A18 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2015
FROM PAGE A1
FLORES:
continued from page A1
proud,” Russell said, add-
ing Flores celebrated her
children’s
accomplish-
ments by dedicating a wall
in their Hermiston home to
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She also expected a lot
of her students, Russell
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“She had very high ex-
pectations and was very
determined to see all of
her kids succeed,” Russell
said, adding Flores recent-
ly re-started an after-school
reading class for her stu-
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Her life was so busy, but
she was willing to put in
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She was just going all the
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Other colleagues also
said how dedicated Flores
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McNary Heights Princi-
pal Bob Lorence, who has
overseen Flores during her
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grade teacher was a tremen-
dous asset to the school and
community because she
was Hispanic and taught in
the native language literacy
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“She related to the fam-
ilies and became one of
our biggest resources to
connecting our Hispanic
families to the education
system,” Lorence said, add-
ing, even if students were
no longer in her class, she
would help their families
by providing information
about various services
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took as many phone calls
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She really helped make that
connection to the commu-
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Lorence said Flores was
also an excellent teach-
er, determined to have her
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team met with him earlier
this year, he advised them
to work hard with their chil-
dren so they could pass the
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he said, came up to him af-
terward and told him all of
her students would be ready
to meet their reading goals
by the winter-testing peri-
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and those who didn’t were
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McNary Heights Vice
Principal Rick Cotterell,
who worked with Flores
for two years but knew her
for longer through his wife,
who teaches at the school,
said Flores was a very car-
ing, very straight-forward
person, who always spoke
her mind out of love and
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“It takes a special person
to be a teacher, but she was
more than that — she was
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“What she did for us, it was
beyond what she did in the
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really haven’t felt the im-
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Gloria Chase, who sub-
stituted for Flores the last
four years and complet-
ed her student teaching in
Flores’ classroom, echoed
Russell by saying Flores
was determined to have her
students succeed and meet
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“She was strict, but at
the same time, she was so
loving, and the kids loved
her,” Chase said, adding
Flores always made time
for her students and would
often buy necessities for
them if she saw they were
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Flores’ coworkers said
their friend cared for them
inside the wall of the school
— where one of her favorite
phrases was “I’ve got your
back” — and remembered
them outside the classroom,
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First-grade
teacher
Charlotte Engelhart said
Flores always came back
from trips with gifts for her
teaching teammates that
were thoughtfully selected
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“She really cared about
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“She stopped everything to
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Flores, who Engelhart
said called everybody by
their last name, a habit
that was adopted by all the
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“It takes a special person to be a
teacher, but she was more than that
— she was a special teacher.”
Rick Cotterell
McNary Heights Elementary vice principal
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“She was a fun person
to be around,” Russell
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you laugh at the drop of a
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Everyone,
however,
said McNary Heights was
missing that laughter this
week and was instead
transformed into a somber
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It was also a place of
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CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Superintendent Heidi Sipe
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said the outpouring of sup-
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port from the communi-
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ty was incredible even as
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She said, in addition to
InterMountain Education
Service District crisis re-
sponse staff who were in
classrooms Monday, re-
tired district employees,
including former Clara
Brownell Middle School
Principal Diana Veleke,
came to McNary Heights
and spent the day with staff
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think, when you work with
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
kids as closely as we do
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and in a community of our
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size, you really become a
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said staff from Hermis-
wing, also helped make days,” Johnson said, add- ton’s West Park, Desert
WKLQJVIXQLQWKH¿UVWJUDGH ing Flores always had a View and Highland Hills
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Engelhart all said Flores FLDO WR ZHDU ³6KH ZRXOG pared a dinner, breakfast
was bubbly, outgoing, fun- make sure we would fol- and snacks for teachers to
ny and enjoyed playing low suit, and if we didn’t, help ease the strain as par-
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conferences
was also a big fan of the UHDG\IRUXV´
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Russell said she will Cotterell said the Irri-
)LUVWJUDGH WHDFKHU$QQ best remember Flores’ love gon senior/junior school
Johnson said Flores took for God, the Christian con- VHQW ÀRZHUV DV GLG DQ
those days very seriously, certs they attended togeth- area insurance company,
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“Some of my best mem-
ories of her were dress-up
and many others passed
on thoughtful messages
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Sipe said parents in the
school district were also
very supportive and un-
derstanding, adding many
agreed to reschedule par-
ent-teacher conferences,
even rearranging their
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staff could attend Flores’
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Many parents, she said,
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“I think it’s just phe-
nomenal,” Sipe said, add-
ing it shows how caring
the greater community is
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that it’s times of tragedy
when the greatness of the
community is really high-
lighted, but it seems to be
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Heights staff gathered Sun-
day afternoon at the school
to begin the grieving pro-
cess, Lorence said, the
mourning period will be
long for everyone, includ-
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unlock the door to Flores’
classroom every day, and he
is reminded of the school’s
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“It’s really kind of a
one-day-at-a-time thing,”
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her three kids still in the
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Cotterell echoed those
sentiments but said the
school will also heal by car-
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“Everything she did was
with care and concern, and
the best way we can hon-
or her is to show the same
care and concerns for our
students every day,” Cot-
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