COMMUNITY/SCHOOLS
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2022
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
Stanfield schools
open year with
renovated track,
tennis courts
BY MARCO GRAMACHO
Hermiston Herald
Phil Wright/Hermiston Herald
From left, Stayton Burns and his father Chad Burns, both of Hermiston, receive a $300 check for first place in the watermelon costume contest
Saturday, Aug. 20, 2022, during the Hermiston Watermelon Festival in Hermiston.
WATERMELON FESTIVAL
SLICES UP A SWEET TIME
Musician Jonna Kopta, left, plays
“To Make You Feel My Love” for
Manulani Poumele-Hamilton of
Hermiston as she sings as “Wal-
chli” on Saturday, Aug. 20, 2022,
during the Hermiston Water-
melon Festival, Hermiston.
Tile (pronounced “teelay”) Poumele hands out slices of free Walchli Farms watermelon Saturday,
Aug. 20, 2022, during the Hermiston Watermelon Festival in downtown Hermiston.
PHOTOS BY PHIL WRIGHT
Hermiston Herald
Umatilla County Commissioner Dan Dorran launches a watermelon
seed Saturday, Aug. 20, 2022, in the watermelon seed spitting contest
during the Hermiston Watermelon Festival in downtown Hermiston.
Dorran prevailed against the modest field of two other seed spitters.
Ernie Mejia of Xavis Street Dogs cooks hot dogs Saturday, Aug. 20,
2022, during the Hermiston Watermelon Festival in downtown
Hermiston.
Stanfield School District
started fall term classes Mon-
day, Aug. 22, and the district’s
renovated track and tennis
courts are ready for the com-
munity and students.
“Stanfield School District
had been saving up for the
tennis courts and the track
renovation for a few years,” ex-
plained Beth Burton, superin-
tendent of the Stanfield School
District.
The tennis courts were in
bad shape with large cracks
throughout the surface. The
track had some similar crack-
ing issues in the asphalt base
that were very obvious in the
surface material.
“We are excited to have a
new asphalt base and new
surfacing over the top. It’s a
400-meter oval track, pretty
standard,” Burton said.
The track renovation cost
was $456,700 and the tennis
courts cost $28,600.
“These projects were not
bond-funded,” Burton said.
“Originally, we thought we
might utilize our Elementary
and Secondary School Emer-
gency Relief Fund III for these
projects, and we got approval
to do so. However, we decided
to shift those funds to our
bus garage project. The tennis
court and track are paid for out
of our General Fund. We had
been saving for a few years.”
The Horyna Sports Com-
plex at the bottom of the hill
on West Harding Street holds
the tennis courts, baseball field
and football field. The prac-
tice football field is inside the
track, which is up on the Stan-
field School District school
campus between the elemen-
tary school and the secondary
school.
Burton pointed out that ac-
cessibility to both facilities is
great.
“While the track is still
closed as the renovation is not
yet complete, it is a facility that
is open all the time for public
use,” she said. “It gets a consid-
erable amount of community
use in the fall, spring and sum-
mer. It is safe, and it is pretty
well-lit. The tennis courts are
open for public use as well.”
Once the track renovation
is complete next month, Stan-
field School District won’t have
any large-scale facilities im-
provements for a little while.
“Our community is grow-
ing as there is a tremendous
amount of housing in the
works, so there may be a need
to evaluate our capacity and
do some precursory planning
sooner than later,” she said.
Stanfield schools Athlet-
ics Director Lorena Woods
pointed out the support of the
community was paramount to
achieve the goal.
“Sports are a huge part of
the everyday life of children
and teenagers in our schools,”
she said. “Kids learn to play
tennis at an early age, between
9 and 12.”
Stanfield School District has
545 students in grades K-12.
The student population is very
close to 50% Hispanic and 50%
white. About 1% of the popula-
tion identify as Native Ameri-
can or Alaskan Native and less
than 1% identify as Asian or
Black.
“I love our school district,
and I love this community,”
Burton said. “I live in Stanfield
and I love that I live where
I work. My oldest daughter
started kindergarten at Stan-
field Elementary, and I am
grateful to know that she is in
the best hands with the staff
here. I love that I can look
down the hallway in both
schools, elementary and sec-
ondary, and know that there is
not a single teacher I wouldn’t
be proud for my daughters to
have. I’m looking forward to a
really good year.”
Stanfield School District/Contributed Photo
Fall term classes began Monday, Aug. 22, 2022, for the Stanfield School
District, which spent $456,700 to give new life to its track.
Guide your children toward good decisions
SCOTT
SMITH
EDUCATION
CORNER
T
eaching our children about re-
spect is a key component for
them to be able to function
with others. Over the past several de-
cades we have seemed to slip away
from engaging in respect for others
as well as for other important objects
and positions held by others.
Teachers struggle every year help-
ing some students to understand how
respect works within a community or
organization. Respect is a cornerstone
for any group of people choosing to
work together. Without respect it makes
it very difficult for people to be able to
work together on a common project.
Parents often have told their children to
respect their teacher, but do they really
know what that means? Our current
culture can make you wonder.
Respect can be as simple as knock-
ing before you open a door, saying hello
when you walk into a room, saying
please and thank you, or holding the
door for the next person. As adults we
have all experienced those things and
HERMISTON
FALL FESTIVAL
OCTOBER 7-9TH
Beer, BBQ &
much more!
probably engaged in them but do our
children really understand?
Depending on the organization there
are positions or jobs in which we need
to show respect. This does not mean we
agree with them but we can be respect-
ful of the position they hold. Because
we live in America we should respect
the office of the President. We may not
agree with what is being said, yet we are
respectful of the position and complex-
ity of the task put before them.
Respect doesn’t mean you agree
with a different view, yet in recent years
people often push that respect implies
agreement.
There are six simple strategies to use
to teach children about respect:
1. Stay calm and don’t overreact.
2. Identify the cause for the disrespect,
3. Teach problem-solving alternatives.
4. Remember to model respectful-
ness.
5. Don’t punish.
6. And teach them how you expect
them to respond. You must give respect
to earn it.
By modeling respect, they will gain
the understanding of how it works.
Maybe the hardest aspect for us as
adults but has the biggest impact on
kids is to apologize when you mess up.
Often it is assumed children under-
stand and should know about respect.
They are often told to show respect
but don’t fully know what it is. Respect
shows you accept someone for who
they are, even when they differ from
you or your beliefs. Respect builds
trust, safety, and a strong well being
within our children that will provide
them with the ability to apply under-
standing in difficult situations as adults.
As we all work to raise our children
to become strong leaders respect is
something that will always make them
shine a mark above the crowd.
█
Scott Smith, doctor of education, is a 40-plus
year Umatilla County educator and serves on
the Decoding Dyslexia Oregon board as its
parent/teacher liaison.
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