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The INDEPENDENT, March 21, 2012
Chalk Talk
Chalk Talk is a column of information about Ver-
nonia schools. This column was provided by
James Brookins, Special Education Director.
I am pleased to share with you some of the
developments in the special services programs
in the Vernonia School District. Special services
are those programs for which students, patrons
and employees qualify under the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) or the Individuals with Dis-
abilities Education Act (IDEA). When students
have a handicapping condition they may be
served with a 504 plan (ADA) or an Individual-
ized Education Plan (IDEA). In our district
around 18% of the students are served in one of
these two ways.
As always, if you have any concerns about
your child, or know of someone in the communi-
ty who might need our services, please use the
school offices as resources. Feel free to contact
me or my Compliance Officer, Cherise Harbour,
at 429-0487. We are interested in identifying
and serving all eligible children, even before
they are of kindergarten age. We are also hap-
py to talk to you about volunteering in the district
if you have extra time and want to spend it help-
ing kids.
Washington Grade School continues to be a
busy place. The special education teachers and
specialists such as Speech and Language
Pathologist & School Psychologist, serve stu-
dents in a variety of ways. From special mobility
devices to language service and mathematics
Action Ads
instruction, they are
hopping every day.
They would be excited
to talk to you about
their new work with as-
sistive technology. The teachers have written
grants, and partnered with the ESD to acquire
technology that helps some students read, write
and communicate. We are only beginning to roll
out our efforts with iPads, tablet readers, and
bookshare.org, but we are excited to expand our
resources in an area so beneficial for kids.
At the middle school and high school they are
also beginning to use some of the same assis-
tive technologies. The secondary teachers are
helping students navigate high school and part-
nering with their students’ other teachers to
make sure their curriculum serves each stu-
dent’s needs. The entire special education de-
partment (K-12) is excited to move into the new
classrooms and Life Skills lab next year. An im-
portant part of a secondary specialist’s job is to
plan transition goals that address every kind of
need for students with disabilities after they
leave school. Our new lab will help with the non-
academic aspects of special education, and
make sure our students are also prepared to live
independently.
Please do give us a call if you have any need
for information about our programs, or if you
would like to volunteer in an important area of
need.
New scholarship opportunity from
ShoeString Community Players
ShoeString
Community
Players is announcing a schol-
arship that will be available to a
Columbia County student pur-
suing a degree in theater arts.
At least one scholarship of
$650.00 or more will be award-
ed in 2012. Additional scholar-
ships or funds will be at the dis-
cretion of the ShoeString Com-
munity Players’ Board. The
scholarship funds will be sent
directly to the college, universi-
ty or conservatory indicated by
the recipient.
The scholarship is funded by
a portion of the proceeds from
the SSCP annual summer mu-
sical, other productions, and by
funds donated specifically for
the scholarship.
To apply, submit a complet-
ed application form, theatrical
history, an essay, a copy of
your transcript and two recom-
mendations to: 2012 Scholar-
ship, c/o ShoeString Communi-
ty Players, P.O. Box 481, St.
Helens, OR. 97051.
Scholarship applications are
available from http://www.sscp-
musicals.com. All documents
must be received by SSCP no
later than May 1, 2012. Late
applications will not be consid-
ered.
Recommendations
from
people having specific knowl-
edge of your work in theater
are strongly encouraged. Both
recommendations must be
from an adult and one of them
must be from a teacher.
CORRECTION
Vernonia Middle School in-
advertently omitted seven stu-
dents from the High Honors list
in the academic honor roll that
was published in the March 7
issue of The Independent.
The following students also
earned High Honors: Lily
Buchanan, Morgan Harral,
Ashley Jackson, Ariel Masog,
Cheyanne March, Clay Sulli-
van, and Madison Zavales.
PCC students help Vernonia’s new school go green
INEXPENSIVE – EFFECTIVE
503-429-9410
$4.50
$5.50 for the first
10 words, then just
10¢ for each
additional word
After two floods in 11 years
destroyed their schools, Ver-
nonia School District students
and staff worked with Portland
Community College students
and community leaders on Sat-
urday, March 17, to plant new
landscaping plants in the front
of the new K-12 school and
Vernonia
Veterinary
Clinic
Formerly Midway Veterinary Clinic
Monday, Wednesday & Saturday
700 Weed Avenue
Vernonia
community center in Vernonia.
This event culminated a re-
markable partnership support-
ing the new K-12 school in Ver-
nonia, and provided a new
meaning for wearing green for
St. Patrick’s Day.
Roughly 40 PCC landscape
design students completed de-
sign elements of the exterior
grounds adjacent to the new
schools as part of a class as-
signment. These PCC students
worked with Vernonia Middle
School students to install the
winning design. “I feel so hon-
ored and excited to be part of
this schools project,” said PCC
student Jen Harrison, whose
design was selected to be used
as part of the campus land-
scaping. “The school’s ap-
proach to the landscaping is a
perfect match for my own val-
ues and the way I want to de-
sign projects in the future.”
Rock Creek President David
Rule spoke to the crowd of
muddy but enthusiastic stu-
dents and supporters, and stat-
ed, “PCC is proud to help this
community move closer to
opening their new schools, and
we can also provide hands-on,
valuable experience to our own
students.”
State Senator Betsy John-
son, Columbia County Chair
Tony Hyde and Vernonia Mayor
Josette Mitchell were also on
hand to celebrate the work of
the students and PCC’s part-
nership with the school district.
“There is something truly inspi-
rational in watching these com-
munity college students dive
into the mud and make a differ-
ence in the lives of the children
of Vernonia,” shared Senator
Johnson, adding “Since the
floods, partners from across
the state have rolled up their
sleeves to help a neighbor in
need. Today is a remarkable
example of the kind of caring
and compassion that make me
so proud to be an Oregonian.”
“We couldn’t be more
pleased with the opportunity to
work with PCC Rock Creek,
and we thank these wonderful
students for helping to get this
landscaping in place,” said Dr.
Ken Cox, Vernonia Schools
Superintendent. “This school
represents the hard work of so
many people and organiza-
tions, and I hope these stu-
dents come back and see the
school once it is open this fall.”
The plants were donated as
part of another partnership be-
tween the Vernonia School Dis-
trict and the U.S. Bureau of
Land Management. Several
firms on the project helped to
prepare the site in advance of
the landscaping project. “I
would like to thank Teufel Land-
scaping and Crestview Con-
struction for adjusting their
schedules to help make this
possible,” Dr. Cox said.
Commissioner Tony Hyde
summed up the celebration:
“This new school will be the
site of decades of natural re-
source-based education and
jobs training for the students of
Vernonia and many other com-
munities. It is entirely appropri-
ate that we celebrate the work
and contributions of these land-
scape architecture students as
they move toward their future
careers.”
Donations to the new Ver-
nonia school can be made at
www.vernoniaschools.org. The
website also features construc-
tion progress updates, includ-
ing a live webcam of the site.