Feeling the Love!  

With the support of our community behind us, the sky's the limit  for Wishram students. 

From the Superintendent: 

Hello Wishram community, and thank you for taking the time to read our monthly newsletter!    

This message is going to be an attempt to display the gratitude I have for your continued support for our  academic and athletic programming. Wishram School District #94 is making unprecedented headway in  several crucial areas, and this wouldn’t be possible without having you in our corner. From the bottom  of my heart, thank you voters for showing that you support our students, and that you are willing to  invest in their future.   

With our new levy in place, we have the opportunity to continue to expand our educational  opportunities and outcomes through the 2023/2024 school year. For those who voted in favor of this  initiative, thank you. For those who didn’t approve, I still want to thank you for participating in the  special election, and exercising your right to vote. While I’m sure you have your reasons, my sincere  hope is that you are able to see the tangible results of your investment within our students and the greater  community. Levy taxes are unique in the fact that you actually know what your tax dollars support, and  those funds stay within your local community unlike the multitude of other taxes both voter-approved  and initiated by the legislature. While any amount of additional taxation can be burdensome, we want  to assure you that these funds will directly benefit the students who attend our institution. 

Our CTE (Career and Technical Education) program is one of the largest beneficiaries of our levy,  and I’d like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the future programming we will now be able to  offer. Along with maintaining a highly qualified instructor in Mr. Dave DeVoe, we are also in the midst of  expanding our facilities and course offerings. It is our full intent to add welding and plasma cutting to  our architecture and millwork pathways. A significant portion of our levy funding will be used to obtain  materials and machinery to place within this new facility, thus assisting us in continuing our efforts to  provide a comprehensive educational experience for our students.   

The levy also helps us continue to provide a full-time school counselor (Ms. Ashley Blodgett),  who has been instrumental in providing social-emotional learning lessons to all of our students K-12,  and who ensures that our students obtain assistance in career planning, post-secondary enrollment, and  experience all assessments necessary for them to take the next step in their lives beyond their public  schooling experience in Wishram. These essential opportunities help our students understand and take  advantage of the many options available to them post-graduation. 

At our most recent awards ceremony, 25 out of 30 of our secondary students made the honor  roll. This means that 83% of our secondary students currently have a 3.25 GPA or higher. This is one of  several data points that sets Wishram apart from most schools both regionally and statewide. Our  school doesn’t provide students with easier assignments, a watered-down curriculum, or use gimmicks  like giving students credit for work they never turned in to obtain these results, we simply hold high  expectations and provide an appropriate amount of support to ensure that those expectations are met.   

Every student at our school does every assignment, and that is the hinge pin for our continued academic  success. We believe that within every one of our students is a desire to exceed expectations, it’s simply  our job to make sure that they believe in themselves, and we take a great deal of pride in assisting them  on that journey. 

In closing, I again want to say just how thankful I am to all of you within our wonderful  community. Our school, students, and staff are all grateful for your continued support, and we are all  looking forward to the fantastic outcomes in store for our learners. With this levy now firmly in place,  we can begin to take action on our vision of expanding educational opportunities for all students. The  best is yet to come.   

- ​Mr. Mike Roberts 

Superintendent/Principal 

Wishram School District #94 

New Year, New Opportunities! 

2020 has lots of excitement in store for students, staff, and our Wishram School community.

From the Superintendent:

Hello everyone, and thank you for taking the time to read our monthly newsletter. This is a fabulous opportunity to hear about the great things going on at Wishram School District #94, and stay current on upcoming events. This submission is going to be based entirely upon our upcoming school levy initiative. In February of 2018, the community of Wishram approved the first school levy in recent memory. With the funds obtained from that initiative, we have been able to hire a full- time counselor, full-time CTE instructor, and have continued to support our athletic programming. These crucial funds help ensure that we can continue to provide a comprehensive educational experience for our students at Wishram.

With the social emotional needs of students reaching limits never before seen in public education, the hiring of a full-time school counselor was a blessing for our district. Since her hiring, Ms. Ashley Blodgett has provided many necessary services for our students. Ms. Ashley has taken on the role of testing coordinator for the PSAT/SAT/ASVAB assessments, and has worked tirelessly to prepare our students for those crucial examinations. She assists students in filling out the FAFSA, and applying for and enrolling within post secondary institutions, and as a result, our post secondary enrollment numbers have increased dramatically! She teaches our Seniors course, in which all 12th grade students learn essential skills like perseverance, career exploration, money management, and much more. The levy funds obtained by the generous taxpayers of the community of Wishram support her position, and the passage of our levy would help ensure that her position is retained for the foreseeable future.

