District News

Congratulations to Erik Svec, who was named 2016 Young Educator of the Year this week as part of the McMinnville Distinguished Service Awards. Educators are nominated by peers for their service to school/district, excellence in teaching, leadership, volunteer efforts and other accomplishments. Svec, who has been teaching 21 years with the past 15 at Columbus…

Davey Altree (left) has been named principal of Newby Elementary, replacing Dave Carlson who will retire at the end of this year. Altree previously taught fourth and fifth graders in the district, held a reading intervention position, was an instructional coach, and, most recently, held the position of new teacher mentor for the district. Altree…

Ryan McIrvin, McMinnville High School Athletic Director, Education pathway teacher, and Grizzly football coach, has been named Administrator of the Year by the Oregon Cheerleading Coaches Association. The award was announced last week in Eugene at the OCAA annual conference. The award is designed to recognize administrators who are positive communicators and go above and…

Carly Loving, a senior in the EASA and Fabrication & Welding pathways, wrote a winning essay that netted the welding lab a pile of new equipment. The competition was open to students enrolled in a welding instructional program at a secondary, post-secondary, technical, or vocational school. The essay had to address one or more aspects…

Today, the Oregon Rising project launches across the state of Oregon. Oregon Rising is a public outreach effort that asks what Oregonians want for their children and their schools. At the heart of the work is the prompt to “dream big.” In the first phase, people are asked, if it were up to them, to…

Duniway Middle School students got an in-school visit from Oregon Archivist Mary Beth Herkert today. Herkert dropped in to Jeremy Hurl’s eighth grade Social Studies class to talk about the Oregon Constitution Challenge, a year-long effort to restore the state’s founding document and make it more accessible to the public. Currently, the Constitution is only…

The McMinnville School District’s career pathway the Engineering & Aerospace Sciences Academy (EASA) was highlighted in “Enterprise,” a quarterly publication that covers economic development in the Mid-Willamette Valley. The article, which outlines the economic engine of area airports, also includes a photo and coverage of EASA and the various career paths that students are prepared…

Tony Vicknair has been selected as McMinnville High School principal, replacing Kris Olsen who plans to retire at the end of this school year. Vicknair has provided district leadership in pathway and dual high school/college credit development at McMinnville High School. He coordinated K-12 STEM and EASA  program development. Vicknair has been recognized through the…

Six middle school students competed in the final round of the annual 4-Way Speech contest hosted by the Rotary Club of McMinnville and coordinated by Pattie Waltz, director of Human Resources for the McMinnville School District. Students (from left) Annie Clayton, Kaylani Kam, Ailie Johnson, Laura Denney, Tara Vogel and Ben Sparrow first competed at…

The district Spelling Bee has produced three district champions who will move forward to the Yamhill Regional Spelling Bee on April 11. Winners include (from left) Tom Scholer, fifth grade, Memorial Elementary; Scott Winkenweder, seventh grade, Duniway Middle School; and Jason Kiff, senior, McMinnville High School.  The contest started at the classroom level in district…