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Hole To Be Filled? PGS 4-5
SUN VALLEY
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SCIENCE OF PLACE
Re-sorting Summer PG 6
An Ode to Oscar PG 8
BELLEVUE
HAILEY
PICABO
CAREY
WOOD RIVER WEEKLY
YOUR VOICE IN THE WOOD RIVER VALLEY
Free | June 15 - 28, 2022 | Vol. 3 - No. 12 | woodriverweekly.com
“ L i v e i n t h e s u n s h i n e , s w i m t h e s e a , d r i n k t h e w i l d a i r. ” – R a l p h W a l d o E m e r s o n
ARE VALLEY SCHOOLS SAFE?
Hailey, BCSD answer ‘yes’ with new school resource officer
I • • • • • • •
By Eric Valentine
f you could design a School Resource Officer job description checklist that could make parents, staff and students feel safer, it’d go something like this: Military training Police training Experience training police officers in K-12 safety Educated in psychology with a master’s degree in Emergency Management; and Ph.D. coursework under way Life experience involving mass shooting Children who attend a district school Spouse who teaches at a district school
Thanks to Hailey Police Officer Morgan Ballis’ life and career, Blaine County School District can check all those boxes come August. That’s when Ballis, who was hired by the City of Hailey in February, will begin the role he was brought onto the force to perform, school resource officer—a school’s first line of defense against a variety of ill will that has been making its way onto campuses all too often the past two decades. “It was Sandy Hook that really hit home. That’s when I knew I wanted to dedicate my life to this specifically,” Ballis said, recounting the moment he heard about the Dec. 14, 2012, tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, when a 20-year-old shot and killed 26 people. Twenty of the victims were children between six and seven years old, and six were adult staff members. That was when Ballis was still in the Marines—something he did for 11 years until leaving in 2015—and around the same time his daughter began kindergarten and his wife began teaching. It was also just a year removed from a traumatic experience his family had while still residing in Tucson, where Ballis was born and raised. On the morning of Jan. 8, 2011, Ballis’ mother headed to the supermarket to do some grocery shopping. She saw a large crowd of people out front and inquired about the event. It was a constituents gathering called Congress At Your Corner hosted by U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Ballis’ mom was talking to two men, one of them was then future Congressman Ron Barber and another man who—after a sudden series of gunshots—was covered in blood. Six people died in the attack and another 13, including Giffords, were wounded. Ballis’ mother escaped injury, but the entire family and their community couldn’t escape the trauma of it all. For Ballis, his military training and his community’s tragedy would begin to shape his fate.
As we polarize, we fail to look at the common goal: to keep our staff and students safe.”
SummerFest22
—Morgan Ballis Hailey Police Department School Resource Officer
Each member of the Ballis family is a staff or student of Blaine County School District. Photo credit: Officer Morgan Ballis
Prevention & Response Today, Ballis’ community is the Valley, and his family has grown roots here quickly. His wife is a literacy coach at Ernest Hemingway STEAM School, his daughter attends Wood River High School, and his son attends Wood River Middle School, where last month the campus—and the entire district—went into lockdown when the popping of a balloon in a restroom was mistaken for a possible gunshot.
S un
Valley
pera
Summer THE MET
BROADWAY & MORE!
22
Fest
Individual Event & Season Tickets 208-726-0091 or Sunvalleyopera.com
Continued New School Resource Officer Page 2
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Films on the
lawn
june 27 & sept 1 OUTSIDE MOVIE NIGHTS Under the Stars
High Society and Little Shop of Horrors Pavilion Lawn
June 21
GARDEN GALA Mezzo-Soprano
Tamara Mumford
July 14
August 20
CONCERT & DANCE PARTY
SIGNATURE SALON & CONCERT
Broadway Stars
High Note Soprano
Jared Wayne Gladly
Audrey Luna
SummerFe
Opera in Bloom ~
Garden Gala
and
Allison Semmes Festival Meadows
in a Private Garden