Polk County Itemizer-Observer • August 19, 2015 15A Polk County Education Tools: 180 Falls City students get backpacks, supplies, hair cuts JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer Jacob Major examines a new backpack on Thursday. Continued from 16A Thanks to a more than $1,300 grant from the Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribu- tion Fund, the Salvation Army was able to purchase more supplies than in the past. Baurer said the Salvation Army brought 180 back- packs to give to students in the Falls City School District, including home-schooled children. She said that estimate was a few short, so the organiza- tion will be making deliver- ies this week to children who didn’t receive one on Thurs- day. Backpacks were sorted by grade and contained all the supplies on that grade’s list for the 2015-16 school year. Baurer said the Salvation Army was able to purchase “collective” supplies for each classroom, too. Derby said, thanks to the event, her daughter is going to be set for her first day. “I got a lot of stuff,” Aray- dia said handing her mother a new comb the stylist gave her. Then the normally shy girl ran off to play on the bouncy house with other children. “She’s very excited,” Derby said. “She told me ‘I’m going to make new friends at the park today,’ … It’s wonderful. I can’t express my gratitude enough.” DHS, LaCreole registration ongoing DALLAS — Registration for Dallas High School and LaCreole Middle School continues this week. At DHS, sophomores are scheduled for registration Wednes- day (today) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The final day of registration, Thursday is reserved for freshmen from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For those unable to make those times, registration is open 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday. Families with more than one student attend- ing DHS may register all on the day designated for the oldest student. Students who are new to the district may register on any day. LaCreole Middle School, 701 SE LaCreole Drive, Dallas, will register returning in-district students on Wednesday (today) from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. Students new to the district can register on Thursday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information: Dallas High School, 503-623-8336; LaCreole Middle School, 503-623-6662. Morrison to hold registration DALLAS — Morrison Campus Alternative School is holding registration starting next week. The school, located at 1251 Main St., is offering registration for students on Monday and Tuesday, and Aug. 26 and Aug. 27. Registration hours are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day. For more information: 503-623-8480. Registration for Talmadge continues New plan hopes to help Native students By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer SALEM — The Oregon Board of Edu- cation has adopted an updated plan to improve educational opportunities for Native American students. The plan, called the American Indi- an/Alaska Native State Plan, was creat- ed during a nine-month process in col- laboration with the state’s nine federal- ly recognized tribes, including the Con- federated Tribes of Grand Ronde. Objectives in the plan include: boosting attendance and graduation rates for American Indian/Alaska Na- tive students; providing culturally rele- vant training for school district staff; increasing the number of Native in- structors teaching in Oregon schools; and implementing historically-accu- rate Native American curriculum and materials across the K-12 system. Also included in the plan are strate- gies to achieve those goals and meas- urements to determine if they are suc- cessful. Those include providing more information to Native students about academic assistance programs available and opportunities to attend college. “I want to thank all of our tribal and community partners for their partici- pation in this process,” said April Campbell, Oregon Department of Edu- cation Advisor on Indian Education. “Improving education for our Native students must be a joint effort — something owned by our schools, our tribes, our families, and our communi- ties as a whole.” The advisory panel included repre- sentatives from the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua & Siuslaw; Klamath Tribes; Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reserva- tion; Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians; Coquille Indian Tribe; Burns Pauite; Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians; Native American Youth and Family Center; Oregon Indian Ed- ucation Association; Oregon State Uni- versity; University of Oregon; George Fox University; Northwest Health Foundation; and the Oregon Education Investment Board. Leslie Riggs, with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde’s education de- partment, was part of the advisory panel on the plan. However, he joined the panel when the bulk of the work had already finished and, because of that, declined to comment on the plan. For more information on the plan, go to: www.ode.state.or.us/opportuni- ties/grants/nclb/title_vii/2015-final- oregon-american-indian-alaska-na- tive-state-plan.pdf. INDEPENDENCE — Registration for Talmadge Middle School runs through Thursday from 1 to 3 p.m. and again from 5 to 7 p.m. each day. Sixth-grade registration was Tuesday. Seventh-graders regis- ter on Wednesday (today). Eighth graders may register on Thurs- day. For more information: Talmadge Middle School, 503-606- 2252. County to hold immunization clinics DALLAS — Polk County Public Health will hold four immu- nization clinics to prepare children for back to school. Appointments must be made in advance for the clinics. School immunizations will be available on Wednesday (today), Aug. 26 and Sept. 9 from 8 to 11 a.m. and from 1 to 4 p.m. at the agency’s Dallas clinic, 182 SW Academy St. Suite 302. On Sept. 9, a clinic also will be held in Independence from 1 to 4 p.m. at Oregon Child Development Coalition, 535 G St. For more information: 503-623-8175. Teachers: District in need of subs Continued from Page 16A Universities may start beefing up teacher prep pro- grams and recruiting, but “it’s almost inevitable that the economy will cycle,” she said. “I don’t know what the answers are for that.” One way Central is han- dling the lack of teachers is through “grow your own” programs, by recruiting stu- dents in high school to at- tend Western Oregon Uni- versity’s teacher prep pro- grams, or by supporting in- structional assistants who want to move to the ranks of teachers. With just more than two weeks left until school starts, the district is still looking for workers. “An area that all districts will struggle with this year, and did last year, is substitute teachers,” McFarland said. Anyone with a bachelor’s degree can petition to be a 1/8 pg. 1/4 pg. 1/2 pg. Full pg. substitute teacher with the district, he added. The district also is hiring bus drivers and after-school tutors, Zeimantz said. “It’s really an ideal job for (college) students,” she noted. Bus drivers work a split shift, and college stu- dents could fit their school schedule in between driving kids to and from school. To see what positions the district is still hiring for: cen- tral.k12.or.us. Solution on Page 2A Ben Meyer, AAMS ® Bob Timmerman Financial Advisor Financial Advisor 503-606-3048 503-623-5584 193 E. Main Street Mon- mouth, OR 97361 159 SW Court Street Dallas, OR 97338 Kelly K. Denney Financial Advisor 503-623-2146 244 E. Ellendale, Suite 2 Dallas, OR 97338 4.917” x 2.5” 4.917” x 5.083” 10” x 5.083” 10” x 10.292” $ ONLY $ Y L N O $ ONLY $ Y L ON 75 120 205 375 Publishes Sept. 2, 2015