News

Megan Cox won 1st place in Open Division After-Dinner Speaking (a six-minute original speech that uses humor to address a serious issue) at the McMinnville Invitational last weekend. She competed in four events and made it to finals in three, in addition to placing 4th in Humorous and 4th in Serious. She is the first speaker in WAHS history to final in three events in a single day, speaking in 15 rounds of competition. Her achievement in ADS also earned her an Alternate-Qualifier Proven Excellence bid to compete in the OSAA State Speech and Debate Tournament in April. Great job, Megan!!

Statewide graduation rates were released last week by the Oregon Department of Education (ODE), and GAPS high school results are among the best four-year graduation rates in the state, beating the state average of 74.83 percent and showing improvement over last year.

West Albany High School’s graduation rate at 97.48 percent ranks third only to Henley High School in Klamath County and West Linn High School in Wilsonville.

Principal Susie Orsborn said her goal is to reach 100 percent and has set up programs to catch struggling students and help them stay on track for graduation.

At South Albany High School, the four-year graduation rate was 88 percent, an increase from 86 percent last year.

ODE measures graduation rates for a number of subcategories. This year’s report includes graduation rates for students who took at least one career technical, or vocational, class during high school. The report found that those student had a higher graduation rate than students who did not take those course.

The District is seeking to add more career technical classes at the middle and high school level. If the May 16 bond measure passes, new classrooms and programs are planned for all middle and high schools in the District. Find more information about the proposed bond on the bond information page.

Read more about the recent high school graduation reports in the Democrat-Herald story.

Registration is now open for the annual fundraising run to benefit Albany Public Schools Foundation on March 11. The annual event is one of the main fundraisers to support foundation-sponsored programs for GAPS students.

Participants can register for a 5K or 10 mile run. There will also be a kids dash for the youngest kids.

Register online. 

See the event poster for more information.

Watch the video of last year’s event.

Oregon Scholastic Art Awards

West Albany students were deservedly recognized at the Oregon Scholastic Art Awards in January! Out of 2336 students who submitted 6,993 works of art — 781 Gold Keys, 859 Silver Keys and 1461 Honorable Mentions in the State of Oregon:

19 Gold Keys, 22 Silver Keys, 44 Honorable Mentions were awarded to
WEST ALBANY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS!

There will be a reception and art show in the WAHS library on February 9th at 5:30 pm, which will include all the WAHS student artwork that received Gold and Silver Keys, as well as the breadth portfolios of our AP Studio Art students, and will showcase some of the best work done semester 1 in class projects. We hope you can make it to congratulate our amazing art students!

Athena Lawson West Albany High School Gold Key Art Portfolio Art Portfolio Soft Edges
Athena Lawson West Albany High School Gold Key Art Jewelry Secret Garden
Athena Lawson West Albany High School Gold Key Art Jewelry Balanced Jewel
Athena Lawson West Albany High School Silver Key Art Jewelry Blooming
Athena Lawson West Albany High School Silver Key Art Jewelry Wall
Athena Lawson West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Jewelry Empty Space
Athena Lawson West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Jewelry Spiral

Paris Barton West Albany High School Gold Key Art Photography True Colors 2
Paris Barton West Albany High School Gold Key Art Photography Fetal
Paris Barton West Albany High School Gold Key Art Photography Vintage Boi
Paris Barton West Albany High School Silver Key Art Painting The Stare
Paris Barton West Albany High School Silver Key Art Photography HAPPY
Paris Barton West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Photography Siren
Paris Barton West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Photography Day Dreaming
Paris Barton West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Photography Maddie
Paris Barton West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Photography True Colors
Paris Barton West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Photography Good Morning
Paris Barton West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Photography Lover Boi
Paris Barton West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Photography Balance
Paris Barton West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Painting Fluent

Jenna Thomas West Albany High School Gold Key Art Drawing and Illustration Self Portrait
Jenna Thomas West Albany High School Gold Key Art Drawing and Illustration Family Portrait
Jenna Thomas West Albany High School Gold Key Art Drawing and Illustration Clique Hands
Jenna Thomas West Albany High School Silver Key Art Drawing and Illustration Inspiration
Jenna Thomas West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Drawing and Illustration Surrealist Dream
Jenna Thomas West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Ceramics & Glass Winter Trees

