Local army man heads to middle east
Arm y Sgt. E-5 Stacy Lauritsen
o f Heppner is "somewhere in the
M iddle East” according to his
d a d C a rl L a u rits e n a ls o o f
Heppner.
Before heading to the Middle
East Stacy served as a helicop
ter crew chief in Afganistan where
he receiv ed three air medals, one
with a “V” for valor.
He is currently deployed with
the 160th special operations
avaiation regiment (airborne) on
a CH -47 Chinook helicopter.
Lauritsen graduated from
H eppner High School in 1997.
He jo in ed the A rm y guard in
M arch o f 1996 and went to ba
sic at Ft. Jackson, SC in the sum
m er o f 1996. He took advanced
individual training at Ft. Eustis,
VA in the sum m er o f 1997 for
helicopter crewchief.
In Septem ber o f 1998 he
w ent on active duty at H unter
Army Air Field in Savannah, GA,
and in Dec. o f 1999 was trans
ferred to C am p H um phries in
Korea.
The schools he has attended are:
Bs33ie ¿etsel l
U of J Neispa^r Li
Eugen , UR 9 '4J3
Sgt. Stacy Lauritsen with his helicopter somehwere in
Afganistan
A nyone w ho would like to
Prim ary L eadership D evelop
w rite to Lauritsen can address
m ent Course, Survival evasion
letters to: Sgt. Lauritsen, Stacy
resistance and escape, dunker
L, J S O A C -W -F W D , A P O
training and green pit.
09370.
Election to be held for Morrow County districts
On M ay 20, 2003, an
electio n w ill be held for the
p u r p o s e o f e le c tin g b o a rd
members to fill the positions and
term s for the following districts
in M orrow County, Oregon.
Boardman Cemetery
District: Two positions at-large:
VOL. 122
NO. 6
10 Pages
Wednesday, February 5, 2003
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Continued Excellence For Heppner Schools
By Wade A. Smith, Principal
T he 200 1 -2 0 0 2 State
Report Card was released to the
public on Jan. 30. A gain, both
schools in H eppner have done
e x tr e m e ly w e ll, w ith th e
elem entary school receiving an
“Exceptional” rating and the high
school earning a “ Satisfactory”
score. Needless to say, it doesn’t
take a num ber cruncher from the
state to tell us w hat we already
k n o w : H e p p n e r S c h o o ls ,
k indergarten through tw elfth
grade, are top notch.
Since the inception o f the
State R ep o rt C ard, H ep p n er
Schools have perform ed very
w e ll. In 2 0 0 0 - 2 0 0 1 , th e
elementary school’s Report Card
w as “ S trong” w hile the high
s c h o o l’s o v e ra ll ra tin g w as
“ E xceptional.” M any changes
have taken place over the last
year in how the state com putes
their school ratings. The overall
rating is calculated by a weighted
a v e r a g e o f th e f o llo w in g
c o m p o n e n ts :
S tu d e n t
Performance, Student Behavior,
and Improvement. A school can
receive any one o f the following
ratings: E xceptional, Strong,
S a tis f a c to r y ,
Low ,
and
Unacceptable.
Overall Rating= Student
P e r fo r m a n c e * + S tu d e n t
B e h a v io r* + I m p ro v e m e n t
Rating*
* Student Performance is
calculated using an average o f
previous y e a r’s statew ide tests
adm inistered to the appropriate
g rad es (3, 5, 8, and 10). To
receive at least a “ Satisfactory”
rating a school m ust report a
greater percentage o f students
that meet, nearly meet, or exceed
the standards. In this category,
Heppner Elementary received a
“ Strong” rating w hile H eppner
H ig h S c h o o l r e c e iv e d a
“ S a t is f a c t o r y .”
H eppner
Elementary received a “ Strong”
because
our
R e a d in g
Knowledge and Skills test scores
increased by 5 percent while our
M ath K n ow ledge and Skills
scores decreased slightly. Both
sets o f scores, needless to say,
are well above the state average.
H eppner High School received
a “Satisfactory” rating because
our scores dropped a bit last year
from the year prior. Interestingly,
our scores are still at or above
the state averages in three out o f
the four tests. However, because
w e did n ot im p ro v e on ou r
already respectable numbers, we
could not receive greater than a
“ Satisfactory” according to the
state formula.
*S tudent B e h a v io r is
based prim arily on the average
o f the attendance and dropout
rates for the 2000-2001 and the
2 0 0 1 - 2 0 0 2 s c h o o l y e a rs .
