Polk County News
14A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • October 7, 2015
SCHOOL NOTES
Chemeketa to dedicate building
SALEM — Chemeketa Community College will dedicate a
two-building complex at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
The building is the inal project paid for through a 2008
voter-approved construction bond levy.
The complex combines oices and instructional space for
Chemeketa’s drafting, engineering, machining and welding
programs. The dedication event will feature a formal ribbon cut-
ting, tours and demonstrations. All are welcome.
For more information: chemeketa.edu.
Career center open at Central High
INDEPENDENCE — Central High School ofers help in Room
114, connecting students to resources to move forward after
high school.
Students may go to the room for help formulating plans for
after high school. Several colleges are scheduled to visit the col-
lege and career center, have campus tours available and pro-
vide resources to help students with applications.
For more information: “Central High School — In the Know.”
Drive By Press to present at WOU
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
Kindergarteners at Independence Elementary School enjoy an apple a day, grown locally at Riverwood Orchard.
Farm to school is cool
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE —
Kindergarteners filed in for
lunch at Independence Ele-
mentary School on Monday,
excited for pork chops, ham
sandwiches and fresh apples
from Riverwood Orchard, in
Monmouth.
Thanks to additional
money from the Oregon
Legislature, Nutrition Direc-
tor Mike Vetter will be able
to purchase more Oregon
products without eating into
his regular food services
budget.
The money available
through a noncompetitive
grant process is about $3.5
million, said Kim Hanson,
food systems project man-
ager for Marion-Polk Food
Share, and a proponent of
the program.
“It’s based on meals
served,” Hanson said.
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
A girl eagerly chooses an apple to complete her meal of
pork chops at lunch at IES on Monday.
The money was more
than Vetter was expecting,
allowing him to buy some
extra, usually more expen-
sive items such as freeze-
dried cinnamon apples from
Oregon Freeze Dry in Al-
bany.
“We tried them out last
week and they went over
very well,” Vetter said of the
apples. “I took a sample of
them and I couldn’t stop eat-
ing them.”
Exposing children to
foods such as freeze-dried
apples shows them that eat-
ing healthfully doesn’t mean
skimping on nutrients or
taste.
The freeze dried process
makes the apples crunchy,
not chewy like dehydration.
Also, Vetter said nutrients
are not lost in processing.
Vetter, who is the food
services director for Falls
City and Dallas school dis-
tricts in addition to Central,
said he will be able to take
the money and buy more
local foods for each district.
“It has to be a win-win for
both parties,” he said. “It has
to be good for (the farmer),
and it has to be good for me.
I don’t want to bankrupt the
farmer.”
Vetter is working on get-
ting locally grown table
grapes added to the lunch
menu, and now has the op-
portunity to explore purchas-
ing other fruits and vegeta-
bles from Oregon farmers.
MONMOUTH — Drive By Press will visit the art department
at Western Oregon University on Wednesday (today) for a day
of activities open to the community.
Drive By Press is a national traveling organization that pro-
motes the practice and appreciation of printmaking as an art
form.
The day will begin in Campbell Hall 104 from 9 to 10 a.m.
with a lecture on the history of printmaking.
From 10 to 11 a.m., a traveling portfolio of original contem-
porary prints will be on display. Starting at 12:30 p.m., a mobile
printing press will be set up in the sculpture court behind
Campbell Hall. Bring a light-colored T-shirt and $10 to have an
original woodblock printed onto it.
Button is ‘Distinguished Educator’
DALLAS — Whitworth Elementary School physical education
teacher Craig Button was named the September Distinguished
Educator on Sept. 25.
His nominators were students from Mrs.
Ackerman’s fourth-grade class, Amy McFar-
land, former colleague at Whitworth Elemen-
tary, and Sheila Myers, parent of two stu-
dents in Button’s PE class.
“He has awesome activities like glow in
the dark dodge ball and pogo sticks,” said
Button’s students when nominating him.
Others added: “He teaches students good
sports etiquette and the importance of
Button
being physically it.”
The Distinguished Educator Program recognizes “excellence
in teaching and learning” in Dallas School District schools.
DHS junior receives state honors
DALLAS — Emily Roberts, a junior at Dallas High School, won
three titles in the Washington State Convention, a rabbit breed-
er’s convention.
Competing in the “queen division,” Roberts won three indi-
vidual titles. Roberts also recently returned from competition in
Ohio’s American Cavy Breeders Association Specialty. She was
crowned Nation Queen for the second year in a row.
Roberts, a member of DHS FFA and Polk County 4-H, is now
preparing for the American Rabbit Breeder’s National Conven-
tion in Portland Oct. 31 to Nov. 4.
Your local library: a great place to spend some time.