18A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • April 1, 2015
Polk County Schools/Education
SCHOOL NOTES
Students sought for garden project
DALLAS — Applications are being accepted from Dallas-area
students who are interested in participating in the Dallas Youth
Garden project.
The program has eight openings for Dallas High or home-
school students just completing ninth, 10th or 11th grade. You
must live within the Dallas School District boundaries. A
stipend of $550 is available to learn and apply skills to build
and maintain a market garden using sustainable garden prac-
tices to provide fresh produce for the Willamette Valley Food
Assistance Program.
Applications are available at www.dallasyouthgarden.org or
at the Polk County Extension Office at 289 E. Ellendale Ave.,
Suite 301, Dallas. Applications can be turned in to the Dallas
High School Guidance Office or the Extension office. Applica-
tions are due by April 10 at 1 p.m. First day of work is May 2.
For more information: 503-623-8395; online at www.dallasy-
outhgarden.org.
From left, Jack
Sparks, Dean Bur-
wash, Isaiah John-
son, Madison
Johnson and Lauren
Burwash, all children
of Dallas Community
School board mem-
bers, experiment
with science projects
and other activities
last week. The new
“home-school char-
ter school” will open
in the fall if at least
125 students enroll
by April 30.
Medical scholarships are available
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
A fresh approach to learning
Dallas Community School hopes to open if 125 students enroll
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — The typical
school day at Dallas Com-
munity School, a first-
through eighth-grade char-
ter school looking to open in
the fall, won’t look like a
school day at all.
No full days in a class-
room, no teacher responsi-
ble for teaching the three
“Rs.” Instead, students will
attend “class” at home under
the supervision of their “edu-
cational coach” — typically a
family member — and “edu-
cational guide,” a licensed
teacher assigned to oversee
progress on individual learn-
ing plans.
Wendy Sparks, a Dallas
Community School (DCS)
board member, describes the
school as “home schooling
for busy working parents.”
Her own family could be
described as such, which is
in part how the idea behind
the school got its start.
Sparks and her husband,
Casey, were trying to find the
right schooling environment
for their son, Jack.
“It’s hard when you are a
parent and you are trying to
figure out how to meet your
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Isaiah Johnson and Madison Johnson attempt to examine
a specimen under a microscope last week at the home of
Dallas Community School board member Wendy Sparks.
educational expectations
that we all have for our chil-
dren, how to work within the
public education system to
do that,” Sparks said. “Our
public education system is a
vital part of our community.
The parents who developed
this school didn’t want to
just leave that behind.”
Sparks, fellow founding
board member Erin Miller
and other families with simi-
lar objectives tossed around
the idea of forming an edu-
cational co-op. In the mean-
time, they found two public
charter schools in Oregon
that provided the “individual
learning plan” model similar
to what they wanted.
The idea of “home-school
charter school” — a way to
engage the home-school
community in public
schools — emerged during
discussions with the Dallas
School District, the school’s
charter sponsor.
“Just when we were think-
ing about enrolling our kids
in one of those other
schools, that’s when the
phone rang and it was the
district calling saying, ‘How
do you guys want to work to-
gether?’” Sparks recalled.
The district approved
DCS’s charter in August
2014. The plan is to open if
the school can enroll 125
students by April 30, a goal
that seems to be within
reach, especially if the school
is approved to offer kinder-
garten this fall.
In addition to providing
curriculum materials and an
educational guide, the
school would offer optional
morning classroom sessions
with a teacher and afternoon
enrichment activities. Edu-
cational guides would work
with families to create an in-
dividual learning plan for
each student.
See APPROACH, Page 17A
POLK COUNTY — Applications are now available for the 2015
Salem Hospital Foundation Scholarship for half-time or full-time
students enrolled in medically related fields of study.
Applicants must live in Polk or Marion counties or be an em-
ployee or immediate family member of an employee at Salem
Hospital, applied to a college in their field of health care study,
and completed all prerequisite classes before applying for this
scholarship.
Last year, a total of $191,000 was awarded to 103 students.
