High School adopts new Sparrow

Sisters High School (SHS) has adopted Michaela Madsen as its new Sparrow for the 2004-2005 school year.

Sparrow Clubs help children and families in crisis.

Michaela lives with her parents, Kevin and Jennifer and three siblings in Sisters. She attends Sisters Elementary School.

Dick Reinertson, owner of Rhino Ranch and Realty, is sponsoring Michaela. Students at SHS can perform community service work at $10 per hour, record their hours on a service voucher and turn in the hours toSparrow Club advisor Kristy Rawls. Reinertson will pay students $10 per hour up to 265 hours.

Reinertson knew the family needed money as soon as possible and offered an incentive to students. If students could get the 265 hours of community service done within the month (deadline was March 1) Reinertson would give the family an additional $1,000.

The monies raised will be used toward genetic testing, dental and other medical bills.

“She (Michaela) has the mental development of a two year old but is six years old,” said Rawls.

The students came through with a big project.

On Saturday, February 26, Gary Pepperling, custodian at SHS, organized a forest road decommissioning project in which students could earn community service hours. Eleven students and two adults met at SHS at 8 a.m. and decommissioned a road on Forest Service land near Squaw Creek. The students earned 44 hours of community service totaling $440, which put them over the mark. Students held a penny drive as a class competition for one month and raised $439.47. The Drama Society at the high school donated $75 and the cheerleaders donated $400 from raffle ticket sales.