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He
"BAD KIDS"
A year in the life of Al Kennedy High School as it navigates a location change,
funding shortages and the ever-present stereotypes associated with alternative
education.
On an early September morning, the staff of Al Kennedy High School gathered in a room at the South Lane
School District offi ces. The Sentinel had approached the district in the prior weeks about chronicling the
teachers and students at Kennedy to tell the story of alternative education through the lens of those on the
ground. District administrators thought it was a great idea. Kennedy staff had questions. Eight educators sat in
a room with a newspaper editor and had a conversation. At the end, they’d come to an understanding: The truth
is the truth and the kids come fi rst. Over the course of the 2017-2018 school year, the Sentinel will tell the story
of these educators and their students as they navigate a location change, funding gaps and the unfortunately
true narrative that sometimes working hard isn’t enough and an education doesn’t fi x everything.
We’ll tell stories of triumph, tragedy and truth as the tribe at Kennedy makes the most with what it has in its
continued effort to slingshot students up and over the barriers to progress through understanding, commitment
and engagement while acknowledging the reality that some kids won’t make it.
By Caitlyn May and Zach Silva
A seven-part series
H
alie Ketcher has moved 11 times in her life but she’s never had a move as diffi cult as the last one.
Two days after being appointed principal of Al Kennedy High School, she oversaw the move of 94
students (and everything that came with them) four miles north of Cottage Grove to their new home in
Saginaw; a space called Delight Valley that they would share with a pre-school and where they would contend
with a shrinking move-in budget while new projects around the school district saw millions in bond money. It
was a lot of baggage.
“There was some concern in the community,” former Kennedy Principal Mike Ingman said. He began the move
as principal at the end of the 2016-2017 school year before a domino effect started by the resignation of Cottage
Grove High School principal Iton Unosenata, would see Ingman take the top spot at the traditional high school
and Ketcher, behind the big desk at Kennedy. The move to Delight Valley, Ingman said, meant a longer trek for
students in rural Oregon where a car ride is not always guaranteed and the suggestion of moving the communi-
ty’s alternative high school was labeled a bad idea.
Bad. Because in Cottage Grove—where the median yearly income is $37,058 and 22.5 percent of residents live
in poverty-- the perception is that the alternative school is for the students who can’t be good, a common notion
Please see KENNEDY PG. A7
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Cottage Grove residents look-
ing for a Hawaiian-food fi x can
no longer fi nd it on S. Gate-
way Blvd. Bruddahs and Sistas
Hwaiian Kitchen has closed.
"We tried to reach out to them
early on when we got word that
they might be closing," said
Cottage Grove Area Chamber
of Commerce Executive Direc-
tor Travis Palmer.
Repeated attempts by The
Sentinel to reach the owners of
the restaurant were not success-
ful.
Bruddahs and Sistas Face-
book page changed its hours
of operation to 'permanantly
closed' last week after custom-
ers stopping in for lunch were
greeted with blacked out win-
dows and a sign on the door
announcing the restaurant was
closed.
The restaurant fi led its arti-
cles of incorporation with the
state on October 26 of last year.
"I don't know if they're going
to start up in some other way
but their dues are paid up for the
year," Palmer said.
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Last January, a group of Cre-
swell residents came together
with a simple mission: To col-
laborate within the community
to enrich the lives of current and
future generations by preserving
Creswell’s physical and cultural
heritage. They call themselves
the Creswell Heritage Founda-
tion and they’ve set their sights
on their fi rst project.
“The old school house was
built in 1875 as Creswell’s fi rst
school,” said Verlean McCoy,
foundation president. “It’s the
only historic building in Cre-
swell that’s on the National
Register of Historic Places.”
The register is the federal ac-
counting of buildings and places
deemed worthy of restoration—
currently some 80,000 nation-
wide—and as such, efforts to
renovate them must follow strict
guidelines. It’s a blessing and a
curse for the Heritage Founda-
tion as they move to begin work
on the school house.
Please see CRESWELL PG. A9
Local teen pushes past hardships to
Pool
fi nd his 'normal'
wish list
Clayton Schoenleber makes it work as he deals with the struggles of illness
and high school
over
budget
This piece is part of an ongoing collaboration between the Sentinel and the Cottage Grove High School's media class to bring back the
school's newspaper. Readers will continue to fi nd stories written by students as they gear-up to publish their own paper at the start of 2018.
