School Newsleter February 2019 by Siuslaw News

SCHOOL ZONE | School Newsletter for Siuslaw News | February 2019

SCHOOL ZONE A Monthly Newsletter for the Siuslaw & Mapleton School Districts and Community Groups

Nyah releases first single, music video Local artist’s new song features Florence places & people

lorence’s own Nyah Vollmar is now a “national recording artist” after the release of her first single, “Empty Spaces,” last week. The song debuted on Friday, followed by the music video’s release party at the Florence Events Center on Saturday. “Her song was released Friday, and she was singing Friday night at the sold-out Ducks’ game at Matthew Knight Arena,” said Nyah’s father Scott Vollmar. “They said they would be more than happy to say her single was released and to ‘get it now on all the major platforms.’ They threw in the ‘national recording artist.’ I didn’t ask them to do that.” At just 14 years old, Nyah is preparing a total of five songs this year to be included in her first EP with InRage Entertainment, with “Empty Spaces” as the first single. The next song, “Thousand Wishes,” has already been recorded and three more songs will be worked on in the coming months. The goal is to release the EP sometime this fall. Nyah’s fans got to hear her sing several songs during her release party, including an acoustic version of “Thousand Wishes” and a live performance of “Empty Spaces.” “I’m so happy you all made it here,” Nyah said. “I really wouldn’t be who, where or what I am without the people in this room. There are so many people I would love to thank — and thank you for coming out here and supporting me. I really appreciate it!” Many of the 400 people who had tickets to the free event had heard snippets of “Empty Spaces” before, as 160 of them had been part of the music video’s filming process in Florence last November. “We wanted to involve the community, and that’s why we made the decision to film it here,” Scott said. “Nyah has kind of a following here, and people have been really good in this community. We wanted to get the people of Florence involved so we can help this thing grow.” Shot in places like Heceta Head, the CROW Center for the Performing Arts, Historic Old Town Florence and the Port of Siuslaw Boardwalk, Nyah’s video purposely included the area’s real residents and local color. Even Florence Mayor Joe Henry showed up to be part of filming. He thanked both the production team

and the greater community for their encouragement of the young singer at the release party. “I just want to thank each and every one of you who turned out this evening and who have been supporting this effort for the last few months,” he said. “We have an awesome community with your support. … To the Vollmar family, you’re just an example of what a lot of us would like to be in our community.” InRage Entertainment represents Nyah and produced the music video, which was directed by Katie O’Grady and Jeff “JTL” Rattanong. O’Grady, who originally comes from Medford, Ore., and is based in Portland, has connections with Florence through family. She explained how she already loved the area and its people before meeting Nyah or coming here to film. “Florence, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart,” she said. “I’ve been producing for a long time now, and do you know what you did? You opened doors for every single person that came into this town. From the amazing welcome to a beautiful stay at River House Inn, to meals, to coming out on the docks, to showing up tonight — that’s something. And I know a little bit about something because I’m from a very small town, and my town showed up for me when I was a little girl. It’s really rare to hear ‘This is what I want to be when I grow up,’ and it’s even more rare to be that thing when you grow up. I know, with each and every one of you behind Nyah, she’s going to be that thing.” The release party featured several speakers important to Nyah, her family and her journey, including Henry, CROW Artistic Director Melanie Heard, O’Grady and Bruce “Automatic” Vanderveer, CEO of InRage. The master of ceremonies was Tamara Szalewski, a fellow Florence performer with strong ties to the film industry in Portland. She also

co-owns the Mindpower Gallery in Reedsport, Ore. Vanderveer said InRage specifically sent out a call for new artists, and his team was blown away by what they found in Nyah. “We all decided that we truly wanted to have some great young, talented people in our company,” he said. “I’d been working for Sony Music, but I really wanted to create a company where we could actually have artists who wanted to truly express themselves and had a lot of great talent, not just a lot of gimmicks.” He also talked about the yearlong process to get Nyah to the release of her first song — from the day she walked into InRage, based in Los Angeles, and started freestyl-

