LOCAL
Wednesday, september 4, 2019
HermIstOnHeraLd.COm • A3
Building character in the classroom
By JESSICA POLLARD
STAFF WRITER
At Armand Larive Middle
School, the eighth-graders in
science teacher Katie Cor-
ral’s class are sure to know
each other’s names. After all,
they spent 30 minutes dis-
cussing them last week.
“How many of you have
been in a class and felt that
a teacher didn’t know your
name?” Corral asked the
group.
Several students raised
their hands.
“It made me feel like a
ghost,” one student said.
“It made me feel like
I wasn’t actually there,”
chimed another.
Their conversation was
sparked by the Character-
Strong curriculum, which
was introduced to Armand
Larive this year.
The
CharacterStrong
website describes the pro-
gram as providing curricula
and training that teach char-
acter development and social
emotional learning. Differ-
ent versions of the program
can be purchased by schools
online. They range in price
anywhere from $249 to
$3,999.
The Aug. 28 lesson was
all about the importance
of knowing one another’s
names. Corral went around
the class, naming her stu-
dents one by one. Kids
designed dance moves to go
with their names in order to
help each other remember
who’s who.
staff photo by ben Lonergan
Armand Larive Middle School teacher Katie Corral organizes
names during a CharacterStrong exercise Wednesday
morning in Hermiston.
staff photo by ben Lonergan
Armand Larive Middle School teacher Katie Corral, left, leads a CharacterStrong workshop
involving the importance of remembering names Wednesday morning in Hermiston.
“If you know someone’s
name, you can work with
them. The point is to make
people feel welcome,” Cor-
ral told her class.
The in-class lessons like
last Wednesday’s are supple-
mented with videos, activi-
ties, and “Character Dares,”
which encourage students
to break out of their com-
fort zones by compliment-
ing their peers or holding
doors open for people. Staff
are encouraged to participate
as well.
Principal Stacie Rob-
erts said that Armand Larive
introduced some of the Char-
acterStrong concepts toward
the end of last school year.
“It wasn’t immature.
There’s all kinds of things
you can find for elementary,
and it was great that (Char-
acterStrong) adhered to our
secondary students,” she
said.
Parts of CharacterStrong
are being taught in Hermis-
ton High School’s leadership
classes as well. Roberts said
Sandstone is using a similar
program called Second Step.
Second Step and Charac-
terStrong are two of many
social emotional learning —
or SEL — development pro-
grams available for schools
to purchase online.
According to The Collab-
orative for Academic, Social
and Emotional Learning,
SEL is “the process through
which children and adults
understand and manage
emotions, set and achieve
positive goals, feel and show
empathy for others, establish
and maintain positive rela-
tionships, and make respon-
sible decisions.”
And it’s something that’s
been on the forefront of
many administrators’ minds
over the past few years.
In 2018, growing emo-
tional problems among stu-
dents was the top concern for
a sample of K-8 principals in
the United States, according
to a 10-year study released
by the National Associa-
tion of Elementary School
Principals.
It’s something that didn’t
even make the top three back
in 2008, when principals
expressed more worry over
student assessment and insti-
tutional practices.
Also in 2018, the Aspen
Institute’s National Com-
mission on Social, Emo-
tional and Academic Devel-
opment released a research
report that found that nine in
10 parents thought schools
had a role in helping chil-
dren develop “life skills.”
The same study revealed
four in five teachers who
were surveyed wanted more
support to address social and
emotional development in
classrooms.
For Roberts, the social
emotional learning taking
place at Armand Larive this
year is part of a much bigger
picture.
“In middle school, it’s
a hormone explosion,” she
said. “If we can help accli-
mate and adjust a student to
everything going on in their
life, that’s the ultimate goal.
We found something that
has fun activities, and hope-
fully we’re creating better
people.”
Hermiston water tower Local man on hook for attempted arson
nearing completion
By PHIL WRIGHT
STAFF WRITER
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
The new water tower
in northeast Hermiston
has almost reached its full
height.