By Chelsea Davis
For The Sentinel
Being a teenager comes with
many struggles in itself such as
grades, extracurricular activi-
ties, jobs and social pressure,
but for Clayton Schoenleber he
had a few extra obstacles. From
childhood to now he has been in
and out of the hospital, and as
he says “I feel like I spent more
time in the hospital than out for
a couple years.”
Schoenleber is very social
and seems to be with a friend
at all times, but he says that it
hasn’t always been this way.
“When I fi rst started having
my medical issues it made me
distance from my friends, just
because I couldn’t do the same
things they could anymore and I
needed to focus on my health.”
He had serious stomach prob-
lems, having to do with his
intestines. He was asked how
many surgeries he’s had and
he replied with, “Too many to
count, and way more than I ever
wanted.” He described it as go-
ing in circles, because nothing
seemed to help for more than a
couple of weeks. Being in the
hospital is not something a per-
son wants to do, let alone a kid
and keeping stable relationships
was hard when he needed to put
his health above all.
Schoenleber has always been
very active: he played football,
basketball, and baseball in his
childhood. Since his medical is-
sues he is no longer able to keep
his active schedule or partake
in many other activities. He has
to caution all his daily activi-
ties as well as hobbies because
he doesn’t want to go back to
the hospital. He still manag-
es to have many hobbies and
stay active like working on his
truck, kayaking, spending time
with his girlfriend as well as his
dog. He also now has a job he’s
maintained for over a year. “It’s
COMMUNITY
SPORTS
New bakery
Heartache and hereos
A new treat shop is open
in Cottage Grove. PAGE A6
State play has begun and
some teams will move on
while others come home.
PAGE B1
INDEX
Bruddahs
and Sistas
closes
Creswell
group
works to
save
history
easier now, but back then I had
more challenges.”
As far as school goes, having
to spend so much time in the
hospital means not spending so
much time in school. He missed
a lot of school in middle school,
resulting in doing online school
to make it easier on him. He
did this for a couple years or so
and is now enrolled at Al Ken-
nedy Alternative High School.
“School is school, not my favor-
ite place but also not the worst.”
School itself can be quite the
challenge, without added per-
sonal life issues so he has prov-
en to be determined person that
wants to excel in life.
A person who has helped
Schoenleber through everything
is his mother, Cassie. “She is so
supportive and has never failed
to show me her love and help
me in any way she can.” He has
lived with his mother his whole
life and they have truly been
through thick and thin with
Calendar ...................................... B11
Channel Guide ............................... B5
Classifieds ...................................... B7
Obituaries ...................................... A2
Opinion ......................................... A4
Sports ............................................ B1
AD 6x2
each other. He says he wouldn’t
have been able to surpass this
rough time without her. As you
could imagine this was hard on
her, seeing the person she loves
most having to go through such
severe medical issues, but she
did everything she could and
proved her strength right along
with him.
Today, Schoenleber proves
his resilience everyday by ex-
ceeding in life and taking his
past struggles as a motivator.
Although his medical issues
are not completely gone, they
are much less severe. Through
being in and out of the hospital
for years he managed to stay
positive and look on the bright
side of things. “I have a lot of
amazing people in my life, and
a good life in total, I really am
thankful.” This goes to show
his positive attitude and way of
thinking, even after having ob-
stacles thrown in his path time
after time again.
cgnews@cgsentinel.com
(541) 942-3325 ph • (541) 942-3328 fax
P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424
Corner of Sixth and Whiteaker, Cottage Grove
_______________
VOLUME 129 • NUMBER 68
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
In December of 2015, the
South Lane School District had
a list of things it wanted to ad-
dress at the community pool
with some of the $35 million in
bond money it had been granted
by voters. After compiling the
list, the price tag for the updates
came in at just over $8 million.
That same list in September of
this year is estimated to cost
over $9 million. The district has
budgeted $5.1 million.
"What we want will cost $10
million," Superintendent Kris-
ta Parent told the school board
during its November 6 meeting.
"We don't have $10 million. We
have $5.1 million so we're going
to have to prioritize."
The district has formed a de-
sign committee with members
Please see POOL PG. A9
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