School District Kudos –

With board vice- chair- Twinkle Ann Morton

Just wanted to print a few of the many things our students excel at… impressive range of things and I have only scratched the surface.  Enjoy reading of their many accomplishments.

Elmira High School received ranking in national publication

Elmira High School is a “bronze medal” school this year according to the USA Today rankings.  Last year, EHS won the “silver medal”.  This foregrounds our high graduation rates. The Four Year Cohort Graduation Rate has the State Average at 73.8% while Elmira High School recorded an 89.83% rate which is well above the state average.  Similarly, the Five Year Cohort Graduation Rate shows the State Average to be 76.49%, and Elmira High School’s average is 88.35%.

Fern Ridge Elementary Schools Perform Well in OBOB at state

The Fern Ridge School District sent several teams to the OBOB competition.   On the elementary level both Veneta and Elmira schools performed very well.   Congratulations to the Veneta team who made it to the “Sweet Sixteen” standing.  The team consists of Jake Bondurant, Jacob Janeczko, Alexys Kallio, and Bailey Cedarleaf. Jake and Alexys are fourth graders and Bailey and Jacob are 5th graders. They were coached by Jake’s father Nate Bondurant. The Elmira team made it to the “Elite Eight” battling it out during overtime rounds, and the members are  called “The No Mercy (Sisters) Return”. Their names are Grace Vestal, Nancy Coffman, Gracie Storey, Kelly Torres and Lucy Mitchem.  With thanks to Alisa Johnson for coaching them.  Nice job to everyone who read, participated and tried their best.   All of you made us proud!

Fern Ridge Middle School Wins OBOB at State

The OBOB team consisted of three 8th graders from last year’s team and one 6th graders (Josiah Lorenz, Emily Eagle-Eye, Jessica Woods, and Zola Walker).  The kids put in a lot of hard work along with their coach Sherry Cooper.

Fern Ridge Middle School at Brain Bowl at LCC

Fern Ridge Middle School competed in their first Lane County Brain Bowl today. They did great! They got third out of 17 teams. There were some incredibly smart middle schoolers in that room. Everyone would like to thank Angie Pebworth and Jason Alansky for organizing and coaching the team.  Middle School Brain Bowl competition involves students in grades 6 to 8 in games similar to athletic competitions offered at this level.  Questions are read in major areas of learning and the team member buzzes in when he or she knows the answer.  The participants in this event were Maddie Alansky, Emily Eagle Eye, Josiah Lorenz, Reign Luxembourger, Ian Miller, and Megan Porter.

Elmira High School OBOB in Fern Ridge District

The team won the first round in the Terrific 12 split bracket but then lost in the Elite 8 second round, which sadly was a sudden elimination match. The participants are Finn King, Celeste Ossowski, Cooper Barnes, Jessica Coone, and Jessica Yost. Everyone put in a great deal of work and thanks goes out to their coach Sherry Cooper and Forrest Cooper for his help at the competition.

Veneta Elementary Earth Day Fair

Our Earth Day Fair was a huge success again this year. We increased the time by one hour and were able to have all of VES students and some Elmira Elementary School students attend. At another event, we had our Third Quarter Award ceremonies where we gave out 118 class awards, 117 outstanding citizen awards, and 11 perfect attendance awards.

Fern Ridge Family Resource Center

Fern Ridge School District now has a Family Resource Center! Located at Veneta Elementary School, the Family Resource Center will provide services to all families in the district with a focus on families with children birth to five years old. As it gets going, the center will feature information for families on community resources, parent education workshops, and activities for small children. The goal for the center is to help build literacy skills in small children and help families make the transition to kindergarten. The Family Resource Center is made possible by a grant from Lane Kids.

Our Family Resource Coordinator is Angi Trent who has been on the job for a short time, but she already has big plans for the Family Resource Center.  Plans included a play date on March 9^th which featured sensory play with shaving cream and a visit from a local police officer.  It was a big hit with kids and families alike.  Stay tuned for more events in the works.

For more information on the Fern Ridge Family Resource Center contact Angi at 541-935-8225 ext. 418.

School District Questions and Answers –

With new board chair- Twinkle Ann Morton

A few things about the New Year

First of all, let me begin by reminding my readers that this column is my opinion and my opinion only.  By that I mean that I am not speaking for the board merely making observations about educational topics and asking for your perspective and input.  I joined the School Board in August of 2008.  I was chair previously from 2012-2014.  My elected term expires in the end of June in 2019.

