KFCS Friday News Flash
January 19, 2024
In this Issue
- Superintendent's Message
- Upcoming School, Community Events
- Student Success Corner
- Sky Lakes Wellness Center Lifestyle Medicine Facts
- KUHS Alumni
- Phone App Download for District Website
- Join Our Team
- KFCS Board of Education
A note from the Superintendent;
We appreciate all of the public input on our ThoughtExchange this month about
EagleRidge High School possibly joining Klamath Falls City Schools as one of our high
schools.
The responses to the question about EagleRidge High School joining Klamath Falls City
Schools as one of its high schools are varied. Some respondents express concern about the
potential impact on resources, staffing, and academic standards, questioning whether the district
can afford to incorporate EagleRidge and maintain high standards. Others worry about the
potential loss of EagleRidge's unique identity and approach to education, particularly its focus on
supporting students who struggle in traditional school environments. However, many
respondents see potential benefits, such as increased options for students, easier access to
transportation, and improved clarity about EagleRidge's status within the district. Some also
suggest that the merger could provide opportunities for sharing resources and improving equality
within the community.
We will share more information in this news letter to address concerns about resources,
staffing and academic standards. We will also address the concerns about Eagle Ridge
maintaining its identity.
From a financial standpoint, the merger of EagleRidge with KFCS does not have a
downside. At this time, students attending charter schools in Oregon are funded in the exact
same manner as other non-charter students. This means, there will be no reduction in state school funding. The same is true for state and federal grant funding. However, by EHS fully
joining the school district, a variety of financial efficiencies will be gained, with human
resources, maintenance, and IT that will result in a reduction in overall expenses.
There are no plans to make any significant changes to the overall staffing or academic
programming that is offered at EagleRidge. EHS has, and will continue to serve a critical need
in our community. The smaller, more project-based approach to instruction that EHS utilizes
provides flexibility and increased opportunities for our students. We believe a total merger of
EHS with KFCS will allow even greater opportunities for our students. Students at Klamath
Union High School and EagleRidge High School will benefit from the opportunity to share
resources such as instructors, equipment, supplies and professional development.
We will be carefully considering what we learned from this ThoughtExchange and
sharing our actions back with you.
Keith A. Brown
Every student, every day, whatever it takes!
Klamath Union Digital Media Program Earns Hefty Grant
Klamath Union CTE Media Design instructor, Dan Stearns (wearing red KU hat) along with digital media students Emily Wiley (yellow shirt) and Daina Hernandez-Alvarado helping document a trip to California KFCS members took to study and tour two robust CTE programs, part of a long-range facilities plan for Ponderosa Middle School.
By Joaquin Aguilar-Flores, KFCS
The Oregon Department of Education Career and Technical Education Revitalization Grant team made its official notification the Klamath Falls City Schools Klamath Union High School Media Entrepreneurial Enterprises grant was awarded in full for $249,755.
Klamath Union CTE Media Design instructor, Dan Stearns, applied for the grant which will bring an assortment of new equipment to the program.
Through the grant, the KU CTE Digital Media program is continuing the development of the CTE Digital Media career pathway by creating a new CTE program named, KU Media Entrepreneurial Enterprises.
The new program will be an on-site, student-run CTE Digital Media business which provides students hands-on experiences and opportunities for entrepreneurship in photography, graphic design and video production.
“This innovative venture is designed to offer practical, real-world experiences in digital media, marketing, and business management, helping students bridge the gap between academic learning and professional readiness,” Stearns said.
The development includes two additional programs in KFCS. Beginning in the 2024-2025 school year will be the start of a new CTE digital media bridge program at Ponderosa Middle School. This will introduce students to digital media careers, serving as a feeder to KU Media Entrepreneurial Enterprises.
The second addition will be the creation of a CTE Summer Immersion and Skills Academy where industry experts engage students in real-world, four one-week work experiences, providing students with the knowledge, skills and experience to join KU Media Entrepreneurial Enterprises.
Stearns said $35,000 of the grant will go into the Summer Immersion and Skills Academy. In all, there were 66 applications for the grant and 31 projects were recommended for funding.
“This would not be possible without the help of our district staff and our community partners in the writing of this grant,” Stearns said.
The ODE CTE Revitalization Grant team gave high praise to the submitted grant.
