Grant County Journal
Our Gift to the Wet Side
June 20, 2011
Written by Janet Warren
Bob and Shannon Criss have always worked as a team. Both of them moved quite often as children, and they wanted their own children to have the opportunity of being raised in a single community. Shannon was born in Ephrata, moved away, and then returned the last two years of high school. Bob ended up in Ephrata when he was in high school. So when they married and had their first child, Steven, they decided Ephrata was a good, safe community in which to raise their children. The Criss family—Bob, Shannon, and 6-month-old Steven—moved to Ephrata 22 years ago. Shannon had recently begun her teaching career and taught for a year in Puyallup. She was hired at Grant Elementary School by Dan Martell, who was the principal of Grant. She taught 5th grade for seven years before moving to Ephrata Middle School. While she was there, the District purchased Parkway and Shannon moved there to teach 6th graders. She then moved on to the District Office where she was in charge of curriculum and federal programs. The chance to become a principal came in October of 2005. Shannon had come full circle, landing in the place she had begun but now as principal of Grant.
Shannon has a philosophy that every five to seven years you need to shake things up a bit, which is very sound reasoning. Not only do people benefit from change, but the programs they are involved in benefit from new ideas and new perspectives. As Shannon explained, “There’s something out there calling for me.” She and Bob have finished raising their children; their son Steven is in his last year at Eastern and daughter Megan was a 2011 graduate from Ephrata High School. “We did what we set out to do,” explained Shannon, “which was to raise our children in this small community. We feel we did a good job. We lived our lives for our children—you do the softball, you do the 4H. You do what your kids do. Now what do we do? We’ve got a honeymoon, a new beginning.”
There are exciting changes in store for the Criss family. Shannon was hired as the superintendent for Winlock School District, a district of about 750 students. They have never aspired to live in a big city, but Bob and Shannon will live an hour away from Portland, an hour away from Seattle, an hour from the ocean, and an hour from skiing. But best of all, they will live 92 miles away from their daughter who will attend University of Washington in the fall. Bob has his own business as a real estate appraiser so he can work anywhere, and being an allergy sufferer, the thought of no sage and no dust is particularly appealing. In preparation for Winlock, Shannon bought a raincoat and she was given an umbrella and boots as gifts. Apparently Winlock is very proud of the fact that they are the highest elevation (500 feet) in Lewis County so they don’t get quite as much rain as other places in the county. Shannon will miss her five-day-a-week walk up Beezley Hill. “It clears my head,” she said. On clear days, however, Shannon will be able to walk out of Winlock High School and see Mount St. Helens in front of her and Mount Rainier over to the side. With terrain like that, I believe she will find another hill to climb.
Good educators are always reading and the top of Shannon’s reading list right now is “The Six Secrets of Change—What the Best Leaders Do to Help Their Organizations Survive and Thrive.” It must feel good to read a book like this and realize you already know some of those secrets. Number one is “Love Your Employees,” and it is clear that Shannon has done just that. Lisa Wiersma, Nancy Hustad and Eli Garcia work in the front office and as Lisa said, “You don’t often find an office that can run as cohesively as ours. It is more like a family. Shannon has been an example of compassion, kindness and going above and beyond.” Shannon hopes to take a little bit of Ephrata with her. For sure, she and Bob will join the Lions Club which has been a big part of her life here in Ephrata.
The Criss family is gearing up to become part of the Winlock “Home of the World’s Largest Egg” community. She and Bob will attend Egg Days next week. A fiberglass egg 12 feet long, weighing 1200 pounds is the town’s calling card and has had a version of the egg displayed since 1923. Winlock was the second largest egg producing town until the 1950’s, but the egg theme stuck. A new Egg Queen will be crowned during Egg Days. The Egg Day Committee is trying to contact past Egg Day Queens to attend this year’s Egg Day Celebration. Winlock is honored to have Egg Day Queen of 1938, Joyce Wise Senechal, attending this year. Mrs. Senechal celebrated her 97th birthday on February 23, 2011. These are the things that keep small towns alive.
Shannon is looking forward to learning new things like clam digging and kayaking, although she will miss Ephrata and the friends she has made here. “How do you thank people who have been so instrumental in your life?” Shannon asked. As long as Shannon has Bob by her side, however, she and the rest of the family will be fine. “Bob is my advocate and my strong support system. I couldn’t do what I do without my best friend along.”
Lisa Wiersma summed up Shannon’s leaving best: “Anybody can be replaced in a job, but you can’t replace a person in your heart…she’ll leave a hole, and she will be missed.”
