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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 5, 2009)
Page 12 The INDEPENDENT, November 5, 2009 Banks School Board honors Mark Ward Oregon has high volunteerism rate Banks School Board ap- plauded Mark Ward, of Jim’s Thriftway Market, as he was honored for his many years of support for district activities, at the October 12 meeting. During the workshop immediately prior to the board meeting, the board continued discussion about de- veloping a cohesive statement of district goals and received an update on the budget. Last month the board re- ceived policy revisions setting graduation requirements; defin- ing instructional goals for health education regarding hu- man sexuality, AIDS/HIV, and sexually transmitted diseases; and establishing procedures to respond to any complaint of ha- rassment/intimidation/bully- ing/etc. These policies will be by Chris Thomas, Oregon News Service action items on the November 9 board meeting for discussion. Policies may be adopted imme- diately after the second reading and discussion, though the board may also hold any policy over for further discussion or changes. Also at the meeting on Mon- day evening, Jim Mabbott, Su- perintendent for Northwest Re- gional Educational Service Dis- trict (NWRESD), will present the local service options uti- lized and available to the dis- trict. The largest ESD in the state, NWRESD serves nearly 116,000 students, more than 170 public schools, and 20 school districts. Spanning ap- proximately 3,500 square miles across the northwest corner of Oregon (Clatsop, Columbia, Tillamook and Washington counties) NWRESD is the most diverse in the state including many small rural schools and two of the largest districts in the state, Hillsboro and Beaverton. The board approved house- keeping ‘designations’ of sign- ers (Superintendent Jim Foster, Business Manager Simon Lev- ear and Marlo Mosser) on the district bank accounts at West Coast Bank and US Bank. In the future, this will be included with other designations made at the beginning of the school business year in July. Foster also announced that previously scheduled H1N1 vaccinations have been rescheduled to December 8 due to lack of supplies. The unemployment rate in Oregon may be high, but so is the rate of volunteerism. In the last year, about one million Oregonians contributed more than 120 million hours of their time for charitable and commu- nity service projects. In this economy, you might assume people would pass up working for free, to look for paying jobs, but Bandana Shreftha, director of community engagement for AARP Oregon, says that hasn't been the case, “You know, it’s an interesting phenomenon. I think that, because times are so hard, people realize that their neighbors need help. There seems to be a greater desire to give back and to help each other.” According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, Oregon has climbed in S TRASSEL ’ S A UTO R EPAIR & H YDRAULIC H OSES 2-4-6 S PIRAL W IRE S UCTION H OSES A DAPTORS - 3/16” TO 2” A MERICAN & M ETRIC F ITTINGS B ULK O IL P RODUCTS 276 S UNSET , B ANKS 503-324-9808 the rankings by state for its number of volunteers, from 16th to 13th. One-third of Ore- gonians do some form of volun- teer work; that’s more than the national rate of 26 percent. Shreftha says job seekers have discovered that volun- teering is an excellent way to network as well as to stay busy, and most volunteer opportuni- ties don’t require a lot of special skills. “You don’t need a great deal of training and, most of the time, the organizations will pro- vide you with the training and support you need. That’s the great thing about volunteering – you can choose to use skills that you may already have, or you may learn something – and organizations are there to help you and support you,” said Shreftha. AARP has a new Website, w w w. C r e a t e T h e G o o d . o r g , where people can post or find volunteer opportunities by ZIP code. Shreftha says they’re now recruiting volunteers for the “Tax-Aid” program, to help low-income and older adults file their income taxes in the spring. See page 10 for Banks Library Column Announcing Jim’s Thriftway Holiday Show 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. November 11 th Enjoy live music While you sample the tastes of the holidays. 660 So. Main, Banks • 503-324-2171