News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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The weather held, the golf was good, and the food was tasty at the Outlaw Open Golf athletic fundraiser held at Aspen Lakes June 3. Just over 80 golfers from all over the region and as far away as Seattle took part in the afternoon event, according to the Outlaws’ Head Football Coach Clayton Hall. “The staff at Aspen Lakes did a phenomenal job of hosting this event, including having a fleet of golf carts ready to go,” he said. “At 12:45 everything was ready to go and the gol... Full story
Last week, I attended the Diamond League Prefontaine Classic track and field meet, which featured many of the best American and foreign athletes in a smattering of events at the ultra-modern Hayward Field in Eugene. The meet is just one of a series of high caliber meets to be held in Eugene this summer, including the NCAA championships, the U.S. National Championships, and the big daddy of them all, the World Championships. For the Worlds, it will be the first time ever the... Full story
The monthly meeting of the Sisters School Board took place Wednesday, June 1, at the district office. Board members Jenica Cogdill, David Thorsett, Jeff Smith, and Don Hedrick attended. Edie Jones was absent. Prior to the start of the meeting Hedrick was honored by his board colleagues and other school staff with a reception. Hedrick, who is 88, announced last month that the June board meeting would be his last after 11 years of service. Curt Scholl said to Hedrick, “When I g... Full story
Sisters schools responded to support students the day following the school massacre in Texas last week. Staff met at Sisters Middle School and Sisters High School prior to the arrival of students, to check in with one another and to form an action plan for the day. “No teachers are unaffected by news of school shootings,” said Tim Roth. “We needed to support one another and then take care of the kids during the day.” As the day began, teachers spoke to their first period classes about the incident in three ways, according to... Full story
Being a runner can be a fairly solitary experience, in part because it can be tough to find the right running partner. About five years ago I met a potential candidate. He had just moved here from Hawaii and, as a beach bum, had limited experience running in the forest where I always go. But his enthusiasm gave me no choice other than to give him a shot. Perhaps it helped that, like me, he was a little “chunky,” which made us comfortable with one another. His speed sur... Full story
An emotional Tyler Cranor directed his final big show for Sisters School District at the Spring Band Concert Thursday, May 26, at the Sisters High School auditorium. Cranor, who is leaving after eight years in the district to take a job in Fort Myers, Florida, sprinkled in thank-yous and appreciations throughout the evening that included students from grades 6-12. Cranor’s colleagues Steven Livingston (middle school music), Melissa Stolasz (fiddle club), Julie Cash (music a... Full story
The Sisters Middle School track team wrapped up its season Tuesday, May 17, at the Mid-Major Championship held at Ward Rhoden Stadium in Prineville. In addition to the Outlaws, the meet included Elton Gregory, La?Pine, Crook County, Obsidian, and Warm Springs Academy. Coaches Amber Tollerud, Bryn Singleton, and Jonathan Kelly managed the 65-member team, composed of grades six, seven, and eight, through some of the worst spring track weather in memory. Singleton said, “ E... Full story
Eight Sisters High School equestrian team members got to face off with riders and horses from all over Oregon in the 2022 Oregon High School Equestrian Team State Championships held May 12-15 at Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center. Oregon High School Equestrian Team is separated into eight regions during the regular season. The best from each region compete at the state meet, featuring competitors from over two dozen schools. The four-day competition features 26 different even... Full story
Most of the Sisters Outlaws track athletes saved their best performances of the season for when it mattered most, at the Oregon West District Championships held May 13-14 at Husky Field in Sweet Home. There are three ways for athletes to qualify for the state meet, which will return to Hayward Field in Eugene for the first time in three years. The top two finishers in each event automatically qualify, along with one “wild card” from each event based on being the best thi... Full story
Despite weather conditions that one coach termed “a monsoon,” the Outlaws track-and-field team tuned up for District at the 15-team Wally Ciochetti Invitational hosted by Cottage Grove High School. Personal records were hard to come by due to the wet, windy conditions, but a few Sisters athletes overcame the weather in strong fashion. With 300 meters to go, Ella Bartlett lost the lead in the 3,000 meters. Then the Outlaw stormed back to capture the lone win for the team in a personal best by over five seconds with a time of... Full story
The biggest news from the Sisters School District board of directors meeting on Wednesday, May 4, came just before adjournment: Board Chair Don Hedrick, who has served for over 11 years, announced that he would be stepping down effective at the June meeting. He said, “It’s been an honor to be on the board for 11 years, and the reasons are mostly, I am going to say, age-related. Community comments at the outset of the meeting included Steve Swisher reminding the board of the importance of actively recruiting budget com... Full story
After a two-year hiatus, the Outlaw Open golf tournament, dinner, and auction is returning to the June calendar as a fundraiser for athletics and other cocurricular activities for Sisters schools. Everyone is invited to the event, scheduled for Friday, June 3, at Aspen Lakes, according to football coach Clayton Hall, who completed his first season with the team this year. “The Outlaw Booster Club and I are so excited to have this event return after the pandemic,” he said. “I h... Full story
