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School district reaches out JILLIAN WARD The World
COQUILLE — As students and teachers get used to distance learning, the Coquille School District is keeping track of how well students are focused working from home. So far, the district has handed out almost 250 Chromebooks. Many are being shared among students in the same household.
As a result, said district Superintendent Tim Sweeney, “We’ve had 464 students log in and visit 235,000 websites. Of those, 51 percent are education-related searches, while 24 percent are Google searches. So, 75 percent are education-related.” Another use for the Chromebooks has been for Google docs, which is Google’s version of Microsoft Word. “If you consider that it’s just
been a week since we started (distance learning), it’s really good that these (Chromebooks) are being used the way we intended them to be,” he said. At the same time, not every student or family has had an easy time with the switchover to distance learning. In January, the district had just opened its $5 million Winter Lakes High School. Although the alternative Winter Lakes program is mostly
online, the brick-and-mortar building was meant to serve as classroom space and an expansion of the district’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses, as well as a facility for shower and laundry use. Those facilities mainly benefited students who were either homeless or in some other difficult living situation. Now that the brand-new building is closed — after barely
being open — the facilities intended to help some of the most vulnerable students are no longer available. Two weeks ago, Sweeney said that 15 percent of students had trouble communicating with the district from home. To meet their needs where they are, the district is extending its resources to reach them. One teacher in particular
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CB Village provides glimpse of future AMY MOSS STRONG The World
COOS BAY — Daniel Graham and Greg Drobot are confident their newest development rising each day along the waterfront in Coos Bay gives people hope. Hope for the future — that people will be able to safely gather in places like Starbucks or browse the cheese selections and grab a bite to eat at the Face Rock Creamery retail store. A craft beer from 7 Devils Brewing Co. after work with friends will certainly hit the spot. Those visions are hard to imagine in the middle of the current COVID-19 pandemic that has people staying home, social distancing, restaurants and all but essential retail stores closed, and the economy in a frighteningly fragile state. But the day will come, hopefully soon, and Coos Bay Village will be ready. “We like to think of it as a ray of hope for the South Coast,” Graham said while on the construction site Friday afternoon. Graham and Drobot, of GDDG Enterprises LLC, proved their mettle with the creation of The Colony, a condominium project along Beach Loop Drive in
Amy Moss Strong, The World
Workers set trusses for the future Starbucks at the Coos Bay Village construction site along U.S. Highway 101. Starbucks will feature a sit-down coffee shop as well as a drivethrough.
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Apollo 13 mission anniversary Local ambassador celebrates with virtual party AMANDA LINARES The World
COOS COUNTY — In celebration the 50th anniversary of Apollo 13, Dr. Aaron Coyner, a NASA Solar System ambassador and physics instructor at Southwestern Oregon Community College, hosted a virtual watch party Saturday. The event, which showcased NASA’s new documentary entitled “Apollo 13: Home Safe,” featured a live discussion between Dr. Coyner and viewers who shared their reflections and recollections of the event. Community members who streamed the virtual event, which
Ed Glazar, The World
Dr. Aaron Coyner works with student Christian Wood setting up a ground station before releasing a weather balloon Nov. 16 on the campus of Southwestern Oregon Community College. Coyner was admitted recently to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Solar System Ambassadors Program. was posted on SWOCC’s Physics and Engineering Facebook page, were encouraged to also
share any lessons they took from the documentary and from the historic mission as a whole.
Photo gallery: Camp Creek Restoration in Reedport Photo gallery: Bandon’s Gorse Blossom Festival 2020
“For me, I look at the Apollo 13 mission as an encapsulation of how resilient humans can be,” said Dr. Coyner. “I think that’s really important given our current situation.” A mission often remembered for the unexpected explosion of its oxygen tank, Dr. Coyner said the teamwork displayed between all those involved is something people 50 years later can still learn from. “You had a team of scientists and engineers who worked tirelessly in the next four days to make sure all (the astronauts) got home safely,” said Dr. Coyner. “Again it really shows the kind of resilience, drive and ingenuity that we are all capable of and this (mission) is a really good example of that.” The 30-minute documentary features archived footage and
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Lockdowns ease but not in US COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Tattoo parlors and hair salons in Denmark. Beaches in Australia. Bookstores in Germany. Nations around the world took advantage Monday of their flattening coronavirus infection curves to tentatively ease lockdowns, edging toward a new yet unknown state of normal amid a devastating pandemic. China, where the virus started its relentless march around the globe late last year, has already been re-opening from a strict lockdown for a few weeks. But the nations testing out the waters Monday were democracies, not a hierarchical Communist system, and the sheer variety of choices each made offers plenty of
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