LOCAL
WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2018
Hermiston pulls
elementary schools
from statewide
Battle of the Books
Local students
have competed
for 36 years
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
Hermiston’s
schools
have been enthusiastic
competitors in the state-
wide Battle of the Books
competition, but they won’t
be at next year’s event.
The district’s five ele-
mentary school principals
have chosen to withdraw
from the statewide com-
petition, stating that one of
the books on the elemen-
tary school reading list is
incompatible with the dis-
trict’s curriculum.
The elementary school
principals sent a letter to
parents stating that the
novel “George,” by Alex
Gino, was not appropri-
ate for their third- through
fifth-grade students, based
on their adopted human
growth and development
curriculum.
The book, which is not
described in the letter sent
home to parents, is about a
child who is born male and
known to all as George, but
identifies as female and pre-
fers the name Melissa. The
book details how Melissa
comes out to her best
friend, and eventually to
others, through the help of
a school play.
The letter stated that
Hermiston’s
middle
and high school teams
would still participate
in the statewide compe-
tition. Hermiston’s ele-
mentary school teams
will instead participate in
a district-wide competi-
tion, reading a list of titles
compiled from books read
in previous years. The
letter also stated that if
the statewide list for the
2019-2020 school year
was deemed appropriate,
the elementary schools
would once again par-
ticipate in the statewide
program.
Hermiston School Dis-
trict elementary librarian
Kristi Smalley said she
was aware of the process,
but she was not involved
in the decision to pull the
elementary schools from
the statewide program.
She said the decision,
based on the subject mat-
ter of the book, was up to
the administrators.
Hermiston’s elementary
students have been heavily
involved with the program
in past years, with a team
SCHOLASTIC CORPORATION
“George” by Alex Gino is
the story of a transgender
boy and part of the Oregon
Battle of the Books
curriculum for 2018-19.
The Hermiston School
District has opted to not
participate in the statewide
competition because of the
subject matter.
from Highland Hills plac-
ing 16th at state this year.
The letter noted that Herm-
iston School District has
been involved in Battle of
the Books for 36 years.
Smalley said the pro-
gram would look roughly
the same from the ground
level, with students still
competing and reading, and
answering the same types
of questions.
“The misalignment with
the curriculum really needs
to be the focus,” she said of
the book. “There are a lot of
hot-button issues that could
misconstrue this, but we
need to focus that this is a
reading program.”
She said administrators
did discuss Hermiston stu-
dents not reading “George”
but remaining in the state
competition.
“I advised them that we
can’t just not use one title,
because the children would
still be exposed to those
questions,” she said. “But
I’m really glad the district
was looking out for the
well-being of children.”
Smalley said the book
was not available at the ele-
mentary school libraries.
She said while parents
were not included in the
decision, the only feedback
she had heard from parents
so far had been positive.
She acknowledged that
the book’s placement on
the statewide list had been
controversial.
“There was a lot of input
given to the state commit-
tee on this title that, in my
opinion, fell on deaf ears,”
she said.
The letter to parents was
signed by principals Jake
Bacon, Jerad Farley, Kevin
Headings and Christie
Petersen, and interim prin-
cipal Bryn Browning.
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
Father drowns while saving son
By PHIL WRIGHT
and JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITERS
Juan Carlos Armenta
Madrigal gave his life the
evening of Wednesday,
April 25 to save his son
from drowning in the chilly
water of the Columbia River
at the Umatilla Marina.
The boy survived but
Madrigal, of Umatilla, did
not. He was 35.
The boy is a second
grader in the Umatilla
School District, and has a
sibling in the district in fifth
grade.
Umatilla Police Chief
Darla Huxel said an offi-
cer at 7:12 p.m. received the
emergency call to respond to
two people drowning at the
marina.
Madrigal, his wife and
7-year-old son were fish-
ing on the northeast corner
of the property, Huxel said,
a popular spot where two
culverts allow the Colum-
bia River to flow into the
marina.
“That’s right in front
where the current comes in
the marina,” she said.
The water there is too
deep to stand in, she added,
and lately the McNary Dam,
about a mile upriver, has
released a lot of water, mak-
ing for a swift current.
“You can definitely see
the current going through
there,” she said after visit-
ing the site again Thursday
morning.
The boy slipped and fell
into the water, and the father
jumped in after him. Neither
knew how to swim, Huxel
said, and they were not
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
A pair of culverts jut out into the Umatilla Marina near the popular fishing spot where Juan
Carlos Armenta Madrigal drowned while saving his son April 25 in Umatilla.
wearing life jackets.