ing to chords he played on his guitar to her hard work every day since. “Something is happening in Florence,” he said. “It is the center of an artistic renaissance that is happening. We just know that people from Florence work harder than anybody else. Period. So, in this journey we are going to make Nyah an international star and we’re going to put Florence on the map so that people who come here want to touch you all and get some of this artistic vibe that you throw out. We love you.” Heard, who has known Nyah since she started with CROW’s summer theater camps and worked her way to a starring role in this April’s performance of “The Wiz,” also talked about Nyah’s hard work and star qualities in singing, dancing and acting. “This day is magical, absolutely magical, and I’m over-the-moon excited for Nyah and her bright future,” she said. “While today is magical, I have to be clear that there is absolutely no magic to what this young lady has accom-

plished. The only thing is hard work, dedication, love, devotion and, of course, her amazing talent.” Heard paused a moment to address Nyah. “CROW is always going to be here,” she said. “We are your biggest fans, your tribe, your posse and your family — and we know exactly what it took to get to this moment. Bravo, little unicorn. And to all of you in the audience, please take note. The arts really do matter in the life of a child.” O’Grady echoed this after thanking the many people who have stood behind Nyah over the years. “She has a pure and natural way about her that only comes from this group of people, this town, from those parents, from her brothers and her sister. That’s where she gets it, from her training as a little girl and up. When Melanie says, ‘believe in a child; invest in the arts,’ sometimes it just means showing up. Sometimes it means paying 99 cents for a song and calling all your family members and telling them to download this song,” she said. As for the music video, there is a special director’s cut featuring more of Florence and the boardwalk celebration featuring so many local faces. “While the official music video is much more attuned to what a music video should look like, the director’s cut will probably get a lot more people here excited,” Scott said. “It’s 100 percent Florence — Bay Street, Heceta Head, the CROW building, all of that.” For O’Grady, who directed both versions, she said it was an opportunity to show how much the production team valued Florence for its support. “It shows my deep love, my deep appreciation — and InRage’s deep love and appreciation — for every-

mons. The meetings are open to the public and everyone is welcome to attend. “You don’t have to be a teacher or have a child in the school system to become a member here,” said Alex Selig, PTA President. “Everyone is welcome to join our PTA, including businesses and even out of town relatives who want to support students in Florence.” The Florence Community Parent Teacher Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit which serves all of the public schools in the Siuslaw School District. Current and prospective members are encouraged to check out the Florence Community PTA Facebook page and website, www.florence pta.org, for events, updates and information.

Photos by Kathleen Wenzel

t hing y o u guys have done,” she said. Now that she has a professional music video under her belt, Nyah is getting more used to the limelight, though she still prefers performing in front of thousands than to smaller groups. Her dad Scott said that’s how she always felt — more comfortable at PK Park, Matt Knight Arena or even the Moda Center than in front of people she may know. But Saturday was a different matter. “I’m really happy with how it went,” Nyah said. “I’m really glad that so many people showed up and they actually seemed like they wanted to be there. I had a good time, too, performing in front of everybody.” It was a “whirlwind weekend,” Scott said, as Nyah was also featured on two morning TV news broadcasts on Friday. Coupled with the Civil War Duck Game and the release party, it was a test for putting up with the high-stress days of a professional performer. “I’m her biased dad, but she seemed to hit it out of the park,” Scott said. Nyah has a busy schedule coming up as she plans to head back to L.A. in March and continue rehearsals for “The Wiz” and her dance work with Flight, which has a showcase in May. It is good that she is part of the online charter school Oregon Connections Academy (ORCA) to keep up with her schooling and her active family. Just where does she find the drive to keep going? “I definitely got some inspiration over the weekend, just with all the stuff that happened,” she said. “As for what that is, you don’t get to know until you hear the songs.” Nyah’s single “Empty Spaces” is now available for download through major music platforms. The release party was livestreamed, so people can go to the official Facebook page “Nyah the Unicorn” to see more and connect to her social media pages. For more information about InRage Entertainment, visit www. inrage.com.

Community Blood Drive on March 4

We want you!

