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The Principal's
Idea Notebook

                                                                     Volume 1 - Number 8   April 11,   2003

 
     
Programs

Book Swap On Friday Afternoons
Students Paint Dolphin Mural At Pomona School
  
Students Teach Younger Peers About Tobacco, Alcohol
  
Basketball Team Cheers On Students

Students Learning How To Mind Their Manners

Education Changes In The Face Of War

New Program Drives Home Danger Of Drinking And Driving

H. S. Senior's License Plate Design Selected

Policies

Constructive Free Time
High School Parking Problem Has New Solution

Junior Prom: Rite of Passage Now Includes Breathalyzer

Teaching Aids

Students 'Shake, Write and Roll'
A Fashion Statement About Recycling

Play Focuses On 8 Presidents From Ohio

Students Quiz Their Mentors

Teachers Find Solution In 'Math Problems'

H.S. Marketing Class Learns By Doing
  

Odds & Ends

School Provides In-School Platform For Dissent   
Students Bury Time Capsule
  
Get Tough On Bullies, Board Told
  
District's Hispanics Feeling Left Out At School

Extra: Middle School Student Start New Publication

  




Editorial Policy:
It is the policy of The Principal's Idea Notebook to present ideas from principlas around the country that are innovative, creative and worthy of being adapted at other schools. It is the free flow of ideas that make our education system the best in the world and most of these ideas come from School Principals.
Henry M. Quinlan
Publisher
 
Pomona, California - Being named student of the month at Decker Elementary School carries with an important reward. Any child, who has been named student of the month, has the opportunity to help paint a group of dolphins that Pomona artist Pedro Pelayo outlined on a 9-foot by 26-foot wall of the school. Each of the dolphins will be painted a different color to accent the school's cultural diversity. About 400 former students-of-the month are expected to participate. The project cost the PTA about $1,000.
March 2003

Students Teach Younger Peers About Tobacco, Alcohol

Oak Grove, Mississippi - As part of their graduation requirement to do a community service project, seven seniors from Oak Grove High School have begun teaching the fourth grade class at Oak Grove Upper Elementary school about avoiding using tobacco and alcohol even though they are experiencing peer pressure to do so. Oak Grove Upper Elementary School principal Debbie Dabbs said that the program was a good one because the younger students looked up to the seniors as mentors and really listened to what they had to say.
March 2003

Basketball Team Cheers On Students

Fort Lupton, Colorado - The Fort Lupton Middle School's Bluedevils basketball team led a rally to get students excited about taking the Colorado Student Assessment exams. Assistant Principal Ana Mendoza said that the idea was to generate excitement that would help raise test scores. Principal Carey Sanchez told the students that if 99% of the students took the test, she would pick seven students from each grade level to be principal for one period.
March 2003

Students Learning How To Mind Their Manners

Palm Desert, California - Eighth-graders at Sacred Heart Catholic School have begun a program called Politechild. This eight- part basic living skills initiative is designed to teach these students everything from tipping to how to properly set a table. Principal Sister Joan Griffin said the program has been well received.
March 2003

Education Changes In The Face Of War

Kingston, New Hampshire - Every Tuesday afternoon, students and staff at Sanborn Regional High School are permitted to take part in an open forum to discuss their concerns about the war in the Middle East. Principal Steven Beals said that 20 people showed up for the first session and both students and staff expressed their true feelings about what was happening. Beals called it an appropriate outlet for this kind of discussion.
March 2003

New Program Drives Home Danger Of Drinking And Driving

Verde Valley, Arizona - On March 26th, students at Mingus Union High school watched, as a mock corpse lay covered in a blood-spattered sheet and a mock injury victim was loaded aboard a helicopter at Bright Field. These students were part of Officer Dinese Ross' Every Fifteen Minutes program. The program makes use of real life graphic depictions to drive home the danger of mixing alcohol and driving. The students in the March 26th class also watched as teens dressed in black with white death masks and carrying tombstones symbolized the national average of one teenage death every 30 minutes from the affects of alcohol or drugs. Mingus High School principal Hal Alford said that although he had mixed feelings about the program, he felt strongly that students make safe choices because of the school's yearly safety awareness program.
March 2003