Madrigal tried to heft his
son out of the water, but the
flow moved them along the
marina. Several other peo-
ple nearby jumped into the
river to help.
They dragged the father
and son to nearby docks,
where fire and rescue per-
sonnel worked to revive
Madrigal, but to no avail. He
died at the scene.
Huxel said the son went
to Good Shepherd Medical
Center, Hermiston, for treat-
ment of hypothermia. She
did not have an update on
his medical condition.
Recent outdoor tem-
peratures in the area have
reached the 80s, but online
data from the Fish Pas-
sage Center shows the aver-
age daily temperature of the
Columbia River at McNary
Dam is 49.3 degrees.
Sgt. Dave Johnson of
the Umatilla County Sher-
iff’s Office said the marina
is a great place to fish, but he
offered a word of warning.
“If you take your child
near water, put them in a
Coast Guard-approved life
vest,” he said.
Huxel said shore anglers
generally don’t wear life
jackets, but the best practice
is to wear the personal flota-
tion devices while on or near
water.
There is a free-to-bor-
row life jacket station at the
Umatilla Marina, and John-
son said the sheriff’s office
and others are trying to add
stations at the ramp just
above the McNary Dam and
at Hat Rock.
He also said the sheriff’s
office provides water and
boating safety classes on
request. Call 541-966-3600
for a schedule or to request
one.
There have been a few
drownings on the Colum-
bia River in the past sev-
eral years. Last September,
an Irrigon man drowned
at Warehouse Beach while
showing some colleagues
how to swim. And in sum-
mer of 2015, two Morrow
County teens drowned in the
same stretch of the Colum-
bia River, a month apart.
Cold temperatures of
the water can often catch
swimmers off guard, espe-
cially on hot summer days.
The cold water can lead to
cramping, which can leave
even an adept swimmer
unable to move. Fast cur-
rents and wind can also sur-
prise swimmers and tubers.
Lawmakers test geography with Hermiston hearing
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
Civic leaders and educa-
tors asked visiting lawmak-
ers Wednesday, April 25 to
remember the eastern side
of the state as they consider
how to help students.
“One trend I’ve seen in
my state work is that geog-
raphy matters,” said Uma-
tilla School District Super-
intendent Heidi Sipe. “The
only way to ensure that rural
students with all the tal-
ent and none of the access
can succeed is to ensure
partnerships.”
The 14 members of the
Joint Interim Committee
on Student Success visited
Hermiston High School as
part of the listening tour they
hope will help them shape
education in the years to
come.
The legislators were in
the middle of a three-day
session in Eastern Oregon,
where they met with students
in Baker, Union, Umatilla
and Morrow counties. They
continued on to Arlington
Thursday.
Rep. Barbara Smith War-
ner, co-chair of the com-
mittee, said they met with
a range of students, mostly
high schoolers, and asked
them what their schools were
doing well and what they’d
like to see improved.
“We’re not looking for
principals’ pets,” she said.
“We want students that
are engaged, and not so
engaged. Students in spe-
cial education, English Lan-
guage Learners.”
Speakers at the event
shared successes of local
schools, but highlighted
some of the challenges.
“With this focus on stu-
dent success, at some point
we’re going to have to talk
about funding,” said Herm-
iston City Manager Byron
Smith. “Tax compression is
an issue for us, for schools
and the city.”
Smith said the city
of Hermiston lost about
$232,000 to compression this
fiscal year.
“It limits the ability of
local jurisdictions to work on
their own problems,” he said.
Smith asked the panel for
any help they could offer.
“Maybe there’s a solu-
tion that allows us to work
on these problems locally,”
he said.
Local educators talked
about the benefits of STEM
programs and supporting
early learning programs.
Smith Warner said they
started the listening sessions
in Lane County in March.
She said they eventually
hope to take the information
they’ve gathered and work it
into a package similar to the
transportation package that
was passed in 2017.
RE-ELECT LARRY GIVENS
U MATILLA C O . C OMMISSIONER • P OSITION 2
Experience,
Honesty,
Accountable
For the Citizens of
Umatilla County
Learn fr om the Past, Live in the Present,
Plan for the Future
The Land
The People
DRAWINGS FOR PRIZES
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All proceeds benefit THE HERMISTON CROSS COUNTRY PROGRAM
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