McKay Basket Weaving 2025

Basket Weaving in 3rd Grade at McKay Elementary School

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There is a sign hanging in Noele Mead’s third grade class that says, “Perseverance is pushing yourself to work through challenges and obstacles.” Students have been practicing this concept while working on a basket weaving project for several weeks.

Mead wanted to start the basket project in November during Native American Heritage Month, but it didn’t work out. Gayla Blankenship, Indian Education Coordinator from CTUIR (Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation), works with students at McKay Creek Elementary and is teaching the basket weaving. Blankenship said baskets like these are traditional root-gathering bags, and the hands-on learning the students are doing relates to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) curriculum.

Abigail, a third-grade student, said she found the weaving to be fairly easy and she likes that she will have a basket at the end to give to her dad. She is using colors of blue, white, and hot pink.

Another student in the class, Bryar, said, “I like how the basket grows up as you weave and it gets harder and harder; your fingers start hurting so it makes it feel like you’re working super hard.” Bryar chose pastel colors like Easter because he doesn’t like darker colors and will use the basket for huckleberry picking.

Third grader Benson said weaving the basket has been challenging and tricky, but fun to do. He said he will use his blue and green-colored basket, reminiscent of the ocean, to carry eggs from his family’s chickens at home.

Their teacher, Mead, said the students have really made progress working on their baskets, with some even taking them out to recess to work on them. The class will end the project soon, so some students will need to finish them at home.

Mead said she hopes the class project will demonstrate to her students that not everything is easy and that perseverance really matters. “Many students thought this would be easy to do, but it’s not, and it’s important just knowing that they can do hard things.”

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CTE PHS Adrie Fisher

CTE Spotlight – Adrie Fisher

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Pendleton High School
2025 CTE Month Spotlight

Meet Adrie Fisher, Senior at Pendleton High School
She takes classes in Advanced Metals and Vet Science.

What do you enjoy about your CTE classes at PHS?
I have been in welding classes since Freshman year and I have really enjoyed learning not only how to weld, but also how to wire multiple types of switches and learning lots of mechanical skills. A main part of my SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) is bumper making and other small welding projects. With the bumpers, the customer buys the kit and I weld it. I have enjoyed the creative aspect of that as well as the business aspect.

In Vet Science I have enjoyed learning about animals and how to care for them. I get to do hands-on activities such as pregnancy checking, giving vaccines and suturing. The class is very informative about what veterinarians do, and I am learning things I can take with me whether I become a vet or not.

How are CTE classes making a difference in your education?
In welding I am learning a handful of different things. Electricity will always be a part of my daily life and doing a unit on wiring has helped me to better understand how electricity works. Also in Vet Science, I am learning skills that I can take into the real world, like learning the behaviors of animals.

Would you like to share anything else about CTE at PHS?
My advisors are great! They are very intelligent about what they are teaching. They want to do hands-on activities with us and give us all the help we can get so we have a better understanding of what we are learning. They make it so fun and bring all students out of their comfort zones and get them involved. All the CTE classes at PHS are amazing and bring so many people in.

CTE PHS Adrie Fisher

Karen Demianew

CTE Spotlight – Karen Demianew

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Pendleton High School Spotlight
Meet Karen Demianew, Counselor at Pendleton High School

How does Karen support CTE at PHS?
Throughout her 27-year tenure at PHS, Karen has been a tireless champion of CTE, emphasizing the value of hands-on, practical education and its ability to provide students with real-world skills that enhance their readiness for the workforce. She has worked diligently to promote CTE as a viable and valuable option for all students, ensuring they can explore careers in fields such as healthcare, engineering, hospitality and tourism, multimedia arts, agriculture, and the trades.

How is her work making a difference for students?
Karen consistently demonstrates innovative approaches to career exploration and development. She has been instrumental in developing programs like Pendleton’s “School to Careers” that helps students explore a wide variety of careers through internships, apprenticeships, and partnerships with local businesses and industries.

Her ability to connect students with resources and opportunities outside the classroom has empowered them to make informed decisions about their futures.

Karen Demianew

CTE PHS Bailey Sitts

CTE Spotlight – Bailey Sitts

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Pendleton High School
2025 CTE Month Spotlight

Meet Bailey Sitts, Engineering Instructor at Pendleton High School

What do you teach? 
I teach the engineering pathway at PHS including Intro to Engineering Design, Digital Design and Production, Robotics and Aerospace.

In your classes, what is the CTE focus for the 24-25 school year? 
My focus is to work further within the Oregon Employability Skills curriculum and to further our Career Technical Student Organization connection through TSA by having more focus on my own involvement and student competition attendance.

How do you think CTE work in your school is making a difference for students? 
It is teaching students that all of the basics they have learned so far have a connection to real life. CTE is a wonderful bridge between basic education and technical skills that shows students how to apply what they’ve learned already to more specific and real circumstances while they explore their strengths and abilities before entering trade schools, the job market, military or college. CTE at PHS is making a difference by showing students they can do anything and that no job, school or skill is out of their reach.

What is something people may not know about CTE in schools? 
As a CTE teacher, I hear that our classes are “just electives” all too frequently; CTE is more than just an elective. CTE in schools is a necessary connection between professionals in the field, community, and students that is intended to build community connections and bring industry standard knowledge into the classroom for students.

Most CTE teachers are brought in from industry to teach what they know and bring a higher level work ethic and expectation into the classroom that more closely mirrors a workplace than a traditional classroom.

CTE PHS Bailey Sitts

 

Pat Dutcher

PHS Principal Message

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SMS Play Flyer

Sunridge Middle School Drama Presents Charlotte’s Web in February

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The Sunridge Middle School (SMS) drama program is presenting the play “Charlotte’s Web” on February 26th and 27th at 7:00 PM in the school Commons. It’s free and open to the public.

