- Bethel Fact for the Week of May 27, 2013Since opening in December, the Bethel Free Farmers Market has grown to now provide free produce and bread to more than 1,000 people each week. To access the Bethel Free Farmers Market all you have to do is go to Cascade Middle School on any Monday between 4-7:00 PM. Each week I try to share […]
Bethel B-Mail: June 2012
Bond’s The Name
Members of the district’s Enrollment and Planning Committee met throughout the school year before recommending Bethel seek a bond measure for a wide variety of educational needs.
A bond measure is a concrete way we can support our students and teachers during a time of dwindling financial resources…and it could be done without raising anyone’s taxes.
Bethel students need updated textbooks; old computers are unable to support current instruction; carpets are torn, roofs are leaking, and HVAC systems are inefficient; better security at all our schools is a priority, too.
A bond measure could also build much-needed modern science classrooms at Willamette, and even replace two of our aging and inefficient elementary schools…all without raising anyone’s current taxes.
A committee made up of a diverse cross section of the community studied the district’s needs and recommends we consider a bond measure.
Unfortunately a bond measure could not pay for staffing; that funding comes from the state. But a bond is something we can control and it could provide an improved educational environment for our teachers and kids…without increasing anyone’s taxes.
Local jobs created, effective school facilities, textbooks for kids, computers for schools, increased security, and much more. The School Board is studying the idea…so click here and let me know what you think.
Colt Gill
Bethel Superintendent
Lessons Of The Heart
Dressed in surgery scrubs, Cascade 7th graders take part in a mock heart surgery at McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center.
It’s called the Human Heart Contest, and it had Cascade 7th graders’ hearts pumping.
The kids in Amber Jackson’s class won the McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center contest and earned a special field trip to the hospital’s Heart Center.
They dressed up in scrubs, dissected pig hearts, practiced tying surgical knots, examined the electrical activity of a student’s heart, and went through a mock heart attack and CPR response.
Noted cardiologist Dr. John Armitage capped it off by guiding Cascade’s young medical students through a simulated heart surgery in an actual operating room.
Here’s KVAL-TV’s look at the kids in surgery.
On A Roll
Assisted by a teacher, Bailey Cejka prepares to roll a strike during a field trip to Strike City.
More than a field trip, it’s putting P.E. class to work.
Kids in Bethel’s Life Skills program went bowling at Strike City to use the physical and social skills they’ve learned through the school year.
They practiced this in P.E. class by using lightweight pins and a rubber bowling ball. Their lessons translated over to the bowling alley.
Students with limited strength or without the coordination to hurl the ball toward the pins rolled a ball that was placed on the floor, or pushed a ball down a ramp.
The field trip gave each student an opportunity to put their skills to use and to take part in a lifetime community recreational activity.
And if smiles counted as scores, all the kids rolled a perfect game.
Outward Bound
KHS student Dakota Hartselle writes in a field journal while overlooking the Escalante River in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
This was a field trip to beat all others.
8 Kalapuya students recently returned from a ten-day field study in southern Utah. They learned about desert ecosystems, native peoples, and land use issues such as grazing, water conservation, and natural gas and uranium mining.
Students kept field journals, conducted individual research, and met with an official from the Grand Canyon Trust as they completed the academic requirements for the trip.
Principal Stefan Aumack says the students experienced the trip as they hiked through slot canyons and arches in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, along streams, over petrified sand dunes, and past rattlesnakes.
It was a learning experience none of the students will forget. Fortunately they have this slideshow to help them remember.
Board Sports
Volunteer advisor Tony Beauchamp helps Irving students as they square off in chess matches in the after-school club.
Learning the game, being able to concentrate, and losing gracefully. Those are among the goals of the Irving Chess Club,
Now concluding its second year, the Irving Chess Club meets after school each week, with kids from 1st to 5th grade taking part.
Under the guidance of volunteer advisor Tony Beauchamp, the Irving Chess Club members have improved at developing strategies while building patience and perseverance.
It’s not easy when an opponent has taken your queen…no matter your age.
Rotarian Recognition
Prairie Mountain 8th grader Asia Wooten has been honored with a Eugene Rotary Outstanding Youth award.
We’re guessing this will not be the last time you hear about Asia Wooten receiving an award.
The Prairie Mountain 8th grader has been honored with the Outstanding Youth Award by the Eugene Rotary.
Prairie Mountain principal Jennifer Haliski says, “Asia is an extraordinary young woman – a gifted student, musician, composer and leader. She is a young woman of extraordinary courage, integrity, intellect and leadership.”
Asia is also a member of the NAACP Youth Council, the Eugene Junior Orchestra, is a competitive age group swimmer and straight A student.
And finally, the $50 that came with the award? Asia donated it to Prairie Mountain’s elementary music program.
Flying The Flag
Willamette students show off the official Oregon Green School flag. WHS is one of the state’s few Premier Green Schools.
Their new flag makes it visibly official; Willamette High School is one of only two high schools in Oregon to have reached Premiere Green School status. The goal was reached a year ago, but the flag was just presented.
WHS has been at the forefront of sustainability for years, starting with science teacher Dwight Souers and continued by teachers David Novak, Perrin Scott and Tom Yahner.