I am honored to be chosen by my fellow members to be the spokesperson for the board.  I would like to say first of all that I know this to be one of the strongest boards in the state for working together to achieve the many responsibilities of the 21st Century School Board.  I am a graduate of the OSBA [Oregon School Board Association] Leadership Institute, and while many of the boards represented there were MUCH larger or represented much larger districts, we have a group of people who are willing to work together and give much of their time to achieve our vision for the district.   In terms of experience, your board has 38 years of combined service to the Fern Ridge School District.  We continue to seek better ways to work with the community to improve not only our students’ and staff’s achievement but also their well-being.  While we derive our ‘authority’ from the state regulations, I see our responsibility to hear the community’s needs within that framework.

Our last board chair, Andrea Larson, did a marvelous job during a very high stress time having to do with construction and other changes in the district.  I am fortunate she agreed to continue as our vice-chair so we can continue the excellent work she has begun.  At our last meeting, Director Soderberg suggested that as part of our planning for next year, each board member talk about something s/he is passionate about.  The ideas brought out spontaneously at that time are fresh, and I believe that the community will be excited as well after we flesh out the possibilities. We all have high expectations for our students’ ability to succeed in life based on our children, our community, and our excellent staff.   Our challenge will be to find ways to achieve our goals within a limited budget future.  Knowing this group, we will find a way.

I am pleased to say that the Key Communicator group members who I have talked with are willing to continue in that capacity.  I hope we can increase the messages they receive to share with you and that you, the community, will continue to bring your questions and concerns to them.  I believe my job as a board member is to make sure that your interests are being served as best we can within our financial situation.  To do that, we need to solidify our vision for the district as well as our board goals, while engaging and linking with the community.

I hope to help the board develop more chances for the community to get involved with programs that will benefit our children and our community.  As you know, many strong programs have begun at the schools during this last year.  Several serve our youngest members of the community through Kids in Transition to School [KITS] and the Family Resource Center[FRC].  Programs also serve our middle school and high school students.  Construction is moving along well and even some ahead of schedule.  Pictures are available on the district website [http://www.fernridge.k12.or.us/].  In addition, announcements, calendars and copies of all my articles are available as well.  Please check it out.

I look forward to continuing my column and answering your questions so please continue to write to me at tmorton@fernridge.k12.or.us and read my articles.  I hope to reach new readers so share with your friends and loved ones.  I leave you with this quote from Nancy Walser from the Harvard Graduate School of Education from her book The Essential School Board Book.  “Boards are now expected to do more than make policy, sit back, and oversee the Superintendent…The role of the school board member today has to be one of leadership working in tandem with the superintendent to make sure that the public’s interests are served by the public schools.”[12]   I take my responsibility seriously and want you to know your school board is working hard to do just that.  In addition, I want to share with you a moment of humane ‘duck’ action in this YouTube video https://youtu.be/YIZaC33fVy0   Until next time.

School District Questions and Answers –

With board vice- chair- Twinkle Ann Morton

More things for Children 0-6

First of all, let me begin by reminding my readers that this column is my opinion and my opinion only.  By that I mean that I am not speaking for the board merely making observations about educational topics and asking for your perspective and input.  As I said previously, I am so pleased to see that we have secured several valued grants to help our youngest community members and their families.  The Family Resource Grant will serve all parents with an emphasis on the early pre-kinder years.  Many people are focusing on the importance of working with our children during this time, and the revelation of the effects of NOT doing that are striking and important to note.

In a Guest Viewpoint in the Register-Guard on 6/16/16 Sabrina Parsons, a board member and chair of the Oregon Community Foundation’s Southern Willamette Valley Leadership Council, and Max Williams, the foundation’s president and CEO, provides information expanding on the importance of early learning.  Ms. Parsons says the “Brain architecture, which is 90 percent complete by age 6, is literally shaped by children’s earliest relationships and experiences. “  I thought the term ‘architecture’ is evocative as the physical structure is built early on and life experiences and classroom work create the interior design and furnishings.