"I liked how the applicant specifically called out students in poverty and American Indian and Alaska Native individuals,” members of ODE said. “Hallmark example of a complete application."
Additionally, the grant will help buy new equipment, specifically fiber cables to help broadcast events anywhere in Klamath Union, along with getting a quality sound booth and green screen.
With the new grant, KU TV will be fully funded. The program is also looking at buying an improved embroidery machine for designs on hats and merchandise and have everything printed at Klamath Union.
Bringing a new digital media program will have Stearns train a teacher at Ponderosa. As of now, Stearns is hoping there will be two classes at Ponderosa for digital media, one in digital photography and one in design.
Stearns will use funds from the grant to purchase computers at Ponderosa for the digital media program. The program will target eighth grade students, or possibly younger grades.
“I always wanted to create a feeder from Pondo,” Stearns said. “Students can already earn dual credit in digital media and earn a certificate through Klamath Community College, earning 16 college credits if they take all four weeks. For the Summer Immersion and Skills Academy, students can work in the summer. In the morning they can design a logo and the next morning, they are already printing it on a shirt.”
Stearns said spring time will be when some of the new equipment will arrive.
“All the money we get from events like being a DJ, helping with a sound system, or weddings, we take that money into the student account and a portion goes into the general account,” Stearns said. “We used money we earned from working for a trip to Hawaii last year. These trips, though, we go to far places, but we film to use content for competitions we apply for during the school year.”
Klamath Union CTE Media Design instructor, Dan Stearns (wearing red KU hat) along with digital media student Emily Wiley (yellow shirt) helping document a trip to California KFCS members took to study and tour two robust CTE programs, part of a long-range facilities plan for Ponderosa Middle School.
Klamath Union Class of 2023 digital media students posing for a photo with instructor Dan Stearns during the high school's Senior Awards Night.
KU Key Club Brings Joy Through The Holidays
Assistance League Christmas Basket Jubilee
Every year the Assistance League holds a Christmas Basket Jubilee to raise money for their Operation School Bell program. This year, KU Key Club hosted a KFCS district-wide basket challenge, seeking themed gift baskets from every building. KU Key Club was able to collect 13 baskets with a total value of $735.
This year was Key Club Advisor Lisa Danskin's fourth year helping with Operation Santa with KUHS, otherwise known as "be a Santa to a Student."
The idea started four years ago when a student in one of Danskin's classes was not going to have a celebration during the holidays because all of the family's money was going toward moving expenses into a new home after a relationship breakup.
"At KU, we have experienced so many different unfortunate situations such as homelessness, death of a parent, loss of a job, house fire, divorce and so much more. I seek out KU staff and/or community members to sponsor a student by purchasing gifts or donating money to Key Club. I shop the sales to get the best deals for every dollar given," Danskin said. "Every year, I deliver presents to families, students and every year there is one student, one house, one situation that makes me ball and touches my heart, reminding me why I do this every year. It never fails, that the worst scenario is always the most appreciative."
Key Club helped 42 kids this year, accumulating $2,100.
Candy Cane Drop
On December 15, during fourth period, Key Club put together its fourth annual Candy Cane drop, delivering 743 candy canes with a holiday note attached to every single person at KU.
Selfie with Santa
Also on December 15th, Santa made a short visit to spread jolly cheer and took selfies with students and staff during an hour lunch holiday celebration.
Card Signing
Key Club signed a little over 200 holiday cards, which were given to Operation Santa recipients and visitors at the Warming Center.
2023-2024 KUHS Athletic Registration - SPRING SPORTS
Registration Deadline: 03/04/2024
HOW TO JOIN KU ATHLETICS:
STEP 1. REGISTRATION - Athletes must create an account and register at FamilyID.
STEP 2. PHYSICAL EXAMINATION & INSURANCE
All athletes must have a current Oregon Physical Examination form on file in the Klamath Union High School Athletics Office. Physicals are good for two years.
ATHLETIC INSURANCE – No student may participate in the athletic program without insurance coverage. For participants who do not have medical insurance through OHP or a family policy, the appropriate insurance plan may be purchased through Myers-Stevens-Toohey health plans. https://www.myers-stevens.com/.
STEP 3. ATHLETIC PARTICIPATION CONTRACT
KU Athletics Code of Conduct and Academic Expectation policy documents are contained within this FamilyID registration. Both the student-athlete and their parent(s)/guardian(s) are required to read and sign these documents. By electronically signing the documents via FamilyID, you are agreeing to the terms of these documents.
