Issues in Education

2 school districts join suit against Indiana teachers union [The Indianapolis (Ind.) Star]

Schools struggle to cut class size without moving students [The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune]

Some fear St. Paul’s Open School will change too drastically in face of No Child Left Behind [St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press]

Sweeps debate grows [Capital Journal, Pierre, S.D.]

Hanover adjusts to flat growth in students [Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch]

 

Boone County Retired Teachers Meeting Notice

The Boone County Retired Teachers meeting will be held at 10:30 a.m. on November 17 at the Peachtree Catering & Banquet Center on 120 E. Nifong Blvd. in Columbia. The event will be followed by lunch at 11:30 a.m.

The meeting’s speaker will be Karen Taylor. She will present a program about ‘The Imagination Project’.

Some of the purposes of the Boone County Retired Teachers Association include promoting the economic, social, and professional status of retired teachers and other retired school personnel and continued interest in the teaching profession and issues of education. Reservations must be made by November 13.

Please e-mail Linda at President@boonerta.org, or call 449-0016, for more information.

Gentry Middle School to host fall festival

Gentry Middle School will host their annual fall festival from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday at the school, located at 4200 Bethel St. The event is open to Gentry students and families.

The festival is sponsored by the school’s Parent Teacher Student Association. PTSA president Diane True said the festival will include a carnival with games, food and a raffle.

Attendees may purchase individual tickets for activities or buy wristbands, which are available for $10 and provide unlimited access to games. The festival will have food from Pizza Hut, Andy’s frozen custard and soft drinks. 

True said there will also be four large inflatable games for children to enjoy. 

The raffle will feature items such as gift certificates, sports paraphernalia and DVDs. Each team at Gentry has been assigned a theme as a guide for what to donate to the raffle.

Columbia elementary school students receive H1N1 vaccination

Benton and West Boulevard elementary schools were the first to receive H1N1 vaccinations at the elementary level on Wednesday.

According to the Missourian’s article, “Columbia Public Schools will offer the H1N1 vaccination to all 17,000 students in the district based on vaccine availability and plans to work closely with the Health Department to schedule additional in-school shot clinics.”

Check out the rest of the article online.

Issues in Education

Schools Are Where Stimulus Saved Jobs, New Data Show [The New York Times]

Portland primed to get hip-hop high school [The (Portland) Oregonian]

Many L.A. students not moving out of English language classes [Los Angeles Times]

Jonathan Harvey: ‘Violence is nothing a teenager should ever get used to’ [Chicago Tribune]

Jewish school JFS in Supreme Court to deny it broke law by turning boy away [The London Times]

Candy snorting: Why are children doing it?

Last week, it was reported that fifth-graders at Paxton Keeley Elementary School were participating in an activity known as “candy snorting.” In this particular case, students were smashing up Smarties candies into powder to inhale through the nose. While this is no new phenomenon, the fact that candy snorting has been brought to light in the Columbia community is hard to ignore.

Paxton Keeley Principal Elaine Hassemer sent a letter to parents of all fifth-graders at the school on Friday alerting them to the situation and to health risks. Candy snorting “has been occurring at recess time and in the restrooms during the school day,” the letter states.

As the reporter on this story, I first wondered what the appeal was for children as young as 11 or 12 to snort candy. Why were they doing this? I certainly had never heard of the concept, even though it’s been occurring at schools from the elementary level all the way up through high school. My roommate told me that snorting was a huge deal at her elementary school, and that was at least 10 years ago. A friend of mine admitted to doing it when he was younger. Intrigued, I did more research on the topic and found that it is more popular than I would have assumed.

Although there is no one reason why children and teenagers are snorting candy, educators and professionals are generally chalking it up to “looking cool” or “fitting in.” Some even believe snorting may be a precursor to other behaviors such as smoking cigarettes or using drugs. However, when I spoke with Sarah Sadewhite, Paxton Keeley school counselor, she said peer pressure is largely at the forefront of the activity.

“We feel like the students were either probably pressured or thought something about snorting was fun or looked cool so they wanted to experiment,” she said.

Sadewhite said Paxton Keeley is now tailoring their curriculum for students to include the dangers of inhalants and handling peer pressure after the snorting incident. Students involved with the incident will get a specific curriculum, she said.

After speaking with Eliav Gov-Ari, an ear nose and throat specialist at MU, I learned the potential risks involved with candy snorting, which were outlined in the letter sent home to parents and can be found in the Missourian story. Bleeding in the nasal cavity, choking and infection are among them. Gov-Ari said, “The idea of things going through your nose is a bad thing in my opinion: You start with candy today and who knows what you’ll use next in college.”

Hassemer said YouTube has contributed to the publicity of candy snorting with how-to videos. After searching for some of them myself and with my editor, we decided to not include links to the videos for obvious reasons — we didn’t want to encourage the behavior. But, looking at just one video makes you cringe and wonder why children are putting themselves through this, especially when there is no actual drug-like high as a result of candy snorting. Gov-Ari said the closest sensation that can result is a sugar high, which one would arguably get by simply eating the candy.

Though candy snorting has been around for years and not likely to disappear any time soon, it may be worthwhile to investigate the root of the phenomenon. Some may wave it off as non-dangerous behavior compared to using drugs or smoking, but too many children and teenagers are participating in candy snorting for it not to be taken seriously.

