OFF PAGE ONE 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. WHAT’S NEW ON YOUR SCREEN? Find out with our SCREENtime Entertainment Guide! BTW 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. NEW + IMPROVED UNLIMITED PLANS NOTICEABLY FASTER SPEEDS + INTERNATIONAL COVERAGE starting at $ 30 /MO. with 4 lines PLUS+ :KDW·V1HZLQ6WUHDPLQJ 6SRUWV=RQH