School Zone
A monthly newsletter covering area schools
June 15, 2016
Oak Park offers
half-day K
alternative
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
N
ext year’s kindergarten-
ers in South Lane School
District will have about a month
of half-day classes before a full-
day schedule begins in October.
One area Christian school, how-
ever, will keep a half-day sched-
ule for its youngest students all
year long.
Sheryl Lorenzen, Director
of Oak Park Christian School,
which operates at Cottage
Grove’s Church of the Naza-
rene, said the school will stick
with a half-day format for its
kindergarteners.
“A lot of children are just not
ready to go to school all day,”
Lorenzen said. “We want to give
an option for a half-day.”
The Oregon legislature man-
dated a full day of kindergarten
for students in public schools
beginning last year, though pri-
vate schools such as Oak Park
— which works to educate pre-
school-aged kids and kindergar-
teners — are exempt from that
mandate. Lorenzen said Oak
Park chooses to work with its
students in the mornings, then
“allow them to be kids in the
afternoon.”
Please see K, Page 2C
More scholarships
than ever presented
at Kennedy High
S
cholarships and grants for
students at Al Kennedy
reached a record high: $139,885.
Students who regularly attended
the cohorts this year, earning
the OYCC scholarship, are Jack
Bartram, Jonathan Carrillo-
Enders, Jonathan Fritz, Austin
Germen, Zach Harrelson, Zack
Rhodes, April Sherrod, Makiah
Snyder and Julie Sullivan.
Students qualifying for the
GearUp grant included Anthony
Ahlwardt,Jack Bartram, Kos-
cha Bergman, Jonathan Car-
rillo-Enders, Kaitlynne Dex-
ter, McKendrianna Dodson,
Jonathan Dove, Jonathan Fritz,
Austin Germen, Taylor Miller,
Aaron Purdy, Zack Rhodes, Ste-
ven Richey, Courtney Schwartz,
April Sherrod, Tiffanee Sing-
hose, Jacob Smith, Makiah
Snyder and Sadie Wolfard.
Recipients of the Kennedy
Turnaround Scholarship were:
Jonathan Carrillo-Enders, Aus-
tin Germen, Leanna Lepe, Tay-
lor Miller, Steven Richey, Zack
Rhodes, Eileen Sandlin, Ken-
neth Salas, Jacob Smith and Ju-
lianne Sullivan. To qualify for
the new Oregon Promise award
for Community College tuition
and books, students had to earn
a GPA of 2.5 or higher or score
150 or higher on their GED
tests. The following students
met that criterion: Jack Bartram,
Josh Carlson-Jones, Kaitlynne
Dexter, McKendrianna Dodson,
Jonathan Dove, Jonathan Fritz,
Maggi Gabel, Ryan Hammans,
Zach Harrelson, Aaron Purdy,
Courtney Schwartz, Elijah Shep-
herd, April Sherrod and Makiah
Snyder. In addition, April Sher-
rod and Makiah Snyder were
both selected for a $500 College
Night Oregon scholarship.
Cottage Grove Masonic Lodge
No. 51 gave a $1,000 scholar-
ship to Jonathan Fritz to pursue
a career in hands on learning and
to specialize in forestry. The
SLEA (teacher’s union) Social
Studies scholarship in honor of
Linda Randall was presented to
Julie Sullivan. The Prospectors
and Gold Diggers Association
$500 scholarship was presented
by Breneda McDonald to April
Sherrod. April Sherrod was
also the recipient of the Wayne
Shields scholarship for LCC for
$1,350.
Longtime school board mem-
ber Sherry Duerst–Higgins pre-
sented the Board of Realtor’s
scholarship to April Sherrod.
Duerst-Higgins also presented
several for the Cottage Grove
Community Foundation: Mag-
nolia Gardens to April Sherrod
to pursue her CNA, an LCC
anonymous scholarship. Ms.
