A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2015
COMMUNITY • SPORTS
Umatilla students stay active during summer
By SEAN HART
Staff Writer
6chool can be difficult
for students whose fami
lies move for agricultural
work.
2ne student moved to
the 8matilla 6chool Dis
trict halfway through the
first quarter of last school
year and then moved
back to Arizona for three
months while his mother
was working there. The
student later returned to
Umatilla and then left
again, only to return for
the last two weeks of the
school year.
To help students whose
education has been inter
rupted, the InterMoun
tain (ducation 6ervice
District provides sum
mer school in Umatilla
and Milton)reewater for
migrant students whose
families moved within
the last three years for ag
ricultural work.
Umatilla 6chool Dis
trict 6uperintendent +ei
di 6ipe said 0 migrant
students are enrolled in
the summer program at
McNary +eights (lemen
tary 6chool.
“6ummer school is
an opportunity to ensure
that, while parents are
working, (students) are
able to obtain some con
sistent schooling through
out the summer to hope
fully make up those gaps
in learning that can occur
during frequent moves,”
she said.
McNary +eights (6/
teacher
and
summer
school site administrator
Nicole Taylor said the
additional time in school
is beneficial for migrant
students, as is extra prac
tice in English.
“We do have a few
monolingual kids here
right now, and they are
coming and they are do
ing a great job,” she said.
“They are getting ex
posure to the language.
They are getting an op
portunity to continue with
language programs they
were working on during
the school year to target
their learning of English.
It’s a great intervention.”
The summer school
program benefits other
students as well. 6ipe said
the district supplements
the migrant program with
Title I and st &entu
ry &ommunity /earning
&enter funds to allow all
students in Umatilla to at
tend for free. 2n average,
0 students have been
attending the prekinder
garten through eighth
grade program at McNary
+eights each day, while
an additional 40 have
been participating at the
high school.
OVAL:
continued from Page A9
across and ramming the trail
ers,” Nelson recalled. “We
weren’t really hurting the
vehicles, we were just de
stroying trailers all over the
place.”
Although attendance is at
a threeyear high, according
to Tarr, it still has a ways to
go, and Tarr and Nelson are
hoping that the continuance
of events such as +62’s
Month of Destruction will
continue to raise attendance
numbers at one of the last lo
cal bastions of auto racing in
BUS:
continued from Page A9
is it’s not very (dangerous).
The average person doesn’t
jump in a school bus and go
ripping around a racetrack
and crossing paths.”
Nelson said interest for
the ¿ rstever +ermiston bus
race is almost deafening. +e
said his phone has been busy
with inquiries as far away as
Yakima. A pair of buses with
signage are parked in +erm
iston to drum up interest,
and Nelson is excited with
the amount of interest he’s
already received. +62 host
ed exhibition bus races the
past few weeks, which in
cluded a bus tour that picked
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Summer meals program
growing in popularity
By SEAN HART
Staff Writer
STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY
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No child should have to go hungry, and a pro
gram in Umatilla ensures children there are well
fed.
Through the school district’s summer feeding
program, children ages to can eat breakfast,
lunch and dinner for free each weekday.
The meals are funded through the U.6. Depart
ment of Agriculture 6ummer )ood 6ervice Pro
gram and are growing in popularity.
“It’s been a great year for all of the summer
feeding programs,” 6uperintendent +eidi 6ipe
said. “2ne of the things we find is that it con
tinues to grow. As word spreads, more and more
people attend.”
6ipe said an average of people eat break
fast, 0 eat lunch and 0 eat dinner at the various
sites. Adults can also partake in the meals for
for breakfast and for lunch or dinner, she said.
“)or the adults, that fee simply recoups our
cost, so that we’re not misusing the funds,” she
said. “We have to make sure that we’re only feed
ing children for free, so we are very careful about
that. It’s still a great way for families to get out,
go for a walk, do an activity.”
6ipe said the meals also provide a social oppor
tunity for families. McNary +eights attendance
secretary Natasha Ugarte said many families are
joining in.
“My kids have dinner during dinner time, and
it’s pretty successful,” she said. “)ull families
come and eat, and I’ve noticed them intermingling
with other families and talking about school. It’s
actually pretty cool.”
