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The INDEPENDENT, February 15, 2012
Chalk Talk
Chalk Talk is a column of information about Ver-
nonia schools. This column was provided by Su-
perintendent Dr. Ken Cox.
As you might guess, children learn better
when they are healthy, and I would like to share
with you two projects that have and can benefit
your children’s health.
I recently visited with Phil Darrah from Ver-
nonia Pharmacy. He shared with me information
about their free vitamins for kids program. The
district has chosen to endorse this program be-
cause of the positive benefits it could have for
our children. Please check out the details in the
advertisement in the February 1 issue of The In-
dependent!
The following report is from Washington
Grade School Principal Aaron Miller:
Over 500 Vernonia School District students in
grades Kindergarten-12th grade were screened
for basic dental health care on Thursday, Febru-
ary 9. This was made possible because approx-
imately 10 students from Pacific University’s
School of Dentistry teamed up with two of their
professors, plus Vernonia dentist Dr. Chris-
topher Scheuerman and his two assistants, to
provide these services
free of charge. All stu-
dents left the check up
with information for
needed follow-up care,
and resources that are available for accessing
health insurance, including the Oregon Healthy
Kids Program.
The opportunity was made possible by a
grant written by Heather Lewis, with the Vernon-
ia Prevention Coalition. Based on the results of
the screening, it will be determined if a second
grant will be applied for to provide more exten-
sive services, including sealants. These servic-
es are much needed, and appreciated, especial-
ly given our area’s current economic state.
If you have any questions regarding the den-
tal screenings, or accessing the Oregon Healthy
Kids Program, please call the Washington
Grade School office at 503-429-7941.
This program was so successful here in Ver-
nonia that Pacific University is interested in ex-
panding the program next year to include all
schools in Columbia County. Once again, Ver-
nonia is leading the way to a better future for
Oregon!
47J School Board told that $30.8
million now raised for new schools
The Vernonia School Board
saw the district’s financial audit
at their February 9 meeting.
The auditors found no prob-
lems with the district’s mone-
tary policies or practices, and
noted that the few items identi-
fied in the prior year had been
corrected.
John Donovan from the Met-
ropolitan Group told the board
that, “2011 was a year of
tremendous progress on the
Vernonia schools project,” hav-
ing raised $30.8 million by the
end of 2011, up $11.8 million
over the amount that had been
raised by the end of 2010.
Donovan went on to say that
only the final 25 percent, just
under $10 million, is still need-
ed to complete the fundraising
effort.
Possibilities for the 2012-13
instructional calendar got a first
viewing, but the board was told
that a final version will not be
presented for adoption until
March.
The board approved a policy
on Admission of Nonresident
Students, set a cap on the
number of non-resident student
transfers the district will accept,
and gave final approval for
February 10 to be a student
contact day, before adjourning
the meeting.
Superintendent Dr. Ken Cox
told the board that items to be
discussed at the next meeting
will include plans for moving to
the new school, information on
the new Spencer Park, and a
new district tobacco policy.
The next meeting of the
school board will be at 6:00
p.m. on March 8, at the district
office.
Apply now for 2012 Ag. scholarships VHS honor roll announced
The Oregon Agricultural Ed-
ucation Foundation (OAEF)
has announced that applica-
tions are available for two
scholarship programs for the
upcoming 2012-2013 academ-
ic year.
Oregon
Farm
Bureau
Memorial Scholarships (OF-
BMS) with 10-12 awards annu-
ally are open to any Oregon
high school graduate preparing
for an agriculture or forestry-re-
lated career. Students attend-
ing institutions outside of Ore-
gon are also eligible. The goal
of the OFB Memorial Scholar-
ship program is to “Support stu-
dents that will have a positive
impact on production agricul-
ture and other agriculture-relat-
ed fields.” The deadline for ap-
plications is March 15.