Needless to say, both schools did
extrem ely w ell; w ith H eppner
Elementary receiving a “Strong”
rating and Heppner High School
earning an “Exceptional” score.
im p ro v e m e n t is based
on a f o u r - y e a r tr e n d in
assessm ent scores, attendance,
a n d d r o p o u t r a te s . In th is
category H eppner Elem entary
received an “ Im proved” rating
w hile H eppner H igh S ch o o l’s
score w as a “ Stayed A bout the
Sam e.” The elem entary school
has seen steady grow th in math
and reading scores over the last
four years, which resulted in the
above m ark. A lthough high
school scores have increased in
both reading and math, from 53
percent passing in 1998 to 66
percent last year, and 65 percent
to 67 percent respectively, the
scores did not increase enough
according to the state to bum p
us up in to th e “ I m p ro v e d ”
category. An “Improved” rating
would have boosted our overall
school rep o rt c a rd ratin g to
“Strong.”
A f te r h e a r in g th e
preliminary results a few months
ago I was happy to discover that
our elementary school has finally
received the credit it deserves.
The dedicated sta ff and truly
outstanding students deserve to
hang th eir State E xceptional
Rating Flag proudly in their new
gymnasium. It is exciting to see
how
h a rd
w o rk ,
s ta ff
d e v e lo p m e n t, a n d s tu d e n t
performance can pay off.
To be honest, however,
I w as shocked to hear that the
high school slipped tw o w hole
ratings in one year. We jo in ed
over one-forth o f the schools
across the state that received a
lower score than the year before.
After considerable research and
p h o n e c o n v e rsa tio n s w ith a
num ber o f different people from
the state departm ent, it is clear
that the state has put far m ore
emphasis on the improvement o f
test results and the reflection they
have on a schools’ overall rating.
D e s p ite an “ E x c e p ti o n a l ”
behavior rating and high test
scores, the high school did not
im prove enough in our scores
and received no points in the
Improvement category, resulting
in a lower overall rating from the
previous year. I find it hard to
believe that a school such as
ours, w ith test percentages in
m ost cases higher than the state
averages, is expected to improve
e v e ry y e a r to m a in ta in an
“Exceptional” rating.
A lth o u g h I o p e n ly
d is a g r e e w ith th e S t a t e ’s
methodology, I am confident that
my staff and I in both schools are
up to the task to improve our test
scores. We have w orked hard
analyzing last y e a r’s results,
m o d ify in g c u rric u lu m , and
adapting lessons to insure that our
student will continue to improve
on our already favorable results.
In b o th s c h o o ls w e h a v e
purchased the Stars R eading
A ssessm ent Program , w hich 1
am confident will help to improve
our
s t u d e n t ’s
re a d in g
com prehension. Likewise, our
high school English teachers have
b e e n w o r k in g d ilig e n tly
em phasizing w riting through
creative and free-writing lessons.
Similarly we have focused since
day one o f school in our m ath
classes for students to explain
and verify their answ ers on all
problems. Needless to say, I am
confident that w hen the 2002-
2003 report card is released next
January that our students, grade
school through high school, will
have improved their scores.
P le a s e h e lp m e in
celebrating our excellent schools.
As you run into our teachers and
students around tow n, let them
know how proud you are o f them
and all o f their hard w ork that
they put into their teaching and
studies every day.
O ne position is a four-year term
ending June 30,2007; the other
p o sitio n is a tw o -y e a r term
ending June 30,2005.
Boardman Park &
Recreation District: T h ree
positions at-large: each a four-
year term ending June 30,2007.
Boardman Rural Fire
District: Two positions at-large:
each a four-year term ending June
30, 2007. ‘
H eppner Cem etery
Maintenance District: Two
positions at-large: One position
is a four-year term ending June
30,2007; the other position is for
a two-year term ending June 30,
2005.
Heppner Rural Fire
District: Two positions at-large:
O ne position is for a four-year
term ending June 3 0 ,2007; the
other position is a two-year term
ending June 30,2005.
H eppner
W ater
C on trol D istrict: T h re e
positions at-large: each is a four-
year term ending June 30,2007.
Ione-Lexington
C em etery D istrict: Tw o
positions at-large: each position
will be a four-year term ending
June 30,2007.
lo n e R ural Fire
District: Two positions at-large:
each a four-year term ending June
30, 2007.
Irrigon C em etery
District: Two positions at-large:
each a four-year term ending June
30, 2007.
Irrigon Park &
R ecreation D istrict: T w o
positions at large: each position
will be a four-year term ending
June 30,2007.
