Hermiston’s inaugural Melon Fest photos inside | A13
Wednesday, august 21, 2019
HermistonHerald.com
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INSIDE
LIFE SAVER
A Hermiston man
promotes learning CPR
after using the skill to save
the life of a friend.
PAGE A3
DOG DAYS
Community editor Tammy
Malgesini reflects on her
own “pack” ahead of
National Dog Day.
PAGE A7
DROWNING
UPDATE
Witnesses contradict
reports about who was
driving the boat during
the June drowning deaths
of Janice Arsenault and
Trenton Williams.
PAGE A9
BY THE WAY
Pool closed for
several days
The Hermiston Fam-
ily Aquatic Center is
closed until further notice
due to a “major mechani-
cal failure.”
Parks and recreation
director Larry Fetter said
the most optimistic pro-
jection would be re-open-
ing on Saturday.
Fetter said the aquatic
center’s
basement
mechanical room was
found flooded Tuesday
morning. Staff pumped
out the room and were
still assessing the damage
Tuesday afternoon, but
Fetter said it was likely
caused by a stuck float
valve in the lower surge
tank.
Five electrical motors
from the room, which were
not built to be submerged
in water, have been pulled
out and are being sent to a
local shop to be dried out
and repaired.
Having to close the
aquatic center for several
days is not ideal, Fetter
said, but it is the first time
something of that nature
has happened in the 17
years the pool has been
open. He said he is look-
ing at a flood alarm system
to prevent the problem
The price
of going
back to
school
Teachers, parents and schools
alike are preparing for the
school year, and it comes at a
cost
By JESSICA POLLARD
STAFF WRITER
H
ermiston parents will spend
upwards of $30 at Walmart
sending a fifth-grader to
school with everything on
their school supplies lists
this year. It’s not a number everyone
can pay, and an incoming kindergar-
ten teacher at the district, Celie Fair-
cloth, knows this well.
When kids showed up without
the supplies on their lists, she said,
she found herself making up for
the cost during her time teaching in
Ontario before coming to Hermiston
this year.
“Mostly the lower income fam-
ilies couldn’t afford it,” Faircloth
said. “It’s not something you worry
about when you’re busy paying
your bills.”
At the Hermiston School District,
some principals allocate a class-
room budget to teachers. Faircloth
has invested hers in chair pockets,
which her students will use to hold
supplies.
“I didn’t have that at my old dis-
trict. I was shocked when I found
that out,” she said.
Going into the year, she said
she prefers to have 10 or 12 sets of
school supplies she can pop into a
student’s cubby on the first day if
they don’t have any, so no one feels
left out.
But it’s not just about the staples.
“Anything that makes your class-
room colorful and welcoming usu-
ally comes out of teacher pockets,”
Faircloth said. “If you were to have
just a government-funded class-
room, you would have blank walls
and everything would be white or
brown.”
She estimates that in the past,
she’s spent between $500 and $600
a year out of her own pocket fund-
ing her classroom.
Faircloth’s estimates agree with
national statistics.
The National Teacher and Prin-
cipal Survey released 2016-2017
school year data suggesting 94% of
teachers spend money out of pocket
See COST, Page A14
See BTW, Page A2
Hermiston grad reaches new horizons
Born in Pasco, Wash., Salma
Anguiano has recently found herself
exploring all over the world.
By JESSICA POLLARD
STAFF WRITER
staff photo by Jessica Pollard
8
08805 93294
2
Salma Anguiano is a 2018 Hermiston High School graduate who
currently attends Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash.
Salma Anguiano’s summer has been
marked by travel.
First, she put her Mandarin to test
while studying abroad in China. Then,
she hopped across the states for a lead-
ership conference in New York. In just a
few days, she’ll be heading back to Whit-
man College Campus in Walla Walla,
Wash. to resume her double major in pol-
itics and race and ethnic studies.
Life wasn’t always this way for
Anguiano. She was born in Pasco, Wash-
ington and moved to Hermiston as a tod-
dler with her mother, who was married
when Anguiano turned 10.
“I grew up watching my parents work
really long hours at hard jobs,” she said.
Her mother and stepfather, both from
Mexico, worked various agricultural jobs
in the area. But when Anguiano turned
14, her stepfather got in a work accident
that left him quadriplegic and unable to
work.
“It was such a life changing experi-
ence, it happened suddenly. It taught me
to be very patient and compassionate,”
she said.
Anguiano stepped in to help her fam-
ily, putting hours in the fields and pick-
ing up odd jobs in the community. As a
sophomore in high school, she started
dishwashing at Chen’s restaurant. Her
best friend, whose parents own the place,
soon trained her to be a waitress. In her
free time, she put hours into helping lead
Family, Career and Community Leaders
See GRAD, Page A14