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
A Perfectly Logical Idea
Grant County Journal
A Perfectly Logical Idea
June 6, 2011
Written by Janet Warren
When Logan Nelson empties out the prescription drug drop box, it’s all part of his daily duties as the evidence officer of the Ephrata Police Department. It seems perfectly logical that Ephrata would have a place where people can dispose of their unused prescription drugs, or nonprescription drugs for that matter. I once put two large bottles of expired aspirin in the box. On a day long ago, and in a city far, far away, I would have dumped them down the toilet. Isn’t that what we all did with the expired prescription drugs when we got around to cleaning out the medicine cabinet? That’s a big no-no with today’s environmental concerns. Although I wasn’t able to reach the director of public works for the scientific reason why we shouldn’t flush our drugs, my understanding is that it has something to do with the drugs interfering with the enzymes in the sewage process.
On the website takebackyourdrugs.org, listed are several reasons besides environmental why you should dispose of your unwanted medications. For example:
• Drug overdoses in Washington have surpassed car crashes as the leading cause of accidental death.
• Almost 12% of Washington state teens (one of the highest rates in the nation) use prescription pain medicines to get high.
• Medicine cabinets are the new drug dealer. More than three out of five teens say prescription pain relievers are easy to get from parent's or grandparent's medicine cabinets.
Which brings me back to my comment. If we can’t dump our drugs down the toilet, doesn’t it seem perfectly logical there would be a drop box where we can take them? That’s what Kathy Schultheis thought when she suggested it to her daughter, Heidi Schultheis. Heidi serves on the city council and told her mother about a suggestion form available to the citizens of Ephrata at the police department. Kathy immediately filled out the form and turned it in.
Police Chief, Mike Warren, thought Kathy’s idea was brilliant. Immediately, Chief Warren began the process of implementing Kathy’s perfectly logical idea. Anyone who has ever worked for the government can guess how long the idea took to come to fruition. No matter what agency, be it city, state, or federal, there are piles of paperwork and rolls of red tape to cut through. Luckily for Ephrata, Jefferson Ketch, an administrator for the Health District helped Mike cut through the Drug Enforcement Agency red tape and approval for the drop box was obtained within a couple of months. Next, the drop box had to be implemented into the conversion of a garage into corporal’s office space at the police department. That part took longer because of budget cuts. Logan and Mike designed the box where drugs can be dropped in, but not taken out from the outside. Bill Cox, a carpenter with the City, built the box and finally, about a year after Kathy submitted her form, Ephrata had a place to drop unwanted prescription medications.
As the evidence officer, Logan empties the locked box and disposes of the drugs in Spokane on a quarterly basis. Logan said the box has been “quite a popular service.” Sometimes people have too many drugs to put in the drop box and bring boxes of drugs into the police department, where they are accepted during office hours. Even though this seems like such a logical service to provide, Ephrata is the only 24-hour drop box in eastern Washington. It is listed on takebackyourmeds.org, and Logan has had people from other counties call to find out information about the drop box. Police Departments in other cities have contacted Chief Warren and are following his lead in getting prescription drug boxes in their cities. Who knew Ephrata was such a trendsetter? And it all started with a form that Kathy Schultheis filled out.
In recognition of Kathy’s community service, Chief Warren presented her with a Chief’s Coin at a city council meeting. What’s a Chief’s Coin, you ask? Aha, here’s the rest of the story.
The first coin, eventually earning the name of a challenge coin, is attributed to a pilot in World War I who wanted to celebrate the bond of brotherhood developed among his crew. Special forces in the armed services began making their own challenge coins and the tradition eventually moved into other areas of service, such as fire fighters and law enforcement. These coins are used to reward special acts of service. A tradition that reportedly started during the Vietnam war required coin recipients to carry their coins with them at all times. If at any time a challenge was made, and the person was not carrying his coin, he was required to buy a round of drinks.
The Washington State Patrol, where Mike put in 25 years of service, began issuing coins which they called “Chief’s Coins” (because they were given out by the Chief of the State Patrol) in 2001. From 2001 to 2009 when Mike retired, he earned five Chief’s Coins. He can tell you the story behind each one; getting one of these is a big deal.
Wal-Mart awarded the Ephrata Police Department $2,000 last year and Mike decided to start the Chief’s Coin tradition here using that money. He and Loretta Mayer, his administrative assistant who regularly makes Mike look good, designed the coin with the Ephrata police shield on one side and the county court house on the other. Loretta is a recipient of one of only five Coins that have been given out so far, so she and Kathy Schultheis are in elite company. I must warn Kathy and Loretta, however, that the “coin challenge” isn’t part of the Ephrata tradition, so if anybody approaches you and asks to see your coins, do not be alarmed. No round of drinks is necessary. Donuts…perhaps.
