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A
Passion for Learning
Community Report • Spring
2003
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Fifth-graders
collect books for homeless students
Fifth grade students in Sharon
Tecker’s class at Alice Birney School recently completed a successful
service-learning project in which they collected 100 books for Eureka’s
homeless students.
The students had taken a
challenge from the Scholastic Book Club’s Classrooms Care program
to read 100 books by December 6. Scholastic encouraged American students
to read as incentive for the book company to donate 1 million books
to kids across the country.
After the fifth-graders accomplished
their goal and received a certificate, Tecker wrote to Scholastic about
the possibility of receiving donated books specifically for Eureka’s
homeless students. Cynthia Maloney, director of marketing at Scholastic,
wrote to Tecker that 52 brand new books would be sent to the class to
give to students living at the Eureka Rescue Mission and Serenity Inn.
Tecker’s students also
donated some of their own books from home.
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Lincoln
students appreciate Pacific Rim art
During the month of April,
Lincoln Elementary School’s library hosted a collection of Pacific
Rim art on loan from the Humboldt Arts Council’s (HAC) art bank.
HAC board president Sally
Arnot gave art appreciation presentations in the school’s library
to every class at Lincoln. Arnot has shared prints, masks, photos and
other original art from Sumatra, Thailand, China, Japan, Canada and
Oaxaca.
The artwork comes from the
Art Council’s permanent collection and is installed at no charge.
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Eureka
community leaders go back to school
On March 18, Eureka business
and community leaders went back to school as a “Principal for a
Day” to learn firsthand about the challenges and the achievements
in Eureka City Schools. The event is in its fourth year and is a partnership
with the Greater Eureka Chamber of Commerce.
Lt. Ron Waters, pictured
above, spent the day at Jefferson School. “I was surprised at the
difference between my elementary school principal and Bill Cannady,”
remarked Waters. “Bill knew each student and their family by name.
My principal wasn’t seen unless you were in trouble, and then only
briefly. Jefferson has creative teachers and a positive environment…
it’s really an outstanding school”
This year’s participants
included Bryan Plumley, Cochrane & Plumley; Susan Seaman, KEET-TV;
Peter LaVallee, Mayor of Eureka; Charlotte McDonald, Eureka Main Street;
Ken Skaggs, Eureka Chamber of Commerce; Fred Nelson, Humboldt Taxpayer’s
League; Jeff Leonard, Eureka City Council; and Lt. Ron Waters, Eureka
Police Department.
“Principal for a Day
is a call to Eureka’s business and community leaders to get involved
at the point of change in our schools,” said Jim Scott, superintendent
of Eureka City Schools. “By engaging our Principals for a Day in
public education, we hope to mobilize the expertise and resources of
our community, build lasting partnerships, and make our schools better.”
All Eureka City Schools have
ongoing educational partnerships with local business and community groups.
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Grant
third-graders learn about the solar system
Third-graders in teacher
Mimi Battle’s class at Grant School have been studying the solar
system for the past two months. Toby Freitas was interested to find
out “Venus is the hottest planet, Mars has two moons and Jupiter
has 40 moons.” Julian Lesterud thought “it was cool that Jupiter
has super lightning bolts.”
According to Battle, her
students learned the skill of taking notes and turning their notes into
paragraphs for their written reports. Students worked on their planet
and solar system models at home.
The lesson is part of California's
third grade science standards.
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The
play’s the thing for Zoe students
For the past five years,
Zoe Barnum High School teachers Adina Lawson and John Myers have shared
the magic of Shakespeare with students at Zoe Barnum High School. The
successful language and performing arts program was given an Exemplary
Program Award at the California Continuation Education Association (CCEA)
annual conference in May.
“Shakespeare speaks
to students through a participatory program of theater games, acting,
and staging,” said Lawson. “Kids stand on desks waving plastic
swords with Shakespeare’s words in their mouths.”
Lawson and Myers received
their training through summer programs at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
(OSF) and the Shakespeare Set Free publications of the Folger Shakespeare
Library.
“Every year we teach
a different Shakespeare play to 150 students—the entire student
body,” explained Lawson. “Last year it was Macbeth and this
year we performed Othello. For six weeks, Zoe Barnum becomes Elizabethan
in feeling. Kids insult each other in Shakespeare’s language and
spout iambic pentameter in the halls. Kids feel the joy and richness
of our English language.”
Lawson feels that if Shakespeare
is taught at Zoe Barnum, he can be taught at other alternative schools.
She quotes Joan Langley, director of eduction at the OSF, “Tell
your students that the words are not in the way. The words are the way.”
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Worthington
students explore Creature Features
Students at Worthington Elementary
School were busy exploring ocean habitats during the school’s Creature
Feature Festival in April. The hands-on activities were just part of
the school’s Ocean Immersion Month, a partnership with University
of California’s Lawrence Hall of Science.
At the “Hard Parts”
station, second-graders worked with parent volunteers in exploring exoskeleton,
bones, and teeth of ocean creatures and understanding why these animals
need hard parts for survival in their habitats.
Oceans Month is a three-year
project under the direction of Washington Elementary School science
teacher Jeff Self. Teachers from Grant, Lincoln, Washington, and Worthington
focus on month-long ocean immersion lessons taught by integrating science
concepts through all subjects. Each school celebrates their Ocean Immersion
Month with classroom projects, field studies, community speakers, schoolwide
science celebrations, special reading and writing lessons, cross-age
tutoring, fine arts displays and presentations from the Lawrence Hall
of Science staff.
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Build
a box day
More than 30 teachers and
administrators from Eureka City Schools gathered at the district’s
office in December for Build a Box Day. The four-hour session was designed
to help staff compile and organize materials for the Coordinated Compliance
Review, a two-year state-mandated process that public schools complete
every four years.
School staff also spent time
discussing the initial phase of the review process. Each Eureka elementary
and secondary school, along with state and federally-funded school programs,
will conduct a self-review during the 2002-03 school year followed by
a state evaluation during the 2003-04 school year.
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