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