This year, our secondary students have had the opportunity to participate in CTE (Career and Technical Education) programming for the first time in quite a few years. Wishram School District #94 had the pleasure of retaining the services of Mr. Dave DeVoe, who is a certificated CTE instructor with years of experience to come and share his expertise with our Wishram students. To date students have created birdhouses, cutting boards, shelving, and coffee tables (to name a few). He has also written several grants aimed at increasing our course offerings to include welding, plasma cutting, and small engines in the near future. With a renovation of our shop facility coming in the near future, our district is poised to provide essential programming in the trades that will help our students succeed on levels not possible before hiring Mr. DeVoe. This is another area that levy funds help support, and those resources are essential to the continued success of the CTE program. 

Athletic participation has long been a source of pride for Wishram School District. A recent study reported that over 80% of our secondary students participate in at least one sport, with over 60% participating in three sports. Athletics are a foundational component to providing a comprehensive K-12 experience to our students, and we believe that sports participation helps students obtain skills that are very difficult to develop otherwise. The funds approved by the Wishram community help support our transportation efforts to and from Lyle, and without those resources, we would be very limited in what we could provide to our student athletes.

While the three areas mentioned previously aren’t an exhaustive list of what our levy helps support, they are the most crucial for our districts continued success. With the ballots set to come out in early February, we just wanted to reach out and explain in detail what your support means to our school. As a brief reminder, the initiative on your ballot is asking that you approve or deny the same amount as our previous levy, meaning that your property taxes will receive no additional increase if the levy is passed, and this levy would be approved for the next four (4) school years. Thank you so much for all that you do for our students, staff, and greater community, none of our success could be possible without you. If you have questions please don’t hesitate to contact me directly. The best is yet to come!

- Mr. Mike Roberts

Superintendent/Principal

Wishram School District #94

‘TistheSeason!

For giving, sharing, and counting our blessings here at Wishram.

From the Superintendent:

Hello everyone, and thank you for taking the time to read our monthly newsletter.

     We have many exciting things going on at Wishram School District #94, and it’s a pleasure to have this avenue to share these items with the greater Wishram community. We have some exciting grant funding news pertaining to our newly created CTE (Career and Technical Education) program. Also, we want to share some information regarding the continuation of our essential school levy coming up for vote in February, and last but certainly not least we want to talk about a wonderful opportunity that we were fortunate to be able to take advantage of through our generous community members responsible for bringing us a fantastic musical performance that was enjoyed equally by students and staff. There is never a dull moment at Wishram School, and it wouldn’t be possible without our community’s support!

     Our CTE teacher, Mr. Dave DeVoe, hit the ground running by filling out numerous grants in addition to the paperwork required to establish the pathways necessary to substantiate our programming, and was able to acquire over $20,000 for new equipment for our facility! This is going to make a tremendous difference in the type of programming that we are going to be able to provide to our students in the future. With students already in the process of making birdhouses, shelving, cutting boards and more, it’s exciting to imagine what else is going to be possible with the newly acquired funding. Great job, Mr. DeVoe!

     It’s hard to believe that it’s already time to begin discussing our levy again, but here we are, and your ballots will be in the mail for the February election. We have been extremely fortunate to utilize those additional funds to provide a full-time counselor for our students, as well as provide support to the CTE program, and offset some of the transportation costs for our activities. The levy that you will be voting on is unchanged from the levy that is already in place, so no additional cost to the taxpayer will be incurred should the levy be renewed. If you have questions about the levy, please don’t hesitate to contact the school directly. A community levy meeting will be scheduled for mid-to-late January, so please plan to attend.

     Patti Blagg and other generous supporters from our community donated funds to bring us a musical performance by a band titled “Birch and the Gin Joints”. This was a tremendous opportunity for our students and staff to get a taste of the arts, and enjoy music performed by an exceptional group of musicians. The music ranged from original compositions to classic hits. They provided the students with knowledge about the various instruments being played, as well as allowing them the opportunity to share their passion for music. Being a rural and remote school district, it isn’t too often that our students are able to participate in activities like this, so a big thank you needs to go out to Patti and the members of the pinochle club for making events like these possible!

     In closing, I again have to say how proud I am to serve as the superintendent of such a great school district. The work that we have the privilege of carrying out for our students, parents, and community is truly an honor, and being able to watch the daily progress being made throughout every facet of our district provides us with a sense of accomplishment that would be difficult to match elsewhere. In a recent legislative meeting, an elected official commented that “Wishram School District #94 is doing the most with the least, and they need to be commended for their efforts.” It’s a pleasure to come here each day and do the most for our students, parents, and community members. Thank you all, and the best is yet to come!

-Mike Roberts

Superintendent/Principal

Wishram School District #94

Moved to Mr. Roberts homepage

Moved to Mr. Roberts homepage

Moved to Mr. Roberts homepage