NEWS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
Hermiston School
District opts out of state
testing this spring
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
Bryce Dole/Hermiston Herald
Vendors line the roadway at a “Show and Shine” event in downtown Stanfi eld on Saturday, April 17, 2021.
Classic cars and hundreds of residents
gather in Stanfi eld for street fair
By BRYCE DOLE
STAFF WRITER
Jeff Bemrose still owns
the car he built with his dad
back in high school. Over
their four years working
together on the 1941 Ford
Coupe, he found his pas-
sion for the classics. Today,
however, he’s still fi xing
the mistakes he made as a
teenager.
“I’m still paying for my
father’s sins, I guess,” said
Bemrose, a member of the
Hermiston Classics Car
Club.
Standing beside rows of
87 classic cars at the Stan-
fi eld Street Fair on Sat-
urday, April 17, Bemrose
echoed a sentiment held
among many locals.
“People have been itch-
ing to get out,” he said.
Recently, Cecili Long-
horn, director of the Stan-
fi eld Public Library, con-
tacted Bemrose and the car
club to help put on the fi rst-
of-its-kind street fair, which
saw hundreds of people
gather in downtown Stan-
fi eld for the community’s
fi rst major public event for
over a year, organizers said.
Owners brought their
Street, Longhorn spoke
about her hopes for the
community of small busi-
nesses rebounding after
months of hardship.
“That’s the goal is to
help our local community
see what we have,” she
said. “Just because we’re
small doesn’t mean we
can’t off er fun things.”
Kathy Baker, a life-
long Stanfi eld resident and
owner of Fun Fashions
Bryce Dole/Hermiston Herald Boutique, said many cus-
Classic cars line the downtown streets in Stanfi eld for a tomers from out of town
“Show and Shine” event on Saturday, April 17, 2021.
came through the store
throughout the day, as well
vehicles from across East- on the front steps of the as some local residents
ern Oregon and Southeast library played classic rock, who hadn’t even known the
Washington for display blues and bebop, giving the store was there.
at the “Show and Shine” sunny spring day a feeling
“It’s huge,” she said
event. Bemrose said it was of normalcy — which for of the event. “It helps us
clear that people were eager many had been missing.
as a small community.
“I’m impressed,” said It brings people into our
to get out, with some show-
ing up in the early hours of Longhorn, who helped orga- community.”
nize the event with Stanfi eld
the morning.
Baker added that she
“I think it’s been help- Parks and Recreation. “I’m hopes events like the fair
ing a lot of people,” he said super excited about the turn- bring notoriety to local
of the event. “People love out. It confi rms in my mind businesses after the closures
taking their cars out, and how much people are ready brought by COVID-19.
they’ve been really cooped to have a little sunshine and
“Stanfi eld just doesn’t
up, so this has been really happiness, and see the good get recognized for some
things we’re missing out reason,” she said. “I don’t
helpful to a lot of people.”
Vendors at the event on.”
know why. We have, like,
Looking out on the 10,000 cars come through
served hot dogs, hamburg-
ers, kettle corn and other groups of people meander- here on (Highway 395). It’s
treats while live bands ing into shops along Main crazy.”
Hermiston School Dis-
trict has announced it will
opt out of state testing for
the current school year.
School districts usually
have students participate in
state assessments in read-
ing, math and science each
spring. But Superintendent
Tricia Mooney said this year
the district will forgo those
assessments in order to max-
imize the in-person instruc-
tional time students have left
instead.
“This is really about sup-
porting our kids and sup-
porting our teachers,” she
said.
Usually, state testing
takes from one to two weeks
for students to complete.
Even with much shorter
tests this year, it would still
mean time not in front of
a teacher for students who
just returned to in-person
classes. Mooney said testing
often creates anxiety for stu-
dents, as well, and the dis-
trict doesn’t want to add to
what has already been an
anxious time.
“We need to focus on
making connections and
building relationships and
instructing students,” she
said.
Mooney said that doesn’t
mean teachers aren’t still
assessing their students’
learning in the classroom.
Educators are still moni-
toring individual students’
growth and understanding.
But state assessments have
in the past been a way for
districts to compare groups
of students — checking
whether one elementary
school in the district is lag-
ging behind the others, for
example, or spotting trends
between grade levels.
“We already know this
year’s fi fth graders didn’t
have the same opportunities
as last year’s fi fth graders,”
Mooney said.
The assessments also pro-
vide a way for the Oregon
Department of Education
to compare school districts
across the state. But Mooney
said the department has
already said it will be sus-
pending the usual account-
ability measures tied to test
scores. The department is
also suspending the “essen-
tial skills requirement” for
both this year and next year
for graduating seniors. The
requirement has, in the past,
required that seniors either
pass their state tests or sub-
mit a suffi cient work sam-
ple in those subjects before
graduating.
She said the district fully
intends to start participating
in state assessments again
next year.
For Umatilla School Dis-
trict, the district has always
gone its own way on assess-
ments. It relies on the MAPS
test, rather than the Smarter
Balanced test used for state
report cards, to gather data
about student progress.
Superintendent Heidi Sipe
said the district has contin-
ued with online MAPS tests
this year, with the fi nal round
of tests in May. Students will
only take the Smarter Bal-
anced test if their parents
specifi cally request it.
In Stanfi eld School Dis-
trict, Superintendent Beth
Burton said Stanfi eld stu-
dents will be given the
opportunity to take the state
assessment tests this spring
if their parents request it,
but the district will not be
making it a priority to pro-
mote higher participation
rates.
“Instead, we are con-
tinuing to focus on student
connections, teaching, and
learning,” she wrote in an
email.
HONOR THE
SENIOR IN
YOUR LIFE!
Let their
accomplishments
shine with a sign
for your yard!
CLASS OF 2021
KATIE SMITH
STANFIELD HIGH SCHOOL
CLASS OF 2021
ALICE SMITH
HERMISTON HIGH SCHOOL
CLASS OF 2021
JOHN SMITH
PENDLETON HIGH SCHOOL
*photos and names for illustrative purposes only.
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