A14 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
BABY
FORWARD
so we decided to do a C-sec-
tion,” she said.
During the C-section
they discovered the umbili-
cal cord had looped around
the baby’s neck, but in the
end, after all the drama,
he was born healthy. Not
knowing what extended
family members’ sleep pat-
terns would be like in the
early hours of New Year’s
Day, they sent out text mes-
sages with the good news.
“We figured if they were
awake they would call, if
not they would see it in the
morning,” Jennifer said.
A tired but excited Jen-
nifer was presented Mon-
day afternoon with a teddy
bear and a large basket of
items for the baby, as well
as a professional photo
shoot, thanks to his status
as the first baby of 2018
born at Good Shepherd.
There were a few items in
there for her, too, she was
told.
“Is it cookies?” she
asked jokingly, comment-
ing that she couldn’t wait
to eat solid food again.
Jennifer teaches pre-
school for Head Start in
Boardman, and Jose works
security in the area. The
couple said they were look-
ing forward to bringing
home their first child in a
couple of days.
Joey’s delivery doc-
tor was Dr. Gary Trupp.
of Good Shepherd’s Fam-
ily Birth Center. In 2017,
there were 410 babies born
there.
to transforming the stretch
of Northeast Second Street
near city hall into a festival
street, and partnering with
ODOT on a project that will
add traffic signals to the
intersections of NW 11th
Street and Elm Avenue, and
SW 11th Street and Orchard
Avenue.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2018
FROM A1
changes to Martha’s House,
a shelter for families.
Continued from Page A1
Continued from Page A1
Blue Mountain
Community College
BMCC will remember
2017 as the year it com-
pleted three bond projects
as part of a $23 million dol-
lar bond approved in 2015.
In the Hermiston area
those projects included a
precision irrigation center
at Oregon State Universi-
ty’s research and extension
office, completed in July,
and the Boardman work-
force training center, com-
pleted in April.
Casey
White-Zoll-
man, BMCC’s vice pres-
ident of public relations,
said the buildings represent
not only better educational
opportunities for students
but stronger relation-
ships between the college
and Oregon State Univer-
sity and Umatilla-Morrow
Head Start.
White-Zollman
said
BMCC is also proud of its
increased enrollment in the
fall term, making use of a
Gear Up grant to connect
Hermiston High School
seniors to classes and see-
ing a 100 percent success
rate for nursing and den-
Hermiston School
District
STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL
Completion of the Harkenrider Center is one of the city of
Hermiston’s top goals for 2018.
tal students taking national
board tests. The BMCC
Education Foundation also
saw a 70 percent increase
in donations, bringing in
$655,000.
In 2018 the col-
lege would like to keep
enrollment up, though
White-Zollman said the
rate at the Hermiston cam-
pus has stayed mostly flat.
BMCC and other com-
munity colleges will peti-
tion the state legislature in
February for an additional
$32 million to mitigate tui-
tion increases.
“We’re tired of stu-
dents having to carry that
burden on their backs,”
White-Zollman said.
The college will also
work with Energy Trust of
Oregon to implement an
energy management plan
— the first of its kind for
the college — and launch
an Imbibe at Blue event on
Feb. 17, which will bring
together fare from local
breweries, wineries, chee-
semakers and chocolatiers.
Agape House
Agape House director
Dave Hughes said the non-
profit was pleased to intro-
duce a new golf tourna-
ment to the area and bring
back the Lavender Festi-
val in 2017, both of which
helped the Agape House
raise money to serve the
community.
“In this last year we
were able to continue pro-
viding food and other sys-
tems for those in need,
despite an ever-decreasing
budget,” he said.
He said 2018 is likely to
be a big year for the Agape
House, as its board begins
work on its next three-year
strategic plan. The plan
will include a strategy to
replace Hughes, who has
been directing the nonprofit
on a volunteer basis for the
last few years but plans to
retire in 2019.
Hughes said the non-
profit’s leadership will have
to find a way to make room
in the budget for money
to attract a talented new
director. He said the Agape
House also plans to look
for ways it can expand its
mission by partnering with
other agencies to find new
ways to combat addiction,
and to address the commu-
nity’s housing shortage.
That strategy may include
It’s been another year of
growth for the Hermiston
School District.
Maria Duron, the com-
munications director for
the district, sent a long list
of accomplishments for
2017, ranging from athletic
and academic competitive
achievements (including
high school football and
FFA state championships),
teacher and staff honors
(including science teacher
Rob Doherty’s national
award and David Faae-
teete’s all-Oregon coach
of the year award) and
facilities projects (includ-
ing parking lot projects
at several schools and IT
upgrades, including online
registration).
The district also made
a stronger connection with
its northern neighbors,
signing deals to join the
Washington Interscholastic
Activities Association and
move high school gradua-
tion to the Toyota Center in
Kennewick.
In the coming year,
Duron said the district
hopes to increase student
achievement. In 2017 stu-
dents saw increased math
scores in all grades and lan-
guage arts in fifth and 11th
grades.
Duron also said increas-
ing the graduation rate,
adding career and techni-
cal education programs and
strengthening partnerships
with parents and stake-
holders are on the district’s
to-do list.
Karen Sherman, the
school board chair, said
she isn’t sure if the board
will take on a new bond
campaign this year. Vot-
ers rejected a $104 million
bond in May, and Sherman
said a facilities commit-
tee is currently taking an
in-depth look at what the
district needs before bring-
ing a proposal.
Greater Hermiston
Area Chamber of
Commerce
After being notified that
they would no longer be
able to use the Hermiston
Conference Center for their
offices, executive director
Debbie Pedro said many of
the Greater Hermiston Area
Chamber of Commerce’s
biggest accomplishments
for the year revolved
around successfully finding
a new home for the cham-
ber and continuing to pro-
vide uninterrupted services
to its members despite the
transition.
She said they are look-
ing forward to big things
for 2018, however, as the
move gives the cham-
ber a good opportunity to
forge new partnerships and
expand its offerings. She
said the community should
look for an updated web-
site, updated member ser-
vices, new programs and
new locations for events
like the Business to Busi-
ness luncheon.
“It’s just a fresh look for
the chamber,” she said.
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