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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2001)
The INDEPENDENT, November 21, 2001 Page 9 American history comes alive with student’s HAFFI presentation the board that there was no Her office is currently at Wash overwhelming majority, since ington Grade School but she 41 percent of voters did not will be working throughout the vote. Board chairman Carla district. Elementary Principal Kirk Strand asked the public to refer to the school reasons why peo Sherrill reported that Run for ple chose either to vote no, or the Arts funds would pay for not to vote. Strand, McClellan two artists in residence, Mara- and director Jeff Blum will meet nee Sanders and Valerie Otarii. with Dan Brown, chair of the Sherrill also reported that the Long Range Facilities Commit DC 2002 trip would take place tee, to develop an action plan in March 3-8. Both Sherrill and order to move forward. Director High School Principal Mike O'Leary requested that re Durbin commented on the well search be conducted into the -attended CIM Recognition reasons for no votes and not Night, October 23. Durbin also reported on the success of fall voting. The board unanimously ap athletic programs. As part of the financial re proved policies concerning ac commodations under the Amer port, McClellan told the board icans with Disabilities Act, em that it appears that schools will ployee bond coverage, proper be affected by legislative action ty inventories, and district ath to balance the state’s budget. letic eligibility. The VHS Philos Since school funding totals 52- ophy and Guidelines for Extra 53 percent of the state general Curricular Activities will serve as the administrative rules for the athletic policy. McClellan reported that the district finally has a school Frustrated, angry parents, nurse, Cathy Ramsdell, recruit and students attending Vernon ed by Columbia County Health. ia Youth Corps (VYC), an alter native education program, met Nov. 9 with Vernonia High School Principal Mike Durbin and representatives of Cas cade Education Corp. The par ents had appeared before the Vernonia School Board, Nov. 8, where parent Jenelle Serafin read a statement detailing the concerns of parents. Serafin and other parents expressed concern about changes in the VYC program that would require students to leave their familiar school and go by bus to another location. They were also concerned about the difficulty of retaining after school jobs if students go Tues, Wed, Thur & Saturday, 10 am-6 pm to school out of town. Addition Fridays, Noon-7 pm • Sundays, Noon-4 pm ally, the parents were extreme ly upset about the lack of notice or possible alternatives. pen from am to pm VYC students were informed in a meeting Monday, Novem ovember rd ber 5, that the program was THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING moving out of town the follow ing week, on November 13. G ifts for M en and Field crew supervisor Joe Batty W omen of all ages said that all students were giv en copies of the materials from H ome D ecor Cascade Education Corp, and I ndoor & O utdoor Durbin followed up with a phone call to all program par O riginal P aintings ents. Only one of the parents D epression G lass admitted to having seen the written material. C andles ❖ S oaps According to Durbin, work on how to continue serving stu Gift 58650 Nehalem Hwy. S., Vernonia dents in the program began Certificates three weeks ago, when it be- Next to Storage, Too ❖ 503 429-0156 The Vernonia School District Board of Directors heard audi ence comments from VYC par ents (Please see related arti cle.) and a student presentation at their November eighth meet ing. The board also discussed results of the bond election, took action on several policies and heard administration and financial reports. Vernonia High School stu dent Rachael Bentson present ed her HAFFI project. HAFFI, explained history teacher Scott Finley, stands for Historically Accurate Fictional Family Iden tity. Each of Finley’s U.S. Histo ry students is assigned a fic tional identity, and must pre pare a speech and a paper ex plaining how the character was affected by specified historical events. Portraying a maid in a Southern governor's mansion, Bentson...with a delightful ac cent...greets a guest and talks about her work, her family (hus band and five children) and her feelings in response to the Emancipation Proclamation, President Lincoln’s death and other historical events sur rounding the Civil War. As a way to include required infor mation on the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision and the federal Homestead Act, Bentson’s character talks about her hopes for owning a home stead and her husband’s meet ing Dred Scott. Finley said that, while not all presentations were as polished as Bentson’s, all students ben efited from the project, with many seniors later commenting on how their HAFFI project ex perience helped them complete their Senior Projects. Board member Leslie O’Leary com mented that the project makes history more meaningful be cause the students must weave events and dates into a person al history. Preliminary results of the school district bond election showed 508 ballots in favor of the bond and 720 opposed, with 59 percent of registered voters casting ballots. Superin tendent Larry McClellan told J VYC students, parents upset with changes and lack of notification out on a " lim b Gifts <>- Antiques Collectibles New Items Weekly I ^dm ade Convenient Shopping Hours 6 O N w A lt u r e Handmade 7 23 fund, it is likely that cuts in school funding will take effect this school year, McClellan not ed. In order to track expendi tures more closely, he has added an additional page to the financial report to reflect district spending by area. Efforts are underway to keep spending to a minimum until there is more information. In other action the board: - Was told the district is working with OSHA to address a complaint about air quality at Washington Grade School. - Approved an agreement to allow Jewell students’ participa tion in baseball and/or softball. - Approved extra-duty and custodial contracts. - Accepted, reluctantly, the resignation of Child Develop ment Specialist Tami McDon ald. , y Don’t know what to g e t^ for your special lady? Call us for Easy Shopplngl We ll shop for you, wrap your gift and even deliver It// Jr came clear that a change was needed, probably at the end of the quarter, because of staffing issues. Durbin said he did not want to inform VYC parents or students of the problem until a solution had been reached. The VYC program has been operating on a shoe-string budget this year. The program was previously funded by a grant that the district did not re ceive this year. Batty has held the work experience portion of the program together and the students have completed sev eral projects. However, accord ing to Durbin, the school has not been able to maintain the academic portion of the pro gram. Students in VYC are re quired to spend half of their time on work projects and half completing high school aca demic requirements. The district was concerned that the students continue to be served in some manner. The solution reached by Durbin was to transport the students to a very successful program run by the Northwest Regional Educa tional Service District and Cas cade Education Corp. The pro gram, based in Forest Grove, uses the same model as the Vernonia program and is run by former Vernonia resident Gary Myers. Vernonia students will have an opportunity to decide whether or not the program will work for them during a two- week job-shadowing program beginning November 13.
