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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 2018)
2C COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL JANUARY 31, 2018 CGHS grad comes back to her roots Kyle Trullinger The Lion's Roar is a big jump, but she doesn’t know which is better because she loved being a student and misses being one, but she loves teaching and building new relationships with staff and stu- dents. She’s felt very welcomed and comfort- able. She fi nds teaching here at Cottage Grove fun because she’s getting a whole new perspec- tive, and she fi nds it cool that she’s working with people that used to teach her. Those teachers are now her friends and co-workers. It’s different, but she’s enjoying it. Her favorite high school memories were getting ready for homecoming week. She loved being involved with the skits, football games and just other fun homecoming activities. She fi nds Mr. Wells to be the most helpful and welcoming because she took over his classes at the start of the year. “He’s helped me a lot and made my life here a lot easier," said Boxberger. Being a high school teacher gives her all the memo- ries she missed, right back. For Boxberger it’s about reliving the high school experience and helping young students succeed. New staff members are joining Cottage Grove High School, and so far it’s been great for the former student and new teacher Taylor Boxberger. Staff is a big part of what makes Cottage Grove High School so unique and why students always seem to fi nd success here. Boxberger is a 24-year-old teacher at Cottage Grove High School. She teachers Language Arts for juniors and seniors and also teaches a freshman math lab class. Boxberger originally wanted to be a nurse, but once she got to help coach the track team here at Cottage Grove, she realized how much she loves being with high schoolers, and that gave her the inspira- tion to start teaching. Her experience here has been great.“It’s been really rewarding and fun to teach at a school that I went to as a high schooler," said Boxberger. She’s built good relationships with all the staff because she already knew most of them. It’s a comfortable feeling for her going back to a place she was six years ago. Being a student here and being a staff member six years later SUPPORTING NEWSPAPERS IN EDUCATION Thank you to the following supporters: Ruth Ackley Irene Bauder Angie Borigo James and Carol Brownson Cindy Conrad Russell and Lee Cooper Robert and Mary Currier Bob and Janette Dill Long Family Jeffrey & Karen Freeman Kathryn Flynn Jean Furguson Mary Gabrielle, MD James & Barbara Grant John and Donna Mansfi eld Lonny Perini Ron Pupke Elaine Roberts Emily Settlemeyer Donna Shepherd Robert Swaringin Jan Thompson Randy Turpin Carol Volesky Battling chronic absenteeism Georgia Hoffay The Lion's Roar Cottage Grove High School Dean of Students, Chris Wells is working to combat the state- wide trend in rising chronic absenteeism rates. “I do a lot of stuff. Besides tracking the attendance and stuff like that, I meet with unexcused kids, I talk with parents about getting the kids to school more. I also do some online school stuff. I track activities, sports, clubs. I do a little bit of discipline, some supervision, a little bit of everything. Nothing is ever clean cut to one thing,” said Wells who has been on the job for six months. Wells got involved because he wants good attendance to be a good habit in the student body. “I think it’s easy to get behind, attendance wise, miss a couple of days here and there, and it really adds up to really impact education. I think helping kids improve their attendance is a good way to help them improve how they feel about them- selves, how they feel about school, and stuff like that. It’s a good habit to have now, Good attendance is a good habit to have now, and for the future.” With him in charge now atten- dance may improve, but that’s not the only goal Wells is trying to achieve. “We’ve seen a little bit of an uptick, but I think it’s more making kids aware. Ev- eryday I walk around and have a conversation with every kid who had an unexcused absence from two days ago, so we’re educating kids, ‘Hey there is a system, there’s somebody watching.’ Most of the time I have things working out pretty well. We solve problems for kids. But you know there are about 750 kids, so it’s a little bit of education you have to do.” Getting in depth about atten- dance Wells explains what ‘chronically absent’ is. “Chron- ically absent is missing 10 percent of school...” Wells also researches how attendance can affect your education. “There’s research that says anything over fi ve days during the year dramatically impacts the ability to learn, to retain and to do well.” Wells also explains the consequences if you’re chronically absent, “There’s a variety of things. You can lose some privileges like prom, dances, even graduation if you’re a senior. So if you don’t meet that marker then we could say ‘Well, it looks like you won’t be attending one of these things.’ As well as if it gets really bad, and we can’t seem to solve it within here then we have the ability to ask the Cottage Grove court system to fi ne parents $500.” Wells does a lot in Cottage Grove High School. Attendance is very important for one’s education, and managing it is a way of keeping it in track. Wells even enjoys his new role and how it is affecting students. “...I meet with every kid with an unexcused absence, so that’s about 20-30 kids everyday... Sounds like a lot of work in the morning, and it is, but also I have some of the same kids come back ‘Okay I want to do better, help me do better.’ That’s really been the positive aspect.” Wells hopes that with him monitoring the attendance, that Students of the Month LONDON SCHOOL KAYONNA SHARP London School would like to nominate Kayonna Sharp this 541-345- 7570 month. Kayonna is a 2nd grader in Ms. Henderson’s 2nd/3rd Grade Class. Kayonna started at London School this year and has been a wonderful addition to her classroom and our London School Family. She’s a hard worker and gets along with everyone. Kayonna is a good friend to her classmates and other students. She takes on classroom responsibilities like taking lunch count each morning. Kayonna is also a voracious reader. Congratulations on being nominated this month Kayonna! DORENA ELEMENTARY HARRISON ELEMENTARY Albert Savin is a fi rst grader at Harrison Elementary. He is a wonderful student, classmate, and friend. Albert is a strong reader and works hard in class every day. He is also a “Self- Manager” in his classroom! We enjoy having Albert as part of our Harrison Bobcat family. Nick Nielson is Dorena’s student of the month for January. Nick is a second grade student with a big heart for his friends and classmates. He is always kind and respectful to everyone. Nick likes to be helpful and kind to others. He shows tremendous grit and is always on task ALBERT SAVIN NICK NIELSON STARFIRE JACK SPRATS 2795 MOSBY CREEK RD, COTTAGE GROVE 510 E MAIN ST, COTTAGE GROVE 4237 W. 5th Ave • Eugene (541) 942-0168 (541) 942-8408 TRUCK & EQUIPMENT REPAIR WWW.STARFIRELUMBER.COM WWW.JACKSPRATSBRATS.COM ELKTON HIGH SCHOOL KENNEDY ALT. HIGH SCHOOL LINCOLN MIDDLE SCHOOL Maddy Banks is the Lincoln Middle School Student of the Month. Maddy’s upbeat personality, desire to learn more and more, willingness to help others and genuine goodness of heart make her a shining presence for those around her! MADDY BANKS TRENTYN HALSTEAD Trentyn is a caring, tolerant, responsible and committed student that wants to improve. He pays attention, asks questions and remains engaged in class. He is funny and quick-witted and also a hard worker. He works well with others, is very team oriented and has a great heart! He is a polite young man and very generous and thoughtful with his fellow students. Cottage Grove Sentinel 2775 Row River Rd • 541-942-4415 bradschevy.com 116 N. 6th St. • 541-942-3325 www.cgsentinel.com Braeden has been working extremely hard at reaching his goal to graduate this year. He supports his classmates to attend class and complete work. BRAEDEN ALLEN SHERRY DUREST-HIGGINS 78314 OR-99, COTTAGE GROVE (541) 942-0151 WWW.DUERST-HIGGINS.COM
