Photo: Ponderosa Middle School seventh grader Lilly Jannicelli, left, and her friend Alison Cruz, who Jannicelli helped save after a choking incident during lunchtime.

By Joaquin Aguilar-Flores, KFCS

Ponderosa Seventh Grader Lilly Jannicelli Receives Certificate of Achievement After Saving Classmate’s Life

A quick decision and a moment of courage made all the difference for Ponderosa Middle School seventh grader Lilly Jannicelli.

Jannicelli was recognized Thursday by the Klamath Falls Police Department with a certificate of achievement and a custom police badge after she stepped in to save her best friend, Alison Cruz, who was choking on her food during a recent lunch at school.

“I was sitting next to my best friend at lunch when she started choking on a burrito,” Jannicelli said. “I tried calling for a teacher, but nobody heard me, so I knew I had to act. I just thought, ‘We’re not losing my best friend today,’ and I got up and did the Heimlich Maneuver.”

In a moment where seconds mattered, Jannicelli relied on instinct and a small amount of prior knowledge to take action.

“My dad had shown me how to do the Heimlich, and I had learned it once in health class,” Jannicelli said. “It was just enough for me to remember and try my best.”

Jannicelli said the experience was frightening, but she stayed focused on helping her friend.

“It was really scary, and I think I did it wrong at first, but she’s alive and okay and that’s what matters most,” she said.

Cruz recalled just how serious the situation had become.

“I couldn’t breathe at all. I was really scared,” Cruz said. “Lilly got behind me and did the Heimlich, and that’s what saved me.”

Afterward, Cruz made sure her best friend knew just how much her actions meant.

“She told me, ‘This is why you’re my emergency contact … you saved my life,’” Jannicelli said.

The life-saving moment did not go unnoticed. Ponderosa staff reviewed the incident on video and coordinated a surprise recognition for Jannicelli. During the presentation, she was honored with her certificate signed by School Resource Officer Alex Davenport and Klamath Falls Police Chief Rob Detinger for her quick thinking and bravery.

Klamath County Fire District 1 firefighter Dean Limb presented Jannicelli with her certificate after calling her name from the student risers, where she was met with cheers from her peers just before first period. Limb added that her actions reflect the kind of qualities they look for when hiring firefighters and policemen.

“I didn’t know any of it was happening,” Jannicelli said. “I walked into the gym and saw my family there and thought, ‘Something’s up.’ It was really special to be recognized like that.”

While the recognition was meaningful, Jannicelli hopes the experience highlights something even more important, the value of being prepared.

“You don’t have very much time in a situation like that, and it’s not always obvious when someone is choking,” Jannicelli said. “You have to pay attention and act in the moment.”

She also encourages other students to learn basic life-saving skills.
“I think more students should learn things like the Heimlich,” Jannicelli said. “You might not think you’ll ever need it, but moments like this show how important it is.”

Photo: Ponderosa Middle School seventh grader Lilly Jannicelli, right, and Klamath County Fire District 1 firefighter Dean Limb after Limb presented Jannicelli with a Certificate of Achievement at Ponderosa Thursday, April 23.

A public meeting of the Budget Committee of the Klamath Falls City Schools, Klamath County, State of Oregon, to discuss the budget for the fiscal year July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, will be held at the Lucille O'Neil Education Center, 1336 Avalon Street, Klamath Falls. The meeting will take place on April 29th 2026, at 6:00 p.m.

The purpose of the meeting is to receive the budget message and to receive comments from the public on the budget. This is a public meeting where deliberation of the Budget Committee will take place. Any person may appear at the meeting and discuss the proposed programs with the Budget Committee.

A copy of the budget document may be inspected or obtained on or after April 29th 2026 at the Lucille O'Neil Education Center between the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Budget information is posted on the district website at www.kfalls.k12.or.us.

On Wednesday, April 22, the Eagle Ridge FFA Chapter competed in the Southeastern/Western Oregon District Meats Evaluation CDE hosted at Diamond S Meats!

Students showcased their skills by identifying retail cuts of meat, grading carcasses for quality and yield, and placing classes of primal and retail cuts.

FFA chapters from Lake, Klamath, and Jackson counties participated in this competitive event.

We are proud to share our teams’ success!

Advanced Team – 4th Place

Aden Jimenez – 5th High Individual

Kaleb Huey – 15th High Individual

Team Members: Aden Jimenez, Jessica Schei, Monica Mendoza, Kaleb Huey

Beginning Team – 2nd Place

Syn Seabrooks – 6th High Individual

Brodie Williamson – 10th High Individual

Team Members: Brodie Williamson, Syn Seabrooks, Matthew Yocum, Aydin Biehn

Both teams will advance to compete at the State Meats Evaluation CDE on Monday, May 4th at Oregon State University!

Great job representing Eagle Ridge FFA!

Klamath Union High School senior Parker J. “PJ” Safford is taking the next step in his baseball career, officially signing to play at Oregon Tech during a signing ceremony Wednesday at Pel Court, surrounded by classmates, staff and family.

