WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
COMMUNITY
Board investigates 3 school leaders
TSPC looks into
response to
allegations against
teacher-coach
By SEAN HART
Staff Writer
Three
administrators
who worked for Morrow
County School District in
2013 are being investigated
by the Teacher Standards
and Practices Commission.
Superintendent
Dirk
Dirksen said the commis-
sion is looking into the
administration’s response
to allegations of a sexual
relationship between a for-
mer teacher and student. He
said he reported information
about a former student who
said she had sex with Jake
McElligott, a former math
teacher and coach at Irrigon
Junior/Senior High School,
to the Morrow County Sher-
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er Standards and Practices
Commission immediately
when he heard the informa-
tion in September 2014.
The commission con-
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gations on Dirksen, Blaine
Ganvoa and Craig Bensen.
Ganvoa was the Irrigon
Senior High School ath-
letic director from 2008 to
March 2014 and was hired
as the athletic director at
Hermiston High School in
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the investigation was re-
garding the administra-
tion’s response to the alle-
gations about McElligott.
Bensen started as the
Irrigon Junior/Senior High
School principal in 2008
and later transferred to his
current position as principal
for Morrow Education Cen-
ter in Irrigon. He declined
to comment about the in-
vestigation.
Dirksen said he believed
the investigation would
show that the district prop-
erly handled the situation.
“ I t ’s
interest-
TSPC
ing to be
inves-
tigated, given I’m the one
that called it in,” he said.
“If I was going to guess,
given the situation with Mr.
McElligott, they’re going
to make sure that every-
thing has been taken care of
with the district.
“I am more than com-
fortable with the district
investigation, the district
practice. I don’t think we
did anything wrong. We
followed our procedures
and looked into everything
and reported immediately
to the agencies we’re sup-
posed to.”
Dirksen, who is start-
ing his 35th year with the
school district, said he for-
warded all the information
he had about the allega-
tions against McElligott
to the commission and did
not want to comment about
the information until the
commission concluded its
investigation into the inci-
dent.
According to a Morrow
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port, a former Irrigon High
School student told detec-
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encounter with McElligott
on the day of her gradua-
tion in 2013. She was no
longer a minor at that time.
The case was closed be-
cause there were no allega-
tions of criminal conduct,
but the detective recom-
mended the report be for-
warded to the commission
for investigation.
McElligott was hired as
a teacher at Irrigon Elemen-
tary School in 2004 and
soon transferred to Irrigon
Junior/Senior High School
as a math teacher. He was
hired as the head softball
coach at the high school
in April 2006 and resigned
from that position in June
2013. He was a basketball
coach at the junior high
school before being hired
as the head boys basketball
coach at the high school for
the 2009-10 school year.
McElligott was hired
as a sixth-grade teacher
at Armand Larive Middle
School in Hermiston in
July 2013, but he contin-
ued as the boys basketball
coach for Irrigon, winning
the 2A state championship
in 2014. Soon after, he was
hired as the head boys bas-
ketball coach for Hermiston
High School for the 2014-
15 school year.
Hermiston School Dis-
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vacancy of the head boys
basketball coach position in
August and said McElligott
was on paid administrative
leave from his teaching po-
sition pending the commis-
sion investigation.
McElligott could not be
reached for comment and
has not returned repeated
messages.
SHELTER:
continued from Page A1
similar fashion. Estle said
he was in the desert near
Condon when he discov-
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ing up. Before telling Wood
about the discovery, Estle
said the ministry co-found-
er told him he felt God was
communicating that the
ministry would grow up
like a rose in the desert. Es-
tle said both believed it was
another sign.
The ministry began
collecting and distribut-
ing clothing and furniture
to people in need, working
alongside people who were
serving mandatory commu-
nity service and hosting
informal, non-traditional
church services at 10 a.m.
on Sundays and during
“Testimony and Tacos” at
7 p.m. on the second and
fourth Tuesdays of each
month.
Estle is now looking to
the future. He hopes God
will help him establish a
homeless shelter to reach
a population he believes
is larger than most people
realize. He will present in-
formation and lead a dis-
cussion at 2 p.m. Saturday
downstairs in the Lanham
Room at the Hermiston
Public Library. Estle said
he hopes to raise aware-
ness about the needs of the
homeless community and
inspire volunteers to join
the effort.
“We’re looking for peo-
ple with the same heart,”
he said. “It’s one thing
to get volunteers, but it’s
another thing to get vol-
unteers that want to be
involved in ministry. You
don’t always have the vol-
unteers that say, ‘I want to
share what Jesus has done
in my life.’ That’s really
what our ministry is about
is Jesus Christ. Everything
that we do here is to share
the love of Jesus Christ.”
