Busy, busy day today! After a nice night at Emigrant Springs State Park, I packed up and headed to La Grande. I am due at Thunder RV at 9:00 AM to pick up the new camper, an Adventurer 86FB. I had hoped that the whole transfer process of switching campers would only take three hours. It took four. I had forgotten how much stuff I had accumulated in the small space of the old camper. I was in a hurry, so I just moved stuff over without really a plan of where to put what. I'll need a day just to reorganize. The new camper fit the truck very well and only a few adjustments were needed. Caleb from Thunder RV went out of his way to assist. They are great folks to work with. I was only the second person from NY they had ever sold a camper to. I told them I would recommend them to all my New York friends. :-)
With the transfer complete, I headed to my next stop, Bickleton, Washington. I'm meeting Katie Leuthauser. Katie is a former student and Potsdam High School graduate who just got her first teaching job. I got there almost exactly at 4:00. The drive to Bickleton was beautiful. Washington calls itself the "Evergreen State." That must be based on coastal Washington, because there sure isn't any green here. In fact, they should call it the "Windmill State." I saw many hundreds of them on the drive up, both along the Columbia River and inland.
Bickleton is really rural. The school is very small, but is brand new. It is the home of the Bickleton Pirates. In fact, the start of school this Fall was delayed a few days because construction was still in progress. It is a beautiful building.
The entire K-12 population is housed in one building. Katie is THE science teacher for the school. That gives you an idea about how small the school is.
I learned a lot about how a very small school operates in a very rural area, and there are some neat things about it. Everybody knows everybody and therefore there is a real sense of community. Ric Palmer is the Superintendent, and he is also the Principal and he is also the Athletic Director. Now there is efficiency in administration. :-) Here is another difference about this school. They operate on a four day week! In an effort to save transportation money, Ric was able to get approval from the State Legislature for a three year pilot project to try the four day week. The students take six classes a day, with no study halls. So far, teacher student contact time has actually increased because students are scheduling doctor appointment and the like on Fridays. Teachers come in every other Friday for a half day of staff development. Also, the school district owns two houses near the school that they rent to teachers. One of the houses is being renovated for Katie. In the meantime, she is staying at the Palmer home. In fact, my camper is parked at their home tonight too.
Ric joined Kaite and me for dinner at the Bluebird Tavern. The tavern was built in 1882 and is the State's oldest continuously operated tavern.
Wednesday I finally catch up with my son Cory. It's been almost a year since I have seen him. Looking forward to some good times.......
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