Earlier this fall, about 40 students at Sunridge Middle School went on a field trip to learn about fish management in eastern Oregon. The students are enrolled in the Fisheries and Wildlife elective class taught by Science Teacher Matt Baty.

The class traveled to Three Mile Falls Dam on the Umatilla River, near Umatilla. The students were able to tour the facility and watch the fall spawning process. According to Baty, while in the fish trap, they viewed Chinook and Coho salmon as well as steelhead coming in. Staff at the dam, including Clinton Case, explained how the trap works and guided the class through the experience. “The students got to see and touch some of the biggest fish I’ve ever seen come out of the Umatilla River,” Baty said.

The students then explored the spawning part of the facility, where the staff was spawning Coho salmon and checking for any diseases. Baty said it was great because the students got front-row seats to the entire process, and everyone at the facility came by to talk with the students about the why of what they were doing.

During the last part of the tour, the group saw the runs that hold the salmon and how that operates. “The entire tour was great, and I plan on a spring tour at either this dam or McNary Dam for semester two during the Chinook run,” Baty said.

The Pendleton School District is happy to feature new PSD teachers

August 29, 2022

A little less than 200 incoming sixth grade students gathered at Sunridge Middle School on Monday, August 29^th for 6^th Grade Orientation Day. The day is intended for these new middle school students to explore their new school without the upperclassmen there and to learn about being an SMS Bronc.

SMS Principal Piper Kelm said the students are grouped into their Advisory Classes for the orientation and learn the layout of the school, rules, and most importantly, how to navigate lunch. Kelm welcomed the students in the morning, introduced their teachers and asked the sixth graders to look around at their fellow Class of 2029 students. “Unless you were at the PELC for kindergarten, this is the first time your class has been together. Look left, look right and see who you will be learning with and experiencing school with for the next seven years.”

Kelm said orienting the sixth graders to SMS lunch is really important because many of them aren’t used to eating in a really large group. Plus, she said “choice paralysis” happens when the students are faced with which line to get in and what to order for lunch. A practice lunch on Monday meant one less new thing for the first day of school on Tuesday.

“We really want all our middle schoolers, including 7^th and 8^th graders, to have a great first day, but the sixth graders feeling more comfortable on Tuesday helps them have a smoother transition,” Kelm said.