Heppner hosts French exchange student
Belala 7.'e tse 11
U of J Ne*'spapap Library
Lucana, OR 974J3
( lementine Guyot
V0L 120_______NO. 51______ 10 Pages
Wednesday. December 19,2001
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
V olunteers raise funds for Heppner Fire Department
Tina Bowles (left) and Teresa Hint/ sell baked goods to Archie Padberg of Heppner Friday to raise funds
to benefit the Heppner Fire Department. The Corbin family of Heppner sponsored the sale and donated
baked goods. Other groups and individuals also donated baked items and made monetary contributions.
The sale brought in over SI.200.
Geography bee planned at HES
"The Abominable Snowman,
sometimes called the Yeti, is a
mythical creature said to inhabit
which mountain system'.’" and ITie
largest hole in the Earth's vital o/one
layer is located ov er w hat continent?"
are two o f the questions from the
1 leppner Elementary qualifying test
for the annual Geography Bee. T his
event is sponsored each year by the
National Geographic Society to
* encourage students to become more
interested in the geography o f the
world.
The students in grades 4. 5 and
6 took a qualifying test, and the top
12 are then eligible to compete in
the I leppner Elementary ( ieography
Bee. The competition is to be held
on Thursday. Jan. 10. at 10:30a.m.
in the elementary schtxil auditorium.
Participants arc seated at a long
table on the gym floor, and the
facilitator, Karen Smith-Griffith,
asks them questions from the
National Geographic Society's test
booklet. I here are 12 students in
the first round, six in the second
round, and finally a schvxil champion.
1 ast year’s HES champion was Casey
Mabcn.
Parents and interested community
members are invited to attend and
watch the competition. The
Geography Bee contestants are:
Nacho F.lguezabal. Spencer Palmer.
Logan Anthony, Emily Thompson,
Andre Rauch. Kelsey Wolff. Jordan
Hatfield, Maggie Armato, Luke
Basile. Kate Kendrick. Eddie
Ramirez and Tayler Hodges.
News deadline
5p.ni. Friday
Jingle Bells
Besides the Eiffel Tower
and fine wine, the French arc
well known for their cuisine.
America is also known for its
cuisine—fast food, o f course. "I
was scared beforp," laughs
Clementine Guyot (pronounced
Clemen-teen Goo-yo), Heppner
High School's exchange student
from France. "I think you eat
hamburgers and pizza every
time. The food's okay. Craig (her
host dad) cooks very, very good."
"There
are
almost
no
vegetables." adds Clementine,
who is a vegetarian.
"You eat
sugary food and salty at the same
time. I'm not used to that.. . I like
tofu. I didn't know that before."
In addition to the food,
the Eastern Oregon climate also
took some getting used to.
Clementine's
hometown
is
Muzillac, near the sea. which has
the typical coastal climate, quite
different from the hot. dry
summer weather Clementine
experienced upon her arrival in
Heppner. "In France, it rains a
lot." says Clementine. "Brittany
(a region in northwest France) is
very famous for rain. It rains the
same in Paris, but people in Paris
think it rains more in Brittany. In
France it's not very different
between summer and winter. In
summer here, it was so hot."
In France. 17-year-old
Clementine attended school in
Rennes, w hich is a city of around
200,000 and the capital of
Brittany. Rennes is about as far
from her home as Heppner is
from the Tri-Cities, but. says
Clementine, it is a very long way
in France. During the school year
she lives in Rennes in an
apartment, because it is too far to
travel daily from her home.
Around once a month and on
holidays she goes home to
Muzillac, where she lives with
her mother, Marie-francoise. and
her brother,
Vincent,
14.
Sometimes she travels by train
and sometimes her grandfather
gives her a ride
"I was surprised that
they sent me to Heppner. with a
school
this
size,"
says
Clementine, who is a junior at
IIHS. "I didn't know there were
all these little schools in these
little towns." In France, she says,
small towns do not have schools:
students attend schools in larger
cities. Her school in Rennes has
2,000 students.
"School in France is
very hard." says Clementine.
"Here it's very easier I can do
the most perfect. I have 'A's all
the time. In France I work all the
time and I do only the minimum.
Here it's very easy to do the
maximum. I took easy classes,
though."
At 11IIS Clementine is
taking math, English, social
studies. Web design and two art
classes, which she especially
enjoys. "Art is my favorite class.
1 hat's why I took two. It's an
interesting thing. Ilere (in art) we
learn to do something, like
painting." says Clementine. "In
France we do what we want in
art. We're graded on what we say
on the project."
In France, Clementine
goes to school at 8:30 a.m. and
gets done with classes between
5-6 p.m.. except for Wednesday
when there is no school in the
afternoon. She usually stays at
school till 7 p.m. doing
homework and working on the
computers She goes home to her
apartment at 1 p.m. for lunch,
many times accompanied by her
friends. A typical lunch is ravioli
or couscous. Dinner, which is
eaten very late, between 8-9
p.m.. is usually vegetables and
cheese. "I cat a lot of candy." she
giggles.
Students in France spend
five years in elementary school,
four years in middle school and
three in high school. While
students can graduate from high
school at 17-18, Clementine says
that most don't graduate until
they are 19-20 years old,
because school is so difficult.