The 124-foot-tall water
tank itself is expected to be
completed Sept. 18. Paint-
ing will take place Sept. 19
to Oct. 2, and the city will
begin using the tank for
pressure in early Novem-
ber before completing the
final punch list by the end
of the year.
Premiere Excavation of
Pasco is completing work
on the roughly $4 million
project. This week and next
week the company is also
installing pipe under Pun-
kin Center Road near the
tower. During the instal-
lation process a section of
the road has been reduced
to one lane, with delays as
flaggers direct traffic.
The water tower and
new pipelines around the
tower are being paid for
using money from Lamb
Weston. In lieu of property
taxes, the french fry com-
pany agreed to pay $1 mil-
lion per year, split between
the city of Hermiston and
Umatilla County, for the
first 15 years of their fac-
tory expansion completed
earlier this year. The county
agreed to give Hermis-
ton the first $2 million of
its share to be used on the
water tower, with Hermis-
ton using its first $2 million
to cover the rest.
The
1-million-gallon
tower will expand Hermis-
ton’s water storage capac-
staff photo by Jade mcdowell
A new water tower on the
corner of Northeast 10th
Street and Punkin Center
Road in Hermiston is in the
final stages of construction.
ity in the event of an emer-
gency and will open up
hundreds of acres of resi-
dential property for devel-
opment at a lower cost. It
will also benefit a future
elementary school Herm-
iston School District hopes
to build on Theater Lane.
Assistant City Manager
Mark Morgan said for now
the tower will be painted
the same beige as Herm-
iston’s south water tower,
minus the watermelon
logo.
“The tank is located off
the beaten path, and due
to the height and diame-
ter, we really weren’t sure
how visible any messaging
painted on it would be from
various locations in town,”
Morgan wrote in an email.
“Therefore, the plan has
been to erect the tank first
(and get it painted with the
necessary protective coat),
and then we’ll know for
sure how visible any mes-
saging will be and where it
needs to be oriented.”
Timothy Allen Kelly of
Irrigon faces attempted arson
charges. Court records show
the crime has roots going
back to when Kelly avoided
a murder rap in 2014.
Kelly, 28, pleaded not
guilty on Aug. 1 in Uma-
tilla County Circuit Court
to six counts of first-degree
attempted arson, one count
of possessing an explosive
device, one count of sec-
ond-degree criminal mis-
chief and two counts of reck-
lessly endangering others.
The case began almost a
year earlier, Aug. 14, 2018,
when Umatilla County Fire
District 1 received a call-
out just before 5 a.m. for a
fire at 1100 W. Sunland Ave.,
Hermiston. According to the
search warrant affidavit by
Hermiston Police Depart-
ment Lt. Randy Studebaker,
firefighters found a burning
Molotov cocktail in broken
glass in a rock bed directly
beneath a bedroom window.
The incendiary device
consisted of a glass soda bot-
tle with duct tape securing a
cloth rag for a wick with gas-
oline remaining in the bot-
tle. The window was open
to accommodate an air con-
ditioner on one side, and the
bomb struck and broke the
outer pane.
Seven people were in
the house, including two
children.
Hermiston police later that
day received a tip, accord-
ing to the affidavit, identify-
ing Kelly as the person who
threw the Molotov in retali-
ation for one person in the
house stealing his guns.
Kelly has convictions
in 2013 and 2014 in Uma-
tilla County for delivery of
methamphetamine, cocaine
and heroin. The court docu-
ments do not reveal how he
acquired the guns.
The Blue Mountain Nar-
cotics Enforcement Team
the following day raided the
house and confiscated guns.
Hermiston police returned to
the home and questioned one
of the occupants.
She was related to Dan-
iel Dechand, the man Kelly
shot and killed in 2014 out-
side Hermiston. A Umatilla
County grand jury found
Kelly acted in self defense.
