Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 4, 2017)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, January 4, 2017 EXCHANGE STUDENTS -Continued from PAGE ONE used to.” Sara Staedelin (cont.) so different—I experienced a lot, I learned a lot, and that helped me grow a lot.” What has been the most difficult thing about this experience? “The language. I was one of the best in my class in Switzerland, but when I came here I was super self-conscious. I had trouble communicat- ing, even math was hard. We learn basic stuff (in English), how to carry on a conversation, but I nev- er learned anything about math in English. I didn’t know the terms. And I had to change my mindset, tell myself it’s okay to make mistakes because I’m still learning.” What have you liked best? “There are so many things that I like…the mem- ories that I make here with my host family. We always have a lot of fun. When we go somewhere, see different places, the experiences we have, like when we’re in the car, the memories we make, that makes me super happy. And the school spirit. All the new things I’m not What special events or holidays have you experi- enced while you were here? What was that experience like? “Homecoming, be- cause I was so happy be- cause that was the first time when I felt the whole bond that the school had. Deco- rating the floats. The bonfire was cool. The Homecom- ing dance was a lot of fun, dancing with all the people I like and with amazing music. That was the most outstanding. Thanksgiving was good, too. The food was amazing.” And American choco- late versus Swiss choco- late? “I tried Hershey’s, and it was gross, in my opinion. I asked my mom to send me some chocolate, because I don’t like the chocolate here. I tried some chocolate fudge stuff today, though, and it was amazing.” Any last thoughts? “I really like the support I get from all the people in the community, not just the school—the parents, the people I’ve met. I think they’re amazing, and I feel very welcome here.” CARTY PLANT -Continued from PAGE ONE production of 1,360 MW PGE to build a 50-MW solar farm at the Carty site. The solar plant would be located on 315 acres and will produce power by con- verting incoming sunlight to direct-current electrical power. The farm would be comprised of multiple solar arrays consisting of a series of photovoltaic (PV) modules connected to an inverter and sup- porting equipment. The final mounting system, ar- ray size, dimensions and number of arrays will be determined during the final detailed design and equip- ment selection process. When all the new Boardman generating facil- ities are completed they will have a combined maximum of electricity. To put this in perspective, The Dalles Dam has an installed maxi- mum capacity of 1,878.3 MW, the Boardman Coal Plant 550 MW, and the Shepherds Flat Wind Farm, with 338 towers, has a max- imum generating capacity of 845 MW. The Oregon Depart- ment of Energy is in the processes of approving the application, and has put out public notice it will be accepting comments on the application until Feb. 3. More information about all these facilities can be obtained from the department’s web site at http://www.oregon.gov/ energy/Siting/Pages/Facili- ties.aspx. DA’s Report Morrow County District Attorney Justin Nelson has released the following report: -Marion Taylor III, 57, was convicted of Failure to Appear II, a Class A Misdemeanor, and sentenced to 90 days’ jail time with credit for time served. An additional count of Failure to Appear II was dismissed. January Holly Rebekah card party cancelled Due to the cold weather, Holly Rebekah Lodge in Lexington will not be having its monthly card party on Jan. 7. They hope to start back up in February. NOW HIRING DRIVERS Goncalo Silva (cont.) just to study—I’m having fun.” What has been the most difficult thing about this experience? “The distance. Everything is super far away. The fact that you are living in a small town. If you want to go to a movie or something with your friends, you have to drive far away. Also, the place where I am living is far away from everybody. It makes it difficult to connect outside of school.” What have you liked best? “The (host) family. I think I was very lucky with the family. The friends, the way they accept me in their friends group. The teachers, the school environment. I love football. And the snow! I love the snow.” What special events or holidays have you experi- enced while you were here? What was that experience like? “I liked Homecoming week. It was probably the best here. All the activi- ties, and the dance. I liked Thanksgiving. I liked the ham. We don’t have ham in Portugal—ham for sand- wiches, but not cooked ham like that.” Any last thoughts? “It’s going to be hard to leave. I did so many things in four months already. It will be hard to leave this large fam- ily behind.” - THREE 101 new children’s books at Ione library Mary Walker, Ione Public Library Director, and Kristy Crowell (not pictured) have been busy cataloging 101 new children’s books which will be added to circulation over the next few months. These fiction and nonfiction books were received through a grant from The Pilcrow Foundation, a national nonprofit public charity. Their grant (provided by Hal Berenson and Laura Ackerman, as well as Bill Strawbridge and Meg Wallhagan) was a 2-to-1 match, with the Ione Topic Club sponsoring the match. The library encourages all young readers to come and check out these books. -Contributed photo FINANCIAL LITERACY FOR TEENS -Continued from PAGE ONE this knowledge helps fuel vey that would be given to involved in this project? Petra Payne, who teaches the Senior Transitions class at Heppner High School, worked with Van Schoiack and school officials to put together the special “work experience” class. Emily, Tim and Kane have different reasons why they elected to sign up for this class but they all have a common interest—to help others in their community gain knowledge about per- sonal finance. “The main reason I decided to take the class was that I wanted to learn about personal finance and use my social media