Florence Community PTA (FCPTA) is working towards reaching its 2018-19 membership goal of 197 members — and it needs your help! If Siuslaw School District’s local PTA reaches this goal by March 1, Florence will receive a prize from the Oregon PTA. More importantly, the area will have nearly 200 people who have shown their support for local students. At just $11 per year, FCPTA’s membership dues are an easy way to way to support kids, families and education in the Florence community. Even if you don’t have time to volunteer for PTA activities, FCPTA still invites you to become a member. Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 4:30 p.m. in the Siuslaw Middle School Com-

By Chantelle Meyer Siuslaw News

Scholastic Book Fair Coming to Siuslaw Siuslaw Elementary School will be hosting its annual Scholastic Book Fair from Monday to Thursday, Feb. 25 to 28. The operating hours on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday are 4 to 6 p.m., and on Wednesday from 4 to 8 p.m. This year’s theme is “Enchanted Forest – Let Your Imagination Grow.” During the extended hours on Wednesday, teachers and staff will

have reading and math learning games available for families in the multi-purpose room, while the Florence Community PTA hosts the Book Fair Diner, serving a free hot dog dinner in the cafeteria from 5:30 to 7 p.m. All families and community members are invited to shop the Book Fair. Siuslaw Elementary School earns free and discounted books in exchange for Book Fair sales.

On Monday, March 4, Bloodworks NW Bloodmobile will be on campus at Mapleton High School from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. “This blood drive is to celebrate my birthday,” said Elisa Gray, Mapleton School District Resource Teacher. “I am literally alive because people gave blood in 1977, so it is very important to me.” The community is also invited to participate. To sign up, contact 1-800-398-7888 or visit BloodworksNW.org. Bloodworks NW saves lives through research, innovation, education and excellence in blood, medical and laboratory services in partnership with the local community. It is an independent, nonprofit organization that provides a safe, lifesaving blood supply to more than 90 hospitals.

2 | SCHOOL ZONE | School Newsletter for Siuslaw News | February 2019

MAPLETON

apleton High School’s Farm to Table class has been the recipient of some great acts of generosity from the community. On Jan. 31, Roby’s Furniture and Appliance and The Mattress Shoppe donated and de-

livered a brand-new stove/ convection oven to replace the aging one that the class was making work. Already the students are noticing the difference in the ease of cooking. In February, Rotary Club

of Florence awarded the program a grant for new garden tools for the permaculture food forest it is creating. Farm to Table was able to purchase a number of tools, including pitch

forks, a variety of rakes and leaf scoops. This will make it so much easier to do all of the garden chores that will need to be done. Thank you so much Roby’s and Rotary. We appreciate you! — Submitted by Elisa Gray

COASTAL COMMUNITY CROW announces Florence as stop on Yellow Brick Road

Three Rivers hosts annual free Community Job Fair March 7

The fourth annual Community Job Fair will take place on Thursday, March 7, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Three Rivers Casino Resort Event Center, 5647 Highway 126. This one-stop Community Job Fair will feature over 30 businesses on-hand and looking to hire; employment opportunities including summer employment; community busi-

oin Dorothy (Nyah Vollmar), Lion (William Owens), Tinman (Jonathan Olson) and Scarecrow (Cort Waggoner) as they set off to find The Wiz (Roxi Clement) in CROW’s brilliant retelling of “The Wiz” two weekends in April at the Florence Events Center. Tickets are on sale now, and there will be outreach performances for area schools and community center. Also starring Kiska the dog as Toto, this show features local students, dancers and CROW’s award-winning sets, costumes and production value.

Flight, CROW pursue dance in Florence Children’s Repertory of Oregon Workshops (CROW), Florence’s nonprofit youth theater arts organization, is currently seeking a jazz and/or hip-hop dance teacher for classes to be held in summer 2019. “We are regrettably losing our wonderful Miss Cara (Beere) in a few months,” said CROW Artistic Director Melanie Heard. “She is off to pursue her dreams and we sure are going to miss her.” CROW is seeking an upbeat, energetic dance teacher with people skills, dance training and the capability to teach jazz and/ or hip-hop classes to kids ranging in age from 4 years to 18 and up. Interested dance teachers should contact Heard at 541-999-8641 or by email at crowtheatre kids@yahoo.com. CROW’s dance program has seen an energetic rise over the past two years, including the addition of a hard-working dance team called Flight. The organization went from offering “a class or two,” to classes on nearly every day of the week, including a wider variety of styles, and private and semi-private lessons for