Including both cast and crew, there are 20 students putting on the production.

Carly Elder, Choir/Drama Teacher at SMS, said the play is about an hour long with no intermission; families with children are welcome, but she would recommend ages five and older for the audience.

The play is based on the book by E.B. White and adapted by Joseph Robinette.
The poster for the production was designed by Autumn Kolacz, an eighth grader at Sunridge Middle School.

SMS Play Flyer

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2024 Pendleton School District Graduation Rates

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PSD has much to celebrate in recently released graduation rates.

On Thursday, January 30, 2025, the Oregon Department of Education released the graduation cohort and dropout data for all public school districts in Oregon. The Pendleton School District results are very strong, with a couple of very specific areas needing improvement.

The four-year cohort graduation rates are calculated by following students from the fall of their first year in high school to the end of their fourth year. This tells us the percentage of those students who graduated within four years. The Pendleton School District graduation rates represent a combination of all students who attended Pendleton High School, Hawthorne High School, and Nixyaawii Community School.

This year’s four-year cohort is made up of the students who first entered high school in the fall of 2020. This is important to note since these students started high school 100% online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There has been much to overcome for these students and many challenges our staff have faced head-on to ensure these students graduate. We celebrate the successes of these students and staff and thank them for their efforts.

The Pendleton School District’s four-year cohort rate is 83.2%. This is a 6.5% increase from the year before and almost 2% higher than the state average.

We have listed areas to celebrate success and a few areas of improvement. Areas of success:

  • 5% increase in general graduation rate
  • 2% increase in Hispanic student graduation rate
  • 2% increase in students w/disabilities graduation rate
  • 7% increase in 4-year completion rate
  • No “gap” between general population and Native American students or between white students and Native American students
  • Student dropout rate lowered by 1% to 3.8% as compared to previous year
  • Exceeded state average in every area except dropout rate and 5-year completion rate

Areas of improvement:

  • A graduation rate of 83.2%, although an increase from the previous year, is still much lower than our goal to help all students
  • Our 5 year completion rate is 3% lower than state average (83.7%). This is much lower than the goal of helping all students receive a diploma, certificate or

We also look at specific school rates as we celebrate successes and try to replicate them in all schools. The Pendleton High School rates increased in nearly every area and exceeds the state average in every area. PHS’s outstanding graduation rates are a great tribute to the many hours of hard work our staff and community invest in our students.

The Pendleton High School four-year cohort rate is 88.8%. This is a 4.9% increase from the year before and 7% higher than the state average.

Areas of success:

  • Dropout rate lowered from 3.16% to 9%
  • Virtually no gap between Native American students and the general student population (1.3% difference)
  • Graduation rate for students with disabilities increased by 2.3% to 2%
  • Exceeds state average in all areas

Areas of improvement:

  • Graduation “gaps” still exist between some student groups and the general student graduation rate
  • 5-year completion rate, although higher than state average, is still an area to improve upon to ensure the success of all students

The Hawthorne High School four-year cohort rate is 55%. This is a 10.3% increase from the year before and almost 27% higher than five years ago.

Areas of success:

  • 4-year completion rate of 72.5%, highest ever achieved for Hawthorne
  • 5-year completion rate at 69.1%, highest ever achieved for Hawthorne Areas of improvement:
  • Dropout rate very high at 8%

The Nixyaawii Community School four-year cohort rate is 87%. This is a 14.3% increase from the year before and 6% higher than the state average.

Areas of success:

  • Dropout rate lowered by 1.57% to 1%
  • 2% increase in 4-year completion rate
  • Native American student graduation rate is 87%, 17% higher than state average for Native American students Areas of improvement:
  • Dropout rate at 5.1% is higher than desired and above the state average of 3%
  • 5-year completion rate is 75.8%, well below the state average of 7%
Ray Fox

New TAPP Family Coordinator, Ray Fox

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This school year, Sunridge Middle School has a new member on its team to help improve attendance. Ray Fox is the new Family Advocate for the TAPP (Tribal Attendance Promising Practices) program. He started working at SMS in November and explained that his job has two components.

The first part focuses on attendance of Native American students, including tracking data, identifying potential barriers to attendance and creating connections with Native students and their families. The second part of Fox’s job is to be a resource every day for all students at the middle school. Fox’s office, which is located in the Counseling Office, offers a space to talk with students and a place where a student can take a quick break.

“A big part of my job is helping to build the school’s sense of community and being a connection point for students. Every day when I listen to students and work with them, they are teaching me about their needs and how to better support them,” Fox said.

Many Native students have extreme diversity in their lives, Fox said, as their home life may be much different than their school life. Although school attendance may be important for a student and their family, sometimes cultural activities like hunting with their family my cause them to miss school. Fox said the Pendleton School District now offers cultural leave for students, which is a positive step.

Sunridge Middle School had a regular attendance rate last school year of 59%, so building administrators are committed to improving it to 69% this year. Through their Attendance Matters campaign, the school established a chart where teachers can track days of 100% attendance in classes, and the school has “No Tardy Parties” where students can earn treats at lunchtime.

Piper Kelm, Principal at Sunridge, said the school is emphasizing positive behaviors they want students to exhibit and having Fox onboard is a helpful addition to the effort.

What does attendance/school success look like for Kelm and Fox? SMS students having a positive experience at school, a sense of belonging and the feeling that they are being heard, all of which contribute to students wanting to be at school.

Ray Fox

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Pendleton School District
107 NW 10th Street, Pendleton, OR 97801
Phone:  541.276.6711  Fax:  541.278.3208

The Pendleton School District assures that no person shall on the grounds of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability or income as provided by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related authorities, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any Pendleton School District sponsored program or activity.

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