The INDEPENDENT, January 16, 2003
Page 9
Everybody’s favorite teacher, Marguerite Nice, taking retirement
Vernonia School District
board meetings begin with in
dulgent smilee when Chairman
Carla Strand starts to recite the
pledge of allegiance and the
adults and children in the audi
ence attempt to synchronize
their cadence. Eventually, the
singsong voices of the children
and the more placid adult voic
es find a rhythm and manage to
end the, somehow more mean
ingful, pledge together. Board
meetings are also attracting a
larger audience in their new lo
cation at City Hall than had at
tended in the past.
Marguerite Nice Retires
With the June retirement of
long-time teacher Marguerite
Nice on the agenda, elemen
tary schools Principal Kirk
Sherrill stood to emphasize the
tremendous respect he has for
Mrs. Nice, saying that he could
not simply recommend that the
board accept her resignation
and “remain silent about her
gifts as a teacher.” Administra
tors do not lightly throw around
the title “Master Teacher,” Sher
rill said, but he was told when
he came to Vernonia five years
ago that Nice was such a
teacher. He told the board that
on every visit to Nice’s class
room he observed three quali
ties of her outstanding teaching
ability. First, Nice is completely
invested in her students. Ac
cording to Sherrill, she “pours
herself into them” in almost a
parental role. Second, Nice
loves the children in her class
room liberally. And, finally, Nice
is able to see the deep potential
in all students.
Superintendent Mike Fun-
derburg praised Nice’s ability to
“keep her passion” for teach
ing. Board member Randy
Hansen, who first met Nice
when he was a member of the
football team coached by her
husband, concluded the emo
tional remarks, praising Nice’s
contributions. Board member
Jim Krahn received trem en
dous support from the board
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and the audience for his at
tempt to move that the board
NOT accept Nice’s resignation,
but the board, regretfully, met
its obligation by accepting the
resignation.
School Reports
One of the district’s greatest
assets, Sherrill told the audi
ence, is having two very valu
able music teachers, which al
lows children as young as third
grade to experience music edu
cation. Four students from Mrs.
Eagleson’s class performed for
the board and audience, both
individually and as a group.
Junior high student Heather
Bassett told the board that
Washington and Lincoln Schools
had collected over 2400 cans
of food for the Vernonia Cares
Food Bank. Mist School collect
ed over 500 cans of food, which
were donated to the Mist Fire
Department. Bassett also told
the board that a new slide in
stalled at WGS was made pos
sible by donations from the
Gwins and the McClellans.
Vernonia High School Princi
pal Mike Durbin introduced stu
dent Samantha Purvee as the
new public relations represen
tative, a position previously un
filled this year. Purvee reported
that VHS had donated over
1,000 cans to the food bank,
held a successful Winter Festi
val on the last day of school be
fore Christmas break, and an
nounced the members of Win
ter Formal Court. The targeted
charity of the student body is
the Juvenile Diabetes Associa
tion (JDA), again this year, and
several fundraisers have raised
$714 to date, according to
Purvee. She also told the board
and audience that a Red Cross
blood drive would be held Feb
ruary 16.
Durbin told the board about
a special benefit concert given,
as part of his senior project, by
Jake Brock and his band “Bro
ken Glory.” (See page 8)
Durbin also reported that stu
dents recognized Raymond
Mott, of the Oregon Depart
ment of Transportation, for his
work to pave the high school
parking lots. Mott was present
ed with a plaque at the Renais
sance Assembly.
Senior Trip approved
The board approved this
year’s senior trip after a pres
entation by advisor Rena Titus.
Board member Leslie O’Leary
asked whether the issue that
occurred last year, when some
students managed to come
home with pierced ears or tat
toos, had been addressed. Ti
tus said that this year’s itinerary
is more closely scheduled and
does not allow a “free day," as
in last year’s itinerary. The ap
proximate cost this year will be
$639. About 40 members of the
class have signed up and are
working to raise funds.
High School Schedule
A major portion of Funder-
burg’s report concerned inade
quacies in the trimester sched
ule to meet students’ academic
needs. Students could attend
24 to 36 weeks on the trimester
schedule, he said, without re
ceiving instruction in core sub
jects such as math and English.
He recommended retaining the
Please see page 16
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