SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
COMMUNITY
Several families choose online education over regular schooling
BY MAEGAN MURRAY
HERMISTON HERALD
For sophomore Brianne Bish-
op, every day is pajama day at her
school.
Bishop wakes up every school
day at about 6 a.m., eats breakfast
and prepares her school materials,
all while wearing her PJs. Unlike
most students in the region, howev-
er, she doesn’t catch a bus or a ride to
a school building. The farthest Bish-
op goes is the computer in her home,
no more than a few steps from her
bed.
Bishop is one of several stu-
dents in the area completing her
school career online through Ore-
gon Connections Academy, which
is the largest state-wide virtual
public charter school in Oregon.
The school enrolls about 3,700
students across the state.
For Bishop and her brother,
Jonathan, taking classes online, as
opposed to sitting in a regular class-
room, just works better for their
learning styles and schedules. Bish-
op’s mother, Sherry, said the two
have attended public schools off and
on in the past before eventually de-
ciding online education works best
for them.
Sherry Bishop said Brianne is
very advanced and couldn’t get the
instruction she needed while at the
regular high school in Boardman.
“They always teach to the low-
er-level students,” she said.
But with the online program,
Brianne Bishop can quickly work
her way through subjects in which
she excels and take her time at those
where she requires additional help.
“I like it better because the classes
are better, and I can work at my own
pace,” she said. “Some of the stuff
goes so much faster than it would
in a regular school, and for others I
need more time. It works out.”
The Connections program makes
sure its students have ample oppor-
tunity to socialize with one another.
Hermiston resident Jennifer Mal-
com is a community coordinator for
the school, and it is her job to sched-
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for the area students in the program.
Malcom organized a bowling
day at Desert Lanes Family Fun
Center Thursday where the Bishop
family and a couple others bowled a
few games together.
MAEGAN MURRAY PHOTO
Hermiston online student Kelsie Malcom prepares to bowl this week at Des-
ert Lane Family Fun Center. Malcom does school all online through Oregon
Connections Academy. Students have the opportunity to participate in
monthly ¶Àeld trips· with others in the online program.
Malcom said she has four chil-
dren enrolled through the online
program. Her children have also
attended public school but found
online schooling better suits their
schedules and interests.
“We moved here about three
years ago from Colorado,” she said.
“My son was pretty bored in school
here, and he also had some health is-
sues. We tried Connections.”
After seeing their brother’s suc-
cess, Malcom’s other children want-
ed to go to online school, as well.
Malcom said it gives them more
time for extra-curricular activities.
Her oldest daughter, Kelsie, also
is taking all honors classes, which
freshmen cannot do at Hermiston
High School.
Kelsie Malcom said she also
likes the course selection offered
through Connections.
“I’ve taken French, a digital art
class,” she said.
For her French class, she video
chatted with her teacher and often
found herself as the only person in
that particular class.
“It was like having a private
teacher,” Jennifer Malcom said.
Malcom said her younger chil-
dren still enjoy the social interaction
they would get at public school. Her
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has the opportunity to do show and
tell and interact with her peers with
a program similar to a Skype chat
room through Connections.
The online option, however,
may not for everyone.
“We are supposed to check dai-
ly to make sure they are staying up
with everything,” said Hermiston
resident Carrie Spalione, whose
son Ronnie is completing his senior
year through the program. “With
anything online, it is easy to pro-
crastinate … The success with the
program depends on parent involve-
ment. If (the students) are left to
their own agenda, they are probably
not going to keep up unless they are
very motivated.”
Umatilla Planning Commission makes progress
on the proposed commercial zone overhaul
Strip clubs would
be prevented
from opening in
neighborhood and
downtown zones
BY SEAN HART
HERMISTON HERALD
After a several month
process, the Umatilla Plan-
ning Commission has de-
termined where new strip
clubs will be allowed to
open in the city.
At the commission
meeting Tuesday, members
continued to work on com-
mercial zoning changes and
agreed that any additional
adult entertainment busi-
nesses will only be allowed
in the current general com-
mercial zone and a pro-
posed new zone, highway
commercial, and only after
obtaining a conditional use
permit from the Planning
Commission.
Chairman Boyd Sharp
said several more steps
must be completed, includ-
ing a public hearing, be-
fore the commission will
forward its recommenda-
tions to the Umatilla City
Council, which will decide
whether or not to adopt the
changes. He said, although
the process was inspired to
further regulate strip clubs,
the way the proposed regu-
lations have been achieved
by overhauling all of the
commercial zoning ordi-
nances is far more import-
ant.
“Instead of just addressing
adult entertainment, which
would be a very narrow,
narrow focus, we’re address-
ing how we want our city to
look,” he said. “What we’ve
done is actually move com-
pletely out of worrying about
adult entertainment. We’re
worrying more about how our
city should look, and adult
entertainment is only a part,
a very small part, of what we
want our city to look like. I
think it was what started us,
but it really has become a sec-
ondary piece of what we’re
doing.”
