Page 8
The INDEPENDENT, May 15, 2003________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Alternatives for Mist School Horse Classic signals start of 4-H summer
From page 1
students are in blended class
rooms The K-5 proposal (pre
sented May 1) would require 70
percent of Vernonia students to
be in blended classrooms. Ac
cording to Funderburg, blended
classrooms work well only with
small numbers of students and
in an environment that can pro
vide additional staff training
and support. Blended class
rooms do not follow “best prac
tices” (teaching techniques that
are based on data and re
search, and that show in
creased academic achieve
ment) Funderburg said.
Funderburg concluded his
remarks by saying that he
would recommend instituting
blended classrooms only “out
of necessity" and requested the
board to respect the fact that
most of the staff do not want to
teach blends. The best educa
tion option would be a K -3
benchmark design, he said, but
that model would not be best,
financially, at this time. He
added that the administration
would support the board’s deci
sion and implement whatever
structure the board approved.
Board comments
Following
Funderburg’s
presentation, board members
talked about the research and
the conclusions they had each
reached. Randy Hansen began
the discussion by stating his
“anti-Vernonia bias" and went
on to say that he would do
everything possible to continue
operation of MGS and give the
community a choice.
Jim Krahn, Leslie O ’Leary
and Darrell Hamblet concurred
that the administration had ex
ercised determined diligence in
evaluating options and that
they had each decided they
were not in favor of blended
classrooms, even though all
recognized the importance of
the MGS option. Cari Lev-
enseller and Tim Titus also said
that they did not like blended
classrooms.
Sometimes acrimonious
public discussion
A sometimes acrim onious
discussion followed between
the board and the public, with
many in the audience present
ing objections to closing MGS,
even though that option had
not been discussed or suggest
ed. WGS teacher llene Grady
read a letter that carefully out
lined her reasons for preferring
to teach in a straight grade
classroom and gave the board
three additional letters from
teachers who prefer a single
grade classroom.
Elementary Principal Kirk
Sherrill said that teachers are
trained to teach in straight
grade classroom s and that
most of his staff prefer unblend
ed classrooms. However, Kari
Hansen, currently teaching a
blend at MGS, told the board
that test scores for her students
are not low in math or reading
and spoke with great feeling
about preserving the small
school option.
Consensus was missing
After a great deal of discus
sion, it became clear that nei
ther the board nor the audience
wholeheartedly supported any
of the options presented. The
board then began to consider
another option, ie., continuing
operation of MGS as a K-5
school primarily for residents of
the Mist area. A motion to table
the discussion was passed with
Hamblet, Hansen, Krahn and
Titus voting in favor and Lev-
enseller, O ’Leary and board
chair Carla Strand opposed. A
special meeting was then
scheduled for the following
Tuesday.
Another meeting set
At the May 6 meeting, Plews
presented the cost analysis for
operation of MGS with a single
blended class, resulting in a net
loss to the district of about
$9,000. Hamblet told the audi
ence that the Budget Assis
tance Team (BAT), .of which he
is a member, met for several
hours earlier in the day to de
velop final recommendations
for the budget committee that
will balance the budget and ab
sorb this cost.
Carolyn White and Tom
Jones each made comments
that were representative of the
opinions voiced at prior meet
ings. White praised the efforts
of the board to understand the
issue, seek public comment
and decide this very difficult
and emotional issue. Jones, on
the other hand, told the board
that it was his perception that
the discussion was about “con
trol, power and the self serving
ideology of a few” and that not
nearly enough input had been
sought from those affected by
the decision.
Titus told the audience that
the board is trying to create op
tions in the district. Hamblet
said that BAT and the board
had looked at every feasible
option. He said that the board
“could go on forever having
Spring Horse Classic marks
the beginning of the summer
4-H horse season and the end
of long hours and large amounts
of training for Columbia County
4-H youth. This year, the Colum
bia County 4-H program sent 14
youth to 4-H Spring Horse Clas
sic in Roseburg.
Four of the youth competed
in the 4-H State Horse Bowl, a
quiz bowl-type contest where
horse related questions are
asked of each member. The
second portion of this contest
allows team members to select
who may have bonus questions
for more points.
The youth competed at the
local Winter 4-H Horse Classic,
in St. Helens, placed first at the
Region “D" competition, then
practiced until the competition
April 26.
The Columbia County team
of Jackie Sleeper, Nichole An
drews, Samantha Klein and Am
ber Kennedy, brought home
third place honors statewide,
Team coach is Linda Todd. In in
dividual scoring, Jackie Sleeper
placed second in the state.
The second contest, held
meetings and getting input, but
we have to put together a
budget.” Strand reminded the
audience that at the end of the
previous meeting, the board in
vited anyone in the audience to
call the district office with ideas
about how the elementary
classes should be structured.
She said that no calls had been
received.
The board voted to operate
MGS as a K -5 blend for the
2003-2004 school year (Lev-
enseller, Titus, Hansen, Krahn,
O’Leary in favor; Strand and
Hamblet opposed.), with one
teacher and one aide. Students
currently attending MGS will be
offered first chance to partici
pate in the blended classroom
of 15 to 25 students.
during Spring Horse Classic, is
the 4-H State Horse Judging
Contest, which requires youth
to consider up to four classes
of horses and evaluate them for
strengths and weaknesses,
plus feed identification. Once
the youth make their selections
and mark their judging cards,
they begin the note taking
process. Many of the classes
require the youth to present an
oral defense of their judgement.
Youth are awarded a maximum
of 50 points if they place the
class correctly and up to anoth-
er 50 points for their reasons.
The Columbia County Se
nior Team placed eleventh, with
team member Jackie Sleeper
taking second high individual
statewide. The team of Juliane
Kalhar, Megan Jennings, Jack
ie Sleeper, Kirsten Schrader
and Nicole McNinch was
coached by Laura Kalhar. The
Intermediate Team included
Lindsay Brown, Amy Anderson,
Courtney Savage, W hitney
Johnson and Ashley Parker,
and was coached by Sheryl
Savage.
Spring Contest Day warms up 4-H
The ovens were hot and the
smell of food wafted out of the
Home Economics room at St.
Helens Middle School, April 26,
as 4-H youth from around Co
lumbia County participated in
the 4-H Spring Contest Day, an
event which included the 4-H
Foods Contest and Junior Pre
sentations.
Participants in the Foods
Contest prepare a meal, includ
ing tablesetting with correct
dishes and flatware, a bal
anced menus for an entire day
and a food item from the menu.
The time allowed and the level •
of food preparation depends on
the level and age of the youth.
The Junior 4-H Presentation *
Contest requires members to
select a topic, prepare a
speech and present it to a
judge. Topics selected may be
4-H projects or other areas of
interest.
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