FROM PAGE A1
A16 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016
mine the best Dr. Seuss
book theme decorating a
classroom door and had
a family night on Tues-
day. Wednesday, the week
continues with guest read-
ers — including superin-
tendent Dr. Fred Maiocco
— and pajama day.
Sunset Elementary will
be wearing Seuss hats
on Wednesday in honor
of Dr. Seuss’ birthday.
Because of testing, most
of the school’s activi-
ties will be next week,
March 7-10. The school
will have a used book ex-
change, theme days and a
family night on Thursday,
March 10, the school will
have “Inside Out” day
and will be having a fam-
ily night and showing the
¿lm, “Inside Out.”
At West Park, family
read-ins and theme days
will also make an appear-
ance, and the students are
“visiting” national land-
marks with every 1 mil
words read.
READ:
continued from Page A1
teens to read. The signa-
ture event is Read Across
America Day — March
2 — in honor of the birth-
day of Theodor Seuss
Geisel, better known by
his pen name, Dr. Seuss.
Schools across Umatil-
la County are participat-
ing in the annual event.
Here is a snapshot of what
some local schools will be
tackling:
Hermiston
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
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COLBRAY:
continued from Page A1
should,” social sciences
teacher John Christy said.
“You hear only primarily
about athletics. But he’s a
top-notch student.”
Colbray became inter-
ested in science at an early
age. The consistency and
uniformity appeals to him.
He said every human body
is the same, every person’s
biology is the same. A heart
is a heart, an elbow an el-
bow. From there, it was
only a small jump to con-
sider medicine as a career.
Delta said suddenly one
day he wanted to be an or-
thopedic surgeon.
“It’s athletically relat-
ed,” Colbray said. “Knee
replacements, hip replace-
ments, shoulders, elbows,
anything like that. The rea-
son I wanted to be a doctor
was because — besides the
money — that’s what my
parents said: doctors and
lawyers. I don’t feel like ar-
guing with people and be-
ing in a suit and an of¿ce.”
He felt that doing any-
thing less than law or med-
icine was selling himself
short.
“I could never think of
going to a four-year uni-
versity and not getting the
most out of it,” he said.
“Why would I go to a four-
year university (to do any-
thing less)? To lay around
and work in an insurance
of¿ce? Why would I do
that? Why would I waste
potential?”
Colbray doesn’t want to
be a doctor simply because
it pays well, though that is a
consideration.
“Since he was little he’s
always excelled (at sci-
ence),” Delta said. “Not that
this says you’re not good at
science, or that you like sci-
ence. But he’s always had
good grades in his science
classes. And I thought that
that’s where it came from.
The love of learning about
science.”
Colbray is not anxious
about the challenges of
collegiate academics or the
rigors of medical school.
“I know that if I weren’t
prepared and I’m messing
around, then I’d be ner-
vous,” he said. “I don’t
stress over things too much.
I don’t really stress over
school.”
Perhaps Colbray’s ac-
ademic con¿dence comes
from athletic success. It
has taken hard work and
determination to become a
state and national champion
wrestler.
“I know that it’s been
done before,” he said. “It’s
hard. Wrestling is a job in
itself.”
Colbray takes all of his
endeavors seriously, in-
cluding academics.
In his advanced place-
ment English class with
Kasia Hoover, Colbray is
active in classroom discus-
sions and thinks critically
about the material.
Recently, Hoover’s class
read and discussed George
Orwell’s classic dystopian
novel “1984,” and Colbray
was as active a member in
the class as anyone.
“He’s never afraid to say
his opinion,” Hoover said.
She said Colbray can
dig deep into the content
and not offer super¿cial
analysis. While discussing
“1984,” Colbray explored
the issue in depth. At the
time, they were discussing
the parallels between slave-
like and anti-individualistic
nature of the world in the
novel with contemporary
events.
“He will pose questions
everyone is able to give an
opinion on,” Hoover said
of Colbray acting as a gate-
keeper in these discussions.
“Sometimes that causes
strife or a heated discus-
sion, something I really
encourage because it means
they’re thinking.”
Civics teacher John
Christy was impressed by
the way Colbray conducted
himself in the classroom.
“Sam as a student is
very intellectual,” he said.
“He has a very good abili-
ty to go deep in the issues.
For Sam overall, (he) is an
excellent student. He has a
high expectation in himself
in the work that he does and
that’s portrayed in class as
well.
“His ability to articulate
his opinion on issues with-
out stepping on people’s
toes and just stating, ‘This
is my opinion and this is
why’ and just being able to
go further. Thinking about
the higher-level thinking,
he’s able to analyze and
evaluate, and that’s a little
surprising.”
Colbray is quiet and re-
served, but he speaks his
mind and is honest and
sometimes that rubs peo-
ple the wrong way. He
knows exactly who he is,
is comfortable with it and
unashamedly likes what he
likes.
He and his friends com-
pete in video games on their
phones. Colbray doesn’t
watch TV — a family rule,
if you can call it that — so
he grew up spending time
outside, watching, listening
and observing. He appreci-
ates a variety of activities
like ¿shing and hunting
trips with his father Le-
roy, road trips with Delta,
sitting on the porch in the
summertime and talking.
Sometimes, he gets lost
in wrestling. He loves it
so much, Delta said, that
sometimes he forgets how
much he loves, say, ¿shing.
“He forgets those things
unless he’s doing them be-
cause of his passion,” she
said. “He forgets about
science and what called
his attention to being a
doctor, to being a surgeon.
