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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 28, 2019)
SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2019 | 7A Register for Community Chorus tomorrow Register to sing with the Florence Communi- ty Chorus on Thursday, Aug. 29, at 6:30 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church of the Siuslaw, 3996 High- way 101. Auditions are not re- quired. Rehearsal will fol- low immediately after reg- istration until 8:30 p.m. David Aakre will con- duct the Chorus. All sing- ers from high school age and up are welcome. There is a registration fee of $70 to cover the cost of music and admin- istrative expenses. High school students will au- tomatically receive fee waivers. The Community Cho- rus regularly rehearses on Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church. The winter concert will take place on Sat- urday, Dec. 14, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 15, at 2 p.m., both taking place at the Presbyterian Church of the Siuslaw. For additional informa- tion, call 541-997-3469. Check www.communi- tychorusflorenceoregon. org for registration forms that may completed and brought to registration on Aug. 29. Come sing with com- munity members. We’ve got you COVERED Serving Florence since 1990 business • homeowners • auto • life • health • medicare plans A SK US ABOUT M ULTIPLE P OLICY D ISCOUNTS ! Contact Angela, Jodi or Paul to discuss your policy needs. 875 Hwy 101 • Florence, OR • (541) 997-3466 www.AbelInsuranceAgency.com Let me Showcase your property. New Listing Tim Sapp Owner / Principal Broker 541 999-8230 949 Jasper Ln - Turn-key Seabrook Town- home. This lovely end unit has a spacious, open-concept with a slider to the covered back deck, plus a laundry area. Two upstairs mas- ter suites, one has double closets and walk-in shower. Attached, one car garage. $225,000. #3017-29081597 1749 Highway 101 • 541-997-1200 MAPLETON from page 1A up the classroom itself. “I’ve been excited about Tucker has a long his- working with Amber,” Ross tory in working with pre- said. “It’s going to be fun school-aged children, working with kids on the working from prenatal to building blocks for their five years, including home whole educational careers. visits, and 10 years ago … Mapleton really focuses worked to bring Florence’s so much on giving individ- first Montessori School. ual care to all the students “We started as a nonprof- because of the small class it with a board of directors, sizes. They don’t have to and myself and two oth- worry about their kid get- er people were founding ting overlooked, there’s go- members,” she said. “We got ing to be a lot of loving at- that up and running and it tention and care. It’s a good was really successful.” school.” Around five years ago, As for the goals of the Tucker moved into ma- preschool, Tucker said it is ternal infant health and about, “getting those four- was also a family resource year-olds who are turning specialist, but when it was five this year ready for kin- announced that Mapleton dergarten. We want to en- would be opening up a new gage families and have them program, she jumped back feel comfortable. This is in. going to be a great place for “I really missed pre- their kids to complete their school, it was probably one school experience, and use of the funnest jobs I’ve ever it as a resource in the com- had,” she said. “Their minds munity.” are so absorbent. They’re Tucker pointed out that ready for everything, curi- she is also a family resource ous about everything. It’s a specialist and will be able to privilege to share that with assist parents in a variety of them and expose them to aspects in helping parents the love of learning and na- and children with educa- ture and all there is to share tional needs. with children. It’s a pretty “We’re creating a building special place to be.” block for a lifetime of learn- The program is set to ing here,” Tucker said. open on Tuesday, Oct. 1, A step up from preschool with Tucker and communi- finds the Mapleton district’s ty members renovating the next new recruit, kinder- classroom space for the stu- garten teacher Dana Silvani. dents in the meantime. “It’s always been my fa- “The parent involvement vorite grade. I just love how has been extraordinary, but they’re coming into school it wasn’t just the parents. It with really no experience, was aunts, uncles, grand- and they’re just an open parents and friends,” Tucker mind and willing to learn said. “They have done most everything,” Silvani said. of the work so far to get us to “I’m really looking forward the place where we can start to working with them on doing what we’re doing. I’ve social skills and creating had a lot of parents helping friendships with them, and all day long for three or four just teaching them how to days to get our classroom be little humans that inter- ready to build. So we have act with the world.” just resurfaced the walls and This will be Silvani’s first freshened everything up.” time having her own class- The renovations are now room, having been a substi- complete, and Tucker, along tute in Eugene. with educational assistant “I’m definitely nervous, Natalie Ross, who graduat- I’m also really excited,” she ed from Mapleton in 2012, said. “I love that Maple- will