The INDEPENDENT, November 20, 2003
Chalk Talk
Chalk Talk presents a variety of information about Ver-
nonia schools. It is written by various staff members
and will appear monthly.
By Nate Underwood, Principal
Washington Grade School
It seems unlikely that a quarter of the school
year has passed. The staff at WGS continue to
work hard to make this a great place for kids to
learn. Thank you for the continued support of
your child’s academic success, evidenced by
your participation in fall conferencing, held at
WGS on November 6th and 7th.
We have several new faces at WGS. It is a
pleasure to welcome Ted Aubin, Jr. High History;
and Shanna Sexton, Special Education. They
are fine additions to Washington. Ted is also the
Assistant Boys Basketball Coach at the High
School. Be sure to head out this season to sup-
port the Loggers.
Additionally, there are some familiar faces
with new assignments this year. I could not ask
for a better office staff. Patty Fetherston, Secre-
tary II, and Kari Moeller, Secretary I, make sure
that all wheels are in place. If you place a call or
stop by the office for a visit, you will always be
met with a friendly smile and a helping hand. I
have been forced to start exercising again, how-
ever, as the chocolate candies that are so abun-
dantly available have become too big a tempta-
tion. Adding to my woes is the delicious food of
new Head Cook, Gretchen Lindauer. Nutrition is
emphasized, as all students are required to stop
by the salad bar to balance out their meal with
fruit and vegetables. We are very fortunate and
pleased to have her in this position this year.
Other changes this year see Lynn Shaw, 4th
Grade; Shauna Hoekert, 2nd Grade; and Kari
Hansen, 1st Grade, return to Washington. Last
year Lynn and Shauna were both at Lincoln, and
Kari was teaching at Mist. Cici Bell has moved
from the high school to help out with the Title 1
program and Kim Morrison, under the tutelage of
Doug Tesdal, is teaching art. We are glad they
are here.
With the completion of the first quarter of
school, I am proud to announce that 59 Jr. High
students are being recognized for Academic
Honors.
Principal’s Honors, Achieving a GPA of 4.00 –
Samantha Lee, Tricia
Levenseller,
Ashley
Paleck,
Rebeka-
hann
Peerson,
Nicholas
Young,
Heather Bassett,
Connor
Flynn,
Megan Perry, Desiree
Rule, and Mackenzie Carr.
High Honors, Achieving a GPA of
3.50-3.99 – Janda Barber, Gillian Cheney, Byron
Schorzman, Rebekah Young, Alexandria
Chadek, Cody Eaton, Alisha Witham, Tyler
Clines, Joseph Fergusson, Elliot Graf, Blake
Moeller, Tim Prpich, Joshua Vanderzanden,
Stephanie Benes, Marissa Clement, Allison
Schilling, Lindsay Shaw, Ben Bamburg, Sandy
Bevans, Kelsey King, Phillip Peerson, and Kym-
berlia Sebring.
Honors, Achieving a GPA of 3.25-3.49 – Kahli
Anderson, Justin Caputo, Celia Gendron-Hern-
don, Keli Krieger, Danielle Shorey, Amanda
Sliger, Amelia Rombach, Lauren Dyer, Carrie
Shaw, Matthew Threet, and Joseph Johnston.
Honorable Mention, Achieving a GPA of 3.00-
3.24 – David Allen, Yolande Gendron-Herndon,
Kirsten Godel, Mathew Krause, Caleb Rice,
Rachel Rode, William Forrest, Joseph Hales,
Brittney Paden, Megan Heironimus, Dalton
Stevens, Sahrina Smith, Nicole Moss, Alyssa
Bloomfield, Miranda Gunter, Bonnie Organ, and
Timothy Taylor.
Congratulations to all for a fine effort. Keep up
the good work!
Upcoming events include the music program
and basketball season. The title of our Christmas
Program is “An Early American Christmas.” The
music program classes will be having lunch for
the seniors and a matinee and evening perform-
ance on December 18th. Be sure to mark your
calendars. The boy’s basketball team will open
competition on November 13th. The girls begin
their season after we return from winter break.
Good luck to all.
A special thank you to all students and com-
munity members who contributed to this year’s
Canned Food Drive. Vernonia Cares Food Bank
reports that Washington and Lincoln Grade
Schools donated 2150 pounds of food, a value
of $3225.00. The Vernonia community thanks
you for your kindness.
