), from Mrs. Riggs’ fi ft h-grade class
2nd place: Addison McNeill, from Mrs. Halpin’s fi ft h-grade class
3rd place: Darcy Edman, also from Mrs. Riggs’ fi ft h-grade class
Th e winners and their families were honored at a dinner and
award presentation at the Elks Club on Feb. 15. Cash prizes were
awarded to each of the three top winners. — Submitted by Diane
McCalmont
ASPIRE makes directory
Siuslaw High School ASPIRE is cre-
ating a Florence Community Career
Exploration Directory to off er students
opportunities to interview, job shadow
and intern at various businesses. At the
January Florence Area Chamber of Com-
merce luncheon, ASPIRE was able to
invite members to participate. ASPIRE
team members would like to extend the
scope of this directory to cover a variety
of fi elds, so are requesting that members
of the Florence community sign up to be
available to students to learn about their
work and its value in this community. Go
to the Siuslaw High School Counseling
and Student Services webpage and fi ll out
the “ASPIRE CAREER EXPLORATION”
form, or contact us at ASPIRE@siuslaw.
k12.or.us. — Submitted by ASPIRE Team
Leader Bou Kilgore
Dear Siuslaw High School
Families,
Student safety is a primary
objective for the Siuslaw School
District. Part of our safety prepa-
ration includes trainings and
drills for the event of an armed
intruder. To best prepare our staff
for emergency procedures, we
must hold periodic, large-scale
drills where different scenarios
can be discussed with law enforce-
ment and professional trainers.
To provide the necessary train-
ing time, the Siuslaw School Dis-
trict has set aside Friday, March
23rd as a staff inservice day. We
are canceling school for all K-12
students.
The morning will be spent on
ALICE training. The ALICE mod-
el is now the foremost approach
in response to school violence. We
are proud to be able to bring this
to our community. This training
involves school staff, the City of
Florence Police Department and
other local agencies.
In the afternoon, we will run a
large-scale simulation. Staff will
be assigned rolls to play during
and after an emergency situation.
This allows us to take plans from
paper to action in real time and to
test our communication across the
entire district.
We recognize that this change in
the school schedule may cause an
inconvenience for many families.
However, we are confident that
the importance of this training
coupled with sufficient notifica-
tion for families will be seen as a
measure of commitment to stu-
dent safety.
Thank you,
Kerri Tatum
Siuslaw High School Principal
S UBMISSIONS
WELCOME
Spring Field Trip volunteers wanted
Help students get acquainted with the
South Slough Estuary in Coos County by
volunteering for the Spring Field Trip sea-
son, March 20 through June 15.
• Most school groups are third- to fi ft h-
grade, but some are middle school
groups
• Typical schedule is 8:45 a.m. until noon
or 1 pm
• Volunteers should be able to help one
to two days a week, Tuesday through
Friday
• Roughly 80 percent of the spring book-
ings are for the Tide Flats Program at
the Charleston Marina/Portside Res-
taurant area. Roughly 20 percent are
Watershed Hikes at the Interpretive
Center.
Volunteer training this spring will focus
on the Tide Flats Program with the option
Siuslaw High
School
announces
ALICE
training
to pick from the following areas:
A) Wrack Line Inhabitants – learn about
all the amazing assortment of creatures
that call the intertidal zone home. Special
emphasis is placed on adaptations and
challenges
B) Eel Grass and Dock Study – learn
about the colorful fouling community
organisms that live on the docks in the
Charleston Marina, as well as eel grass and
the huge variety of organisms it supports.
C) Mudfl ats Study – take a closer look
at the organisms that call the mud fl ats
home and their special adaptations to live
and avoid predators in this mucky home.
Go to www.oregon.gov/dsl/SS/Pages/
VolunteerApp.aspx to apply.
For more information about this event,
call Deborah Rudd at 541-888-5558 x158
or deborah.rudd@state.or.us
Deadline for
submissions is the
15th of every month.
Be a part of School
Zone, a monthly
newsletter for
students in the
Siuslaw and
Mapleton school
districts.
Email Siuslaw News
Features Editor
Chantelle Meyer at
cmeyer@
thesiuslawnews.com