Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 18, 2002)
New teachers come to Heppner and lone high schools B es a i o S e t z e i l U o f J N siâ p a? « * * L 1 4 r& fy Eusana# OR VOL. 121 NO. 38 8 Pages By Katie W all 974J3 Wednesday, September 18, 2002 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Grade school honors Patriot Day Students and teachers at Heppner elem entary join hands and observe a moment o f silence last VVednes- day. Sept. II in honor of Patriot Day. The anniversary o f the terrorist attack on New York w as declared Pa triot Day by President George Bush. Schools were asked to observe the day in a special w ay. Heppner stu dents gathered outside in the morning and in addition to the moment of silence heard from Principal Dick Allen and also listened to the national anthem as played by some of the students. WC Terrace Assisted Living open house sported a large crowd Suzanne Jepsen, Willow Creek \ alley Assisted Living Chair, speaks at ribbon cutting A crowd o f over 200 people attended the open house o f the newly built Willow Creek Terrace Assisted Living Facility on Sunday afternoon. Sept. 15. Located above Heppner on Frank Gilliam Drive, residents will have a view of the town, the Willow Creek Lake and the surrounding countryside. Guests to this open house were treated to refreshments and m usical entertainm ent while visiting, as they viewed the results of a community-w ide effort that helped establish this facility. Willow Creek Terrace is now a reality that brings a new retirement lifestyle to Heppner. Residents, who need assistance with daily chores or no long wish to maintain a home, can now remain in the community. Pending final certification and assessment of levels o f care needed by prospective residents. 16 private apartments are now ready for occupancy. Facility A dm inistrator Tonya Adam s currently heads an eight person staff to provide 24 hour a day resident care. S ta ff will be increased as needed according to number of residents. The Willow Creek Terrace has a management contract with the Morrow County Medical District. Residents have their own kitchenettes in their apartments. However three meals per day, catering to special dietary needs, will be served in the dining room. A common living room with a fireplace adds to the homelike setting. A circular driveway, patios and w alkw ays enhance the facility. For several weeks, a large number of community volunteers have worked to landscape the continued page two The towns o f Heppner and lone received five new high school teachers this year. They have come from all over, with many diverse backgrounds. Dr. Fred Monaco, 62, has joined the Heppner High School team as a math teacher. He is teaching ninth grade through advanced mathematics. Dr. M onaco lived in Salem before coming to Heppner two years ago. He received his m a s t e r ’s degree at C a lifo rn ia State at Long Beach, CA. He received his doctorate degree in e d u c a tio n from Walden University in Dr. Fred Monaco Minneapolis/ St. Paul, Minn. He taught for 21 years at Linnfield College. He also has five college math textbooks in print; two are in active print, and three are available on a print as requested basis. Before teaching, he was in the aerospace industry for 30 years. Dr. Monaco said that one day while sitting in his office looking at em pty tab les he thought, “Do I want to be here or in a room like it 20 years from now?” Realizing he did not, he decided to go into the teaching field. Dr. M onaco has two children, a son and a daughter, and three granddaughters. He is also preparing to get married in about two weeks to “a splendid person, and great friend,” Melissa. They w ill be gettin g m arried in Heppner. W hen asked what his hobbies w here, Dr. M onaco sm iled and said that he did “calculus problems at home for fun.” He is a true blue math lover. He also enjoys w elding, and working on cars and his house. Dr. Monaco is also an avid cat lover. He has six in house cats, and there are many strays around his house that he feeds as well. Donna Scott, 45, has also joined the math team at Heppner High School. She is teaching junior high math. Scott has a bachelor of science degree in elem entary education. She attended Chemekata Community College in Salem , Western Oregon State C ollege in M onm outh, and graduated from Western Ba pt i s t C ollege in Salem. When her son, Adam , now Donna Scott 23, was in kindergarten, his teacher asked her students’ parents, “when, not if, are you going to volunteer?” After being a volunteer, and at the prompting of her friends, Scott, decided to go back to college and get her degree. She has taught at private schools and is enjoying now teaching at a public school. “It is new and exciting,” says Scott. Scott, has lived both in San Francisco and Salem, and has just moved to Heppner a month ago. She has had to adjust to living in a town with no traffic lights, but is happy to be in this area. One of her hobbies is to travel and she is looking forward to exploring what is here in Eastern Oregon. As a way “to give back to the com m unity” , Scott is opening her classroom on most Friday s to give extra help to her students. She will be sending a schedule out to the parents of her students as soon as possible. Bringing the excitement o f a first year teacher, Eva Randolph, 32, has joined Heppner High School’s team to teach language arts to the eighth, 10th and 12th graders. Randolph received her bachelor’s in liberal arts and her m a ste r’s in e d u c a tio n from