Silverton High will use a two-person approach to filling its athletic director position this fall.
The job came open when assistant principal and AD Wade Lockett was promoted to principal. Now, Lockett has announced that James Rise and Kevin Palmer will share the AD spot when school begins in September.
Rise currently coaches baseball and teaches at the high school, while Palmer will be moving over from principal duties at Butte Creek Elementary School.
Rise will concentrate more on the on-the-field duties, while Palmer will handle administrative responsibilities.
Palmer also will handle human resource issues at the district office to fill a gap left by Dandy Parsons moving to the high school to mentor Lockett in his new position.
Therese Gerlits, meanwhile, will shift from assistant principal at the high school to principal at Butte Creek. Johnie Ferro, who has several years of experience with the district, will take over for Gerlits as assistant principal at Silverton High. Ferro was an assistant principal last year at McKay in Salem.
“This is definitely something I’ve seen the likes of before,” Lockett said of the two-person AD. Lockett added that the usual model at Class 5A is for the position to be either combined with assistant principal duties or teaching assignments.
Lockett said that it has not been determined yet if Rise will continue to coach baseball.
“It’s how he feels about it,” Lockett said. “If he feels like the combination of duties is too much we can come up with another solution. And we believe having Kevin there to help is a huge plus for us. But we have a lot of confidence in James, quite honestly.”
Tunel to Towers run: A new running event makes its debut Aug. 12 in Mount Angel. The 5-kilometer Tunnel to Towers race is part of a national series of events to honor 9-11 and first-responders. The featured honoree is Stephen Siller, a New York City fire fighter who died on Sept. 11, 2001 in the Twin Towers. The race starts at 9:30 a.m. at the Mount Angel fire house, loops through the grounds of the Mount Angel Abbey and finishes at the Saafeld House on East College Street. The race costs $30 for adults, $15 for those 13-17 and $10 for those 12 and under. Individuals can register at T2Trun.org (look for the Willamette Valley link). Runners also can sign up the morning of the event, but the prices rise an additional $10. Participants also can set up their own fundraising pages as they would for a relay for life event.
JBO stars: Silverton’s JBO Junior American boys baseball squad advanced to the July 20-23 state tournament in Hillsboro. The team of fifth- and sixth-graders turned in a perfect 12-0 league record and finished second at a county event to advance to state.
Silverton finished 1-2 in state play, defeating Stayton, while falling to Seaside and North Marion.
The roster included James Brady, Owen Bruner, Kaleb Jackson, Jesse Keys, Jackson Pfeifer, Dylan Scott, Leiland Stevens, Ethan Uitto, Julian Rios, Kyle Whitaker and Carson Waples.
The head coach was Chad Waples, who was assisted by Mitch Brady, Collin Scott and Jake Uitto.
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