ESD honors Grooney for school service

Acting schools superintendent Dennis Dempsey surprised Bob Grooney at the monthly Sisters Kiwanis meeting last week with an award acknowledging his service on the Sisters School Board during the 1990s.

The award given by the High Desert Educational Service District acknowledged how instrumental Grooney was in creating the FLEX alternative school (now facing the budget ax) and the SOAR (Sisters Organization for Activities and Recreation) program, which evolved into Sisters Park & Recreation District.

"I don't know what conjured that up, but it was nice that someone thought of that," Grooney told

The Nugget. "I was a bit taken aback by it."

Grooney served for seven years on the Sisters School Board and was chairman when the new Sisters High School (now Sisters Middle School) opened in 1992.

Grooney worked with then-high school principal Dempsey to find funding for the FLEX program to serve kids who were struggling in a traditional school environment. Grooney also worked with Kiwanis and other community organizations to launch SOAR.

The school district allowed the fledgling organization to use school facilities to provide activities for kids during hours school was not in operation.