The community is welcome at the Oct. 6 dedication ceremony for the Otterlifter canoe on the Siskiyou Boulevard side of Ashland High School. The new installation honors the Indigenous peoples of our region and pledges a commitment to our Native community, elder relatives, and Earth, according to the event announcement.
When you drive by the mural on the South Mountain Avenue side of Ashland High School, you might glance at the portraits, recognize one or two of the faces, then wonder who the rest of those people are. If you would like to learn a little about each of them, here is an introduction to the life and work of each person portrayed in the mural.
“The Truth to Power club hoped to involve local residents with a community painting day. Their vision for the mural is to have it be an educational and motivating presence to reduce racism locally — both within the high school and the greater Ashland community. Involving as many locals as possible in the mural creation would contribute to their vision.”
After approximately 20% of the spigots tested at the site of Ashland School District’s alternative school programs were found to have higher than normal amounts of lead in the drinking water when tested in May 2022, Ashland Schools Superintendent Samuel Bogdanove updated the school board on Monday night on the extent of the lead results, which includes “higher than normal” amounts of lead discovered in “a couple fixtures” at Ashland High School, Ashland Middle School and at Bellview Elementary.
An Ashland High School history teacher has lots of life experience with which to enrich his lesson plans as school begins again. Paul Huard is just back from a summer spent helping Ukrainian refugees in a Polish border town.
“The Power” behind a mural on South Mountain Avenue at Ashland High School paying tribute to BIPOC with Ashland connections is the Truth to Power Club at Ashland High School.
Despite declining enrollment in recent years locally and statewide, when Ashland school doors opened Thursday, about 100 more students than last year walked the hallways and into classrooms, an uptick of 4%. On the first full day back for K-12 students after some students spent half-days on campus Wednesday, the school district also celebrated fresh spaces and a fresh focus for a new school year. Ashland Middle School opened its doors with new, modern classrooms for art and science, as well as special education, English as a Second Language (ESL) students, and spaces for administrative personnel, part of a $108 million-bond approved by Ashland voters.
Members of Ashland High School’s Native American Student Union and the AHS Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee recently finished the first stage of installation of a hand-carved canoe known as “Otterlifter” in front of the high school. AHS will hold a formal celebration to unveil the canoe to the community on Thursday, Oct. 6, preceding Indigenous People’s Day weekend.
After nearly a two-year process, an Ashland school named for John Muir has changed its name to TRAILS Outdoor School. The new name, approved unanimously by Ashland School Board on June 13, stands for Trust, Respect, Awareness, Interdependency, Leadership, and Stewardship.
Ashland School District Superintendent Samuel Bogdanove shared words of solidarity this week with local families and community members in an online statement released Wednesday in the wake of Tuesday’s school shooting in Texas and said the district’s mental and behavioral health team can assist parents and guardians in talking with their children.
Ashland has a new mayor. The Ashland City Council unanimously elected council Chair Tonya Graham as mayor Tuesday night to succeed Julie Akins, who resigned effective Jan. 27.
Mailboxes throughout Jackson County will be filled this week with a 12-page broadsheet newspaper introducing the Rogue Valley Tribune to prospective readers. EO Media Group is getting the word out about its Medford-based news site and three-times a week printed paper with a saturation mailing to 93,000 area addresses.
How can something that goes so wrong be so right? That’s the intention in “The Play That Goes Wrong,” the opening play for the 2023 season at the Oregon Cabaret Theatre in Ashland. What makes the play amazing and uproariously fun is the googolplex litany of wrong things.
John Frank: “Our councilors just need to see the big picture and stop focusing on the small green stick-dots.”
How can chemistry be utilized to understand human impacts on the environment? That question will be answered during a Friday science seminar hosted by Southern Oregon University assistant professor Chris Babayco, Ph.D., organizers have announced.
Jim Hatton: “I have come to respect and honor them all. I am not here to say they are right or wrong. It is right for all individuals to seek their own path, what is right for them, and what inspires them.”
(It’s free)
