The INDEPENDENT, January 21, 2010
Board told Site Council seeks members
The January 14 Vernonia
School District board meeting
started off in a party atmos-
phere, with presents and cake,
for January Board Appreciation
Month. Superintendent Dr. Ken
Cox gave certificates of appre-
ciation to each board member
before cutting and handing out
pieces of cake to the board and
audience.
Middle/High School Principal
Nate Underwood’s report in-
cluded information on Site
Council. The VHS and VMS
Site Council is seeking interest-
ed community members and/or
parents to join. The Site Coun-
cil is responsible for efforts to
improve school programs and
climate, assist staff in meeting
student needs, and student/
staff recognition. Contact the
District Office (503-429-5891) if
interested.
New schools project manag-
er, Steve Effros, reported pro-
gress on Missouri Ave. and
Hwy. 47 improvements, wet-
land permitting process, anoth-
er environmental review pro-
cess, and the Oregon Solutions
and public funding processes.
Cox gave the board informa-
tion on a Graduation Require-
ments policy, asking for their in-
put, although the board doesn’t
take action on such administra-
tive rules. The district is consid-
ering a Vernonia diploma for
26.5 credits versus an Oregon
diploma (24 credits). The Ore-
gon diploma would be used in
some circumstances, with ap-
proval, when students are un-
able to obtain the 26.5 credits
needed for a regular diploma.
Cox gave a FEMA update
that indicated the district may
receive funds to buy out all
three school building, although
the middle school building is
also being considered for relo-
cation to the new site.
In other business, the board:
• Approved 10 updated dis-
trict policies;
• heard that Northwest Exca-
vation Services bid of $2,800
has been accepted to replace a
sewer pipe by the grandstand
that has been damaged by tree
roots. There may be up to
$1,000 more in gravel and per-
mit costs;
• heard from student repre-
sentatives about topics current-
ly being studied, and that the
Winter Formal will be held Jan-
uary 27;
• heard that Fundraising and
CLASS Grant Coordinator Bet-
sy Miller has obtained two
grants. One for $1,500 to invite
two classified staff onto the
CLASS grant Design Team.
The other is a $15,000 annual
grant for a secure online data-
base to be used for the new
schools capital fund raising
campaign in the next few years.
The next board meeting will
be on February 4, instead of
the previously scheduled date
of Feb. 11, at 6:00 p.m. at the
District Office.
Help 8th graders get to Washington, DC
Vernonia eighth grade stu-
dents participating in the Close-
Up Washington, DC/Williams-
burg trip are within only three
months of heading back east.
They have worked very hard on
their fund raisers and hope to
get community help to bring
them up to their goals!
The Trailblazers donated a
2009/10 autographed pennant
that will be used for a silent
auction. The winning bidder
will be announced on February
12. To make a bid contact Kin-
nell Steward at mtskys@veri
zon.net or call 503-819-0143.
The students will sell home-
made baked goods at Middle
School girls basketball home
games, along with 50/50 raffle
tickets. There will be two sepa-
rate raffles for 1-1/2 cords of
fire wood. Tickets for wood will
be 1 for $1.00 or 6 for $5.00.
The wood will be delivered to
the winner on Saturday, Febru-
ary 6. To purchase tickets con-
tact Ashley Rogers at arogers
@vernonia.k12.or.us.
Mark your calendars for din-
ner and fun on Saturday, Feb-
ruary 27, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00
p.m. when the CloseUp stu-
dents will host a spaghetti din-
ner and bingo night in the Ver-
nonia Middle School cafeteria.
Spaghetti dinner tickets are
$5.00 per person and can be
purchased ahead of time from
Ashley Rogers or CloseUp stu-
dents, and also at the door on
the night of the dinner.
Bingo cards will be $1.00 per
card or 6 for $5.00. Some great
prizes have been donated, in-
cluding a brand new bike, din-
ner out at different locations,
tickets to Mariner Square in
Newport and two tickets to Ore-
gon Children’s Theater per-
formance of “Sideways Stories
from Wayside School”, plus
much more. If you have any
items you would like to donate
toward prizes for bingo night,
please contact Kinnell Steward
at mtskys@verizon. net.
