News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 267 - 291 of 918
Here is a snapshot of the Sisters School District Board Meeting held November 3 at Sisters Middle School. Board members in attendance included Chair Jay Wilkins, David Thorsett, Jeff Smith, Edie Jones and Don Hedrick. • Middle School Principal Alison Haney reported that the earliest date for fifth- and/or sixth-graders to potentially return to in-person school will be November 30, which is looking less likely in light of skyrocketing COVID-19 cases in Deschutes County. The middle school is doing final work on their “blue... Full story
For the past seven months, complaints of roaring engines, squealing tires, and speeding on Highway 242, Edgington Road, McKinney Butte Road and in the Sisters High School parking lot, mainly by young drivers, have poured in to the Deschutes County Sheriff’s dispatch center. Along Highway 242, directly in front of Sisters Middle School, dark black tire marks tracking across both lanes bear clear-cut evidence of “burned rubber” on the road’s surface. Two non-injury acciden... Full story
The Sisters Outlaws took part in a Halloween-themed relay meet Friday, October 30, on a private property near Sisters. The informal event provided the team with a chance to test their racing condition along with other high school runners, competing unattached, from Philomath, Klamath Union, Ridgeview and Crescent Valley. The relay consisted of one 3.1 mile leg, a pair of two-mile legs and .8-mile leg split between either three or four runners. Some runners ran more than one... Full story
Counselors for the Sisters School District have been collaborating with other agencies to better respond to grief and loss, in part following the deaths of two high school seniors and a recent graduate. The community was rocked by the tragic loss of young lives earlier this fall, which underscored the ongoing need for resources to help both students and adults be aware of information, resources and other forms of support in our area. In addition to the recent vehicle accidents, Sisters has experienced a number of other... Full story
The challenge of distance learning took an ugly twist as some seventh- and eighth-graders at Sisters Middle School recently experienced three separate incidents of students using racially and sexually charged language during classes being conducted through Zoom. Families first heard of the incidents through an email letter from principal Alison Haney that was followed later by a second letter that clarified, to some extent, what had taken place. The initial letter focused on the acts being racist in nature and was strongly wo... Full story
Sisters students in grades 4-6 may be returning to in-person learning as early as November 10, joining grades K-3 which have been in school for five weeks. That possibility arises in the wake of Governor Kate Brown’s October 30 press conference regarding adjustments to health metrics in Oregon. Sisters students would still be considered to be following a “hybrid” model, since students will attend Monday-Thursday and take part in online learning on Fridays. A basic snapshot of the new metrics says that counties that have... Full story
Sisters High School baseball coach Kramer Croisant didn’t want to have to wait until spring 2021 to get his team back together. They’d already lost the entire 2020 season — which would have been his first at the helm of the Outlaws’ program — to COVID-19 shutdowns. So he took the proactive step to see if some fall baseball could be possible in the Central Oregon region. “I caught wind that Marc Horner, the facilities manager for the Redmond School District, planned to start the Deschutes Baseball Academy, in part... Full story
The high school sports world is still largely shut down due to COVID-19, but Pat Zweifel, cross-country coach at Tillamook High School and owner of a large farm, found a way to offer a meet to a group of runners looking to compete as OSAA’s “fall” season is postponed until February. Zweifel’s family owns the Hydrangea Ranch outside of Tillamook where, amidst the rows of flower bushes, Zweifel has carved out a cross-country race course and built facilities to host camps a... Full story
As Ruth Peterson sat in her comfortable Black Butte Ranch home one week before her 100th birthday, her second husband, Jim Gibbons, 92, said that when he met her for the first time she was playing tennis at age 72 and “didn’t look a day over 39.” The couple just celebrated their 10th anniversary. Ruth (Anders) Peterson was born October 30, 1920 in Wisconsin, the second of three children, all still living. Longevity certainly runs in the family. She comes from good genes... Full story
The Sisters Outlaws hosted a three-way meet under blue autumn skies on Tuesday, October 6 to wrap up the spring sports mini season. Tuesday’s meet included a surprise school record in a seldom-run relay event as Will Thorsett (1,200), Brody Anderson (400), Sam May (800) and John Peckham teamed up in the distance medley relay in a time of 11:15.81. The previous record was set in 2009 at 11:22. Two events came down to the wire. The first, in a literal photo finish, took place i... Full story
• Martha Hindman, special programs administrator, gave an update at last week’s school board meeting on mental-health support still available through the Child Center with some changes. Students referred will now have access to therapists assigned to them based on student needs rather than having just one therapist for all types of cases. Two paraprofessionals have been hired as support staff. Hindman remarked how good it was to see the K-3 students back in school when she spent time at the elementary doing some o... Full story
The preschool conducted by Sisters Elementary School and funded through Oregon’s Preschool Promise Grant is still accepting applications from qualified families. The preschool has hired teachers and is ready for students, but the opening has been delayed for a few weeks due to a backlog in the Early Learning Hub’s ability to process applications for Sisters and other schools in the region, according to Mylee Card, lead teacher of the preschool. Card has been working with principal Joan Warburg to reach out to families kno... Full story
