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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 2015)
14A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • September 2, 2015 Polk County Education Falls City students hit the books Scheduling quirk results in starting classes a week earlier than normal By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer FALLS CITY — Students in Falls City are back to the books a week earlier than usual. Monday marked back to s c h o o l f o r t h e Mo u n - taineers. The early start is due to a quirk in the calendar and the district four-day school week system. With Labor Day falling so late in Sep- tember this year, beginning classes after the holiday would push the end of the year to June 16. “Everybody on the staff felt that was way too late in June to be ending school,” Super intendent Jack Thompson said. He said the four-day schedule doesn’t allow for much leeway to pick up days throughout the school year, so the choice was be- tween starting earlier or ending later. Thompson said starting the last day in Au- gust is better than releasing students in mid-June — for both staff and students. Other school districts in JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer Falls City students put away supplies and settle in during the first day of school on Monday morning. the county have gone with the traditional first day of school, at least for some stu- dents, on the Tuesday after Labor Day. Perrydale School District also runs on a four-day week, but chose to bring students back on Sept. 8. The last day for students will be June 16, like it would have been for Falls City, ac- cording to its approved 2015-16 calendar. Dallas School District’s last day for fourth- through 12th-grade students is June 14, while K-3 students at- tend until June 13. In Cen- tral School District, the last day is June 10. Thompson said students haven’t been grumbling much about the early start. “Not really, this time of year kids are ready to come back to school,” he said. That certainly was the case for Roxi Barnhart’s fifth- and sixth-grade class, which seemed ready to begin learning. “I like it,” said fifth-grader Molly Major as she stocked her desk with supplies. That was Barnhart’s first assignment of the year, hav- ing students organize their desks. Within minutes, Barnhart realized she was going to be short on storage space for all the supplies students purchased or were given through The Salvation Army’s annual “Tools for School” giveaway earlier in August. “We’ve never had this much,” she said, looking for space to put everything. This year, Barnhart had 22 students on the first day, a fairly typical number based on the past few years. In line with Thompson’s belief, kids were glad to be back, even if the calendar still read “August.” “I’m happy that we are back earlier rather than later,” fifth-grader Kirk Davis said. “Because it (the last day) would have been really late in the summer.” Craven receives honor for climate change work Central science teacher created YouTube video that has gotten 11 million hits By Emily Mentzer The Itemizer-Observer INDEPENDENCE — Eight years after “The Most Terrifying Video You’ll Ever See” went live on YouTube — and some 11 million hits later — creator and Central High School teacher Greg Craven is being honored for his work in climate change education. “It has stuck around and continued to pop up,” Craven said of the video which started it all. The 10-minute film — just Craven and a white board — lays out what Craven believed to be an original argument on how to look at climate change, he said. “I was tired of the real dis- connect on what the science was confident of and what the public was confident of,” Craven said. “There was a real disconnect. Science was quite confident about the reality of climate change and humans doing it, and the public had very little be- lief in it, relatively.” In his effort to “break the deadlock and bridge the gap” between science and the general public, he asks people to think about the worst that could happen. “I came up with a little two-by-two visual argu- ment proposing instead of us getting hung up on the idea of whether it was true or not — for certain — in- stead ask, what are the chances and what do we want to do to manage those chances,” Craven said. “Sort of risk assessment for the layman.” At the end of the first video, Craven invites viewers to poke holes in his theory. “I teach that in my classes all the time,” he noted. “The way science is unique and the way that it gets better over time is by trying to break ideas. The way you make an idea stronger is by inviting criticism of it.” Craven said he got plenty of criticism. “People had lots of ‘yeah, buts’ and ‘what ifs,’ so I col- lected all those and did an- other eight hours of video an- swering every single rebuttal I could dredge up online,” he said. “That led to a book.” For his efforts, the Nation- al Center for Science Educa- tion awarded him the 2015 Friend of the Planet. This is the second year the center has given out this award. The center is known for countering the push back against the teaching of evolution in schools. Recently, the center has taken on teaching the sci- ence of climate change also. “Climate change is sort of in the same boat as evolu- tion,” Craven said. “Teachers that teach climate change get a push back from a sub- group of parents because they see it as being political and untrue.” While Craven has pub- lished videos and books with his opinions and views on policy and personal choices surrounding the topic, when it comes to the classroom, he is careful to stick to the science when it comes to climate change. Parents don’t want sci- ence teachers giving politi- cal “shoulds” to their stu- dents, Craven said. However, he added that he doesn’t see climate change as a political, envi- ronmental nor moral issue, but as a pragmatic one. EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer Central science teacher Greg Craven is being honored for his work in climate change education. “It’s not about saving the planet, it’s about how do our actions come back and affect us,” Craven said. “It’s about the potential effects on us, and how that’s going to very pragmatically affect me and my kids. Just like if you’re building a city, you don’t dump raw sewage in the river upstream from your drinking water.” Christian academy to host potluck MONMOUTH — Mid-Valley Christian Academy will host an open house potluck for first- through 12th-grade students on Wednesday (today) at 6 p.m. The event is an opportunity for parents to visit with staff and see the school’s campus, located at 1483 N. 16th St., in Monmouth. Classes began Wednesday (today) and the school is open for regis- tration 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information: 503-838-2818. 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