First day of school starts with questionnaire
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 6 months AGO
Frontier Middle School students wait to answer general health general questions before entering the building on the first day of in-person instruction in Moses Lake Thursday.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald
Students at Garden Heights Elementary in Moses Lake listen to instructions on answering health questions before they go to class on the first day of in-person school Thursday.
Garden Heights Elementary students head off to class, but have to go to the right entrance and answer health questions first, on the first day of in-person instruction in Moses Lake Thursday.
Frontier Middle School students wait in line at a screening station on the first day of in person instruction in Moses Lake Thursday.
A Garden Heights Elementary student juggles a backpack and school supplies on the first day of in-person school Thursday.
A Garden Heights Elementary student and her mom ask directions to a screening station Thursday. It was the first day of in-person instruction in the Moses Lake School District.
Frontier Middle School students wait in line at the screening station Thursday, the first day of in-person instruction for the Moses Lake School District.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | September 18, 2020 1:05 AM
MOSES LAKE — The first day of school for 2020-21 at Frontier Middle School started with waiting in line.
A line is not that unusual at school, but in a normal year kids wouldn’t be waiting in line to get into the building. In the age of coronavirus, the school day starts with a questionnaire.
Thursday was the first day of in-person instruction for children in the Moses Lake School District. The first day had been scheduled for Monday, but poor air quality conditions pushed the start to Thursday.
Students in middle and elementary schools had their choice of taking all instruction online, taking half of their classes online and half in-person, or taking all classes in person.
Children also were waiting in line outside Garden Heights Elementary, with children and parents asking directions. Kids were required to go to specific places on the campus to answer the general health questions before going to their classroom.
At North Elementary on Thursday, Principal Kelly Frederick said things went well, and the smaller numbers of students attending in-person schooling made it easier to maintain social distance and help kids keep their masks on in class.
“Students are learning the new safety procedures to keep themselves and staff safe,” Frederick said. “Parents got their attestation forms done, and it made the screening process very smooth.”
She said that there wasn’t even “a single mask issue” with any North students on Thursday.
Frederick said that around 140 of the school’s 260 students opted for some kind of in-person schooling, and most were there on Thursday. With smoke from distant wildfires still in the air, she said students were doing physical education indoors and taking lots of “mask breaks,” though a couple of students were kept home because of the air quality.
“Everybody’s just making it work,” she said.
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Road closures, roundabout, mean construction season underway
EPHRATA — The grass is starting to turn green, the trees are starting to leaf out, construction crews are starting to build roundabouts – hey, it’s spring. At least one roundabout project is in its final phase, held over from fall 2025. The intersection of State Route 282 and Nat Washington Way will be closed the week of April 6 to allow crews to install permanent lights. “This really is the final (closure),” wrote Grant County Administrator Tom Gaines in a media release. “The roundabout will close at 6 a.m. Monday, and we plan to reopen by Friday, possibly sooner if the work finishes early.”
Ybarra announces run for Washington Senate
QUINCY — State Representative Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, has announced his candidacy for the Washington Senate. If he’s elected, he would replace Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, who announced her retirement in March.
Othello Community Museum to open April 25
OTHELLO — With a couple of new exhibits, a new heating-cooling system, rearranged displays and a thorough cleaning, the Othello Community Museum will open for the summer April 25. The goal, said Molly Popchock, museum board secretary, is to operate for a full season.