JOHN DAY — Humbolt Elementary first graders got an age appropriate crash course in forest management during a field trip to Iron Triangle on Thursday, April 25.
The students from Mrs. Boethin and Mrs. Houpt’s first grade classes first listened to Zach Williams of Iron Triangle outline why it is that Iron Triangle cuts down trees and what those efforts do in helping manage forests and prevent large and uncontrollable wildfires.
“We don’t just cut trees down and take them to the mill,” Williams said. “We do it for a reason.”
The reasons are many, from trees growing too close together to undesirable tree types growing in specific locations. Williams said Iron Triangle works closely with the Forest Service to determine which trees fit the above description before cutting the trees down for use at the mill.
CANYON CITY — Humbolt Elementary welcomed the next group of Little Pros to the school during the Kindergarten scramble held at the school on Thursday, April 18.
Attendees were treated to a chili and cornbread dinner before heading out to the front of the school to make their way through the various scramble stations.
Future Humbolt Kindergarten students participated in precious gem mining, a kindergarten gold rush that came with a t-shirt, and donkey rides provided by Humbolt Instructional assistant Sherri Griffin. Kids who were interested in donkey rides needed their parents to sign a waiver and be provided with a helmet from Families First before doing their best cowboy or cowgirl impression.
Fifth-graders at Humbolt Elementary School in Canyon City were challenged to come up with ways to make Grant County a better place to live. Here are this year s top essays from Anna Field and Kelli LaFramboise s classes.
The woman appointed by Gov. Tina Kotek to fill the vacant Oregon Secretary of State position after the former secretary stepped down in May is LaVonne Griffin-Valade, a John Day native and the author of a recent series of mystery crime novels set in Grant County.
As new Oregon Secretary of State, Griffin-Valade and her team oversee state elections, the registration of new businesses in Oregon, the Oregon state archives and the audits of state government agencies. Griffin-Valade said she would remain in the post until the end of 2024 – the term vacated by the former secretary, Shemia Fagan, who resigned in May after a conflict-of-interest scandal.