This holiday season, some wonderful people at Crescent Valley came together to make a difference and better our community. This year we saw great successes from Raider Royalty, a holiday fundraiser, the holiday bazaar, and a food drive. The CV Royalty program, led by Mrs. Harder, raises money for Jackson Youth Services, the Old Mill Center, and the Children’s Miracle Network, all of which benefit the Benton County Community. On Nov 15th they won a philanthropic award from the Benton County Foundation, and recently they went caroling for donations in several neighborhoods, and for free at some retirement homes. This year they hope to raise even more money than last time. The holiday fundraiser was put on by one of our junior class presidents with a goal of raising money for 30 CV families in need. Last year they raised around $1900 and this year they raised over $2500. The Holiday Bazaar, which was organized by Bianca Curtin (the sustainability commissioner for core council), raised $216. The proceeds will go to making CV a greener and more sustainable place. Additionally, CV recently had a food drive, which was organized by the administration to make sure no student goes hungry; that also received a wonderful amount of support. These are all heartwarming shows of holiday spirit, but it doesn’t have to stop there. You should get involved too! Next time there’s a food drive or a fundraiser, consider donating. The money you give goes back to the community and makes Corvallis a better place for all of us. Get involved with organizations working for change; after all, finding places to volunteer is just one google search away. - Kristen Scarborough
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Recently, Oregon’s legislature has passed a variety of new laws that will govern everything from bikes and transit to taxes and bottle deposits - all of which are things that will affect the lives of CV students. Here’s some major changes and additions to the law that Raiders should know about. Bikes at Stop Signs According to a new law, bikes will now be allowed to treat stop signs as ‘yield’ signs. This is similar to a law recently passed in Idaho, and helps to allow bikes to coast through low-traffic neighborhoods without having to stop at every intersection. However, this doesn’t apply to cars, so don’t keep your California rolling stops as a habit. Protecting the Environment A few Oregon laws will come into play this new year governing bags and straws. Corvallis passed a city-wide plastic bag ban a few years ago, and now the state has as well; all across Oregon, plastic bags will be banned, and paper bags will cost 5 cents each. The state legislature has also passed a law regarding straws: restaurants cannot hand out plastic straws to customers unless they ask. If and Only If… Oregon has passed two laws this year that would only come into effect if the federal government or other states pass similar legislation. One outlines Oregon’s plan to combat the grogginess of daylight savings: if the federal government, Washington and California all agree, then Oregon would stop switching to and from daylights savings time. The state senate also passed a bill adding Oregon to a pact of states that agree to award all their electoral votes to the winner of the nationwide popular vote, not the candidate who wins their state. However, none of those states will act on that agreement until the number of states who have agreed to it exceeds 270 electoral votes (the electoral college majority needed to win the presidency). If that were to happen, then all of those states would award their votes to the winner of the nationwide popular vote, essentially nullifying the electoral college. Paid Family Leave Oregon will now allow up to 12 weeks (about 3 months) for a variety of reasons, including a new child, a family sickness, and recovery from serious illness or domestic violence. It will be funded with a small tax, similar to the pay deduction for worker’s compensation, and that will begin being withdrawn in 2022. The leave will be available to all Oregon workers in 2023, but companies with less than 25 employees won’t have to pay into the fund. Ballots and Driver’s Licenses Oregon already has ballots by mail, but now those ballots will come with prepaid postage, meaning that Oregonians won’t have to pay for stamps to vote. The state will also allow undocumented immigrants to receive driver’s licenses - however, they won’t be added to the voter rolls. Rent and Refills Rent increases in Oregon will cap the percent of rent increase at 7% every year (not including price index increases, which are usually around 3%). That law also forbids landlords from evicting renters without cause if they’ve lived there for more than 12 months. Another law will allow Oregonians to receive emergency refills of life-saving medicine like insulin without having to wait for their doctors office to open so they can get a new prescription. - Kate Voltz
Book Of The Month: Six Of Crows by Leigh Bardugo Young adult fiction can often feel repetitive and unoriginal, but Six Of Crows turns that all on its head. Through deeply developed characters and a thrilling plot, Bardugo leaves the reader hooked - but don't worry, it won't be left on a cliffhanger, because there's more where this came from. There's more books in the series, other series in the universe, and a TV adaptation coming to Netflix as well. Six of Crows will leave readers in love with its characters and absorbed in the story. If you like young adult fiction, characters that are a little crooked but lovable, and great adventure, then this book is for you!
