Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (May 10, 2017)
Polk County Education Polk County Itemizer-Observer • May 10, 2017 13A Aladdin: Story has ‘good message’ Continued from page 14A “Beggar becomes prince, tries to impress everyone, but realizes that if he was just himself from the beginning, he could have gotten the girl in the end,” he said. Lewis said the story is rel- evant to modern society. “The technology’s coming in and taking over everyone’s lives,” Lewis said. “Just being whoever they are online or on the internet. I think it’s about time we put those down and think about our- selves and each other.” Lewis plays the infamous Genie, first immortalized by Robin Williams. Having such big shoes to fill has been great for Lewis. “I kind of love having something to live up to, be- cause it gives me something to work toward,” he said. It drives him to continue making his character “fan- tastically extravagant and flamboyant,” Lewis said. “I’m supposed to be this blue guy who comes out of a lamp,” he said. “How do you build this giant character that’s out of something maybe that’s not considered to be that big?” Ta k i n g n o t e s f r o m Williams, Lewis said he throws in accents and char- acters whenever he can — and he improvises jokes, too. “I’m doing Yoda, Elmo, Capt. Jack Sparrow — any- thing I can fit in there when- ever I can,” Lewis said. “Say WOU approves tuition increase MONMOUTH — Western Oregon University board of trustees voted to approve tuition increases on a sliding scale, depending on how much money the state Legislature approves for public universities in its current session. The increased tuition rates will affect students on the Tradi- tional Plan in WOU’s Tuition Choice program. Depending on what is approved by the Legislature, tuition will increase by 5 to 10 percent. ACADEMIC HONORS Locals named to Phi Kappa Phi EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer Guards try and hold Aladdin, played by Joel Robison, during a rehearsal. something as a character and make everyone laugh a little. My goal is to make the ones up top in the spotlights laugh a little bit. They’re not sup- posed to, so I know if I make them laugh, I’m doing my job.” Lewis is no stranger to larger-than-life roles, but “Aladdin Jr.” has presented a challenge in how long he has to keep it up. “I have nothing to do for the first 15 minutes, then the whole rest of the show I’m running around constantly,” he said. “It’s hard work, but it pays off in the end.” Santillan said seeing the show is a must. Arabian Nights What: Central High School Performing Arts presents, “Al- addin Jr.” Where: Central High School auditorium, 1530 Monmouth St., Independence. When: Wednesday through Saturday, 7 p.m. Saturday in- cludes a chance to have lunch with the cast before a 2 p.m. matinee. The play also runs Wednesday, May 17, through May 20 at 7 p.m. with a 2 p.m. matinee. Audience members are invited to sing along at the May 20 matinee performance. Admission: General, $8; students, $5. “It’s Disney, and it’s always amazing to see magic come into real life,” she said. “And it’s really nice to see the meaning behind it. It kind of shows it doesn’t matter what side you come from, whether you’re a princess or a street rat, it doesn’t matter because we all feel the exact same way, whether we’re higher up or lower down. You can stand up to bullies. You can do what you want if you believe in it. It’s just a good message.” DSD schools to have busy building summer By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — Schools in Dallas School District are heading into a summer of construction. Contractors and district maintenance staff will be on a compressed schedule to complete nearly $7 million of work in three different schools in the time students are away. The projects — building multi-purpose SCHOOL NOTES cafeteria/kitchens at Lyle and Oakdale elementary schools and seismic up- grades at Whitworth Ele- mentary — are paid for with either a voter-approved maintenance bond money or grant. Contracts for those were approved last month. “We are in the process of reviewing those contracts and we’re applying for per- mits for the three projects,” said Kevin Montague, the district’s facilities director. He said the buildings are being prepped for the proj- ects, work that included as- bestos abatement at Whit- worth over spring break. Getting that project out of the way allows construction to start immediately after school ends. Montague said the project was organized and complet- ed on time. “We have a challenge coming at us this summer, but after what happened over spring break, I’m confi- dent we have the right team in place,” he said. In other business, the dis- trict’s Energy Incentive Pro- gram application is awaiting final authorization. The grant could bring the district as much as $900,000. “We are currently looking at failing, end-of-life HVAC equipment replacement and district-wide LED lighting upgrades for this program,” Montague said. BATON ROUGE — The following local residents were initi- ated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor soci- ety. They were initiated at Western Oregon University. Dallas: Maria Mccarthy. Falls City: Serena LeBleu. Independence: Eliana Belle, Ruth Yawata and Sarah Lilly. Monmouth: Alison Nelke; Amanda Short; Britton Castor; Brook Cummings; Darryl Thomas; Dean Braa; Hailey Wren; James Masnov; Kjerstin Stanavige; Lindsay Spear; Mario Mar- tinez Garcia; Marita Cardinal; Max Norr; Paula Baldwin; Robyn Lopez Melton; Sara Madden; and Sophia Dykast. Salem: Jacob Dougherty, Marcy Premo and Rachel Culpovich. These initiated are among about 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Polk students make honor roll ADAIR VILLAGE — Santiam Christian Schools released its 2016-17 school year third-quarter honor roll. The following are the Polk County students who made the list. 12th Grade — 4.0 GPA: Mikayla Manzi (Monmouth) and August Thornton (Independence). 3.5 and higher GPA: Peggy Liang (Independence); Long Nguyen (Monmouth); Katie Richert (Dallas); Makenna Setniker (Dallas); Shao-en (Sean) Wang (Dal- las); and Alexandra Watson (Dallas). 11th Grade — 4.0 GPA: Hoang Nguyen (Dallas); Kyle Para- tore (Independence); Zachary Watson (Dallas); Jenny Wei (Inde- pendence); and Billy Zhang (Dallas). 3.50 GPA and higher: Samuel Barton (Monmouth); Kaylee Breyman (Independence); Shawn Feng (Monmouth); Grace Moseman (Dallas); Sebastian Perfecto (Independence); Rebeka Preston (Independence) and Buckley Sheng (Monmouth). 10th Grade — 4.0 GPA: Carlos Garcia Palomar (Dallas); Tony Li (Dallas); Jason Manzi (Monmouth); Abby Riedlinger (Indepen- dence); Cole Setniker (Dallas). 3.50 and higher GPA: Winn Miller (West Salem) and Isabel Montoya (Dallas). Ninth Grade — 4.0 GPA: Ainsley Beam (Monmouth) and Amanda Preston (Independence). 3.5 GPA and higher: Olivia Bellinger-Verbics (Monmouth); James Bodnovits Independ- ence); Lily Hardy (Dallas); Trevor Oxenrider (Independence). Eighth Grade — 4.0 GPA: Caroline Conolly (Dallas); Keilana Oxenrider (Independence); and Ben Steffen (Independence). 3.5 GPA and higher: Cooper Brasel (Monmouth); Ann Liv- ingston (Monmouth); Joshua Montoya (Dallas); Carolyn Wilfong (Monmouth). Seventh Grade — 4.0 GPA: Ely Kennel (Monmouth) and Jamie Myrick-Duckett (Independence). 3.5 GPA and higher: Adrien Barba (Dallas); Eli Cummins (Monmouth); and Abi Von Derahe (Monmouth). No one has Polk County covered better! ✭ June 14 • Pre-Eclipse Guide ✭ Graduations Coverage ✭ 4th of July Guide ✭ Summerfest Guide ✭ Polk County Fair Guide ✭ The BIG ECLIPSE (souvenir edition) And so much more! All found inside your subscription to the Itemizer-Observer. 503-623-2373
