Welcome back to school! It was the first day of school at KFCS for 6th graders and 9th graders as well as elementary school students this past Tuesday, while kindergarten students were in their phase-in week and will have their first full day this coming Monday.

A full gallery from the first day of school Tuesday can be found on the KFCS Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/Klamath.Falls.City.Schools

Welcome back 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th and 12th graders!

For a full set of photos from Wednesday at Klamath Union High School, Eagle Ridge New Tech High School, Klamath Learning Center and Mills Elementary School, go to the KFCS Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Klamath.Falls.City.Schools

Visiting the dean’s office can often feel intimidating, but at Ponderosa Middle School the experience has been transformed. Students waiting to meet the new Dean of Students, Sam McCormick, or to see school Ponderosa Counselor Brittany Clark, will now sit in a freshly redecorated space designed to feel more like a student lobby than a detention room.

Dean secretary Elizabeth Eubanks, with the help of her husband, spent time during the week and on weekends before school and started painting and refreshing the backroom behind the front office.

Photo: New Dean of Students Sam McCormick outside his office during the first day of school for 7th and 8th graders at Ponderosa Middle School Wednesday.

Together, they painted the once-green walls, brightened Eubanks’ desk with a coat of white paint, and added a hand-painted mural to make the space welcoming.

A glossy, iridescent rainbow-pink window tint was also added to give students privacy while inside the health room with nurse Larissa Fain and health aide Jessica Kennedy.

“So a lot of the kids came in this morning (Wednesday), they were like, ‘Is this detention?’ I’m like, nope. Not anymore. This is more of a student lobby,” Eubanks said. “Instead of having all the kids up at the front office all the time, it keeps the parents, visitors and kids separated. We had sick kids going home, behavioral kids up front and parents coming in, it was kind of a bad mix.”

“The goal is they come in here escalated but to deescalate into a calming, positive environment rather than what looks like a dungeon or a jail cell. I wanted it to be inviting and to be comfortable here and the students are enjoying it so far.”

Stepping into middle school for the first time is hard enough as it is. Meeting new friends and the ordeal of trying to figure out how to work a combination lock all came at once for 6th graders this past Tuesday at Ponderosa Middle School. 

Ponderosa 6th grade teachers eagerly helped the incoming wave of new students who had countless worries on their first day as a middle school student.

Longtime Ponderosa instructor John Najar welcomed students into his advisory classroom hoping to eliminate any doubt and provide calmness to the eager students, though his room of captivating posters and the collection of his Funko Pop! figures are nothing but spectacular.

“If you do not figure out how to work your lock, do not worry, it is something you are going to figure out,” Najar said. “Just do not be like one of my students from before. I gave the student a lock and the poor guy went the entire year without using his locker, without telling me he did not know how to work his lock. Imagine, he carried his books and things with him the entire year.”

Alexander Hernandez is one of the many new staff at Ponderosa Middle School this year. Hernandez, originally from Coos Bay, had full attention of his 7th grade students in his advisory class this past Wednesday after he gave his introduction.

Hernandez earned English and journalism degrees, along with his masters degree in education at the University of Oregon. Hernandez shared how he earned his desire to become a teacher through his high school chemistry instructor but not how one might have thought.

“It is for the money and fame. No, actually. The only reason I am here is because I had a chemistry teacher in high school. Most teachers have this wholesome story of a teacher who was so inspiring, no, he sucked. I did not like him and my brain went to the thought, he is not really good at this, I can do this better,” Hernandez said. “From there I went into working in elementary schools, the YMCA and other afterschool programs and gained experience.”

There are many interesting facts about Hernandez but what might stand out is he owns over 20 cameras, and has come to live in the town where his mom originated from, who is a Henley High School graduate. Hernandez also shared with his class he is a type 1 diabetic, which he was diagnosed with in July of 2007.

Please click the following link or click on the image above to be directed to a YouTube video filled with photos KFCS parents shared with us from their child's first day of school. Video link: https://youtube.com/shorts/eF4rx5t95_U

Klamath Basin notebook: Klamath Union girls cross country team ranked No. 1 in Class 4A state preseason coaches' poll

For a full story about the Klamath Union girls' cross country team being ranked No.1, click the link below from Herald and News:

https://www.heraldandnews.com/sports/klamath-basin-notebook-klamath-union-girls-cross-country-team-ranked-no-1-in-class-4a/article_bf961296-e3ab-4c17-9d97-d28d7205eea9.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawMoIAlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHst7eDuZlVDAlQn9ZKEf_CMvXHFprbrnwVKvKcLD1on_02DtosNeiAPc4QI6_aem_WTsDyaoNqyFLCEYLH8BiAw

For coverage of live games this year for KU athletics, make sure to follow and subscribe to KUTV on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@klamathuniontv. 

Klamath Union volleyball

Klamath Union High School varsity volleyball had its first home match of the year at Pel Court Thursday. 

The Pels took on a familiar non-league opponent not too far from the Klamath Basin in Yreka High School. Klamath Union took the first two sets before Yreka kept the match interesting by earning the third set before the match was decided in the fourth as KU won, 25-21, 25-13,12-25, 25-21. 

The Pelicans are coming off an appearance at the Challenger Invitational last week in Medford. KU came away with a 1-1 tie against Cresswell before the team fell to Marshfield, 0-2. KU volleyball will compete at the Basin Best volleyball tournament Saturday at Bonanza High School. They will be away from Pel Court in their upcoming volleyball matches before they begin Skyline Conference play starting at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, September 30 at Pel Court against Mazama High School.

Klamath Union girls soccer 

Klamath Union girls soccer will begin its season in non-league play today, competing in the Oregon HS Soccer Showcase in Bend, with their first opponent being Madras High School.

The Pelicans will have five consecutive soccer games on the road before having their first game at home on Modoc Field, which will start at 2 p.m. Saturday, September 27 against Eagle Point High School. This game will be just after the Pelicans began Skyline Conference play in a September 25 matchup at Hidden Valley/New Hope Christian. 

Klamath Union’s first home conference game will be at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, October 2 against Phoenix High School. 

Klamath Union boys soccer

Klamath Union boys varsity soccer will also start its season today against Madras in the Oregon HS Soccer Showcase.

The boys soccer team will have three away games to start out the year before hosting its first home game, a 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, September 23 matchup against Class 5A opponent, Ashland High School. 

KU will have its Skyline Conference opener two days later, a 6:30 p.m. Thursday, September 25 matchup at Modoc Field against Hidden Valley/New Hope Christian. 

Klamath Union football

Klamath Union begins its season in non-league play today as they compete in another installment of the Canal Bowl, beginning at 7 p.m. today at Viking Field at Mazama High School.

KU football will have its first game at home next Friday, starting at 7 p.m. against La Pine High School on Modoc Field. 

The Pels will have their first 3A-SD5 Special District 5 game of the year on Homecoming Night, starting at 7 p.m. Friday, October 3 against Cascade Christian High School.