Safford was joined by his parents, Mike and Liza Safford, along with Oregon Tech head baseball coach Ricky Walker, as he made his commitment to continue both his academic and athletic journey with the Hustlin’ Owls.

A four-year varsity player under KU head coach Michael Overstreet, Safford has built an impressive resume during his time at Klamath Union. This season, he holds a 5-2 record on the mound with a 0.88 ERA, tallying 50 strikeouts and just three walks across 32 innings pitched.

Safford’s signing also marks a notable milestone for the program as he becomes the first Klamath Union student-athlete to sign directly out of high school to play baseball at Oregon Tech since 2005, with Cory Spires being the last Pelican.

During the ceremony, Safford shared his excitement about continuing his career close to home, where he plans to study communications while competing at the collegiate level.
“Being an Oregon Tech Owl is more than just baseball,” Safford said. “It’s being part of the community and having younger kids look up to you. It’s a great opportunity, and I’m excited to play next year.”

Safford said he has long envisioned himself wearing an Oregon Tech uniform.

“I knew pretty much from the start that I wanted to be an Owl,” Safford said. “I wanted to stay close to home and prove that I could play at the next level and I did it.”

Oregon Tech’s baseball program has seen steady growth in recent years, including a playoff appearance last season, something Safford said made the opportunity even more appealing.

“Knowing I’m going into a good program that’s improving allows me to get better,” he said. “Having strong coaching and being able to compete at a high level is something I’ve always wanted.”

Safford’s love for the game started early, influenced heavily by his father’s involvement in baseball. He said the sport has been a constant throughout his life.

“I’ve been around baseball forever,” Safford said. “It’s always been part of me, and it always will be.”

In addition to baseball, Safford has also excelled in football, earning all-state honors as a punter, while consistently receiving all-conference recognition in baseball.

As Safford prepares for his final stretch at Klamath Union and looks ahead to Oregon Tech, Safford also shared advice for younger student-athletes hoping to follow a similar path.

“I’m just grateful for everyone who helped me get here, and I’m ready to keep working and prove I belong at the next level,” Safford said. “It means a lot to represent my hometown, and I hope I can show younger kids here that you can chase your goals and make it happen.”

Third graders from Conger Elementary stepped outside the classroom and into nature today, spending the day at Moore Park as part of their Klamath Outdoor Science School (KOSS) experience.

Conger instructors Madaline Elliot and Ashley Doty and their students joined KOSS educators for a full day of learning centered around forestry, ecology, and environmental science.

KOSS, a free program available to Klamath Basin schools, provides immersive field trips designed to connect students with the natural world while supporting key science standards. For third graders, the focus is on forest and aquatic ecology, something Conger students experienced firsthand as they explored tree life cycles, plant identification, and wildlife habitats throughout the park.

Guided by KOSS staff Tabitha Weir, Megean Pappe, Madeline Hall, and Kevin Spencer, students were full of questions of their surroundings. The day quickly turned into an adventure as students examined a former bear enclosure, sparking curiosity and imagination.

“This used to be a bear enclosure, which is kind of crazy to think about,” Weir said, prompting students to reflect on how wildlife care and conservation have evolved over time. “It’s kind of cool to think about how far we’ve come with our zoos.”

By the end of the day, Conger students were easily able to identify trees and plants along their path, including juniper, Oregon grape, and ponderosa pine.

The highlight of the day came when students learned how to determine the age of a tree using its rings. Students used a specialized tool called a tree borer to extract a small core sample from a tree without harming it.

As Doty’s class gathered around the sample, students worked together to estimate the tree’s age.

“How do you guys think we tell the ages of trees?” Hall asked.

After counting the rings, the group discovered the tree, which they nicknamed “Barnaby,” was approximately 95 years old.

“So he’s around 90 years old … we’re going to add a five to Barnaby’s age as we didn’t measure from the very base of the tree, so we add about five years to account for those early growth rings we couldn’t capture,” Pappe said.

The lesson didn’t stop there. Students also learned how environmental factors like water and sunlight affect tree growth.

“If the rings are really close together then that means it didn’t have enough sun and water, Spencer said.”

Conger Elementary third graders will continue their KOSS experience Thursday with a field trip to the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge, where they will explore aquatic ecosystems by collecting and identifying macroinvertebrates while learning about food webs, habitats, and environmental adaptations.

“Each field trip is jam packed with hands-on experiences with our knowledgeable guides,” Elliot said. “KOSS is an incredible resource.”

Klamath Falls City Schools continues to invest in teacher development by providing monthly professional learning opportunities for new elementary teachers through the district’s Bridges math curriculum training.

On Wednesday, April 22, new teachers gathered for two separate training sessions focused on strengthening math instruction and student success. One session served kindergarten through second grade teachers, while the second focused on third through fifth grade educators.

The training was led by Educational Solutions Team consultant Janis Heigl, who has worked with the district for eight years to support instructional growth, analyze student data and provide classroom coaching.

“Today, I’m working with new teachers to Klamath Falls,” Heigl said. “They come once a month and meet with me to go over curriculum ideas, and then they also do activities.”

