LOCAL NEWS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2016
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
Smith leaving for Walla Walla superintendent’s job
Deputy
Superintendent
leaving Hermiston
at the end of June
By JENNIFER COLTON
Staff Writer
Hermiston Deputy Su-
perintendent Wade Smith
has accepted the position of
superintendent for the Wal-
la Walla School District.
“It’s bittersweet,” Smith
said Friday. “It was kind of
surreal this morning. It’s
been a great experience in
Hermiston, but this was too
good an opportunity to pass
up.”
The Walla Walla Public
Schools Board of Directors
unanimously named Smith
that district’s new superin-
tendent during a meeting
Thursday night. Smith’s
last day with the Hermiston
School District is June 30,
and he will begin the Walla
Walla job on July 1.
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student, Smith’s career be-
gan as a chemistry teacher
in the Long Creek School
District before becoming a
principal at Heppner High
School. After two years as
assistant superintendent for
the Morrow County School
District, he came to Herm-
iston nine years ago as an
assistant superintendent.
In 2011, Smith, then
assistant
superintendent
for support services, was
named Hermiston School
District’s Administrator of
the Year. That same year, he
became the interim superin-
tendent when Fred Maiocco
was deployed to Kuwait for
18 months with the U.S.
Army reserves.
From April 2011 until Walla position is a way to
October 2012, Smith led take the next step in his ca-
the Hermiston School Dis- reer but remain in a rural re-
trict and was named deputy gion he and his family love.
superintendent upon
“When
you’re
Maiocco’s return.
looking for lead-
“What a great
ership and growth,
ride,” Smith said
there are only a few
of his nine years in
school districts in the
Hermiston. “All the
region, so you can’t
things that we’ve
pass up opportuni-
done for kids — not
ties,” he said. “This
just the capital con- Wade
was a big family dis-
Smith
struction improve-
cussion before I even
ment, but when it
put my name in the
comes to closing the
hat, but my family is
achievement gap with our incredibly supportive. They
Latino students and our understand this is part of
students in poverty. There working in education. The
have been a lot of great next adventure in our life
things that have happened started last night.”
since I’ve been here. This
In addition to the Walla
is a community that rallies Walla position, Smith was
around their youth, and I’m DOVR D ¿QDOLVW IRU WKH VX-
sure they’ll have no prob- perintendent position in the
OHP ¿QGLQJ RXWVWDQGLQJ Pendleton School District.
folks to take over.”
“I am going to miss the
Smith said the Walla Hermiston community, the
Local students move on to
state in Battle of the Books
By JENNIFER COLTON
Staff Writer
Battles were waged and
prizes were won this weekend
at Blue Mountain Communi-
ty College, and at the end of
the day, two Hermiston teams
took home championships.
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schools across Eastern Or-
egon competed Saturday in
bracketed play in the Region
6 Oregon Battle of the Books
competition. Sandstone Mid-
dle School brought home the
championship in the middle
school division, and Rocky
Heights Elementary, also
from Hermiston, brought
back the championship for
the elementary teams.
Both
championship
Hermiston teams, as well as
the second-place teams from
each division — La Grande
Middle School and McNary
Heights Elementary — will
FRPSHWH LQ WKH VWDWH ¿QDOV
April 9 at Chemeketa Com-
munity College in Salem.
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2008 the Eastern Oregon re-
gion has had enough partici-
pation district-wide to send
the second-place team to
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McNary Heights has compet-
ed at the state level.
The team bracket featured
schools from across Eastern
Oregon: Adrian, Arlington,
Baker, Boardman, Echo, Ione,
Helix, Heppner, Hermiston,
La Grande and Pendleton.
In the elementary divi-
VLRQ WKH ¿QDOV FDPH GRZQ
to the battle of the heights as
Hermiston’s Rocky Heights
Elementary faced off against
Umatilla’s McNary Heights
Elementary. For two young
students — Tate Neddo and
Elizabeth Doherty — the
championship had an extra
challenge as the cousins com-
peted against each other.
“It made for an extra excit-
ing battle,” coach and parent
Tess Neddo said Monday,
“with their grandma sitting
very diplomatically right in
the middle.”