A teenage runner from South Medford High School — motivated to have the chance to race some of the other top distance runners in Oregon after track was canceled and the cross-country season moved to February — has taken matters into his own hand. He organized a 5,000-meter race that was held Saturday, October 3, at Sheldon High School’s track in Eugene. The beneficiaries of the race being made available included John Peckham, Will Thorsett, and Sam Mays, of Sisters High School. The trio, along with some other t... Full story
Following the tragic deaths on two consecutive weeks involving Sisters teens, support for young people grappling with the losses is vital. In the midst of COVID-19, access to resources is a bit more challenging, but help is available. In a letter sent out Friday, high school principal Joe Hosang said, “The primary reason for this message is to let you know that we are here to support our students, staff and families through the grieving process.” Counselors from all three schools in Sisters, along with administrators and oth... Full story
Athletic contests, non-existent in the area for months due to COVID-19, are slowly returning, allowing Sisters High School track-and-field program to host an informal, abbreviated competition against Ridgeview High on Wednesday, September 30. Events are being handled carefully. The non-scored meet featured just five running events, along with all the field events other than triple jump, in the first meet for most of the athletes since the spring of 2019. Sisters, along with... Full story
In the topsy-turvy world of COVID-19, athletes at all levels, including Sisters High School, have been faced with canceled, postponed, and shortened seasons. Activity resumed in mid-September for a few of the traditional spring sports under strict guidelines for a five week “mini-season.” According to SHS Athletic Director Gary Thorson, track and field, tennis, boys lacrosse and girls softball are taking advantage of the opportunity to train and, in some cases, compete. The... Full story
For the first time since mid-March students in kindergarten through third grade will return to Sisters Elementary School (SES) for in-class instruction, thanks to a consistent drop in COVID-19 cases in Deschutes County. The statistical metric of fewer than 30 cases per 100,000 has held for over three consecutive weeks, allowing the return of the youngest members of the Sisters School District to move from “Comprehensive Distance Learning” to “Hybrid Learning.” (Cases did jum... Full story
Sisters residents new and old may be unaware of the Trout Creek Conservation Area (TCCA), a special parcel of land adjacent to Tollgate and Sisters High School, which is owned and overseen by Sisters School District in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service and the Deschutes Land Trust. The TCCA encompasses 160 acres of juniper and pine forest directly behind the athletic fields at Sisters High School (SHS), a conservation easement that was formally established in 2003. The... Full story
Outlaws athletes are going to be able to get in some modified sports activities this fall. In the topsy-turvy world of COVID-19, guidelines and rules are ever-changing. High-school athletics have been subject to constant flux since March. When schools first shut down last spring, hope remained that they would reopen before the end of the year and spring sports would be allowed to complete a truncated season. That dream didn’t pan out and high school athletes were left to fend for themselves when it came to staying active. Sum... Full story
• Sisters Education Association (union) President Michele Hammer thanked the school board and Superintendent Curt Scholl for working cooperatively with the teaching staff on solving issues related to working conditions during COVID-19. Hammer also expressed how much the teaching staff looks forward to being back, doing in-person instruction. • Teachers are largely working from the school buildings this year during the distance-learning phase as opposed to from home as they did last spring. • Beginning fund... Full story
A decline in COVID-19 cases in Oregon may mean good news for reopening Sisters schools. The Oregon Health Authority reported an update to the media on Thursday, August 27 regarding the latest metrics related to the reopening of schools in Oregon. OHA Director Patrick Allen led the teleconference with input offered also by Dr. Dean Sidelinger, an Oregon State Health Officer. Much of the news indicated that cases of COVID-19 are slowing in most of the state, including in Deschutes County. The measurement most important to... Full story
How does a 2018 graduate of Sisters High School manage to have an upcoming meeting scheduled with a member of the British Parliament? The answer to that is easy for those who know Alana Lukens, who seems to have a knack for immersing herself in issues that she finds important. Lukens, who will be starting her third and final year at the Warrington campus at the University of Chester in the United Kingdom, is remembered not only as the lead in two musicals while at Sisters... Full story
Preschool offerings in Sisters Country have changed and expanded for the 2020-21 school year, giving parents more options than ever at a time of heightened need. Preschool will be offered at Sisters Elementary, Wellhouse Church, and through Sisters Parks & Recreation District (SPRD). Thanks to the award of a state-funded Preschool Promise grant Sisters Elementary School will be operating a program independently this year. For the past number of years, SPRD operated preschool at the elementary site in cooperation with the... Full story
When Susan Parker moved to Sisters from the Bay Area with her husband Brian Farrow eight years ago, after a 37-year career working as a vice president and buyer for Macy’s, she wanted to stay active in a meaningful way and become part of the small-town community. A friend at Black Butte Ranch mentioned the ASPIRE program at Sisters High School, which provides mentors to support students in navigating their post high school plans. Parker felt an immediate sense of excitement t... Full story
School administrators are managing what seems to be daily updates as to how the 2020-21 school year will operate in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The August 12 Sisters School District board meeting, conducted via Zoom, took place a day after the Oregon Department of Education released its latest update of guidance for schools, which, as was expected, did not change the fact that Sisters School District will be starting the year under the Comprehensive Distance Learning (CDL) model. Superintendent Curt Scholl... Full story
