OPINION / NEWS
A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Boycott graduation
It’s a shame a handful of individuals rewrote
Hermiston High School history by altering the 2018
commencement.
They decided to move the ceremony out of state in
another city. With all the property they gained from the
vacant fairgrounds they could have housed a ceremony
with more than ample parking.
Imagine being educated in Hermiston but now your
special day others decided to move it out of state. Talk
about an inconvenience.
Boycott your graduation — boycott. The high school
still has to give you your diploma. Hold your own
ceremony in Hermiston.
Shame on the individuals who came up with this
plan. It’s obvious they weren’t thinking and probably
most are not Hermiston alums.
DON HANSON, HERMISTON, PRESIDENT, CLASS OF 1968
Food drive a success
On behalf of the clients of the Agape House, I want
to extend our great thanks to the Hermiston postal
carriers and the people of the Hermiston area for the
great results of the postal carriers’ food drive on May
12. Through their effort, over one and a half tons of food
were collected. If you would like to see the results of
their effort, I invite you to visit Agape House and see the
happy faces of those being served.
Again, thank you all.
DAVE HUGHES, HERMISTON
Thanks for helping homeless
I am proud to say that Starbucks in Hermiston
deserves a big applause for how they treat our homeless!
I was meeting some people at Starbucks and got there
early. There was one of our homeless gentlemen with his
little doggie sitting in one of the chairs. He was pretty
much at home sitting there holding his little companion.
I noticed the staff had placed a small container of water
by his chair for his little buddy. I sat there and smiled
and felt such a warm feeling in my soul that no matter
how bad things look on the outside there really are good
people who run good caring businesses who aren’t out
there just for that mighty dollar!
I have given plenty of food and whatever I can to
help out my people on the streets, because I’ve been
there myself. But I don’t usually see a business do that.
And Starbucks isn’t the only one I’ve experienced that
help their people in need. I was at The Dollar Store
and one of our down-and-outs was sitting outside. I
asked him if he would like something to eat. He said
yes please. He waited while I went in and bought a
couple of sandwiches for him. I had to remember to
get him something he could chew with very few teeth.
The manager allowed me to heat up the sandwiches
and I took it and a bottle of water outside and gave it to
him, along with an easy to open can of dog food for his
companion.
I want to thank both of those managers for caring and
treating everyone with respect and dignity.
Thank you.
BERNIE SANDERSON, HERMISTON
STAFF PHOTO BY JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
Hannah Thompson, Courtney Wheeler and Stephanie Miears, students in the Oregon Teacher Pathway class, will study
education at EOU starting in the fall.
Students become the teachers
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
Many students would
love to get inside the mind
of a teacher. For the past
two years, some Hermiston
students have been taking
a class that allows them to
do that — with the hopes of
finding out if they’d like to
be teachers themselves.
Students in the Oregon
Teacher Pathway class con-
ducted research projects,
each focusing on a specific
aspect of teaching and how
it impacts student success.
The 18 students presented
their findings at the sec-
ond annual Oregon Teacher
Pathway Research Night, at
Hermiston High School’s
library on Monday.
In its second year at
Hermiston High School,
the research-based class
aims to foster diversity in
the field of teaching, give
students the opportunity to
gain college credit while
still in high school and
encourage them to become
teachers. Participants in the
class can also get a signif-
icant discount on majoring
in education at Eastern Ore-
gon University.
Research topics students
in the class chose included
changing core requirements
to affect the dropout rate,
the benefits of preschool
programs, including career
and technical education in
core requirements, and how
handwriting
instruction
impacts student success.
Some students picked a
topic to which they had a
personal connection.
Senior Stephanie Miears
wrote her paper about teach-
er-student relationships in
the classroom — a topic she
said was inspired partly by
her own experience.
“I’ve had good teach-
ers,” she said. “Our rela-
tionships have made me
want to be a better student.”
Courtney
Wheeler’s
research paper was about
programs that low-income
schools offer to students.
“I thought it would be
easy to relate to, because we
have so many low-income
schools here,” she said.
She said she found out
about projects like the back-
pack program, which sends
students home with a back-
pack full of food supplies,
as well as helping students
afford clothing or activities.
“We just had our prom,
and upstairs (at Hermiston
High School), there was a
place to donate dresses,”
she said. “If you couldn’t
afford it, you could find a
dress there.”
Hannah
Thompson’s
project focused on how
teachers can reach stu-
dents with different learn-
ing styles.
“One thing I learned is
that students benefit from
knowing what type of
learner they are,” she said.
Thompson said she was
able to observe some of the
different learning styles in
action while working at a
local elementary school.
During math lessons, she
said, styles would become
more apparent.
“One liked to use graphs,
and one would prefer a
number line,” she said.
Students spent the whole
year in the Oregon Teacher
Pathway class learning
about different aspects of
teaching, and honing their
research skills.
“We’re used to the ‘intro
paragraph, three body
paragraphs, closing para-
graph,’” Thompson said.
These essays were lon-
ger and more detailed, she
said, and students learned
how to navigate some of the
research databases that will
become
frequently-used
tools in college.
Teacher Ericka Keefau-
ver said the program has
grown, from nine students
last year to 18 this year, and
she hopes to see even more
sign up in the future.
Four of this year’s stu-
dents, including Miears,
Thompson and Wheeler,
are headed to Eastern Ore-
gon University to study
education.
MEMORIAL
DAY
May 22 - June 4
Start your SUMMER with
great deals on the TOYOTA
that gets you to your next
ADVENTURE!
0 . 9%
2018
APR for 60 months
OR $1750
Cash Back
2018
OR $2000
Cash Back AWD
Excludes Hybrid
Thank you Dr. Gifford for
serving our community!
2018
Every new Toyota comes with
Gas or Hybrid
NHTSA 5-Star Safety Rating
LEASE A NEW 2018
XLE
Crew Max SR5
AWD
Excludes TRD Pro
4X4
$ 399
$ 309
mo. 36 mos.
mo. 36 mos.
JOSEPH R. GIFFORD, M.D.
After 26 years of continued service to our community,
it is with deep respect and gratitude that we announce
the retirement of Joseph R. Gifford, M.D., Family Practice
$ 0 Security
Deposit
$ 0 Security
Deposit
$ 3,099
Due at Signing
$ 3,199
Due at Signing
Physician. As of April 2018, Dr. Gifford is no longer
seeing patients at the Gifford Medical Center.
TRD
4X4 Excludes TRD Pro
Off-Road Double Cab
$ 299 mo. 36 mos.
We wish Dr. Gifford and his family the best of
$ 0 Security
Deposit
$ 1,849
luck as they embark on their new journey.
Due at Signing
(541) 567-6461 or 800-522-2308
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For more details call 1-888-21-TOYOTA.
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