Philomath High School students and staff paraded through a section of town Friday morning as part of homecoming week activities with each of the four classes showcasing well-designed floats.
Led by the cheerleaders riding atop Philomath Fire and Rescue Engine 251, the parade made its way west on Applegate Street from the high school to visit the elementary school and Philomath Academy/Philomath School District, turned around and made a right on South 19th to catch students at the primary school and middle school.
Gallery: PHS Homecoming Parade (Oct. 6, 2023)
A collection of photos from the Philomath High School homecoming parade on Friday.
Following the parade later in the morning, students gathered for an assembly to take school spirit up another notch. Friday evening, a “tailgater” is set to begin 90 minutes before kickoff with the game at 7 p.m. Homecoming royalty will take place at halftime.
The homecoming dance takes place Saturday night.
The students celebrated with a different theme each day over the past week with class colors on Monday, soccer mom vs. barbecue dad on Tuesday, “Barbenheimer” on Wednesday, decades on Thursday and Warrior wear on Friday.
Also during the week, Associated Student Body students served a pancake breakfast Tuesday, the annual power-puff game, tug-of-war contest and bonfire took place Wednesday evening and “lunch cahoot” was Thursday.
2. ‘Socktober’ at Muddy Creek Charter
A couple of years ago, Muddy Creek Charter School teacher Abigail Janakes introduced a new activity to her second-grade classroom — collecting socks for those experiencing homelessness.
The effort continues this month and 7-year-old Nathan Braun, who lives in Philomath, is among the students who are putting in the work as part of “Socktober.” As of earlier this week, more than 200 pairs of socks had been collected.
According to the national nonprofit organization that operates the “Sock It To ‘Em” campaign, “Socks are the No. 1 clothing need of those experiencing homelessness. … For those who don’t have a home, it often means walking on average up to 10 miles each and every day just to find basic necessities and while wearing shoes that are not the correct size and with socks that are worn out, dirty and stiff. There is nowhere to wash the socks, so after two to three days, the socks are worn through and must be thrown away.”
The organization goes on to say, “One of the main reasons someone who is homeless goes to the emergency room is because of a foot ailment and the best way to prevent that is to be able to wear clean dry socks on a regular basis.”
Janakes plans to take all of the sock donations to Community Outreach Inc., in Corvallis. Socks can be sent to or dropped off with Janakes until Oct. 31 at Muddy Creek Charter School, 30252 Bellfountain Road, Corvallis, OR 97333.
3. Local officer gets through academy
One of the Philomath Police Department’s newest officers, Scott Andrade, completed 16 weeks of training at the Oregon Police Academy in Salem. A graduation ceremony was held Sept. 15.
One of those in attendance at the event was Colter Forrest, who will begin his training at the academy this month. If all goes well, he’ll be graduating in February.
Andrade was hired in late 2022 and had to wait several months to get into the academy with the Salem campus backed up with applicants. During the wait, Andrade participated in 12 weeks of pre-academy training with a group from Corvallis Police.
The Department of Public Safety Standards and Training program in Salem represents the only police academy campus in the state. All city, county and state law enforcement hires are required to go through the program.
Officers also go through six to 10 months of field training.
Police Chief Ken Rueben said during a police committee meeting last year, “Usually, when we hire somebody, it takes 12 to 14 months at least until they’re on their own, maybe 16 months, it takes time.”
The local police department is getting back to its full strength of seven officers after experiencing staff challenges in 2022.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).
