LINKS:
Donate Securely Electronically
To donate by check, send to "Viking Association," c/o North Salem High School, 765 14th St. NE, Salem OR 97301
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* * * * Viking Association Mission Statement: To create, promote, and sustain a "Viking-connected" community of alumni and friends, this Association will foster a lasting and mutually beneficial relationship among alumni, friends, North Salem High School (NSHS), its students and staff, and the community to support the mission, goals, and traditions of NSHS. |
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| Featured in this issue:
- Fitness Center
- Alumna makes cross-country bike trek
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Fitness Center
As we have reported in the last newsletter, the old weight room which services 8 class periods of an average of 40 students per class, as well as athletic teams both before and after school (approximately one-third of the student body per year) is finally getting a major face lift after 25 years of heavy use, resulting in broken down and at times unsafe equipment and a floor that should have been replaced years ago.
We are seeing the fruits of hard work by Viking staff and students and the funds donated by so many of you. Starting the week before Winter Break, students in weight lifting classes pulled up the old, decrepit floor from the weight room, laid much of it down in the small gym (Gym A, one of the "outside gyms"), and moved all of the equipment from the weight room into that area. Then the weight room concrete floor was swept and thoroughly cleaned.
Just in time! A snow storm hit closing schools. For those of you living where it snows often and wondering how 2" of snow can close schools, for us it is not the snow as much as the ice that forms under  it with partial thawing and refreezing. Plus much of Salem now resides on (often steep) hills. Staff and students got out shovels and cleared a path to the gym area. After some problems, on Friday we finally got a truck with a flatbed trailer and a couple of trips  were made to McMinnville to the warehouse of the company selling us the interlocking rubber (recycled) floor tiles.
A forklift was rented from Hertz and the pallets of tiles were offloaded from the flatbed and a crew of volunteers (teachers, coaches, and students, and overseen by new Athletic Director Brodie Cavaille (class of 1998)) began immediately laying down the tiles in  the 5000+ sq. ft. weight room. Before the end of Friday all but the edges of the room were laid. Work over the weekend finished most of the edges. On Monday, the 19th, eight 4' x 8' mirrors were installed along the western wall, each of which will be in front of new weight racks. The mirrors will help students observe their  form to enable them to work for safe and correct posture while lifting. In addition, they will magnify the lighting in a fairly dimly lit room. (We are working with the District to enhance the lighting, probably during this coming summer.)
On Wednesday, December 28, the eight weight racks were delivered  and installed by Life Fitness. They are a gorgeous Viking red in color, contrasting beautifully with the black floor. Along with the racks came 4 stationary bikes which will be  helpful in cardio work and in injury rehabilitation. In addition, on Thursday, Dec. 22, a new drinking fountain was delivered with the capability of filling water bottles, making it more sanitary. It will be installed as soon as we can find a plumber to do it, unless we can get the school district to do it.
Grants have been helpful in augmenting donations. The Larry and Jeanette Epping Family Foundation contributed $16,000 toward the new floor and a grant from the Nike Foundation will lead to the installation of three large-screen Apple TV monitors which will be used to post daily lesson plans, videos of proper equipment usage, iPad videos by teachers and coaches to show students and athletes their own form alongside desired form.
But this is only phase one. There is much more to do to bring this room up to standards of other high schools, to make it safe, and to make it usable for a curriculum that meets the needs of today's youth. By January we will be halfway there. We will still need financial help to complete the project. In December, a new campaign was being launched to raise the funds necessary to finish the job. We believe the
remaining costs will be around $65,000. We hope that you will strongly consider making a contribution, or a further contribution, to make this dream a reality.
Checks may be made out to "Viking Association" and sent to North High at 765 14 th St. NE, Salem OR 97301. Cash donations will be accepted as well. If you wish to donate using a credit card on a secure site, you can go to the "Donate Securely Electronically" tab in the upper left corner of this newsletter.
Young Alumna crosses US by bicycle
5,350 miles, 15 states, multiple times over the Continental Divide, more than a dozen mountain passes including 7,393-foot King's Hill Pass in Montana, two oceans, four months--all while riding solo!
Riding a rebuilt 1985 Trek 620 bicycle, Emily Loberg (class of 2009) set out in June with a tent, a sleeping bag, biking clothes and a stove and headed for Bar Harbor, Maine where her brother Matthew (class of 2012) lives. Riding across the northern part of the country, Loberg took a zigzag route, partly in order to visit friends along the way.
The highlight was a 3-day stay in Glacier National Park, possibly the most gorgeous place she had ever seen. Occasionally she hooked up with groups of cyclers, but much of the trip was lonely. She slept in national parks, campgrounds, in city parks where it was legal and alongside the road. She was constantly surprised by the kindness of people along the way. At a Wisconsin ice cream parlor, the cashier informed her that the group in front of her had already paid for her. Another time, a couple took her out to breakfast and shared their campsite after hearing about her odyssey.
Since her return to Salem, Loberg has been hired by Adventure Cycling to train as a co-leader for a Death Valley trip in March, and in May she'll lead a group 4,253 miles from Williamsburg, Virginia to Florence, Oregon.
Portions of this story were borrowed from Whitney M. Woodworth, Statesman-Journal newspaper.
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| If you have not already done so, please send to Steve Chambers your full contact information (name, maiden name where applicable, street address, phone number, and graduating class or if your are a friend) as this will help us keep in contact should your e-mail address change. Please forward this newsletter to other Vikings so they can also stay in touch with the school. steverc@comcast.net |
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