STEP 4. FIRST DAY OF SPRING SPORTS IS FEBRUARY 26TH! Contact your coach & start training TODAY!
BASEBALL: Michael Overstreet
GOLF: Adam Kallstrom
SOFTBALL: Megan McCarty
BOYS TENNIS: Allie West
GIRLS TENNIS: Dale Dougherty
TRACK & FIELD: Rob Coffman
School Board Recognition Month
KFCS Board of Education Board Chair Trina Perez, right, and KFCS Superintendent, Keith A. Brown.
Klamath Falls City Schools joins the other 196 school districts throughout Oregon to celebrate January as “School Board Recognition Month." Our KFCS Board of Education members spend countless hours of unpaid time working to provide the best possible education for our students.
They also serve as the corporate board of directors for one of our community’s largest employers. Celebrating School Board Recognition Month is one way to say thanks for all they do.
This past Monday during the district's monthly Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Keith A. Brown took a moment to thank each board member for the dedication and time they each spend on the KFCS Board of Education.
Each board member was presented with a framed certificate and given a tumbler as well.
Please join us this month in thanking our Klamath Falls City Schools board members: Vanessa Bennett, Andrew Biggs, Patrick Fenner, Andrea Jensen, Kathy Hewitt, Trina Perez, and Ashley Wendt-Lusich for serving on the KFCS School Board.
Quarteto Nuevo Visits Ponderosa and KU for Music Clinic
By Joaquin Aguilar-Flores, KFCS
Musicians at Ponderosa Middle School and Klamath Union High School were left puzzled but inspired after the professional group, Quarteto Nuevo, visited them for a performance and clinic.
Quarteto Nuevo is in Klamath Falls for a performance they will be having at 7:30 p.m. Friday, January 12 at the Ross Ragland Theater but wanted to take a moment to encourage the young musicians at Ponderosa and Klamath Union.
The group is made up of four musicians, Damon Zick, who plays soprano saxophone and woodwinds, Kenton Youngstrom, the group’s acoustic guitar player, Jacob Szekely, who plays cello and Felipe Fraga on percussion.
Education Director at the Ross Ragland Theater, Dawn Loew, helped bring the group of four to Klamath Falls City Schools, and started their day at Ponderosa.
KFCS music instructors Allen Haugh, Drew Langley and Brent Hakanson, brought their classes to the school’s gymnasium for a performance and clinic to help students understand likely a new style of music they have not heard before.
Quarteto Nuevo is based in Los Angeles, and is a world chamber jazz ensemble. Ponderosa students were filled with the sound of music as the group played several selections.
After its second song was performed, the group began to interact with the many middle school students and enlightened them with basic and complex music theory. Zick introduced a song he wrote, named Hector, Desmond and Titus, which, to many, would sound familiar for the style of song and the specific melody played throughout the arrangement.
“What part of the world do you think this song came from? Would you agree, it comes from something off, Aladdin,” Zick said.
Throughout the performance, Zick and the rest of his band members stressed the importance which any young musician surely has heard from their band director, which is the importance of learning musical scales.
In music, a scale refers to a collection of notes which makes the song you are listening to. The song Zick composed has a particular sound and could easily be thought to have come from an Aladdin movie and played in parts of Central Asia to modern China.
Zick used Hector, Desmond and Titus to teach Ponderosa musicians something new but vital in their growth as a musician.
“If we play Hector, Desmond and Titus in a major scale, you will see how much different the song will sound when the song is originally a mode of the harmonic minor scale,” Zick said. "To change the sound, all you have to do is, in the major scale, make the third note a half step lower and the sixth note a half step lower."
Quarteto Nuevo also shared to the group about playing in different time signatures during a song and took a moment to answer question from the middle schoolers.
“It was really great to see a percussionist perform in a non-conducted band. I really, really like percussion. I have been doing it since I was seven and I am trying to continue doing it until maybe college,” Ponderosa eighth grader, Marcail Muno, said.
The music group then drove to Klamath Union to perform in the school’s band room, filled with the school’s top orchestra and band classes. Some of the musicians who had their instruments in hand had the opportunity to play alongside the group and learn a brief lesson from Szekely.
Szekely, who has spent time traveling and playing cello for recording artists Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake, took a moment to improvise with seven students on their instrument under his direction.