During the sessions, teachers participated in hands-on learning centered around computational fluency, student progressions and instructional strategies that help students build confidence in math. Teachers also observed number corner lessons in Roosevelt Elementary School first-grade instructor Amanda Trumbull’s classroom and fifth-grade instructor Jennifer Laitinen’s classroom. 

Heigl explained that the goal of the training is to help teachers understand how students learn math concepts and how to best respond to their needs.

“We have samples of kids’ work, and they are matching them with procedures and models that kids will use to solve their math problems,” Heigl said. “If teachers learn about teaching math themselves, then they are going to be better in the classroom helping kids.”

Heigl compared the Bridges curriculum to a cookbook, explaining while the curriculum provides the structure, teachers are the ones who bring learning to life.

“Bridges is just the curriculum,” she said. “It’s not the cookbook that makes the meal delicious. It’s the ability of the cook.”

Mills Elementary School instructor Nancy Mantell, who attended the training with Heigl, said one of the biggest takeaways was seeing how math instruction builds from one grade level to the next. 

“We were just talking about how it all kind of adds on from first grade and second until third,” Mantell said. She also shared excitement about seeing the many creative ways students solve problems, saying it is “so exciting to see their brains explode with how many different types of equations it can make with a three-digit number.” 

Heigl said one of the district’s biggest successes this year has been pacing consistency across schools.

“This is the first year in all the years I’ve been here that we actually have teachers on pace,” Heigl said. “Everybody is in Unit 7 across the district.”

She noted that in previous years, many classrooms were still in Units 4 or 5 by the end of the school year, limiting students’ depth of understanding before moving to the next grade.

This past Saturday, April 18, Roosevelt Elementary School hosted the district TAG event with a field trip to the Tulelake Wildlife Refuge. Students met Saturday morning before taking a bus to the refuge, where they were joined by an educational ranger and a representative from Klamath Outdoor School.

The day began with students exploring the Refuge Visitor Center, which features displays highlighting the wildlife found throughout the refuge. Students then participated in a bird walk around the pond area designed for birdwatching in a central location of the park. During the walk, they spotted a wide variety of birds, including red-tailed hawks, yellow-headed and red-winged blackbirds, ring-necked pheasants, spoonbilled ducks, pelicans, gulls, egrets, sandhill cranes, bufflehead and goldeneye ducks, teals, coots and other waterfowl.

After the bird walk, students traveled to the cliffs, where they observed nesting great horned owls with two fledglings in the nest. They also hiked to the lookout tower, learning along the way about the geological and geographical history of the basin.

Upon returning to the education center, students took part in a lesson about the water cycle and participated in an interactive activity where each student represented a water droplet, helping them understand how water moves and transitions throughout the world.

Photos from the trip included a student helping a family spot the owls, students hiking to the lookout tower, a view from the top of the tower and the water cycle lesson inside the education center.

This past Wednesday, April 22, we celebrated Administrative Professionals' Day at Klamath Falls City Schools!

To all our administrative professionals, thank you for everything you do behind the scenes and on the front lines to keep our schools running smoothly; our schools would not function without you!

Your organization, dedication and care make a difference for our students, staff, and families every single day.

Klamath Union H.S. Acapella Choir has qualified for the Class 4A OSAA State Choir Championships after a strong finish at the Skyline Choir Qualifier Contest.

Klamath Union will be performing on May 8 in Corvallis, Oregon at Oregon State University.

"This was a big goal for the choir and me," Klamath Union first-year choir instructor Perry Dean said. "We made it and I am so proud of their commitment. We set the bar high this year and they vaulted over it. Now, let's see if we can place at state. Pel yeah."

Ponderosa Middle School has launched a swag store! Currently, 10% of each order is going directly to the Ponderosa track and field team.

Look through the Pondo swag fundraiser shop and check out all the fun Pondo gear. Orders are typically shipped within 24 hours of purchase and can be delivered directly to you. See the link below to access the team shop:I'm a new paragraph block.

Klamath Union track and field head coach Rob Coffman and the KU Track coaches are looking for volunteers to help at our upcoming home track meets. It’s a great way to support KU athletes and spend some time outside cheering on our students.

Meet Dates:

• Thursday, March 19

• Wednesday, April 9 (most help needed)!!!!

• Wednesday, April 29

If you’re willing to help, please reach out to Coach Coffman:

coffmanr@kfalls.k12.or.us

541-281-6466 (call or text)

Thank you for supporting KU Track & Field and our Pelicans!

KFCS Board of Education

Andrea Jensen, Zone 1, Roosevelt - andrea.jensen@kfcityschools.org

Andrew Biggs, Zone 2, At-Large - andrew.biggs@kfcityschools.org

Vanessa Bennett, Zone 3, Conger - vanessa.bennett@kfcityschools.org

Kathy Hewitt, Zone 4, Mills - kathy.hewitt@kfcityschools.org

Trina Perez, Zone 5, Pelican - trina.perez@kfcityschools.org

Kelsey Bitzer, Zone 6, At-Large - Bitzerk@kfcityschools.org

Nicole Trejo, Zone 7 At-Large - Trejon@kfcityschools.org