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KU girls track & field dominate & earn first place at Basin Relays, KU boys earn second place

Klamath Union boys and girls track and field held its annual event held on Modoc Field Thursday as teams from around the Klamath Basin took a part in the Basin Relays.

After two weeks of preparation with the start of spring sports arriving for KU's sports teams, it was the first track and field meet of the year for the Pelicans.

You can find the top Klamath Union finishers below:

For a gallery from the Basin Relays, click the following link: https://www.facebook.com/Klamath.Falls.City.Schools

Boys track and field results

100 meters - Second place, Kevin Serrato-Cobian - 12.05

200 meters - 12th place, Thomas Biggs - 27.09

400 meters - 1st place, Gavin Coe - 55.55

800 meters - 1st place, Jonas Southwell - 2:15.46

1,500 meters - 2nd place, Tristan Klecker - 4:38.27

300m hurdles - 4th place, Kanoa Clifford - 49.47

4x100 relay - 3rd place, Ryder Allen, Ryder Jackson, Carter Dahm, Kevin Serrato-Cobian - 47.42

4x400 relay - 2nd place, Ryder Allen,Jonathan (Jonny) Higgins, Gavin Coe, Jonas Southwell - 3:54.40

Shot put - 12lb, 16th place, Jacob Culp - 27' 10

Discus - 1.6kg, 3rd place, Malcolm Lassett-Hankins - 110' 8

Javelin - 800g, 5th place, Wuakeen Saluskin - 132' 9

Pole vault - Jacob Martin - 11' 0

Long jump - 7th place, Tristan Klecker - 16' 3

Triple jump - 8th place, Kanoa Clifford - 34' 8.25

Girls track and field results

100 meters - 1st place, Myleah Vargas - 13.46

200 meters - 1st place, Quinlynn Spivey - 28.28

400 meters - 2nd place, Allie Nelson - 1:04.55

800 meters - 1st place, Leona Higgins - 2:41.67

1,500 meters - 1st place, Hallie Pyfer - 5:29.34

100 meter hurdles - 4th place, Kenzi Freid - 17.91

300 meter hurdles - 3rd place, Hope Moore - 59.33

4x100 relay - 2nd place, Kinna Freid, Andi Harmon, Sophia Serrato, Myleah Vargas - 52.90

4x400 relay - 1st place, Allie Nelson, Quinlynn Spivey, Adalie Giampietri, Hallie Pyfer - 4:27.18

Shot put - 4Kg, 1st place, Taytum Harmon - 29' 6

Discus - 1kg, 1st place, Gracia Vanderwaal - 86' 7

Javelin - 600g - 2nd place, Winnie Hsieh - 93' 8.5

High jump - 1st place, Hazel Squibb - 5' 1

Long jump - 5th place, Hope Moore - 14' 4

Triple jump - 3rd place, Lissette Watah - 31' 5

Regional Chess Tournament Held at Klamath Union

Saturday, March 15, KU hosted a regional chess tournament for K-12 players in our community wanting to qualify for the state tournament on April 26-27. A player can qualify in two ways: as an individual and as a team. To qualify as a team, students would have to have 5 players from their school attend the regional tournament and take 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place. To qualify as an individual player, a student would have to take 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in their age division.

22 players from Conger, Ponderosa, Roosevelt, Stearns, and KU attended regionals. For the elementary age group, individual qualifiers were Emery Singer from Roosevelt, and Silas Moon, Olivia McPherson, and Jaxon Ogborn from Conger. Individual qualifiers from the middle school age division were Isaiah Quintana from the Klamath Home Learning Academy, and Aiden McPherson, Wally Stevens, and Braydon Henderson from Ponderosa. High school students who qualify for state are Willard McClintic and Gideon VanderWaal, both from KU.

Teams that qualified for state were Conger, Stearns, and Ponderosa. Each team can send 5 players to compete, with an optional alternate player. Congratulations to these players and all of their hard work!

Four KFCS Destination Imagination Teams Compete In State Competition

Four Klamath Falls City Schools Destination Imagination teams participated in the State Final Competition last weekend.

Destination Imagination is the largest creative problem solving competition in the world. Each year over 150,000 students from 47 states and over 30 countries compete for a chance to be invited to Global Finals in Kansas City, Missouri, 5/22-25. The program is volunteer driven and has over 38,000 volunteers worldwide.

To be invited to Global Finals, a team must either win a state competition or be the recipient of the highest creativity award ( DaVinci Award).

There is also a non-competitive level as well for Kindergarten through 2nd grade. Mills and Roosevelt Elementaries combined a team to participate in the Early Learners challenge and presented their solution at state competition. Team Members were: Willa Smith, Bennet Smith, Zelena Campos-Lewis, Adela Gonzales and Atzi Blauser. Team Managers were Emily Smith and Tadonisha Campos.

The other 3 teams, all from Roosevelt, competed in the elementary category for a chance to be invited to Global Finals. All 3 teams won an invite to the Global Finals!