skills to benefit others,” says Tim. “Since the first day of class we have accomplished so much and we already shat- tered some of our goals. It is amazing to so see how as a group we work so well together and have accom- plished so much. I have learned a lot about personal finance that will help me in my life.” Emily says she is in- terested in marketing and anticipated that it would be good experience for her. “Now, after taking this class for a while, I have dis- covered it is important not only to me but to my peers. Through this class my eyes have been opened to the need for financial literacy in our community,” she says. “I now see that by doing this work and getting this information out there that I am not only bettering my- self by gaining marketing skills and information on personal finance, I’m also helping my community.” Kane says he wanted to take the class to acquire knowledge about personal finance and is finding that helping others to acquire his interest and enjoyment in the class. “I feel like this op- portunity is really unique because, while we get to develop skills and learn about personal finance, we also get to help our friends and give them the tools to succeed in the future. I think that’s really cool, and beneficial to everyone. That’s the reason I decided to do the project and that’s the reason I still enjoy it today,” says Kane. The three students act as advisors to Van Schoiack on how to best commu- nicate with youth ages 15 to 25, as well as help her learn what the most impor- tant topics are to their age group. The work is intense and requires them to use presentation skills and mar- keting skills, develop their knowledge on personal fi- nance topics, create videos, research personal finance topics, conduct surveys and interviews, and employ lots of creativity to develop the project. The first steps in the project have been develop- ing and setting up a Face- book page dedicated to those who are just getting started in life. Along with this the students participat- ed in the process of select- ing the new website design for Blue Mountain Invest- ment Management, which will also have a blog page dedicated to their project. The topics the students cover are based on their financial knowledge needs as well as what their peers have told them they want to know about. To find out what their peers want to know, they decided that they would conduct a sur- Community lunch menu All Saints Episcopal and Hope and Valby Lu- theran volunteers will serve lunch on Wednesday, Jan. 11, at St. Patrick’s Senior Center. Lunch will include chicken parmesan, noodles, roasted vegetables, green salad, garlic bread and ti- ramisu. Milk is served at each meal. Suggested donation is $3.50 per meal. Menu is subject to change. fellow seniors at their high school. The survey was based on the major topic categories of the online Financial Literacy course that all seniors at Heppner High are required to take. The course is provided by the Bank of Eastern Or- egon and covers all of the major and most important areas of personal finance. The survey was conducted by interviewing each of their classmates in the se- nior transition class. They took the results back to Van Schoiack’s office and together compiled the data to come up with the over- arching topics that guide the posts on the Facebook page. Every week they re- search topics their class- mates want to know about. They base the timing of the topics on what activities and decisions the seniors are engaged in at each point during the year. In October there was even informa- tion on how to get a food handler card, which is one of the requirements for graduation. After researching the topics and selecting what they want to post, the stu- dents provide them to Van Schoiack on a spreadsheet along with the dates and times that they want them posted. Van Schoiack then reviews the suggested posts and submits them for re- view by the compliance department of Cetera Ad- visors LLC. This is the required “regulatory” re- view. When the posts are approved, they are released on the Facebook page at the scheduled time. It’s easy to see what the students get out of the deal, but why is Van Schoiack “I enjoy teaching and helping people develop their knowledge about in- vesting and personal fi- nance. I have always taught within the field throughout my career. Basic personal finance information is very important to know about and affects the trajectory of our lives,” she says. “Personal finance, and es- pecially knowledge about investing and saving, are not learned in the normal course of our lives and is typically information that is not included in a school curriculum. “Over the years of working with people and their finances I have ob- served that financial mis- takes made at a young age has the potential to have negative impact on a per- son’s life and the lives of those around them for a long time into adulthood,” says Van Schoiack. “Like- wise, good financial deci- sions have a positive effect on a person’s life and the lives of others around them. If we have a solid financial foundation it helps with all aspects of our life and also positively impacts the com- munities in which we live.” Emily, Tim and Kane invite community members to “like” their Facebook page. It is called “Blue Mountain Investment Man- agement LLC for Students.” Readers can find it quickly by doing a Google search and typing the entire name in and adding the word “Facebook” at the end. They also invite every- one to visit their page on the website of Blue Mountain Investment Management LLC, which will be avail- able in late January. Worship, prayer night planned at local church Christian Life Center is greeting the New Year by holding a worship and prayer night on Saturday, Jan. 7, at 7 p.m. All are welcome. “Our community has many prayer needs as we enter into 2017,” said a church statement. “Let’s come together in unity.” Anyone who has spe- cific prayer requests they would like to have added to the night, email clcheppner. office@gmail.com, call 541-676-5814 or text 541- 256-0962. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.