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About Vernonia freedom. (Vernonia, Oregon) 1978-198? | View Entire Issue (March 21, 1979)
Wednesday March 21,1979 Page 6 — Vernonia Freedom Lea A n n Berg continued from front program you could never find any room. There is no question that class control becomes a real difficulty. Nor do I want to rush into a building program like the Evergreen district, in Washington, they found themselves with beautiful new buildings but no money to staff them. I n financing do you see us meeting all o f our own heeds or are you open io gaining more money through outside sources, State or Federal? You mean grantsmanship? Whatever. I won’t say I ’m totaly against outside money, but the more money you take in from Federal or State money the more control you lose and I believe very firmly in local control. I ’ve seen problems in other districts of wasted money, they got a grant therefore they went out and it was like C h ristm as tim e and they go t everything they could think of. That hasn’t happened in Vernonia. H o w do yo u feel about specia l programs, do you support these or do you turn a critical eye to each one? I would like to take each one and examine itcarefu lly for its individual merits. A t the last meeting we gave M r. Proehl the right to write these programs such as title I but he has to come back and present each one to us. So we are not giving him a blanket right to go out and get in all the federal moneys he can. I want to look at each one but I firmly believe in title I, because it does something that I don’t think we could do on our own. What exactly is title I ? I t ’s a remedial program for kids who are more than one grade level below normal in math or language skills. One of the requirements is that the child be worked with individualy. So it’s not as if we manufacture children and squash them all together in one room. H ave you in your observation o f other areas seen that we have more problems in the remedial area than other places. This is very much my own personal opinion, because I tau gh t remedial reading in Clatskanie. M any of the children in title I come from homes that don’t reinforce the skills that they learn in school. ‘I t ’s fine if you learn in school, but at home you had better bring in the wood and do a lot of useful stuff.’ A rural community doesn’t usually foster real intellectual programs sometimes. I wouldn’t say we are as desparately in need of remedial programs as some urban schools. D o you think teaching the basic skills should be the highest priority in the primary grades ? Yes, because if they don’t have the basic skills then they can’t go out and gather other knowledge. D o you think there is a need to attempt other programs beyond basic skills in the primaries? Such as? Say foreign language or crafts? I think these things are nice but if it’s a choice between the basics and hiring a foreign language teacher for the first six years, I ’ll stick with the basics. Because the child who is crippled on the basics cannot go anywhere. D o you feel you watch money more closely or are you more concerned with programs? SPRING IS COMING!! W e RENT P ost H ole D iggers L a w n M owers C hain S aws _ S prayers T illers Absolutely, I watch the money, I ’m a housewife and a comparison shopper. I want to get the greatest value for my money. We got into some real heafty discussions at the budget meetings over the value of a program as opposed to the cost. D o you have areas o f special interest? I think each one of us is interested in his own specialty, Mrs. Bohmeier and I are English teachers so we relate to the language program, Homer and Gene understand the forestry programs and things like that. I f the issue come$ up to zone the district would you be in favor o f this? I ’m. afraid I would have to be because the gentelmans agreement has been breached twice (an unofficial agreement that two board members come from the M ist area), and I understand the purpose of the gentelmans agreement and it was perfectly feasible 18 years ago but the community has changed and there are people who are coming from the urban culture and don’t realize what a rural culture is all about. And there are some who feel that as long as its not down in writing I can do what I want to. Not to protect my own position because I don’t mind running in an open race. What do you feel about the sports program ?Do you think it is overplayed? I think Vernonia as a whole has its sports very much in perspective. I know there is some bitterness over the baseball program but once again I think it was the peoples right to say whether or not we should have another major sport and I think that showed the. community knows when enough is enough. Looking at the bottom line, $33,000 for the total sports program is a reasonable amount for two major sports and several satellites. , D o you feel Vernonia could have a higher academic level. I ’m not about to make a blanket statement on academic levels, because for one thing I haven’t seen the S R A scores, I have seen the six graders scores and they are average with the nationwide scores. I guess I would like to see a greater demand for excellence. B ut I realize in a private school you can do that but in a public school you are limited. A re you interested in seeing other programs o f an academic nature added to the H ig h School such as forensics, or debate? I think if we can dredge up the personel A s it is now I think the school leans pretty heavily to sports, but there again you have to find the spark. The teacher who is interested in coaching a debate team so forth. What do you think about the hiring o f more people from the community who may have vocational qualifications, is there a change in the law regards this? Such as Ralph K e a sey ’s teaching, the forestry class. H e has what is called a life experience qualification and he does have to go to the State Dept. of Education and pass an examination for teaching a credit subject. A re you in favor o f using more o f the capability, the talents o f local people to teach in their special areas. I think it’s silly to say to a teacher, we don’t have a football coach this year so your assigned. Whereas we would have a person who was a college football player. New Construction • Remodeling Residential * Commercial Norman Jensen getting kids graduating from high school who cannot read, because they are supposed to learn to read in the primaries. I think we need more