District News

The McMinnville High School Symphonic Choir was invited to perform at today’s inauguration of Governor Kate Brown. Led by MHS choral director Robin Pederson, the group performed six pieces during the ceremony at the Oregon State Capitol. The choir performed Tres Cantos Nativos Dos Indios Krao and Sure on This Shining Night during the prelude…

The McMinnville School District has launched the Women in Tech (WIT) project in collaboration with Salesforce, the world’s #1 CRM and Customer Success Platform. The collaboration features support from Salesforce.org and mentoring from Salesforce employees. Middle and high school girls who attended summer STEM camps offered by the McMinnville School District (MSD) were invited to…

William, Wayne and Mel Rutherford have given a gift of $10,000 to the McMinnville School District to support instrumental and choral music programs, including: Festival, performance, and competition entrance fees: An important component of music education is public performance, receiving feedback from master teachers and experiencing peer performances. Guest Artist programs: Providing opportunities to bring…

The McMinnville School District (MSD) will join an international event this week called an “Hour of Code.” Created to coincide with Computer Science Education Week, this year celebrated December 5 – 11, the event was created as one-hour introduction to computer science.  The Hour of Code is designed to demystify computer coding, to show that…

The Santa Claus Project, a partnership with McMinnville’s Noon Rotary, is an annual event that took place this year despite the wintery weather. Students were selected from every elementary school in the district, 24 students in all, and were treated to a holiday shopping trip for clothes, toys and gifts for their families. Rotary volunteers…

McMinnville High School (MHS) principal Tony Vicknair introduced students and ceramics teacher Dan Willis to talk about the Visual Arts pathway at last night’s meeting of the McMinnville School Board.  Students Sydney Hayward and Aidan Hamel, along with Willis, demonstrated how pottery is created on a potter’s wheel. Hayward brought a large pot she plans…

Duniway Middle School teachers Jeremy Hurl (left) and Tim Love spent the day at the Capitol today as part of the Civic Scholars program.  The program is a statewide initiative to enhance high quality professional development in civic education for teachers. The teachers were selected by Oregon Senator Brian Boquist, representing District 12. The day-long…

The McMinnville Education Foundation (MEF) has awarded grant funds of more than $25,000 to 33 projects from the school district that extend learning opportunities for students, both in and outside the classroom.  Teachers at all levels requested up to $1,000 to support additional educational projects including field trips; science opportunities; arts, history, and reading activities;…

Yesterday, the recipients of the Technology Integration and Innovation for the New 21st Century Learner Grants gathered to share with each other details about how they plan to implement the use of funds. One of the projects was a MakeyMakey invention kit (pictured), which turns everyday objects into touchpads and connects anything to the computer….

Hailey Huddleson from Patton Middle School, Joseph Cope from Duniway, and Ethan Keleher and Luke Cornelison from McMinnville High School were all selected for All-State Honor choirs, a program of the Oregon Music Education Association (OMEA). These students have to show outstanding musicality and submit an audition recording that’s judged by a panel of screeners. …