509J Newsroom

Join us as we celebrate the outstanding athletes, teams, and contributors who have left a lasting legacy at Madras High School. The Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2026 will be honored on Friday, January 30, held at halftime of the varsity girls basketball game, with the formal induction ceremony immediately following the game.

MHS is officially inducting seven inductees. Those inductees are:

• Merlin Rodman

• Darrell Ceciliani

• Fran Moses Ahern

• Dave Randle

• Steve Rogers

• Dallas Stovall

• 1970 Boys Basketball Team

We encourage alumni, families, students, and community members to pack the gym and help us recognize these incredible individuals and team for their achievements and contributions to White Buffalo athletics.

January 30

Madras High School

Following the varsity girls basketball game

Learn more about the inductees here.

Each year during Homecoming, we take time to honor and celebrate Madras High graduates who have gone on to achieve great things and make a difference in their communities and beyond. Through our Distinguished Alumni program, we recognize individuals whose accomplishments, service, and leadership reflect the values of MHS. This program aims to inspire our current students by showing them what is possible and what individuals who used to walk the same halls they do now have gone on to accomplish.

This year, we’re proud to welcome two new inductees to our Distinguished Alumni: Lewis E Pitt Jr., and Angie Namenuk. We recognized both of them at our Homecoming Assembly on October 3. Lewis E Pitt Jr could not join us unfortunately on that day in person due to health reasons.

Lewis E Pitt Jr.

Born in 1948 at the Warm Springs Indian Health Service Hospital, Lewis E. Pitt Jr., Yowan Swickt, is a proud Tribal Member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.

Throughout his career, he dedicated himself to protecting natural resources, strengthening Tribal sovereignty, and making sure that his people’s collective voice was heard. He served as Assistant Director of Planning and Implementation for the Warm Springs Natural Resources Department. During his time there, he worked to restore streams on the reservation and protect waterways across the region. His leadership extended past Warm Springs, as he represented the Tribes in other management plans throughout Oregon that included the Lower Deschutes, John Day, and Metolius rivers.

He also served eight years on the Columbia River Gorge Commission and played a key role in educating the state legislature about the Treaty of 1855 with the Middle Oregon Tribes. His primary focus was focused on reminding leaders of honoring his people’s off-reservation rights to fish, gather roots, hunt, and pick berries.

He has served the Tribes well throughout his roles. Those include service on the Tribal Appeals Court and Director of Government Affairs. He also served for three years on the Pacific Northwest Conservation and Power Council where he focused on serving as a representative for our state and fighting to improve issues affecting fisheries across the state.

Angie Namenuk 

Angie Namenuk spent her childhood growing up in the high desert of Oregon, splitting her childhood between Culver and Madras, to becoming a leader for one of the largest pharmaceutical companies and leading providers for cancer treatments globally, Roche.

She moved to Madras just before high school, where she was an active student, participating in both athletics and student body leadership. These activities instilled in her the values of hard work and collaboration that would prove to be foundational throughout her life. Inspired by her love of science, she studied chemistry at Willamette University. Following that, she earned an internship in Genentech’s research labs to start her career.

Since then, she has held positions of increasing global responsibility in Research, Drug Development Project Management, scientific operations, and Finance. Through her roles, she’s had the opportunity to travel the world. Visiting different countries, such as Switzerland, Japan, Spain, Costa Rica, Canada, and Tanzania, regularly. She is currently the Global Head of Research and Early Development Procurement Partnering for Roche.

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from Willamette University, a Master’s in Business from Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, a Certificate in Project Management from UC Berkeley, and is a Certified Professional Coach. In 2021, Angie was recognized by Pharma Voice as one of the top 100 inspiring leaders in the life sciences industry.

Beyond her professional accomplishments, Angie truly believes in community service. She helped lead a campaign that ultimately raised $74M for local schools. She has coached more than 30 boys and girls youth sports teams ranging from softball, baseball, basketball and soccer and volunteered her time for a number of school events.

She also co-founded the Kahawa Foundation, which built a healthcare clinic in rural Tanzania and funded women’s health projects. She continues to pursue these passions by seeking out local and global volunteer opportunities.