Eastern O r e g o n University in L a G ra n d e . She began s c h o o l «*• WÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ thinking o f Eva Randolph becom ing a civil engineer, but while at school at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, she began tutoring fellow students in a variety of areas. Finding that she enjoyed helping others learn, and finding the confidence in her abilities, “the teaching bug" got hold of her. In the study of language arts, R andolph prefers to emphasize writing and speaking, rather than literature. She says she feels that the skills of writing and speaking are more useful for her students than sitting over a literature book. Randolph is excited about teaching in Heppner. Heppner is like the small town she has wanted to teach in and geared her education towards, as well as a place close enough to visit her family living in the John Day area. She is proud to be the auntie to four nieces and nephews and is glad she can keep that connection. Q uilting, ceram ics, horses, ranching, and Star Trek keep Randolph well rounded in hobbies. She also enjoys spending time with her two dogs and her horse, which now lives at her brother-in-law’s. Cynthia Kuchenbecker com pletes H ep p n e r’s new teaching staff as the junior and senior high business teacher. Kuchenbecker received her bachelor of science degree in business and economics with an emphasis in accounting, as well as her m a ste r’s degree in education, from Eastern Oregon University in L a G ra n d e . She enjoys teaching business to kids because she feels it is a skill they can use no m atter what area o f life they find Cynthia th e m s e lv e s Kuchenbecker in. Eastern Oregon is not new to Kuchenbecker; she lived on a ranch at Im naha, near Joseph, and graduated from high school in Enterprise. Embarking on her third year of teaching in Heppner, she has also taught in M itchell and N yssa. Kuchenbecker said, “The school here is a perfect size and there is a wonderful bunch of kids here." Kuchenbecker's husband works in Baker for the Forest Service. She also has two children. Kurt. 22, is going to school at University of Idaho, and Katrina. 19. is going to school at Oregon State University. Zoey, a miniature dachshund is also an important part of the family. W hen not teaching, Kuchenbecker enjoys reading fiction, co llectin g antique glassware, and yard sales. I - i Joining the lone High School team is science teacher Beccy Porter. 40. Porter received her bachelor o f science degree in wildlife biology from Kansas State U niversity and her m aste r’s degree in biology from Boston University. She received her original teaching certificate from University of Kansas. She taught at a science museum for eight years and this is her third year of classroom teaching. D eciding not to be a research scientist, and remembering “the people that changed her life the m ost were te a c h e r s ,” Porter went into teaching. Porter also teaches theater during the summer in Beccy Porter A n ch o rag e, Alaska, with a program called Alaska Theater of Youth held at the U niversity o f A laska Anchorage campus. lo n e’s size and wheat fields remind Porter of part of her life back in Kansas. Many of her relatives lived in towns resembling lone. However, she grew up in Wichita. Porter has a wide variety of hobbies to keep her busy. She is a dive master and loves to scuba dive whenever she can get a chance. She also enjoys bird watching and hiking. To “exercise the other side of her brain” Porter enjoys writing. She has written a novel, which one day she would like to see published, and she has written a short story that was just published in the “ C ascade R eader” . She also enjoys spending time with her two dogs, Lisa and Mose. New editor joins Gazette-Times team The Heppner Gazette- Times hired Katie Wall, 22, to take the place of Sarah Coller as editor. Coller moved to Pendleton w ith her family. W all was born in Lebanon, OR, and lived on the west side o f O regon until she was 13 and moved w ith her Katie Wall fam ily to Southeast Alaska. She has lived in Heppner for the past three years, with her mother, Kathy Marick. Wall has completed two years o f college at Eastern Oregon University in LaGrande. She has studied accounting, but has always had a love for writing and took many writing classes in college. “I have always wanted to get into the writing field,” says Wall, “but never thought I would have the opportunity . I am excited about the new things I am learning and am enjoying the journalism avenue of writing.” lone Booster Club plans barbecue The lone Booster Club will be selling barbecued hamburgers during the Dufur volleyball and football games Friday night. Sept. 20. For $3 fans can buy a cheeseburger or hamburger and toppings with a bag of chips. The barbecue will be set up near the scoreboard and will run from 5:30 p.m. through the football game. Heppner library has new hours The Oregon Trail Library D istrict-H eppner branch has changed its hours to accommodate their early morning patrons. Effective Oct. 1. hours will be: Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Thursday and Friday. 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturday. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The library is closed on Sundays and Mondays. HUNTER’S SPECIAL! DANNER BOOT SALE » 20% OFF Boots In Stock & Orders Welcome • Sale Ends Saturday! SAVE $$$ NOW! Morrow County Grain Growers Lexington 98 9 -8 2 2 1 • 1 -8 0 0 -4 5 2 -7 3 9 6 t«h™ m« «* «** m» * **» men«t