Samuel Grove West Albany High School Gold Key Art Photography Yellow
Samuel Grove West Albany High School Gold Key Art Photography Vulnerable
Samuel Grove West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Drawing and Illustration Self Portrait
Samuel Grove West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Photography Paris
Samuel Grove West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Photography Self Portrait

KayLee Moore West Albany High School Gold Key Art Sculpture The Cow
KayLee Moore West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Drawing and Illustration Day In The Snow
KayLee Moore West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Sculpture The He/she Book

Kaitlyn Rutherford West Albany High School Gold Key Art Digital Art Cursed Video Game
Kaitlyn Rutherford West Albany High School Silver Key Art Mixed Media Millennials
Kaitlyn Rutherford West Albany High School Silver Key Art Digital Art Polka POP!

Connor Welsh West Albany High School Gold Key Art Sculpture Mechanic Chameleon
Connor Welsh West Albany High School Silver Key Art Ceramics & Glass Sgraffito Plate
Connor Welsh West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Jewelry Ceremonial Necklace

Jenna Berg West Albany High School Gold Key Art Ceramics & Glass The Places Travelled To
Jenna Berg West Albany High School Silver Key Art Drawing and Illustration Skull

Morgan Bell West Albany High School Gold Key Art Photography Ice Cream
Morgan Bell West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Photography Cow

Asherah Davidow West Albany High School Gold Key Art Mixed Media Influence
Asherah Davidow West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Photography September Drive

Jacqueline LaPlante West Albany High School Gold Key Art Sculpture Christian Zucconi
Jacqueline LaPlante West Albany High School Silver Key Art Drawing and Illustration Mr.McDonald

Denisse Medina West Albany High School Gold Key Art Sculpture Mac
Denisse Medina West Albany High School Silver Key Art Sculpture Self Portrait
Denisse Medina West Albany High School Silver Key Art Drawing and Illustration Prestige

Madison Miller West Albany High School Silver Key Art Drawing and Illustration Bubblegum Girl
Madison Miller West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Drawing and Illustration Self Portrait
Madison Miller West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Drawing and Illustration Braid
Madison Miller West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Drawing and Illustration The Cutter
Madison Miller West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Mixed Media Golden Heart At Risk

Jessica Bradley West Albany High School Silver Key Art Sculpture Cinderella Carriage
Jessica Bradley West Albany High School Silver Key Art Ceramics & Glass Cacti

Jalen Handy West Albany High School Silver Key Art Ceramics & Glass Basketball Bowl
Jalen Handy West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Sculpture Shark

Avery Moen West Albany High School Silver Key Art Mixed Media Waves
Avery Moen West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Painting Geometric Lily

Maggie Judy West Albany High School Silver Key Art Drawing and Illustration Quarter

Rebekah Kenney West Albany High School Silver Key Art Ceramics & Glass Exploration

Eleanor Klock West Albany High School Silver Key Art Sculpture Peter Rabbit

Sienna Pigg West Albany High School Silver Key Art Mixed Media Untitled Gesture

Annie Berry West Albany High School Silver Key Art Sculpture The Blue Lady

Arthur Veremchuk West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Jewelry Triangular Drop

Baylee Rogers West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Sculpture Yellow Cardboard Portrait

Sydney Vogt West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Ceramics & Glass Flowered Tea Pot

Leslie Araujo-Gamboa West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Photography Elephant cloud

Kate Kratka West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Drawing and Illustration Anatomy Study

Madysen Hyde West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Digital Art Airplane Dream

Desarae Kopplien West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Drawing and Illustration Dark Light

Daniel Mize West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Photography Walker

James Parr West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Drawing and Illustration Mother Mary

Maxine Shuck West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Drawing and Illustration Feet Under Water

Lisbe Soto Castro West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Sculpture Octopus

Andrew Staggs West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Ceramics & Glass Skull Plate

Taylor Ayala West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Drawing and Illustration Selfportrait

Jennifer Boland West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Ceramics & Glass In Good Health

Marisol De La Torre West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Sculpture Screaming Lighthouse

Bennett Edwards West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Photography Crater lake at sunset

Katherine Fox West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Mixed Media Dissapointment

Lilah Hernandez West Albany High School Honorable Mention Art Drawing and Illustration My Sunshine

The School Board unanimously voted to send a $159 million bond measure to voters in the May 16, 2017, election.

