Eric & Encarnación
Children’s Activity Club hunts eggs in Chesaw
An evening of Flamenco Passion & Soul Tonasket CCC Saturday, April 14
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TSD looks at different education methods
School Board offered a ‘pep talk’
So Egg-citing!
BY GARY A. DEVON MANAGING EDITOR
OROVILLE – The Oroville School Board met Monday to consider reorganizing the board and to evaluate the superintendent and got a “pep talk” asking them to focus on educating kids. The Special Board Meeting was originally requested for the annual evaluation of the superintendent at their March 26 meeting, but by April 9 the agenda had grown to include consideration of the reorganization of the board – namely whether Chairman Phil Barker would remain in that position or someone else would assume the chairmanship. The meeting started out with some back and forth about whether more than one item could be on the agenda for the special meeting and whether board policy allows selection of a chairperson at any time other than the first regular board meeting in December. Citing an RCW, Barker said he wanted to take “no action” and move on to the evaluation of Supt. Steve Quick. Board member Rocky DeVon said he
Enrollment, calendar set for 2012-13 school year BY BRENT BAKER BBAKER@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM
TONASKET - The Tonasket School Board heard a presentation by parent Jennifer Steinshouer at its Monday, April 9, board meeting, to create a type of alternative education program for grades K-8 in the district. Steinshouer represented a group of parents that have or are home schooling their children. What started out in previous weeks as a discussion with board members and superintendent Paul Turner about how to enhance the homeschoolers’ partnership with the district resulted in discovery of the methods being used at the other schools. The program would be modeled after the expeditionary learning approach used by the Methow Valley Community School, a private school, and adopted by the Kettle Falls School District in a public school setting. “I do think there are exceptional teachers at Tonasket, and I have the ultimate respect for the teachers ...” Steinshouer said. “I know that you’ve worked very hard to put in programs for the success of our students. And Tonasket has been very innovative. We were the first district around here to have a homeschooling outreach program ... Our alternative high
Photos by Gary DeVon
Once the giant Easter bunny gave the okay, hundreds of kids swept across Oroville’s Lake Osoyoos Veterans Memorial Park last Saturday in the annual Oroville Eagles’ Easter Egg Hunt. Like a wave, the kids moved across the lawn gathering colorful Easter eggs into their baskets as they moved toward the lake. After about 10 minutes there was nary an egg to be found. Certain special eggs were redeemed for prizes and several parents were left to wonder just how much egg salad the family could eat. At right, Remi Turner, the two-year-old daughter of Katie and Chad Turner, tries to see just how many eggs Cody McNall, the two-year-old son of Adam and Tracy McNall, scooped up in the Easter Egg Hunt.
SEE BOARD | PG. 3
Spring clean-ups planned
“I do think there are exceptional teachers at Tonasket, and I have the ultimate respect for the teachers...”
Oroville - April 15-19, Tonasket - April 16-20 BY GARY A. DEVON
Jennifer Steinshouer
school has been phenomenal, and they save kids every day... “I think we can be that innovator, and I think we could start an alternative program like this, and I’d like to model it pretty much directly from the Methow Valley Community School.” Steinshouer said that the program offers a unified approach emphasizing character building, community service, natural history, outdoor history, and an overarching yearly theme through which students at all levels do their learning. She said that problem-solving and communication skills are also a key part of the curriculum. “What we want isn’t a basic education,” she said. “We want an exceptional education. We want our kids to excel at the things they excel at, not waiting for everyone else to catch up with them. And we want the things they’re struggling with to be met with immediate attention, even if they’re not at the bottom of the class. And we want the whole child taken into consideration, emotionally.” The program also features small, multigrade level programs, so that older students participate in teaching the younger students. “I have 28 children already that would be interested, only four of which are currently enrolled in the district,” she said, adding that with more time she thought she could produce up to 100 interested students. “I know that money is an issue, but I believe this would bring more money into the district.” She also said her research showed their was a likelihood of the district being able to receive a substantial amount of grant
SEE SCHOOL BOARD | PG. 3
Oroville Reman & Reload plans $10 million in upgrades Revenues continue to increase at wood products manufacturer BY GARY A. DEVON MANAGING EDITOR
OROVILLE – A representative of Oroville Reload and Reman told the Oroville City Council that the parent company plans $10 million in upgrades to their facilities. Doug Tracey, from B.C.-based Gorman Brothers Inc., Oroville Reman & Reload’s parent company, updated the city council on the wood products manufacturer’s plans at their Tuesday, April 10 meeting. Tracy said Reman & Reload had $4.2 million worth of revenue last year, an increase in $1.4 million due to several plant upgrades. These included the addition of three dry kilns, as well as an increase in molder volume, the edge glue line and lumber loading. He credits the heavy haul corridor that the city pursued, led by Chris Branch, director of Community Development, as one reason railcar loading revenues have increased steadily since 2007. In 2007, the company brought in $367,000 from loading B.C. products, mostly lumber, for shipment by rail. In 2011 the revenue was
OKANOGAN VALLEY GAZETTE-TRIBUNE Volume 106 No. 15
Photo by Gary DeVon
In 2011 Gorman Brothers Inc. spent $5.5 million on three new dry kilns and a bio-energy steam plant at their Oroville Reman & Reload facility. The company told the Oroville City Council it plans an additional $10 million in upgrades, including a state-of-the-art high speed moulder which will be a showpiece among molders in North America. The company has 62 full-time employees at Oroville earning an average of $15 an hour and plans on hiring 15 more sometime after the new project is completed. $508,000 from carloading. In 2007 the company shipped 2,028 million board feet of lumber, while in 2011 it shipped 48,829 million board feet. “Ten years ago we started putting the ‘Gorman Edge’ on boards and created all
‘appearance grade’ lumber. We ship this product to 28 countries, with about 50 percent going to the U.S.,” Tracey said. “Today we create mostly 1”x3” and 1”x4” for slats for Ikea which uses them to make
COUNCIL | PG. 3
NORTH COUNTY – Oroville and Tonasket have scheduled their Spring Clean-ups for next week, with Oroville’s starting on Monday and Tonasket’s on Tuesday. Oroville Mayor Chuck Spieth has declared the city’s Spring Clean-up Campaign from April 15 to 19 and Tonasket Mayor Patrick Plumb has declared April 16 to 20 for theirs. During the annual Spring Clean-up city crews for both towns are authorized to pickup and remove burnable yard waste, excluding stumps and oversized prunings for residences and businesses as time permits. Prunings should be under four foot long and piled and bundled for easy removal and organic yard waste, like leaves and grass trimmings, should be separated into paper bags or cardboard boxes (no plastic). “The City of Tonasket finds that it is desirous of participating in a clean-up campaign, utilizing city equipment and employees... this project is in the best interest of the city,” said Mayor Plumb in his declaration. In Oroville, the pick-up is scheduled for Thursday, April 19 (and Friday, April 20 if necessary) and can be scheduled by contacting city hall at (509) 476-2926. Also in Oroville, collection fees may be assessed for appliances, tires and/or large pick-ups. Batteries and hazardous materials will not be collected. In Mayor Spieth’s declaration, he said, “The mayor and city council are encouraging all residents and property owners to take pride in our community by participating in the Spring Clean-up. Take advantage of this opportunity to clean up your neighborhood.”
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