News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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The Sisters High School music and fine arts departments will present the musical rendition of “Freaky Friday,” set for performances November 14-17 at the Sisters High School auditorium. According to choir director Rick Johnson, more than 70 different high school students are involved in the production and have been working since last May to prepare for the stage version of Disney’s Freaky Friday. Film productions of Freaky Friday were released in both 1976 and 2003 and are b... Full story
The Sisters Outlaws girls cross-country team tuned up for the Oregon West District Championships with a meet on the beautiful Creekside Golf Course in Salem on Wednesday, October 23. Ella Thorsett and Kate Bowen each had breakout races. Thorsett, fellow freshman Olive Nye of Bend High and senior Hannah Hernandez of Philomath broke away from the field early and battled throughout the hilly, tree-lined course. Nye got the win in 18:15.9 with Thorsett on her heels in 18:19.1.... Full story
Young Life, a non-denominational organization for youth, returned to Sisters last fall under the direction of Shannon and Doug Miller with the help of many volunteers. A year in, Shannon Miller says the group has gained name recognition and support, high school kids are coming to the weekly meetings and a number have been to Young Life camps. On its website, Young Life, which was founded in the 1940s and has grown into an international organization, states its mission as... Full story
The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) released state assessment scores last month with little fanfare, and Sisters School District once again scored above the state average overall. However Oregon, as a whole, did not have a particularly good showing compared to other states that use the Smarter Balanced assessment.... Full story
The Sisters High School jazz choir plans to be singing at Disneyland again this spring — and a local quilter has offered up a quilt for raffle as part of the fundraising effort. According to choir director Rick Johnson, the jazz choir is traveling to Disneyland next March 12-16. While at Disneyland the students will get a rare backstage glimpse of the park, they will take classes from Disney cast members that deal with how music is used in the park, and they will... Full story
With high school runners in bright pink shorts acting as “rabbits,” middle school runners from around Central Oregon raced around the grounds of Sisters Middle School in the final meet ahead of next week’s district championships. The meet got off to a strong start for Sisters as Outlaws took the top two spots in the girls race. Taylin Bowen won the race convincingly in a time of 10:16 over the 2,850-meter course. Brooke Duey edged Colby Thompson of Crook County by just over... Full story
Passers-by may have wondered what all the police vehicles with flashing lights and sirens out front of Sisters Elementary School were all about the morning of Thursday, October 10. The blaring music, police cars, and SWAT vehicles were part of the “Strive for 95” attendance initiative underway in Sisters School District — as well as an opportunity for elementary students to get to know more about law enforcement personnel in Sisters Country. The district has a goal of... Full story
Facing the other top-ranked 4A teams in the state brought out the best in the Outlaws cross-country team on Saturday, October 12. The boys squad placed a close second at the Paul Mariman Invitational hosted by Philomath High School. Marist Catholic topped the coaches’ polls last week, followed by Philomath and Sisters, which were tied for second. Siuslaw ranked fourth and Newport fifth. The rankings didn’t quite hold up as the Warriors clipped the Outlaws by 11 points (59... Full story
Freshman Ella Thorsett got a closeup look at the only two 4A girl runners in Oregon who have run faster than her on Saturday, October 12 at the Paul Mariman Invitational, hosted by Philomath High School. Thorsett finished third in the race behind state leader Hannah Hernandez of Philomath and second-ranked Hannah Rannow of Siuslaw. Hernandez led from start to finish and ran a season’s best of 18:28 for the 5,000-meter course. Rannow got away from Thorsett in the final mile o... Full story
It’s not every week a team gets to race against the No. 1-ranked team in the United States, but that is where Sisters Outlaws’s girls cross-country team found themselves, toeing the line along with 15 other teams with the Summit Storm at the Oxford Classic held Friday, October 4 at Drake Park in Bend. For Ella Thorsett, the speedy freshman for the Outlaws, it was a chance to rub elbows with some very talented girls. “Ella wanted to see how many of the Summit girls she could beat,” said Head Coach Josh Nordell. Thorset... Full story
Concerns about the health of the Sisters High School health program, about attendance and about student vaping occupied the Sisters School Board at their monthly meeting on Wednesday, October 2. The meeting also focused on reports from the principals, an update on the school enrollment, and support for the mission and vision project that is entering its implementation stages. The meeting opened with comments from three members of the audience including a parent who expressed concern about the status of the high school’s healt... Full story
Racing locally for the first and only time this season, the Outlaws boys cross-country team placed fourth as a team at the Oxford Classic held in Bend at Drake Park on Friday, October 4. The Outlaws could not quite keep pace with Summit and Ashland, but beat all the other Oregon schools, many from the 5A and 6A ranks, including Bend, Mountain View, Redmond, South Medford, North Medford and Crook County. Summit, ranked seventh among 6A boys teams took top honors with 66... Full story
Sean Meissner, the long- time race director of the Peterson Ridge Rumble trail run, was in charge of a new race on Saturday, September 28 — and afterward called the Sisters Hop Fest Half-Marathon and 5k a success. “It turned out to be a relatively small, but fun event,” he said. “People loved the course and the weather turned out to be pretty good after a bit of a scare about snow in the forecast.” Jason Gulley, 39, of Bend must have agreed as he made it through the hal... Full story