“Wrecknical Technicals” took 1st and an invite to Globals in the Technical Challenge. Team members were: Anya Kellermen, Annabelle Ritzenthaler, Evalyn Saxon, Kendal Owens, Vega Priem, Laurel Riley and Lea Matchett. Team Manager was Jay Knodel.

“This is not a Fairly Tale” took second and won a Da Vinci award (one of only 2 in the competition) in the Fine Arts Challenge and received an invite. Team members were: Irelyn Nelson, Emma Fettinger, Pearl Griggs, Addyson Grenier and Claire Cronin. Team Manager was Jennifer Nelson.

“Chaos Circus” won the Engineering Challenge and an invite to Globals. Team Members were: Carter Hudson, Loughlin Hudson, Arkin Chemxananou, Dusty Titus, Mason Young and Bridget Duarte. Team Manager was Kali Carter Hudson.

Teams are fundraising for their trips now. If you would like to donate or want more information, please contact the After School Program at CCLC@kfalls.k12.or.us

KU, Ponderosa Bands Compete In

Basin Band Festival

Klamath Union High School’s Symphonic Band opened the Basin Band Festival as the day’s first band, with a 9 a.m. start time.

For a gallery of the Klamath Union and Ponderosa bands at the Basin Band Festival, click the following link: https://www.facebook.com/Klamath.Falls.City.Schools

Klamath Union is under the direction of Allen Haugh. The Pelicans performed four selections.

Secret Valley by Michael Sweeney

Meditation by Dwayne S Milburn

Steel by Randall Standridge

American Riversongs by Pierre La Plante

Ponderosa Middle School Symphonic Band performed later in the evening and were the last band to perform in a day where 10 bands performed in total.

Directed by instructor, Drew Langley, the Bobcats performed three songs.

United Nations March by Karl King / Swearingen

A Childhood Hymn by David Holsinger

Voyage To The Edge Of The World by Larry Neeck

KU Baseball Opens Season

Klamath Union baseball opened its season and the start of nonleague play this past Tuesday.

The Pelicans had the hot bat in their season opener and defeated St. Mary's, Medford, 10-0.

Klamath Union had a doubleheader Thursday on its home soil, Wright Field. Klamath Union kept both games close but fell to Cottage Grove/Yoncalla, 10-6 in the first game, and 5-2 in the nightcap.

The Pelicans will travel during spring break and compete in the White Buffalo Spring Break Classic at Madras High School next week.

Escape The Vape at Ponderosa Middle School

Conger STEAM Night

KU Choir, Orchestra Concert

KFCS High School Options Information

Community Awareness Information Concerning the Ponderosa Middle School Building

As we look towards the future of our community, I want to bring to your attention a critical need that we must address to ensure the success and readiness of our students: the replacement of Ponderosa Middle School.

Klamath Falls is on the cusp of growth, and we need to be prepared to meet the educational demands of our expanding population. Last year, during our community conversations, we received a clear message: our community wants our youth to be life and career-ready. Specifically, there is a strong desire for more hands-on, applied learning opportunities, such as Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs.

Effective career-ready programs must begin with robust middle school initiatives. During the Board’s visit to California last year, we saw firsthand the exceptional programs at Mad Tech Middle, which serve as an inspiring model for what we can achieve here. These programs are essential for setting our students on a successful path through high school and beyond.

Our district is diligently working to build these programs at the high school level and forge strong connections to postgraduate destinations like the Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) and Klamath Community College (KCC). However, to truly accelerate our students along this track, we need a middle school that supports and enhances these efforts. Unfortunately, the current Ponderosa Middle School is outdated and does not meet the needs of our evolving educational goals.

The urgency of this need cannot be overstated. While the current middle school building is safe, our engineers have indicated that it could become unusable at any time because it is located on an active fault line. Our trusted advisors and the Long-Range Facilities Planning Committee have unanimously agreed that the time to act is now.

We estimate the budget for replacing Ponderosa Middle School to be around $120 million. This number may fluctuate slightly up or down as we consider incorporating other essential items, such as security upgrades and early learning facility support, into the overall bond. We may also determine that we can build at a lower cost depending on what year we decide to call a bond election to support the possible project in the future.

Replacing Ponderosa Middle School is not just about updating a building; it is about investing in the future of our community and ensuring that our youth have the tools and opportunities they need to succeed in life and their careers.

We appreciate your continued support and engagement as we take these crucial steps forward. Together, we can create an educational environment that prepares our students for the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow.

Over the next year, we will engage more with our stakeholders about Ponderosa. We will also schedule tours of the building for the community to see the current facility.

We do want to be very clear that we have not set any date for a potential Bond election. We just want to make sure our community is aware that we are working on a solution to replace Ponderosa on a different site that does not have an active fault line on it.

For anyone who has any questions about his message please e-mail Keith A. Brown at brownk@kfalls.k12.or.us.