MOSIER COMMUNITY SCHOOL students dispose of scraps in the composting bin. From left, Lauryn Despain, Allison Funk and Bayly Stevens. Adam LaPierre photo

Composting to green

MCS gets set via Tri-County schools grant

By Adam LaPierre
for The Chronicle

     It’s lunch time at Mosier Community School.
     Instead of roughhousing and putting grass stains on their clean school clothes with the rest of their schoolmates, Bayly Stevens, Lauryn Despain and Allison      Funk are busy gathering food leftovers from the cafeteria.
     The three students tote a five-gallon bucket filled with orange peels, potato skins, bread crusts and half-eaten burritos out to a corner of the school grounds.
     Next to a solar panel, another school project, are two new composting cages.
One bin is nearly full with scraps from lunches past layered with sawdust. The three girls react to the decomposing foodstuffs with puckered noses, squinted eyes and a few giggles; but the smell really isn’t that bad.
     The girls add the day’s leftovers and a few shovels of sawdust to the top of the crate before taking temperature and moisture measurements with a pair of long-pronged digital instruments.
     They record the data on a log sheet, make a couple more jokes and set off to enjoy the rest of their lunch break.
     “It’s really cool to see the cycle,” said Stevens. “We get to see how the food breaks down and how we can use it to grow something that we can eat.”
Mosier Community School has the new composting bins thanks to a $1,271 grant from Tri-County Hazardous Waste and Recycling Program.
     For MCS, the simple system means food waste from about 150 students and staff is turned into microbe and nutrient-rich loam that is later used in the school’s garden.
     “It kind of makes me gag, but it’s not really that nasty,” Despain said. “There’s a lot of little bugs in there working away, and that’s cool to think about.”
     To make it an ongoing learning experience, the school’s environmental science class has made the system a class project.
     Students in the class take turns adding to the bins each day, logging temperature and moisture readings and keeping track of the “health” of the pile.
“Before we learned about it, I never imagined food could be turned into soil to grow more food,” Funk said. “It makes sense when you think about it.”
     “It seems like magic, but it’s actually really simple and cool,” Stevens said.

On the Net:
For information on the project for your school, visit Tri-County at ww.tricountyrecycle.com.

MCMC hosts ‘Hospital Land’ program
for area 1st graders

      Area first graders will learn that hospitals are not as scary as they might seem at Mid-Columbia Medical Center’s “Hospital Land” program.
This year’s event began Monday and runs through March 12
      Using hands-on techniques and role-playing, first graders will get a chance to experience the inner workings of a hospital in a relaxed, calm atmosphere to prepare them in case they need to go there when sick or in an emergency situation.
      Last year’s event included a re-enactment of a surgical procedure, from diagnosis to the recovery room. It attracted school groups from all over the eastern gorge.
      For more information, contact MCMC’s Marsha Davis, volunteer services director, (541) 296-7288.

School Calendar

Sonrise Academy
      Friday- “The Good News” youth performance by the Griffin Family, 1:30 p.m., public Invited
      Saturday- Burgerville fund-raiser. Eat at Burgerville with a flyer from Sonrise and a percentage goes to the school
      Monday- School board meeting
Colonel Wright
      Tuesday through Friday- Book club, 7:30 to 7:50 a.m., library
      Wednesday and Friday- Homework club, 7:30 to 7:50 a.m., room 9
      Tuesday and Friday- PE After School, 2:25 to 3:15 p.m., gym
      Friday- Homework club, 2:30 to 3:15 p.m. in room 7
      Tuesday- Dress-up Day, dress like a book character; RIF distribution and Read       Across America day; book club, 2:25 to 3 p.m., library
      Wednesday and Thursday- Early release, 1:15 p.m.
      Thursday- Gorge Explorers, 1:20 to 2:50 p.m., Greenhouse Dome (time/location change)
      Friday- 4th and 5th grade OMSI field trip, 8 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.
Saturday- Oregon Battle of the Books regionals, 8:30 a.m. at Estacada Jr. High School
Dry Hollow
      Tuesday-PJ day, volunteer reader day, chess, homework and fitness clubs
      Wednesday-Cat in the Hat day.
      Wednesday and Thursday- early release, 1:15 p.m., all staff diversity training, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
      Thursday- Dr. Seuss movies
      Friday- Safety committee meeting, 7 a.m., book character day, storybook assembly 1:30 p.m.
Mosier
      Tuesday- Primary swim lessong; Read Across America day; PC meeting, 7:30 a.m.; drama and spelling clubs
      Wednesday- No school, staff training day
      Thursday- February awards assembly, 8 a.m.; green card party, 1:45 a.m.; drama and marble clubs
      Friday- Primary swim lessons; MCS band; skate club
      Saturday- MCS team to Oregon Battle of the Books regionals, Estacada Jr. High School
Sherman
      Tuesday- Missoula Children’s Theatre Workshop for junior high, 2:3 p.m.; session 1 rehearsal, 3:30 p.m. cafeteria; session 2 rehearsal, cafeteria; Future Farmers of America meeting, 6:15 p.m., shop
     Wednesday and Thursday-Missoula Children’s Theatre, session 1 rehearsal, 3:30 p.m., cafeteria; session 2 rehearsal, 5:50 p.m. cafeteria.
      Thursday- senior parent meeting, 6 p.m., room 3
      Friday- Half day for students; staff meeting, 12:30 p.m.; professional learning teams, 1:30 p.m.; Missoula Children’s Theatre dress rehearsal, 3 p.m., cafeteria; performance 7 p.m., cafeteria.
      Saturday- Missoula Children’s Theatre performance, 3 p.m., cafeteria

Honors

Covenant Christian Academy announces honor rolls, honorable mentions and highest achievers for second quarter:
      First and second grade: Hanani Andrade, Jeanette Bourgeois, Jessie Williams, Samuel Clear, Zoe Holt, Ashton Cox, Benjamin Fernandez, Hannah Gorton, Malek Hodro.
      Third and fourth grade:
Ariadne Andrade, Danielle Byers, Callie Rosette, Trey Wojtecki, Darlene House, Shivani Patel.
      Fifth and sixth grade:
Annabeth Pickette, Carissa Haight, Kaylie Clear, Luke McLean, Peyton Wojtecki, Riley Adams, Victoria Wells, Darsh Patel, Ian Webb, Jake Arbo, Kaisey Heldstab, Kelsey Lundry, Mikayla Thompson, Morgan Clifton, Natalie Rippee.
      Seventh and eighth grade:
Isaac Pickette, Isaiah Ott, Jacob Albrecht, Zach Adams.