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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 26, 2018)
October 26, 2018 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 7A Construction picks up; so does school enrollment Long-awaited permit drives ‘catch-up’ plans By Katherine Lacaze For Seaside Signal The Seaside School Dis- trict’s Campus Construction project is moving along, with administrators and the proj- ect management team “keep- ing busy on a lot of fronts,” Superintendent Sheila Roley told school board members during their regular meeting Oct. 16. In September, the district received its permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engi- neers, a process that limited some building activities. The project management team, however, has “an articulat- ed plan for catch-up,” Roley told board members. With construction docu- ments completed, the team submitted its final building permit application to the city. In response to the Army Corps, they completed a sur- vey for the environmental easement to take place on property behind the district bus barn on U.S. Highway LENORE MORRISSON Seaside High School cast of “Altar Egos: The Dos and I Don’ts of an American Wedding,” by Pat Cook. Performances are Friday, Nov. 2; Saturday, Nov. 3; and the following week, Nov. 8, 9, and 10. Doors open at 6:30 and performances begin at 7 p.m. 101, part of an environmen- tal mitigation package. Finally, they are putting out bids for a number of projects, including the build- ing’s roof, metal siding, and interior. In the few weeks follow- ing the meeting, the con- struction team plans to bring and lay concrete on site, board president Steve Phil- lips said. Roley said they continue to keep an eye on the budget and schedule, especially as the regional labor shortage is one of the biggest barriers they face. It is the most chal- lenging, as well, she added, “because that also affects price.” ‘More kids’ Roley shared the enroll- ment numbers reported for the 2018-19 school year and how they compare to last year. En- rollment at The Heights Ele- mentary School dropped from 456 students to 449. Gearhart Elementary School increased from 295 to 298. Enrollment at the Cannon Beach Acade- my jumped from 22 to 33 this school year. The largest increase was experienced by Broadway Middle School, which jumped from 356 students in 2017-18 to 403 this school year. Sea- side High School’s enrollment also increased by 15 kids, from 454 to 469. Overall, the dis- trict’s enrollment has grown by about 70 students. “I’m not quite sure why, frankly, because Astoria and Warrenton went up, too,” Ro- ley said. “There are more kids countywide, which is kind of interesting.” Also at the meeting, fifth- grade teacher John Meyer, president of the district’s union, shared about the Seaside School District Wellness Team, a group of administrators, clas- sified employees, teachers and other staff members who have joined forces to develop a pro- gram that will support the dis- trict’s community of educators. They will be applying for grant funds available through the Or- egon Education Association. The group’s goal is to build and normalize a sustainable culture of day-to-day wellness within the district buildings that con- nects to the wider community. The timing is perfect, Meyer said, to implement such a pro- gram, so they can walk into a new campus in 2020 “where we’re all there together and we’re all engaged in a common goal.” Gearhart fifth-graders learn basics of boat making Boats from Page 1A For the project, Collins’ class was split into seven teams, each with different responsibilities: international relations and recovery; keel; sail; cargo and figurehead; deck; hull; and photo/video. Sandel formatted the program this way to give every student a job to do, regardless of their personality and preferences. “I wanted to figure out a way to engage every type of learner in the class,” Sandel said. “With those different teams, there is a team for ev- ery type of kid.” Predicting their path Sandel piloted the Mini- boat Program last school year, with five boats launched from one city in Japan and six from North America. One of the American boats traveled almost to Kodiak, KATHERINE LACAZE Sarah Collins’ fifth-grade class is participating in the Colum- bia River Maritime Museum’s 2018-19 Miniboat Program. Alaska, before turning around and sailing back toward Sitka, where it was spotted from a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter and then rescued by a fish- erman and taken to his son’s seventh-grade class. They re- launched the boat, but it trav- eled back toward Kodiak into Cook Inlet and crashed on a volcanic island, called St. Au- gustine. Sandel’s friend res- cued it with her helicopter. An- other boat, launched from San Diego, crashed in Baja Cali- fornia. After being relaunched, it traveled an additional 3,000 miles south before crashing again in Baja. Both boats have been recovered and will even- tually be relaunched. Overall, last year’s boats had collectively traveled about 53,000 kilometers so far. Some are still floating slowly across the Pacific Ocean. Oth- ers had their GPS transmitters