"Tonight, we have a clean slate, an opportunity to pursue anything we want. Let's move on to the next stage of life and push back our comfort zones," said Alex Pien, Camas High School valedictorian.Pien certainly understands pushing the comfort zone as a distance runner, but on Friday he was addressing his 359 classmates participating in CHS commencement ceremonies at Doc Harris Stadium.
When Camas resident April Sutherland found out the special needs camp her autistic son attends would be eliminated due to budget cuts, she and other moms rallied to save it.They went to Vancouver City Hall and gave officials a proposal: They'd provide the funding for staff and make reductions, such as eliminating field trips, and volunteering to set up and clean up, if the camp could be saved. The city agreed with a few conditions, including one that seemed quite daunting: Raise $25,000 in 30 days. Undeterred, Sutherland and other moms did what seemed almost insurmountable. They raised $27,411 in 26 days. "It was a huge collaboration," she said.
When a Camas resident approached Marilyn Boerke to ask if she'd like to have a piece of history, the Liberty Middle School principal was intrigued."Eunice Abrahamsen contacted me to see if I was interested in procuring and displaying a 'piece' of a Liberty ship in order to teach our students the history of the local mill and the reasons why Liberty's name was chosen," she said. "I anticipated a small piece of the ship, so I was astounded and thrilled to learn the salvage company was offering to donate one of the ship's anchors." The anchor came from a decommissioned Liberty ship known as the SS Davy Crockett, which had been turned into a flat deck barge. Last summer, an extensive recovery and destruction process began on the ship after it went aground in the Columbia River near Cottonwood Beach. That effort lasted 211 days. The ship was built between 1941 and 1945, when the United States increased its shipbuilding capacity during World War II. At the Camas mill, now known as Georgia-Pacific, workers built ship rudders, cranes and other wartime materials for the Liberty ships being constructed by Kaiser Aluminum in Vancouver.
Shane Chen almost always has inventing on the brain.Whether he's skimming through an in-flight magazine, cruising the aisles of a local grocery store or even enjoying his favorite hobbies, Chen is thinking of ways to make products work better.
After months of meetings and review, the Camas School Board has approved district boundary changes at the elementary and middle-school levels. Board members essentially kept the proposal that the Camas School District's boundary review committee decided upon, with one change. Phase seven of the Deer Creek neighborhood is now included in the Prune Hill Elementary attendance boundary. In the original proposal, students who live in that area of the subdivision were slated to attend Dorothy Fox Elementary.
A long-time bus driver for the Mount Pleasant School District has resigned after being charged with third-degree theft for allegedly using a district credit card to purchase gas for her personal vehicle.
Most adults remember learning about the Lewis and Clark expedition in their textbooks, which is not always the most exciting or memorable way to experience history.But fourth-graders at Dorothy Fox Elementary School in Camas had the opportunity to learn about the famous "Voyage of Discovery" through an Oregon Museum of Science and Industry interactive outreach workshop.
"Kids don't care what I know until they know I care."This tagline is included at the end of every e-mail John Condon sends out. "I have always had a challenge for myself to build that trusting relationship with classroom kids on an individual basis," said Condon, who teaches seventh-grade at Skyridge Middle School.
"When you cross the finish line, no matter how slow or fast, it will change your life forever."This quote comes from the movie, "The Spirit of the Marathon." Anyone who has ever trained for a challenging race, be it an Ironman, marathon or half-marathon, understands exactly what it means to push past your limits and cross the finish line victoriously.
Students at Hathaway Elementary School are reaping the benefits after their teacher secured grants to purchase nearly $4,000 worth of xylophones, metallophones, and other mallet instruments.Amy Switzer applied and received a $1,000 Creative Classroom Grant from the Washougal Schools Foundation, and more than $3,000 from the school's Booster Club. "It is awesome to work in a district that supports its music programs," she said.
danielle.frost@camaspostrecord.com