H. S. Senior's License Plate Design Selected

Great Falls, Montana - Great Falls High School senior Jesse Huffman's entry for a personalized license plate for students, staff and alumni of the school was chosen as the winning design from all of the entries submitted. The idea to create a plate came from principal Fred Anderson and Superintendent Bryan Dunn to give identity to the public high schools. The design for the new license plate is awaiting approval from the Department of Justice and the Department of Transportation. Once approved, it will take several weeks before it becomes an actual plate available in the state's courthouses.
March 2003


 
Brooksville, Florida - Central High School finds it a real problem to accommodate students who are taking the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. According to Principal Dennis McGeehan, the school was designed to hold 1,250 students but their current enrollment is actually 1,900. At testing time, by the time they assign students test rooms and place teachers as proctors, the school cannot offer the remaining students regular classes. In order to make this a productive time for non-test takers, students can use the cafeteria to study, participate in a basketball game in the gym or attend lectures given by members of the community on a variety of subjects such as buying a car or applying for a credit card.
March 2003

High School Parking Problem Has New Solution

Colonial Heights, Virginia - The City Council has appointed the resource officer at Colonial Heights High School to direct after school traffic leaving the school parking lot. By making sure that the flow of traffic moves quickly, the council hopes to encourage students to park in the lot and not on side streets as they have been doing. Residents of these side streets have been complaining that student park their cars blocking mailboxes and driveways. Principal John Keeler said that in light of this development, all but 17 of the 210 students enrolled at the high school have purchased parking permits to park in the lot.
March 2003

Junior Prom: Rite of Passage Now Includes Breathalyzer

Gilroy, California - Gilroy High School students had to pass a breathalyzer test before they were permitted to enter the junior prom. Principal Joni Madolora said that the move was a response to what happened at last year's prom. The junior prom of the previous year was marked by many students drinking on campus and later being ticketed by police for driving under the influence of alcohol.
March 2003

Officials Map Road To Success

Beaufort, South Carolina - Battery Creek High School has a plan to improve and all staff members, teachers and students are involved. Principal Rodney Jenkins said that the school was looking at last year's poor test scores on the South Carolina High School Exit Exam and the SATs as a wake-up call to get up where they belong. One of the proposals is to reduce the size of the school. Ninth-graders will be separated from upper classmen giving them time to adjust to their surroundings. They are also attempting foster more interpersonal relationships between students and faculty. The principal believes that employing these measures will improve test scores.
February 2003

District Schools Will Start Earlier Next Year

Eudora, Kansas - Eudora students will start the school day fifteen minutes earlier. The proposal was decided upon when Eudora High School principal Dale Sample brought it before the USD 491 School Board in February. He said that 87 hours of school time were lost a year because of students leaving early to be on time for extracurricular activities. He originally asked to begin school 30 minutes earlier each day. However, fearing that it would create a problem when scheduling student lunch periods, the Board decided that a 15-minute earlier start was a better solution.
February 2003

 
Cranston, Rhode Island - Stone Hill Elementary School teacher Kristen Norberg developed a program for second, fourth and fifth graders that allows them to analyze their physical skills and then write about it. Students photograph a physical activity with a digital camera. They have been taught to how to print the photo as well as how to drop the photo and written text into a PowerPoint presentation. Principal Laura Albanese said that because there has been so much emphasis placed on writing, this program is a good way to integrate more writing practice into the curriculum.
March 2003

A Fashion Statement About Recycling

Buchanan, Indiana - The student council at H.C. Stark Elementary School is preparing for the Recycling Fashion Show that will kick off the school's paper recycling program. Members of the council have designed outfits out of recyclables to model for the student body. This will introduce the new recycling program, which will feature a recycling bin in each classroom. Students from the Buchanan High School Ecology Club will be assigned to pick up the bins according to a weekly schedule. Principal Karla Hurlbutt said that it was the students' idea to start the program and they were extremely excited about it.
March 2003