damaged, making it difficult to track their movement. One of the IRR team’s responsibilities is to write recovery instructions for the boats, not only in English but also the native languag- es of countries where the boats would be likely to land – called the “cone of uncer- tainty,” according to Sandel. Their other responsibilities, according to Gearhart’s IRR team, is to choose where the boat will be launched based on weather predictions and ocean conditions. Fifth-grad- er Kai Toyooka said he was looking forward to seeing if their boat would make it all the way west across the Pa- Rec District wins wheelchair storage grant Seaside Signal SUBMITTED PHOTO Patty Stanley-Meade using the beach wheelchair available through Sunset Empire Park and Rec. She is with Randy An- derson and his daughter, Whitney. Anderson helped launch the program. Seaside’s safety record honored The Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District is a recipient of a $9,000 grant to purchase and install three weatherproof lockers specifi- cally designed to store a beach wheelchair. The grant is award- ed by the Travel Oregon Com- petitive Small Grant program. Seaside is among four coastal towns with free wheelchair ac- cess for visitors. The program offers wheel- chairs to the disabled at no cost through the Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District. Among other awards, his- toric theater renovations, moun- tain bike trail development and increased signage received awards of almost $350,000 in matching grants from Travel Oregon. Grants fund organi- zations around the state to en- hance, expand and promote the visitor industry. The competitive grants program awards eligible ap- plicants funding for projects that contribute to Oregon’s tourism economy in commu- nities throughout the state that support Travel Oregon’s vision of a better life for Oregonians through strong, sustainable lo- cal economies. Over the past decade, more than $4.8 million have been awarded to 150 proj- ects across the state through Travel Oregon’s grant program. cific Ocean “or if it will get stuck at some point.” Fifth-grader Kenzie Starr agreed it would be interest- ing, through the course of the project, “to see what weather and currents can cause a lit- tle boat to do.” Making a connection Gearhart Elementary School’s sister school is Okuki Elementary School in Hachi- nohe. Sandel selected this partnership because Okuki is a seaside city that endured a significant amount of destruc- tion from the 2011 tsunami. A while later, the kasagi of a torii gate from a Shinto shrine in Okuki washed up in cen- tral Oregon. The kasagi was returned to Okuki and rein- stalled. Sandel felt that already gave the Japanese village a special connection to Oregon. Okuki Elementary School will launch their boat from Gearhart on Nov. 15 — or Nov. 16 in the U.S. The launch of boats from the North Amer- ican coast will take place in January of next year. When Sandel returns from Japan in November, he will go to each North American school, give a lesson on Japan and Japanese schools, and help students develop prediction models. If a boat crashes or experiences other interesting circumstances in the future, Sandel may also return to give updates. Additionally, instructors are expected to continue engaging with the program throughout the rest of the school year by incorpo- rating the project into future classroom work and creat- ing a unique lesson the other teachers in the program could integrate into their classroom, Sandel said. “Each teacher gave me their word they would engage their class a half-hour per week,” he added. DINING on the NORTH COAST Great Restaurants in: GEARHART • SEASIDE CANNON BEACH Excellence in family dining found from a family that has been serving the North Coast for the past 52 years Great Great Great Homemade Breakfast, lunch and pasta, Clam but that’s dinner steaks & Chowder, not all... menu,too! seafood! Salads! Seaside • 323 Broadway • 738-7234 (Open 7 Days) Cannon Beach • 223 S. Hemlock 436-2851 (7am-3pm Daily) Astoria • 146 W. Bond • 325-3144 MAZATLAN Seaside Signal M E X I C A N R E S TA U R A N T During the recent League of Oregon Cities annual con- ference, Seaside received a silver award that recognizes safety in the workplace. Citycounty Insurance Ser- vices presented the award in recognition of the city’s good employee safety record during the 2017-18 year. The award showcases cities that foster employee safety, have a proven track record related to safely operating equipment and machinery, and where management has a clear com- mitment to a safe work envi- ronment. This year’s winning cities also have a strong focus on training. CIS’ annual safety awards are presented in three catego- ries: gold, silver and bronze. Phone 503-738-9678 1445 S. Roosevelt Drive • Seaside WANNA KNOW WHERE THE LOCALS GO? • Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner BEST BREAKFAST IN TOWN! • Lighter appetite menu • Junior Something for Everyone menu Fish ‘n Chips • Burgers • Seafood & Steak Friday & Saturday - Prime Rib Lounge Open Daily 9-Midnight All Oregon Lottery products available 1104 S Holladay • 503-738-9701 • Open Daily at 8am
