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A14 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
Duo
Saturday night, which were
awarded to Jeri Jordan and
Travis Glover, respectively.
Jordan was honored for
her longtime service as the
fair’s overall superintendent
of open class static entries
and coordinating the tex-
tile and needle crafts. Steve
Anderson, vice chair of the
board, also highlighted Jor-
dan’s contributions to pre-
fair planning and willing-
ness to support the fair
however she could.
“She is someone who
leads and takes charge,
which takes pressure off of
the fair board,” Anderson
said.
Glover’s fair participa-
tion began while he was
young and in the 4-H and
FFA programs. Now, he’s
someone the fair board has
relied on to show up and
help no matter the job and
no matter the time of day.
“He’s someone who spe-
cializes in the grunt work,
the down and dirty work,”
fair board member Micheal
Hampton said during Glov-
er’s announcement. “He’s
someone who does the work
that others don’t want to do.”
The fair board also
awarded Andy and Trevor
Wagner with special recog-
nitions for their volunteer-
ism, along with Stuart Rice
and Hermiston’s Midway
Bar and Grill as the 2019
business partnership of the
year.
Rice doubled down on
his support of the fair Sat-
urday night too. Rather than
accepting $617 he won from
the banquet’s 50/50 raffl e,
Rice donated that money
to the fair court, which net-
ted them a total of $1,234 in
donations for the night.
It was also a time for roy-
alty Saturday night with the
introduction of the 2020
court. Kyleigh Sepulveda
of Hermiston will serve on
the court for the second con-
secutive year and is joined
by Keeva Hoston, also of
Hermiston, and Baylee Mar-
shall and Brielle Youncs,
both of Pendleton.
The night began with the
announcement that the 2020
fair theme will be “Ready,
Set, Show,” and the count-
down is now on until the
Umatilla County Fair opens
Aug. 11-15.
Umatilla School Dis-
trict superintendent Heidi
Sipe was proud to announce
Thursday that students in
each data group measured
by the Oregon Department
of Education surpassed the
state’s averages.
“(Umatilla High School)
strives to help every stu-
dent graduate prepared for
their next steps,” Sipe said
in news release. “The work
of elementary and middle
school instructors is evident
in the graduation success as
well as it takes strong foun-
dations to build high school
completion victories.”
In the past few years, the
district’s graduation rate has
risen from the low 60s up to
87% during the 2018-2019
school year.
Sipe said that when the
district pulled its alternative
school students back into the
general population of the
high school, graduation rates
took a fall but that interven-
tions picked it back up.
“Kids who know people
will not give up on them,
who know failure is not an
option are going to gradu-
ate,” she said.
The male and English
language learner graduation
rates took a dip this year,
by six and seven percent-
age points respectively. But
Sipe said that in a class of
just over 100 students, a few
kids can make that kind of
change.
“We track kids by name
and face,” she said.
Morrow County School
District
At just over 88%, Mor-
row County School Dis-
trict’s overall graduation
rate for last school year is
just shy of the administra-
tion’s eventual 90% goal.
“Once we get to 90%,
we’ll try to get to 95%,”
said Superintendent Dirk
Dirksen. “We’re cautiously
optimistic.”
Dirksen acknowledged
the district’s slow and steady
race past the state aver-
age began after the 2011-
12 school year, when the
district graduated just more
than 70% of its senior class
on time.
“We didn’t have any type
of GED program then,”
Dirsksen said.
Since the implementation
of that program around fi ve
years ago, he said the dis-
trict was seeing higher grad-
uation and completion rates.
The 2018-19 completer rate
sits at more than 90%.
Economically disadvan-
taged students and home-
less students saw marked
percentage increases in their
cohort rates from the year
before, which Dirksen cred-
its to the district’s one-on-
one approach.
“We have a pretty robust
wraparound program that
helps support those kids,
helps them get ready for
Continued from Page A1
even helped start the fair’s
fi rst-ever livestock sales
committee, which shattered
records last year by raising
more than $600,000.
But while announcing
the two on Saturday night,
Steve Wallace, chair of the
fair board, highlighted the
“dynamic duo’s” indelible
impact on the youth in the
community above all else.