Willamette students have done the rest through extensive recycling, reducing waste, conserving resources, and providing waste reduction education and assistance to other Bethel schools and the community.
And they plan to continue their efforts with the help of a $500 Green School award. WHS intends to implement new drinking fountains with water bottle filling stations as a way to discourage single-use plastic water bottles.
Closing The (Generation) Gap
Students from Cascade Middle School settle in for a game of Bingo with friends at the Lone Oak Assisted Living facility.
Bingo and ice cream were waiting, but Cascade 7th graders were mostly there for the visiting.
This was their second trip to see the residents of the Lone Oak Assisted Living facility. A few weeks earlier Cascade students brought May baskets to their senior friends.
The visits to see the residents of Lone Oak is one way students are being taught about service learning. Kids have made connections, chatted with their new friends, played bingo or read with them.
The seniors love the relationships with a younger generation, and the kids are beginning to understand that service learning sometimes doesn’t require much more than being a friend.
College Knowledge Night
Students sign up for a scholarship drawing and meet with college representatives at College Knowledge Night.
Hundreds of curious students and forward-thinking parents flooded the halls at Willamette High School for the second annual College Knowledge Night.
They learned information on subjects such as financial aid, how to make a college visit worthwhile, the college application process, determining what school is the right fit, and which classes to take now to best prepare for college.
On hand to answer questions were representatives and alumni from 34 colleges and universities ranging from Arkansas to Hawaii. And $800 in scholarships was given away.
It’s never too early to plan for college…or for College Knowledge Night. The date for next year’s event has already been set as May 9th.
Brain Bowling
Kaden Lipkin, Lowden Hansen, Maria Bhan and Leah Reiss finished second in the UO’s Lane County Brain Bowl.
There’s no such thing as an 8 hour day for teachers, and a group from Meadow View is among those who are happy to stretch their work even more.
The Meadow View Thinking Club is the creation of Sarah Campbell, Natalie Oliver and Claire Clarkson. Kids in the club stay after school every Wednesday to be challenged on learning even more than what they’re taught during the school day.
The Club’s year-long activities led up to the local Brain Bowl competition at the University of Oregon.
Teams from throughout Lane County went head to head in a quiz bowl type format, with a Meadow View Thinking Club team proudly finishing second in the 7th/8th grade division.
Hard work from teachers, open minds from kids…it’s a winning combination.
Joining The Club
The newest Willamette Scholars Award recipients have big plans after graduation.
They’re heading to Wellesley, Baylor, and the U.S. Air Force. Some are headed to college in Indiana, New Jersey, and down the road at the University of Oregon.
The 25th annual Willamette Scholars Award night was a special event recognizing the top academic students in the class of 2012. They join a club of high-achievers that numbers in the hundreds dating back to 1988.
They qualified by passing the state tests, carrying a 3.5 or higher GPA, and scoring at least a 1500 on the SAT. Many of the students have received scholarships to continue their education in Biomedical Engineering, Journalism, and even Performing Arts.
The Scholars Award event is a tradition Willamette is happy to continue.
A New Boost
Look for this new poster encouraging you to join the Bethel Boosters, the district’s longest-running supportive volunteer group.
This is a group that gets things done; active community members who are supporting all Bethel schools.
The Bethel Boosters have been around for more than 50 years, raising close to $1 million for a wide variety of Bethel programs and educational opportunities.
The Boosters are known for their fundraising through Bingo nights, Booster Barbeques and the Show ‘n Shine car show.
But this group should be recognized for funding field trips, classroom programs and projects, and a wide variety of special requests from students and teachers throughout the district.
The Boosters have newly-elected leadership. President Ed Duquette takes over as the Boosters are seeking to increase active membership from across the Bethel community.
Contact the Bethel Boosters about joining a fun group that remains active for a good cause: 541-689-0731, bethelboosters@aol.com
Run For The Funds
Runners and walkers start the Memorial 5K at Willamette High School to benefit the Kilcullen Memorial Garden.
Memorial Day found Shasta students singing and performing at a Pioneer Cemetery ceremony, Willamette’s Topnotchers singing at other memorial park events, and dozens of people running around the Willamette campus.
The inaugural Memorial 5K Run/Walk wound its way around the Willamette property. The run/walk was a fundraiser for the Chris Kilcullen Memorial Garden at WHS.
They raised $1,000 which is being used to purchase hundreds of plants for the garden that’s nearing completion at WHS.
The garden will honor the memory of Eugene policeman Chris Kilcullen, a Willamette grad, who was killed in the line of duty last year.
Road Warriors
Late-season racing success bodes well for the young members of Willamette’s Electrathon program.
Every year is a rebuilding year for Willamette’s Electrathon program.
Students build battery-powered race cars from scratch, designing and cutting and welding before racing them throughout the northwest each spring.
This year’s Willamette team was rebuilding internally, as well, with a group of inexperienced underclassmen constructing and driving the cars.
But by the end of the racing season the WHS Electrathon team had their cars dialed in at Portland International Raceway.
Jessie Riggs raced to 1st on the long track and Dalton Hansen took the checkered flag on the short track.
Thanks to a $12,000 grant from EWEB, this year’s young Electrathon racers will be rebuilding in 2013 with experience on their side.
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