WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2021
HermistonHerald.com
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Brown orders schools open by mid-April
Local schools’ plans fall in line with the governor’s deadline
By JADE MCDOWELL AND BRYCE DOLE
STAFF WRITERS
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
announced on Friday, March 5,
that she was directing all Ore-
gon schools to offer hybrid or full
in-person instruction to all elemen-
tary students by March 29 and all
sixth- through 12th-grade students
by April 19.
Umatilla and Morrow County
districts say the announcement
doesn’t change their plans, which
have already brought students back
to the classroom or will before the
deadline set by the governor.
Brown said the science is “very,
very clear” that with proper safety
measures in place, there is low
risk of COVID-19 transmission in
schools.
“Thanks to the smart choices
Oregonians have made, our
COVID-19
numbers
have
declined,” Brown said in a state-
ment. “All but six counties now
meet or exceed Oregon’s advisory
metrics for a return to in-person,
hybrid learning for all K-12 grade
levels. And, fi ve of those counties
meet the advisory metrics for a
return to elementary school.”
School districts may still offer
comprehensive distance learning to
students who wish to remain fully
online, the news release stated,
and it will be an option for when
“community transmission rates of
COVID-19 warrant a transition, as
determined by state or local pub-
lic health directives.” Offering at
least some in-person instruction
will no longer be optional for dis-
tricts whose COVID-19 numbers
meet state guidelines for reopen-
ing, however.
According to a letter Brown
sent to the directors of the Ore-
gon Health Authority and Oregon
Department of Education, a major-
ity of Oregon students have not
See Open, Page A9
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald, File
Sunset Elementary School teacher Natalie Trotter leads a class on the
fi rst day of in-person instruction for the Hermiston School District on
Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021.
UPDATES
Umatilla
County
COVID-19
numbers
continue
to drop
HERMISTON HERALD
Umatilla
County’s
COVID-19 numbers con-
tinue to decrease.
From
Wednesday,
March 3, to Tuesday, March
9, the county saw 55 new
reported cases of COVID-
19, down from 77 in the
seven days prior to that.
The county did not report
any new deaths in the past
week.
Morrow County saw
only three new cases
reported in the past
seven days, and no new
deaths of individuals with
COVID-19.
Oregon Health Authority
announces new risk levels
for each county every two
weeks based on the cases
and test positivity rates for
a county in a 14-day time
period. On Tuesday, March
9, the state announced that
Umatilla County would
remain at high risk for
another two weeks, while
Morrow County will move
from moderate to low start-
ing Friday, March 12.
“We are largely seeing
case rates decline across the
state, with the most coun-
ties in the Lower Risk level
since the framework was
introduced in November,”
Governor Kate Brown said
in a news release. “This
should serve as a reminder
that when we follow the
health and safety measures
we know work against this
virus, we can truly make
a difference in infection
spread. But, we still have
more work to do before we
reach the level of communi-
ty-wide protection we need
in order to return to a sense
of normalcy. I encourage
all Oregonians to keep it
up and to get your vaccine
when it’s available to you.”
Oregon has reported
a total of 158,007 known
cases of COVID-19 and
2,303 deaths of individu-
als with COVID-19 since
the pandemic began, plac-
ing it as the fourth lowest
number of cases per capita
and the fi fth lowest deaths
per capita of the 50 states,
according to the CDC.
INSIDE
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Hermiston High School band teacher Sean McClanahan instructs a virtual class from his classroom at the high school on Friday, March 5, 2021.
Music to their ears
Hermiston music teachers keep
bands and choirs going virtually
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Hermiston High School choir teacher Jordan Bemrose-Rust poses for a
portrait in her classroom at the high school on Friday, March 5, 2021.
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
A pair of cymbals rests atop a drum kit in the Hermiston High School
band room as band teacher Sean McClanahan instructs an online band
class on Friday, March 5, 2021.
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There is no hiding in the back
of virtual choir or band class.
In pre-pandemic days, music
students could blend in with a
roomful of other students during
rehearsals and on stage. But for
students who have been taking
music classes during Hermis-
ton School District’s comprehen-
sive distance learning phase, par-
ticipation often means recording a
solo performance alone at home,
knowing the video will be spliced
together with other students’ parts
later.
“This way of doing choir is
super intimidating,” middle school
choir teacher Stacy Cooley said.
“For example, when you have to
sing into a camera and you’re all
by yourself, that’s really hard and
you’re super vulnerable.”
The spliced-together method
was how the middle school and
high school choirs and bands per-
formed their winter concerts. The
virtual concerts, still available
on the school district’s YouTube
channel, create the illusion of the
students performing together by
carefully layering the audio fi les
together and showing each student
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INSIDE
In this week’s Editor’s Desk col-
umn, news editor Jade McDow-
ell refl ects on what experiences
students have lost during the
pandemic and what they might
have gained, Page 4A.
in their own little box onscreen.
Teaching during a pandemic
Putting together such videos is
one of the many skills music teach-
ers had to learn on the fl y after the
pandemic hit.
“It’s several hours of work,”
Hermiston High School choir
teacher Jordan Bemrose-Rust said.
“One class video takes about 10
hours to do, and I have fi ve choirs.”
It also takes longer for teach-
ers to prepare their students for
the concert videos. Bemrose-Rust
has to record herself singing stu-
dents’ parts for them, for example,
so they have a frame of reference
while practicing at home during
the self-guided learning part of
their day. They also need to have
a recording of the instrumental
accompaniment to practice along
See Music, Page A9
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