8A | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2018 | SIUSLAW NEWS
Sophomore Memoir
By Ramiro Ramirez
Siuslaw High School
Student
School has finally let out! But before I
dramatically celebrate a survival of an-
other school year, I want to reflect on
the most memorable moments of my
sophomore school year at Siuslaw High
School. This year marked my 12th year
in the Siuslaw School District, as I am
moving on to my junior year and the
11th grade.
Let’s start off at the early days of the
first month of school. As the summer
season closes, days become shorter, and
back-to-school sales are going on ev-
erywhere. You then get the sick feeling
of going back to school and having to
listen to many boring lectures for days
on end.
When the first day of school arrives,
you may wake up late, or you may be
nagged to get up at 6:30 a.m. to go back
to school.
My first month of school wasn’t bor-
ing, but it wasn’t interesting either. The
classes I had were English II, World
Studies, Geometry, Cinema Studies,
Culinary Arts I, Leadership and Biol-
ogy.
After getting to know all my teachers,
my focus then slowly shifted from sum-
mer memories to school focus. I did my
best to be a good student, as I turn in
assignments on time and showing up
every single day. At the end of October,
I was doing fairly well, as I had mostly
“As” in my report card.
I remember one day, when I thought
I was getting sick but went to school
anyway. I try to look forward to school,
and I actually do. When most students
feel even a little sick, the most common
thing is to stay at home. However that
was not the case for me, as I still went to
school. I felt really proud of myself, as
I have shown that not even feeling like
I was getting sick could hold me back
from attending school.
Then we reached the crossroads of
two semesters. The first semester shows
the things that you have done to see
what you can do, while in the second
lies the opportunities that await you
from these decisions and actions.
I had most of the same classes as the
first semester, except I now have Cre-
ative Arts I instead of Culinary Arts I.
Unfortunately, this also means that
parents are going to check your grades
in each class, and you could potential-
ly get punished for having a bad grade.
For me, any grade with a “C” or below
raises a red flag for me. Yes, I know a
“C” is passing, but “C” means average. I
don’t want to be average. I want to be an
exceeding student.
Nearing the end of semester one, I
still had mostly “As” in my classes, only
having a “B” in English II and Culi-
nary Arts I. Then, a family emergency
happened, which caused my grades to
drastically drop. All of my teachers un-
derstood what had happened, and most
told me not to worry about schoolwork.
In an email one teacher sent, they said,
“Family comes first.”
Despite that reassurance, when I
came back to school, not only was I
stressed out from the family emergen-
cy, but I had a lot of catching up to do.
Thankfully, our school has something
known as extended semesters. I decid-
ed to take advantage of the opportunity
and my teachers gave me an extended
semester.
However, even as an extremely
hard-working student — now working
twice or even three times as hard to
keep up with my classes — it was hard
to keep up with all of them.
Then, a miracle happened.
It started off with my English II
teacher. He told me not to worry
about the missing work and readjust
my focus to what we were currently
doing. Slowly, one by one, the rest of
my teachers told me that I had shown
great potential ending the semester.
After receiving those messages, I felt a
huge amount of respect had been given
to me. I had shown tons of potential to
these teachers and went on to end the
semester with all “As.” It was thanks
to potential I’ve shown, my hard work
and my teachers’ understanding.
Then we reached the end of the
school year and Florence’s annual
Rhododendron Festival.
Usually I like to think of Rhody
Days as a sign of summer release.
The feeling I get from Rhody Days is
a summer feeling. When the carnival
leaves, I always think I have the power
and motivation to finish off the school
year strong.
The last days of school have been
creeping up quicker than I thought,
and not only are the last days of school
coming, but finals as well. This also
creates a scramble of chaos for us stu-
dents as we try to have fun and study at
the same time — Which probably will
never work.
However, we can all agree that the
beginning of summer vacation will be
fun, whether passing a class or not. For
me, I tried to hold my focus on ending
the year on a 4.0 GPA. Just recently,
all of my grades were “As” — possibly
enough to have another first, with a 4.0
GPA for both semesters.
I began 2018 with a wish to end the
school year with a 4.0. However, I don’t
believe in wishing for stuff; rather, I go
and get it by working hard for it.
And now it is summer.
In my opinion, summer vacation is
a time to relax as much as possible.
Some of my peers have gotten jobs,
and so have I, as I help my parents at
our restaurant, International C-Food
Market (ICM) in Historic Old Town
Florence.
There are also a couple of things I
look forward to this summer. Besides
watching a NASCAR race each Sunday,
I look forward to being a “Minion” for
one of CROW’s summer camps in July;
possibly being an intern for the Flor-
ence Air Academy in August; and, the
biggest thing for me, participating in a
leadership camp this June, the Camp
Rotary Youth Leadership Academy.
As summer vacation begins, I sit at
my desk, daydreaming about the good
times I’ll have in this off-school sea-
son.
Now that I have shared some school
memories, school’s out!
