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.
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