Polk County Education
14A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • May 24, 2017
SCHOOL NOTES
ODE provides assessment grant
DALLAS — The Dallas School District received a $20,000
technical assistance grant from Oregon Department of Educa-
tion to assess the condition of the district’s buildings.
“It is designed to identify which buildings are better off reno-
vated and which buildings make more sense to replace,” said
Kevin Montague, the district’s facilities manager.
Architects performing the assessments must be certified by
ODE, and one of those firms is already working on a project for
the district.
“They’ve indicated that because of their district familiarity, that
they could hopefully do more facilities than the anticipated three
to four that ODE expects this grant to fund,” Montague said.
It’s possible all facilities could be assessed with money from
the grant, he added.
Falls City receives music grant
EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer
The WEB Program at Talmadge Middle School helps incoming students get ready for what’s next.
Eighth-graders lead WEB Program
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — It’s
tough being a sixth-grad-
er. Not only are you at a
new school, but it’s bigger
— a n d w i t h d i f f e re n t
classes and lockers and
lunches.
Fifth-graders at Ash Creek
Elementary School crowded
into the Talmadge cafeteria
on Thursday to learn more
about their next adventure:
Middle School.
Principal Perry LaBounty
answered a few questions
and introduced the coun-
cilors at Talmadge, but the
real stars were the eighth-
grade WEB leaders — part of
the Where Everyone Belongs
Program.
Questions came steadily
for the experienced mid-
dle-schoolers: Will there
be enough time for lunch?
Will there be recess? Will
we be late for classes? Will
EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer
The WEB Program works on making life easier for sixth-
graders and preparing fifth-graders for middle school.
we get a locker? Can we
chew gum?
Natalie Webb assured
them they will have plenty of
time to eat and get to class.
They can even have some
recess, and some teachers
will allow gum in class while
others won’t.
There’s so much angst
involved in the transition
from elementary school to
middle school that Tal-
madge Middle School
teacher Kelly Cutsforth
brought the WEB Program
to the building in 2008,
when sixth-graders were
moved from Ash Creek Ele-
mentary School back to the
middle school.
Now, Karina Newbeck
runs the program, filled with
eighth-grade leaders work-
ing to make life a little easier
for sixth-graders, while
preparing fifth-graders to
make the big move.
WEB leaders are hand-
picked by Newbeck after ap-
plying for the program. Each
student must have two
teacher recommendations
before they can be consid-
ered.
“They give up eight hours
of their summer, and are
here the first day of school,
when it is just sixth-graders,
so really two days of their
summer,” Newbeck said.
“And they’re missing class
now.”
See WEB, Page 10A
FALLS CITY — The Oregon Community Foundation awarded
the Falls City School District a $20,000 grant to support music
classes.
The district’s AmeriCorps’ Ethos Program music teacher Jessi-
ca Wood applied for the grant, which will pay for Falls City’s
share of the cost of having her in the district and $12,000 for in-
struments and music curriculum.
Superintendent Jack Thompson said the grant is flexible, just
in case AmeriCorps doesn’t receive funding for Ethos.
“AmeriCorps is now waiting to see if they get their federal budg-
et for their grant,” Thompson said. “If they get their grant, they’ll
fund Ethos. It all depends on what the feds come up with.”
Ethos has other funding options if the federal grant is elimi-
nated, and the OCF grantors said they would be willing to have
more of the money go to paying for Wood, if needed, Thomp-
son said.
Eight WOU students recognized
MONMOUTH — Dulce Maria Zamora, deputy consul, and
Claudia Cabrera, community affairs consul from the Mexican
Consulate in Portland, visited the Western Oregon University
campus May 16 to recognize eight recipients of a grant pro-
gram administered by the consulate.
The recipients did not want to be named because of their
DACA status, according to WOU public affairs.
The grant supports citizens of Mexico (including DACA stu-
dents) living abroad who are pursuing higher education. At
WOU, the scholarships benefit students in the Bilingual Teacher
Scholars program. The total grant was for $10,000, making it
one of the largest awards awarded to Oregon partners through
the IME Becas program.
Chase is OSEA Employee of the Year
INDEPENDENCE — Denise Chase, paraprofessional librarian
at Central High School, was selected by the Oregon School Em-
ployees Association as its 2017 Employee of the Year.
“Denise exemplifies the best attributes of our members,” said
Tim Stoelb, president of OSEA, in a press release. “Her peerless
professionalism, immense integrity and warm sense of humor
made her nomination stand out from this year’s field of nomi-
nees.”
Chase’s nomination was initiated without her knowledge
by her fellow chapter members, who elicited letters of recom-
mendation from coworkers and administrators. A committee
of past OSEA presidents blindly selected her out of a pool of
nominees from around the state. Chase will be honored
throughout OSEA’s annual three-day conference in June in
Portland. She will be presented with a traveling trophy and
plaque during the Saturday night awards banquet on June
24.