TRAFFIC from page 1A
PHOTOS BY JO BEAUDREAU
More art to ‘look over’ in Old Town
F
lorence Public Art Committee wel-
comed the city’s newest installa-
tions of public art to the Siuslaw River
Bridge Interpretive Center last week.
Sculptor Jesse Swickard, of
Sherwood, Ore., created both “Sitting
Wave Part II,” a bench with a
wave-watching theme, and “West
Coast Overlook,” a tall standing sculp-
ture.
“Overlook was inspired by bird
activity at the beach when taking
walks,” Swickard said. “They always
seem to be perched up on something
— always on the lookout.”
His work has appeared at exhibits
in Portland, Bend and Salem.
Members of the City of Florence, community members from the Siuslaw region, area dignitaries and Public Art
Committee members unveiled the pieces, which are part of the city’s Art Exposed public art gallery.
Buying or Selling? I can help.
New Listing
1619 2nd St – Nice corner lot located in the Old
Town residential area, with zoning that allows for
commercial uses! A short walk to shops, restau-
rants, and the boardwalk on the Siuslaw River.
All city services available. This lot is cleared,
level and ready for you to build. $87,500. #2841-
18034298
Tim Sapp
Owner /
Principal Broker
541 999-8230
1749 Highway 101 • 541-997-1200
Deadline for Press Releases Is Every
Monday and Thursday by Noon. Email
P RESS R ELEASES @T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM .
9am-3pm
Greentrees West
Huge Sale
Years of accumulation. Antiques
from the 1800s including French
provincial couch and chair, buffet,
curio cabinets, wooden double
bed frame, cedar chest,
Grandfather clock, secretary drop
front desks, kitchen table w/
chairs, parlor chairs, antique
harvesting equipment (hames,
oxen harness, etc.) stone bird
baths, wicker furniture, couch,
rocking chair, double mattresses,
Avon & doll collections, Christmas,
tools, kitchen, knickknack and
much more. Check out craigslist
and Facebook. See you there@
Estate prepared by Linda Wilcox
Visa & Master Card accepted.
Multi-Family Sale
Fri.-Sat. 6/22-6/23
8am-3pm
2293 Willow Street
Sat.-Sun. 6/23-6/24
9am-5pm
4825 Treewood Drive
Grand dining room table w/6-
chairs, Lenox China, Vintage
thumbprint glassware, dog
supplies-gates,
ramp & stairs etc., small
appliances, collectibles.
Moving Sale
6/22-Till Gone?
10888 East Mapleton Road
Years of collectibles. Too much
stuff to move. Mahogany hutch,
5pt. elk horns, wood shipper,
2-Budweiser racing car hood
replicas, guitar w/2-amps &
microphone w/stand. Tons of misc!
Florence emergency re-
sponse organizations were
involved in a call that might
have ended in a fatality, if
not for the quick response
and quick thinking of Flor-
ence Police Auxiliary Officer
Duane Sansome.
On April 23, Sansome was
driving north on Quince
Street behind a newer Ford
Pickup truck. Both vehicles
stopped at the intersection of
Quince and Highway 126.
“At that time, I did not see
anything out of the ordinary
until the pickup pulled out
into the intersection appear-
ing to head west on 126,”
Sansome said. “I heard a loud
crash, noticed something that
appeared to be a motorcycle
through the windshield and
saw a body land on the street
just to the east of the truck.”
Sansome sprang into ac-
tion.
“That is when I radioed
dispatch to announce that we
had a very serious accident,
with a motorcycle down,” he
said. “I then placed my po-
lice cruiser at the intersection
of the scene and observed a
male sitting on the ground
with a very serious leg injury
that appeared to be a sever.
“I immediately pulled my
belt from my uniform and ap-
plied the belt to the individu-
al’s thigh just above the knee.
I kept the pressure on the leg
until paramedics arrived. I
was than relieved, at which
time I immediately began to
direct traffic until the scene
was clear.”
Sansome’s immediate re-
sponse to the emergency was
due in part to training he had
received and his proximity
to the accident when it oc-
curred.
The victim of the crash
was life-flighted to Portland
where he unfortunately lost
his leg, but not his life.
Sansome wants the com-
munity to know that he was
only doing what he had been
trained to do in that type of
situation.
Sansome was honored by
the Florence City Council
and Florence Police Chief
Tom Turner on May 21 with
a Lifesaving Award.
“I am not a hero,” Sansome
insisted. “I met an individual
who needed a ‘friend’ at that
time. I happened to be in the
right place at the right time.”
He said that the accident
he witnessed was “a prime
example of drivers not pay-
ing attention.”
“There are many instanc-
es when drivers are not
aware of their surroundings
when driving,” he continued.
“There are many seniors in
this community who have
marginal driving practices
as well as drivers who engage
in other activities while driv-
ing that prohibit them from
being fully aware of what is
in front of them. I only hope
that this report will ‘open the
eyes’ of all of us while driv-
ing this upcoming summer
where our visitors love to
visit.”
Statistics also show that
accidents increase in con-
struction zones.
For current information on
Oregon’s roads, driving con-
ditions and travel times, visit
www.tripcheck.com.