7KH ¿IWKJUDGHUV IURP
Rocky Heights squeezed past
the third-grade “Bookcraft”
team from McNary Heights
48 to 43, according to Kristi
Smalley, elementary librarian
for the Hermiston School Dis-
trict. Both teams will compete
in Salem in April.
As champions, both Sand-
stone and Rocky Heights
received a set of 12 titles for
For more information, visit:
http://oboblsta.pbworks.com/
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY MELISSA DOHERTY
The Rocky Heights Elementary team —
Elizabeth Doherty, Stephanie Booher, Ashley
Treadwell, Katelyn Wadkins — hold up books
read for Oregon Battle of the Books.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY KRISTI SMALLEY
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p.m. Tuesday.
Drotzmann, a local op-
tometrist who owns Life-
time Vision Source, has been
mayor since 2013. He also
serves on the city’s Commu-
nity Enhancement Commit-
tee, the Branding Committee
sponsored by the city and
Chamber of Commerce, and
the Eastern Oregon Trade
and Event Center’s fundrais-
ing committee.
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
Despite a heated presi-
dential race creating con-
troversy for this year’s pri-
mary elections, local races
in Hermiston are promising
to be quiet ones.
Mayor David Drotz-
mann is running unop-
posed for a third term and
Municipal Judge Thomas
Creasing is once again run-
ning unopposed as well.
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CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY MELISSA DOHERTY
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY TESS NEDDO
The members of “Bookcraft” — Tate Neddo,
from left, April Bettencourt, Eden Enkey
-oben Padberg — hold up certiÀcates after a
school-wide championship battle at McNary
Heights Elementary.
the 2017 Oregon Battle of the
Books program.
“Upon receiving the
books, Rocky Heights team
member Ashley Treadwell
Numerous Hermiston elementary students
and staff participated in the regional Battle
of the Books competition this weekend:
Back row, from left: Kristi Smalley, HSD
Elementary Librarian, Desert View Team:
Kira Grigg, Booke Turner, Megan Palzinski,
Cidney Estes, Sunset Team: Keyla Martinez,
Lyndsay Egerer, Andrea Sachez, Brooklynn
Warburton; middle row, from left: West Park
Team: Helen Rohrman, Renna Gorham,
Sabrina Stoddard, Emily Schwertfeger,
Highland Hils: Claire Owens, Lauren
Wilson, McKenna Hillman, Madeleine White;
front row, from left: Rocky Heights Team:
Elizabeth Doherty, Stephanie Booher, Ashley
Treadwell, Katelyn Wadkins
immediately asked, ‘Can we
read them?’ and them enthu-
siastically picked out the ti-
WOH VKH ZDQWHG WR UHDG ¿UVW´
Smalley said.
Oregon Battle of the
Books is a volunteer-run pro-
gram sponsored by the Or-
egon Association of School
Libraries.
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The YMnMs from Sandstone Middle School
— Yaloani Alvarado, from left, Maria Tejeda,
Nazly Chavez, Mirely Reyes, Sally Wooster
and coach Krista Fisher — will move on to
the state Oregon Battle of the Books.
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we are excited about this
opportunity,” he said. “Ob-
viously, replacing Wade is
going to be a very big chore
for us, but I think Walla
Walla will thrive under his
leadership.”
Smith said his family
will move to Walla Walla,
including his two children
and his wife, Marianne, an
art teacher at Hermiston
High School. Maiocco said
the entire family has been
an asset to Hermiston.
“They (Walla Walla)
FRXOGQRWKDYHPDGHD¿QHU
choice. I think it’s an op-
portunity for Wade and his
family. Marianne is an ex-
traordinary teacher, and she
will be just as hard to re-
place as Wade. They will be
missed, but we wish them
the best.”
administration, but on equal
footing is the excitement to
assist the Walla Walla com-
munity doing some extraor-
dinary things. I think the
stars have aligned in that
community with a board
and a community ready to
take the next step and do
something amazing,” he
said.
Smith will submit a res-
ignation to the Hermiston
School Board of Education,
and Maiocco said the dis-
trict will begin advertising
for a replacement. The po-
sition will be for assistant
superintendent; however,
WKH GLVWULFW LV VWLOO ¿QDOL]-
ing what specialization that
position will be for. Smith
was hired as assistant su-
perintendent for human re-
sources, and Maiocco said
the position morphed with
6PLWK¶V VSHFL¿F FDSDELOL-
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