 

Last school year, our libraries saw more students expressing interest in checking out books. 32,430 books were checked out. That is the most checkouts we’ve seen in a single year in seven whole years! That number also represents the third highest total over a 10-year span.

We have our school librarians to thank for the increased interest in our libraries. The work they’ve been performing over the past four years has been extraordinary. Librarians have been updating their collections through student input, professional networks and conferences. This was all possible thanks to a grant our district acquired in 2020.

Not only did students browse their library collections more frequently and check out more books, they also had greater success in statewide reading initiatives such as the Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB). 

Both Buff and Madras Elementary schools made the Elite 8 at the regional tournament last year.  The regional tournament consisted of teams from Wasco, Crook, Grant, Harney, Deschutes and Jefferson Counties. Having two teams make the Elite 8 at the highly competitive tournament was a first for our district. 

At the secondary level, Jefferson County Middle School finished first at a tournament in Redmond and earned a bronze medal at the regional tournament in Bend, just missing out on a berth to state. The two top teams at the regional tournament qualify for state. 

Not to be outdone, the White Buffaloes of Madras High School defeated Baker City in the regional final and punched the school’s first ever trip to the state tournament in Salem.    

With the new school year underway, our libraries are already in the process of building on their success from last year. New book orders have been submitted, checkouts are occurring and planning is underway for another successful season of OBOB!      

Dear Jefferson County School District 509J Families,

Welcome to this new 2025-26 school year!  I am so excited for the new school year that is just a little more than two weeks from today!  Our teachers and staff will be returning to schools and classrooms in days ahead as we begin those last preparations for the start of another awesome year.  We are eager to support and work with your student(s) in the year ahead.

We are welcoming most of our students on Wednesday, September 3. See below for specific school and grade first day details.

First Days of School

Grades 1-6 and Grade 9: Wednesday, September 3

Grades 1-8 (Warm Springs K8 Academy): Wednesday, September 3

Grades 7-8 & 10-12: Thursday, September 4

We ask our Pre-school and Kindergarten families to check in with your school to find out when your incoming student will start.

In our district, one of our core values is ‘Students Flourish Here.’ We know that our students will do their best work when they can fully focus and connect with their teachers and classmates without distractions from personal electronic devices like cell phones.

At the start of the school year, one change you’ll see is we are expanding our ‘off and away’ expectations from our secondary schools to district-wide. This means all students will be asked to keep phones and other electronic devices turned off and put away from the start to the end of the school day. 

To make this work, we will need the support and teamwork from our staff, students, and families. You can learn more about what this looks like in our schools and see some frequently asked questions by visiting our website, here.

Schools are hosting Open House events in the coming weeks.  Please check with your school to learn specific details for those events.

School	Date
Buff Elementary	Thursday, August 28, 4-6pm
Metolius Elementary	Thursday, August 28, 4-6pm
Madras Elementary	Thursday, August 28, 4-6pm
WSK8	Thursday, August 28, 4-6pm
Bridges High (Including ROOTS)	Thursday, August 28, 4-6pm (Will be at WSK8 Back to School BBQ)
JCMS	Wednesday, August 27, 5-6:30pm
MHS	Tuesday, September 2, 4:30-6:30pm
509J Online	Tuesday, September 2, 10am-2pm
509J Preschool	Wednesday, August 27, 4-6pm

As we begin a new school year, please help your student attend school each day.  We know that students who attend school regularly are able to access more learning and have much better chances of being able to read, write and succeed in math at their appropriate grade level or beyond.  Attending school regularly is the secret to positive social and learning experiences in school.

Thank you for partnering with your child’s school.  This 2025-26 school year is going to be a great one!

Serving 509J Schools,

Dr. Jay Mathisen, Superintendent

On Wednesday, June 11, our district came together to celebrate ten incredible staff members at our annual Retirement Breakfast Ceremony. Whether serving in the classroom, behind the scenes, or in leadership roles, each retiree has played a vital role in making our schools a place where students flourish.

Among this year’s retirees, five retirees have dedicated more than 20 years to our district, a milestone that speaks to their dedication to educating and supporting the youth in our community. 

At the breakfast, held in their honor, supervisors shared stories of their impact over the years, remembering moments that made these individuals truly stand out. We know that this next chapter will be filled with new adventures, well-earned rest, and hopefully, plenty of joy. We wish each of our retirees a happy and fun retirement and extend a big thank you for their years of service.

