Page 10
The INDEPENDENT, November 7 ,2 0 0 2 ________ _____________________ ___________________
Awards recognize academic achievement by Vernonia students
By Schann Nelson
A sizable audience gathered
at Vernonia High School, O cto
ber 23, for the awards cerem o
ny for Vernonia High School
students who earned their Cer
tificates of Initial Mastery (CIM).
The awards were preceded by
a dessert reception, with enter
tainment provided by VHS stu
dent Jake Brock and the VHS
choir.
Awards are presented in Oc
tober for benchm ark testing
completed during the previous
school year. Students first have
the opportunity to test for the
CIM in their sophomore year.
Additional opportunities are of
fered in the junior and senior
years. Benchmarks are pro
gress checks that evaluate stu
dent progress at four levels,
generally in third, fifth, eighth
and tenth grades.
To achieve recognition, stu
dents must meet or exceed the
state standard and complete
work samples in one or more
subject areas. The state tests
are in three subject areas:
English (writing and reading),
Mathematics (problem solving,
and knowledge and skills), and
Science. Students must also
complete work samples in writ
ing, speaking, reading, math
problem solving, and the arts.
Work samples are classroom
assignments evaluated with a
scoring guide used statewide.
Standardization is tool
for evaluating progress
The system that leads to the
C ertificate of Initial M astery
(CIM) and the Certificate of Ad
vanced Mastery (CAM) was ap
proved in the late 1990s by the
state legislature, in an effort to
standardize education through-
out the state. A common set of
educational standards serves
as a guide for developing cur
riculum and classroom prac
tices in order to teach the same
materials at the same levels in
all Oregon classroom s. The
standards also provide a way to
evaluate the success of pub
licly funded education across
the state. Additionally, the CIM
and CAM are aligned with the
Proficiency-based Admissions
Standards System (PASS) that
will be used fo r adm ission
throughout the Oregon Univer
sity System beginning in 2005.
CIM
is designed
Certificate of Advanced
Mastery is personalized
Unlike the CIM, which re
quires all students to demon
strate proficiency in all required
subjects, the CAM emphasizes
personalized learning. The goal
of the Cam is to “prepare every
student for a successful transi
tion to his or her next step,
whether that means further ed
ucation, military service or the
w orkforce" according to the
Oregon Department of Educa
tion.
Vernonia High School is in
the first year of a four-year
phase-in for the CAM. This
year’s freshman class, which
will graduate in 2006, will be
the first class offered the oppor
tunity to earn a CAM along with
to
Second Benchmark
Class of 2004
The CIM, the highest award
for academic achievement cur
rently available at VHS, was
presented to seven students.
Brandi Abney, Stephanie Hein,
Emilee Suess, Ben Brookins,
René Ellington, Katherine Tray
lor and Carrick Flynn have suc
cessfully completed all of the
requirements.
Students successfully com
pleting all of the requirements
for the second benchmark -
English, Math, Art and Science
- were David Allen, Tyler
Clines, Nicholas Dixon, Joseph
Fergusson, Samantha Lee, Tri
cia Levenseller, Blake Moeller,
Alanna Ogden, Tara Ostrander,
Caleb Rice, Gavin Roberts, By
ron Schorzman and Rebekah
Young.
Benchmark Awards
Third Benchmark
One hundred-seven other
students received awards for
successful performance on
both state tests and classroom
work samples in one or more
subject areas. At the first and
second benchmarks students
are recognized only if they
meet standards in all required
subject areas, a change from
last year when students were
recognized for meeting any
benchmark.
Freshman receiving awards
for meeting the third bench
mark requirements - Art, Eng
lish, Math and Science - were
Laura Brookins, Jessica Dahl,
Cassandra Fogel, Tim othy
Hein, Johnathan Kintz, Krystal
Norby, Jacob Rice, Burdette
Robb, Ben Schorzm an and
Samuel Thornton.
VHS juniors (Class of 2004)
will have to meet requirements
in Art, English, Math and Sci
ence to earn a CIM. The follow
ing students have already met
one or more benchmark area:
Science, Math and Art -
Waylon Buchan.
Science and Math - Justin
Baer, Taryn Braseth, and Katy
Taylor.
Science and Art - Paul
Johnston, Marshall King, Jamie
Mailer, Alex Moeller, Kendall
Nelson and Sammy Purvee.
Art - Carnin Hall, Joey How-
ley, Julie Johnston, Katelyn
McWhirter, Bo Rumbolz, Hele
na Schafer, Hank Sohler, Jessi
ca Sook and Erin Titus.
Science - Megan Baker, Ca-
ressa Brooks, Bryan Dennis,
Robbie Fetherston, Fred Fulmer,
Holly Hillyer, Melissa Howes,
Kortni Hyde, Levi Johnston,
Curtis Jundt, Stephanie Lane,
Chris Lee, Abby Nelson and
Justin Peters.
their high school diploma.
CIM Awards
First Benchmark
This year, 24 fourth graders
successfully met all require
ments - English, Math and Art
- at the first benchmark, while
in the third grade last year.
Those students were Alex Bar
ton, Cody Blum, Andrew
Brown, Racheal Brown, Brian-
na Carr, Kaitlyn Carr, Robert
Cochran, Cody Cowles, Laura
Hein, Nora Hieronimous, Frank
Heselton Jr., Kayleigh John
ston,
Devin
Layman,
Jordan
McMahon, Kira Paragon, Bran
don Potter, Justin Rainbolt,
Dalton Rumbolz, Sabrina Sull
away, McKenzie Taralson, Ben
jamin Tarrence, Anthony Tra-
verso, Tristin Threet and
Ronald Vanderzanden.
High School Awards
Sixty students were recog
nized for academic achieve
ment this year, nearly double
the 33 students at the same
level last year. Juniors and sen
iors at VHS received certifi
cates in each subject area for
which they met or exceeded re
quirements.
Class of 2003
VHS Seniors (Class of 2003)
are required to meet state stan
dards in only three subject ar
eas - English, Math and Sci
ence. The following students
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Certificate of Initial
Mastery is required
The
eventually include all subject
areas. However, in order to fa
cilitate implementation, subject
areas are phased into the CIM
over an extended period. Stu
dents must achieve high stan
dards, on both state tests and
classroom work samples, in all
of the required subject areas in
order to be awarded a CIM.
This year’s graduates (Class of
2002) must meet or exceed the
state standards in English,
Math, Science and the Arts to
achieve the CIM. In two years,
students in the Class of 2004,
will also have to achieve
benchmark levels in Social Sci
ence.
Required subject areas will
continue to increase until the
CIM is fully implemented in
2006. At that time, the required
subject areas will include Eng
lish, Math, Science, Arts, World
Language, Social Science,
Physical and Health Education,
Career Related Learning and
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