An emergency at a school is something that school leaders are always dreading and preparing for at the same time. To prepare, they have regular drills. In Oregon, the state requires schools to hold two Lockdown drills each year. A Lockdown happens when a threat is inside or near a school building and is used to secure individual rooms and keep occupants quiet and in place. In a Lockdown, everyone in the building goes to a secure room and it’s “Locks, Lights, Out of Sight” which means the door is locked, lights are turned off and occupants of the room stay away from doors and window.

On Wednesday, January 15th, Pendleton High School had a drill that was a little different – they had informed teachers and staff there would be a drill that day but didn’t say what time. School leaders had the drill during a passing time when most students were in the hallways. This requires students to remember they should find an open classroom or other room and get in it, even if it’s not one of their regular classrooms or their teacher. Teachers are tasked with gathering as many students near their classroom as possible, then locking the door and remaining quiet with the students.

About 14 law enforcement officers from the Pendleton Police Department and Oregon State Police were at PHS to participate in the Lockdown drill.

About one minute before the drill started, Principal Pat Dutcher sent a text alert to PHS parents that the drill was about to happen. At the start of the drill, Dutcher and Curt Thompson, Assistant Principal, monitored the large number of cameras around the PHS campus. Thompson said he was pleasantly surprised to see on the cameras that there were not many students outside, in halls or in other common areas. Officer Lance Zaugg, School Resource Officer for Pendleton School District, said he encountered a small group of students during the drill who didn’t know what to do, so he ushered them into the school library.

“Our drill today went much better than we anticipated, and most of our students knew what to do. I am also pleased how well our staff did today getting kids into classrooms quickly and remaining there,” Dutcher said.

Dutcher, Thompson and law enforcement officers then went around the building, unlocking doors, turning on lights and confirming to students it was a drill.

Lieutenant Tony Nelson from the Pendleton Police Department said both PHS leaders and his PPD officers wanted to know what the student response would be to a less controlled environment today. “We were very pleased with how everyone did, especially adults in the school scooping up kids into classrooms and getting them somewhere safe,” Nelson said.

Assistant Principal Thompson said the goal of every safety drill is to learn as much as possible, which is what happened today. Principal Dutcher said he hopes that parents of PHS students will discuss the drill with them and reflect on ways students can help contribute to school safety.

PHS students have been as busy as Santa’s elves during the month of December with several projects and events!

Adopt A Child
18 youth from the Pendleton area will have a great Christmas thanks to this annual program at the high school. Clubs, sports teams and individual faculty members at PHS adopt a child and purchase gifts and other items for them.

Canned Food Drive
This is a district-wide effort with all PSD schools collecting canned goods/non-perishable foods to donate. The district collected a total of 5,251 food items. Here are the amounts collected per school:

PHS 2,919
Sherwood 683
Washington 682
Sunridge MS 531
McKay 436

This year, PHS’s collection of 2,919 cans was 48 more than last year. Josh Linehan’s Advisory Class won the contest by bringing in 865 cans. His Advisory students were able to “pie” (throw pies at) losing classes that didn’t bring in any cans — Lunny, Haguewood and Speer — at the Christmas Assembly on December 12th.

Little Bucks Day
On December 18th, the very popular annual Little Bucks Day happened at PHS, with 27 children participating. Led by students from PHS Leadership, the children took a school tour, did arts and crafts, played games like Pin the Tail on Rudolph, decorated cookies, went on a scavenger hunt, and more.

Christmas Assembly
All PHS students enjoyed the assembly on December 12th, which included Principal Pat Dutcher pulling a “sled” with Shelby McQuinn, PHS Secretary, as part of the staff team in the Run Rudolph Run competition.

Also, during the Santa’s Wish List portion of the assembly, Santa (Vice Principal Curt Thompson) granted a wish for one of the high school’s foreign exchange students, Blanca, from Spain. Her wish was to be Bucky at a basketball game.

Thank you to PHS Leadership students, staff and others who made all of these service projects and festive events possible. Now, you deserve a long winter’s nap!

Araya is a Transition Student at Pendleton High School who recently started volunteering at her dream job. She volunteers once a week at the Pendleton Public Library, something she has been training to do for a long time.

Araya uses a self-driven, powered wheelchair and has the functional use of one hand. Several years ago, she started volunteering as a Teacher’s Assistant in the Pendleton High School Library. Jami Niord, Library/Media Specialist at PHS, trained Araya to complete various jobs in the library. Araya often said, “I want to be a librarian when I grow up.”

When she applied for the public library volunteer position, Araya’s application included a “resume” of skills she had learned in the PHS library, including locating bar codes and checking books in and out, shelving, cleaning and sanitizing various areas, and straightening up chairs and tables. In her new job, Araya independently checks books and DVDs into the public library and places them on a rack to be shelved later.

Coree Terjeson, PHS Special Education Teacher, said the years of experience in the school library guided by the PHS media specialist and Paraprofessionals helped Araya flawlessly step into her new role. “Araya’s disabilities do not conquer her; instead, they fuel her determination. Everyone knows and loves Araya for who she is. She is turning her passion for books into invaluable job skills, and her journey is a testament to the power of opportunity,” Terjeson said.

PHS Paraprofessional Peggy Ruiz has worked closely with Araya for several years and said that Araya is very proud of herself for having an “adult” job since she is a PHS graduate. Ruiz said that often, when learning something new, Araya needs repetition to remember; when she says, “I can’t do it,” Ruiz replies with, “You can figure it out because you are what”? Then Araya replies with, “I am smart, and I am capable.” Ruiz said, “She has definitely learned she is both of those things.”

An End-of-Year Message from Principal Dutcher.