Irrigon Rural Fire
District: Two positions at large:
each a four-year term ending June
30, 2007.
M orrow
C ounty
Health District: Two positions.
Position 4 and Position 5: each a
four-year term ending June 30,
2007.
M orrow
C ounty
School District: Five positions,
Position 1, Position 3, Position
4, and Position 5: all four-year
term s ending June 30, 2007;
Position 6 is a tw o-year term
ending June 30,2005.
Oregon Trail Library
District: Two positions. Position
2 and Position 4: each a four-
year term ending June 30,2007.
Port Of Morrow: Two
positions, Position 4 and Position
5: each a four-year term ending
June 30,2007.
Unified Recreation
District: Three positions: Zone
3, Zone 4 and Zone 5: each a
four-year term ending June 30,
2007.
Willow Creek Park
District: T hree positions at-
large: each a fo u r-y ear term
ending June 30,2007.
Heppner Community
Education Committee: Three
positions: Position 3, Position 5
and Position 6: each is a four-year
term ending June 30,2007.
B oard m an -lrrigon
C om m unity
Education
Committee: F our positions:
P o s itio n 2, P o s itio n 5 and
Position 6: each is a four-year
term en d in g June 30, 2007;
Position 4 is a tw o-year term
ending June 30,2005.
lon e
C om m unity
Education Committee: Four
positions: Position 1, Position 4
and Position 5: each a four-year
term en d in g June 30, 2007;
Position 6 is a tw o-year term
ending June 30,2005.
All candidates for these
positions must file a petition with
the M orrow County Clerk by
M arch 20,2003. District forms
are available from the County
C lerk’s office or call (541 ) 676-
5604 to have an inform ation
form sent to you.
lone to decide on independent
school district
lone will be holding a
com m unity m eeting, Tuesday,
Feb. 11, at 6:30 p.m. The meeting
will be held in the lone School
cafeteria and will be to decide
w h e th e r lo n e s ta y s in th e
M orrow County School District
or forms an independent school
district.
Al
M e u n ie r ,
an
administrative consultant, will be
at the m eeting to discuss the
proposed budget, curriculum and
a d m in is tra tiv e p la n fo r an
independent lone School District.
T h e S e l f D e te rm in a tio n
Committee will also be ready to
d isc u ss the process and the
anticipated costs involved in
separating from the MCSD.
If comm unity members
decided to secede, a petition w ill
be available to be signed by any
and all registered voters o f the
M CSD who are present.
C h i l d c a r e wi l l be
available at the school.
Consolidation school board topic
The
to p ic
of
consolidation o f H eppner and
lone schools will be included on
th e a g e n d a o f th e M o rro w
County School D istrict Board
meeting this Monday beginning
at 7:30 p.m. at Sam Boardm an
Elementary School in Boardman.
M easure 28 voted down in
Morrow County
In a special election held
Ja n . 2 8 , v o te rs in M o rro w
C o u n ty d e c id e d a g a in s t a
tem porary tax increase. The
sam e fe e lin g w as re fle c te d
throughout Oregon as M easure
28 w as voted down.
In M o rro w C o u n ty ,
3041 people voted, with 1579
people, 51.92 percent, voting no
and 1459 people, 47.97 percent,
voting yes. There w ere three
u n d er vo tes, m aking up .09
percent o f the vote.
A b re a k d o w n o f the
fo llo w in g M o rro w C o u n ty
precincts is as follows:
P recin ct
1-
N.
Boardman: Yes: 89, No: 86;
Precinct 2- S. Boardman: Yes:
2 0 1 , N o: 2 4 8 ; Precinct 3-
Hardman: Yes: 11, No: 16;
Precinct 4- lone: Yes: 184, No:
135; Precinct 5- N. Irrigon:
Yes: 171, No: 274, and 1 under
vote; Precinct 6- S. Irrigon: Yes:
167, N o: 2 6 3 ; Precinct 7-
Lexington: Yes: 108, No: 122;
Precinct 8- N.E. Heppner: Yes:
119, No: 124; Precinct 9- N.W.
Heppner: Yes: 130, No: 100;
Precinct 10- S.E. Heppner:
Yes: 113, No: 96; and Precinct
II- S.W. Heppner: Yes: 107,
No: 73, and 2 under votes.
You Are Invited To Attend Our
CUSTOMER APPRECIATION PAY
Saturday, February 1 5th
CHECK OUT ALL OUR SPECIAL BUYS!
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
M O N D A Y S A T 5:00 P .M .
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Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
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