So what can every parent do to help strengthen and build that ‘architecture’?  Many minds are at work on this, and the most important player in your child’s [children’s] life is YOU.  The question really is – How do I help my children reach beyond my potential?  The good news is there is more and more help to do just that.  Interested?  I sure hope so.  May I suggest you either go to this website http://www.joinvroom.org/  and click to add the application to your phone or computer that offers games and ideas for you to do with your child while you shop, while you watch TV, while you have dinner and while you go through the day.  Or, if you are interested in more information before joining, check the newsletter out at…    http://us7.campaign-archive2.com/?u=986d65b7a9d80a53b6c948c40&id=fb6df18830&e=e5a4616a76

If you don’t have internet to check on either of these, hang on until next week.  I will attempt to find another way for you to access these things. In this newsletter, you will find important ideas and fun facts such as “We at KinderCare know that little minds are wide open and ready to learn – we see this each day in our work with 170,000plus children and families. We also know that even more learning takes place outside the classroom.  After all, parents are children’s very best teachers!”[From Vroom Spring newsletter]  It might help you to make a decision to know that “Science is at the heart of Vroom! Our work is advised by an exceptional group of 13 leading researchers in child development and neuroscience and we continue to incorporate their findings in the tips and tools we share with you.

“One of those researchers is Laurie Brotman for New York University School of Medicine.  Her work with ParentCorps is central to the ideas of Vroom.  ParentCorps builds on the strengths of culturally-diverse families and helps schools engage parents as partners in helping children succeed.  One of the things that is essential for all of us is something called self-regulation.  I am sure that we all have our own ideas, and they are most likely correct, of what this would entail.  But more specifically, as it relates to our children is using “the term self-regulation to talk about a range of strategies and behaviors that help children be ready to learn and engage in interactions while getting the most out of what’s going on in their environments.

Beginning at about the age three, it is a critical
time for the development of those skills. And what parents do in their interactions with children can really foster these skills.”

IT IS SO WORTH TRYING… our children always deserve more.  They are our future leaders; Social equity is at work here.  Help our children achieve more by creating On Ramps to the fast paced highway we call 21^st Century life.  Help them build that architecture so they can furnish their homes with beauty, peace and intellectual curiosity.  This is far more than just a Social Equity issue – if that was not enough- but also an economic issue for all of us.  Watch for next week’s article where I will hopefully bring you ways to access the newsletter for those of us without easy internet access and share a little of the effects on the economic front as well.   As always feel free to contact me at tmorton@fernridge.k12.or.us.  I leave you with a Chinese Proverb I’ve used before which seems perfect for this article. “Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time.” We all grow when our little ones do.  Here is one of the many videos from Vroom honoring one of the important educators in your child’s life… the Mother done for Mother’s Day.  I will include another one next time.  Here’s the video… https://youtu.be/WwkLayJQHQ8     Until next time- have a great week.

School District Questions and Answers –

With board vice- chair- Twinkle Ann Morton

Last month, West Lane Technical Learning Center had a change in leadership.  I have known Mr. Osibov for several years and am pleased to see him doing wonderful things again in the world of education.  I asked him for some information about his plan.  Clearly he has thought a great deal about this already, and many plans are in the works.  What follows are some of his comments and plans in his own words. Mr. Osibov says:

I am excited.  After my two and a half year hiatus from school administration, I am excited about helping students grow into young adults.  This is the most important job in the world.

In addition to working with students in a safe and supportive environment to obtain a high school diploma, I envision WLTLC guiding students to realistically explore career paths for their future.  To achieve this end, it is imperative that students have opportunities to dream their dreams and explore how these passions translate to the working world.  A student’s social/academic achievement in high school is a main determinant of their success as a contributing member in the world of work.  Helping students to understand how high school social and academic achievement can lead to employment is a critical factor in helping students to begin exploring how they fit into the world of work.  Both state and national educational policymakers have identified Career Pathways as a conceptual framework to organize and promote student educational attainment to support entering the working world.

To help students grasp the relevance of education and explore career options WLTLC staff will continue to make adjustments with a focus on individual student exploration of Career Pathways which is a series of connected education and technical training programs and student support services that enable individuals to secure a First of all, let me begin by reminding my readers that this column is my opinion and my opinion only.  By that I mean that I am not speaking for the board merely making observations about educational topics and asking for your perspective and input.

Last month, West Lane Technical Learning Center had a change in leadership.  I have known Mr. Osibov for several years and am pleased to see him doing wonderful things again in the world of education.  I asked him for some information about his plan.  Clearly he has thought a great deal about this already, and many plans are job.

There are regional activities that provide students the opportunity to talk with industry professionals, community college staff and do industry site visits.  Building on these experiences,

I foresee facilitating curricular enhancements emphasizing Career Pathway exploration, employability skills and work based community experience/s in addition to obtaining a high school diploma.  The following bullet points are examples of programs and Career Pathways that students will explore to help establish relevance to their high school education and quite possibly lead to entry level work.     