The Outlaws track and field team got to mix it up with a slew of great athletes at the Stayton Invitational held on Saturday, April 30. Oregon West schools Stayton, Philomath, Woodburn, and Newport were among the 25 teams competing in the meet. Due to the size of the meet, only two entries per event were allowed per school. Like most of the meet this season, the weather played a role in performances as heavy rain fell at times during the meet, adding an extra challenge to the athletes. Highlights for the girls team included t... Full story
Sisters Country is well-established as a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts, so after moving here last year it came as a bit of surprise to long-time runner Amy Margolis that no organized running club existed in the area. Margolis, a physician’s assistant, and her husband, David Wilson, decided to take matters into their own hands —and feet – to change that. The couple, who hail from Seattle but lived a somewhat nomadic life for the three years prior to settling in S... Full story
The Sisters High School aviation program has produced many licensed pilots over the years, but a “school record” was established recently when junior Corbin Fredland became the youngest Outlaw to achieve the goal. Fredland, 17, moved with his family from Bend as a freshman primarily to access the aviation program. “It had been a move my parents had been thinking about for quite a while,” he says. Fredland first became interested when a friend of his father started talking... Full story
Circle of Friends (COF) hosted a special guest on Friday, April 29, as U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley stopped by to acknowledge the $93,000 federal grant awarded to the nonprofit. Merkley, who has served in the Senate since 2009, spent most of the visit asking staff members and adult mentors about the program and the impact it has on the youth of Sisters. His wife, Mary Sorteberg, and Outreach Director Stacey Jochimsen were also in attendance. At the outset of the gathering,... Full story
School nursing requires a unique skill set in normal times. Throw in a two-year pandemic and new, ever-changing priorities arise. Through it all, Trish Roy, the nurse for Sisters Middle School and High School navigated the stormy seas with what superintendent Curt Scholl called “grace and calm.” Her steady presence and unwavering commitment to students earned Roy the honor of being named Oregon School Nurse of the Year in a ceremony held April 21 in Ashland at the annual sta... Full story
Despite the weather challenges of April, the Sisters High track and field athletes are continuing to show improvement as the season moves into championship month. A handful of Outlaws qualified for the Meet of Champions, hosted by Cascade and Sweet Home on Saturday, April 23, and a number came away with lifetime bests under the first good weather of the season. The Meet of Champions invites athletes from 1A-4A ranks based on qualifying season performances and provides athletes an experience of a championship-style meet.... Full story
Weather played a significant role in the way the Outlaws track and field teams experienced a busy week that included competing in two high-quality invitationals in winter-like conditions. After being largely forced indoors for practice during last week’s snowfall, the team traveled over the snowy pass to the Philomath Invitational on Thursday, April 14, to go up against seven other teams, including some of the best in the 4A classification. According to coaches, many of the team fell short of their best efforts at the meet u... Full story
Sisters School District honored eight students with the first annual Avanza Award for acquisition of English language at a ceremony held Wednesday, April 6, at Sisters Elementary School. Marleen and Bruce Rognlien wanted to partner with the school district and the Latinx community outreach group to establish the award to honor students who complete a state program in English speaking and writing. Bruce Rognlien said, “I was motivated to help set up and fund the award b... Full story
The monthly meeting of the Sisters School District board of directors took place on Wednesday, April 6, 2022 at Sisters Elementary School. - A reception was held for Avanza award winners, which honored second language students who had worked hard and attained a level of proficiency in English literacy comparable to native English speakers. The district created the award locally to reward the hard work the students have undertaken to become English proficient. (A full story on the program will appear in next week’s Nugget.) -... Full story
A looming winter storm warning did not deter any of the nearly 400 trail runners from taking part in the 20th annual PetersonRidge Rumble 20- and 40-mile trail race. “In fact, the weather turned out to be way better than the forecast, so finishers stuck around after the race and enjoyed good food and fellowship,” Race Director Sean Meissner told The Nugget. Meissner did concede that runners faced strong wind the last two miles of the 20-miler, coming in on the Bro... Full story
A collaboration between third-graders from Sisters Elementary School and ninth-graders from Rima Givot’s Sisters High School biology class is the first of many science-related projects designed bring together different age groups in the school district. Each of the three third-grade classes took outings to the Trout Creek Conservation area behind the high school on Friday, April 1, to meet up with Givot and her students to identify birds in the area. The collaboration was o... Full story
Sisters hosted its only high school track and field meet of the season Wednesday, March 30, a 10-team affair held in cool, windy conditions with temperatures in the low 40s, and which finished under the lights. The meet included teams from Summit, Grant Union, Culver, Pleasant Hill, Sherman County, Santiam, La Pine, Madras, and Burns. According to head coach Cailen McNair, coming out of spring break the team is still in the midst of foundational conditioning and technique... Full story
Bethanne Blann of Camp Sherman, aka “Mrs. Snowplow,” visited Sisters Elementary School on Friday, March 11, to share her book “Mr. & Mrs. Snowplow Are Back!” She explained the story behind the story, and provided insights on the writing process. All Sisters Elementary School students K-4, in two separate groups, heard Blann read her book aloud, with illustrations from the book displayed on a large screen behind her. At the outset of her talk Bethanne said she had three r... Full story
