Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2009)
School district to implement new ed format at Heppner High School By April Sykes ....lUn.H Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library niversity of Oregon Eugene. OR 97403 VOL. 128 NO. 17 10 Pages Wednesday, May 13, 2009 Heppner High School Principal Daye Stone outlined a new educational direction for HHS students at the Morrow County School Board meeting Monday night in Irrigon. Stone said that the pilot program measures out come through proficiency. Rather than advancing students based on “seat hours”, the new program w ill advance students Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Company backs out of co-gen plant This past March, Cas- cade Renewable Energy en- tered into a 100-day option to purchase the empty Kinzua power plant site outside o f Heppner. Cascade Renewable Energy recently sent a notice stating that they were no longer interested in purchasing the property The com pany had planned to purchase the 25 acres where the power plant is located along with 20 adjacent acres. K inzua clo sed its doors in 1998 and has been empty since. Secure Residential Treatment Facility breaks ground in Heppner based on what they can do. Stone said that students will advance based on “what they know, not how long they sit.” He said that the plan will “place students in charge of their own education.” Stone said that stu dents will receive credit for a subject based on their abil ity to show proficiency. He said that this standards-based assessment requires “higher standards, higher expectations and a more focused curricu lum.” “It’s really an individual education plan for every kid,” Stone said. But, he added, while it is “uncharted terri tory,” “We’re really not doing anything different than what we’re doing now, just packag ing it differently.” The pilot program will entail a switch to eight periods per day, instead of the current seven, and will provide exten sion classes for those students who need extra instruction. It will also increase the number of electives so that each student can take an elective course. In an eight-period day, no one has less than three electives,” Stone said. With the new plan, no ‘D’s will be given and students will receive no credit for a ’D’ in an elective class. Stone also said that currently too many students leave campus each period for work study or teacher's assistant placements. The number of electives of fered will also cut dow n on the number of students leav ing the school. The number of credits required for graduation will also increase to 32. Currently 24 credits are required for a diploma and 26 are required for an honors diploma. Stone said that going to the new sys tem will provide for 32 credit options, rather than the current 28 credit options. No credits w ill be awarded for extension lab classes and extension ready and math classes. Stone said that the new program will create challenges for the teaching staff, who will be required to teach more classes, and in less time. Each of the eight periods will be 45 minutes long. It also shortens teacher prep time, he said. However, commented HHS shop and technolog) teacher, Dave Fow ler. “As a staff mem ber, I feel it is right for kids. We need to reach those kids not meeting benchmarks." Also at the meeting, Superintendent Mark Burrows announced the following re cipients of the Umatilla-Mor- row ESD Cry stal Apple “Ex cellence in Education Awards: Theresa Proctor-Reese, Windy River Elementary English lan guage learner teacher; Sherry Matteson, Heppner Elemen tary School first grade teacher; Susie Lemmon, Morrow Edu cation Center ed assistant; and Kathy C utsforth, Heppner Elementary School assistant custodian. In other business, the board; -heard a report from Irrigon High School teacher Heather Miller on an 1HS sci ence inquiry class concerning a hands-on study of the local ecosystem. -heard a report from Jenny Chavez of the Wellness Committee, who reported that the committee would like to see less soda offered at the schools, fewer instances of food offered as a reward, rec ommending prizes, games and other rewards, instead, and fewer instances of using PE as a reward or punishment. -approved a request from the Irrigon Multicultural Arts Center for the school dis trict to donate to the group the old Irrigon school building (also formerly Irrigon City Hall), including the land in front of the building out to Highway 730, with the stipu lation that the school district retain an easement for the parking lot and that if the center does not succeed, the property will be returned to the district. -assigned the follow ing board m em ber volun teers to represent the district at graduation ceremonies as follows: Morrow Education Center, Thursday, June 4, 7 p.m.-Barney Lindsay; Irrigon High School, Friday, June 5, 7 p.m.-Pat McNamee; River side High School, Saturday. June 6, 10 a.m.-Nancy Vander Does; Heppner High School. Saturday, June 6, 2 p.m.