Play Focuses On 8 Presidents From Ohio

Pemberville, Ohio - An original play called Mamma's Boys: A Visit From Ohio's 8 Presidents stars Kent Mc Clary, a fifth-grade history teacher at Kenwood Elementary School, as Ulysses S. Grant. It was his research that prompted playwright Steve Froelich to pen the drama in the first place. In the 90-minute production, each president makes a personal statement about himself. Kenwood principal Gary Keller was recruited to take over the role of Warren Harding from the actor who originally portrayed him.
March 2003

Students Quiz Their Mentors

New Castle, Delaware - Fifth-grade students at Carrie Downie Elementary School are read original stories written by seniors at William Penn High School and are asked to critique what they have heard. Principal Karen Gilbert said that the program was begun to give young students an opportunity to practice evaluating work and forming opinions. This is important because students are tested on their evaluation skills as part of the state's standardized testing.
March 2003

Teachers Find Solution In 'Math Problems'

Baldrige, Ohio - Students who arrive early at Southeast Elementary School are greeted with a cart loaded with math games, books and puzzles for them to use while they wait in the gym for school to start. Principal Nancy Mills said that the idea for the games was developed by teachers who felt that it would not only solve the early morning discipline problem, but would also help improve academics.
March 2003

H.S. Marketing Class Learns By Doing

Riverside, California - Students in Debi Blue's sports and entertainment marketing class at Martin Luther King High School are learning about the subject matter through practical application. Blue's students helped mount the Pack the House promotion aimed at a drawing a large audience for the girls' basketball game in February. The event drew a large crowd because of the offer to give $100 to the person who made four baskets with a lay up, free-throw, three-point and half-court shot. Nobody won the cash, but Blue's class got a valuable lesson into how sports promotions work. Principal Ray Plutko said Blue developed this class to help prepare students for a career in the field.
March 2003

 
Napa Valley, California - Most of the students in American Canyon Middle School spent March 6th protesting the possibility of war in the Middle East. Principal Rose Ann Gasser said that the students originally asked permission to stage a walkout, but the idea was vetoed because the school didn't want instruction time interrupted. So, eighth-grader Verrose Hill staged an in-school rally instead. A public address system was placed in the middle of the campus so that students could use their lunch period to voice their concerns. The rally ended when the lunch period was over.
March 2003

Students Bury Time Capsule

Springdale, Arkansas - Students at Lee Elementary School buried a time capsule filled with memorabilia in a hollow section of the school's new library and media center. Marvin Price the project's construction superintendent developed the idea. Principal Regina Stewman said that no time was set for the capsule to be opened.
March 2003

Get Tough On Bullies, Board Told

Halifax, Canada - Parents told the Halifax Regional School Board that it was time to get tough with bullies. The board met to discuss the increase of bullying and violence in Halifax-area schools. Board Chairman Mike Flemming called on the community to help control the problem, saying that disciplining alone wasn't the solution. He called for parents to put more effort into supervising their own children.
March 2003

District's Hispanics Feeling Left Out At School

Fort Pierce, Florida - Some Hispanic parents in the St. Lucie County School District say they feel discriminated against. Because of language and cultural barriers, these parents feel powerless when it comes to their children's homework and school related disciplinary issues. This year the district had 4,129 Hispanic students, but only one Hispanic principal and three Hispanic assistant principals. District Head of Personnel Alice West said that there is at least one Spanish-speaking staff member at every school. She also indicated that an effort has been made to recruit more Hispanic teachers.
March 2003

Extra: Middle School Student Start New Publication

Watertown, Massachusetts - Students at the Watertown Middle School have published the first issue of their new paper The Watertown Message. Principal Jane O'Connor said the students approached her last fall to ask about starting a school newspaper. The children felt they needed a way to voice their views and concerns. Twenty-five students along with teachers Johanna Little and Kevin Komanetsky worked together to publish the first issue. The staff raised $150 by selling chocolate bars to cover the cost of printing the edition. Students were not charged for a copy of the paper. March 2003
March 2003

 


 

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