A9 • Friday, January 11, 2019 | Cannon Beach Gazette | CannonBeachGazette.com
Students raise ‘Dollars for Doernbecher’
By KATHERINE LACAZE
For Cannon Beach Gazette
Seaside High School’s
traditional Winter Week
fi lled
with
festivities
adopted a more philan-
thropic tone this school year
as student leaders simulta-
neously hosted their Dollars
for Doernbecher fundraiser,
bringing in more than $1,500
for the Portland-based chil-
dren’s hospital.
By mixing the fundraiser
with Winter Week, junior
class president Xcaret Bello
said, “It kind of gave it a
purpose,” beyond dressing
up and decorating doors.
Fundraising
efforts
kicked off Dec. 14 with
a “money run” during a
school-wide
assembly,
which raised $63 and built
momentum in a mere few
minutes of Associated Stu-
dent Body and class offi cers
running through the crowd.
During Winter Week, from
Dec. 17 to 21, they con-
ducted several fundraising
activities that both students
and community members
could participate in.
“I was nervous when we
made the goal $1,500,” stu-
dent body vice president
Shelbylee Rhodes said.
What they received from
Katherine Lacaze/For Cannon Beach Gazette
For Seaside High School’s Dollars for Doernbecher fundraiser, the Associated Student Body
leadership and class offi cers held a drawing for three gift baskets, fi lled with items donated by
community businesses.
the get-go, however, was
school-based and commu-
nity support in spades.
“That’s what really got us
in motion, just seeing how
ready the community was to
help us and how much they
cared,” Rhodes said. “We
weren’t alone in this.”
By mid-week, the stu-
dents were more than half-
way to their goal. By the
end, they had surpassed the
$1,500, although students
leaders did not expect to
have an exact total until after
winter break.
One successful fundrais-
ing activity featured about
200 red Christmas orna-
ments bearing the school’s
logo, which student leaders
sold for $5 apiece at lunch
each day, at a Seaside City
Council meeting, during the
Holiday Classic Tournament
games, and on an individual
basis. Even after covering
the cost of the ornaments,
the students were able to
donate approximately $4 per
ornament in proceeds to the
children’s hospital.
For another activity,
community members were
invited to make free-throws
during the Holiday Clas-
sic games held in Seaside.
Everyone who made their
shot received one ticket per
$1 donated to be entered
into a drawing for one of
three baskets, brimming
with gift cards and other
items donated by local busi-
District approves strategic plan
Goal to ‘put
students on track’
By KATHERINE LACAZE
For Cannon Beach Gazette
“We’re on our way,”
Superintendent Sheila Roley
said at the Thursday, Dec.
13, Seaside School Dis-
trict board meeting with the
adoption of a fi ve-year stra-
tegic plan.
The plan comes with “a
lot of hard work,” she added,
“but I don’t think we could
be more excited.”
The 2019-2024 s strategic
vision plan aims to encapsu-
late the desires of the com-
munity and its families, as
well as the needs of students
and goals of educators.
The planning effort effort
started Dec. 5, 2017, when
the school board and Roley
committed to undertaking
a comprehensive, nearly
year-long process, not only
to review the district’s
strengths and weakness but
to also develop a multi-year
strategic plan.
They selected a team of
25 members that included
teachers, support staff, par-
ents, community member,
administrators, and school
board members. The team
met monthly from January
to October during the plan-
ning process.
As part of the fi rst step in
early 2018, the team offered
community members a vari-
ety of ways to give their
input, which generated more
than 40 pages of written
comments.
“This community is so
supportive of us, but they
also feel ownership and
want to be part of the pro-
cess and they want to con-
tribute and they want to have
a voice,” Roley said.
In February, 10 individ-
ual focus group sessions
were held and attended by
about 75 people, including
district staff, students, and
parents, as well as represen-
tatives from public safety
groups, the healthcare com-
munity, local businesses and
nonprofi t organizations. The
district also posted questions
on its website and received
responses from an additional
70 people.
The questions asked
respondents what the dis-
trict is doing well, the areas
that need improvement and
what they personally believe
is the most important work
of public education. Team
members presented the
focus group data to the
school board in March.
Using the information
and insight collected, the
team homed in on a few core
values held by the commu-
nity that formed the foun-
dation of the strategic plan.
These core values state the
Katherine Lacaze/For Cannon Beach Gazette
District superintendent Sheila Roley addresses the Seaside
School District board of directors.
school district is committed
to providing equitable, safe
learning environments; an
engaging-well-rounded edu-
cation; and a focus on col-
lective wellness and com-
munity partnerships.
The strategic plan also
includes a district mission
statement: “strengthening
community, inspiring pos-
sibility, ensuring opportu-
nity.” The vision statement
further explains, “In partner-
ship with our coastal com-
munity, all of our students
pursue excellence as pas-
sionate, empowered, life-
long learners.”
The plan only contains
two substantial strategic
goals, but as Roley pointed
out they are measurable and
feasible.
nesses. Anyone who wanted
to enter the drawing with-
out attempting a free-throw
could have Seaside’s Ever-
est Sibony or Lilli Taylor,
talented freshmen basket-
ball players, take the shot for
them. The drawing winners
were announced during the
boys’ championship game
Saturday, Dec. 22.
Additionally, the fund-
raiser included a punch wall
set up at the high school.
During lunch, students could
pay $1 to punch through
paper-covered
compart-
ments in the wall in hopes of
fi nding the hidden prize.
Each school year, the
high school’s ASB offi cers
select different goals that
address needs at the school
level, community level,
and national level. Dollars
for Doernbecher was their
national goal for the 2018-
19 school year. The chil-
dren’s hospital was chosen
as the benefi ciary for the
“amazing” healthcare ser-
vices they provide pediatric
patients, Rhodes said. She
also registered the school
with Doernbecher Chil-
dren’s Hospital Founda-
tion’s Kids Making Miracles
philanthropy program.
Although the Doernbe-
cher fundraiser was a new
endeavor this year, Winter
Week is a longstanding tra-
dition at the high school.
The fi ve school days leading
up to winter break included
a classroom door-decorating
contest and karaoke in the
cafeteria at lunch. The ASB
offi cers also covered the cost
of ingredients for the culi-
nary arts program to bake
cookies that were delivered
to each student.
“We wanted to make (the
school) feel homey,” Rhodes
said, adding they wished to
counteract how rough the
holiday season can be for
some people. “Christmas
shouldn’t be sad.”
What made both Winter
Week and Dollars for Doer-
nbecher successful, accord-
ing to Rhodes, was the exten-
sive involvement from not
only the ASB leadership but
also class offi cers. Each class
took responsibility for one
element—such as the free-
throw contest, delivering
cookies, or selling ornaments
— and worked hard from
start to fi nish to see the task
through, Rhodes said. Not
only were the class offi cers
actively involved, but the
fundraiser was also well-re-
ceived by the entire school.
“It’s nice to see students
care,” Bello said.
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