-Bill Kuhn. -heard Burrows ex press the district’s appreciation to the Yes for Kids committee, consisting of Larry Mills, Car men Velasco, Lisa Mittelsdorf, Barb Huwe and Lisanne Cur- rin. -received the follow ing attendance report as of May 4: A.C. Houghton Elementary- 348.5; Heppner Elementary S chool-187; Heppner High School-225; Irrigon Elemen tary School-120; Irrigon High School-317; Riverside High School-389; Sam Boardman Elementary-314; Windy River Elementary-238; district-w ide- 2242.5. -accepted the follow ing resignations/retirements: Brenda Newport, English lan guage learner ed assistant, ACH; Tracie Kennedy, WRE special ed assistant. -approved the follow ing em ploym ent: Lindsay Orem, HHS special ed teacher, replacing Sam Thurston; Mari- bel Torres, RHS counselor, replacing G. Ann Thomas; Jennifer Matlack, promotion to ACH assistant custodian. -approved the follow ing extra duty contract: Jake McElligott, 1JSH head boys’ basketball coach. -approved 2008-09 classified/confidential person nel recommended for rehire for 2009-10. -heard the following announcements: May 19-elec tion day; May 25-Memorial Day; May 29-last senior day; next board meeting-June 8, district office, 7 p.m.; June 10-last school day for stu dents; June 12-last teacher w ork day. -held an executive ses sion to discuss negotiations and a student expulsion. Repeat property offender sentenced to 57 months Robert James Amos, 49, of Bellingham, WA was convicted of multiple charges in Morrow County Circuit Court on May 7,2009. He was convicted of attempted robbery 11, assault IV, theft III, burglary II, forgery I, criminal mischief I, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and theft 11. All the crim es oc- curred in Morrow County over approximately three months last fall and involved six dif ferent victims. Amos was ex tradited from Washington state to face these charges. Circuit Court Judge Christopher R. Brauer sen tenced Amos to 57 months incarceration with the De partment of Corrections, and further ordered that Amos pay $7,948 in restitution to his \ ic- tims, among other conditions. The sentence was the result o f a negotiated settlem ent with Morrow County District Attorney Elizabeth Ballard, representing the State, and Jon Lieuallen of Milton-Freewater, representing the defendant. Three men arrested in altercation A bulldozer begins work on the site for the secure mental health facility in Heppner. -Photo by Andrew Sykes A new eight-bed, 6,200 square foot secure residential treatment facility broke ground in Heppner this week, with construction expected to be completed in September or October of this year. Located on a 15 acre parcel across the highway from Lakeview Heights on the Willow Creek Highway, the secure mental facility has been in the planning stages since last summer. Developers say the facility will give an economic boost to the area providing 15 to 20 full time positions paying $30,000 to $65,000 in wages. The annual operating budget would be around $960,000 and construction costs of the facility w ould be $ 1.2 million. In addition, most supplies for the facility w ould be purchased locally, including food, medications, transportation and general supplies. When built, the facility will be administered by Community Counseling Solutions. Ballots due May 19 On May 6 the Mor row County Sheriff’s Office received a report at approxi mately 1:30 p.m. in regards to an assault that had occurred outside of Boardman. A deputy was dispatched to the scene and a description of the suspect vehicle was broadcast. Within five minutes the vehicle was spotted in Boardm an by O fficer Nat Hughes of the Boardman Po lice Department. The vehicle was stopped and three men were detained until Deputy Gordon Adams of MCSO ar rived. A subsequent investiga tion resulted in the arrests of the follow ing suspects: -Eusevio Chavallo, 48, of Boardman was charged with harassment, strangula tion, menacing, theft by extor tion, disorderly conduct-II, and criminal trespass-11. -Edgar A. Juarez, 41, of Boardman w as charged with disorderly conduct-II, crimi nal trespass-11, conspiracy to commit theft by extortion, and conspiracy to commit harass ment. -Ascención M. Garcia, 29. of Boardman w as charged with disorderly conduct-II, criminal trespass-II, conspir acy to commit theft by extor tion, and conspiracy to commit harassment. The incident is still under investigation. Heppner/Ione graduations fast approaching lone Community School will hold its graduation ceremony on Friday, June 5. at 7 p.m Heppner High School will hold its graduation ceremony on Saturday, June 6, at 2 p.m. Ballots are due back to the Morrow County Clerk's Office by Tuesday, May 19. If anyone Any parents or businesses interested in having their name on the “Congratulations has not received their ballot they should call 676-5604. Seniors” page can call the Heppner Gazette-Times at 676-9228 or send an email to megan a rapidserve.net. The cost is $10. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. / “A 4-H & F F A Members ^ \u^C 10% off • , ^ ALL Feed a n d S u p p lie s N o w T tir ii F a ir ! J L jJ M orrow County Grain G rowers Green F eed & S eed 1 242 W . L in d e n W ay, H e p p n e r • 6 7 6 -9 4 2 2 • 9 8 9 -8 2 2 1 (MCGG main office) »
