COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • JUNE 6, 2018
NEW EXPANDED HOURS
Theft from Child's Way school impacts Tiny House project
Mon- Th urs 11- 9 • Fri - Sat 11 - 10 • Sun 11 - 7
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Locally
Sourced
PIG
&
TURNIP
EST
2015
UNITE
German
Inspired
Fo o d
Beer
Wine
Cider
The students at Child’s Way
charter school has intended
on “going slow” in building a
tiny house in their wood shop
class. But after a break-in last
week, the project has come to a
grinding halt.
“A sad thing happened last
weekend,” said principal Mike
Kerns. “Our gym was broken
into and 18 new rolls of insu-
lation and two Makita drill kits
were stolen.”
Kerns placed the value of the
items taken at approximate-
ly $800. Located in Dorena,
Child’s Way is part of the South
Lane School District and focus-
es on a small-school environ-
ment, experimental learning
and hands-on education. The
tiny house was meant to teach
students how to use tools and
the value of embracing green
technology. The project uti-
from A1
Fire
60 Gateway Blvd. Cottage Grove, Or 97424
541-942-6130 • pigandturnip.com
418 A St., Springfi eld, OR 97477 • 541-968-2403
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property. The cause of the fire has not yet
been determined.
“Well, it’s kind of approached the same
way as any other fire,” Division Fire Chief
Joe Raade said of the process into de-
termining the cause of the blaze, which
starts from the outside and works its way
in toward the source of ignition. “There’s
scientific phenomena that kind of point to
the fire. The way things are heated up. The
Kennedy
Ground Ambulance
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from A10
state and federal level. Ken-
nedy currently receives funds
from OYCC, Army Corps of
Engineers, Umpqua Nation-
al Forest, the Bureau of Land
Management and WOIA. Ken-
nedy administration applies
for those grants, which fund
payment for students who
work on campus throughout
the year, as well as a portion of
teacher Matt Hall’s salary. The
money, with the exception of
WOIA, does not fund educa-
tional resources.
“I mean, Kennedy is a vi-
tal spoke in our wheel for the
entire school district,” Brid-
gens said, noting that the lack
of Kennedy presence on the
district’s social media pages,
including the school’s events
and efforts in sustainability, is
a result of the limitations of
lized some donated wood but
most of the material was pur-
chased out of the school’s bud-
get including the smart water
heater, sink and flooring. The
plan was to finish the house,
sell it and purchase material to
make another tiny house.
“(We) didn’t file a police re-
port because previous times
they have said there is nothing
they can really do,” Kerns said,
noting that Child’s Way falls
under the county sheriff ’s ju-
way things may lay over in a fire. All those
types of things usually help lead you to at
least a location of where it started.”
SLFR is asking witnesses to submit pic-
tures they took of the blaze to them.
“People were getting photos way before
we got there and so there are things they
saw that we didn’t get to see. With this
modern day of technology, you can get a
lot recorded,” said Raade.
As different areas on the property con-
tinued to smoke, SLFR assures area res-
idents that the fire is contained and that
having only a part-time com-
munications coordinator.
“We help all kids. I think
that there is no ‘bad kid,’ and
we don’t believe that as a
school district. Nobody does,
said Bridgens. “I think we have
this fundamental belief that, in
a lot of ways, all of our kids are
our kids. We’re there to sup-
port all of our kids. And no
matter the different challeng-
es or things they’re facing in
their life, we want to make sure
that we’re supporting all those
kids.”
Bridgens said that includes
helping them find the resourc-
es or services they need to
be successful — and part of
breaking the stereotype of be-
ing a “bad kid.”
“That is not the way we work
with Kennedy. [Our mindset]
is that Kennedy is a vital part
of our school district in help-
ing all of our kids succeed.”
risdiction.
The school has notified stores
in Eugene that may buy insula-
tion that the rolls were stolen
and made posters of the stolen
items, posting them around the
area and on the school’s social
media.
Kerns said he will purchased
additional insulation so the
project can be completed but is
asking if anyone has informa-
tion about the thefts to contact
Child’s Way at 541-946-1821.
they do not need to call in to report the
smoke. In the meantime, Whitsell is cur-
rently working with the insurance com-
pany to determine the amount of damage
and how best to move forward.
“We have people coming in to estimate
and everything, you know. You’re never
going to recover what you lost. And you
really can’t in a situation like this,” he said.
“There’s 40 years of equipment and parts.
You could never recover that — just the in-
formation and all that. I don’t even know
how you put a number on that stuff.”
S
tar Posthumus will gradu-
ate in three days. She’ll have
made up two-years-worth
of missing credits and walk
across the new Kennedy gym
on June 9 with the rest of her
classmates.
“It’s going to be really dif-
ficult,” she said of not being
around the school anymore.
But she’s ready.
After gaining inspiration
from a field trip in Portland
to a Women In Trades career
fair, she is ready to get to work.
Knowing she’s not afraid of
manual labor and with a cou-
ple other options in mind, she
values the experience of doing
something a little different.
“It’s really cool because
when you start to know how
to do things that aren’t main-
stream, or aren’t considered
normal, you realize that not
everybody’s normal and not
everybody’s that definition of
what people think is normal,”
she said. “To me, normal is
different because everybody is
different. It’s really been a big
learning experience. Kennedy
has taught me that you need to
be more accepting of people.
“Some of us are ‘delinquents.’
We’ve messed up at CGHS,
but we’re learning from that,”
she added. “We still deserve a
chance. There’s a reason you
have erasers on pencils. Every-
body gets dealt different cards
and life throws different things
at us.”
Her critique doesn’t stop
there as she offers firm words
for the school district as a
whole.
“Step up your game. Seri-
ously. Give Kennedy the recog-
nition it deserves because we
definitely need it. We are so not
getting recognized enough.”
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