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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 2020)
A14 NEWS Blue Mountain Eagle School Continued from Page A1 those kinds of criteria.” Uptmor said parents also have that option of comprehen- sive distance learning. “Your only option isn’t on-site. You can come talk to us about our two online options,” Uptmor said. The online options are through Edgenuity, a stand alone program at home, or Baker Web Academy, a vir- tual school program in partner- ship with Baker School District. Online Programs will start on Aug. 31, while on-site teaching will start on Sept. 8 to accom- modate for the updates in the recent guidelines from the state. At Prairie City High School, Superinten- dent Casey Hallgarth said school will be in ses- sion on-site and online Laura on Aug. 31. He Thomas said the Prairie City School District will be pur- chasing all the school supplies for students for the upcoming school year. “These are tough times, and we don’t want our parents to worry because school supplies can cost quite a bit,” Hallgarth said. “Our biggest concern is the students coming back, and they don’t need to worry about having a notebook, pencil, paper. We want parents to have a sense of relief.” Prairie City will have two cohorts in the grade school, which will be kindergarten through second grade and third grade through sixth grade. The next cohort will be seventh and eighth grade, and the last will be ninth through 12th grade. He said another big differ- ence will be social distanc- ing and making sure kids have masks on. “There’s going to be some differences, but the good thing is the kids get to come back to school and see their friends ... and get a proper education,” Hallgarth said. Prairie City is pairing with Pearson Online and Blended Learning Program to provide their online courses. Dayville Superintendent Kathryn Hedrick said, because of Dayville’s small enrollment Wednesday, August 19, 2020 of less than 75 students in kin- dergarten through 12th grade, they are allowed to open for on-site instruction Sept. 8. Hedrick said the school dis- trict is mindful that some fam- ilies are reluctant to send their students because of the face covering mandate or possible exposure, but those families can work with the district for an alternative education program that works for them and fulfills ODE guidelines. “Part of the willingness for us to run two platforms, in-school and distance learning, (is) if we did experience an out- break we would have to pivot to distance learning on a moment’s notice,” Hedrick said. Hedrick said Dayville will have all the appropriate preven- tion measures needed, such as face coverings, hand washing stations, cohorts, protocols for screening and appropriate pro- tocols for response. Long Creek plans to pro- vide an online option for stu- dents and will announce final plans Aug. 19. School begins Aug. 24. Monument Superintendent Laura Thomas said they will have on-site and online options for school, which starts Aug. 24. “While this school year will look like one we have never seen, it will be great,” Thomas said. “Students and staff are able to be on-site for instruc- tion, and that is something to be excited about.” If an outbreak does occur during the school year, educa- tors in Grant County are train- ing with the online programs their school district uses to make the transition smoother than when distance learning first occurred in March. “This has been a very try- ing time for our community, and the things we are starting our schools out with are going to be successful,” Uptmor said about his district. “Things that we’re going to be missing that are traditionally there are going to be disappointing ... but we hope that at some time we can find a way to reconnect families to our school in a more personal manner.” Hallgarth said he hopes parents can be understanding because it will take time to get used to these adjustments. He said the school district is doing its best to be in compliance with state rules. The Eagle/Rudy Diaz Rodeo court members prepare for the parade at Grant Union High school. The Eagle/Steven Mitchell Ellie Justice bumps fists with FFA adviser and ag shop teacher Wayne Suchorski Saturday at the Youth Livestock Auction. Justice won the Delly Officer Memorial Award for courtesy and sportsmanship. Parade Continued from Page A1 Fair “I was so excited when we got to come because we didn’t have any parade on our schedule, and when we found out about this we said, ‘We have to go,’” Grove said. “We got to go all out, and the horses looked great.” Grove and the two other girls who rode with her, princess Kadence Parsons, 16, and princess Brook Par- sons, 13, said they were pleased with how the event turned out and were appre- ciative of the kindness shown from the people in