OUR 113th Year
February 21, 2020 $1.00
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM
Norris & Stevens
Aerial view of Gearhart Elementary School.
Schools’
price drop
spurs
interest
Gearhart unlikely to
bid on school due to
fi re station bond vote
R.J. Marx
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Zaheen Kahn, fi nancial education coordinator, Ben Hagman, Sydney Rapp and Max Matviyenko.
Seaside High School students aim for
FINANCIAL
LITERACY
Students get a jump on economic independence
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
F
or those who attended the Feb. 13 Sea-
side High School fi nancial reality fair,
the future is promising. They’re address-
ing issues that will pay dividends as
they move into the responsibilities of
adulthood.
Seaside High School seniors Sydney Rapp,
Maksym Matviyenko and Ben Hagman partnered
with mentor Zaheed Khan of Fibre Federal Credit
Union to bring the fair to the high school gym. The
group meets periodically as part of the students’
Pacifi ca project.
More than 30 volunteers assisted at booths
where students planned, budgeted and “bought”
houses, cars and other necessities.
“It’s a budgeting simulation,” Khan added. “It
mimics real life, but in a safe environment. Life’s a
lot more expensive than students think.”
After seeing what their dollars could buy, seniors
sat down with fi nancial coaches to review each
decision.
“I think it’s really important to
be aware of how you’re using
your money,” Hagman
said. “And how
you’re not
using your
money,
too.”
“It’s about prioritizing the necessities,” Rapp
said. “Let’s say you want to spend $85 a month on
clothes, but you also need to spend money on food.
Put that money aside fi rst, spend when you need on
food then use the leftover amount for clothes.”
Matviyenko, an exchange student from Ukraine,
agreed the lesson for students was to plan expenses
and stay under budget. When costs for necessities
are high, “get rid of entertainment expenses, or take
the cheaper telephone plan.”
While in this country, he said he is glad to live in
Oregon, where there is no sales tax.
Rapp said money management is “very import-
ant,” especially for the generation turning 18. “Not
only are the kids learning about how to be fi nan-
cially literate when they’re older, but they’re also
teaching their parents, ‘Hey, mom, guess what I
learned at school today.’”
With new, lower prices for Seaside High
School, Broadway Middle School and Gear-
hart Elementary School, interest is growing
from potential buyers, offi cials say.
“There are defi nitely more people step-
ping forward than there were before,” Sheila
Roley, superintendent of the Seaside School
District, said at a Feb. 11 construction over-
sight meeting.
The new prices represent about a 30%
reduction, district project manager Jim Henry
said at the meeting, with price tags of $3.5
million for the Seaside High School, $2.9
million for the Broadway Middle School
and $1.2 million for the Gearhart Elemen-
tary School.
“We’ve reduced the cost by about 30%
on each property just to account for that’s a
cost that will have to be borne by a devel-
oper when they buy the property,” Henry
said. “That’s the feedback we’ve gotten from
interested parties in the community. The
buildings were seen as a negative detriment.”
Henry said the district started at a higher
price point taking into consideration that
someone might be interested in buying
Broadway or Gearhart to use the existing
building.
“From what we’ve seen over the last year
they’ve been on the market, there doesn’t
seem to be a market,” Henry said. “Most
everyone is looking at it is that the building
on the property as a cost. There will be some
demolition, some abatement.”
Gearhart prioritizes fi re station
Demolition costs could reach between
$500,000 and $1 million at Gearhart Ele-
mentary School, City Administrator Chad
Sweet told the Planning Commission on Feb.
13.
Plumbing is encased and there “may or
may not be asbestos,” Sweet said. “It’s cer-
tainly a possibility.”
Sweet met “informally” with Roley earlier
this month to consider potential uses for the
property, which is zoned public/semi-public
and limited to uses for schools, colleges or a
community building — “not even a park at
this point,” he said.
The main school building, constructed in
1948 with renovations and additions in 1968,
1985, 1986, and 1990 has large classrooms
with a large central hallway. The four outer
classroom buildings are staged around the
main building.
See School sale, Page A6
Peace tree coming to Cartwright Park
Symbolic plant marks 75
years since World War II
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
A symbol of peace.
That’s how Seaside’s landscaper Pam
Fleming and members of the city’s tree
board see a small gingko tree headed to Cart-
wright Park.
The city was one of 24 Oregon communi-
ties to successfully apply to participate in the
state Peace tree planting, marking the 75th
anniversary of the end of World War II.
“It’s very symbolic,” tree board member
Vineeta Lower said on a February tour of the
park.
Space and irrigation were the qualifi -
ers that brought the tree to Cartwright Park,
located 1942 South Franklin, with fi elds,
play equipment and a boat ramp, Fleming
said.
The seedling ginkgo and Asian persim-
mon trees were grown from seed collected
from trees that survived the atomic bomb-
ing of Hiroshima and brought to Oregon by
Medford resident Hideko Tamura-Snider,
who survived the bombing on Aug. 6, 1945.
See Peace Tree, Page A6
A formidable tool for self-defense
By EVE MARX
For Seaside Signal
“We’re often mistaken for twins,” Zach
Adamson said, in the newly refurbished
reception area of Adamson Bros. Jiu Jitsu
Academy at 1601 Roosevelt Drive.
The vast interior of the building has
been undergoing an extensive makeover.
“I’m the younger bro,” he said. “Nate’s
two years older.”
Adamson Bros. Jiu Jitsu Academy is
for anyone interested in martial arts. At the
helm of this comprehensive education cen-
ter are the bros, who offer not only training
in Jiu Jitsu, but yoga, Pilates, strength train-
ing, power training, wrestling and j udo.
Nate and Zach Adamson opened in this
location in 2008. They are locals and Sea-
side High School graduates.
Their jiujitsu is Japanese-based, Amer-
ican-modifi ed and Brazilian-infl uenced.
It’s designed to increase power and boost
confi dence. It’s also a formidable tool for
learning the art of self-defense.
The practice is not only physical. Jiu-
jitsu, one might say, is a catalyst for
self-discovery. It’s an agent of change and
teaches people how to feel more at ease in
uncomfortable situations.
The academy has 10 instructors, each
with their own specialty. The majority of
students attend classes, but private sessions
See Self-defense, Page A6