After the City Coun-
cil imposed a four-month
moratorium on new adult
entertainment businesses
in September to create fur-
ther regulations, Umatilla
City Planner Bill Searles
recommended the Plan-
ning Commission deter-
mine each type of use that
would be allowed in each
of the city’s commercial
zones, rather than only ad-
dressing adult businesses.
By specifying exactly
what uses, or categories of
uses, that will be allowed
in each of Umatilla’s four
current commercial zones
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Searles and the Planning
Commission hope to create
a framework that will dif-
ferentiate the zones — and
prohibit certain uses from
incompatible locations.
Sharp said the commis-
sion still has several steps
to complete before holding
a public hearing and even-
tually submitting the pro-
posal to the City Council.
On Tuesday, the com-
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ing what zones will allow
various types of businesses
from a list of more than 200
uses, such as veterinary ser-
vices and barber shops, and
categories, such as miscel-
laneous nondurable goods
merchant
wholesalers.
Sharp said the commission
will review the list at the
next meeting and address
any issues, but he is pleased
with the progress so far.
“I’m just excited about
what we’ve done and the
discussion we’ve had and
all the things we’ve looked
at,” he said. “I had no idea
that there were over 400
FODVVL¿FDWLRQV RI EXVLQHVV
and you begin to look at
that and think, ‘Where do I
want those? How do I want
my city to look?’ I mean,
that’s inspiring. It will im-
prove our city, and I think
that’s part of what people
want is an improved city to
live in.”
Sharp said the commis-
sion will also need to look
at the parcels of land that
are currently designated as
one of the four commercial
zones and determine if the
particular designation is
still valid or if it should be
changed to one of the other
commercial zones.
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fore the public hearing will
be to review the ordinance
language for each of the
zones.
Searles said, currently,
the ordinance language for
all of the zones is similar:
off-street parking, for ex-
ample, could be addressed
differently in each of the
zones.
“Right now, we have
sort of one-size-fits-
all standards for all the
zones, and I think if we
truly want to try to shape
the community, we need
to look at each zone in-
dividually and say, ‘Does
the one-size-fits-all work
with the process we’ve
been going through, or
do we need to develop,
as much as possible, stan-
dards to fit each zone to
help shape it,’” Searles
said. “Partly, so that when
somebody comes in to
make an application for
a certain use, assuming
it’s allowed in the zone,
that they’re not having
to needlessly address a
bunch of standards that
really don’t apply. That
just makes more work for
everybody.”
Commissioner Ramo-
na Anderson said she be-
lieved the entire commer-
cial zone overhaul will be
“very helpful” and provide
consistency for the city.
“I know that we missed
some things 15 years ago,
or whenever that was, but
we have a city planner
now, which we did not
have then, and that makes
a huge difference when
you have somebody in
City Hall who actually is a
real city planner,” she said.
“We’ve never had any con-
sistency downtown, as far
as things come in, go out,
come in, go out, and there
weren’t any standards to
even go by.”
Sharp agreed.
“The city was so con-
cerned about having busi-
nesses open in the city
instead of having vacant
lots and vacant buildings
that whatever wanted to be
in there was in there,” he
said. “Now, we’re saying,
‘No. Here’s what we real-
ly want in here. We want
WR¿OOWKHVHEXLOGLQJVZLWK
these, not just any old busi-
ness that decides they want
to come in.’ I think that in
itself is going to improve
our city.”
36TH ANNUAL
HERMISTON SPORTS BOOSTERS
STEAK FEED & AUCTION
Saturday, March 7th • 5:30pm
Auction starts at 7:00pm
Hermiston Community Center
$
40
on
per pers
For table reservations,
call Paul 541-701-4518 or for
more info., call Joe 541-567-5811
Everyone 21 years & over welcome.
All proceeds will assist Hermiston High
School boys and girl athletic programs.
This ad generously donated by
RDO EQUIPMENT CO.
a proud community supporter
HERMISTONSPORTSBOOSTERS . COM
Healthcare For All
At Mirasol Family Health Center, we believe that
every individual has the right to quality healthcare.
We are now accepting new patients of all ages.
• Pediatrics
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• We accept Medicaid and private insurance
• Same day appointments available
Mirasol Family Health Center
589 NW 11th in Hermiston | 541.567.1717
www.yvfwc.org
HEALTHY SATURDAYS
Are you or someone you know ready to lose
those extra pounds and inches and learn how to
keep them off?
2nd Saturday, every month
10am-12pm
GSMC Wellness Center (behind hospital)
DEMENTIA
FREE presentation by Jennifer Baus from the
Alzheimer's Association as she provides information
on the types of dementia, how to recognize
them and an in-depth talk about what it
all means.
February 5th • 6-7:00pm
GSMC Conference Rm 1
BREASTFEEDING
Come to this FREE class, taught by a certified
lactation consultant, and learn techniques that
make for a successful breastfeeding
experience. Free but please pre-register.
February 4 • 12-1:30pm
GSMC Conference Rm 3 & 4
For information or to
register for a class,
call (541) 667-3509
or email
healthinfo@gshealth.org