The INDEPENDENT, April 16, 2009
47J board gets kindergarten news
With both Ernie Smith and
board chair Kim Wallace out
sick, the Vernonia 47J Board
of Directors took on a fairly
light agenda at their April 9
meeting. The board unani-
mously authorized Superinten-
dent Dr. Ken Cox to enter into
a contract for project manage-
ment services with whichever
contractor is chosen from the
applications solicited recently.
The board also approved the
appointment of Bill Langmaid
to the Budget Committee.
In a somewhat convoluted
arrangement, the board ap-
proved eliminating, from next
year’s general fund budget,
half a Kindergarten teacher
position and just over one
classified Instructional Assis-
tant position. The board had
already been told that
$130,000 in Title I funds, plus
$90,000 in stimulus money,
would be used instead of the
general fund to pay for one
Kindergarten teacher and
some special education servic-
es. With multiple funding
streams, the district will still
have two Kindergarten teach-
ers, and expects to retain the
same Kindergarten schedule
as this year.
Dr. Cox announced that the
amount of the bond to be
sought for funding new
schools will be announced at a
school board workshop on
April 30 at 6:00 p.m.
The grade school report to
the board included the infor-
mation that the Jump Rope for
WGS PE Department raised
$1618.10. That amount will be
matched by the Vernonia
Community PTA and used to
purchase a climbing wall for
the new elementary school
gymnasium.
The next regular board
meeting will be May 14, start-
ing at 6:00 p.m. in the District
office.
VHS announces 3rd qtr. Honor Roll
The following students were
named to the Vernonia High
School academic Honor Roll
for the 2008-09 third quarter.
Grade Point Averages (GPA)
are on a scale of 1-4, with 4
equaling a perfect score.
Principal’s Honors, 4.00 –
Kaytee Burghard, Holly Cavett,
Christopher Dass, Karly De-
Witt, Laura Hein, Samantha
Lee, Tricia Levenseller, Jack-
son Miller, Souvanny Miller, Gia
The Nguyen, Chelsea Patton,
Melissa Sandstrom, Kelly
Smith, Natalie Wallace, and
Nicholas Young.
High Honors, 3.50-3.99 –
Jacob Alf, Christopher Bam-
burg, Bonnie Birkmaier, Jacob
Bringman, Rachel Brown, Tim-
othy Brown, Eric Budge,
Joshua Butcher, Justin Caputo,
Kaitlyn Carr, Crystal-Ann
Carreon, Sarah Dupree, Adri-
enne East, Katie Ellington, Ce-
lene Feijoo, Joey Fergusson,
Brandy Fosdick, Mackenzie
Frantz, Brandon Gilbertson,
Kristina Halvorson, Melissa
Hermet, Calie Johnston, Keli
Krieger, Alex Lende, Mickell
Maller, Sarah Miller, Emily
Mitchell, Nicole Mitchell, Ashley
Paleck, Tasia Pond, Tim
Prpich, William Ren, Amy Reth-
will, Gavin Roberts, Mason
See Honor roll on page 20
Student Clean Beaches Art Contest
Oregon fourth- and fifth-
grade students are being invit-
ed to compete in the fourth an-
nual Clean Beaches Art Con-
test.
The contest is open to
fourth- and fifth-graders from
all areas of the state. Deadline
for entries is May 15.
The first place winner will re-
ceive a small prize and have
his or her artwork posted on the
Web site of the Oregon Beach
Monitoring Program, the con-
test sponsor. The winning
artist’s teacher will receive a
$100 gift certificate to purchase
science and environmental ed-
ucation resources for use in the
classroom. The prizes are paid
for by the federally funded
beach program.
“The goal is to raise aware-
ness about the importance of
protecting our beaches and
ocean waters,” said Jennifer
Ketterman, beach monitoring
program coordinator in the
Oregon Department of Human
Services. “There are things we
can all do to help make sure
they are healthy places to play
and swim.”
See Beach art on page 20
Page 11
Chalk Talk
Chalk Talk is a monthly column of information about
Vernonia schools. It is written by various staff mem-
bers. This column was provided by Superintendent Dr.
Ken Cox.
Finally, we’re making progress!
It seemed to take a long time for something to
happen, but now that the Board has selected a
site and an architectural firm, things are really
heating up. The first group meeting with BOORA
architects was held last Thursday. They re-
viewed with us the process and schedule that
will lead to a design for our new schools over the
next couple of months. In the meeting they went
around the room for public input and, as a result,
we discussed the idea of organizing the con-
struction into smaller jobs so that local contrac-
tors would have a better chance of participating
in the construction. We want our new schools to
benefit the community in every way possible,
even before they get built.
Throughout the design process, the architects
will be seeking input from the community. Next
Friday, April 17, they will be meeting with school
staff from 1:45 to 5:00 p.m. to discuss the Strate-
gic Education Plan (StEP) that was developed
two years ago by the District and community
members. The general public is also welcome to
come and participate.
The following week we will be visiting some
new schools, similar in size and design to what
we will need, and then on Tuesday, April 28, all
of the information that has been gathered
through these visits and
the visitations made by
our District Facilities
Committee earlier in the
year will be shared at a
Town Hall Meeting beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the
VMS Cafeteria. During this meeting the archi-
tects will also be seeking community input into
the overall design and functionality of the school.
We encourage everyone to come and share your
ideas.
A description of the entire schedule of meet-
ings with the architects is available on the district
website through the ‘New Schools BOORA Infor-
mation’ link on the Superintendent page. We will
place copies of all meeting minutes and other in-
formation on the same page, as it becomes
available. If you don’t have internet access
please just stop by the district office for a copy.
Our schools are the heart of our community!
We want our new heart to be even more effec-
tive at serving the community than what we cur-
rently have. To do that we need to know what
YOU want out of your schools, besides the best
education for our children that we can provide.
This is a unique opportunity for our community. A
perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity where
your idea, or a comment you make, could be-
come reality in our new schools, but it won’t hap-
pen if you keep those ideas to yourself. Let’s all
get involved, work together, and make a differ-
ence! We are shaping the future for generations
of Vernonia’s children!
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