As a demonstration, Szekely drew a line on the board which gradually grew or trickled down. Each student played according to a different diagram, which each student interpreted in their own way and improvised in a solo.
“I want you to not even think of counting or a scale or the mathematical part of this but use the language part of your brain,” Szekely said.
“It got me thinking in a different way. When I was called on to do it, I was in a bit of panic at the first part but then you get into what works and what doesn’t. You then see if you build off something new or you continue with what you had in mind," Klamath Union 10th grader, Nathaniel Soriano, said.
Klamath Union senior, Miles McCalister, also a cello player, had the difficult task of playing for Szekely. McCalister also plays in the Klamath Symphony Orchestra and along with Soriano, has ambitions of possibly majoring or minoring in music.
“What I was left with most was to kind of break away from what classical musicians kind of think of as music and think in a different mindset when it comes to improvising and music," McCalister said. "This absolutely inspires me. It is my goal to be that good."
Music by Quarteto Nuevo can be found on Spotify. The group has been composing new movements of its Jazz Road Suite for each state the group visits. The song called The Journey, written by Fraga after time spent in Oregon, will be played for the first time ever Friday at the Ross Ragland Theater.
Sky Lakes Wellness Center Lifestyle Medicine Facts
The Thyroid
The thyroid is an incredible organ that sits in your throat just below your Adams apple. It produces the Thyroid hormones, called T3 (the active version) and T4 (the pre-active version). These hormones help regulate the rate at which your body uses calories, which means it affects your metabolism. They also help slow down or speed up your heart rate, raise or lower your body temperature, change the speed at which food moves through your digestive tract, change your brain development, control the way your muscles contract, and manage skin and bone maintenance by controlling the rate at which your body replaces dying cells. If your thyroid is too low then you can feel cold all the time; lose your hair; have rashes; feel tired; have constipation; have a lighter, irregular period; and have difficulty losing weight.
If your thyroid is too high you can feel hot all the time; feel jumpy and jittery; have diarrhea; have heavy, irregular periods; and have rashes or hair changes. We test the thyroid with a lab test called the TSH – Thyroid Stimulating Hormone. If you have a low thyroid, your brain will make more TSH, trying to stimulate more production from the thyroid. If you have too much thyroid your body will make less TSH, trying to suppress excess production. Thus, if your TSH is high, you have low thyroid. Sometimes you can have low thyroid for only a short time, or
sometimes it is permanent, and we can treat it by replacing your thyroid with artificial thyroid hormone, which just requires lab testing to assure it is the right level.
Thanks for reading! If interested in hearing more about our programs and resources, please call us at 541.274.2770 or visit our website at www.SkyLakes.org/Wellness
Have a question? Submit yours by emailing us at SkyLakesellnessCenter@skylakes.org
Information provided by
Stewart Decker, MD, MPH, FAAFP, FWMS
Jeanette Rutherford, MA, LPC
Jennifer Newton, RD, LD, CDCES, MPH
KUHS Alumni
The new district website has an Alumni page for graduates of KU. This past week, six KU alumni sent us updates on their lives since they graduated. Take a look on the KU Alumni page on the district website. And, if you are an alumni, be sure and send us YOUR update!
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES - JOIN OUR TEAM!!
Apply for a District Job Opening
Become a Substitute Teacher or Paraprofessional in our District
PARENT LINKS
Click Here for the Family Friendly 2023-2024 School Year Calendar - English
Click Here for the Family Friendly 2023-2024 School Year Calender - Spanish
Synergy SIS Portal
Electronic Flyers for Your Students School
Thrillshare
How Will I Know if School is Cancelled?
KFCS Board of Education
Andrea Jensen, Zone 1, Roosevelt - andrea.jensen@kfcityschools.org
Andrew Biggs, Zone 2, At-Large - andrew.biggs@kfcityschools.org
Vanessa Bennett, Zone 3, Conger - vanessa.bennett@kfcityschools.org
Kathy Hewitt, Zone 4, Mills - kathy.hewitt@kfcityschools.org
Trina Perez, Zone 5, Pelican - trina.perez@kfcityschools.org
Patrick Fenner, Zone 6, At-Large - patrick.fenner@kfcityschools.org
Ashley Wendt-Lusich, Zone 7 At-Large - ashley.wendt-lusich@kfcityschools.org