stress on the basics and th at’s very important, reading, there is really nothing you can do in life without being able to read. The majority of the kids coming out of school cannot read or write. I realize it ’s probably that way everywhere but in a small community we have a chance to work with this. B ut the people expect the school board members to do too much, the people should come to the board m eetings and the board members should listen to them. What about sports programs, are they overemphasised? Oh, I don’t know, I had two boys who were in vo lved in a th letics and participated in sports. The^only thing I have against the athletic program is I think the student should have to carry a certain grade point average in order to participate in sports. I f the grades are not good enough they shouldn’t participate. We stress this fact in our home, if the grades aren’t good enough we didn’t let them play. Now the school couldn’t stop them from playing. We have athletes participating who are carrying 5s (failing) and this is wrong, and cheerleaders are being kicked off the cheerleading squads if they get a 4. The athletes participating are representing the school more than the cheerleaders, to me. Besides you are there to get an education and if you can learn the plays in football then you can do your school work. D o you think there is any room for change in the athletic program to involve more students, intermurals, ect.? I don’t understand where they got away from this. When I was in school we had a lot of intermural ball, girls had a lot of ball games, we had ball games in our lunch hours. A s far as the sports program I A s far as the sports program I think it’s great, I ’ll be honest with you, if it weren’t for the sports I have one boy we would never have g o tten through school, because we used it as a lever over his head. Sports was his game, he just loved it, but if he didn’t get good grades he wouldn’t play. So it’s good that way, now he’s in college and he is old enough now that he can realize what education is all Continued next page We cut & thread pipe Carry fittings & fixtures Now til end of March: Crazy 4 Singles TOURNAMENT Get ready for State with a chance at some money!!! General Contractor 429-6321 Now Taking Orders for BARK DUST 429-4451 No, every once in awhile someone will say, ‘why not close down M ist School, how silly it is to run a little two room school, ’ but the people who say that don’t realize that the M ist community is not an extension of Vernonia, that the Mist people identify themselves more with Clatskanie and always have. D o you have any idea o f what will happen at M is t School? Well, I think if it continues to grow we will enventually make it into a four room school. A re there any other areas o f interest or statem ents you would like to make? I guess I would be interested in seeing som ething m ore for the advanced student, for years now we have been shoving the below grade student trying desparetely to get him to grade but we haven’t been doing much of anything for the advanced student. Complete Plumbing Supplies Reliable Service W ork Pole Buildings Wood-frame metal buildings A ll steel buildings » C laude ’ s S a w & S ervice Ju d y Bates continued from front college are having a lot of trouble. What aspect o f education is lacking? Basics? The basics, all of it. I think it’s up to us to provide the education. To make it available for them then as parents it’s up to us to see that they get it, as far as getting an education. B ut then if it’s not there for them to get, as parents there is nothing we can do about it. So there is something that needs to be done to see that they get it in the first place. In your opinion then parents have an obligation to participate? They sure do, I think it’s the parents responsibility to see that their child is doing it. I don’t think that is something that should be passed off on the schools. I don’t think the school should be disciplinarians. I think that’s where a lot of problems are now, in the home, but I also don’t think the schools are providing. A s a school board member how do you think you would get parent involvem ent? The School Board cannot do that, but the school board can make the education available in the school, but I don’t think they are doing that, I think too much stress, in the meetings I ’ve gone to, to much stress is on buildings, buses, maintenance, and they are overlooking education. I realize they have administrators and the administration is taking care of education, but if they are not doing it, then I think it’s time we look at the administration and see why they are not doing it. H aving had two children come out of the schools and having been associated with them the last several years, I can see where maybe there needs to be a change? D o you feel that anything is lacking in the present board? I don’t have anything against the people on the present board they are very conscientious and they are trying, but I think maybe they are lacking in some areas, like I say in education. I f the issue comes up o f zoning the district, where w ill you stand on that? I think it should go to a vote of the people whether they want to change it or not. What do you think o f the school being lacking in primary education, learning skills or advanced learning? Both areas but yes, primary. We are BEAVER BUILDERS CONSTRUCTION P .0 . Box 287 429-8383 Closed Sat., Open Sun I ’m a great believer in use of local resources. . D o you think the M is t S ch ool is crowded as was brought up at the last Boardm eeting? I t is theoretically crowded by State standards which suggest a maximum for a multi-class room is 15. I think if the situation lasted maybe more than another year that steps will have to be taken. B u t there are kids who move in and out and not all the kids who go to M ist school are children of land owners. The Board has a lr e a d y thought about this and the architect has been asked to draw up plans. M ist school is crowded and if that continues something will have to be done. A re you happy with the faculty at M ist School? Very much so. I s there any plan to close down m ist School? Monte Carlo P ot - s34°° plus tickets sold Saturday at 8:00 P.M. 950 B r id g e S t. 4 2 9 -6 3 0 1 For 2 4 hr. emergency servioe call 543-7411 Kings Plumbing & Heating, Inc. 854 Bridge St. ■ Vernonia 429-2901 Need Some Welding? . I } | j ¡Don Morris Welding Service! I Portable or in-shop JCall Clatskanie -728-2720 I