A Perfectly Logical Idea
June 6, 2011
Written by Janet Warren
When Logan Nelson empties out the prescription drug drop box, it’s all part of his daily duties as the evidence officer of the Ephrata Police Department. It seems perfectly logical that Ephrata would have a place where people can dispose of their unused prescription drugs, or nonprescription drugs for that matter. I once put two large bottles of expired aspirin in the box. On a day long ago, and in a city far, far away, I would have dumped them down the toilet. Isn’t that what we all did with the expired prescription drugs when we got around to cleaning out the medicine cabinet? That’s a big no-no with today’s environmental concerns. Although I wasn’t able to reach the director of public works for the scientific reason why we shouldn’t flush our drugs, my understanding is that it has something to do with the drugs interfering with the enzymes in the sewage process.
On the website takebackyourdrugs.org, listed are several reasons besides environmental why you should dispose of your unwanted medications. For example:
• Drug overdoses in Washington have surpassed car crashes as the leading cause of accidental death.
• Almost 12% of Washington state teens (one of the highest rates in the nation) use prescription pain medicines to get high.
• Medicine cabinets are the new drug dealer. More than three out of five teens say prescription pain relievers are easy to get from parent's or grandparent's medicine cabinets.
Which brings me back to my comment. If we can’t dump our drugs down the toilet, doesn’t it seem perfectly logical there would be a drop box where we can take them? That’s what Kathy Schultheis thought when she suggested it to her daughter, Heidi Schultheis. Heidi serves on the city council and told her mother about a suggestion form available to the citizens of Ephrata at the police department. Kathy immediately filled out the form and turned it in.
Police Chief, Mike Warren, thought Kathy’s idea was brilliant. Immediately, Chief Warren began the process of implementing Kathy’s perfectly logical idea. Anyone who has ever worked for the government can guess how long the idea took to come to fruition. No matter what agency, be it city, state, or federal, there are piles of paperwork and rolls of red tape to cut through. Luckily for Ephrata, Jefferson Ketch, an administrator for the Health District helped Mike cut through the Drug Enforcement Agency red tape and approval for the drop box was obtained within a couple of months. Next, the drop box had to be implemented into the conversion of a garage into corporal’s office space at the police department. That part took longer because of budget cuts. Logan and Mike designed the box where drugs can be dropped in, but not taken out from the outside. Bill Cox, a carpenter with the City, built the box and finally, about a year after Kathy submitted her form, Ephrata had a place to drop unwanted prescription medications.
As the evidence officer, Logan empties the locked box and disposes of the drugs in Spokane on a quarterly basis. Logan said the box has been “quite a popular service.” Sometimes people have too many drugs to put in the drop box and bring boxes of drugs into the police department, where they are accepted during office hours. Even though this seems like such a logical service to provide, Ephrata is the only 24-hour drop box in eastern Washington. It is listed on takebackyourmeds.org, and Logan has had people from other counties call to find out information about the drop box. Police Departments in other cities have contacted Chief Warren and are following his lead in getting prescription drug boxes in their cities. Who knew Ephrata was such a trendsetter? And it all started with a form that Kathy Schultheis filled out.
In recognition of Kathy’s community service, Chief Warren presented her with a Chief’s Coin at a city council meeting. What’s a Chief’s Coin, you ask? Aha, here’s the rest of the story.
The first coin, eventually earning the name of a challenge coin, is attributed to a pilot in World War I who wanted to celebrate the bond of brotherhood developed among his crew. Special forces in the armed services began making their own challenge coins and the tradition eventually moved into other areas of service, such as fire fighters and law enforcement. These coins are used to reward special acts of service. A tradition that reportedly started during the Vietnam war required coin recipients to carry their coins with them at all times. If at any time a challenge was made, and the person was not carrying his coin, he was required to buy a round of drinks.
The Washington State Patrol, where Mike put in 25 years of service, began issuing coins which they called “Chief’s Coins” (because they were given out by the Chief of the State Patrol) in 2001. From 2001 to 2009 when Mike retired, he earned five Chief’s Coins. He can tell you the story behind each one; getting one of these is a big deal.
Wal-Mart awarded the Ephrata Police Department $2,000 last year and Mike decided to start the Chief’s Coin tradition here using that money. He and Loretta Mayer, his administrative assistant who regularly makes Mike look good, designed the coin with the Ephrata police shield on one side and the county court house on the other. Loretta is a recipient of one of only five Coins that have been given out so far, so she and Kathy Schultheis are in elite company. I must warn Kathy and Loretta, however, that the “coin challenge” isn’t part of the Ephrata tradition, so if anybody approaches you and asks to see your coins, do not be alarmed. No round of drinks is necessary. Donuts…perhaps.
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