Congratulations on an outstanding career to each of you. 

JCSD 509J 2025 Retirees

Scott Shannon: Teacher – Bridges High School

– 5 years of service to JCSD 509J

Bear Ross: Custodian – Buff Elementary School

– 28 years of service to JCSD 509J

Gloria Gomez: Custodian – Buff Elementary School

– 21 years of service to JCSD 509J

Casey Claus: Teacher – JCMS

– 27 years of service to JCSD 509J

Cherie Brown: EA – Madras Elementary

– 8 years of service to JCSD 509J

Larinda Galloway: EA – JCMS

– 15 years of service to JCSD 509J 

Melinda Boyle: HR Director – SSB

– 24 years of service to JCSD 509J

Lark Earnest: Secretary – Metolius Elementary

– 29 years of service to JCSd 509J

Kay Short: EA – Metolius Elementary

– 10 years of service to JCSD 509J

Dan Gehring: Custodian – Madras Elementary

– 11 years of service to JCSD 509J

More pictures are available at the links below. Click on the links to see or download the pictures from Madras High School’s graduation ceremony.

Graduation Ceremony Pictures

Diploma Portraits

Senior Scholarship Ceremony Pictures

More pictures are available at the links below. Click on the links to see or download the pictures from Bridges High School’s graduation ceremony.

Graduation Ceremony Pictures

Senior Portraits & More Ceremony Pictures

Robing Ceremony Pictures

The Ford Family Foundation recently awarded its prestigious scholarship to three outstanding seniors from Madras High School (MHS). 

Congratulations to Yashira Chavero, Manny Meraz, and Andres Pineda! These students have demonstrated exceptional resilience, dedication, and leadership, paving the way for their bright futures.

Yashira Chavero

For years, Yashira Chavero has had an up-close look at what it takes to become a Ford Scholar. She has witnessed her former classmates receive the Ford Foundation Scholarship. It covers 90% of unmet financial needs to attend college in Oregon. 

“Just seeing everything they did, all their services they did, and how they applied for it, and they got rewarded for it,” Chavero said.

Throughout her academic career at MHS, Chavero has done everything she can to bolster her resume and give back to both her school and community. She is the President of Key Club and Interact Club, captain of the girl’s tennis team, a member of the National Honor Society, the student representative to the JCSD 509J School Board the past two years, served in both leadership and yearbook at MHS, and worked for our school district as a peer tutor since her sophomore year.

All that work seemingly paid off when she received the notification from the Ford Family Foundation on a Wednesday afternoon saying she was one of their scholarship recipients. She was in class thinking about her future when the bell rang. After leaving class, she checked her phone and saw the notification.

“I got the notification and I kind of freaked out a little bit. I was like, “Is this real,” she said. “It felt really good at that moment and I’m glad. It made me feel like all the hard work paid off.” 

According to the Ford Family Foundation website, they look for resilient students who possess four qualities. They look for academic potential, community engagement and service to others, work ethic, and the motivation and mindset of the student.

Chavero looks back at a pivotal turning point back to her sophomore year when she attended Rotary’s RYLA Camp. RYLA stands for Rotary Youth Leadership Awakening. This is a challenging program that is designed to grow passion, resilience, determination, mental toughness, gratitude and compassion in the individuals attending. 

“I think that really took me out of my shell and then also helped me help other people be leaders,” she said. “I really enjoyed that experience, and I think it’s something I’ve used throughout the years and really benefited me.”

One of the biggest rewards for earning the Ford Foundation Scholarship is the renewable financial award of up to $40,000 per year. This can help cover expenses such as tuition, living expenses, books, and other required fees for college. Being a Ford Scholar lifts a gigantic financial burden from Chavero. 

“I really think it’s going to help me out,” she said. “They’re going to pay for my tuition, but room and food is around $15,000. I don’t even have anything close to that.” 

The financial help will also free Chavero from having to work throughout her college years. She’s worked to earn money throughout high school. Often balancing her responsibilities among her studies, job, and extracurricular activities. 

“I really want to hopefully get as many scholarships as I can so I can finally take a break and just focus on my studies,” she said. “Then maybe join some clubs over there and just really enjoy my college experience.”

