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
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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.
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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.