those students eager to perfect technique. At the beginning of February, Heard escorted two of her brightest young dancers, Graci Immel and Jonathan Olson, to Portland to compete in the Spotlight Dance Cup — a regional competition for all ages and all dance genres. The duo danced to “Unsteady” — a contemporary piece, filled with partner work, lifts, and difficult jumps and turns. The two are part of the Flight Dance Team and study dance multiple times a week at CROW. “Jonathan and Graci placed in the ‘Ruby’ category for the 12-14 duo/ trio age group,” Heard said. “They are extremely proud of themselves, and I am very, very proud of them as well. They both said they had a really great time and learned a lot. It was amazing to see them up there, dancing from their hearts and letting their lights shine

brightly!” The duo will perform again in May at CROW’s Spring Dance Showcase at the Florence Events Center. Additionally, Olson will portray Tinman in CROW’s upcoming production of “The Wiz” in April, also at the FEC. Providing kids with a well-rounded arts education, rich in opportunity, and full of challenging projects is the heart of the CROW program, according to Heard. “We believe that our local kids deserve the very best quality arts experiences. Just because we are a small, rural, coastal town does not mean that our kids should receive less,” she said. “On the contrary, we give them outstanding opportunities, just like the big city kids, and then watch them soar to new heights.” For more information on the CROW program, visit www.crowkids.com.

ness contacts and the resources needed for a great career choice. The south doors to the event center will be open to allow access to anyone under 21 years of age looking for employment opportunities. Applicants are encouraged to bring a current resume and come “dressed to impress.” For more information, visit the Community Job Fair Facebook page.

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February 2019 | School Newsletter for Siuslaw News | SCHOOL ZONE | 3

SIUSLAW

No NameCalling Week Siuslaw High School and the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) celebrated national No Name-Calling Week by promoting kindness school wide. GSA followed GLSEN. org’s campaign to spread kindness with anti-bullying lessons. The Pride classes wrote “words that hurt” on sticky notes and put them up on a poster in the mall for the students to see what words are harmful to their peers. The next day, students wrote “words that help” on sticky notes and put them up on a poster in the mall. The objective was to promote empathy and help the students understand that words have consequences.

SMS Book Battle

Re-purposed Art

On the last day of the week, the students watched a powerful video about standing up for each other and spreading kindness instead of hate. The words that help notes were available for students and staff to share with each other until all the notes were gone.

Siuslaw High School Biology classes, along with the Florence community, have been collecting plastic bottle caps for the last four years. Caps are non-recyclable, so during our ecology unit the Biology students decided to re-purpose them with a mural. SHS Junior Elisa Hurley drew out our design that the students voted on and several of last year’s sophomores donated their after-school time to paint it. This year’s biology students took on a bulk of the work by screwing on the lids. A big shout out to Copeland Lumber for supplies and to the SHS maintenance crew for mounting it on the north, front entrance of the high school. — Submitted by Gina Castro Brandt

From left, Maya, Olivia, Auryn, Daniel and Dalton On Feb. 7, Siuslaw the opportunity to comMiddle School hosted its pete in the OBOB Regionseventh Oregon Battle of als for Lane County in the Books (OBOB) Com- Junction City next month. petition. Since September, OBOB’s mission is to three student groups have encourage and recognize been meeting at least once students who enjoy reada week and reading from a ing, to broaden reading list of 16 titles to prepare interests, to increase readfor the competition. ing comprehension, proA sixth-grade group, mote academic excellence coached by Mr. Wondra and to promote cooperaand Mrs. Wiggins, won tive learning and teamthis year and have earned work among students.