Freshman runner Ella Thorsett ran the fastest time ever recorded by an Outlaw cross-country girl at the Nike Portland meet held Saturday, September 28 at Blue Lake Regional Park near Gresham. Competing in the prestigious Danner Championship race along with teammate Kate Bowen, Thorsett clipped through one six-minute mile after another on her way to a time of 18:42 and 21st place for the 5,000 meter (3.1 mile) course. Thorsett’s time is even more impressive given the squishy, m... Full story
At mid-season of the cross-country season the Sisters boys team finds itself ranked among the top three squads among 4A schools. They bolstered that standing after a strong showing at the Nike Portland XC meet held at Blue Lake Regional Park near Gresham on Saturday, September 28. Votes in last week’s coaches’ poll placed the Outlaws fourth in the state behind Siuslaw, Marist Catholic and Oregon West rival, Newport. Philomath, also in the Oregon West League is ranked fifth. “Our league is tough and sadly, the way qualificatio... Full story
Following a vote at the July school board meeting, Jay Wilkins took over the position of school board chair for the Sisters School District after three years of serving on the board. Wilkins, who moved to Sisters seven years ago from the Portland area with his wife, Vanessa, and daughters, Skylar and Sydney, was enticed here by his friend Bill Rexford who taught at Sisters High School at the time. “Bill was obviously a big fan of the school system and really talked it up so we... Full story
The Outlaw girls cross country-team showed continued progress this week as most of the team ran at the Seaside Three Course Challenge, while senior Kate Bowen ran in a prestigious meet in California. For the Three Course Challenge, two varsity runners are chosen by random drawing to run in each of the three races, Easy, Moderate, and Difficult. At Seaside, Ella Thorsett led the Outlaws with a gutsy second-place finish in the Moderate Course in a time of 21:32, just four second... Full story
Four individual athletes, a championship football team and a generous couple are the newest members of the Outlaw Hall of Fame following a ceremonial banquet at Sisters High School on Saturday, September 14. The evening’s festivities began with a catered dinner, which was followed by a welcome from Hall of Fame committee member Dennis Dempsey. High school junior Sarah Kissinger then sang the national anthem. Everyone took part in a moment of silence for Hall of Famer Stan Williams, who passed away in the past year. Sarah R... Full story
The certified teachers of Sisters School District ratified a new contract Monday, September 9, that was then adopted at the school board meeting two days later. Following several months of negotiations, certified staff and district officials agreed to a deal that includes a 3 percent cost of living increase for each of the next two years and an additional $75 per month toward health insurance premiums. In addition, extra duty stipends for supervision, athletics, and activities saw a 2 percent increase and an additional day... Full story
Junior John Peckham won the boys race and freshman Ella Thorsett tied a record as the Outlaws’ cross-country team opened its season at the Northwest Classic held Saturday, September 14 at Lane Community College in Eugene. Competing in the 1A/2A/3A/4A division, Peckham bided his time behind the early leader Erick Godoy of Buhach Colony High School (Atwater, California) and took command of the race midway on the 5,000-meter course. The victory marked the first varsity win for P... Full story
Walking up the path to the main lodge at Camp Caldera at Blue Lake, the sound of a banjo twangs through the trees and the strumming of a guitar and a ripple of laughter waft in the breeze. A palpable sense of peace is present. The Americana Song Academy, in its 17th year in association with the Sisters Folk Festival, provided 85 attendees with a rare mix of place, creativity, community, and, of course, music, music, music from September 3-6. More than 20 of the artists slated... Full story
The Sisters Folk Festival and the Sisters School District have a long-lasting and deeply rooted relationship that continues to deepen as the years pass. Evidence of this friendship may have been most evident Saturday at the Fir Street venue where Sisters High School students and a whole lineup of Americana Project graduates performed on stage. Yet, those performances only represented a bit of the story of how Sisters Folk Festival is interwoven in the schools. Festival musicia... Full story
Brittaney Brown, kindergarten teacher at Sisters Elementary School, got a phone call recently that felt unbelievable at first. Her husband, Seth Brown, who she married in December, phoned to tell her his dreams had come true: He was heading to Kansas City to join baseball’s major league Oakland Athletics for a series against the Royals. At the start of the phone call Brittaney couldn’t tell what Seth was trying to tell her because he was so emotional. “When Seth called to te... Full story
The term “community” may not do justice to what the town of Sisters — and with it the Sisters Folk Festival — is known for, but the word got uttered repeatedly during Folk Festival week by attendees, artists and volunteers. Several thousand people absorbed the music and fellowship of the three-day festival September 6-8. At Sunday morning’s free community concert at the Village Green, singer/songwriter/poet Beth Wood began the gathering with a heart of grate... Full story
After nearly three years abroad in Germany, Tim Roth and his family have returned to the Sisters School District with Roth stepping into a new role as an assistant principal for both Sisters Middle School and Sisters High School. Roth’s official title is Assistant Principal of Student Success, which means he will play an integral role in helping students stay on track to finish their high school diploma with their cohort. This effort is part of a statewide initiative t... Full story
