LOCAL
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2019
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
Armand students raise $5,000 for staff member with cancer
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
On Thursday morning, Kelly
Shy knew her workplace —
Armand Larive Middle School
— was having an assembly. She
was asked to come in early and
obliged, not suspecting a thing.
Instead, Shy, who works in the
kitchen at the Hermiston middle
school, was greeted by the entire
school, packed into the commons
— waiting to give her a $5,000
check. Shy is battling breast can-
cer, and the students and staff had
raised the money for her to use for
treatment, through a month-long
penny drive. After they presented
her with the check, students and
staff decked in pink shirts, tutus,
and even pink wigs lined up to
give her a hug and wish her the
best.
Shy wiped away tears, hugging
students and staff members as she
got over the shock.
“I had no idea about any of it,”
she said. “I was just told to wear
pink and show up at 8.”
Shy has been working at
Armand Larive since September,
and was diagnosed with breast
cancer in October. She is also a
single mother and has two sons, a
2-year-old and a 12-year-old.
Mariangela Summers, Armand
Larive’s media assistant, said the
school wanted to do something for
Shy, fi rst deciding to do a benefi t
dinner. That will happen on April
18.
But Summers said a group of
students decided to do something
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Kelly Shy wipes a tear from her eye while being presented with a check for $5,000, and another for $850, to help in
her fi ght against cancer Thursday during an assembly at Armand Larive Middle School in Hermiston. Students at
Sandstone and Armand Larive middle schools raised the funds in a coin drive.
more.
Summers is the advisor for the
school’s Kindness Club, a group
of about 80 students that do ran-
dom acts of kindness throughout
the school. That includes small
projects like giving thank-you
notes to the bus drivers and I.T.
department, handing out buttons
with nice messages to local busi-
nesses, and volunteering at the
ARC’s Valentine’s Day dance.
“This was an opportunity for
the kids to use kindness,” said
Armand Larive principal Stacie
Roberts. “Instead of ‘March Mad-
ness,’ we do ‘March Kindness.’”
The Kindness Club decided to
spearhead a penny drive, starting
in early March. Each class talked
about the purpose of the drive,
raising money for Shy’s treatment,
Crop duster plane crashes in Hermiston
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
A pilot suffered minor
injuries after crashing his
crop duster plane in a fi eld
in Hermiston on Thursday a
little before 3 p.m.
Hermiston Police Cap-
tain Travis Eynon said the
pilot is Ted Pasicka, 60,
of Hermiston. He said the
crash is under investigation,
and they do not have a cause
identifi ed yet.
According to Sgt. Seth
Cooney of Oregon State
Police, the man was fi n-
ished with his work for the
day and returning to the air-
port with an empty tank.
“For unknown reasons,
witnesses indicate that
but all managed to keep it a secret
from her.
Teachers and staff at Armand
Larive sweetened the deal to
encourage their students to bring
in coins — for each level of fund-
raising, the teachers would do
something different — some of
the male teachers agreed to dye
their beards or wearing a tutu to
class.
Daylight Saving bill moves forward
By MARK MILLER
OREGON CAPITAL BUREAU
Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan
Emergency personnel look on as others clean up after a crop
duster plane crashed in a fi eld near Hermiston.
he inverted and crashed,”
Cooney said.
Cooney said the pilot
was the only person in the
plane.
Umatilla County Fire
District personnel said they
didn’t know whether it was
fuel or pesticide that had
leaked out of the plane when
it crashed, but a hazardous
materials truck arrived at
the scene about a half hour
after the crash.
Hermiston to add modulars to two schools
HERMISTON — Though it’s spring
break, Hermiston School District’s Mainte-
nance Department is hard at work, installing
modular buildings to two of its schools this
month to keep up with population growth.
New modulars will be placed at Sunset Ele-
mentary School and Hermiston High School
this week.
A press release from the district said they
are expecting an incoming kindergarten class
of more than 450 students, and an incoming
freshman class of 440 students.
Superintendent Tricia Mooney said the
modulars are a temporary solution to con-
tinued growth, and the district’s long-range
facilities planning committee is working on
fi nding a long-term solution to recommend
to the school board.
The movement gained trac-
tion outside the school, as well.
Sandstone Middle School spent
the last week collecting pennies,
and donated more than $800. And,
the school had a supporter in the
Midwest.
“We had a motivational
speaker come to Armand, and the
kids loved him,” Summers said.
“We decided, when we started the
penny drive, to ask him to send a
video to encourage the kids.”
The speaker, Cory Greenwood,
was moved by the idea, and told
the students that if they docu-
mented their acts of kindness by
writing them down, he would
donate 10 cents for each one. If
they raised $5,000 on their own,
he promised to come back and
deliver the money in person.
Shy, who is in treatment, said
the money will help.
“It’s much appreciated,” she
said. Overall, she said, she’s feel-
ing good.
“I feel tired and achy,” she said.
“But I haven’t been too sick.”
Shy’s colleague in the kitchen,
Debbie Spinden, said she has
never heard her complain about
her illness.
“Kelly is so positive, I’ve never
seen another person like that,” she
said. “I don’t know what more to
say, but I’ve never heard her say a
darn thing.”
In addition to the entire staff
and student body, Shy’s sister and
nephew came to support her on
Thursday.
“They’ve all been very sup-
portive,” she said.
SALEM — Oregon may
not go it alone on switch-
ing to daylight saving time
year-round.
In the latest legislative
proposal, Oregon would
only stop “falling back” in
November if neighboring
California and Washington
do likewise.
Washington lawmak-
ers approved the idea this
month. They still need
to reconcile differences
between the competing
proposals — one bill would
refer the question to voters,
while the other would not
— and submit one to Gov.
Jay Inslee for approval.
In California, voters
passed Proposition 7 last
year, allowing a change to
permanent daylight time
if two-thirds of legisla-
tors approve. A bill to put
California on year-round
daylight time has not yet
received a vote.
If all three states move
to daylight time, the West
Coast of the continental
United States would effec-
tively run on Mountain
Standard Time year-round.
British Columbia is consid-
ering a similar idea, and its
premier said he expects the
Canadian province to fol-
low the lead of the three
states.
“Our biggest trade part-
ners are Washington and
California,” state Sen.
Chuck Riley, D-Hills-
boro, said, also noting Brit-
ish Columbia’s interest.
“Keeping in sync in the
whole coastal area makes a
lot of sense.”
Riley chairs the Sen-
ate Business and General
Government Committee,
which endorsed and for-
warded the amended Sen-
ate Bill 320 to the Senate
last week. It is scheduled
for a third reading there on
Thursday.
SPRING DISCOUNT WEEK
APRIL 1 THRU APRIL 7
Load up your Spring Cleaning waste and take
it to the Transfer Station for disposal.
Cash customers using the Sanitary Disposal Transfer
Station will receive up to $14.00 off each load.
This means a load measuring up to 2.5 cu. yards with
a maximum weight of 454.5 lbs. can be disposed of
for FREE! This includes all acceptable solid waste
with the exception of tires, which will be charged
at the regular rate.
The Transfer Station is located 2 miles north of Hermiston on Hwy 395
and is open weekdays from 8am to 5pm and weekends from 9am to
5pm.
Sanitary Disposal, Inc.
541-567-8842
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