“We can’t say just how
many youth they have infl u-
enced,” he said. “But we can
say with 100% certainty that
in some way or another, you
and your family have bene-
fi ted from their service.”
After the event, Alice
said she was shocked by the
honor and proud to repre-
sent the people of Umatilla
County.
“I love the town. I love
the people. And I love the
fair and everything it’s done
for them,” Alice said.
The fair board also rec-
ognized its 2019 female and
male volunteers of the year
Grad
Continued from Page A1
because of language arts
credits,” Depew said.
This year, the high school
is providing supplemen-
tal classes for students who
speak English as a second
language to gain their lan-
guage arts credits.
At 87.5%, Depew added
the district’s completer rate
(which includes students
who graduated late or got
a GED) is above the state
average, in part due to the
district’s GED program.
It’s a number that admin-
istrators hope to see decrease
over time as on-time gradu-
ation rates increase, but for
now, Depew is certain of
one thing.
“The kids who are leav-
ing us are ready for college
or a career,” he said.
Umatilla School District
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Travis Glover, holding his son Teagan, receives the 2019
Volunteer of the Year award from presenter Michael Hampton
during Saturday’s Umatilla County Fair Appreciation Dinner.
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Continued from Page A1
offi cer in the Boardman
Rural Fire Protection Dis-
trict, where he has served
since 2007.
Hughes has 33 years of
experience and is currently
a volunteer fi refi ghter. He
has served as a training
offi cer in Twin Bridges,
Montana, since 2014.
• • •
The Hermiston Warm-
ing Station once again
closed its doors earlier this
week after not enough vol-
unteers signed up to keep
the emergency shelter
open.
There is still a chance
to catch two more volun-
teer trainings. They will be
held on Wednesday from
6-7 p.m. and Thursday
from 5-6 p.m. at the warm-
ing station, 1075 S. High-
way 395.
Volunteers must have
completed a training, be
over the age of 18 and pass
a background check. Shifts
school. Whether they need
an alarm clock, a phone call,
nursing support,” Dirksen
said.
But while the number of
diplomas is on an upward
trend for some groups, stu-
dents with disabilities and
migrant students saw signif-
icant drops, by about 11%
and 5%, respectively.
Dirksen is hoping an
increase in state funding
through the Student Suc-
cess Act could help the dis-
trict invest in more spe-
cifi c programming for those
populations.
“We’re working dili-
gently to meet student spe-
cifi c needs,” he said.
Stanfi eld School District
Across Umatilla County,
the Stanfi eld School District
saw one of the biggest jumps
in graduation rates from the
year prior by about 18 per-
centage points.
Superintendent
Beth
Burton believes the change
run throughout the night,
and volunteers can sign
up online as their schedule
allows.
• • •
Cascadia Earthquake
Preparedness Week runs
Jan. 26- Feb. 5.
Don’t forget to take the
opportunity to check over
your emergency supplies,
stock up on a few more
and make sure you have a
family plan in the event of
a natural disaster.
• • •
The menu for the Har-
kenrider Senior Activ-
ity Center for Thursday
is chicken soup, salad
and dessert. Friday is a
cook’s choice smorgas-
bord. Monday is french
dip sandwich, salad, fruit
and dessert. Tuesday is
beans with ham, corn-
bread, fruit and dessert.
Next Wednesday is BLT
sandwich, potato salad,
fruit and dessert.
— You can submit items
for our weekly By The Way
column by emailing your
tips to editor@hermiston-
herald.com.
came from a number of fac-
tors in recent years, mainly
stabilization of the district’s
leadership, and the re-im-
plementation of an advisory
program at the secondary
level.
“It wouldn’t work if it
were just an administra-
tor idea. But the staff has
been really diligent in mak-
ing sure that time is knowl-
edge,” Burton said.
Burton said the advisory
program reserves a 30 min-
ute period each day for stu-
dents to evaluate their aca-
demic progress, to study,
and to do make-up work or
re-take tests.
While Stanfi eld saw
improvement in every stu-
dent sub-group, Burton said
she hopes the district will
continue increase graduation
rates for historically under-
served populations.
“I’m looking for those
numbers to increase,” she
said.
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