COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL August 31, 2016
Trade, political
discourse among
DeFazio town
hall topics
School District
offers online option
Odysseyware curriculum will be available to
students in third through 12th grades
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
F
or some time now, the end of August in
Cottage Grove has almost invariably
meant a visit from U.S. Congressman Pe-
ter DeFazio, who travels the Fourth District
he represents to conduct town hall meetings
and interact with the public. On Monday
morning, DeFazio’s visit drew a large crowd
to council chambers at City Hall for a con-
versation that touched on subjects including
the nation’s infrastructure and trade situa-
tions, the political discourse in Washington,
D.C. and a public health care option.
During his prepared remarks, DeFazio
stated that his position on the House Trans-
portation and Infrastructure Committee has
helped keep him engaged in a particularly
frustrating time in Congress, most notably
due to the committee’s record of bipartisan-
ship.
“We still get things done there, even
though we don’t totally agree,” he said,
A
photo by Jon Stinnett
Backed by a graphic showcasing America's delinquent bridges, Congress-
man Peter DeFazio expresses dismay about the nation's political climate.
adding that the “only bill of signifi cance”
passed by Congress lately has been a long-
term transportation bill that will allow states
to know their federal allocation for transpor-
tation spending for the next 10 years.
On disappointment of that bill, DeFazio
said, was that it did not address an increase
in funding for infrastructure projects such
as rebuilding the nation’s defi cient bridges,
of which there are many. DeFazio said he
pursued a raise in the federal gas tax to ad-
dress such concerns, a wholesale tax that
Please see DEFAZIO, Page 11A
String quartet students
perform downtown
L
ast week, 11 young music
students from Grants
Pass, Roseburg, and Eugene
converged in Cottage Grove to
attend the fi rst Delgani String
Quartet Summer Academy,
hosted by Steve and Vera
Kilston. The seven girls and
four boys, ranging in age from
10 to 19 years, played violins,
violas and cellos and spent
the week learning quartet
movements composed by
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Franz Schubert, and Maurice
Ravel. They performed these
during the Cottage Grove Art
3A
Walk on Friday evening at
Apple Pie Antiques, Kalapuya
Books and the Crafty Mercan-
tile. Afterward, the performers
assembled with their coaches,
the Delgani String Quartet
from Eugene, for ice cream
at the Carousel Deli, where
the Delgani also performed.
On Saturday they all played
for parents and guests at the
Kilston home, where the
entire academy ensemble also
played together a new work
composed especially for the
occasion by John Hidalgo of
Walterville.
courtesy photo
Music students from several Oregon towns perform at
Kalapuya Books during Friday's Art Walk.
rea students will have the
option of online educa-
tion beginning this fall, as South
Lane School District unveils
“South Lane Online” for stu-
dents in grades 3-12.
South Lane Online will uti-
lize Odysseyware, a computer-
based curriculum that the Dis-
trict says allows students to take
classes that fi t their individual-
ized needs and offers over 190
online classes.
It’s a curriculum that is “very
rigorous,” according to Mike
Ingman, who will split his time
beginning this year between his
position as Principal at Kennedy
High School and a new role as
the District’s Student Services
Coordinator. Ingman previously
encountered Odysseyware dur-
ing a stint in Albany, where he
said it was used both to help stu-
dents catch up and recover cred-
its and as a standalone curricu-
lum choice. Odysseyware has
been used in a similar capacity
at Kennedy for some time.
“Last year, we started having
conversations about whether
we are serving kids to the best
of our ability,” Ingman said.
“There have been a number of
students leaving the District in
favor of online programs.”
Last year, 18 Cottage Grove
High School students took part
in a pilot program for South
Lane Online under the direction
of instructor Rachel Rothman,
and Ingman said he’ll be sup-
porting Rothman in efforts to
expand the program to the rest
of the District.
“It offers a class like any oth-
er,” Ingman said. “There are les-
sons and quizzes, formative as-
sessments and tests at the end of
each unit. It also offers projects
that help students apply their
knowledge.”
Ingman said the District has
been happy with the results gar-
nered from South Lane Online
thus far, adding that Rothman
will be working to fi nd ways
to ensure that students stay en-
gaged with their work outside a
traditional classroom setting.
“They will be students through
a program we manage; it’s not
its own high school,” said Ing-
man. “Check-ins will take place
at Cottage Grove High School,
and students can take classes
like band and woodshop with
other students. We’re trying to
offer a value-added model that
offers the opportunity for stu-
dents to take regular classes and
have a human they can interact
with.”
Rothman will be available
for those check-ins from 12:30-
4 p.m. each weekday, Ingman
said. He stated that it will be
“hard to know” how many stu-
dents the online option will at-
tract.
“Online education is growing
by leaps and bounds,” he said.
“It may be a way a lot of stu-
dents want to go.”
Those interested in learning
more about South Lane Online
can contact Ingman at mike.ing-
man@slane.k12.or.us or at 541-
942-3381 ext 127. They can
also visit Cottage Grove High
School at registration, which
will take place Wednesday, Aug.
31 from 1-3 p.m.
Online
collections
detail
Oregon's
mining history
DOGAMI working
to increase access to
its records
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New online collections of Or-
egon mining records are open-
ing up the state’s rich history.
The records span decades,
from the gold rush of the mid-
1800s to modern-day aggregate
mining operations. The new col-
lections include Baker County
Mining Claim Records, mining
records held by the Josephine
County, Gold Hill and Wood-
ville historical societies, and a
Mining Permit Viewer.
Putting the documents online
is part of an ongoing effort by
the Oregon Department of Ge-
ology and Mineral Industries
(DOGAMI) to increase access
to the Agency’s scientifi c pub-
lications, records and historic
collections, says Ali Ryan Han-
sen, DOGAMI communications
director. The project was funded
by the Institute of Museum and
Library Services through the Li-
brary Services and Technology
Act, administered by the Or-
egon State Library.
“So many people will fi nd
these mining records interesting
and useful,” Hansen says. “And
now, those historians and gene-
alogists and gold panners and
mine operators can look through
these books and fi les wherever
they happen to be, instead of
traveling to where paper copies
are held.”
Creating digital copies also
preserves irreplaceable infor-
mation. A fl ood at the Baker
County Courthouse in 2010
put mining claim record books
— as well as other priceless his-
toric real estate, tax, and court
records — in peril.
Claim books were photo-
graphed page-by-page and as-
sembled into PDFs. An 1862
book of mining laws, water
rights and claims for the Pio-
neer District is the oldest book
digitized as part of the project,
and one of the oldest books of
the gold rush era.
“Mining districts were kind
of the fi rst local governments
in Oregon,” says geologist Tom
Wiley. “Their laws show us a lot
about the lives and livelihoods
of early Oregonians.”