Editor:
Orick was the first school I worked at when I moved from Brooklyn to Trinidad (“One School, Nine Students,” April 23). Working in a school with a student population in the low twenties, where a mama bear with cubs could be seen across the meadow out of the office window, was in striking contrast to teaching in a school of over 1,100 kids minutes away from the Williamsburg Bridge and Manhattan. It’s been over 20 years and I’m back at Orick School. Last spring, a teacher I had worked with at Hoopa Elementary School, Shannon Devine, called and asked me if I’d teach a series of art classes there, which is the point of this letter.
The teacher, who was reported in the caption beneath one of the photographs as being out the day CalMatters went up for the interview and remained unnamed throughout the article, is Shannon Devine and he deserves some — well, like most teachers — a lot of credit for the job he’s doing.
Shannon brings expertise in outdoor and science education, including a vast knowledge of local plant and animal life of the river, forest and ocean ecosystems. He is an avid gardener, and was a chef in a starred restaurant, along with years spent as a behaviorist. There’s more, but as you can surmise, Mr. Devine is a driving force behind the marvelous programs Principal Wallace recounted in the article.
The hope is Orick will flourish, perhaps with the influx of the Yurok Tribe and their uncanny way of promoting successful programs, bringing more families to the school. Small rural schools are unique, offering meaningful relationships and experiences for the kids and town community. The last time I was there, children on the playground were taking turns with Shannon’s binoculars, as he pointed up to three condors flying just above the treeline. Whoosh …
Stephanie Silvia, Eureka
This article appears in Your Local Coven.