Students can receive a diploma
after the first two years of
college, which can be taken at
the high school. Attending a
university is generally for those
who want to become teachers or
doctors, she says. Public schools,
mainly for students seeking
degrees in science and political
science, and art schools are free,
but are also very difficult.
Commercial
schools
are
restrictive because of the cost.
Judge rules against Lindsay
Morrow County Circuit
Court Judge Ron Pahl ruled
against former Morrow County
School Board member Barney
Lindsay and in favor of the
school board in a disputed
residency issue.
"The evidence supports
the fact that the board set ujf the
zoning system so that all
residents of the district would
have representation from their
zone.” said Pahl. "To allow
Lindsay to represent Zone 6
while liv ing in Zone 2 would be
a mockery o f the system.
Lindsay has 30 days to
appeal the decision.
The residency issue arose
when the school board received
an anonymous letter claiming
that Lindsay was not living
within the Zone 6. the district
from which he was elected. The
school board then hired retired
Judge Warner Wasley to review
the case. After Wasley ruled in
favor o f the district, the board
voted to vacate Lindsay's seat
Lindsay then filed a petition with
the Morrow County Circuit Court
to rev iew the case.
Pahl said that the
evidence shows that Lindsay is a
resident of Zone 2 and not Zone
6. Lindsay maintained that he is
a resident of Zone 6. but had
been living temporarily in Zone 2
to remodel his grandmother's
house at the request of his father
and employer, Larry Lindsay.
Since the next school
board election won't take place
until May, 2003, the hoard will
appoint someone to till F.indsay's
seat and the scat held by Keith
Lewis, Heppner, that was
declared also vacant by the board
because it was determined that
Lewis did not live within his
zone.
Assistant Superintendent
Mike Keown said that the board
plans to hear a census report soon
and may decide not to fill the
seats until after they consider the
new census information.
Lexington
Dept. Aux.
meeting
Fire
sets
A regular meeting of the
Lexington
lire
Department
Auxiliary will be held on
Thursday. Dec. 20, at 7 p.m. at
Lexington City Hall
The agenda will include
election o f officers.
News deadline
5p.m. Friday
"Most people do something in
only two years, either at
university or at the high school,"
says Clementine
For fun. Clementine and
her friends go into the city and
"hang out", go into the bars,
which have no age restrictions,
look at the shops, walk around
and talk with people they meet.
"In France." she says, "you have
friends, but every day you meet
interesting people and you
present them to your friends."
C le m e n tin e
w as
surprised that there are so few
black or Hispanic people in
Heppner. "I learned that there
c o n tin u e d page 2
deadl i ne
G-T
Friday
The deadline for the
December 26 issue o f the
Ga/.ette-Times will be this
Friday. Dec. 21, at 5 p.m. for
news and advertising. The
newspaper will be published as
usual Wednesday. Dec. 26.
The Gazette office will
be closed Christmas Eve.
Monday. December 24. and
Christmas
day.
Tuesday.
December 25.
I he staff at the Gazette-
I imes wishes everyone a verv
Merry Christmas.
Public meeting
set on library/
city hall project
A public meeting will be held
to gather input from Heppner
residents on the proposed library
city hall joint project on Jan. 5 at
St. Patrick's Senior Center in
Heppner.
Mary Nixon, who works for Rural
I Xwelopment Initiatives and lias been
hired to facilitate the public meeting,
explained that the audience at the
public town meeting will be asked
to recommend names of individuals
to serve on a working committee.
The working committee will be
comprised of a member from the
city council and the Oregon Frail
Library Board, an individual who
supports the project, an individual
who opposes the project and a citizen
at large.
Phis group will address the
issues/concems from the public
meeting. It will also develop an
objective survey and compile the
results of the survey. It is hoped that
the survey and the public meeting
comments will provide the city
council and library board with a clear
message as to how the community
feels about the project. The
committee meetings will be conv ened
and facilitated by Nixon.
When asked why a community
resident would attend the town
meeting when there will also be a
survey. Nixon replied. " The public
town meeting is an opportunity for
community members to hear both
sides of the issues as well as the
background information. Participants
at the public meeting w ill also be
invited to submit names o f people
tor the w orking committee. A survey,
w htle another valid tool for gathenng
input, does not allow participants
tilling out the survey to express their
opinions in a detailed fashion or to
hear what other community members
are feeling and thinking."
Nixon is a community
development coordinator for Rural
Development Initiatives Inc. (RDI)
She lives in Pendleton and serves
small rural communities in Morrow.
Umatilla. Union. Wallowa, Baker.
Malheur. I lamcv and Grant counties.
RDI is a private non-profit
organization, which since its
incorporation 10 years ago. has
helped over 200 communities in
(Xegon with leadership development,
project assistance, facilitation and
mediation, planning and regional
initiatives, said Nixon. Nixon and
other RDI staff members see
themselves as "facilitators, teachers,
project managers and most
importantly as advocates for the
success o f rural communities".
Funding for Nixon's facilitation
services arc prov ided by the Oregon
Economic
and
Community
Development Department
Monday, D ecem ber 2 4 th Hours:
7 a.m . to 12 noon
C L O S E D T U E S D A Y , D E C E M B E R 2 5 th
c M a p fU f, o tta li& c u fA , j^ u c u ft a l l
a i...
M orrow C o u n ty G rain G row ers
A group of Scouts, leaders and friends serenaded (he Heppner communits with Christmas carols
Tuesday.
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
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