Polk County News
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • October 25, 2017 5A
SCHOOL NOTES
Dallas school holds Make-a-thon
DALLAS — LaCreole Middle School in Dallas hosts an all-day
Make-a-thon on Nov. 4, which focuses on learning about pro-
gramming electrical circuits — and using the skill.
Anyone is welcome to join the event, which starts at 8:30
a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m.
Supported by Innovate Oregon and SparkFun Electronics,
this event will bring together students, teachers and industry
professionals from Dallas to spend a day learning about and
creating solutions with electronic circuits.
The morning session will teach the basic of programming. In
the afternoon the class will break into teams to use the skills
learned earlier to solve a real-world problem.
Teams present their prototypes during a showcase session at
the end of the day.
To sign up for the make-a-thon and learn about make-a-
thons in other communities, go to:
https://spark.adobe.com/page/BXURNTY7sX3zY/.
Pedersen named Distinguished Educator
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
The cast of “Little Shop of Horrors” surrounds Seymour and Audrey during rehearsal on Friday afternoon.
DHS to perform ‘Little Shop’
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Thankfully Au-
gust’s total solar eclipse
didn’t bring us anything like
Audrey II.
New York City “Skid Row”
neighborhood residents
aren’t as lucky.
Audrey II, a wholly differ-
ent kind of Venus fly trap
plant, arrives during a full
solar eclipse. Shy and nerdy
Seymour Krelborn, an em-
ployee at Mushnick’s Skid
Row Florist, discovers the
mysterious plant. Soon, he
finds the grim truth about
what the plant needs to
grow: Blood, preferably
human.
Dallas High School stages
“Little Shop of Horrors” and
its timely themes starting
Wednesday (today) through
Sunday.
The show kicks off Dallas
High School theater’s100th
season, which director Blair
Cromwell decided to begin a
few weeks early this year to
bring the creepy musical to
audiences before Halloween.
Cromwell said the timing
with the eclipse in August
made putting on the show
too much to resist.
“I thought, wouldn’t that
be fun?” Cromwell said.
Dylan Bauman, who plays
Seymour, said the musical is
fun — and like nothing he’s
ever starred in before.
“I’m interacting with a
plant through the entire
story. I’m singing to a plant
and at first, it’s something
that’s kind of weird to do,” he
said. “You talk to a person, or
Showtime!
What: Dallas High School presents the musical “Little
Shop of Horrors.”
When: Wednesday (today) through Saturday at 7 p.m.
and Sunday at 2 p.m.
Where: Bollman Auditorium, 1250 SE Holman Ave., Dal-
las.
Admission: Tickets are $6 at the door or online for $5 at:
https://goo.gl/kHEVrn.
you talk to an audience, but
this time you are talking to a
puppet. In that sense it’s
been a new experience, so in
that sense it’s a cool thing
that we got to do.”
Making the plant’s inter-
actions seem real is the re-
sponsibility of three cast
members: Alex Fawcett and
Isaac Monroe, the pup-
peteers who orchestrate Au-
drey II’s movements — and,
uh, meals — and Grant Bur-
ton, who provides the
plant’s booming voice.
Timing and chemistry, es-
pecially between Burton and
Fawcett, is key to making Au-
drey II come to life.
“Just watching Alex, I
know when to speed up and
slow down based on his ca-
pacity for movement,” Bur-
ton said.
Fawcett, who can’t see
Burton, said timing was diffi-
cult at first.
“It gets easier the more
you run it,” said Fawcett,
who works with both Audrey
II puppets, “It’s fun and it’s a
work out.”
Monroe helps with the
larger Audrey II puppet that
dominates the florist shop
set. His role is smaller, but
it’s just as essential.
“When people come
through, I help them get
eaten,” he said, meaning he
helps pull them through the
plant’s mouth.
Audrey II doesn’t start with
whole humans. The clever
plant builds up, encouraging
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Seymour to give it blood.
Once he starts feeding it, it
grows and begins to grant
hapless Seymour’s wishes.
The cast likens the story to
a modern-day Doctor Faus-
tus, a story about a magician
and alchemist who sold his
soul to the devil. In Little
Shop, Audrey II gifts Sey-
mour the love of the plant’s
namesake, Audrey, a fellow
florist employee he’s long
had feelings for.
“It goes from a situation
that it’s an innocent plant
that he’s feeding it a little bit
of blood here and there and
it’s bringing him all this for-
tune,” Bauman said. “All of
sudden it starts speaking.
(Seymour) is scared because
a giant plant with teeth is
talking to him and telling
him to feed people to it.”
Seymour resists — at
first — but soon he finds a
suitable first victim. After
that Audrey II becomes insa-
tiable and an even more sin-
ister plot is revealed.
“It brings him all the for-
tune in the world … but it
comes at a great cost,” Bau-
man said.
DALLAS — Candi Pedersen, third grade
teacher at Lyle, is September’s Distinguished
Educator for Dallas schools.
Heidi Clegg, parent of a former third-
grade student, nominated Pedersen.
“She takes each student under her wing
and helps them achieve goals they them-
selves don't think they can,” Clegg said of
Pedersen. “She never gave up on my daugh-
ter who was having a very hard time reading
Pedersen
and comprehending.”
Pederson colleagues shared more observations, saying she
“has such a heart and empathy for her students,” and “she pre-
pares her students for the real world.”
The Distinguished Educator program recognizes “excellence
in teaching and learning” in Dallas School District Schools.
Chemeketa makes list for Aspen prize
SALEM — Chemeketa Community College has been invited
to apply for the Aspen Prize.
Every two years, the Aspen Institute evaluates nearly 1,000
community colleges in the U.S. to recognize high performing in-
stitutions, according to a Chemeketa Community College press
release.
Chemeketa is on the Institute’s list of 150 colleges eligible for
the Aspen Prize and the only one in Oregon under considera-
tion. The school serves Polk County and has a Dallas campus.
The Aspen Prize is an indicator of community college
achievement. To do its assessment, the Aspen Institute con-
venes a panel of education experts and uses nationally avail-
able data on institutional performance, improvement and equi-
ty in student retention and completion.
Chemeketa plans to accept the Aspen Institute’s invitation to
apply for the prize. The Aspen Prize selection committee will se-
lect 10 finalists for site visits and further review. The finalist
awarded the Aspen Prize will receive $1 million.
Arts and crafts at Western on Saturday
MONMOUTH — Western Oregon University will host an arts
and crafts market Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Pacific
Room at Werner University Center.
There is no cost to attend.
There are 32 vendors scheduled to attend, including local ar-
tisans and student vendors.
For more information: 541-992-8700.
Itemizer-Observer
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