Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 28, 2015 17A
Polk County Schools/Education
Central School District
seeks survey feedback
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Oregon State University student Sara Black shows Oakdale Heights first-grader Gabe
Decker, center, his fingerprint, which he is examining closely with a magnifying glass.
Science: Demonstrations
provide hands-on learning
Continued from Page 18A
“We want kids excited
about science and have the
understanding that science
is something you do, not
something you read about,”
Haak said.
It didn’t take much to con-
vince Oakdale third-grader
Ariana Bobeda of the fun that
could be had with science.
She and her younger sister,
Addison, spent a lot of time
at the booth that looked as
though it featured a witch’s
caldron. Actually, the steam
bubbling out of the glass jar
was the combination of dry
ice and warm water.
The girls — and many
other interested students —
filled plastic cups with the
steam, which looked like
dense fog, and watched with
amazement as it evaporated
before their eyes.
When asked what her fa-
vorite booth at the event
was, it didn’t take Ariana long
to answer.
“I like this one,” she said,
pointing to the frothing jar
and then explaining the reac-
tion. “It’s a huge bubble of
steam. … It’s carbon dioxide.”
Ariana said she’s thinking
about being a scientist when
she grows up, saying, “I want
to experiment with water,
make it fizz and bubble.
“I love science,” she con-
tinued. “You get to experi-
ment and do cool stuff.”
Oakdale Heights Principal
Caleb Harris said a parent of
a student, Marita Barth, a
chemistry instructor at OSU,
suggested and helped coor-
dinate bringing the event to
Dallas.
“This is one of the areas,
because of time constraints,
that we don’t have the op-
portunity to do as much,”
Harris said. “With this, we
can invest time back into it.”
Barth said the kid-friendly
experiments — some of
which, like the fingerprinting
booth she hosted, were de-
lightfully messy — served as a
great introduction to science.
“They think things are
cool and that is a good start,”
she said. “That’s how kids get
into science.”
Whitworth teacher is honored
Itemizer-Observer staff report
DALLAS — Lynden Jones, a fourth-
grade teacher at Whitworth Elemen-
tary School in Dallas, was presented
with the Dallas Distinguished Educa-
tor Award for January on Friday.
Jones was nominated by Jeff and
Jaime Hevener, parents of a student
in her class.
“Words cannot describe how
much it has meant to us as parents
for a teacher to care so much about
our child,” Jaime said. “She has
greatly impacted our child’s life.”
Her son added: “Mrs. Jones is
pretty awesome.”
The Distinguished Educator Pro-
gram recognizes “excellence in
teaching and learning” in Dallas
School District schools.
Jones
INDEPENDENCE — Cen-
tral School District wants to
know what you think about
how it communicates and
where you get your infor-
mation about the district.
To investigate how to bet-
ter improve communica-
tion, Jill Love, who is a pri-
vate contractor in marketing
and communication, was
hired on a six-month con-
tract to survey the commu-
nity and district employees.
“I will focus on improving
communication both inter-
nally within the district as
well as externally to parents,
businesses and the commu-
nity,” Love said.
Communication is key,
said Superintendent Buzz
Brazeau.
“It’s not necessarily some-
thing we feel we’ve done as
good a job at lately, and we
want to get better,” he said.
The first steps in reaching
out include a survey —
available both online and in
paper format. The paper
surveys are available at each
school building and at both
Independence and Mon-
mouth public libraries.
Love hopes the survey will
reveal how district employ-
ees, students and the com-
munity view Central Schools,
what they see as its strengths
and weaknesses, and how
they get their information.
“I will analyze (the re-
sults) for themes and a clear
picture of how Central
School District is perceived
internally as well as exter-
nally,” Love said.
The information then will
be taken to the board to de-
cide how to use it, Brazeau
said.
The contract with Love is
capped at $20,000 and
charged on an hourly basis.
Afterward, the cost will de-
pend on what steps the dis-
trict takes to improve com-
munication, such as a new
website.
A new website would
need to be maintained,
which also would cost
money, Brazeau said.
“We’ll have to make deci-
sions,” he said. “It’s budget
time, so it’s the perfect time
to do it.”
The survey is 18 ques-
tions in both English and
Spanish. Including identify-
ing information such as
name and phone number is
optional.
Take the online survey at:
https://www.surveymon-
key.com/s/13JCommunica-
tion.
Dallas superintendent search
committee appointed by board
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — The commit-
tee charged with narrowing
the field of Dallas school su-
perintendent applicants will
be getting to work soon.
The Dallas School Board
approved the list of commit-
tee members, 27 in all, rep-
resenting district adminis-
trators, teachers, classified
staff, parents and commu-
nity members, city officials
and business leaders.
Community members on
the committee include: Dal-
las Police Chief Tom Simp-
son; George Fisher, repre-
senting Dallas Rotary Club;
Brittney Rettler-Thomas
and Bob Brannigan, repre-
senting the Dallas Area
Chamber of Commerce;
Mi k e Ho l l a n d ; A n g e l a
Munkers; Marita Barth; Dal-
las City Councilor Jim
Fairchild; Clinton Branum,
representing Rotary; and
Brent DeMoe, Polk County’s
Family & Community Out-
reach manager.
The screening committee
will meet Feb. 11 at 6:30
p.m. for training and to
begin screening applicant
resumes with the objective
determining which candi-
dates should be scheduled
for interviews.
A potentially lengthy
process, the committee also
is scheduled to meet Feb.
12-13 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
both days. If needed, com-
mittee members could meet
Feb. 14, as well.
The school board will
meet Feb. 16 to review the
screening committee results
and officially select those
candidates to be invited for
interviews.
If all goes according to
plan, initial interviews and
community meet-and-
greets with finalists will be
conducted in February and
early March, with the dis-
trict possibly naming its
next superintendent in
March. The new superin-
tendent will begin July 1.
In other business on
Monday, the Dallas School
Board:
• Learned that imple-
menting a full-day kinder-
garten program during the
2015-16 school year would
only cost an additional
$4,000, most of which
would be in equipment and
supplies costs. That figure is
assuming no substantial in-
crease in enrollment. Nine
classrooms between Oak-
dale Heights and Lyle ele-
mentary schools would be
needed to accommodate
moving to a full-day sched-
ule, if the board decided to
go that route. If enrollment
stays steady, class sizes are
estimated to be about 20 to
21 students.