The Applegater

Applegater Spring 2019 23 NEXT GENERATION Next Generation features school news and updates and the talents of our local students. All schools in the Applegate Valley are encouraged to submit news, art, writing, photography, and any other creative pieces to gater@applegater.org. Major fundraising effort under way by Ruch School students The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. —Mahatma Gandhi To inspire and prepare students at Ruch Outdoor Community School (ROCS) to be stewards and leaders of a better world, we provide them with opportunities to engage in meaningful service within and beyond the school community. By integrating these experiences into the academic curricula, we help all students—grades kindergarten through eighth grade—discover an "authentic purpose" in their learning every day. In addition to the "relevance" aspect of service learning, this type of pedagogy develops critical-thinking skills, engages multiple intelligences in students, and instills in them a sense of pride and self-efficacy. ROCS honors the partnerships with the following organizations and thanks them for the invaluable benefits they add to our students' education: Ruch Country Store, Sanctuary One, Pioneer Village, Applegate Valley Fire District, Ruch Library, Code 3 Coffee, Dick's Towing, Medford YMCA, ACCESS Food Share, Southern Oregon University, Valley View Winery, Ruch Café, Ruch Hardware, Red Lily Vineyards, Logtown Cemetery, Cowhorn Vineyard, Cascade Paragliding, Cantrall Buckley Park, A Greater Applegate, Friends of Ruch Library, Discovery School at South Medford High, Deer Creek Park, Forest Park, Southern Oregon Humane Society, and Pacifica Garden. Our new adventure with service learning involves the entire Applegate Valley. Students have expressed their desire to provide a safe, family-friendly, and inspiring gathering space for the learning community, the service- oriented community, and the community at large. To accomplish this, fundraising efforts by students are under way— with a goal of $80,000! This will cover the costs to renovate the school's track and playfield, install new landscaping that fosters "safe play," and make the area more appealing to families for recreation, health, and wellness. We hope to complete this project by August 1, 2019. Current fundraising efforts include chocolate sales, an ongoing yard sale at Ruch Country Store, collective grant writing, a school jog-a-thon, bottle and box-top collecting, letter writing, piggy-bank extractions, and our upcoming auction event on June 8. If you would like to join our efforts in providing Applegate families and visitors a destination to engage in fellowship, health, and wellness, please contact the school office at 541-842-3850. " We're putting our words into action," said a ROCS middle-school student. "I didn't realize that I could make a difference…but I am!" Thank you for being our community, where we live, learn, play, discover, and take pride in ourselves as contributing citizens. Julie Barry, Principal Ruch Outdoor Community School julie.barry@medford.k12.or.us Williams School is growing! W i l l i a m s s c h o o l i s g r o w i n g ! Enrollment is now at 76, compared to 56 at the same time last year. The preschool continues to be at its capacity of 20 students. On October 11, Hero Day, we honored local heroes and held a jog-a- thon. Representative heroes included members of the sheriff 's and fire departments, military personnel, and members of Mercy Corps, who arrived in their helicopter. Seeing and interacting with these local heroes allowed students to see them as trusted community helpers. During the jog-a-thon part of the event, the students raised $13,000 in pledges for a proposed mural for the school. On December 19, 250 community members came to enjoy the students' holiday program. T h e a f t e r - s c h o o l e n r i c h m e n t program, which began February 4, offers lessons in art, guitar, and violin. Jean Hall • jhall80@juno.com Photo, top left: Williams students participated in the school's annual holiday program. Photo: Mindi Gallegos. Photo, bottom left: Special guests at Hero Day at Williams School included sheriff, fire district, and Mercy Flights representatives. Photo: Jennifer Butler Photography. Applegate resident on Dean's List C e n t r a l O r e g o n C o m m u n i t y C o l l e g e announced that Applegate resident Samantha Bango has qualified for the Fall 2018 Dean's List. Samantha was enrolled in 12 or more graded credits and received a term grade point average of 3.6 or better. Congratulations, Samantha! Applegate School news The holiday program, under the direction of Mrs. Daw, involved all the Applegate School students. The program used excerpts from "Dear Santa," by Alfred Productions and "Santa Goes on Strike" by Robert A. Mauro, as well as special scenes written by the middle-school drama class. An audience sing-along and an appearance by Santa topped off the evening. Mrs. Hirschmugl's kindergarten and first-grade classes recently celebrated having read over 600 books in Epic, a digital library for kids. They hope to reach a goal of 1,000 books before the end of the school year. The children celebrated the 100th day of school on February 19, which is a milestone for kindergartners and many first graders. All year these students practiced counting to 100 by ones, twos, fives and tens. They each brought 100 items from home, made necklaces out of 100 Froot Loops, and drew pictures of what they might look like when they are 100. In science, the students learned about the life cycle of butterflies, watched each baby caterpillar grow and spin a chrysalis, and saw butterflies emerge. The students were able to release 12 butterflies. Second and third graders under Mrs. Halsted's leadership teamed up with the K-1 class for a field trip to White Oak Farm in Williams. There the students helped catch chickens to relocate them to a recently harvested garden plot. After a walk through the Applegate middle-school students learn the art of felting with artist Corbin Brashear. Photo: Michelle Daw. forest, students helped prepare a tasty farm-grown lunch of soup, salad, and cornbread. The second and third graders recently completed a unit on animals and plants from the new Stem Scopes science curriculum. Integrating art and writing in a final project, students demonstrated their understanding of how animals and plants depend on one another for survival. Mr. Scull's fourth- and fifth-grade students worked hard on their science fair projects, which they showed off to parents and community members at Learning Night on February 27. A number of the students will move on to compete at the district-wide competition on March 6 to 8. In January, middle-school students learned the art of felting. Guided by artist Corbin Brashear, the students thoroughly enjoyed making felted owls. Fourth and fifth graders learned the felting technique in February. The remainder of students are looking forward to experiencing the felting process at a later date. Another artistic experience awaits Applegate School students in March. In 2017, mosaic artist Jeremy Criswell led the students in creating the beautiful mosaic mural of the tree on the outside wall near the gym. Jeremy will be back the week of March 18 to help students design, cut out, and glaze tiles for the mosaic river that will flow behind the tree. Jean Hall • jhall80@juno.com

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