One of the most rewarding facets of covering news in a small community involves the young people that you report on, get to know them a little bit and then watch them from afar reach great heights.
In the spring of 2021, I sat at a table in the high school auditorium and interviewed Caleb Matthews, who was one of the valedictorians, for a graduation-related feature. I remember walking away from our talk with the thought that this is a kid who will really go places.
Matthews, who is the son of Chad and Shelly Matthews, headed to Stanford.
“There are some colleges that focus on dreamership and having big ideas and there are some colleges that focus on doership and accomplishing those things,” he told me that day. “Stanford has a really cool blend where you find a sort of Steve Jobs and a (Steve) Wosniack. One of them goes, ‘I have this great idea about how we can make things better for people’ and the other says, ‘I actually know how to do that.’ That blend is a really important thing.”
Not long after arriving on campus, Matthews became involved with the Moonshot Club, which is part of Lab64, an electrical engineering-related makerspace. Well, Matthews and one of his projects — which involved collaboration with Moonshot Club members — attracted some press. Matthews came up with the idea of an instrument called the Modulin, which he described to The Stanford Daily as a “single-string, digital violin that has a drummer and back-up pianist stuffed somewhere inside of it.”
According to the story, Matthews had been inspired by Martin Wintergatan, a lover of music and engineering who attracted quite a following on YouTube, and his instrument of the same name. Like Wintergatan’s instrument, a player of Matthews’s Modulin slides a finger along a ribbon sensor but then can also press buttons to play accompanying piano chords or drum beats.
Matthews said that he chose to implement the ribbon sensor based on his experience with the ukulele, guitar and banjo while growing up in Philomath.
“I picked up all those kinds of strumming instruments, but I’ve always loved violins. They sound really cool but they don’t have frets and that scares the daylights out of me,” Matthews told reporter Kelly Wang, who penned the feature for The Stanford Daily. “You have to put your finger exactly where you want to be. If you’re slightly too far or slightly too shallow, it’s sharp or flat and I’m a perfectionist, and that’s terrifying.”
What really makes this story extra exciting is that San Francisco Symphony Collaborative Partner and concert curator Carol Reiley invited Matthews to display the instrument during an April 5 concert.
According to Wang’s story, “A handful of audience members experimented with features beyond the violin-mimicking ribbon sensor. They tested out the button grid, producing drum beats and piano chords when hooked up to the MainStage application. Sound production was also coordinated to different hues of LED lights displayed on the side of the instrument.”
This is a well-written story with multiple sources revolving around Matthews and the Modulin. Read the story in its entirety here.
2. Bookworms compete at state
Philomath Elementary School’s Bookworms reached the Sweet 16 last weekend at the Oregon Battle of the Books state tournament in Salem. The fifth graders from Philomath were among 30 elementary school teams from across Oregon that battled on April 13 at Chemeketa Community College.
Team members include Gretel Appanaitis, Leona DeMasi, Hannah Hammonds, Viola Trippe and alternate Clara Smith. Serving as the team coach was Kristin Trippe.
Through the first two rounds, the Bookworms were ranked No. 12 and moved on to the Sweet 16. There, they lost to fifth-seeded Elmonica, an elementary school out of Hillsboro, in what was described as “a heated battle.”
Bethany Elementary out of Beaverton won the state title.
The finish for PES was impressive when you consider that more than 500 elementary schools from around the state participated this year in the Oregon Battle of the Books. The Bookworms won the PES competition and then finished runner-up at the regional tournament March 2 in Corvallis to qualify for state.
One of the highlights of the appearance at state for the kids was a presentation by author Rebecca Stead, who wrote “The List of Things that Will Not Change,” a title included on this year’s OBOB reading list.
3. Special event on May 1
The Philomath High School baseball team has been on a tear in recent weeks with a 10-game winning streak and 6-0 start to league play. Beyond the field, the team will be involved with a special moment at its upcoming game on May 1 against Newport.
Eric Niemann, a former mayor and champion of all things veteran-related in Philomath, has been working with PHS coach Levi Webber and Athletic Director Mike Hood on having a pregame ceremony that honors the sacrifice of Paul Cochran, who was killed in action during the Vietnam War on May 1, 1968.
Cochran was part of the Warriors baseball program in the mid-1960s, graduating with the PHS Class of 1966. Based on archived newspaper stories, he appeared to be one of the team’s top pitchers.
The game is scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. start but to catch the ceremony, you should probably be there by at least 4:15.
Cochran is the namesake of the new veterans memorial park at North 16th and College streets. The ceremony will be similar to the Cody Patterson recognition that was part of pregame activities at a Philomath High football game this past fall.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).