The High Desert Porsche Club of Bend donated $3,600 to High Desert Driver Education Program.   This fund will put 40 students through the Deschutes County Skidcar Training Program. The students will learn skills that will stay with them for a life time.

We would like to thank the High Desert Porsche Club for the wonderful  donation for the young drivers of Central Oregon.

Better Together—Central Oregon’s collective effort to improve child & youth outcomes from cradle to career—was honored to welcome Governor Kitzhaber to Central Oregon on Tuesday, January 20^th. Superintendent John Rexford, joined by Better Together leaders and partners, had the rare opportunity to sit down with the Governor for an intimate conversation focused our local collaborative efforts to increase the number of youth completing high school, advancing their post-secondary training and ultimately beginning in a career they find meaningful.

Partners from schools, community based organizations, economic development, local government, early learning, private business and higher education institutions filled a small conference room at the St. Charles Family Care Clinic in Redmond. A handful of cross-sector partners from around the region spoke to the four priority areas of Better Together: Early Learning & Wellness, Supporting Families, Bridging Vulnerable Transitions, and Education/Training to Career—each sharing with the Governor and his Chief of Staff, Greg Wolf, about the emerging strategies, accomplishments and vision.

The Governor praised the collaborative work of the Better Together Partnership and pledged his support to sustain the collective momentum here in Central Oregon.

The children attending Small Wonders Preschool, located at the Alyce Hatch Center, got busy with stickers and markers creating original art work for our Board of Directors.

Gov. Kitzhaber has signed a proclamation declaring January as “School Board Recognition Month.”

The nine individuals who serve on our board spend countless hours working with staff to ensure we are able to provide excellent service to all of the districts in the region. Their dedication to the High Desert ESD Board directly impacts the wonderful children we have the privilege of serving and supports the amazing programs we provide for them. Without their steadfast leadership we could not direct so much time and attention to the children and their families.

Thank you for putting children first!

One hundred and eighty five years after the first book was published in braille, millions of people who are blind or have low vision continue to read, write, and communicate through the six dot system. In fact, braille is used throughout the world by people who read a variety of languages. To promote braille literacy and recognize its inventor, Louis Braille, January is designated Braille Literacy Month in honor of his birthday on the 4th.

People rely on their literacy skills for almost everything they do—from reading a book to sending an email to taking money out of the ATM. For a person who is blind or visually impaired, knowing braille is a basic literacy skill the same way reading print is for a sighted person.

These youngsters in the Early Childhood program had a great day of rolling, decorating and baking their gingerbread men. They learned about measuring ingredients, rolling out the dough, using a cookie cutter, and putting the final touches on their Gingerbread men before baking.