NEWS
Wednesday, august 19, 2020
HeRMIstOnHeRaLd.COM • A3
Car club cultivates project for Funland
By TAMMY MALGESINI
FOR tHe HeRMIstOn HeRaLd
A group of car enthusi-
asts recently plowed for-
ward, logging in more than
400 hours while restoring a
circa 1955 tractor.
Larry Storment, past pres-
ident of Hermiston Classics
Car Club, said Larry Fet-
ter, director of Hermiston
Parks & Recreation, con-
tacted him this past spring
to see if the group was inter-
ested in the effort. Storment,
who shared some pictures
and presented the idea to
fellow club members, said
to his knowledge, the club
had never taken on a tractor
project. However, they were
quickly on board.
“Nuts and bolts are nuts
and bolts,” Storment said.
“It doesn’t make a differ-
ence what it’s on when tear-
ing something apart and
putting it back together.”
Donated by Bill Elfer-
ing, a Umatilla County com-
missioner, the Massey-Har-
ris #333 row-crop tractor
IMESD
offers
virtual
academy
By JADE MCDOWELL
neWs edItOR
The Intermountain Edu-
cation Service District
has partnered with its 18
school districts to create
Virtual Academies, a new
online option for students.
According to a news
release, the online school-
ing option will be differ-
ent than the comprehen-
sive distance learning that
schools will offer until
students are able to be in
the classroom with their
teacher. The IMESD has
hired teachers specifically
for Virtual Academies, and
students can use the acad-
emy all year even if their
district returns to in-person
classes.
“While many of our
districts have already had
these in place, the con-
stantly changing needs,
especially recently with
school closures, of educat-
ing students have height-
ened the necessity to offer
stronger online options,”
Erin Lair, IMESD’s direc-
tor of teaching and learn-
ing, said in a statement.
Students who enroll in
the program will remain
enrolled in their home dis-
trict, and still be able to
access the benefits of being
in that district, including
extracurricular activities
and technical support.
The districts also benefit
from keeping the student
enrolled in their district
by being able to retain the
state funding for that stu-
dent. Marie Shimer, direc-
tor of educational services
for Morrow County School
District, said that helps the
district financially, but the
concept is also about fol-
lowing students who in
some cases started kinder-
garten in the district all the
way through to graduation.
“Of course, we don’t
want our enrollment to
decrease, we want our
budgets to remain sta-
ble,” she said in the news
release, “but also, these are
our kids, our students and
they live in our commu-
nities. As a public school,
we are committed to their
success.”
Hermiston School Dis-
trict is not a member of
the IMESD, but families in
other Eastern Oregon dis-
tricts involved in the edu-
cation service district can
contact their school dis-
trict for details about how
to enroll their student in a
virtual academy.
Photo contributed by Larry Fetter
Umatilla County Commissioner Bill Elfering shows off
the restored 1955 tractor he is donating to the Funland
playground project.
had been sitting idle on his
property just east of Herm-
iston for the better part of 15
years. While he often pon-
dered restoring it, Elfering
decided to give it to the city
of Hermiston for its Funland
Playground project at Butte
Park.
Fetter said the tractor will
be among some “authentic
pieces” that will provide a
connection to the region’s
heritage in one of the sec-
tions of the park. The proj-
ect replaces the community
playground that was lost in a
suspected arson fire in May
2019. Fetter said in addi-
tion to a farming/agriculture
area, Funland will feature an
Adventure Zone and a sec-
tion highlighting the Wild
West. It’s Fetter’s hope that
additional tractors will be
donated in the future.
With the intention of tap-
ping into the commission-
er’s connections with area
farmers, Fetter asked Elfer-
ing if he knew anyone that
had “a cool old tractor.” Fet-
ter didn’t need to look any
further as Elfering offered
up the Massey-Harris that
his father, John, purchased
brand new more than six
decades ago.
“I grew up on that trac-
tor,” Elfering said. “It was
what I would call a stud of
a tractor. It was top of the
line.”
Elfering’s father, who
was the Malheur County
sheriff, raised mostly feed
crops, including hay and
corn, as well as some irri-
gated wheat. In addition,
Elfering has fond memo-
ries of family holiday gath-
erings when his dad hitched
up a cattle feeder as a make-
shift sled.
“Everyone squealed and
had a great time being pulled
around,” Elfering said.
created some cover-ups
and manufactured parts to
ensure the equipment was
child safe.
“It sat out in that field for
a long time. We took a piece
of machinery that didn’t
look too good and brought it
back to life,” Storment said.
“I think it will be one of the
biggest attractions of Fun-
land park. I think the kids
will really enjoy it.”
Fetter agreed, saying,
“They just did a fantas-
tic job. I’m quite thrilled
to have it in our very cool
park.”
Groundbreaking for the
Funland Playground project
was held July 29. While the
completion date is depen-
dent on fall weather, Fet-
ter is hoping for an October
completion date.
The community can still
purchase engraved fence
pickets, which are $100
for individual and family
names or $250 for a busi-
ness name. Orders and pay-
ment can be made online at
bit.ly/funlandpicket.
