LOCAL
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2016
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
Vaccination deadline hits schools
proof of vaccination for 738
students, according to Sha-
Hundreds of Eastern Or- ron Waldern, clinic nurse
egon children could be sent supervisor for the Umatilla
County Health Department.
home from school today.
Of those students, 695
Today, Feb. 17, is
“School Exclusion Day” had incomplete records
for the state of Oregon, with Umatilla County
and any students behind or Health, indicating students
undocumented on vaccina- were missing one or more
tions will be excluded from required vaccinations, and
class in public and private 43 students had no vaccina-
schools, preschools, child tion record at all. The num-
care facilities and Head bers do not include families
Start programs in the state. with approved exemption
Families with children paperwork.
“Exclusion Day is im-
on the exclusion list were
QRWL¿HG LQ 6HSWHPEHU DQG portant because one of the
October, but as of Feb. 3, VXUH¿UH ZD\V WR SUHYHQW
the county still required contagious disease is to get
By JENNIFER COLTON
Staff Writer
vaccinated,” Waldern said
Tuesday. “Immunizations
are safe and really help pro-
tect those students and the
community, as well as kids
who cannot receive vacci-
nations, who are protected
by the herd immunity.”
Waldern pointed to low-
er numbers of outbreaks for
diseases such as chicken
pox since the implemen-
tation of required vaccina-
tions. Not having a disease
like chicken pox or measles
means the student is able to
remain in school. Umatilla
County Health will be open
and able to provide vacci-
nations all week.
ed art to the walls or blinds
on the windows.
“We’ve already seen an
increase in numbers in well-
child checks to make sure
they have those last-min-
ute vaccinations done,”
Tiffany Fitzmorris, clinic
supervisor, said Monday.
“The school nurse has been
working around the clock
getting a hold of all those
parents, and the secretary
MXVWVHQW¿YHRUVL[RYHUODVW
week to schedule well-child
checks, and we were able to
get those taken care of.”
Exclusion day is part of
the Oregon Immunization
Program, which works to
In Hermiston, 120 stu-
dents remained on the ex-
clusion list as of Tuesday
afternoon, according to
Jon Mishra, executive di-
rector of special programs.
School secretaries and
nurses have been in con-
tact with families at risk
for exclusion, and staff at
the new Wellness Center
at Hermiston High School,
which connects all Hermis-
ton students and staff with
medical practitioners from
Family Health Associates,
has been scheduling well-
child checks and vaccina-
tions. The clinic recently
opened and has not yet add-
have all children vaccinat-
ed against preventable dis-
eases.
)DPLOLHV PD\ ¿OH DQ
exemption from the vacci-
nation requirements based
on medical or non-medical
reasons; however, the state
tightened exemption re-
quirements for the 2015-6
school year with Senate Bill
895. The new restrictions
changed the exemption pro-
cess to require a “Vaccine
(GXFDWLRQ&HUWL¿FDWH´IURP
a healthcare provider with
all non-medical exemptions
and made all religious ex-
emptions signed prior to
March 1, 2014, invalid.
IN BRIEF
Boardman hosts
weekly tax help
Walk-in tax help is
available each Wednesday
in Boardman.
People can receive as-
sistance with completing
their income tax forms
through AARP Tax Aid.
No appointments are need-
ed. People can drop in
Wednesdays from 9 a.m.
to 3 p.m. at the Boardman
Senior Center, 101 Tatone
St. The service continues
through April 6.
Local firefighters
combat leukemia
$ JURXS RI ORFDO ¿UH-
¿JKWHUVDUHKROGLQJDIXQG-
raiser this weekend as they
prepare for the Scott Fire-
¿JKWHU6WDLUFOLPE
Members of the Herm-
iston Fire & Emergency
Services team will set up
a table and stair-climbing
machine Saturday from 10
a.m. to noon at Smitty’s
Ace Hardware, 1845 N.
First St., Hermiston. They
will accept donations,
which are tax-deductible,
for The Leukemia & Lym-
phoma Society.
The actual stairclimb
event is Sunday, March
6, at the Columbia Center
in downtown Seattle. Par-
ticipants will race up 69
ÀLJKWV RI VWDLUV LQ IXOO ¿UH
gear while raising money
to combat blood cancers.
In addition, the team
will raise money Satur-
day, Feb. 27, from 10 a.m.
to noon in front of Big
Lots, 930 S. Highway 395,
Hermiston. Also, people
can make donations on be-
half of Hermiston Fire at
ZZZ¿UH¿JKWHUVWDLUFOLPE
org — click donate and
then search for “Hermiston
Fire.”
For more information,
contact team member Mi-
chael Bozeman at mrboz-
eman@msn.com or 541-
314-2596.
