Polk County Education
12A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 11, 2017
Getting their geek on
Santiam Christian honor roll
ADAIR VILLAGE — Santiam Christian School released its
honor roll for the first quarter of the 2016-17 school year.
12th grade (4.0 GPA): Mikayla Manzi (Monmouth), Katie
Richert (Dallas) and August Thornton (Independence); 3.5-
3.99 — Peggy Liang (Independence), Makenna Setniker (Dal-
las), Shao-en (Sean) Wang (Dallas) and Alexandra Watson (Dal-
las).
11th grade (4.0): Hoang Nguyen (Dallas), Kyle Paratore (In-
dependence), Zachary Watson (Dallas), Jenny Wei (Indepen-
dence) and Billy Zhang (Dallas); 3.5-3.99 — Samuel Barton
(Monmouth), Kaylee Breyman (Independence), Grace Moseman
(Dallas), Shelby Myrick-Duckett (Independence), Sebastian Per-
fecto (Independence), Rebeka Preston (Independence) and
Buckley Sheng (Monmouth).
10th grade (4.0): Tony Li (Dallas), Jason Manzi (Monmouth),
Winn Miller (West Salem), Abby Riedlinger (Independence) and
Cole Setniker (Dallas); 3.5-3.99 — Carlos Garcia Palomar (Dal-
las).
Ninth grade (4.0): Ainsley Beam (Monmouth), Olivia
Bellinger-Verbics (Monmouth) and Trevor Oxenrider (Indepen-
dence); 3.5-3.99 — James Bodnovits (Independence), Lily
Hardy (Dallas) and Amanda Preston (Independence).
Eighth grade (4.0): Caroline Conolly (Dallas) and Keilana Ox-
enrider (Independence); 3.5-3.99 — Levi Cummins (Mon-
mouth), Joshua Montoya (Dallas), Ben Steffen (Independence)
and Carolyn Wilfong (Monmouth).
Seventh grade (4.0): Eli Cummins (Monmouth), Ely Kennel
(Monmouth) and Jamie Myrick-Duckett (Independence); 3.5-
3.99 — Adrien Barba (Dallas), Jonathan Breyman (Indepen-
dence) and Abi Von Derahe (Monmouth).
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — It’s
almost like the role was writ-
ten for him.
Sophomore Seth Dickson
plays Jake in Central High
School’s production of,
“Band Geeks,” opening on
Friday at 7 p.m.
“A lot of the stuff he’s
going through I can really
connect with him,” Dickson
said of Jake. “Because I was
in sports and now I’m in the-
ater. And it became my fam-
ily. He (Jake) injures some-
one else, gets suspended
from his school and has to
join the other school’s
marching band.”
When Jake shows up to
play the drums with the
Cuyahoga High Marching
Beavers, he causes more
trouble with the small,
struggling music program —
but it isn’t all his fault. His
performance on the field
causes some jealous riffs
with Elliott, played by Dylan
Lewis, a senior at Central.
“He is trying to be a
leader, but isn’t very good at
it, and he’s a whiner,” Lewis
said of his character. “He
kind of knows he just
whines, and the new guy
comes in and steals his spot-
light — and it is his.”
Not only that, but the girl
Elliott has a crush on devel-
ops a crush on Jake.
That’s just par for the
course in high school, said
Matisyn Robischon, a junior.
ACADEMIC HONORS
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Matisyn Robischon, Maynard DeWitt and Dylan Lewis rehearse a song on Monday.
Robischon plays Laura,
Elliott’s best friend. In the
play, she has a crush on El-
liott — unknown to him, of
course.
“I definitely relate to
Laura,” Robischon said. “We
all go through hard times.
We all have a crush that
doesn’t like us back. We all
have teachers that don’t
think we’re doing enough;
parents that don’t think
we’re doing enough.”
The key is to stand up for
yourself, Robischon said,
something Laura learns
eventually.
The theme of standing up
for yourself and embracing
who you are runs through-
out the musical.
Maynard DeWitt Jr., soph-
omore, plays Stewart, the
asthmatic son of the high
school principal.
“He gets picked on,” De-
Witt said. “When he comes
to band, the kids are kind of
nice to him. Throughout the
play, he struggles with him-
self. At the end, he embraces
his inner geek.”
To add to the unfolding,
teenage drama, the 10-
member marching band
must face continuous budg-
et cuts and the loss of its
practice field.
The musical doesn’t leave
out any high-school stereo-
types, said Jeff Witt, drama
teacher.
“It’s kind of a cross be-
tween ‘High School Musical,’
and ‘Glee,’” Witt said. “It’s
hysterical.”
“Band Geeks” is pro-
duced by the theater class,
which means it is open to
kids who don’t typically try
out for plays. Some of the
actors in this musical have
never been in a play before,
director Wendy Boyack said.
The Band Marches On ...
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Maynard DeWitt, center, sings during a rehearsal at Cen-
tral High School on Monday night.
What: Central Performing Arts presents “Band Geeks,”
music by Mark Allen; music and lyrics by Gaby Alter; concept,
music, lyrics and book by Tommy Newman and Gordon
Greenberg.
When: Show opens Friday at 7 p.m. and continues with
two performances on Saturday at 2 p.m. and at 7 p.m. It re-
sumes Jan. 18 through 21, show time at 7 p.m.
Where: Central High School’s auditorium, 1530 Mon-
mouth St., Independence.
Admission: General, $8; students with ID, $5.
More information: 503-838-0480.
Local students named to dean’s list
PORTLAND — Two Polk County students were named to the
Warner Pacific College dean's list for the Fall 2016 academic
term. To qualify, students must be enrolled full-time and
achieve a 3.5 or greater grade point average. Graduate students
are not included on this list. Students in the undergraduate
Adult Degree Program who have completed at least 12 credits
for classes ending during the specified dates are included.
Both Angelica Sletten, of Dallas, and Kelly Wahl, of Independ-
ence, earned a 4.0.
Miller earns spot on dean’s list
LA GRANDE — Matthew Miller, of Dallas, was named to East-
ern Oregon University’s dean’s list for the fall term along with
520 other students. Qualifying students achieve and maintain a
grade-point average of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale while com-
pleting a minimum of 12 hours of graded coursework for the
duration of the term.
School district to fill budget committee
INDEPENDENCE —The Central School District Board of Direc-
tors is seeking candidates to serve on the budget committee.
The board is seeking representatives from zones 1, 2, 3, 4 and
5. If interested, submit a letter of interest to the school board,
Central School District 13J, 750 S. Fifth Street, Independence,
OR 97351.
The board will review letters of interest and make the ap-
pointment during their regular meeting on Feb. 1. Application
deadline is Jan. 27 at 4:30 p.m.
Zone 1’s seat will serve through June 30, 2017. Zone 2’s term
expires June 30, 2018 and Zones 4 and 5 terms expire June 30,
2019. Zone 1 encompasses the city of Independence north of
Monmouth Street extended within city limits.
Zone 2 includes Independence south of Monmouth Street.
Zone 4 includes the city of Monmouth west of Pacific High-
way and north of Jackson Street. Zone 5 encompasses Mon-
mouth west of Pacific Highway and south of Jackson Street.
