Pirate Pride Fall Edition
Neah-Kah-Nie High School
2012
2 • Pirates Pride • Fall 2012
It’s double-duty for NKN’s athletic director By Dave Fisher The Citizen
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When Leo Lawyer, vice principal of Neah-Kah-Nie High School, was named the new principal of the middle school earlier this year, some wondered in he would remain the high school’s athletic director, a position he has held the past two years. Those closely associated with the Pirates’ sports program breathed a collective sigh of relief when they learned Lawyer would continue to head the department. Lawyer himself is excited to continue in the role of athletic director, as he sees himself not only working for the high school in this capacity but also with the middle school and its enhanced emphasis on athletics. In addition to stability at the AD position, all of the head coaches – football, volleyball cross country and cheer – are NKN staff members. “This is the first time this has happened since I’ve been here,” said Lawyer, who sees this latest development as helping lend stability to the overall athletics’ program at NKN. With the addition of the Neah-Kah-Nie Youth Athletic program, spearheaded by parent volunteers working with fifth and sixth graders, the future looks bright as student participants move up the ranks eventually into high school. “The next big step is to de-
Leo Lawyer velop a program for softball Lawyer points to the new and for fifth through eighth grade,” improved weight room made said Lawyer. “We’re starting possible with $5,000 in donato see the benefit of having a tions from community sports’ youth program. Those who boosters. Also, new this year is started in the program are a refurbished gymnasium floor freshmen and it has made a and football scoreboard made difference. They come with possible, says Lawyer, though experience.” “judicial use” of grant funds. Part of the equation is conThe theme going into the tinued development of facilischool year is “out prepare and ties to support athletics and out perform.” With updated facilities and the investment of time by volunteers, it’s up to student athletes to step up. “The physical work is up to the kids,” says Lawyer. “They have to want it (increased competitiveness coupled with more wins) more than the coaches. I now see students wanting it and that’s a good thing.” With 80 Neah-Kah-Nie high school students participating in fall sports – football, volleyball, cross country and cheer – it says a lot about a school with a student popula645 Manzanita Ave., PO Box 632, Manzanita, OR 97130 tion of 193 and the commuGO PIRATES! 503-368-Chic (2442) • cheeky2442@gmail.com nity.
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Pirates Pride • Fall 2012 • 3
NKN students recount life-changing experience By Dave Fisher The Citizen
From left: Neah-Kah-Nie students Dylan Wacker, Ian Thurber and Julian Croman talk about the experience they enjoyed at Crow Canyon Archeology Camp this summer. Photos by Dave Fisher
“Nothing’s free,” said Jim Mudd, who along with wife Lynn and longtime friend Doug Nicholson founded the Mudd Nick Foundation. So, with that, students were on hand in the high school library to pay back a debt to the people responsible for the allexpenses-paid experience. In doing so, the hope is the
Upperclassman Joel Corser said he used to be a “pretty shy kid,” but that the experience at Crow Canyon helped bring him out of his shell. “It was a really good experience, I have a lot of memories.”
program doesn’t end after just one year, but continues for many years to come broadening the experiences of north Tillamook County school-aged children as part of the Mudd Nick’s mission. In addition, audience members heard from NKN librarian Kathryn Harmon, who attended the Freedom Writers Institute in Long Beach, California this summer and described it as “an unforgettable experience.” Harmon, who has been with the Neah-Kah-Nie School District seven years, was awarded a scholarship supported by Our Brothers Keepers, a group of 1963 alumni from Oregon State
Maria Loza, a NKN freshman, recounted her summertime visit to Crow Canyon with photos she took assembled on a poster.
University, to attend the five-day training exercise. “The opportunity will allow me to bring the teachings of the Freedom Writers Foundation back to both schools,” said Harmon. “I believe this training will support student success in this district, and I was honored to be chosen to participate.”
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Jim Mudd, one of the original founders of the Mudd Nick Foundation, thanked students for their presentations, describing the evening as a “big-time night” for both students and their benefactors.
NKN librarian Kathryn Harmon described her weeklong stay at the Freedom Writers Institute in Long Beach, California this summer as “an unforgettable experience.”
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“As part of the deal,” NKN students spoke about their summertime experience at Crow Canyon Archeology Camp in Colorado in presentations before school administrators, teachers and their families in mid-September. Also present were those who helped make it all possible: The Mudd-Nick Foundation board of directors, Our Brother’s Keeper board members, and Joe and Tina Turner, private donors who provided lodging for the Crow Canyon experience. It started out as an idea for two or three students and “evolved into an incredible opportunity,” said Donna Miller, program coordinator for the Mudd Nick Foundation. In all, 12 students, six each from the middle and high schools, attended the weeklong camp with three NKN staff members.
