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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2019
HermistonHerald.com
PAGE A10
$1.00
INSIDE
Off to see the
HONORED
Dan and Terri Dorran, this
year’s Umatilla County
Fair court and others were
recognized at the Fair
Appreciation Dinner on
Saturday.
PAGE A3
SCORE
Meals, hotels and more
add up for the local econ-
omy when 4,000 people
come to Hermiston for a
sports tournament.
PAGE A7
WIZARD
RESCUE
Morrow County Sheriff ’s
Offi ce deputies rescued
two men after they
became stranded in the
snow.
PAGE A9
BY THE WAY
Exclusion Day
coming for
students without
immunizations
As of Monday there
were 36 confi rmed cases
of measles and 11 sus-
pected cases in Clark
County,
Washington,
mostly among children
who have not been vacci-
nated against the disease.
The outbreak has spread
across the river into Port-
land, and The Bulletin is
now reporting that a sus-
pected measles patient vis-
ited Bend and may have
exposed residents there.
Students
in
Ore-
gon who do not have the
state’s required immuni-
zations and whose parents
have not signed a belief-
based exemption will be
excluded from school
starting Feb. 20 until they
are either immunized or
exempted.
With that in mind,
Umatilla County Public
Health is offering immu-
nization clinics Feb. 14-15
from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in
Hermiston (435 E New-
port St.) and Feb. 19 from
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Pend-
leton (200 S.E. Third
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Actors William Kern, Brooks Bellinger, Joy Love Breshears and Louis Parra reacts to the voice of Wizard of Oz, played by Shawn Conant, during a dress
rehearsal for the Hermiston High School production of “The Wizard of Oz” on Monday in Hermiston.
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
s Dorothy hopped and skipped her way around Oz
on Monday night, an army of students and volun-
teers were working in harmony to make the magic
she encountered come to life on the Hermiston
High School stage.
It was the fi rst dress rehearsal for the high school’s pro-
duction of “The Wizard of Oz,” which debuts Friday.
“It’s gonna be a bumpy ride, but that’s OK,” director Beth
Anderson encouraged the students as they prepared to go for
the full effect of the show for the very fi rst time.
The fi rst actors came onstage at 5 p.m., but work started
well before then as costume, make-up and technical crews
made sure the students looked the part and were wired for
sound. Sounds of the student orchestra warming up drifted
over the auditorium, and stage managers were making sure
set pieces and props were in order.
“It’s extremely easy to lose track of props and costumes
backstage,” assistant stage manager Ava Tixier said.
The sophomore said she had done costumes and make-up
for the school’s past productions of “Seussical” and “Game
of Tiaras” but she was particularly enjoying the chance to
A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
A chorus line performs a musical number during a dress
rehearsal of the Hermiston High School production of “The
Wizard of Oz” on Monday in Hermiston.
get a broader view of how a show comes together backstage.
Actors have to have confi dence to get onstage in front
See WIZARD, Page A8
See BTW, Page A8
Hermiston, Umatilla close the graduation gap
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
Photo contributed by Shara Giordano
8
08805 93294
2
Graduating senior Jessica Giordano walks through her old elementary school,
Highland Hills, before graduating in 2018.
Hermiston saw a large increase
in graduation rates in 2018.
The Oregon Department of
Education released its 2017-18
graduation rates Thursday morn-
ing. Umatilla County’s schools
all hovered within a few points of
the state average, but superinten-
dents say they’ll continue to work
toward improved performance for
all students.
Hermiston now sits at 74.2 per-
cent for their four-year graduation
rate. Last year, the district’s grad-
uation rate was 8.4 points lower, at
65.82 percent.
The number is still a few points
below the state’s average of 78.68,
but Hermiston Superintendent Tri-
cia Mooney said the district is
pleased with the growth. But she
said they didn’t want to just focus
on graduation numbers.
“There are two numbers we
were really looking at,” Mooney
said. “The four-year cohort gradu-
ation rate, and the four-year cohort
completion rate.”
Mooney said the completion rate
includes students who received a
GED or an extended diploma. The
completer rate for 2017-18 was
87.47, fi ve points above the state’s
four-year completion rate of 82.53.
She said the work of students
and staff showed in the improved
graduation rates, but she was also
excited about the above-average
See GRADS, Page A8