Hermiston School District releases school day outline
districts ban transfers
between schools
By JADE MCDOWELL AND
ANTONIO SIERRA
staFF WRIteRs
As the start to the 2020-
21 school year draws
closer, Hermiston School
District has released a
“snapshot” of what fami-
lies can expect in a typical
school day.
School will start at
8:30 a.m. in order to give
students time to get their
materials organized and
log in to their devices and
learning platforms for the
day, according to the snap-
shot. The first day of school
is scheduled for Tuesday,
Sept. 8.
From 8:30 a.m. until
noon, students will engage
in
“teacher-facilitated
learning.” That learning
will be a mixture of live
video interactions with
teachers and other students,
and watching prerecorded
materials.
“Teacher-facilitated
learning will be both
recorded and live sessions
to allow flexibility for your
student and family,” Bryn
Browning, assistant super-
intendent, said in a news
release.
From there, students will
be expected to take a lunch
break from noon to 12:30
before beginning indi-
vidualized learning until
2:30 p.m. That time period
can be used for one-on-one
or small group sessions
with teachers, completing
homework, collaborating
with other students, read-
ing, listening to music
or “creating.”
Unlike the distance
learning offered in the
spring, according to
a “Frequently Asked
Questions” document
released by the district,
students will be given
letter grades and atten-
dance will be taken
daily.
Individual schools
and teachers will con-
tact families with more
detailed schedules for
their student before the
school year begins, the
district stated, but they
should “plan on the
morning time for full
online participation and
some teacher interaction
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Hallways at Armand Larive Middle School and other schools throughout Hermiston will be
empty to start the school year as the district looks to begin the school year with distance
learning.
“WE ALL NEED TO WORK TOGETHER TO GET
OUR STUDENTS BACK IN SCHOOL. ... WITH THE
VARIOUS SIZES OF DISTRICTS IN OUR
COUNTIES, EACH MAY OFFER DIFFERENT
OPPORTUNITIES FOR LEARNING.”
Tricia Mooney, Hermiston School District Superintendent
as well in the afternoons.”
Transfers
Eastern Oregon school
districts, including Herm-
iston, are offering families
choices between enrolling
in long-term virtual acad-
emies hosted by their dis-
trict or temporarily partici-
pating in distance learning
with a hope of transition-
ing the student into that
teacher’s physical class-
room for in-person learn-
ing later in the year.
The districts have
agreed to suspend most
transfers between districts,
however.
Banding together as a
region, the 12 school dis-
tricts of Umatilla and Mor-
row counties signed a pact
that will freeze new trans-
fers among these districts
for the 2020-21 school
year.
The moratorium went
into effect on the same
day the letter was dated,
although students who had
transferred into districts
prior to the moratorium
would be allowed to stay
at their schools.
“The
(superinten-
dents of) Umatilla and
Morrow (counties) have
long shared a collabora-
tive working relationship
in the best interest of our
families and students,” the
Aug. 4 letter states. “We
value school choice and
worked very hard to honor
our families’ decisions. For
years, we accomplished
this through the interdis-
trict transfer process.
“Unfortunately, the cur-
rent COVID-19 pandemic
has significantly impacted
how our schools will oper-
ate this year. As we plan
for the many challenges
we face, we made the dif-
ficult decision to suspend
the interdistrict transfer
process for the 2020-2021
school year.”
In an email, Hermis-
ton School District Super-
intendent Tricia Mooney
wrote that her district actu-
ally saw a net loss from
transfers, with more than
100 students transferring
out than in the district.
Mooney
further
explained why the Hermis-
ton School District joined
the effort.
“We all need to work
together to get our stu-
dents back in school,” she
wrote. “We need to be able
to establish stable cohorts
and provide consistency
in instruction as we move
through the school year.
With the various sizes
of districts in our coun-
ties, each may offer dif-
ferent opportunities for
learning.”
RECYCLE!
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2. Stanfield - W. Wood (by Grange Hall)
3. Echo - across from park (at City Hall)
4. Umatilla - Hwy 730
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Dr. Dave Drotzmann and Dr. Kollan Arritt
would like to welcome a new associate,
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When
his
mother,
Goldia, was clearing out the
family’s farm implements
after John died in the early
1990s, Elfering jumped at
the chance to bring the trac-
tor to Hermiston. Exposed
to the elements, every time
he prepared to fire it up it
took several days of work
to get it running. A decade
later, Elfering decided to
buy a new tractor but kept
the Massey-Harris with
hopes of eventually bring-
ing it back to life by restor-
ing it.
“When Larry came up
with a need for it, I knew
he had the people to do it,”
Elfering said. “I thought it
was the absolute best solu-
tion with what I wanted to
do and what Larry needed.”
Storment said about 30
members of the car club put
their time, energy and tal-
ents into the project. The
group took the tractor apart,
sandblasted and power
washed it before reassem-
bling, and then painting it.
As part of the process, they
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