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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (March 17, 2011)
The INDEPENDENT, March 17, 2011 School board extends year due to weather The Vernonia School Board met March 10 with just the number of board members (four) needed for a quorum. The board unanimously agreed to extend the school year, due to the recent bad weather, so the last student day will be June 16 and the last day for teachers will be June 17. A memorandum of agreement between the district and St. Mary’s Catholic Church was approved that allows the district to use St. Mary’s parking lot for school events. In re- turn, St. Mary’s can use the dis- trict’s parking on weekends and at other times. Approval was given for an up- dated version of the Memorandum of Agreement between the City of Vernonia and the school district for the School Resource Officer. The City attorney had made some small changes since the district ap- proved the last version, so it came before the board again. Superintendent Dr. Ken Cox re- ceived the board’s permission to negotiate with landowners to ob- tain a 10 foot-wide easement to in- stall runoff from the new school property to the Nehalem. This was a requirement of the Vernonia Planning Commission, needed in order for them to sign off on the building permit. Resolution 10-09 was ap- proved, to renew all teacher and administrator contracts. Cox told the board that, next year, the dis- trict will have no teachers in proba- tionary status. The next board meeting will be held on April 14, starting at 6:00 p.m. at the district office. Vernonia winter sports successful by Gordon Jarman, Athletic Direc- tor The 2010-2011 winter sports season has come to an end. This season was one with more suc- cess overall, for all sports involved, than what we have had in recent years. The wrestling team contin- ued its winning ways with a second place finish in the district tourna- ment, and qualified six wrestlers to the state tournament. The boys basketball team finished second in the league and made the first round of the state play-offs. The girls basketball team finished fifth in the league and made the first round of the league play-offs, only to lose a heartbreaker to Neah- Kah-Nie by two, and be eliminated from further competition. We will graduate several seniors from the girls basketball team and three out of five starters from the boys teams, so making the play-offs next year will be more difficult. The wrestling team loses three top up- per weights and will have a tough time filling those spots, but should be very competitive in the middle weights. Boy’s Basketball – The boys team ended the season with a 14 and 14 record, and a close second place finish in the league tourna- ment, losing by two to the champi- on Knappa Loggers. This finish was enough to get them into a state play-off game with Western Mennonite. Unfortunately, the team came up short in that game and instead of advancing to the fi- nal eight in the state at Pendleton, their season was over. The boys had 21 athletes com- peting this year and a large num- ber of freshmen (8) on the JV team. One player had a concus- sion, which caused him to lose playing time, but he has suffered no ill-effects as a result of the in- jury. The Loggers were led by three all-league performers: Tanner Fabe, honorable mention; Vaclav Michalec, second team; and Craig Weller, second team. Two of these three graduate this year, with Weller returning to help lead next year’s Loggers. The team gradu- ates four seniors from the group of 12 varsity players and, with eight returning talented underclassmen, should be a force to contend with next year. Girls Basketball – The girls team ended their season with a 10 and 16 record, which was good enough for them to capture the fifth place finish in league and the last league play-off spot. Unfortunately, they lost in the first round of the league play-offs. That game, played in Neah-Kah-Nie, could have gone either way, and the Log- gers had a lead with very little time left in the game, but could not hold onto it and lost by two. That loss put them out of the league tourna- ment and just one game short of earning a state play-off berth. The girls started the league with 23 athletes and finished the sea- son with 23. A knee injury made one girl unable to continue playing, but she stayed with the team. Three players also suffered con- cussions, which caused them to miss some games. They all re- turned to play later and seem to have suffered no ill effects from their injuries. The Loggers were led by two very good seniors, all league play- er Megan Rock (honorable men- tion) and Ariel Rock, Vernonia’s only first team all-league player in basketball this year. There were several seniors on this year’s team and, though graduation, we will lose five girls. Next year we will have three juniors step up to fill the void caused by graduation, and the girls will be competitive once again. Wrestling – The wrestling team continued its winning ways this season, winning several dual meets and being undefeated at home. The Loggers defeated Clatskanie, Corbett, Neah-Kah- Nie, Rainier, Knappa, and new league rival Central Linn, all at home. They finished second at the district tournament, losing by 2.5 points to Central Linn, who hosted the tournament. The Loggers were somewhat handicapped this sea- son, having to forfeit 24 points go- ing into each match without having anyone in the first four weight classes, and had to overcome that deficit to come up with victories. In 2A wrestling only the top two athletes at each weight class qual- ify from the district into the state meet. This season the Loggers qualified six athletes to participate at the state level – Shylo Dooley, Joe Benes, Michael Kinnan, Jacob Barnes, Jacob Alf, and Alex Bar- ber. Of these six athletes, Joe Benes and Alex Barber placed fourth in this prestigious event. Joe will be returning for his senior year, next year, to lead another strong contingency of Vernonia Wrestlers. In the last five years, Vernonia has finished second at the district tour- nament four out of five times and the time they did not finish second, they were district champions. The Loggers finished the season with 22 athletes on the team. If they can pick up a few light weight athletes, the prospects continue to look good for Vernonia’s most success- ful high school sport in recent years. This is something the school district and this community can be proud of, I know I am. Middle School Athletics – The middle school only had boys bas- ketball this winter, with both a 7th and an 8th grade team. The 7th grade team ended up with a four and five record, but started the season with only six athletes. Due to grade problems, two of those were held off the team and some of the lesser skilled 8th graders were allowed to play on the 7th grade team. That worked well be- cause the 8th graders started the Page 11 season with 13 players and ended with 11, so everyone received am- ple playing time. The 8th grade team finished with a three and six record. Both teams improved over the course of the year, with Daniel Rice and Logan Titus being two of the better 8th grade players and Jarrett White being one of the bet- ter 7th grade players. Chalk Talk Chalk Talk is a column of information about Vernonia schools. This column was provided by Superintendent Dr. Ken Cox. Well March definitely came in like a lion! As a result of the snow storm at the end of February and the loss of four school days, the school board has extended the school year by three days, mak- ing the last day of school for students Thursday, June 16. While we hope this does not impact early summer plans, we feel that getting a full year of school is important for our students. In other action at the board meeting, the board approved the School Resource Officer (SRO) Agreement with the City and Ver- nonia Prevention Coalition. We feel that this will be a positive ad- dition to have a ‘friendly’ police presence on campus. I have met with both Chief Conner and Officer Kay about how we are going to implement this program. The purpose of the SRO is not to bring the ‘heavy hand of justice’ onto the campus, but to provide opportunities to establish a positive rapport with students and staff to be proactive in dealing with the many issues of life at school. The SRO will be another adult who can keep an eye out for inappropriate comments or actions and deal with minor issues before they turn into something bigger. I have made it clear to our administrators that the SRO an- swers to them while on campus, unless they witness a crime be- ing committed. This is a pilot program as a collaborative effort be- tween the Vernonia Police Department and the District Adminis- tration Team. The SRO will be in touch with administrators on a daily basis and with me on a weekly basis, as we feel that com- munication is key to the successful implementation of this pro- gram. I will provide more information in coming weeks as the pro- gram gets started. Have a great week. Vernonia Veterinary Clinic Formerly Midway Veterinary Clinic Monday, Wednesday & Saturday 700 Weed Avenue Vernonia