The Corvallis School District needs your input about how well they’re communicating.
From October 10-21, you can go to the district’s website and fill out a survey concerning how well they are doing in getting the right information into area hands. If you prefer a paper copy, you can pick one up at 1555 SW 35th St.
This survey asks specifically about communications from the district, school, and classroom to parents/guardians; the school district communication tools; crisis communications; two-way communication with parents/guardians; and the overall district image.
In a press release, Corvallis School District Communications Coordinator Kelly Locey wrote, “It is important that we hear from as many of our staff, families, and students as possible to find out what is working and what we need to do better.”
The survey is available in both English and Spanish.
For questions, please contact the Corvallis School District communications department at 541-766-4856.
Basketball at B&G: It’s that time of year when you need to lace up your sneakers and run on into the court, because basketball!
The Corvallis Boys & Girls Club has registration open for Fall Elementary Basketball for girls and boys in grades 1-4. Kids in first and second grade play co-ed with practice and games on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Kids in third and fourth grade are divided into boys and girls teams with practice and games on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Scholarships are available, however you need to get your child’s application in for one of them by October 24. Registration ends October 26, and the season runs through mid-December.
You can find the registration forms here.
Other Cool Ways to Read: Can’t get your kiddo off the devices? It can be hard as the weather cools to get your tykes and tots to want to put down a screen, but the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library has several solutions.
Check out CloudLibrary which offers a variety pack of device choices from which to read. Find the children’s books offered by going to the library’s website and clicking on the “catalog” dropdown menu. Then click on “Kids” and you’ll be taken to the ever-growing list of choices. From “Early Reader” to “Kids Non-Fiction” to “Kids Fiction” there will be books your kid will love.
Not finding what you were looking for in the Cloud? Then try OverDrive. You’ll find the link to OverDrive on the right-hand side of the main webpage, and at the top of the page you’ll find categories for kids and teens. This section also has a section of just Kindle books available – if that’s the platform you’re most comfortable with.
Still looking? Click on the Collections dropdown menu on the main library page and choose E-Resources. This is a great section for looking up references for those last minute school projects as well as some amazing non-fiction that’s just for the reader in the family regardless of age.
Jackson Brenner-Smith of the library’s reference section said, “Anyone with a Benton County Library card can set the app up on their mobile device…, Kindle, or desktop, and use [their] library account and PIN to login.”
You can download audio books as well as electronic-books this way. If you can’t figure out how to get to these resources – and your teenagers hasn’t got time to teach you, then bop down to the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library at 645 NW Monroe Ave. and the lovely people there will be able to lead you through the process.
The Corvallis Museum Brings Totems & Turtles: While not specifically installed for children, the new exhibit at the Benton County Historical Society’s Corvallis location should be a hit with kids across the age divide.
For younger children, Oregon artist Betty LaDuke’s use of color in her totems and turtles, and the faces nearly-but-not-quite hidden in many of her works, will have them excitedly going from piece to piece. Young kids love the play of colors and finding animals and people within them without knowing the intent behind these beautiful works.
For older kids, the art exhibited in LaDuke’s “Fire, Fury, & Resilience: Totem Witnesses and Turtle Wisdom” are a means of dealing with the troubling few years we’ve had as people of the world.
LaDuke said of these works, “Alone in my Oregon studio the world rushes in and I have a compelling need to give form to the local and global events reshaping our lives. They are Climate Change, the Pandemic, Border Crossings, and Social Justice. How have these events affected us, our families and communities? How can we each express our pain, resilience and hope? Totem Witnesses and Turtle Wisdom became my response.”
This exhibition has the power and purpose of teaching people how to take hold of the reins of the heartache we’ve lived through lately and re-steer ourselves toward hope and finding a means for a new future.
“It definitely deals with some difficult themes… but would kids see the symbolism or would they just see the beauty? I’m not sure,” Curator Mark Tolonen said. “She went into the studio and she was dealing with the wildfire smoke in Ashland and the Mexican border and all these heavy adult issues. But what would a child’s take away be?”
The Corvallis Museum, located at 411 SW 2nd St., Corvallis, is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., and Sunday 12:00-4:30 p.m.
The Philomath Museum: If the heavy takeaways seem like too much, bop over to the Philomath site of the Benton County Historical Museum, located at 1101 Main St., Philomath. Head directly to the First Floor Gallery and the “Roots of Wisdom: Native Knowledge. Shared Science” exhibit.
This exhibit allows attendees to actually participate in things like weaving of traditional Native cloths. Kids will love the textural element of weaving, as well as being surprised that this is how fabrics are made.
For the parents, this exhibition features stories of ecology and culture and the goals of restoring both by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Tulalip Tribes, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and Native Hawaiians. The exhibit was developed and produced by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian with funds from the National Science Foundation.
“We try to put something in each gallery that gives children some activity to do,” said Tolonen. “It’s more adult-focused, but it’s nice if the adults can focus if their kids are distracted.”
The Benton County Historical Society operates the Corvallis Museum and Philomath Museum facilities as a means of preserving our history and culture. Their exhibits are always a learning opportunity for kids of any age.
By Sally K Lehman
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