News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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With every other public school in Deschutes County operating under the Comprehensive Distance Learning (CDL) model due to the coronavirus pandemic, Sisters Elementary School stands alone conducting in-person learning — leaving Principal Joan Warburg feeling quite fortunate and pleased for her students. “Our students are happy, our parents are happy and our staff is happy,” she said. “I have seen a deep appreciation in our students for being able to be in school learning. They come to school with smiles on their faces... Full story
In what has become nearly a weekly pattern, Sisters School District superintendent Curtiss Scholl shared a letter with the school community last week regarding what the rising infection rate in Deschutes County means to students and families. With a record number of weekly confirmed COVID-19 cases, Deschutes County has remained in the “red zone” which has both immediate, and potentially future, impacts on when and where students will be able to receive in-person instruction. In his letter Scholl said, “Unfortunately, our c... Full story
As front-line workers facing the challenges of working through the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers have been forced to pivot quickly and adapt on the fly, to meet the needs of their students in the months that have forced most schools in Oregon to operate under Comprehensive Distance Learning (CDL). The Nugget checked in with some of the teachers at Sisters Middle School (SMS) and Sisters High School (SHS) who have been conducting their instruction under CDL since March. Fifth-grade teacher Tiffany Tisdel acknowledged the adaptat... Full story
After a summer focused on biking, my fall season has largely been a time of walking and hiking with a plan to mix more running in over the wintertime. My inner runner felt a definite stirring last week when I paid a visit to the area in which I grew up and took a morning hike down a very familiar trail. Every competitive runner has certain places, sounds, smells and circumstances that elicit a physiological response that says to the brain, “It’s time to run!” Wilderness Trail... Full story
The Graduate Resource Organization (GRO), which facilitates the scholarship program available to Sisters High School graduates, has grown enough in recent years that the all-volunteer GRO board of directors put plans in place last year to hire a part-time program director. The plan came to fruition earlier this month and Laura Kloss is the happy recipient of the position. She will officially begin her duties in mid-December. The board received a healthy number of applicants... Full story
The surging COVID-19 caseload has cast a shadow over efforts to get middle school students back into the classroom. In a letter sent to parents Thursday, November 19, Superintendent Curt Scholl addressed the questions and confusion about getting fifth and sixth graders at Sisters Middle School back into the classroom under the “hybrid” model amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Rising numbers of infections in Deschutes County have resulted in a move into the “orange zone... Full story
The three themes undergirding the work of Sisters School District — Belong, Prepare, Inspire — are harder to accomplish during the battle with COVID-19 and the resultant distance learning. The teachers of Sisters middle and high schools are doing all they can to safely offer person-to-person interaction through what is known as “limited in-person instruction” under the state’s “Ready School, Safe Learners” guidelines. Limited In-Person Instruction, or LIPI, allows... Full story
In the final competition of their mini-season, members of the Sisters High School team, running unattached, produced outstanding results at a meet held Saturday, November 7, at the Alderbrook Golf Course in Tillamook. The meet featured some of the best high school runners in the state, creating a championship atmosphere. Ella Thorsett, last year’s state 4A champion as a freshman, ran in the elite race where she placed third behind two runners from 6A Jesuit High School of Portland, Chloe Foerster and Molly Grant, who were r... Full story
For over two decades the schools in the Sisters School District have made special efforts to honor veterans during the week of Veterans Day, but with the pandemic closing down the middle and high schools, they had to get creative to keep the tradition alive. The result is a student-leadership-produced video made available last week that includes music, commentary, and educational information related to veterans. The video is available on The Nugget’s Facebook page as well as via a link available at the end of this story. E... Full story
Sisters youth donated a total of nearly $1,000, generated through sales of “Sisters Strong” apparel by Sisters Middle School students. Funds went to the Family Access Network (FAN) and the Kiwanis Food Bank. Led by Student Body President Holly Davis and Vice-President Jack Turpen the initiative provided $470 each to the two nonprofits. Turpen, an eighth-grader, created the Sisters Strong logo last year which has been used on T-shirts and stickers, sold by the students. Acc... Full story
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