• Increase utilization of the Oregon Career Information System (CIS) to create electronic student portfolios and monitor student progress. Existing Program

• Establish student exploration of Career Pathways to develop ideas for entry level job/s… some examples:

• Culinary Arts and Hospitality Mgt. Existing Pathway
  • Baking and Pastry (Career Pathway Certificate-Lane CC)
• Health Services  Existing Pathway
  • Example: Medical Coding  (Career Pathway Certificate-Lane CC)
• Agriculture Develop Pathway
  • Example: Forest Ecology (Career Pathway Certificate-Central Oregon CC)
• Computer Information Technology  Develop Pathway
  • Example: Computer Game Programing In C++(Career Pathway Certificate-Lane CC)

Special Note: all the above are entry level positions

Oregon’s seventeen community colleges have Career Pathway roadmaps for dozens of occupations that visually chart the certificates, degrees and skills progression needed to obtain entry level positions and continue on through career advancement opportunities.  More than 350 roadmaps are available through all Oregon community college websites.  Staff at WLTLC will introduce/establish Career Pathways as an organizing framework so students can explore Career Pathways to gain knowledge about preferred work and possibly engage in valuable experience in work based community experience/s leading to possible entry level employment.

WLTLC’s collaboration with local merchants, governmental agencies and educational institutions is integral to helping students not only obtain a high school diploma and understand the job market/s but also obtain meaningful (entry level) employment.  Staff will help grow these collaborations and organize processes where students can gain valuable experience/s in work based community experiences. This could be referred to” the frosting on the cake” for students who attend WLTLC.  

In the short term I welcome the completion of our commercial kitchen for the Culinary Arts / Hospitality Management Career Pathway.  This will enable our students to participate in their school based community catering business.  In our Health Services Career Pathway we will continue to grow our job shadows, visitations and class offerings.  In the long term, I plan to visit various community agencies (public and private) seeking to develop educational partnerships to increase our menu of hands-on Career Pathway exploration opportunities for students.

These are exciting plans and ideas from the new director of WLTLC.  I look forward to him and his staff bringing this to completion and helping his students graduate while finding a path and an on-ramp to their dreams.  Who could possibly ask more?

As always, please to continue to write to me at tmorton@fernridge.k12.or.us   See you at the Farmer’s Market!!!

Sent to RG for Sunday edition on Mother’s Day… sadly the reporter only put in one of the great accomplishments- wanted to make sure you had access to them- this is, of course, not all of them… but a great sample. Enjoy….

School District Kudos –

With board vice- chair- Twinkle Ann Morton

Just wanted to print a few of the many things our students excel at… impressive range of things and I have only scratched the surface.  Enjoy reading of their many accomplishments.

Elmira High School received ranking in national publication

Elmira High School is a “bronze medal” school this year according to the USA Today rankings.  Last year, EHS won the “silver medal”.  This foregrounds our high graduation rates. The Four Year Cohort Graduation Rate has the State Average at 73.8% while Elmira High School recorded an 89.83% rate which is well above the state average.  Similarly, the Five Year Cohort Graduation Rate shows the State Average to be 76.49%, and Elmira High School’s average is 88.35%.

Fern Ridge Elementary Schools Perform Well in OBOB at state

The Fern Ridge School District sent several teams to the OBOB competition.   On the elementary level both Veneta and Elmira schools performed very well.   Congratulations to the Veneta team who made it to the “Sweet Sixteen” standing.  The team consists of Jake Bondurant, Jacob Janeczko, Alexys Kallio, and Bailey Cedarleaf. Jake and Alexys are fourth graders and Bailey and Jacob are 5th graders. They were coached by Jake’s father Nate Bondurant. The Elmira team made it to the “Elite Eight” battling it out during overtime rounds, and the members are  called “The No Mercy (Sisters) Return”. Their names are Grace Vestal, Nancy Coffman, Gracie Storey, Kelly Torres and Lucy Mitchem.  With thanks to Alisa Johnson for coaching them.  Nice job to everyone who read, participated and tried their best.   All of you made us proud!

Fern Ridge Middle School Wins OBOB at State

The OBOB team consisted of three 8th graders from last year’s team and one 6th graders (Josiah Lorenz, Emily Eagle-Eye, Jessica Woods, and Zola Walker).  The kids put in a lot of hard work along with their coach Sherry Cooper.