Estle said his com-
passion for the homeless
population began in 1991
outside of a religious con-
ference, where he encoun-
tered and interacted with
people who were living
on the streets. Despite the
stigma many people have
against those who do not
have a place to stay, Estle
said, when he listened to
STAFF PHOTO BY SEAN HART
Founder Jason Estle, left, and attendee Mark Leslie pray at Desert
Rose Ministries on East Main Street in Hermiston Tuesday. Leslie
was formerly homeless and credits the ministry with helping
him turn his life around. Estle will present information and lead
a discussion about the needs of the homeless community and
a possible shelter at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Lanham Room in the
basement of the Hermiston Public Library.
STAFF PHOTO BY SEAN HART
Mark Leslie, who was homeless when he began attending events at Desert Rose Ministries in
Hermiston, poses in front of a rendering of the Last Supper at the ministry in Hermiston Tuesday.
Leslie now has a job and a place to stay, and he attends most of the services and events at the
informal, non-traditional church at 512 E. Main St., Hermiston.
Desert Rose
Ministries
512 E. Main St., Hermiston
Informal services: 10 a.m.
Sundays
Celebrate Recovery: 6 p.m.
Sundays
Testimony and Tacos: 7 p.m. on
the second and fourth Tuesday of
each month
For more information, contact
Jason Estle, 541-720-6965.
their stories, he realized
they were just people ex-
periencing hardship.
Later in life, Estle said
he experienced his own
years of hardship. He
drank and made poor deci-
sions until turning back to
religion.
“I was in the low of
lows, and Jesus picked
me up,” he said. “I know
that love. All the people
that lived here saw me go
through a muck, but I’m
not in that muck anymore,
and it’s because of Jesus.”
Estle’s goal with the
ministry was to help oth-
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better life through God,
he said. Mark Leslie, who
was homeless when he be-
gan attending events at the
ministry, said it has helped
him do exactly that. Af-
ter “he gave his life to the
Lord on a taco Tuesday,”
Estle said, Leslie now at-
tends and helps at most
ministry functions.
Leslie said he was
drawn to the ministry by
the free food but he has
since gained a family
through the congregation
that has helped him secure
a job and a place to stay.
He said most people who
knew him before say he is
a completely different per-
son now, and he wants to
help others improve their
lives.
“It was like the weight
of the world was off of
me,” he said. “I came to the
realization that I’m not by
myself anymore. My com-
plete outlook, the way I feel
about myself and my self-
worth, has done a complete
180-degree turn.”
Leslie said most people
treat those who are home-
less differently. He said
he was not sure the exact
number of homeless peo-
ple in the Hermiston area
When they say
and you say
“Summer Is
Winding Down”
“It’s A Bummer
When I Frown?”
cussing the problem at the
library event would help
bring more people together.
“We’ve got to start
somewhere,” he said. “I’m
going to pray about it. I’m
going to trust God. God’s
got a plan, and God’s got
a reason. Things are hap-
pening.”
BREASTFEEDING CLASSES
One class covers breastfeeding benefits,
pumping and much more. Come to this
FREE class taught by a certified lactation
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make for a successful experience.
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problem.
In 2014, Umatilla Coun-
ty’s point-in-time home-
less count reported that
there were at least 239 in-
dividuals who were home-
less in the county, up from
195 in 2012.
Estle said he hoped dis-
October 7
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Sound Advantage
Hearing Aid Center
Ric Jones, BC-HIS
STAFF PHOTO BY SEAN HART
Religious pamphlets À ll a table at Desert Rose Ministries, 512 E.
Main St., Hermiston. The informal, non-traditional church offers
a Sunday service at 10 a.m., a Celebrate Recovery meeting at 6
p.m. Sundays and Testimony and Tacos at 7 p.m. the second and
fourth Tuesday of each month.
Verna Taylor, HAS
One FREE class focusing on the first six
months of pregnancy. Healthcare professional
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September 24 • 6:30-8:30pm
GSMC Conference Room Center 2
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September 25 & 26
Friday: 6:30 - 8:30 pm,
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GSMC Conference Room
SUBMITTED IMAGE
A reception for Jose Perez
will take place Sept. 15 at the
Hermiston Public Library.
Reception planned
for artist at library
A reception for artist
Jose Perez will take place
from 4-6 p.m. Tuesday at
the Hermiston Public Li-
brary, where his work is
on display throughout the
month. The event coincides
with the beginning of Na-
tional Hispanic Heritage
Month from Sept. 15 to
Oct. 15. Traditional His-
panic refreshments will be
served.
And you thought
your kids got
GRASS STAINS
BABYSITTING BASICS 101
For babysitters ages 10-15. Learn
childcare techniques, children's
developmental ages and what to expect,
basic first aid and infant and child CPR.
Sept. 12 • 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
GSMC Conference Room
$30 - includes lunch & all class
materials. Must pre-register & pre-pay.
September 16-19, 2015
Buy tickets at PendletonRoundUp.com
2016 Tickets Now Available
For information or to register for a class,
call (541) 667-3509 or email healthinfo@gshealth.org