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