- Kate Voltz
Oregon’s congress has passed a law allowing Oregonian students to take ‘mental health days’ as excused absences. With this new law comes a new opportunity to reflect on the mental health of our country, our state, and our school, and how that can be improved to better people’s lives. (Below at right: some of the student activists that helped to pass the law). Oregon, as it turns out, is one of the worst states in the country for mental health. In fact, it is the worst. A study in 2017 by Mental Health America found that Oregonians’ mental health is the lowest in the nation. Some large factors in that ranking include Oregon’s high numbers of homelessness and child abuse, and a lower percentage of high school graduation. Oregon also has the highest prevalence of mental illness in the nation, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. On top of that, the psychiatrists and therapists of Oregon are paid so little that there’s minimal incentive to practice, and the few that do practice have an overabundance of patients and little to no room for new clients. Insurance and cost can also affect mental health care: affordability and lack of access are the leading reasons that people can’t meet their needs for mental health services, according to the National Council for Behavioral Health in 2018. The public education system is one of the ways that kids can seek the care they need - but that’s not perfect, either. The Corvallis School District is changing the way it approaches mental health; it's removing private contractors, hiring more counselors, and appropriating more funds to the issue, including from the money coming in from the recent bond and the Student Success Act. Here at Crescent Valley, people have many varying perspectives on mental health and what can be done to improve. The Crier asked several people with various roles around CV about their ideas and views on these topics and how things could be improved in our district. “Our district is one of the few in our state that has a mental health coordinator, and which has made it a huge priority, and that’s been led largely by our counselors. It’s definitely a priority for our district going forward.” - Mr. Strowbridge “Staff this summer underwent training for mental health and care, and there’s been talk among staff about it as well. Our district has been making it a priority, for sure, and we have some proactive measures in place with multiple counselors and staff training. Mental health is definitely important for our district.” - Ms. Stone “Advertising what resources and rights people have would be good, and I think that would make students more aware - of the mental health days, et cetera.” - Trevor Adams, ASB co-president “I believe the district should invest heavily in mental health resources at the elementary and middle school level. I know we have needs that need to be addressed at the high school level, but if we can address student’s needs when they’re younger, they’ll be better equipped to deal with stressors as they get older as well.” - Mr. Stair “The district could work to be more proactive in teaching all students how to take care of their mental health, so they don’t need to have those services. It should be just as important as Algebra 1 for students. I agree with Mr. Stair: it starts even in kindergarten, when kids are learning how to cope with things that come up in their lives. That is being addressed - 10 years ago, we only had 2 elementary school counselors in the district, and now we have 8.” - Robbie Cox, counselor “I really think we need mental health-specific counselors. I personally feel that I have a strong understanding of mental health, but I think I’m in the minority there. There needs to be a greater push for better teacher training on mental health.” - Mr. Perley “Our school district largely thinks of mental illness as a trophy cause, by doing awareness activities and patronizing the issue. The students who are really suffering feel that they’re unable to speak up, and teachers in classrooms aren’t as prepared to respond to mental illness in the classroom. It’s used as a reason for awareness or an activity day, but not enough is being actually done.” - Juliah Lyon “We have extensive mental health resources at OSU, but they’re not really utilized by a majority of students on campus. Personally, I think that our advisors and counselors could receive training in mental health, to allow to mitigation and prevention instead of a reactive strategy... Freshman on campus, especially, are dealing with making decisions for some of the first times in their lives, and that can also be stressful... Stress is one of the major factors in high suicide rates, and stress about performance and grades definitely contributes to that. All of those things are problems at the high school level as well.” - Mr. Kelly, student teacher and OSU student Major sources can be accessed at these sites: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/22/a-new-bill-allows-oregon-students-to-take-mental-health-days.html https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/oregon-ranks-worst-in-us-for-mental-health-study-says/283-449141620 https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/oregon-ranks-worst-in-us-for-mental-health-study-says/283-449141620 https://namior.org/oregon-ranked-worst-for-prevalence-of-mental-illness/ https://www.thenationalcouncil.org/press-releases/new-study-reveals-lack-of-access-as-root-cause-for-mental-health-crisis-in-america/ https://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/corvallis-schools-take-new-approach-to-mental-health/article_2f416783-fb2b-5211-80cb-fb69102c235b.html There are many emergency resources available to anyone in crisis. Listed below are just a few. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline: Call 1-800-273-8255, or go to https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org for more resources. Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741 for a text conversation with a trained crisis counselor. The Trevor Project Hotline: Call 1-866-488-7386 or go to https://www.thetrevorproject.org for a text chat and other resources. The Trevor Project is dedicated largely to preventing suicide in the LGBTQ+ community, which has far higher rates of suicide than other demographics. SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) Hotline: 1-800-662-4357. This line will give you information about mental health services and treatment in your area - it’s not a crisis line, but can help put you in touch with resources. Our CV counselors are also great resources, and can help you get other services if needed as well. - Kate Voltz
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