Auction, raffle
benefits Desert View
A family-friendly event
will help raise money for
¿HOGWULSVOLEUDU\ERRNVDQG
classroom projects at Desert
View Elementary School.
In its ninth year, the
$XFWLRQ DQG 5DIÀH LV
Thursday, Feb. 25 from
5-7 p.m. at the school,
1225 S.W. Ninth St.,
Hermiston. Sponsored by
the Desert View Parent
Club, the event features a
live auction, silent auction,
food and games for kids.
For more information,
contact Shannon Picard at
spicard28@hotmail.com.
Hospital auxiliary
offers medical
scholarships
The deadline for sub-
mitting applications for the
Good Shepherd Medical
Center Auxiliary scholar-
ships is April 29.
To be eligible for a
$1,500 scholarship, a stu-
dent’s home residence
must be within the areas
served by Good Shepherd
Health Care System. Also,
applicants must have suc-
cessfully completed at
least one year of study in
WKH ¿HOG RI PHGLFLQH DW D
college or university.
Application forms are
available at the hospital
gift shop or by calling the
director of volunteer ser-
vices at 541-667-3690.
Completed applications
and college transcripts
may be returned to the gift
shop or mailed to GSMC
Attn: Auxiliary Scholar-
ship Committee, 610 N.W.
11th St., Hermiston, OR
97838.
Tonia Mulcare
Auto
Health
Home
Life
Tonia Mulcare
Family Insurance Agent
541/289-3300 • 800/225-2521
The Stratton Agency
Hermiston/Pendleton • stratton-insurance.com
Please welcome...
Esther Langley & Samantha Cox
Esther, a graduate of Lucas Marc Academy,
specializes in hair: cuts, color & styles.
Samantha specializes in nails, hair and
is a licensed esthetician.
ials:
Valentine S t p o r ec co lo r
20 % o ff cu er !
by E st h
yle
ee shampoo/st
Fr
of one or
with purchase ucts.
more prod
good thru 2/2
Call for an
appointment.
Walk-ins
welcome!
8/16
405 N. 1st., Ste. 108 • Hermiston
541-567-6075
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY UMATILLA SCHOOL DISTRICT
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY JOHN FISHER
Hermiston Bulldog Robotics members Allison Galdamez,
from left, Jerence Lyons, Jadwin Lyons and Randy Conejo
prepare for the FIRST Tech Challenge Super4ualiÀers.
Umatilla’s “Vikings with Attitude” FTC team will be moving on
to the state championships in the FIRST Tech Challenge.
Robotics teams qualify for state
Hermiston,
Umatilla compete
in Super-Qualifiers
By JENNIFER COLTON
Staff Writer
Students from Hermis-
ton and Umatilla trekked to
Hillsboro over the weekend
to pit their robots against
the best in the state — and
two teams will be mov-
ing on to the Oregon State
Championship.
The weekend’s battles
made up the FIRST Tech
&KDOOHQJH 6XSHU4XDOL¿HUV
in Hillsboro. To compete in
one of the four Oregon FTC
6XSHU4XDOL¿HUVWHDPVKDG
WRWDNH¿UVWRUVHFRQGSODFH
in a local or regional match
in this year’s FTC competi-
tion, FIRST RES-Q.
As part of FTC, teams
must program robots to
FRPSHWH LQ D VSHFL¿F
game. The game changes
each year, and the 2015-16
game, FIRST RES-Q, chal-
lenges teams to reset res-
cue beacons, deliver rescue
climbers to a shelter, park
on a mountain and clear de-
EULVIURPWKH¿HOG
Twelve teams from Herm-
LVWRQ 6WDQ¿HOG 8PDWLOOD
Pendleton and Helix com-
SHWHGLQWKH6XSHU4XDOL¿HU
and three teams — Umatil-
la’s Vikings with Attitude,
Hermiston’s Bulldog Robot-
ics and Helix’ Bear Mettle —
TXDOL¿HGIRUVWDWH
The local teams qual-
L¿HG IRU WKH 6XSHU4XDO-
L¿HU DIWHU FRPSOHWLQJ WKH
Columbia Basin League
Championship. The Herm-
iston team was selected as
part of the second-place
alliance in Columbia Ba-
sin, and the Vikings with
Attitude team was the sec-
ond team selected for the
“Finalist Alliance” at the
6XSHU4XDOL¿HU
The Oregon State Cham-
pionship is Feb. 27-28 at
Benson Polytechnic High
School in Portland.
CONCEALED CARRY
PERMIT CLASS
Oregon - Utah - Valid 35 States
HERMISTON
Best Western: 2255 Highway 395 South
February 19 th • 1:00 pm & 6:00 pm
Walk-Ins Welcome!
OR/Utah: (Valid in WA) $80.00 or Oregon only: $45
www.FirearmTrainingNW.com • FirearmTrainingNW@gmail.com
360-921-2071