News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 101 - 121 of 121
The upcoming May election will decide who is filling two open positions on the Sisters School Board. Five candidates are running for the two open positions on the Board. Jeff Smith is running for Position 3 and has been on the School Board since 1999, with a break of 2-1/2 years. Smith believes his experience and passion for education set him apart from the other candidates. "I have a passion for education. I believe in good schools and am lucky enough to end up in a... Full story
Sisters High School artist Miliani Spencer recently won the Hayden Homes Scholarship. Hayden Homes has donated money to sponsor Sisters High School art students for five years now. This year's winner was awarded $2,500 dollars for her art piece known as "The Skies Field of View." A committee comprised of Hayden Homes, Paul Allen Bennett with the Sisters Arts Association, community member Kit Stafford, and Sisters High School art teacher Bethany Gunnarson chose Spencer's... Full story
On a sunny spring day in Sisters, Tuesday, May 16, Sisters High School (SHS) chemistry students launched two stratospheric balloons from Sisters Eagle Airport, loaded with students' experiments. The experiments are attached to what is known as a payload - items that will help students determine what happened while the balloon was floating in the atmosphere at over 80,000 feet. The chemistry classes have been launching weather balloons every year since 2015. This year, 37... Full story
Timber Bionda of Sisters has received a unique full-scholarship opportunity for flight training, thanks to EAA Chapter 1345 of Bend and the Ray Aviation Scholarship program administered by the Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh, WI. The Ray Aviation Scholarship program provides up to $11,000 scholarships to young people who are seeking to learn to fly. The Ray Foundation has provided $1.8 million to fund the scholarship program, which seeks to improve the flight... Full story
The Sisters Elementary School paved playground was a beehive of activity last Friday morning, as four classes of first-graders - about 80 students - worked with their Sisters Middle School seventh grade mentors to construct-a bird house/nesting box. The project came about when middle school math and STEAM teacher Jeff Schiedler mentioned a bird house building project his seventh-graders were undertaking to Sisters Elementary School first-grade teacher Erika Valikonia. The... Full story
Mary Flande, who spent 20 years working for the Sisters School District as a teacher, coach, and athletic director, was inducted into the Oregon Athletic Directors Hall of Fame at the group's 54th Annual Conference and Banquet held at Sunriver Resort Saturday, April 17. Flande has spent a lifetime associated with athletics. She was a three-sport athlete at Scio High School, where she graduated in 1975, in a year in which she won the state shot put title and played on the... Full story
When Howard Hughes' giant Spruce Goose took off on November 2, 1947, it stayed in the air for all of 26 seconds. When the Outlaw RC Plane Club at Sisters High School (SHS) sent their model of the Spruce Goose into the air on Thursday, May 11, they had much greater success: The first flight lasted for two minutes, and the second lasted four minutes. The club of remote-controlled aircraft enthusiasts built a 10-foot-wingspan replica of the legendary plane in a one-day build in... Full story
For the first time in 13 years, the Sisters High School Wind Ensemble qualified to attend the OSAA (Oregon State Activities Association) annual state competition for bands. The group left on May 10 with 20 musicians, and first-year band director Kayla Golka. The band left promptly at 6 a.m. to make it to their destination in Corvallis at 9 a.m. As they set off on their journey, the students conversed in nervous chatter, knowing that being able to participate in this competition was a huge honor. “I remember being tired on the... Full story
Sisters High School students embrace any chance they have to bring the community together - and they did just that in their annual spring pageant last weekend. "It originally started as a spoof pageant, so it's not overly serious, but it still showcases who these students are," said Jami Lyn Weber, lead teacher coordinator for the pageant. The goal of the event is to fundraise money for the Sisters Family Access Network (FAN), which works to ensure that children have access... Full story
Sisters Middle School (SMS) was the place to be on Wednesday, April 12 for the annual STEAM Expo, which showcased some of the science, technology, engineering, art, and math learning that is happening at the school. Visitors experienced exhibits and activities that ranged from stop-motion animation to squeegee art to fiddle musical chairs. Brad Tisdel, the creative director for the Sisters Folk Festival, which has helped support the arts in Sisters for many years, said this... Full story
