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Students compete for cooking honors in future chef event

Posted on: March 22, 2017

More than 100 elementary school kids submitted recipes in the annual Sodexo Food Service Future Chef competition. Eight finalists were chosen. The winner of the competition was Nora Brandon of North Albany Elementary School. She called her creation “Fruit Sushi Frushi.”

Sodexo provided all the raw food ingredients as well as the kitchen stations and cooking utensils. Each child was accompanied by a food service employee who ensured that cutting was done safely, the proper sanitary measures were maintained and, if applicable, foods were cooked to the proper temperatures.

The following students were among the finalists.

Alyson Thompson of North Albany Elementary was one of the eight finalists in the Sodexo Food Service Future Chef competition. Her creation was entitled “Greek Turkey Sliders.” The orange glove on her left hand in photo three is a cutting safety glove.

Timber Ridge School’s Miranda Scovil’s creation was entitled “Breakfast Cookies.”

Niccole McGinnis of Oak Elementary school prepared “Granola Oate Bars.”

Lafayette Elementary student McKenna Smith prepared “HMM Healthy McKenna Muffins.”

North Albany Elementary student Reagan Williams made “Sun Butter Truffles.”

Central Elementary School student Grace Foultner’s creation was entitled “Pizza Pasta.”

Periwinkle Elementary student Brienna Tierce made “Stuffed Peppers.”

SAHS dance team wins state championship

Posted on: March 21, 2017

The South Albany High School Southern Belles and Gents dance won the state championship at state competition in Portland this month.

During the announcement of the finalists, the team was erroneously not included in the list. After the mistake was corrected, the team went on to with the 5A OSAA 2017 Dance and Drill State Championships.

Here is an account by team coach Amanda Gavette:

The team had whirlwind of a weekend up at the OSAA Dance & Drill State Championships!

Friday night was preliminary rounds. For some reason,South Albany was NOT announced as a finalist. After the event, I ran to the competition director to see what had happened, and found they forgot to announce us. We were finalists!

This has been one of the hardest working teams I have ever had the pleasure of coaching. They knew what they wanted, were willing to invest the work it took, and were rewarded for their efforts this year.

During the event, senior dancer Jennifer Hayden earned a $1,000 academic scholarship from the Dance and Drill Coaches Association. Seniors Gabrielle Morgan and Makayla Sloan were named to the prestigious All-State Team.

Watch videos of the dance performances:

See a photo gallery of the performances. Photo credit: Don Bacher

AOS student wins Cesar Chavez art contest

Posted on: March 20, 2017

Albany Options High School student Juan Ortiz Cortez is a talented artist who recently won first place at the Cesar E Chavez Leadership Conference art contest. Read the story by Albany Options staff:

Albany Options School student, Juan Ortiz Cortez, won first place in an art contest on March 3, 2017, at the Cesar E Chavez Leadership Conference in Monmouth, Oregon. Students could submit art work of or inspired by Cesar Chavez and his work related to labor and civil rights activism. Juan Ortiz Cortez submitted a portrait of Chavez drawn in pencil.

The conference is considered the larges Latino youth leadership conference in the Pacific Northwest. This year about 2,200 students attended, including several from Albany Options School. Ortiz was encouraged by the counselor to submit a piece of artwork for the contest.

Ortiz won $250 for earning first place, which he plans to use to buy more art supplies. He is mostly self-taught, but has taken some art classes, especially at AOS with Mrs. Gillispie. Ortiz stated that he dreams of being an artist as his career.

The Albany Democrat-Herald published a snapshot story about Ortiz in the entertainment section of the paper on March 16th, 2017.

Ortiz also created the artwork and designed the AOS school t-shirt for the 2016-2017 school year.

Registration is open for student math tournament at LBCC

Posted on: March 17, 2017

Students in grades 3-8 can test their math skills in a competition on April 8 at Linn Benton Community College.

The competition includes an individual 15-problem test and a team word-problem event. The top math students will receive an award, and all students will get a certificate of participation.

The cost is $10. Registration is open until April 4.

Registration forms and more information