4 • Pirates Pride • Fall 2012
Football Team Head Coach: Scott Ross Kevin Ayala - 10 Seth Biederbeck - 9 Austin Buckmeier - 12 Trent Chambers - 12 Jed Emonds - 10 Tristan Fields - 9 Garrett Gallino - 9
Craig Grasseth - 11 Leim Hettenbach - 9 Eldon Herder - 12 Levi Hill - 9 Andrew Hoffman - 9 Melton Hoffman - 9 Coby Jacobsen - 11 Cameron Kelly - 9 Chandler Koch - 11 Troy Martin - 11 Tanner McAmis - 9
Chris Mills - 12 Caton Mott - 9 Drake Mott - 11 Tanner Repass - 12 Logan Romig - 11 Alejandro Quintana - 11 Andrew Smith - 11 Nick Smith - 11 Michael Socia - 9 Blake Spliethof - 9 Cody Stewart - 10
Laird Tuel - 12 Ian Thurber - 9 Johnny Vargas - 9 Brad Watson - 12 Issac Woolley - 11 Shonta Young - 12 Taylan McKinney, Mgr. - 12 Hailey Fields, Mgr. - 12 NKN football coaches, front row, from left: Scott Ross, head coach, and Dennis Woodward. Back row, from left: Will Reding, George Young and Mike Sims.
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Pirates Pride • Fall 2012 • 5
Coach: Jacque Vandecoevering • Asst. Coach: Breanna Stephens
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Cross Country Coach: Brett Duer Garit Champ - 9 Willa Childress - 12 Matt Clayton - 11
Eric Clifford - 12 Josh Cox - 11 Abby Creasy - 12 Julian Croman - 9 Branson Laszlo - 12 Wayne Moore - 12 Colin Purcell, Colin - 10
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6 • Pirates Pride • Fall 2012
NKN art class gives NCC newspaper racks a new look The Citizen
Long overdue for fresh coat of paint and a bold new look, the three paper racks in service for the North Coast Citizen are getting a makeover, thanks to students of Steve Albrechtsen’s Neah-Kah-Nie High School art class. The idea isn’t new, as other newspapers across the country have invited artists to give their newspaper racks a bold new look. It’s a win-win for the newspaper and the artist(s) who get their work “published,” so to speak.
The Little Apple
The racks were sanded and then stripped of their paint last spring. A fresh weather-resistant base coat has been applied and, from there, students will let her imagination take care of the rest. “The kids will be excited to see their work out there,” said Albrechtsen, who, when initially approached by the Citizen about the project, didn’t think twice about accepting the challenge. Look for the racks to be completed this fall and back on the streets of Manzanita, Nehalem and Wheeler. They’ll be hard to miss with their new colorful paint jobs.
BOUQUET OF FLOWERS
Art class members undertaking the project of refurbishing and making the North Coast Citizen newspaper racks stand out from the rest are, from left: Tana Dillard, Selena Breazile, Donny Miller and Laird Tuel. Photo by Dave Fisher
NKN instructor receives SOLVE Citizenship Award
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GOOD LUCK PIRATES!
By Dave Fisher The Citizen
To hear Neah-Kah-Nie instructor Peter Walczak tell it, the 2012 SOLVE Citizenship Award he recently received should include a number of other people and organizations. “I was excited,” he said, when notified of his selection in the educator category, “but I felt it was the local community as a whole that deserved the award. I receive a lot of help.” SOLVE, a Portland-based nonprofit dedicated to environ-
mental education and restoration of natural resources in Oregon, notified Walczak of his selection in late Peter Walczak July shortly after his nomination for the award. A banquet, originally scheduled for this fall, was postponed until next year at which time Walczak will officially be honored. Nonetheless, the word is out. Among the programs he has
a hand in are the springtime Watershed and Natural History Education program and the Autumn Outdoor Science and Pumpkin Harvest. Volunteers are key. “There’s a lot of community support. These programs wouldn’t happen otherwise,” he says, noting that over 100 parents volunteered for each of the annual programs geared for elementary school children from Nehalem and Garibaldi this past year. Walczak was instrumental in the creation of the Natural Resource Environmental Club in the Neah-Kah-Nie middle
and high schools. Same with the middle school’s Day of Service program in which students participate in helping with community-oriented projects, a number of them natureoriented, from Bay City north to the Tillamook-Clatsop county line. For the past 15 years, he has served as a coach, along with high school instructor Beth Gienger, of the NKN High’s National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB) team that during that time has amassed ten regional championships and placed as high as sixth in the national competition.