Page 11
Chalk Talk
Chalk Talk is a column of information about
Vernonia schools. This column was provided
by Washington and Mist Grade School Princi-
pal Aaron Miller.
The self manager program is in its second year at Washington
Grade School. This program has given our students who are good
citizens a chance to take on responsibilities and privileges that
help serve the school and community.
Self managers are third, fourth and fifth grade students who
have been recognized as being safe, kind, respectful and respon-
sible. To become a self manager, students fill out an application
that includes ratings from their teacher, parents, and another adult
concerning how safe, kind, respectful and responsible they are.
Students also write a paragraph explaining why they believe they
are a self manager.
Sometimes the application reveals an area that needs work.
Perhaps they are kind at school, but not considerate to siblings at
home, or they may be responsible at school, but don’t pick up af-
ter themselves at home. Self managers are students who are con-
sistent in all settings, so if the application reveals an area that
needs work, students are given a period of time to improve and
the application will be reviewed again.
When the application is approved, the student receives a cer-
tificate and a badge that is worn at school, with their picture on it,
which says “self manager”.
Self managers are called on to help in various ways in the
school. We have fifth grade self mangers who are lunch buddies
for kindergarten and first grade students. Lunch buddies eat lunch
with the younger students once a week and provide companion-
ship and encouragement, as well as being good role models for
younger students to learn from. We have fourth grade self man-
agers who assist afternoon kindergarten students at lunch, then
line them up and escort them to class after lunch. Our third grade
self managers will be conducting a canned food drive for the food
bank.
Other tasks that self managers have helped out with at school
include delivering district mail, helping out in the office, escorting
families during kindergarten roundup and staffing the bee buck
store. We are always looking for additional ways to get these stu-
dents involved in the community. Call David Spackman, school
counselor, at 503-429-7941 if you have suggestions or would like
more information on the self manager program.
New musical instruments purchased from Isted estate
The Vernonia Middle/High
School music program recently
received 18 new instruments,
valued at over $3,500, from the
estate of Robert Isted. Isted
taught music in Vernonia for
many years and often used his
own resources to buy instru-
ments for students.
“It came out of nowhere”,
said Principal Nate Under-
wood, when Isted’s brother and
sister-in-law, Richard and
Sharon Isted, showed up at the
school office and asked to see
him.
“They said they would like to
donate some instruments,” Un-
derwood said, “then introduced
themselves.”
Vernonia students and staff
were thrilled, as were the Ist-
eds, who said they had been
“waiting for the day” when they
could make the donation. Sev-
eral students and Vernonia mu-
sic teacher Rob Izett joined the
V ALLEY V ETERINARY C LINIC
R ABIES
S PECIAL
$ 50
The donkeys are coming on Feb. 6
Hee Haw…the donkeys are
coming! The Vernonia commu-
nity again has the opportunity
to enjoy laughter-filled enter-
tainment during Donkey Bas-
ketball.
On Saturday, February 6,
teams from Black Bear Coffee
Shop (“Hot Shots”), Sentry
Market (Cougars and Kittens),
Wauna Federal Credit Union
(The Buck-ette$) and the VHS
Junior Class will hop aboard
their donkeys and compete to
become the Donkey Basketball
Champions! The Vernonia Vol-
unteer Fire Dept. Cheerleaders
will be making their first ap-
pearance! Game time is 7:00
p.m. at the VHS Gym.
Come early and enjoy the
Zack Rumbolz Memorial Schol-
arship taco feed beginning at
See Donkey on page 20
impromptu celebration and un-
loaded about 15 instruments.
It is appropriate that the pas-
sion of Bob Isted, for music and
for students, will continue long
after his death.
8
Per vaccine, per animal
Through February 2010
Open Thursdays
From 9 am to 5 pm
1-503-556-3084
58376 Nehalem Hwy. S. Vernonia