Educators know that visual arts are highly beneficial to students of all ages. Sisters School District honors this by offering a variety of artistic programs - including the 24th annual ARTifacts program held at Sisters High School Tuesday, April 18. This event allowed high school students of all ages to showcase their hard work to their friends and family. Sisters High School hosted multiple observational art booths and hands-on art stations for community members to try.... Full story
Sister High School’s Wind Ensemble is made up of some extremely hardworking musicians. Their determination shines through in their qualification to compete at Oregon State University for the OSAA State Championship. This is the first time the band has attended the competition in 13 years. The band is made up of 20 participants, most of whom have been playing their instruments for over three years. The age of these students range from 14 to 18. Some of the upper classmen remember qualifying for State in 2020 but not attending... Full story
Jeff Smith is a veteran of serving on the Sisters School Board. He has served since 1999, with a 2-1/2 year hiatus. Smith is running for Position No. 4 in the May 16 election. Smith's experience serving on the School Board is what he believes sets him apart from other candidates. "I have been in education for most of my life; I was a teacher and professor, and I coached sports," said Smith. Smith has lived in Sisters for 27 years. During his first 10 years living here, Smith... Full story
Seven students from Gonzaga University out of Spokane, Washington spent their spring break in Sisters volunteering for Sisters Habitat for Humanity. Their visit was part of a nation-wide alternative spring break program called Collegiate Challenge. Habitat's experienced construction crew took most of the first day to familiarize the students with safety protocols and introduced them to power tools and construction techniques. Then the all-women team built new roofs on storage... Full story
Hamburg, Germany and Copenhagen, Denmark contrast markedly from tiny Sisters, Oregon, but for the two 16-year-old exchange students at Sisters High School who hail from these famous European cities, the experience of living in our rural mountain town has been rich and satisfying. Rebecca “Becca” Clausen and Freja Pedersen arrived in Sisters in late August as participants in the Pan Atlantic Foundation student exchange program. Within the first week both had joined fall spo... Full story
Karissa Bilderback is running for one of two open spots on the Sisters School Board that will be on the May election ballot this year. Bilderback graduated from Sisters High School (SHS) in 2000, and now is raising four kids who are in and entering the Sisters schools. Bilderback grew up in the Willamette Valley, and her family vacationed in Black Butte Ranch when she was young. Her family relocated to Sisters, partially because of the schools. "I loved high school and I felt... Full story
Jayne Simmons, candidate for Sisters School Board, has been in Sisters for over 27 years. Her sons attended Sisters schools, and now her grandchildren are in the schools. "We have a long connection with Sisters, back in the days you could go up one street and down the other, and someone would know your kids, and that's what is so great about a small town," she said. Simmons comes from a diverse background having formerly held a teaching credential in English and social... Full story
Every year, Wellhouse Academy and Wellspring Preschool participate in a 40 Days of Kindness Project. This year, inspired by a program presented by Holy Cow Sisters founder Jared Vogt, and his partnership's work to help orphans near Thippalakatta, India, students collected their spare change for 40 days. Vogt described how the orphanage in India was previously without a safe roof, and how sales of beef locally in Oregon were used to build a safe structure now being used as... Full story
Asa Sarver is one of the incumbents running for the Sisters School Board in the upcoming May 16 special district election. Sarver seeks Position 4, to continue serving the Sisters School District (SSD). Sarver and his family re-located to Sisters in 2020, settling in Black Butte Ranch before finally acquiring property in Sisters in 2022. Sarver had previously lived in Montana and Colorado, working in the hospitality industry at ski resorts. He was offered a position in the win... Full story
This year’s Sisters School District (SSD) School Board candidates were asked tough and hard-hitting questions during the League of Women Voters of Deschutes County’s Virtual Candidate Forum last Thursday. The virtual forum gathered the candidates and a moderator together via Zoom and was live-streamed for the public to watch on the City Club of Central Oregon YouTube channel. Candidates were asked questions ranging from why they are running for the School Board to que... Full story
Libraries have always served as a quiet, book- filled, welcoming workplace. Knowing this, kids or adults are drawn to the reliability of it being a safe place. According to KAPPEN, a K-12 education-focused magazine, schools that have libraries and librarians are prone to have better graduation rates, higher reading levels throughout grades, and mastery of educational skills. Sisters High School (SHS) currently does not employ a librarian. Sarah Crabtree, Sisters Middle School librarian/media manager said that she “loves t... Full story