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By Dave Fisher
Pirates Pride • Fall 2012 • 7
NKN fall sports update for football, volleyball, cross country By Dave Fisher and Josiah Darr
Football Four games into the 2012 football season, the Pirates are 1-3, having won their opener at home against Riddle, a team they lost to last season, 26-20. It was a good way to begin the season. The following week, the Pirates were competitive against Reedsport, but could not get on the scoreboard and eventually lost, 14-0. Against St. Mary’s and Central Linn, NeahKah-Nie found itself pitted against bigger and faster teams and the results were lopsided in favor of the opposing teams. St. Mary’s cruised to a 50-16 win in a game played in Medford at Spiegelberg Stadium. Things didn’t go much better the following week at home against Central Linn, as the Cobras won 46-8. Going into the season, the Pirates football team could have hung their heads. Besides being 4-6 last year and missing the playoffs, they lost two huge pieces of their football team to graduation in the form of Scott Porter and Austin Cherry. Both of them were the team leaders on both sides of the ball. Cherry was named Defensive Player of the Year for the
NW League. “Scott and Austin were both great leaders for my team,” said Scott Ross, head football coach. “They left some pretty big shoes to fill. We aren’t going to fill Scott and Austin’s spots with one single player because we really don’t have any one superstar on this team. What we do have is a lot of competitive guys who are here to work hard.” That was exactly what it looked like when the Pirates hosted the Riddle Irish in their first game of the season. Even thought the Irish got on the board first, the Pirates didn’t get down. Instead, everyone did their jobs and the Pirates bounced back to score 26 unanswered points and get the win. “As a team, we talk about trying to get better everyday,” said Ross. “That’s one of out main focuses. If we do that, and we show up on Friday nights ready to go, the wins will take care of themselves.”
Volleyball Heading into the season, it was safe to say this would be a rebuilding year for the Neah-Kah-Nie volleyball team. It's not that the team isn't capable of winning games. The problem is, there is only one returning player from last year’s team
that made it to the first round of the state playoffs. “We only have two seniors this season,” said coach Jacque Vandecoevering. “Rachael O’Quinn and Carly Persons, but it’s only Carly’s second year of playing so we’re going to have a lot of work to put in.” With so few returnees and losing so much talent, there will be some big hurdles ahead in a very competitive Northwest League for the Pirates, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. “We're going to be young and inexperienced, but there will be plenty of freshman seeing varsity time this year and that's only going to make us stronger in the future,” said Vandecoevering. There is no question it is going to be tough to go from a state playoff caliber team to a very inexperienced team, but sole returnee Rachael O’Quinn isn’t discouraged about the future of the team. “I think it will be good,” O’Quinn said. “We’ll have a young team since last year our whole varsity team was
seniors except me and the swingers, but from the looks of our practices, we have some good freshman going.” Thus far, the Lady Pirates have been competitive in the early going, tasting victory against Gaston and Nestucca on the road. Against Catlin Gable Portland Christian and Delphian, the team suffered defeats, but battled hard. “They’re fast learners,” said Vandecoevering of her young charges. “They’re getting better and they want to do well and live up to their reputation of playing hard.”
Cross Country Seventeen members strong, the 2012 Neah-KahNie cross country team is looking to enjoy the season, run hard and if all goes well, qualify for state. The NKN team does have five seniors, including Branson Laszlo leading the team as team captain. “Branson is a true runner and has been training year round,” Duer said.
Also returning for his second year is two-sport athlete Logan Romig, a junior this year who was two places way from qualifying for state last year in his first ever attempt. This year, Romig is running the ball for the NKN football team, but will be participating in as many cross country events and practices, as he is able. “Logan is a tremendous athlete with great speed and determination,” said Duer. “I expect him to do great things this year.” For the past three years, Neah-Kah-Nie could not field a girls’ team because they needed the required five runners to qualify as a
team. This year’s team is a complete team with six girls who are excited and ready to go. In previous years, girl team members were only able to individually place, but not score as a team. Senior Willa Childress and sophomore Rebecca Savage are both out again this season and both of them qualified for the state track meet last year in the women’s 4x4 relay, proving they have speed. “They will be leading the girls’ team all year,” Duer said of the duo. “So far, the girls have been placing third and fourth in meets and they could do well at the district competition.”
GO PIRATES! PIRATES!
HAVE A GREAT SEASON, PIRATES!
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8 • Pirates Pride • Fall 2012
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