Not satisfied — A look at Martin Luther King, Jr. & Civil Rights In January, we celebrate the Civil Rights Activist Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Why do we celebrate this day exactly? We celebrate it because Dr. King was one of the most vocal activists that made racism get noticed. However, he didn’t do it by force, he did it by peace, marches, and speeches. MLK was born on Jan. 15, 1929, as the son of pastors at his local church. His father served from 19141931 and again in 1960 until his death, with MLK as

his co-pastor. He attended segregated schools and a college in Georgia, where he received a B.A. Degree at Morehouse College. He met his wife, Coretta Scott, at Boston, where they would have four children. By 1954, he became a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, where he would lead the first great nonviolent black demonstration, the bus boycott, which would last 382 days. Over

this time, MLK would be arrested, abused, and had his home bombed. Did this stop him? No. He would keep going forward to show the nation how racism has defied the Constitution of the United States. Between 1957 and 1968, he travelled over six million miles and spoke 2,500 times, speaking wherever there was injustice. At the same time, he wrote five books as well as articles about the movement. He impacted many lives of

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black people who saw no hope for freedom in the future. Then came the day where he would give out his most famous speech ever. On Aug. 28, 1963, MLK led a crowd of about 250,000 people in Washington D.C., where he delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. In this speech, he made a firm point that the Declaration of Independence stated that “All men are created equal” both white and black. He said that he, along with other black people, are not satisfied — “as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. As long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed from their dignity by signs stating ‘Whites Only’. As long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel,

cannot gain lodging in hotels of the highways and the hotels of cities.” This is what he stated in the first half of his speech. The second half of his speech is when he started spreading his dream with others. He had a dream, that “This nation will rise up and live up to its true meaning of its creed ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,’ a dream that sons of former slaves and sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood, a dream that little black boys and girls will hold hands with little white boys and girls, a dream that people shall not be judged by their skin color, but by their character.” His speech would go on to be globally recognized as he would go on to be the

By Ramiro Ramirez Siuslaw High School Junior

youngest Nobel Prize winner at the age of 35. If you think he gained enough respect to be respected in all situations, he still dealt with hardships such as 20 arrests, assaults and soon, his assassination. Shortly after his final speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” MLK was killed on April 4, 1968. Although he may have been taken away from us, his passion still lives on to many people fighting for rights for all people in this country. C on g re s s e v e ntu a l l y passed the Fair Housing Act, which prohibited discrimination about a person’s race, religion, sex, national origins, familial status and disabilities. It was seen as a tribute to King’s struggle for Civil Rights. Though it does bring us to the question — are we satisfied yet?

ARTIST OF THE MONTH — Creative Writing

Kaitlyn Snook

aitlyn Snook By Audrey was chosen Lowder by Max Perry as Siuslaw High the February ArtSchool Student ist of the Month. “I liked being able to learn new mechanics about writing, how to improve my writing and what I was doing, and having a better idea of how to be a good writer,” Kaitlyn said. “I really liked that he gave us a blank slate with most of our assignments. He gave us vague ideas and we mostly got to go off on our own.” She is now in Perry’s banned books class. “My favorite project was our short fiction project where we wrote our own short stories. I wrote about this character I made up named Maris. It was him cycling through the same scenario with different variations over and over,” Kaitlyn said. Besides creative writing, she also participates in HOSA (Future Health Professionals) and GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance). “In HOSA I am the chapter historian so I keep track of all the things we do and I run our website. I am also getting ready to compete at state in biotechnology, physiology and pharmacology,” Kaitlyn said. “For GSA right now I am

Look for KID

SCOOP

PHOTO BY CAROL JOLLEY

Kaitlyn Snook is the Creative Writing Artist of the Month. working on fundraising for the club and helping put on events. Next week, I believe, we are doing a movie night and showing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in the library. We are also trying to put together a dance.” GSA also helped with Siuslaw High School’s No Name-Calling Week. Kaitlyn plans to go to Southern Oregon University, where she wants to major in biochemistry/biology and political science with a minor in communication. After college she wants to be a medical laboratory technologist. “I will be overseeing a lab, running tests, trying to uphold machinery and generally keeping everything in order,” she said.

Kid Scoop runs every Wednesday during the school year in the Siuslaw News and features educational stories and fun activities for families. The page is part of the Siuslaw News’ Newspapers In Education program, in which teachers from Siuslaw and Mapleton school districts may request copies of the local paper to use as curriculum in their classroom. Call 541-997-3441 for info.

4 | SCHOOL ZONE | School Newsletter for Siuslaw News | February 2019

Siuslaw News Second Week, February 2019