Polk County Education/News
14A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 20, 2016
Fagin is ‘Distinguished Educator’
DALLAS — Lyle Elementary School irst-grade teacher Stacy
Fagin was named Dallas School District’s January Distinguished
Educator.
Fagin was nominated by Lee Letsch, a
parent of two students from her class.
“I can honestly say she is one of the best
teachers they have had,” Letsch said. “Her
willingness to adapt her classroom lessons
and try new strategies continually demon-
strates her motivation towards her students.”
Her students had similar feelings about
Fagin, saying: “She’s amazing,” and “She lets
Fagin
us have extra recess.”
The Distinguished Educator Program rec-
ognizes “excellence in teaching and learning” in Dallas School
District schools.
Monmouth’s senior
center plans delayed
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
Students who have been shot by Josh (center), played by Jacob Eschette, haunt him while he is in jail with all the
things they will never do because their lives have been cut short by his actions.
Students give up-close look at shootings
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — As
Josh sits in his cell, he is sur-
rounded by the spirits and
voices of the fellow students
who he killed in the school
cafeteria earlier that day.
They replay the events
leading up to and including
the school shooting, and get
angry about the stuff they’ll
never do. Well, Josh will
never do anything he
dreamed about, either, as he
is locked forever in a cell,
haunted by his friends
whom he shot to death.
The story of school shoot-
ings is, unfortunately, not as
uncommon as anyone
would like. In “Bang, Bang,
You’re Dead,” the students of
Central High School’s pro-
duction class, directed by
Jeff Witt and Wendy Boyack,
address the topic and ask
questions about why it hap-
pens — and how could it be
stopped.
Reba Hoffman, who plays
Katie, one of Josh’s victims,
A must-see
What: Central High School Drama Students Showcase
and presentation of, “Bang, Bang, You’re Dead,” by Von
William Mastrosimone
When: 7:30 p.m., Wednesday (today), Thursday, Friday
and Saturday
Where: CHS auditorium.
Admission: The show is free, with a $2 requested dona-
tion to help pay for students to attend the regional and
state thespian competitions.
Of note: Because of the content, this show is recom-
mended for those middle-school aged and older. The irst
part of the show, students will practice for the regional act-
ing festival, to be co-hosted by CHS on Feb. 6. After an inter-
mission, students will perform, “Bang, Bang, You’re Dead.” A
counselor will be available after the performance to facili-
tate a discussion, answer questions and ofer advice. The
play was written in response to the school shooting at
Thurston High School in Springield in 1998 and addresses
the possible causes and consequences of school violence.
Reporter’s note: Bring a handkerchief.
said she has gotten more ex-
cited about the play since
rehearsals have moved from
the classroom to the stage.
“The script alone was re-
ally emotional,” Hoffman, a
senior, said. But having
everyone on stage makes the
play even more powerful.
“This is definitely the
most intense show I’ve been
in,” she said. “Of course,
other shows are intense in
different ways. The anger
and the sadness we have to
pull into this show is unlike
any other.”
Jacob Eschette, who plays
Josh, said the play spoke to
him upon first reading.
“I automatically saw the
beauty in this,” he said. “I
connect well with things
that are dark and make peo-
ple uncomfortable.”
It’s not just about being
uncomfortable, Eschette, a
senior, said.
“People don’t realize that
people don’t just snap one
day,” he said. “It’s a journey.
It makes us realize what
happens when people reach
their limits and when people
feel alone.”
Junior Rynn Hastings,
who plays Emily, another of
Josh’s victims, said the play
has become more personal
to her since rehearsals
moved to the stage.
“A lot of (Josh’s) internal
feelings, I relate to — feeling
differently,” she said. “I’m
taking my own experiences
of what I would miss if I
were deceased.”
Hastings said the play
shows how many people are
affected when tragedy strikes.
“I’m so proud of everyone
in the cast to do this play in
this town,” she said.
MONMOUTH — After
receiving bids on the Mon-
mouth Senior Center ex-
pansion project, the city
has put a hold on the idea.
“The market disagreed
with our original esti-
mates,” City Manager Scott
McClure said. Those esti-
mates were a couple years
old, and inflation may have
played a roll in the differ-
ence between projections
and what the bids turned
out to be.
“The market’s going up,
but it came in quite a bit
more than we expected,”
he said.
The lowest bid was
$497,000, McClure said. The
project was estimated —
and budgeted — at
$445,000, which was raised
through the Friends of the
Senior Center, grants, and
money from the city’s
budget.
“If you put a proper con-
tingency on that, that gets
to $571,000,” McClure said.
“So we are quite a ways off.”
The next step is to do
what’s called “value engi-
neering,” he said.
“The architect and build-
ing official will say is there
something we could do dif-
ferently, adjust something,
change something, make it
easier for the contractor so
GOVERNMENT
they can lower the price,”
McClure said, adding that
the project has already
been stripped down from
its original plans.
Once that is done, he
said they may have a
choice to go back to some
of the organizations who
granted money to the proj-
ect and ask for more, but,
“They’ll want to see we’ve
done our homework first,”
McClure said.
The city will have to
spend the money sooner
than later to keep the grants
received, McClure said, but
communication is key.
The project was awarded
a $90,000 grant from the
Ford Family Foundation,
$40,000 from the Meyer
Memorial Trust, $30,000
from Oregon Community
Fund and $15,000 from the
Collins Fund.
The 2,133-square foot
addition was expected to be
completed this year, after
10 years in the making.
No timeline exists for
completion at this point.