Sherrod and an LCC anony-
mous scholarship to Jack Bar-
tram. With the addition of the
Pell Grants, which many Ken-
nedy students qualify for, this
year’s total scholarships were
the highest ever.
P.E.O. scholarship
recipients announced
P.E.O. local Chapter GI an-
nounces that three students were
awarded college scholarships
for the 2016-2017 school year.
Natascha Reich, a Ph.D stu-
dent from Austria attending
the University of Oregon, has
received a P.E.O. International
Peace Scholarship, valued at
$10,000. Reich is enrolled in
the Musicology department
studying Ethnomusicology and
Early Music Performance. Af-
ter performing professionally
as an internationally acclaimed
organist for ten years, she came
to Eugene to continue graduate
studies while performing as the
church organist and music direc-
tor at First Presbyterian Church
in Cottage Grove. This summer,
Reich will return to Peru and the
Netherlands to study, then to the
University of Oregon this fall.
Carol Crum, a graduate of
Cottage Grove High School, is a
recipient of a Marguerite Schol-
arship award. Crum will enroll
at the University of Oregon this
fall.
Kale’a Galbreath, also a
graduate of Cottage Grove
High School, is a recipient of a
Marguerite Scholarship award.
Galbreath will enroll at Oregon
State University this fall.
P.E.O. (Philanthopic Educa-
tonal Organization) was founded
on Jan. 21, 1869, by seven stu-
dents at Iowa Wesleyan College
in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. To-
day, P.E.O. has grown to nearly
a quarter of a million members
in chapters throughout the U.S.
and Canada. Its mission of pro-
moting educational opportuni-
ties for women continues to be
the primary philanthropy of the
P.E.O. Sisterhood.
courtesy photo
A brunch served by staff members at Kennedy High School also served as a chance for students to peruse
their new yearbooks.
Staff serve students at Kennedy brunch
BY VICKIE COSTELLO
Kennedy High School
S
ilver teapots fi lled with local wild-
fl owers, staff in hats from the
Mad Hatter and plenty of scrumptious
breakfast food was the setting for the
senior brunch on Friday, June 10. Alice
in Wonderland was the theme of the art
decorations. The staff and students at
Al Kennedy High School form a tight
knit community over the school year. It
should not be a surprise that the last task
for students, before graduation rehearsal,
is to eat a meal prepared by the staff.
Six years ago, one of the classrooms at
Kennedy got a makeover when it became
a counseling room. The grant that funded
the counselors at Kennedy, Lincoln and
CGHS also funded furniture, paint and
new fl ooring for the old library/class-
room. Now, when important social events
happen, this special room is used. Tables
and chairs form into rows like any res-
taurant; linen adorns the tables and this
week real silver was used for the place
settings.
Students nervously gathered in the
breezeway, waiting for the mandatory re-
hearsal. Some had forgotten a meal was
being provided and arrived with food. It
all worked out, as staff members fi nished
frying up the bacon and fl ipping the pan-
cakes. After eating, the yearbooks were
handed out and many memories of life at
Kennedy could be heard in the conversa-
tions that followed.
With the “Summer of Wonder” loom-
ing in the future for Kennedy, next year
will be the last time the senior brunch
happens on the current campus. With the
move to Delight Valley, picking the loca-
tion of the annual sendoff for students
will be a tough decision. Will it be out-
side under the covered shelter, in the gym
or still stay cozy in a classroom?
Kiwanis
scholarships
presented to
fi ve students
Kiwanis Club of Cot-
tage Grove/Stovall Foun-
dation Scholarships were
presented to fi ve Cottage
Grove High School se-
niors on June 1, 2016. The
Scholars are: Reily Boyce
who will attend line-
man school at Volta Line
School; Maeve Dahlen,
studying at Portland State
University to become a
music teacher; Hanna
Gilmore, attending Lane
Community College for
landscape design; Agnes
Hite will study to become
a physicians assistant at
Oregon State — Cas-
cades; and Grace Payne,
studying journalism at the
University of Oregon.
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