R OCK C REEK S TUDIO
P HOTOGRAPHY FOR A LL O CCASIONS
CALL TODAY:
503-830-8260
503-429-4961
902 Bridge Street • Vernonia
In the Bridge Street Mall
Alumni vs. Varsity
volleyball game
There will be an Alumni vs.
Varsity Volleyball game in the
Vernonia High School gym, Fri-
day, November 21, at 7:00 p.m.
In addition to the game, there
will be a baked goods raffle with
tickets costing 50 cents each or
three for $1.00., plus a special
raffle for four Trail Blazer tick-
ets.
All proceeds will benefit the
Zack Rumbolz Memorial Schol-
arship.
Page 11
Students invited to participate
in Model Presidential Convention
Middle and high school stu-
dents from the Pacific North-
west are invited to join students
from around the nation at the
11th Model Presidential Nomi-
nating Convention in March,
2004, to be held at Portland’s
Memorial Coliseum. Students
have accurately chosen the last
nine nominees from the politi-
cal party represented at the
Convention.
Designed to simulate the
real national convention by us-
ing the same rules and proce-
dures, the 2004 Convention will
involve over 5,000 middle and
high school students from
around the nation. The pro-
gram was developed by James
Barlow, a veteran teacher at
Aloha High School, so “stu-
dents have the opportunity to
experience politics first hand, in
a creative, enjoyable atmos-
phere.” The convention is
sponsored by the Beaverton
School District.
This is a non-partisan pro-
gram but the party with the
most competitive nomination
race is selected for each con-
vention. Based upon this stan-
dard, the 2004 model conven-
tion will represent the Democ-
ratic Party. In 2000, students
picked George W. Bush as the
nominee to the Republican
model convention.
The Convention provides a
unique learning experience for
students, taking them out of the
classroom and into a realistic,
hands-on environment. As del-
egates, the students research
the states and caucuses they
will be representing. They learn
not only the nominating
process, but also how a nomi-
nating convention really works.
Congressman Earl Blume-
nauer said “The Model Nomi-
nating Convention is an out-
standing tool for engaging our
young people in electoral poli-
tics, and has demonstrated its
commitment to raising civic
awareness in new generations
of voters, year after year.”
Requests to address the
convention have been sent to
several candidates in this
year’s crowded Democratic
field. Previous keynote speak-
ers have included candidates,
now former Presidents, Ronald
Reagan, George H.W. Bush,
and Bill Clinton.
The convention will meet at
the Memorial Coliseum in Port-
land, Oregon, March 10-12,
2004. Meetings to prepare stu-
dents for the convention will be
held on the campus of Portland
State University, December 16,
2003, January 30 and February
24-25, 2004.
The entry deadline for dis-
tricts or schools is December
12. Those interested are en-
couraged to contact the Model
Presidential Nominating Con-
vention by email at <info@mp
nc.org>. The Convention web-
site is www.mpnc.org.
Head Start programs receive
$1+ million grant to continue
U.S. Senators Ron Wyden
(D-OR) and Gordon Smith (R-
OR) announced November 11
that Portland metropolitan area
Head Start programs will re-
ceive a total of $1,405,837 in
grants from the U.S Depart-
ment of Health and Human Ser-
vices (HHS) to continue provid-
ing developmental care and ed-
ucation to hundreds of children
aged 0 to 5.
Community Action Team of
Columbia County, which admin-
isters all Head Start programs
in Columbia County, will re-
ceive $212,419. The rest of the
grant money is allocated to
Portland
Public
Schools,
$435,090; Albina Head Start,
$350,246; Early Head Start
Family Center of Portland,
$228,591 and Head Start of
Yamhill County, $179,491.
“Continuing to fund Head
Start programs ensures count-
less and lasting benefits for the
community,” said Smith. “This
grant provides our children with
a safe, solid foothold during the
critical beginning steps of life.”
“These grants will help con-
tinue the success of Portland
area Head Start programs to
provide early care and educa-
tion – two invaluable resources
for our youngsters,” said
Wyden. “making comprehen-
sive child development and ed-
ucation a priority will help cre-
ate a brighter future for Ore-
gon’s children.”
Head Start, created in 1965,
is a federal program in the Ad-
ministration of Children, Youth
and Families in the Department
of Health and Human Services.