The measure would:

• Make upgrades and improvements, including replacing roofs, siding, windows, plumbing, electrical systems in schools around the District.
• Make energy improvements, including replacing old, inefficient high maintenance heating/ventilation systems, doors, which would save energy costs.
• Make safety/security upgrades, including automatic door locks, fire alarms, security cameras to improve the safety of students.
• Make seismic upgrades to enable buildings to better withstand earthquakes.
• Renovate and/or add classroom space to support vocational/technical classes for all district middle school buildings.
• Renovate and add classrooms and a cafeteria at Oak Grove Elementary School; purchase property and construct a new elementary school in NE Albany to address growing enrollment and reduce overcrowding.
• Complete the first phase of West Albany High School’s rebuild that would include new classrooms, commons, auditorium, cafeteria and administrative space; and multipurpose space for vocational/technical education and gymnasium uses at South Albany High School.

The bond proposal is the result of a more than two-year process to identify facility needs in the District. The projects were reviewed by architects and recommended by a community-based District Facilities Advisory Committee (DFAC) that was made up of community members, parents and staff members.

DFAC initially identified more than $250 million in facility needs. This proposal represents the School Board’s priority to balance the most critical needs and the cost to taxpayers. This bond proposal is expected to increase taxes by an estimated $.64 per $1,000 of assessed property value because the 2006 bond is expiring.

For more information, read the resolution and explanatory statement. 

Find more information on the bond information page.

Girls from Albany Options, South Albany and West Albany high schools attended the second annual Women, Metals and Manufacturing Day at Linn Benton Community College on Friday.

The program provided hands-on opportunities to learn about training for skilled, high-demand jobs, including Computer-Aided Design and Drafting (CADD), Machine Tool Technology, Welding and Fabrication, Mechatronics Industrial Maintenance and Non-Destructive Testing.

The event was sponsored by LBCC, Albany Chamber of Commerce Pipeline to Jobs program and local manufacturers.

Photo by Democrat-Herald

West Albany High School Press Release:

West Albany High School student Marissa Fieland has been selected for the 2017 High School Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall. She will perform Soprano 1 in February with the Concert Choir. Participation in one of the five Honors Ensembles is limited to the highest-rated high school performers from across the world.

Earlier this year, Fieland auditioned for the Honors Performance Series and was accepted after a review by the Honors Selection Board. Acceptance to the elite group is a direct result of the talent, dedication, and achievements demonstrated in her application and audition recording. She will join other performers from all 50 United States, Guam, two Canadian provinces, and a number of foreign countries for a special performance at world-famous Carnegie Hall, a venue that marks the pinnacle of musical achievement.

According to Morgan Smith, Program Director, “Being selected to the Honors Performance Series is something each finalist should be extremely proud of accomplishing. We processed more than 18,000 nominations this year and have selected nearly 750 of the most talented student performers from around the world. Working with these conductors and performing at Carnegie Hall is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that these musicians never forget.”

Marissa Fieland has studied music for six and a half years. Currently, she studies with Amy Hansen and is under the direction of West Albany music teachers Cate Caffarella for choir and Stuart Welsh for band. Previously she studied under Mrs. Wind and Mr. Nelson.

Marissa is a member of West Albany High School’s A Capella Choir, Rhythmix Choir, and Drumline. She has been a member of the Oregon All-State Choir for four years (2014-2017). She will perform in the All Northwest Choir in February of 2017. She won first place at the Oregon district 11 Solo and Ensemble Festival for Soprano voice in 2015 and 2016; last year she went on to place third in the State Solo Competition.

In response to her selection as a Finalist, Marissa Fieland said, “I feel so blessed to have this opportunity. I’ve worked hard to get here and God has been very good to me.”

Finalists will come together in New York City for five days in February. They will have the opportunity to learn from world-renowned conductors, work with other finalists, and get a taste of New York City. Two performances, an Honors Choral Performance and an Honors Instrumental Performance, will take place Sunday, Feb. 5, and are open to the public.

Marissa will hold a fundraising concert to raise money for her trip to New York on Sunday, Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. at North Albany Community Church . There is a suggested donation of $5-10.