Issues in Education

Swine flu has hit local schoolchildren early and quite hard [The Buffalo (N.Y.) News]

Research shows value of preschool for poor [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

A new era for Tacoma police, students [The (Tacoma, Wash.) News Tribune]

Swine flu shuts down Guilford H.S. [New Haven (Conn.) Register]

Harding plea: Keep students here [Charlotte (N.C.) Observer]

Getting to Know Midway Heights Elementary

A long driveway off Highway 40 in Columbia leads to Midway Heights, a school that principal Anne Billington describes as “a big city with a small town feel.”

At Midway Heights, high expectations for Billington’s “kiddos” are placed on academics and behavior. Those standards are upheld with the help of, not only the teachers, but also with the involvement of parents and community members.

“I like the small community,” said Trish Redig, a first-grade teacher.

Redig said she has a list of parents that come in to read to the students, make copies of handouts or help put together materials for her lessons.

The school promotes achievement in education by centering on five keys to success: be safe, be respectful, be responsible, be positive and always do your best.

Students at Midway Heights have raised canned goods and non-perishables for the Central Missouri Food Bank.

Walking down any hallway at school, bulletin boards and hall walls are complete with decorations from students, many which advertise one of the keys to success.

Billington said that if a student is struggling or making a wrong decision, teachers and parents ask them whether they are following those five keys.

“We do not have a lot of serious discipline problems,” Billington said. “We start the high expectations on day one with every student.”

Glance into any of the classrooms and anyone can see the teachers’ use of the newly purchased, white smart boards. Money raised by the PTA at Midway Heights paid for the new boards.

Midway Heights has a program, called Buddy Pack, where select students are sent home with a backpack filled with snacks and other non-perishable items.

“Our PTA is fantastic,” Billington said. “They also purchased two laptop sets for the classrooms.”

Technology is incorporated into every classroom with a number of class computers and a computer lab in the school library that teachers may access at any point during the year.

The camaraderie of the parents and faculty reflects positively on the progress the school makes.

“The faculty really works with each other,” said Diana Cooksey, a special learning teacher at Midway Heights.

With 300 students, kindergarten through fifth grade, Midway Heights stands at a 25-to-1 student-teacher ratio, Billington said.

“We’re busting at the seams,” Billington said.

Parents, teachers and members of the community helped to rearrange the school recently in order to make room for two more classrooms. Billington said the teachers lost some preparation areas, but that they are comfortable enough with space.

Additionally, the school recently transitioned 28 transfer students from the No Child Left Behind Act.

“They are a nice addition to the school,” said Lottie Creasy, a kindergarten teacher.

Midway Heights is one of only five elementary schools in the Columbia area that made the adequate yearly progress required by the state in regards to the No Child Left Behind Act. Midway Heights is joined by Fairview, Two Mile Prairie, New Haven and Ridgeway elementary schools in meeting proficiency standards.

Cedar Ridge Elementary Craft Bazaar to Raise Funds for Student Field Trips

In the midst of corresponding permission slips and transportation plans, field trips can be an annual highlight for students, a day starred on the school year calendar far in advance. Field trips serve as a step outside of the everyday routine – a morning or afternoon out of the classroom, a lunch outside of the school cafeteria, and a short exploration of the life lessons that Columbia has to offer.

Cedar Ridge Elementary is holding its first annual Bazaar & Crafts show on Nov. 7 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. All proceeds will benefit Cedar Ridge student field trips.

“We, the PTA, felt we needed to add some fundraising in our budget to compensate for the field trips being cut,” Cedar Ridge Elementary PTA President Cheri Dubinksi said. “Our kids are losing something that they really look forward to and that they learn from.”

In the market for a few early Christmas gifts? Or maybe you’re the creator and vendor of your own crafty bobbles? Either way, this is an event to jot down on the calendar.

The bazaar will showcase homemade wares and discounted finds including holiday decorations, paper crafts, spices and Mary Kay products. Cedar Ridge is still welcoming any and all vendors that want to have a booth.

Planning for the bazaar began in September, Dubinski said.

“Our kiddos deserve any effort that we have to put forth.”

The event is not raising money for a specific field trip, but the money raised will be divided evenly among all Cedar Ridge teachers, said Dubinski.

“The kindergarten class has already missed their annual field trip to the pumpkin patch, so I hope they may be able to schedule something for the end of the year with the money they receive,” Dubinski said.

There is a $20 booth fee and $1 admission fee; children 12 and younger are admitted free of charge.

CPS, Ronald McDonald House to Benefit from Superior Garden Center Event

On Oct. 24, Superior Garden Center will celebrate “Make a Difference Day” with its 15th annual Tree Days. This year, both Columbia Public Schools and Ronald McDonald House will benefit from the event.

According to a press release, the center “will give customers two free trees when they purchase three trees. One of those will be to donate to either Columbia Public Schools (which will place the trees at one of the three junior high schools), or the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Mid-Missouri. The other tree may be donated or taken home.”

CPS School Board member Karla DeSpain said, “Our children should have a welcoming place to focus on their education, and this donation helps provide that at our three junior high schools. We are so very grateful to Superior Garden Center for its generosity and will use these donated trees to add to our beautiful landscaping.”

The event is open to the public and will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Salt Creek Tree Farm in Fayette, the release stated.