Still, the court record states,
there was tension between
Dechand’s relative and Kelly,
and they knew that through
mutual acquaintances.
They also saw each other
not long before at stor-
age units in Hermiston. She
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admitted to police she and
others stole guns from Kel-
ly’s unit.
Police soon tracked down
Kelly, who confirmed he was
the victim of a storage unit
burglary but denied having
anything to do with the Molo-
tov cocktail. Police watched
video from the storage busi-
ness that showed the bur-
glary of Kelly’s unit, the affi-
davit states, and also showed
Kelly and two others tried to
break into the unit belonging
to Dechand’s relative.
The affidavit noted Kelly
claimed to be out of town
at the time of the burglary,
which was 32 minutes before
the report of the fire.
The case had a pre-trial
proceeding Thursday morn-
ing in Pendleton, and Cir-
cuit Court Judge Christopher
Brauer set a trial readiness
hearing for Sept. 12 with the
trial starting Sept. 23.
Kelly has three other cases
open, all in Umatilla County.
He pleaded not guilty last
September to burglary, theft
and criminal mischief. That
case goes to trial Sept. 25.
He also pleaded not guilty in
February to failure to appear
in the burglary case.
And Kelly on Aug. 1
pleaded not guilty to menac-
ing. The state has alleged he
committed the misdemeanor
against a man in February
2018. That case goes to trial
Sept. 25.
Oregon
Hermiston/Pendleton Local Program #510 would
like to thank local businesses and individuals which
helped make our annual golf tournament a success.
The tournament was able to raise over $6k to support our local athletes!
ONSORS
GOLD MEDAL SP
• Roger’s Toyota of Hermiston
• Umatilla Electric Cooperative
• Our Lady of Angels The Knights of • Purswell Pump Co
• Wyatt Harris/Northwest Mutual
Columbus Council #3999
• A&A Mini Storage
NSORS
silver MEDAL SPO
• Parkins Garage Door Co
• Inland Pool & Spa Centre
• Burns Mortuary of Hermiston
• Swain Motors Inc
• Dan & Christine Aguirre Family
• Schroth Financial Services
• Paul Burns/Burns Property LLC
• Barak & Associates
hoLe SPONSORS
• Oregon Trail Homes
• Hermiston Drug & Gift
• Lifetime Vision Source
• Gary Culp Machine
• Fence Tite Rite
• Mary Bousquet
• Horace Mann Insurance
• Doris Boatright
• Sach & Miyoko Mikami
• Dan & Christine Aguirre Family
• RDO Equipment Inc
• R&R Sports Trophies
• Jeff & Lisa Smalley
• Eastern Oregon Telecom
• Jonas & Jessica Oltman
• O So Kleen Inc
• Walker Wells Financial Advising • Entune CBD/Jeff Edmundson
• Burns Mortuary of Hermiston
S
other SPONSOR
• Lesa Bunton
• Parkins Garage Door Co
• Eastern Oregon Mobile Slaughter
• Rita McDougal
prizes
team prizes & door
• Randy’s Pro Shop
• Club 24 Express Fitness
• Norco
• Desert Lanes
• Les Schwab Tire Center
• Ste. Michelle Wine Estates
• Smitty’s Ace Hardware
• Hagerman Trucking
• Deanna Plum/Tastefully Simple
• Midway Tavern
• Obie’s Express
• Ye Olde Pizza Shoppe
• Rick’s Car Wash
• Pizza Hut
• Yo Country Frozen Yogurt
• Neighbor Dudes
• American Printing
• Hale’s Restaurant
• Northwest Farm Supply
luncheon
Lunch sponsored by Tom Huxoll, owner of Cascade Automotive, & was served by The
Knights of Columbus, & Special Olympics coach Doris Boatright. Hermiston Safeway &
7-Eleven also contributed to the luncheon.
Special Thank You to Randy Sperr for your help
on behalf of Echo Hills Golf Course