The Oregon Farm Bureau
Associate Member Scholar-
ship, funded by COUNTRY Fi-
nancial, of $1000 is open to
any Oregon High School grad-
uate/resident with an associate
membership (non-farming/non-
voting), (or a dependent child
of an associate member), in
Oregon Farm Bureau prepar-
ing to continue his/her educa-
tion through a junior college, or
a four year college or universi-
Vernonia
Veterinary
Clinic
Formerly Midway Veterinary Clinic
ty with intent to seek a bache-
lor’s degree. Students attend-
ing institutions outside of Ore-
gon are also eligible. Employ-
ees of Oregon Farm Bureau
and COUNTRY Financial and
their immediate families are not
eligible for this scholarship.
The goal of the scholarship is
to “Help future community and
business leaders obtain a bac-
calaureate education with the
aim of strengthening under-
standing, cooperation, and mu-
tual respect among rural, ur-
ban, and suburban Oregoni-
ans.”
Scholarship procedures and
applications, plus additional in-
formation are available on the
Oregon Farm Bureau website.
http://www.oregonfb.org/pro
grams/ofb-scholarships/.
V ALLEY V ETERINARY C LINIC
R ABIES
S PECIAL
$
50
Monday, Wednesday & Saturday
700 Weed Avenue
Vernonia
The following students were
named to the Vernonia High
School academic Honor Roll
for the 2011-12 second quarter.
Grade Point Averages (GPA)
are on a scale of 1-4, with 4
equaling a perfect score.
Principal’s Honors, 4.00 –
Makayla Adams, Yaroslava
Denysenko, Katie Ellington,
Nicole Glass, Jeffrey Good-
man, Nathanael Izzett, Pavel
Jiranek, Andrew Jennings, Al-
isa Levenseller, Samantha Lin-
dauer, Alyssa Loggins, Laura
Rice, Leah Rice, Deziree
Roberts, Ana Scerbatii, Sicily
Scott, Summer Snow, Tynystan
Talantov, Shyla Tungwenuk,
Natalie Wallace, Samantha
Wallace, Brittany Young, and
Zhuldyz Zhunussova.
High Honors, 3.50-3.99 –
10
Per vaccine, per animal
Through February 2011
Thursdays
9 am - 5 pm
1-503-556-3084
58376 Nehalem Hwy. S. Vernonia
Kimberly Allen, Kayla Aronhalt,
Austin Best-Cutright, Marley
Bower, Joshua Butcher, Nicolo
Casale, Zi_Xian Chen, Andrew
Cheney, Rowan Cheney, Lu-
crece Cheramy, Christopher
Dass, Emilee Easlon, Janae
Easlon, Jacob Eyrrick, Julia
Fletcher, Jessica Gardner, Tim-
othy Jennings, Quin Johansen,
Jerrid Johnston, Brandon
Krause, Kendrick Leaverton,
Alex Lembke, Andrea Lezama,
Lea Mari, Jackson Miller,
Kaitlin Paleck, Janek Palovsky,
Tasia Pond, Daniel Shaw, Kelly
Smith, Winter Snow, Sean Sol-
berg, Meghan Sullivan, Dylan
Taylor, Ryan Taylor, Iryna Ver-
hogliad, Jacob Vifquain, Stina
Voss, and Damian Young.
Honors, 3.25-3.49 – Ashlee
Archer, Skylar Binford, Savan-
nah Brown, Robin Elliott,
Amirkhon Habibuloev, Adonis
Hopkins, Jacob Levenseller,
Liliann Lindsley, Nathen Mc
Millen, Daniel Rice, Sven
Sandstrom, Rowan Scott, Jes-
sica Smith, Lane Sullivan,
Sarah Wagner, and Kristian
Wredstroem.
Honorable Mention, 3.00-
3.24 – Crystal-Ann Carreon,
Stephanie Castro, Melissa
Charbonneau, Dillon Dethlefs,
Shylo Dooley, Mandi Hartford,
Cierra Henson, Finn Hoeck,
Sara McMahon, Felica Schir-
meister, Robert Stringfield,
Nicole Thompson, Logan Titus,
and Leon Wiegand.