Fern Ridge Middle School at Brain Bowl at LCC

Fern Ridge Middle School competed in their first Lane County Brain Bowl today. They did great! They got third out of 17 teams. There were some incredibly smart middle schoolers in that room. Everyone would like to thank Angie Pebworth and Jason Alansky for organizing and coaching the team.  Middle School Brain Bowl competition involves students in grades 6 to 8 in games similar to athletic competitions offered at this level.  Questions are read in major areas of learning and the team member buzzes in when he or she knows the answer.  The participants in this event were Maddie Alansky, Emily Eagle Eye, Josiah Lorenz, Reign Luxembourger, Ian Miller, and Megan Porter.

Elmira High School OBOB in Fern Ridge District

The team won the first round in the Terrific 12 split bracket but then lost in the Elite 8 second round, which sadly was a sudden elimination match. The participants are Finn King, Celeste Ossowski, Cooper Barnes, Jessica Coone, and Jessica Yost. Everyone put in a great deal of work and thanks goes out to their coach Sherry Cooper and Forrest Cooper for his help at the competition.

Veneta Elementary Earth Day Fair

Our Earth Day Fair was a huge success again this year. We increased the time by one hour and were able to have all of VES students and some Elmira Elementary School students attend. At another event, we had our Third Quarter Award ceremonies where we gave out 118 class awards, 117 outstanding citizen awards, and 11 perfect attendance awards.

Fern Ridge Family Resource Center

Fern Ridge School District now has a Family Resource Center! Located at Veneta Elementary School, the Family Resource Center will provide services to all families in the district with a focus on families with children birth to five years old. As it gets going, the center will feature information for families on community resources, parent education workshops, and activities for small children. The goal for the center is to help build literacy skills in small children and help families make the transition to kindergarten. The Family Resource Center is made possible by a grant from Lane Kids.

Our Family Resource Coordinator is Angi Trent who has been on the job for a short time, but she already has big plans for the Family Resource Center.  Plans included a play date on March 9^th which featured sensory play with shaving cream and a visit from a local police officer.  It was a big hit with kids and families alike.  Stay tuned for more events in the works.

For more information on the Fern Ridge Family Resource Center contact Angi at 541-935-8225 ext. 418.

More graduation drama – counting apples and oranges as one

First of all, let me begin by reminding my readers that this column is my opinion and my opinion only. By that I mean that I am not speaking for the board merely making observations about educational topics and asking for your perspective and input. Now on to the topic at hand.

Yesterday, the Register Guard gave the statewide report for graduation rates and the controversy begins again. Last year, several of us made suggestions as to how the state and the reporters might get this more accurately said so that there was no need to point out delicate issues for students involved. Here is the information for Elmira High School from the Oregon Department of Education website. The state average for graduation in four years is 73.8%. Elmira High School’s average is well above that at a strong 89.83% average. [Are you scratching your head?? I think I can help.] While the Fern Ridge School District average is ‘accurate’ at the average of 71.6% that INCLUDES our other high school whose average was 23.81%. Over a five year graduation rate the information is similar. State Average is 76.49% while EHS average is a strong 88.35%. District average is 61.59% as WLTLC’s average is 17.24%.

Elmira High School is one of the strongest in the state; yet the way the state publishes these numbers creates friction for and within the district. I am a strong supporter of alternative education and realize that many students learn in many different ways. It is essential that we reach out to all students and get them on track to graduation. That is a difficult job for those who struggle with test taking, time schedules, rules. I get it. So should you. However, to negate the wonderful work staff members are doing by embarrassing numbers is maddening for at least one of the school board members: ME. I believe that the staffs at both schools are doing their level best to meet the demands of the students for which they are responsible. What is wrong here is to pit staff against staff, students against students and/or schools against schools. Print the numbers by school only. Lowering a District average so drastically does not encourage boards to take a risk with a charter school.

I am going to ‘borrow’ a comment made by our High School Principal Gary Carpenter as I think he said it best.   “A graduation rate that is high, isn’t because of one thing or one person. It is because of our teachers, our EA’s, our counselor, our classified staff, our custodians, and our support staff here at the District Office… I could go on and on. It isn’t because of one program or “thing” we do… it is a result of hard work, every day, and an accumulation of the THOUSANDS of the little things you/we do on a daily basis. Thanks for all you do.”

Indeed – Our staff is terrific. I am very proud of the work they do.

My parting quote is by B.B. King “The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.” And another by Frederick Douglas “It is easier to build strong children than to repair a broken man.” Until next time, please write to me as usual at tmorton@fernridge.k12.or.us