be working on setting ton has smaller class sizes. SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 Siuslaw News News and views that defi ne our community. G OOD L IFE 2 19 MAC or PC Support Free Admission (please bring a canned food item to donate for Florence Food Share) • Samples • Volunteer Opportunities FREE Enter to win a “New Night’s Sleep” gift certifi cate good in the Mattress Shoppe (good for mattress, box springs, adjustable base, linens or pillows. Value $1700. there, enjoy it, have some fun.” Middle and high school students will be met by new teacher Rachel Claric, who will be teaching language arts for seventh- through 12th-grades, as well as a lifetime fitness course. “I’ve been out of teach- ing for a year, so I decided I wanted to come back. I grew up in Noti, so Maple- ton is not completely un- known to me,” she said. “I thought it would be a nice change of pace and a good opportunity. I’ve never been on this small of staff before.” For Claric, teaching is all about passion. “I want the students to come away with the idea that they should have a pas- sion for something, whether it’s English or not,” she said. “That happens to be one of my passions, but it doesn’t mean it has to be their pas- sion. I want to help them figure out what their pas- sion is, as well as figuring out what are they thinking of doing after high school and where they want to go.” Finally, Mapleton is bringing in its first school counselor for all grades with new hire Brittany Anderson. “I grew up in Florence, and my mom actually grad- uated from Mapleton,” she said. “I’m really excited to be here because it’s so small. The students won’t be just faces, I’ll actually know them. Most schools have one counselor for 400 or more kids just in the high school. Here, it’s 150 for all schools, so I think that’s pretty cool.” As to why a student would come to see Anderson, the reasons are complex. “It could be friend stuff, it could be family stuff, it could be issues at school, it could be just someone to talk to or it could be having issues with schoolwork,” she said. “There’s a ton of differ- ent things that students will come see me for.” And when students do come and see her, Anderson hopes that they will feel able to talk about anything. “I’m open and super non-judgmental,” she said. “I have an open-door poli- cy, so students can come see me for whatever they want. What I’d like them to get from me is feeling empow- ered to make their own de- cisions, and that they have the ability to make good choices all the time.” Mapleton School District starts school next week. For more information about the district, visit www. mapleton.k12.or.us. FTS Computer Repair SEPTEMBER 26 • 9AM-2PM • FLORENCE EVENTS CENTER • Raffl es • Lifestyle Presentations & Seminars • Health Screenings You’re really able to per- sonalize each student’s ed- ucation. I really want my classroom to be a welcom- ing and accepting place for these students, and to be their safe space where they’re comfortable to learn and to share everything, and come to me when they have problems.” The most difficult chal- lenge for the grade is getting all the students on the same page — “Some kids might know the whole alphabet, some kids might know a few letters,” she said. “You don’t really know the academic background they’re coming with, and trying to match all of their levels.” But when those differ- ences begin to mesh, “I re- ally enjoy when the kids get that ‘ah-ha’ moment and something clicks for them. I want a strong classroom environment where they’ll learn how to read and write, plus social skills and how to interact with other class- mates. We’re making re- sponsible citizens.” The kindergarteners will also be working with new teacher Nathan Westerby, who will be teaching K-12 physical education, as well as middle school and high school health. The Nebras- kan native, who recently taught in Willamina, Ore., in a temporary educator position, is excited to be building a program that can follow through an entire students career. “I thought it was a unique opportunity to teach K-12, not a lot of other places you can do that,” Westerby said. “I get the kindergarteners and the kids who are basi- cally adults. Huge range, with a lot of planning, but I think in the end it will all be worth it.” On the physical educa- tion portion, Westerby said that he wants to ensure the students are in shape and healthy. “I’ve been in places before where kids have struggled skipping up and down on one foot in middle school. I felt bad for the kids. I want to give them a basis in order to not be in that kind of po- sition,” he said. As for overall health, Westerby said that he want- ed to create strong relation- ships between the students where they will be physical- ly and psychologically safe. “For me, teaching is a lot about relationships,” he said. “Just being there for the kids, having fun. I es- sentially am a grown-up child who plays games all day. I just like to get out BJ’s Ice Cream until gone. Sponsored by Siuslaw News & BJ’s Ice Cream W e are expanding our computer sales and to make room, all accessories will be 50% off through September. Headphones, USB hubs, charging cables, bluetooth speakers and more! Don’t miss out on this great deal! 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