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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2011)
The INDEPENDENT, September 21, 2011 Eyrrick now on Vernonia School Board The Vernonia School Board meeting of September 15 last- ed only an hour, but saw the open board position filled when Camrin Eyrrick took the oath of office and was seated as the newest member. The board had previously held interviews for the position and selected Eyrrick, who has previously served as president of the Ver- nonia Community PTA. There are about 570 stu- dents enrolled this year, com- pared to the expected 600, but that number may change be- fore the numbers go to the State of Oregon on October 1. In other business, the board: • Heard that Lango Hansen Architects was selected to build the new Spencer Park and that deconstruction of the old schools is expected to take place starting the Fall of 2012. • Unanimously approved Greg Kintz to continue repre- senting the district on the OSBA Board of Directors (with Kintz not voting). • Heard that the Summer meals program was deemed a success, having served an av- erage of 100 meals per day, and is expected to return next Summer. The next board meeting will be held October 20, starting at 6:00 p.m. at the district office. Learn to Make Parenting a Pleasure Make Parenting a Pleasure is the name of an educational program to be held at St. He- lens Head Start Center. The program is open to Columbia County residents,. Learn practical stress man- agement and communication skills, effective parenting skills and child development and oth- er skills. The program is provid- ed by Child & Family Develop- ment Parenting Education Pro- grams, Community Action, Inc. and in partnership with the Children’s Trust Fund of Ore- gon. Space is limited and regis- tration is required by calling 503-556-3736. The mats are open for wrestling now the 2010/2011 Vernonia Wrestling team is pictured at the district tournament, in February 2011, where they placed second to Central Linn by 2.5 points. Photo by Chris Barnes. by Chris Barnes, VHS Assis- tant Wrestling Coach Fall is here and the high school sport seasons are in full swing. Hopefully this cool sum- mer weather will last well into the fall for the benefit of the players and fans. May the fall teams experience much suc- cess in that everlasting sum- mer weather. It may seem a lit- tle premature to be thinking about the winter sports season, but the truth is, coaches never stop thinking about their sport. A coach is always thinking about what to teach, what to improve, how to improve, and how to promote the sport; the list goes on and on. So, while it may be fall sports season, wrestling is on my mind. VHS is due for another ban- ner year in the wrestling room. Following up on a 2010 district championship and a 2011 dis- trict runner up, the team is po- sitioned well to dominate the district tournament once again. The team has seven fourth- year seniors, many returning juniors and sophomores, and several promising freshman. Of these athletes, four are return- ing state qualifiers and one is a returning state placer. “Banner” may just be an understate- ment! The coaching staff offers open mat hours from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thurs- days year ‘round. This is a great opportunity for kids to come in and roll around on their own terms; coaches are not allowed to coach at open mat, so the more experienced wrestlers are usually the ones teaching. This is a great learn- ing opportunity for the teachers because you really learn what you know when you teach; and more importantly, you learn what you don’t know! Many nights we just run the clock for one minute rounds and wrestle live the entire two hours. Even the coaches wrestle at open mat! If you are a student (not nec- essarily an athlete) and unde- cided about your winter sport, consider wrestling. Wrestling welcomes all, rejects none, en- courages and supports all, judges none, and teaches par- ticipants self-worth and pride. A Vernonia wrestler once said that, “the most significant gain in wrestling is mental strength, not physical.” What a great life lesson that is! Page 11 Chalk Talk Chalk Talk is a column of information about Vernonia schools. This column was provided by Superintendent Dr. Ken Cox. Now that we have a week or two of school behind us I would like to take a moment and remind folks of a few concerns that crop up every now and again: the crosswalks on Bridge Street, bullying, and student busing. If you drop-off or pick-up your children at school you will know that we have elementary student crossing guards at the cross- walk in front of WGS. They do a great job in helping us drivers pay attention and prompting us to stop when necessary. Howev- er, there are three other crosswalks in front of our schools, and even though we do not have crossing guards posted at them, it is still important that drivers stop when there is a student (or any- one else for that matter) waiting at a crosswalk. Please keep your eyes open for people wanting to cross Bridge street at all cross- walks. New laws require compliance with this even before pedes- trians enter the crosswalk. The district is concerned about bullying and its impact on our students’ self esteem and their ability to do well while at school. We addressed this toward the end of last year and more recent- ly had a workshop conducted by Trudy Ludwig, a bullying expert and author, for all staff on August 31st and for our elementary stu- dents. She also spoke to parents on September 8th and shared some simple ways that we often enable bullying rather than help to eliminate it. If you would like more information please contact one of our school counselors. I want you to know that, as a dis- trict, we are addressing this problem and ask that, if you are aware of any child being bullied, please notify us. Finally, I would like to thank Curl’s Bus Service for their contin- ued reliable service to our community in providing transportation for our students. It is mandated that the district provide this serv- ice, but that mandate only calls for bus service to students in grades K-5 who live more than half a mile from school and a mile for all older students. Curl’s has in the past been able to pick up students within these limits due to the fact that much of Vernonia does not have sidewalks (which creates a safety issue) or when they have had extra room on their busses. Currently, we have our busses running at capacity and on tight time schedules so we have had to cut back on many of these courtesy pick-ups. We appreciate your understanding and would remind you, with the coming change in weather, to make sure your children are dressed properly for school whether they have to walk or ride the bus. Vernonia Veterinary Clinic Formerly Midway Veterinary Clinic Monday, Wednesday & Saturday 700 Weed Avenue Vernonia