the community. Aaliyah Marciel, 13, and Shayna Marciel, 12, who also participated in the parade Continued from Page A1 Rule Continued from Page A1 King Williams, a consul- tant with Iron Triangle Log- ging, said forest managers should use the best avail- able science when work- ing toward the goal of main- taining old and large trees that have visual character- istics that suggest an age of 150 years. He said the The Eagle/Rudy Diaz Members of the Chester’s Thriftway float toss out Frisbees to spectators. on horseback, were happy to be a part of the event to show people that, even with a pan- demic, a parade can still hap- pen and people can have fun. “My favorite part was going around town and show- ing people that Grant County is so great,” Aaliyah Mar- ciel said. “Even with the pan- demic going on and it affect- ing the fair, it’s nice that we can still have a parade and have fun.” Malheur National Forest has been doing so through project-specific forest plan amendments. “I would support chang- ing from a standard to a guideline,” he said, but added the proposal in his opinion appears to be “ambiguous” and could be contentious. He said a big problem in the past has been a lack of trust in forest managers. He said the Blue Mountains For- est Partners forest collabo- rative — comprised of log- gers, environmentalists and Forest Service personnel — has been working to build that trust. “I think they need to be more bold,” he said. Grant County Commis- sioner Sam Palmer said many of the trees that log- gers are prohibited from cut- ting are diseased, and he supports the proposal. every year. “It was always the high- light of the year for me,” she said. She said the social set- ting, with kids in 4-H and FFA showing their livestock and static projects and the support from the community, make the fair and those involved in its planning each year a second family for many. Montague, who has two kids, 4 and 5 years old, said after moving to Grant County a little over two years ago, she started attending fair board meetings and “threw her name in the hat” when a seat on the board opened up. Montague, who kept track of the number of people com- ing in to make sure the outdoor arena did not exceed Gov. Kate Brown’s cap of 250 peo- ple at large outdoor venues, said people were grateful the county had something for the community. Throughout fair week, fair organizers were able to host a series of safe and socially distanced events for 4-H and FFA youth, which culmi- nated Saturday with the Grant County Youth Livestock Auction. The socially distanced event kicked off with a tri- tip dinner and, because alco- hol was served, was closed to youth. Grant County Auction Committee Treasurer Shan- non Springer said buyers par- ticipated both virtually and in person. “A lot of new stuff came “IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US TO MAKE SURE THE KIDS HAD AN OUTLET FOR THESE ANIMALS THAT THEY’VE WORKED WITH AND SPENT SO MUCH MONEY ON THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.” —Shannon Springer, Grant County Auction Committee treasurer The Eagle/Steven Mitchell Carson McKay of Prairie City calls out a bid Saturday at the Youth Livestock Auction at the Grant County Fair. up that we are not accustomed to dealing with,” she said. However, she said, the auction raised more money than it did in previous years. While Springer said she did not know the exact amount, she said the auction took in more than it sold. “We raised a lot of money,” she said. “I mean we brought in a lot of money for the kids.” She said the auction net- ted upwards of $300,000, sur- passing last year’s amount by roughly $25,000. It is a given, she said, that the county shows up to sup- port 4H and FFA youth. “This community is always phenomenally gener- ous,” she said. She said the auction com- mittee was concerned there would not be enough avail- able buyers because of the number of businesses that closed down and that those buyers who typically turn out to purchase livestock at the auction would not be able to this year. “We’re pretty happy with this, but everybody was wor- ried about this on the auc- tion committee,” she said. “It’s really important for us to make sure the kids had an outlet for these animals that they’ve worked with and spent so much money on throughout the year.” SILVIES SUNDAY SLAM • • • • • • • • Fun Golf Every Sunday Afternoon Starts at Noon w/Free Hot Dogs Everyone Welcome- Limited to first 30 Teams Free Green Fees with Your 1st Slam - 20% off fees for County Residents thereafter Two-Person Teams Payouts to the Top 3 Teams each week Optional Skins Buy-In Optional Stay for Dinner at $45. Begins Sunday, August 23rd at 12:00PM Call to Reserve your Spot! Phone: (541) 413-2216 For more information contact: Lacy Avera Email: lacy.avera@silvies.us S165194-1 S203630-1