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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (May 2, 2012)
Page 12 The INDEPENDENT, May 2, 2012 VMS Honor Roll announced Chalk Talk Chalk Talk is a column of information about Vernonia schools. This column was provided by Superintendent Dr. Ken Cox. Lockers for the new School! You recently learned that the in- stallation of lockers for the new school had been postponed due to funding. However, thanks to the generosity of a local donor, the bases for the gym lockers will be built, and both the gym lockers and hall lockers will be installed before June 8. We live in a won- derful, giving community! Thank you Vernonia! On a more sobering note it is May already, the month of budg- ets for public agencies. We have been working to sort out our funding from the state and how we can balance the District budg- et. Unfortunately, once again, our revenue is not enough to cov- er our projected expenses. Our shortfall is primarily the result of a slowly decreasing student count, increased costs in providing needed Special Education staffing and additional routes that have increased transportation costs. The board recently approved an amendment to our contract with Curl Student Bus Services that will freeze much of our trans- portation costs for the next three years. However, this means that we still need to budget for the increases in transportation that we experienced this year. Our first Budget Committee meeting will be part of our regularly scheduled Board Meeting at 6:00 p.m., on May 10th. The public is welcome. We do have a vacancy for that committee. If you are interested please contact the District Office. In preparation for our move to the new school this summer we are going to have a surplus sale. We have collected a lot of ex- tra furniture and equipment that we no longer need, and are look- ing to eliminate as much as we can before we move. The Board has declared a great deal of surplus and we will have a list avail- able of what will be for sale at the District office beginning Mon- day, May 7th. The equipment will be available for preview and sale the evening of Tuesday, May 22nd. More information to fol- low. Come to An Evening with Oscar An Evening With Oscar will be presented, by the Vernonia High School Band, on Satur- day, May 5, at the high school gymnasium. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the event begins at 7:00 p.m. Join them on the red carpet. Admission: Advanced tick- ets, $8 Adults, $5 seniors and students. Tickets available at True Value Hardware and the district office. Price at the door, $10 Adults, $7 seniors and stu- dents. Dessert will be provided during intermission. Pet of the Month Find the pet that’s right for you at the Columbia Humane Society 2084 Oregon Street, St. Helens. Phone 503-397-4353 Open Mon - Fri 1 pm to 5 pm & Saturday, 11 am to 5 pm Tabitha a short-haired brown tabby, can be a bit shy at first, but warms up fast and is ready for some attention. Tabitha was found as a pregnant mom, nesting under a house. Her rescuer was unable to keep her and brought her to CHS. Tabitha is a cute, well-man- nered and friendly cat. She is cur- rently in foster care. She is spayed, up-to-date with routine shots and house trained. The Columbia Humane Society is a No-Kill non-profit shelter dedicated to helping friends find each other since 1985. This Month’s Pet is Sponsored by: THE INDEPENDENT News & Information you can use The following students were named to the Vernonia Middle School academic Honor Roll for the 2011-12 3rd quarter. Grade Point Averages (GPA) are on a scale of 1-4, with 4 equaling a perfect score. Principal’s Honors, 4.00 – Annika Johnson, Jacob Patton, Jocie Ranay-Roberts, Megan Rice, and Chase Tolonen. High Honors, 3.50-3.99 – Tristan Adams, Emily Berger- son, Brittney Brandt, Lily Bu- chanan, Jacob Butcher, Brad- ley Ely, Kaitlyn Eyrrick, Jessika Goodman, Storm Henson, Ash- ley Jackson, Bryanna Larson, Cheyanna March, Ariel Masog, Sheyanne Pedersen, Jacob Perry, Paige Smith, Ian Torres- Petersen, Jarrett White, Ma- haila Wilhelm, Payton Wolf, and Madison Zavales. Honors, 3.25-3.49 – Eliz- abath Aeh, Kara Christie, Hay- den Cieloha, Brandon Clap- shaw, Megan Ely, Hannah Fleck, Breanna Gardner, Nic- hole Gardner, Amanda Jen- nings, Brett Jones, Jackhenry Masog, Jared