The meals are served at different times and
locations Mondays through )ridays. Breakfast is
served from a.m. at McNary +eights and from
00 a.m. at Umatilla +igh 6chool. /unch is
served from 0 a.m. to 0 p.m. at McNary
+eights, the high school and .iwanis Park near
McNary Market. Dinner is served from 4 p.m.
at McNary +eights.
“We have different
ways that we fund differ
ent kids, but the key thing
is that any kid can come,”
6ipe said. “They’re cov
ering reading. They’re
covering writing. They’re
covering math. But they
try to do it in a way that is
pretty handson and very
engaging.”
2n Tuesday, students
who will be entering the
third grade this fall were
performing experiments
on gummy bears to see
how the different sub
stances affected the can
dy.
Jayden Vela said he
thought summer classes
would be boring, but af
ter attending, he enjoyed
them. Pedro )igueroa
said he is bored when he
is not at summer school.
The teachers try to
make learning a fun expe
rience, but Taylor said the
education they impart is
very beneficial.
“The kids are having
a good time, but they are
definitely getting reading
and math intervention,
which is what they need
so you don’t see a huge
drop in their fluency,”
she said. “2ne thing that
people don’t realize about
reading benchmarks is
that they are actually ex
pected to gain (proficien
cy) over the summer with
no instruction whatsoev
er, and that’s just almost
impossible.”
6tudents are expect
ed to read 60 words per
minute at the end of their
firstgrade year, she said,
but 0 words per minute
by the beginning of sec
ond grade.
6ipe said the district
has also been giving away
free books to encour
age reading through The
&hildren’s 5eading )oun
dation 5EAD Up literacy
program, which is funded
by a 5eady /earn grant.
6he said children in third
grade and younger have
been given a new book
each week to encourage
reading at home.
the region.
“+ow do you get people
away from the technolo
gy and back in the grand
stands?” Nelson asked.
“That’s where the evolution
of the sport has come in. It’s
wild and crazy every 6atur
day at +62. And that’s what
we have to do.”
“Pretty much me and Dan
have talked about a whole
bunch of different events that
a lot of tracks just don’t do,
and pushing the envelope of
how crazy of an event you
can have,” Tarr said. “We’re
just really excited about the
buses ... It should be really
exciting for the fans.”
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up children from the grand
stands, drove them around
the track and pit area then
dropped them off again.
At least initially, it looks
as if the heavy amount
of Tri&ities advertising,
mixed with exhibitions and
special experiences at +62
have generated interest for
the school bus races.
³The word’s out,” Nel
son said. “We’re getting
more positive reinforce
ment.”
The whole point of the
bus race, Nelson said, is to
generate a renewed inter
est in auto racing and save
+ermiston 6uper 2val from
the fate of Tri&ities 5ace
way, and the only way to do
that is to use events like the
EDUCATION
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A fresh batch of books
was handed out Wednesday
after the summer school
session that ends at noon.
)or the six students par
ticipating in the science,
technology, engineering
and math academy, howev
er, the educational oppor
tunities continued into the
afternoon.
6ipe said for the first
time the district has been
offering its 6TEM acad
emy during the summer.
)or 0 per day, she said
the students have the op
portunity to further their
technical education by
studying topics such as
the moon and volcanoes.
McNary +eights atten
dance secretary Natasha
Ugarte said the fee scares
many people away, but it
costs less than a babysit
ter.
“They pay a minimum
of 0 per day (for child
care),” she said. “We’re a
lot cheaper, and they get
educated.”
6ipe said students can
still register and partici
pate in the remainder of
the 6TEM academy. )or
more information, call
McNary +eights, 4
660.
STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE
school bus race to put get
people in seats.
“I think it’ll be crazy
because we’re running the
school buses on the ¿ gure
eight track,” Tarr said, “and
the length of the school
buses — they’re over 40
feet long so they’re equal
so the length of four av
eragesized cars. They’re
gonna be in that intersec
tion for so long, there’s a
good chance that the fans
will see an intersection col
lision with the school bus
es. And I’m sure they’ll go
crazy.”
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