Chavero will soon graduate from Madras High to attend the University of Oregon. There, she’ll be studying Elementary Education in hopes of becoming a teacher. Her goal is to return to Jefferson County and teach the next generation. Chavero credits a couple people for helping her along the way. Those two being Cam Rosenfield, the Student Success Coordinator at JCMS, and Kim Schmith. 

“He [Mr. Rosenfield] always saw potential in me and he always motivated me and pushed me to do hard things,” she said. “She [Schmith] is my key club advisor and also helped push me through the years. She helped me apply for scholarships and helped me get in contact with past members who received the Ford Foundation scholarship that gave me helpful advice.” 

Not long from now, Chavero will most likely be the one on the other end of helping a student through this process. For now, her message for students is that hard work pays off. 

“If it’s something that you like doing and something you want to do, just continue doing that,” she said. “You’ll meet people that have similar beliefs or values as you while you’re doing it. You’ll likely meet new friends and you’ll step out of your comfort zone and you’ll be set with a lot of opportunities that you might not have thought you could have. 

Manny Meraz 

For Manny Meraz, he carried a quiet weight shared among many of his peers. His higher education dreams were measured not by ambition or effort, but what he and his family could afford. His decision to apply and go after the prestigious Ford Family Foundation Scholarship meant the difference on where he would be attending after graduation.
“I don’t come from a very high income household, so the fact was, if I didn’t get the scholarship, then that meant I couldn’t go to university,” he said. 

Throughout high school, Manny worked to make his presence count by staying deeply involved and stepping up when needed. He has participated in numerous activities such as boys soccer, cheerleading, track and field, and theatre. Currently, he is fundraising to attend the International Thespian Festival this June, where he and his acting partner, Cara Todd, earned a spot for their performance in the Regional Thespian Competition earlier this year. 

He’s involved in student leadership, even earning the position of Associated Student Body President his senior year. This year, one of the projects leadership worked on was bringing the public awareness campaign “Every 15 Minutes” back to MHS. Meraz played a key role the day of the event. 

“We were spreading awareness and I was dressed up in this whole cloak and I couldn’t speak for the entire day,” he said. 

Meraz was dressed in a black cloak along with a dozen other students to represent a teenager who dies every 15 minutes on average nationally due to driving while intoxicated. Students were selected by the grim reaper during the day in class. This meant the student had died and could no longer speak the rest of the day. 

The Ford Family Foundation seeks students who contribute back to their school, family, and/or community. They want their Ford Scholars to think and care about how they impact the world around them and take action to get involved. Meraz embodies these values not just in big moments, but in how he interacts with people on a daily basis.

One of Meraz’s greatest strengths is his ability to conversate and relate with just about anyone. In a day in age when so many people, both youth and adults, have their heads buried in their phones, Meraz is seeking out opportunities to connect with his fellow peers and staff members at MHS.

“I’m not afraid to talk to anyone and I find it very enjoyable to actually conversate with others,” he said. “I’m not scared of who I’m talking with, whether you’re a cheerleader, whether you’re a football player, whether you’re a band kid, theater kid, or maybe you just like all sports, all clubs. I’ll find a way to talk to you.” 

It’s fitting that at the moment he found out he was named a Ford Scholar, he was surrounded by his classmates in the Future Center at MHS. After some encouragement to check his email, Meraz did just that and saw the Ford emblem in his inbox. 

“I covered my phone up because I didn’t want to see the words,” he said. “I had to be surprised.” 

He was indeed surprised.

“I jumped out of my chair and I started just hugging my cousin, who was right next to me. And then I went to Miss Loza [Future Center Coordinator, and I actually almost threw her off of the stool she was sitting in,” he said. “Then I fell on the floor right afterwards, and I just couldn’t stop. That day was just filled, it was a little bit dramatic, but I was very excited to do that and it felt amazing. I felt like I could just do like a thousand push ups at that moment.”

With the scholarship, Meraz intends to attend Portland State University and major in psychology. His long-term goal is to start his own non-profit that will be focused on helping the unhoused. In addition, Meraz will also be an intern in Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley’s office. He is no doubt going to be busy the next four years, but there is another benefit to receiving the Ford Foundation Scholarship, and that comes in the form of added support. 

