Polk County Education/News
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 13, 2016 15A
OBITUARIES BYOD: Screen time helps kids learn
Continued from Page 6A
Sharon Kay Smith
May 10, 1949 – Dec. 28, 2015
Sharon Kay Smith, 66, of
Monmouth, died Dec. 28.
She was born to Clarence
and Dorothy Smith in
McMinnville.
Sharon gave the world her
sweetness,
laughter
and love of
living in
the mo-
ment. She
had a love-
ly smile
and
a
wicked sense of humor. She
loved new foods, going for
rides, and enjoyed hot tubs,
swimming and water.
Survivors include her
brother, Tom (Deb) Smith, of
Amity; and brother, Kerry
Smith and his wife, Marcella
Weaver, of Eugene.
Sharon’s life will be cele-
brated on Saturday at 11
a.m. at Partnerships for
Community Living, 480
Main St. E., in Monmouth.
Farnstrom Mortuary in In-
dependence handled
arrangements.
To send an online tribute:
www.FarnstromMortuary.
com.
John D. Ratzlaff
Nov. 18, 1947 – Jan. 7, 2016
John D. Ratzlaff, 68, of
West Salem, died Thursday
in Salem.
He was born in Omaha,
Neb., to
Alvin and
Elvera Rat-
zlaff.
J o h n
grew up on
the family
farm in
Orienta,
Okla. He attended Orienta
Elementary School and later
graduated from Oklahoma
Bible Academy. He graduat-
ed with his Bachelor of Arts
from Grace Bible Institute,
where he met his sweetheart
Dee. John and Dee married
on Sept. 12, 1970, in Mt.
Lake, Minn. In faith, they
moved to Oregon in 1971
where John had been hired
as the first youth pastor at
the Evangelical Mennonite
Brethren Church in Dallas.
In 1974, they moved to West
Salem and John started his
career with State Farm Insur-
ance. John was past presi-
dent of West Salem Rotary
and the West Salem Business
Association. He was also
past board chair at Salem
Academy and a past board
member of the Salem Free
Clinics. John was an active
member of Salem Alliance
Church.
John’s faith in Jesus Christ
was the most important
thing to him, and he reflect-
ed that by the way he loved
people. He would invite peo-
ple into his office and talk
about hot rods, family, and
occasionally insurance. John
enjoyed boating on Detroit
Lake and teaching people
how to water ski. Classic car
shows gave him the oppor-
tunity to spend time with his
high school buddies and
visit with people.
John was very proud of his
sons and loved his grandchil-
dren. He made it a priority to
be present at their sporting
events and programs.
Survivors include his wife
of 45 years, Dee; sons, Mitch
(Kelleigh) Ratzlaff and Travis
(Brandee) Ratzlaff; brother,
Stanley Ratzlaff; sister, Ruth
Buller; and five grandchildren.
Memorial service is Friday
at 1 p.m. at Salem Alliance
Church.
Contributions are sug-
gested to the Salem Free
Clinics in care of Dallas Mor-
tuary Tribute Center which
handled arrangements.
To send an online tribute:
www.dallastribute.com.
Continued from Page 16A
“I teach all three grades
(sixth through eighth) and I
teach students from strug-
gling readers to gifted and
talented students,” she said.
“The technology that we
have has really helped me
be able to reach, personally,
all of their levels of develop-
ment. It’s huge.”
Richardson said the
school still is ironing out
the details and piloting
other programs for next
year. He said about 80 per-
cent of teachers at the
school are using technology
in some form in their class-
rooms and more are begin-
ning to see the benefits.
He added students are
LCMS technology standards
• Creativity and Innovation: Students
demonstrate creative thinking, construct
knowledge and develop innovative prod-
ucts and processes using technology.
• Communication and Collaboration:
students use digital media and environ-
ments to communicate and work collabo-
ratively, including at a distance, to sup-
port individual learning and contribute to
the learning of others.
• Research and Information Fluency:
Students apply digital tools to gather,
evaluate, and use information.
making strides at using their
devices and social media —
Facebook, Twitter and Insta-
gram are used in some class-
es — responsibly.
“We’ve lifted the concept
• Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and
Decision Making: Students use critical
thinking skills to plan and conduct re-
search, manage projects, solve problems
and make informed decisions using ap-
propriate digital tools and resources.
• Digital Citizenship: Student under-
stand human, cultural and societal issues
related to technology and practice legal
and ethical behavior.
• Technology Operations and Concepts:
Students demonstrate a sound under-
standing of technology concepts, systems
and operations.
that cellphones are bad —
put them away, we don’t
want to see them,” Richard-
son said. “In the kids own
words, they feel trusted. I
think that goes a long way,
especially with this age
group, when they feel trust-
ed, they have a sense of re-
sponsibility.”
“I think it’s a changed cul-
ture in our school,” he said.
Dallas district to host meeting on policy
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — The Dallas
School District will hold a
special meeting Tuesday to
address concerns about its
policy allowing a transgen-
der boy to use the boys
locker room and restrooms
at Dallas High School.
Board Chairwoman Lu
Ann Meyer said the board
will ask questions of legal
counsel and representatives
from Oregon School Boards
Association. Community
members also would be in-
vited to ask questions.
Community members
packed the board’s Dec. 14
meeting and the majority of
those who commented
wanted the district to
change its policy to protect
the privacy of all students.
The policy was the sub-
ject of several comments at
the board’s meeting Mon-
day.
“The students of all Dallas
schools deserve to know they
are safe and their rights are
protected,” said Dallas resi-
dent Blaine Barklow, who
spoke in favor of the policy
and thanked the board.
She had signed a petition
supporting the policy and
spoke Monday after reading
about the comments at the
Dec. 14 meeting.
“I’m deeply concerned
about our community,” she
said. “What I heard and
read doesn’t reflect the Dal-
las I know and the values of
our community.”
Several others spoke in
favor of the policy, includ-
ing representatives of Basic
Rights Oregon and the Gay,
Lesbian & Straight Educa-
tion Network.
Others were not support-
ive of the policy.
Parents and other com-
munity members testified
the policy violates the pri-
vacy and religious rights of
the other students.
“There will be conse-
quences, potentially legal,
for your administrators and
district staff who must im-
plement faulty policy which
does not protect rights of
privacy, safety and comfort
for all,” said Dallas resident
Kim Conolly.
Conolly said families may
refuse to move to Dallas or
move out of the district be-
cause of the policy.
She urged the board to
develop a policy that is
mindful of all students.
“Let us not look to mu-
nicipal policies,” she said.
“They don’t offer guidance
for school boards. Students
are minors.”
Learn more: DSD special
board meeting is Tuesday at
6 p.m. at the Dallas Civic
Center, 945 SE Jefferson St.
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