Home Rooms Give Teachers Time To Connect With Kids
Funk is back. Gabardine hiphuggers are the rage.
“Saturday Night Fever” is rarely in at the video store.
So it’s no surprise that retro logic has struck North Central High administrators. For the first time since the 1970s, NC teachers are hosting home rooms.
Home rooms were dropped in the Carter years to give teachers more instruction time. But now “making connections” with kids is more important than an extra couple minutes of “Moby Dick.”
“I call it a family dinner table,” said Debbie Groshoff, the NC counselor coordinating the revisionism.
Each teacher has about 20 kids huddle every Wednesday morning for “Prime Time.” About two minutes are trimmed from every period on Wednesday, and a scheduled 10-minute break is tossed.
The school board approved the changes last week.
Prime Time is information central for kids. So far, students have learned about school policies, the names of key secretaries, advisors and student body officers, and have been treated to a video taped walk-through of the school.
That information has rarely been available, students say. “In the past when you are finding out what’s going on, people are talking or you miss it,” said junior Bri Mordick.
The same groups will meet all year. Groshoff would like to keep freshmen meeting together for four years. “This kind of started with us as a concern for ninth graders,” said principal Sandy Fink. “That was a pretty at-risk population.”
The idea is already metamorphosing like a lava lamp. Community clean-up day Wednesday saw 1,350 kids picking up trash around the school for 20 minutes.
There are, of course, some drawbacks. Seniors have already heard most of the information, conceded senior ASB president Nate Fewel.
“But it’s kind of nice to have a break in the day, where you aren’t being graded,” Fewel said.
In the words of Steely Dan, give the kids a break.
Midway launches newsletter
Midway Elementary is taking the parent newsletter to the next level.
Mary Pat Kanaly, a Mead writer and Midway Elementary parent, is helping students publish a monthly newspaper.
Inspired by Anne Prouix’s novel about a strange and devoted journalist in Newfoundland, Kanaly is training students to think news.
“It’s one thing to have a week of the Mead Authors Celebration, but it’s another to have the kids actually writing,” said Kanaly. “Who better to write about 12-year-olds than 12-year-olds?”
The newspaper costs about $120 per issue and is being supported by the PTO. But Kanaly and principal Dana Lyman plan to sell ads and eventually make it self-supporting.
Need a cheap formal dress?
Cheapskates rejoice. Used formal dresses can be had on the cheap Saturday at Mead High School.
The MHS PTSA is hosting a dress exchange to let girls - and boys, for that matter - a chance to sell their spendy formals and buy a sassy new one.
Registration is $5, going to the PTSA coffers. Registration is at 10 a.m. and the sale runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the MHS library.
Students can set their own prices. Call Karen Schuermer at 466-1922 for more information.
Deer Park student paper honored
Congratulations to the Deer Park High newspaper staff, which put out an award-winning publication last year.
The Stag was honored by the National Scholastic Press Association for layout and design, based on six consecutive issues in the 1995-96 school year.
Advisor is Sharon Heydet and staff member include seniors Shannon Player, this year’s editor, Tom Hawley, and Kyle Kemble, and juniors Steve Bryant, Keith Proctor, Nathan Sebright and Ryan Seidel.
Keep up the good work.
Seeking distinguished NC alums
The North Central leadership class is compiling a list of distinguished alumni for a school spirit project.
The class is leaving the defining distinguished as any one who has become well-known in the field, whether it be business or theater.
Call the school at 353-5220 to get a nomination form.
Fund-raisers net $5,000
A pair of Mead High fund-raisers garnered more than $5,000 for Nate Eggers, a senior who broke his neck in a swimming accident this summer.
More than $2,200 was by a car wash last Saturday at Mead High.
The money will help the Eggers family pay for transporting Nate via special van to physical therapy in Spokane.
Wog-a-thon returning
The second annual Indian Trail Elementary Wog-a-thon is returning Friday.
Last year’s walk/jog fund-raiser garnered $9,000 for computers. This year’s profits will also likely go into technology, said Cindy Hall, event organizer.
The top student money-raiser in each grade will be treated to a two-hour limosine ride and a free progressive lunch.
Call Hall at 353-4582 or 328-2127 for more information.
, DataTimes MEMO: Education Notebook is a regular feature of the North Side Voice. If you have news about an interesting program or activity at a North Side school or about the achievements of North Side students, teachers or school staff, please let us know. Deadline is Monday. Write: Jonathan Martin, Education Notebook, North Side Voice, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. E-mail: jonathanm@spokesman.com. Call: 459-5484. Fax: 459-5482.