FROM A1 A14 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM “I love how the community pulls together, but make it more well known to people,” she said. “I’m sure other parents are going through (this).” To form school supplies lists at Herm- iston School District this year, staff from each elementary school met with Bryn Browning, assistant superintendent, to pinpoint what supplies were most neces- sary for each grade level district-wide. This year, the district was able to lessen the burden on parents through purchasing agreements with different companies and will be providing Clorox Wipes and extra Kleenex tissues for students. The dis- trict also recently moved away from hav- ing parents purchase headphones individ- ually, to having parents pay $3 for ones provided by the school. According to Browning, this move helped to eliminate the difference in size and quality of headphones among stu- dents, as the district will be purchas- ing almost 3,000 pairs of headphones for grades K-5. Browning said local partners donate and fundraise for school supplies, which are dispersed yearly across the five ele- mentary schools in the district for students who can’t provide items on the school supply list. The Hermiston Church of the Naza- rene recently wrapped up a school sup- plies drive for Rocky Heights Elementary School. “We’re just collecting it here in the church,” said office manager Gabrielle Fritz. “We know school supplies are get- ting expensive.” On Aug. 24, the Hermiston Educa- tion Foundation will be hosting a run called the Back to School Supply Dash to gather school supply donations for ele- mentary and middle schools in the dis- trict. The entry fee for the event, which starts at 9 a.m. at the Hermiston Church of the Nazarene, is either $5 or $5 worth of supplies. Lacey Sharpe, principal at Stanfield Elementary, said that her school receives donations from larger entities like the Walmart Distribution Center, and from a local church that donates backpacks full of supplies. Investing in classroom sets of common supplies helps alleviate the burden for teachers and parents too, she said. “We’ve been able to cut our lists back, which has been helpful for families,” Sharpe said. “Once you have a class set of scissors, you don’t need them on the list anymore. Schools really appreciate the things parents buy to help support their kids in the classroom. We utilize everything.” COST Continued from Page A1 on classroom supplies. The data is cur- rently being re-evaluated, but a previous finding from the same survey shows that during the 2006-2007 school year, 92% of teachers in rural areas spent and aver- age of $407 yearly on supplies for their classrooms. Nationally, different campaigns are being launched to gift teachers school sup- plies from wish lists created on Amazon. On the community Facebook page What’s Happening Hermiston, teachers from Umatilla to Union counties are link- ing their lists on a thread where commu- nity members are interested in helping out. They’re looking for everything from pencils and desk organizers to books and visual aids — things that make a class- room a habitat for learning — but that the untrained eye might not think twice about. Faircloth said she doesn’t blame the schools for the lack of available funding. And she doesn’t blame parents either. “I would like to see a program where parents can get some assistance getting school supplies,” she said. “I feel for those parents who can’t provide it.” Jamie Campbell has two children head- ing to school this month and is concerned about getting her kids the supplies they need. She moved back to Hermiston to care for her aging father after living in Flor- ida for eight years. In the past, Camp- bell said, she’s worked as a receptionist, but was unable to find a position in the area. Instead, she’s working at a local dol- lar store part time. She has back and knee problems, but that won’t stop her. “Now that I’m working on my feet, it’s constant pain but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” Campbell said. She said her son, who’s headed to high school, wants to make sure he has every- thing he needs. But between her income and her husband’s Social Security, she’s not sure she can make it happen as she continues to pay the rent and put pay- ments on the car. “It’s kind of an embarrassment when all of the kids have their supplies, and you’re just sitting there,” she said. She reached out on social media, ask- ing about what parents who can’t afford school supplies should do, and some peo- ple in the community offered to help her out. At this point, Campbell’s not sure what she’ll end up doing. She said she prefers paying her own way and is hoping to pick up more hours at work. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2019 GRAD Continued from Page A1 of America organization at a state level through Hermis- ton High School. “Growing up my par- ents definitely wanted me to go to college,” Anguiano said. “I definitely wasn’t a stranger to any of the sac- rifices they had to make to make it easy for me to go to school.” Before graduation in 2018, Anguiano applied for more than 30 colleges. She said that as a first-generation college student, the process wasn’t easy, but she even- tually settled on Whitman College. “In Hermiston, a lot of people are first-gen,” she said. “There’s also a lot of people from low-income families. I think Hermis- ton High School pushes stu- dents to take the right steps to apply and get into col- lege. I had to teach myself everything. I always asked for help. It’s something that was hard for me at first. As a first generation student, you don’t want to ask for help. But you have to.” Nowadays, in addition to giving campus tours at Whit- man, Anguiano is also the First Generation Working Class intern at her school. She helps get resources and create programming for first generation and working class students like herself at Whitman. This year, for the sec- ond year in a row, Anguiano has been a recipient of the Workers’ Memorial Scholar- ship from the Oregon Occu- pational Safety and Health Division. The scholarship is for family members of Oregon workers who have been fatally injured or per- manently disabled while working. It’s one of numerous scholarships she’s earned to help fund her education through the Oregon Office of Student Access and Com- pletion scholarship portal. “I recommend kids apply to OSAC,” Anguiano said. “Without those scholarships it would have been diffi- cult for me to do this kind of work.” The work Anguiano refers to involves a bill she’s work- ing to create with lobby- ists through her school. It’s focused on advocacy around worker compensation. Last year, she traveled with Whitman to New York for the Debate for Democ- racy National Conference, where she helped defend the bill during a legislative hearing. “Our school ended up tying with Pitzer College, and we won an award for our advocacy efforts,” Anguiano said. This year, she’s helped procure more funding to continue advocating for the bill. In the future, she’s inter- ested in maybe running for political office. Mostly, she wants to pursue grassroots work. “I love doing social jus- tice work and work with nonprofits. I know it doesn’t pay very well, but if I can just afford to live and do what I love, I’ll be happy,” Anguiano said. Students cash in with good grades Students from across the region cashed in on Community Bank’s Earn While You Learn Program. A total of 769 student-customers in the Eastern Oregon and southeast Washington area earned a total of $18,217 for good grades in school. In its ninth year, the program is designed to encourage students in their aca- demic success by making deposits to Com- munity Bank Youth Savings account custom- ers for their good grades. During the months of June and July, all Community Bank branches accepted end- of-the-year report cards from students in first through 12th grade. For every top grade in main school subjects, Community Bank deposited $1 into their Community Bank Youth Savings Account. The program rewards students with up to $50 annually. The total paid out since the program began in 2011 is $114,602. Community Bank was founded in 1955 by a group of Joseph business leaders as the Bank of Wallowa County. Since then, it Photo contributed by Leah Johnson Gaser Leavitt and Lilianna Castillo of Hermiston cashed in on Community Bank’s Earn While You Learn Program. has grown across the region, including local branches in Hermiston and Heppner. For more information about the program, stop by a local branch of Community Bank or contact marketing manager Leah John- son at 541-207-0717, ljohnson@community- banknet.com or visit www.communitybank- net.com. LEASE AN ALL NEW 2019 Gas only. Hybrid models slightly higher. LE Adventure AWD $ 0 $ 239 mo. 36 mos. AWD Security $ 2,899 Deposit Due at Signing $ 2,899 $ 0 Security $ 299 mo. Deposit Due at Signing 36 mos. LEASE A NEW 2019 3.5-liter V6 direct-injection engine Over 10,000 lbs of towing capacity Double Cab SR5 4X4 Excludes TRD Pro Meet Our New Internist Bradley Tymchuk, MD $ 2,999 $ 0 Security $ 359 mo. Deposit Due at Signing 36 mos. 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