Medearis, Bren- dyn Mullikin, William Scheuer- man, Meagan Schirmeister, Jamie Scott, Jarod Shaw, Sara Smith, Autumn Sorenson, and Clay Sullivan. Honorable Mention, 3.00- 3.24 – Nicholas Bennett, Emma Campos, Grace Cole- man, Daniel Fletcher, Morgan Harral, Gabriel Hart-Roberts, Hera Hopkins, Mariah Miller, Coral Pearl, and Cassidy Whit- ton. 4-H Summer Camp dates decided The 4-H Camp committee is busy working on making the 2012 camp another great expe- rience for those who attend. The committee has selected June 17-20, 2012, for the annu- al 4-H Summer Camp, held at Camp Kiwanilong on the North Coast. Please mark your calendars and begin now to prepare your fourth through seventh graders for the 2012 4-H Summer Camp. Registration forms will be distributed through the schools as in years past. Reg- istration forms are due by June 1, 2012 with the $85.00 regis- tration fee. Oregon State University Ex- tension Service offers educa- tional programs, activities, and materials. New Vernonia school fundraising continues From page 1 won’t be ready to go for the 2012/2013 school year. Shop classes will be held in the new school building, but will be lim- ited to drafting, building green- houses and other small proj- ects. The district is looking for ways to utilize an existing barn on the new school site to hold shop classes in the future. A concrete floor will need to be installed before it can be used for storage and shop equip- ment. The fundraising effort, over- all, still needs to come up with about $3 million dollars by the end of 2013. $37 million has al- ready by raised or pledged, in- cluding the $13 million voter approved bond measure. The Metropolitan Group has over $50 million in possible opportu- nities identified and continues to seek donations to fill the gap and reach the final finish line. The district took out a Quality Schools Construction Bond loan for $3.4 million two years ago, to continue construction. That loan is for 17 years at 1/2 percent interest and has pay- ments of $200,000 per year. The district has already made those payments for two years, using funds from the Vernonia Community Foundation. Though books, chairs, and other items from the old schools will be moved into the new school starting in June, the district does not expect to get the final occupancy permit until about August 1. There will be a four week period while the sys- tems are being “fumed” (turned on to clear out the new system) when no one will be allowed in most of the building. The gym- nasiums and wrestling rooms, however, are on a regular HVAC system, so work could continue in those areas. It’s Kindergarten Round-up time Washington Grade School’s (WGS) Kindergarten Round-up 2012 will be held Friday, May 18. Please call the WGS office at 503-429-7941 to set up an appointment. Immunization records and birth certificates will be re- quired for pre-registration. Chil- dren must be five-years-old on or before September 1, 2012. Forest Grove HS gives money Forest Grove High School students have donated $1,809.40 to Vernonia’s new school project. The students raised the money by putting on a talent show in April. The talented students in the show included a comic, pi- anists, a dance team, a belly dancer, a singer/guitarist, a dance duo, and a guitar, fiddle, and banjo trio. “Guys of VHS” calendars on sale Vernonia High School lead- ership class has published a calendar entitled “Guys of VHS”. They calendars are $10 each, and are available at both the high school office and the Made In Vernonia store, 805 Bridge Street. Wauna annual meeting held From page 4 Serra and Milton Parham, in addition to informing the mem- bership that he had chosen to retire from the board after serv- ing three years. Results from the annual election by the membership in- cluded the reelection of incum- bents Erlene Darby, Clatskanie (1-year term) and Debbie Huff- man, Astoria (3-year term), plus the election of Julie Gassner, Astoria (3-year term), Bill De- Jager, Clatskanie (2-year term), and Philip Lager, Warren (3-year term) to the board. At a later meeting of the Board of Directors, George Dunkel, Scappoose, was selected Chair, Erlene Darby, 1st Vice Chair, Lester Kahr, 2nd Vice Chair, Don McDaniel, Finance Officer, and Debbie Huffman, Secretary. Additional members of the Board of Directors in- clude Paul Lewicki, Astoria.