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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 26, 1997)
P age B 2 M Parents and teachers gather to learn Parents, teachers and commu nity members in more than 180 school districts gathered beginning March 26 to learn about new tests in W ashington’s K-12 public schools. The meetings are being hosted by local school districts as part o f a statewide information cam paign entitled “ Testing Our Future: New Assessments in Our Public Schools ” In 1993, the State Legislature charged the Com mission on Student Learning with developing academic standards for all K-12 students to achieve in core subjects — reading, w riting, communication, mathemat- Robo-gladiators spark science interest The thrill o f victory and the agony o f defeat, once reserved for sports only, was experienced by hundreds o f students in a new setting: science and technology. Students, robots, businesses and an inventor/m arketing genius came together last week to inspire achievement in science and tech nology when F IR S T (For Inspira tion and Recognition o f Science and Technology) began its 1997 M id-Atlantic Robotic Competi tion. The Competition paired high schools, businesses and institu tions o f higher education in engi neering design teams to develop competitive robots. Some35 teams o f high school students and engi neers competed. “ F IR S T really wants to do for science and technology what the N B A or the O lym pic Committee does for athletics,” said Dean Kam en, the New Hampshire- based inventor and entrepreneur who founded F IR S T in 1989. ics, science, social studies, the arts, and health and fitness. The C o m mission was also charged with de veloping new tests or “assessments” to measure how well students are doing in these subjects at the fourth, seventh, and tenth-grade levels. More than 70,000 fourth-graders in nearly 1,000 schools w ill take the tests in reading, writing, com m uni cation and mathematics between A p ril 2 1 and May 9. The new tests are expected to give teachers and parents a better understanding o f a student’s knowledge and abilities, and where the student needs help. The new tests are considered to be rigorous and more demanding of students In addition to multiple choice questions, students w ill be required to explain their answers, complete charts and write short es says. Scores w ill be reported in A u gust. About 68,000 seventh-graders are expected to take a pilot o f the sev enth-grade test, but no scores w ill be reported since this is a “test of the test.” The seventh-grade test w ill be ready for use next year; the tenth- grade test w ill be available for use in the 1998-99 school year. By the 2000-01 school year, the tests will be fully phased in and administered by every public K -12 school in the state. Beginning on Wednesday, March 26, local school districts across the state hosted public meetings to give parents and other community mem bers a chance to see and try out the new tests for themselves Gov. Gary Locke proclaimed March 26 to be “ Learn About Assessment Day.” Development o f tests for science, social studies, the arts, and health and fitness is scheduled to begin later this year. Gay teachers group to meet Clayton Vetter feared the worst from his students at Skyline High School when he announced he was gay- Fury was already brewing at an other city school over efforts to form a gay students’ club. Its school board had just banned all non-curricular clubs rather than allow clubs for gay students, and state lawmakers were ready to pass a law to ban gay clubs altogether. Vetter expected his students would hate him, would quit his debating class en masse if they knew the truth about his sexuality. Instead, he found understanding. “ Ifanything, I found I hadawhole coalition o f students and parents who would support me,” he said. “ I didn’t drop one student.” The G ay, Lesbian and Straight Teachers Network wants to convey a sim i lar message to other homosexual students and teachers Saturday at its first national conference. Organiz ers expect more than 240 to attend. Utah’s capital was selected for the conference because the network wanted to respond to the gay club I controversy. “To the great dismay o f many people, the city was transformed into a symbol o f intolerance,” said Kevin Jennings, the group’s executive d i rector. “ We were outraged by that Our local members in Utah were outraged by that.” Vetter, who w ill speak at the con ference, said he decided to come out a year ago after hearing a news report on the club controversy in which a student said gays should keep their lifestyle secret. Vetter, a teacher for 13 years, had told his students in the past that no problem could be solved through secrecy. “ My silence was just as wrong,” he said. “ My students were saying, * I don’t know any gay people,’ and I wanted to say, ‘ Sure you do, you know me.’” Vetter decided to step out o f the closet in a very public way, announc ing it to his students and the world in a news conference at the state Capitol. H is students’ reaction told him he made the right decision. About 25 burst into cheers - some into tears - as he emerged from the news confer ence in the Capitol Rotunda “ I definitely think they learned that when you believe in something you have to stand up for it even though it may be difficult,” Vetter said Vetter doubts his students would ever consider a law like the one Utah legislators passed last year. It gives school boards the authority to forbid clubs that “ materially or substan tially encourage criminal or delin quent conduct, promote bigotry or involve human sexuality ” “ This generation has a maturity regarding humanity that my genera tion lacked,” he said Since the law passed, some stu dents have been meeting on their own David Buckel, attorney for the Lambda Legal Defense and Educa tion Fund, said he still hopes their gatherings w ill be allowed at schools. B u c k e l represented Ja m ie Nabozny, a gay student who won a $900,000 settlement last fall against a Wisconsin school district for not protecting him from harassment by his peers name-calling that esca lated into physical assault. arch 26, 1997 • l'u t P o r tlan d O bserver New PPA scholarshi The PPA Executive Board has authorized a third scholarship to be offered to a 1997 graduating Portland high school senior in memory of: Officer Robert J. “ Bob” Robertsa 19 year veteran o f the Portland Police Bureau and PPA Member. The PPA currently offers two scholarships each year to gradu ating seniors The scholarships are four-year renewable schol arships o f $ 1,000 OOfor one male and one female student who have a c t iv e ly co n trib u te d to their school com m unities, are o f good m o ral ch a ra cte r, are re c o m mended by their schools, have financial need and a m inimum o f 3.0 G P A in a college preparatory curriculum . This third scholarship w ill fall under the same criteria and expire at the end o f the fourth year. For additional details call: Portland Po lice Association at 25-9760. Southland teachers honored N B C 4 w ill honor extraordinary Southland teachers by introducing the Crystal Apple Awards, an ac colade bestowed on educators who have the ability to make a profound difference in the lives o f their stu dents and who are truly dedicated to their profession. The first recipient will be Alfredo Perez, the inspirational teacher from Figueroa Street Elementary School in Los Angeles, who brought national attention to the problem o f violence in our schools when he was accidentally hit by a gang- member’s bullet while teaching his fifth grade class Today, Perezalong with his wife, V irg in ia , also a teacher, are speaking out on the importance and value o f education as a way to help stop the violence. N B C 4 reporter Cater Lee w ill present Perez with the C rystal Apple award on Friday, March 2 1. Her interview with him w ill be seen that evening on the “Channel 4 Newt}’ at 6 p.m Each Friday, N B C 4 w ill honor an outstanding Southern California teacher in its 6 p.m. newscast. Forthcoming honorees w ill be selected from submissions sent to N B C 4 from students, parents and faculty. Teachers selected for the Crystal Apple Award w ill be cho- ’ sen based on their standing as a role model in the academic arena, their ability to inspire students to new educational heights and who go beyond the call o f duty to guide our children to follow their dreams. The Crystal Apple Awards are part o f N B C 4 ’s on-going efforts to reach out to local schools and to keep education in the forefront o f civic and community awareness. Recently, N B C 4 launched the N B C 4 WeatherNet, a network o f do nated real-time weather stations based in 50 Southland schools which help students learn science, math and m eteorology through hands-on experience. A d d itio n ally, the station has helped a number o f high school students to further their education by tell ing theirstories on the weekly “ Beating the Odds” news segment. More than $100,000 in viewer do nations have been contributed to a “ Beating the Odds” scholarship fund, allowing these students to have the chance to attend college. 1