Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 2012)
Page 12 The INDEPENDENT, September 19, 2012 School Board told of two new donations to new school project Vernonia School Board held their first meeting of the 2012- 13 school year on September 13. The board was told that the district has 561 students en- rolled as of the first week of school, slightly down from the 576 expected number. There are 19 foreign exchange stu- dents at the high school this year. The school year is off to a Chalk Talk Chalk Talk is a column of information about Vernonia schools. This column was provided by Superintendent Dr. Ken Cox. We made it through the first two weeks of school! The traffic before school has settled down and students are once again learning, only this time in much better surroundings than ever be- fore in Vernonia. I continue to be amazed when I go into the build- ing or hold a meeting, there is so much room and natural light everywhere you look. It truly is a blessing and a benefit for our community. Our secretaries report visitors coming to see the new school on a daily basis, and everyone to whom I have shown the building is impressed, initially when they see it from the outside, but even more so once they get a look inside. We have a great deal to be proud of. At the Grand Opening Ceremony I was asked by one patron to let the community know what we have yet to do in the building. We were able to get enough loans to complete everything we needed to start school, but there are a few things that have been postponed until we can get more funds. Among these are the fol- lowing: • solar panels on the roof (we are planning on these next spring and early summer) • sound system for commons and gyms (we are getting by with a portable one for now) • projector mounts in the ceiling (the wiring for these is already installed but the mounts will be installed as needed by individual teachers) • projector screens in classrooms (we will use our old ones as needed for now) • high school science vent hood (postponed pending funding) We are in our new building and working out the minor issues that come with anything that is new. We continue to work toward fully funding our project and appreciate the contribution the com- munity has made by passing the bond. Please let me know if you have any other ideas on how to polish off our funding or if you have concerns about any of the district’s operations. Vernonia Veterinary Clinic Formerly Midway Veterinary Clinic Monday, Wednesday & Saturday smooth start at the new facility, the board heard. There are usually one or more visitors re- questing tours of the new LEED Platinum-rated building each day, so a self-guided tour is being developed to cut down on staff time required for the tours. The board was shown a wall plaque of a large saw blade do- nated to the new school. The blade was manufactured by $10,000. The district office has an Opportunities List of dona- tions sought for specific items, such as roller shades for the classrooms and wall pads for gyms and the wrestling rooms. The next board meeting is scheduled for October 11, at 6:00 p.m. The location has yet to be determined as the district office may be relocated to the new school property by then. VHS Cross Country does well at first meet The VHS Cross Country team had their first cross coun- try meet on Monday, Septem- ber 10, at the Tualatin Hills Sports Complex. The team competed against 11 other schools in the 3A/2A/1A Pre- Districts. Attending this meet was a preview of the state qualifying meet that will take place on October 25. The VHS men’s and wo- men’s teams both finished fifth at the meet. Sammy Lindauer was the star for the girls, finish- ing second against many of the top runners in the state in her first cross country race ever. Nathan Fleck was fifth for the men, out of 88 runners. Coach Byron Brown said, “I think we have a pretty good idea now of where we’re at in our training and what we need to do in the coming weeks to achieve our season goals. Both the women’s and men’s teams are stronger this year, but we’re in the toughest dis- trict in the state for cross coun- try. We’ll have to work hard to win the league championship, but it is an achievable goal for us. We also aim to qualify at least a couple of runners for state. What Sammy Lindaeur accomplished September 10 was a truly amazing feat. She has a chance to be the first fe- male runner in a generation to go on to the state champi- onships. Nathan Fleck also was outstanding and likewise has a good shot at making it to state.” The schedule for the rest of the season includes Septem- ber 18 at Oregon Episcopal; September 21 is the Nestucca Beach Run; September 27 will be the league championships at Vernonia, starting at 4:00 p.m. On October 6 the team will be at the Stub Stewart Mountain Run, hosted by Banks, and October 9 is the Neah-kah-Nie Bigfoot Classic. The Vernonia Invitational is on October 18, starting at 3:30 p.m., and the District meet at Tualatin Hills Sports Complex on October 25 starts at 4:00 p.m. (this is the state qualifying meet). It’s now time to sign up for 4-H program The 4-H Youth Development Program opens enrollment Oc- tober 1. Many parents and chil- dren often begin thinking about the 4-H Youth Development program as the school year ends. By then many of the op- portunities in 4-H are over, as well as, the deadline for partic- ipating at County Fair. The current program has op- portunities for youth, Kinder- garten through 12th grade. The K-3 grade program is a non- competitive program that al- lows youth to explore the 4-H program. Youth participate in a number of projects, activities and experiences during the program. This is an opportunity for members to better under- stand their interests and then select a suitable 4-H project when they reach the 4th grade and move into the project based club program. The project based club pro- gram is for youth, 4th through 12th grade, who select a spe- cific project or projects to focus and work on. These projects in- clude agricultural and livestock The Upper Nehalem Watershed Council announces next meeting The next meeting of the Up- per Nehalem Watershed Coun- cil Steering Committee will be 700 Weed Avenue Vernonia Chris Provost of Chiefbuilt CNC, donated by Dewayne Cowles of Cascade Acoustics and painted by Gary Meyer of Meyer’s Auto Body. See related article on page 1. John Donovan of the Metro- politan Group, the fundraiser for the new school project, told the board that Safeway recent- ly pledged $10,000 to the new school and Starker Forests, Inc. of Corvallis also donated Action Ads INEXPENSIVE – EFFECTIVE 503-429-9410 September 27, at 6:30 p.m., at the Vernonia Grange Hall (375 North Street). The public is welcome. For more information see our web- site http://unwc.nehalem.org or call the UNWC at 503-429- 0869 or email steve@nehalem. org. projects, dog, gardening, woodworking, food and nutri- tion, fiber arts, photography, shooting sports and many oth- er options for youth. Parents of youth who are in- terested in joining the over 500 youth and 150 adult volunteers already in the 4-H Youth Devel- opment program, can contact the OSU Columbia County Ex- tension office at 503-397-3462, drop by the office at 505 N Co- lumbia River Hwy in St. Helens, check us out on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Colu mbiaCounty4HYouthDevelop- ment or visit our website at http://extension.oregonstate.ed u/columbia/ Even though the Columbia County Fair is still eight months away, now is the time for youth to join a 4-H club. Enrollment closes April 1, 2013, so mem- bers can begin the process of preparing their projects for the 2013 fair and other activities that occur during the year.