More information is available online by visiting
www.salemhealth.org/scholarships and clicking on the Salem
Hospital Foundation Scholarship link. Applications must be
postmarked by May 1 to be considered. Final selections will be
announced by June 29.
For more information: Greta Mauze, Salem Hospital Foundation
office, 503-561-5576; email to greta.mauze@salemhealth.org.
ACADEMIC HONORS
Dallas woman among ‘Who’s Who’
NEWBERG — Victoria Wilson of Dallas is among 18 students
from George Fox University who will be included in the 2015
edition of “Who’s Who Among Students in American Universi-
ties and Colleges.”
George Fox faculty and staff chose the honorees by ballot,
and the editors of the directory have endorsed the selections.
The students were chosen based on their academic achieve-
ments, service to the community, leadership in extracurricular
activities, and continued potential success.
Wilson is a business management major who participated in
concert choir, served as a resident assistant and as president of
the university’s Lambda Pi Eta chapter, a national communica-
tions association. She is a four-time dean’s list recipient and vol-
unteered with the school’s Little Bruins and Fox and Friends
programs.
Rickreall resident receives degree
FOREST GROVE — Kimberly Knaupp of Rickreall recently
graduated from Pacific University in Forest Grove with a bache-
lor’s degree in dental hygiene.
Monmouth youth qualifies for NHS
FRONT ROYAL, Va. — Lucas Costa of Monmouth was recently
inducted into Randolph-Macon Academy’s chapter of the Na-
tional Honor Society. A student must maintain a cumulative
grade-point average above 3.7, perform community service
and display evidence of achievement in knowledge, leadership,
character and service to be inducted into the honor society.
Costa is a sophomore at Randolph-Macon Academy.
WOU: Candidates slated for visits
www.LesSchwab.com
Continued from Page 1A
Working in a small com-
munity is important to Ames.
“A small college can play a
really big role in a small com-
munity,” he said.
“The university is an engine
for economic development,”
he added. “There needs to be
that kind of coordination be-
tween the business and gov-
ernment of town.”
Madden, 62, is the provost
and vice president for aca-
demic affairs at State Univer-
sity New York Potsdam, which
has about the same size cam-
pus as Western, she said.
“I like being on a campus
where the students’ learning
comes first,” Madden said.
“Senior administrators, like
the president, can be en-
gaged with the campus com-
munity in ways which are fun
and exciting.”
She also is excited about
continuing WOU’s mission
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of educating underserved
students.
“Working with those kinds
of students allows you to be
part of an enterprise that re-
ally changes the prospects of
students’ lives,” Madden said.
Sustaining enrollment and
meeting the needs of the new
workforce are some roles of
the president, she said.
Fuller, 62, an economist
and professor of public ad-
ministration, has served as
provost and vice president
for the division of academic
affairs at Eastern Washington
University in Cheney, Wash.
He appreciates the school’s
history as a normal school,
adding that the commitment
to student learning is still evi-
dent in everything WOU does.
“The size of the campus is
an attraction,” Fuller noted. “It
presents opportunities that a
larger school loses.”
The small community
gives an opportunity for the
campus and town to have a
close partnership, Fuller said.
“In smaller settings, it’s vital
to have a working relation-
ship,” he said. “The university
Meet the
Candidates
O p e n fo r u m s a re
scheduled for each final-
ist, followed by a com-
munity reception.
• Fernando Delgado:
Open forum — Wednes-
day (today), 3:30-5 p.m.,
at Rice Auditorium; com-
munity reception — 5-
6:30 p.m. in the foyer.
• Christopher Ames:
Open forum — Thursday,
3:30-5 p.m., in the Pacific
Room of Werner Universi-
ty Center; community re-
ception — 5-6:30 p.m.
• Margaret Madden:
Open forum — Monday,
3:30-5 p.m., at Rice Audi-
torium; community re-
ception — 5-6:30 p.m. in
the foyer.
• Rex Fuller: Open
forum — Tuesday, 3:30-5
p.m., at Rice Auditorium;
community reception —
5-6:30 p.m. in the foyer.
can be a source of vibrancy to
not only the community itself,
but also to the entire region.”