“I’m also going to have a mental health counselor and then I’m also going to have an academic advisor that’s going to be with me the entire time, so I’m gonna have a lot of help throughout the entire years of college,” he said. 

Meraz would not be in this position today without the help and sacrifices of his mother, Guadalupe Ruiz. 

“I want to thank my mom because she gave me literally everything,” he said. “It felt like we were just underdogs of the entire town. So, I’m very happy and very thankful to her.” 

Andres Pineda

Andres Pineda entered his senior year in a similar position as his classmates. Looking forward, wondering what he needs to do to put himself in the best possible position after graduation. On his mind was where he was going to college, but a bigger question he asked himself was how he was going to afford it. That’s where the Ford Foundation Scholarship came in. 

“If I got the scholarship, I’d be able to go to a university, and if I didn’t, I’d end up going to a community college,” he said. 

Pineda, similar to Meraz, had his heart and eyes set on attending college in the Rose City with the future goal of going into the medical field.

“I always wanted to go to Portland State University, and that was always a goal for me,” he said “The Ford Foundation Scholarship would be one of the main factors of me going to Portland State University.” 

Pineda did what he could throughout his time in high school to make himself an attractive applicant for the scholarship. When he wasn’t busy playing soccer or running for the track team, he was fulfilling his responsibilities as president for the Youth Advisory Council, and taking on a full course load of college level courses through Madras High’s Dual Enrollment Program. 

One of Pineda’s passions is serving his community. Specifically advocating against drug and alcohol use. Through his work with YAC, he has partnered with Jefferson County Public Health and organized pep rallies throughout the community for the younger students. At these pep rallies, he advocates against substance abuse. 

“I feel like that’s really important because that’s like bringing our community together,” he said. Advocating against something that shouldn’t be in the community and that harms the community because that’s that’s a rampant issue in Madras and in the nation as a whole as well.” 

Giving back to the community seems to come naturally to Pineda. During Thanksgiving Break this school year, he volunteered with Jefferson County Public Health and helped provide a free Thanksgiving dinner to those in need. In addition to the food, the event also provided blankets and hygiene kits. Overall, Pineda helped serve more than 70 individuals that week. 

“It felt fulfilling to do that because seeing everybody smile and just being together eating and then just smiling being able to talk to each other and just being in the comfort of a warm area was nice,” he said. “It was really, really fulfilling for me. I was helping my community, I was helping them come together, you know and I feel like that was really important.”

On the day Pineda learned he was named a Ford Scholar, he was sitting inside one of his college level courses. Caleb Gayman’s College Composition class to be exact. Students were silently working at the time when he got the email. 

“It said congratulations and I opened it up and then it said to confirm everything and I started working on that,” he said. I didn’t really have a crazy big reaction.”

Call it shock, call it disbelief. The reality that he had just earned a scholarship that would cover 90% of unmet needs didn’t fully sink in until he finished confirming the information Ford Foundation needed. 

“I texted my mom and she said she was really proud of me,” he said. 

It was a moment of relief for Pineda. A realization that the work he and his mother have put in throughout the years was paying off in a tangible way. The Ford Family Foundation states on their website they believe success comes from one’s ability to grow and learn and rise to challenges and persist despite obstacles. They strive to find students who are motivated and have a growth mindset. Pineda embodies that spirit. 

He credits his time management skills on how he was able to juggle so many different responsibilities. From athletics, academics, participating in different clubs at MHS, leading YAC, and also working part-time at McDonald’s, he persevered. Now he sits less than two weeks away from walking across the stage at graduation and capping off his high school career with an exclamation point. 

“I’m excited,” he said with a laugh and with some relief in his voice. “I’m excited to finally, you know, be able to take a little break.” 

At the end of the day, Pineda’s deepest gratitude belongs to the person who provided unwavering support, his mother, Miriam Velez Pineda. 

“I want to thank my mom because she really motivated me to apply for scholarships and actually get involved with clubs and the community,” he said. “I want to thank her because she also worked really hard in order for me to get the opportunities that I got.”

All three of these students are set to graduate from Madras High School on June 7, 2025. The ceremony will be held in the stadium at 10:30am.