Everything in the house
is about wrestling. Every-
thing in his room is about
wrestling. I think we’ve
instilled in him there’s a
way to get there. And one
way to get there was to get
a scholarship.”
As much as Colbray
enjoys wrestling, as much
work as he’s put in to the
sport, it’s just another activ-
ity for him, though import-
ant. At the state tournament
this Saturday between the
morning session and ¿-
nals, Colbray rode a small
skateboard across the pla-
za to where his family was
sitting. When asked why
he’s riding a skateboard
hours before he’s set to try
and win his fourth title, he
smiled and said sarcastical-
ly, “Trying to get hurt.”
Leroy and Delta view
wrestling as a means to an
end, an opportunity for an
education. Leroy knows
what happens when athlet-
ics are put before academ-
ics.
Leroy’s experience in
college provides the cau-
tionary tale. Leroy, an ac-
complished high school
wrestler in his own right,
attended Oregon State with
the intention of wrestling.
Without giving many de-
tails, Leroy said his col-
lege career ended with him
dropping out because the
wrestling thing didn’t work
out.
“Wrestling is a vehicle,
for me, to getting an educa-
tion (for Sam),” Leroy said.
“I failed completing my
education at Oregon State
because I wanted to be a
wrestler.
“Sam is an athlete, but
he can ¿gure anything out.
You leave Sam alone to
¿gure something out, he
¿gures it out better than me
without getting frustrated.
Just his ability to ¿gure
stuff out is uncanny to me.
I don’t know, I just love
him.”
As he sat at his dining
table Àanked by his par-
ents, Colbray is con¿dent
and introspective. He’s not
nervous about what comes
next.
He’s also humble. After
winning his fourth state ti-
tle at Veteran’s Memorial
Coliseum in Portland, he
didn’t raise four ¿ngers or
let out a roar. He shook his
opponents’ hand, shook the
opposing coaches hands,
and walked quietly off the
mat.
“It’s just another match,
another day, another wres-
tling tournament, another
consecutive year,” he said.
He’s made dif¿cult de-
cisions regarding his fu-
ture. He decided to forgo
his senior football season
because of head injury con-
cerns, which could have
jeopardized his wrestling
career.
He knows he’s worked
hard for what he has al-
ready achieved and knows
he has to more hard work
to come.
“If I put my effort into
it and it’s hard for me and
I use all my resources and
it doesn’t turn out, that’s
what’s meant to be,” he
said.
Desert View Elemen-
tary will have a Dr. Seuss
Family Night from 6-7
p.m. Tuesday, March 8.
Staff will offer snacks,
games and literacy re-
wards for students who
attend. The school will
also have dress-up days
during the week of March
7-10th.
Highland Hills Ele-
mentary will have dress-
up days this week as well
as a family night from 5-6
p.m. Thursday, March 3.
Students and their fami-
lies are invited to partic-
ipate in readings, activi-
ties and treats during the
evening. Each designated
classroom will have a dif-
ferent book read by stu-
dent readers and activities
to accompany the book.
At Rocky Heights El-
ementary, students ware
working toward reading
goals through the Acceler-
ated Reader program and
participating in a “Guess
My Book” challenge. A
Dr. Seuss book is partially
read over the announce-
ments, and those who
guess correctly have a
chance to win a free book.
The school also hosted a
“Gallery Walk” to deter-
In addition to dress-
up days, guest readers
and daily trivia, McNary
Heights Elementary is
again presenting a “Book
Parade” on Thursday. All
classes will create a Àoat
based on a book of the
class’ choosing.
National
Dentist
Day
March 6 th
WEEK
“Helping Pendleton
smile, one dental
visit at a time.”
Kaleigh Waggoner
P ENDLETON H IGH S CHOOL
Le atenderé en español
www.pendletondentist.com
715 Nicole Way in
Baker City
or
1300 6th Street,
Suite G in
Umatilla
Wilson Dental
Arts Inc.
ORTHODONTIST
541.519.7772
BRACES FOR CHILDREN & ADULTS
Pendleton
Hermiston
Specializing in Dentures,
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John G. Wilson LD
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OF THE
Proudly Sponsored by
Stan¿eld Elementary
will have theme days each
day this week, culminat-
ing in “Hooray for Diff-
endoofer Day” on Thurs-
day. The school will have
an all-school assembly, a
reading competition, and
a door decorating content.
In the library, each grade
has a different activity
from turtle stacking to
Sneech Ball.
STAFF PHOTO BY JENNIFER COLTON
STUDENT
Kaleigh Waggoner is a senior at Pendleton High School who
currently manages a 4.00 unweighted GPA while involved in a
multitude of extracurricular activities and community service
events. Throughout her high school career, she has had numerous
leadership roles with FFA, ASTRA, FLICC, and 4-H. She is the
present Pendleton FFA President and ASTRA Service Club
Secretary. Kaleigh is a Varsity Cross Country and Track athlete.
She is also a Link Crew Leader, member of National Honor
Society, and was a Princess on the 2015 Umatilla County Fair
Court. Amid her other involvement, Kaleigh serves the
community frequently as a Pendleton Round-Up and Happy
Canyon volunteer, nursery volunteer for her church, Round-Up
City Racer coach, student tutor for her school, and countless
other service events. She is attending George Fox University in
the fall of 2016, majoring in Nursing and minoring in Spanish.
Kaleigh has a huge heart for children and is going to pursue a
career as a Pediatric Nurse specializing in surgery.
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ima2thmkr@msn.com
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1060 W. Elm, Suite 135
541.276.7819
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