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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 1963)
10 A MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1963 MKUKORD MAIL, TRIBUNE. MEDFOKD. OREGON Basic Graded 'A', Frills Flunked, in Experiments Accidental Shooting Kills Vale Resident (Editor's Note; The (rum peling (or better education In heard In all 50 dates. Three years ag , the District of Co lumbia I card the call and went to work. The result was the Aniidon elementary school a new concept in education for the '60s. Here is a prog ress report.) By JOHN H. MILLER United Press International WASHINGTON (UPI)- Three years ago, a new ele mentary school opened its doors within view of the U.S. Capitol. It was a curious school. There weren't enough students to put in it. But there it was, the Ami don school. Congress had appropriated money for the 25-room school to serve an urban redevelop ment area. But when the school was ready for use in Septem ber, I960, the redevelopment wasn't. It became a matter of arith metic. There were only 148 ele mentary pupils in the area. They had been attending a near by school slated (or abandon ment. These Mil children were the only customers (or the Ami don school, which had a capa city o( 806. Dr. Carl F. Hansen, superin tendent of schools in the Dis trict of Columbia, was quick to recognize the unusual situation. He had been waiting for a chance like this. In his many years as an ed ucator, he had heard one ques tion time and again: "How can the quality of edu cation be Improved?" Hanson thought he knew. The Amidon school, brand new with practically no one to put in it, was his opportunity to find out it ne was right. The superintendent felt that BURIAL FOR PETS The four beloved poodles of Georgia White Montano were buried in a Colma, Calif., pet cemetery under a costly tombstone. Mrs. Montano, 37, apparently smoth ered the dogs before she shot her husband. Air Force Sot. Pedro Montano, and her ex-husband, Henry H. White. A few minutes later she died in an explosion which demolished her home. Police speculate she set fire to the house to cover the crime and perished when she failed to escape out a window. The burial arrangements for the dogs cost an estimated $1,000. Mrs. Montano made no arrangements for burial of the three humans. (UPI) School Nevs McLoughlin Jr. High Current enrollment figures show a total of 1.204 students at McLoughlin. This is an in crease of 25 over last year when 1,179 were enrolled. The largest class is the eighth grade with 408. The seventh grade has 404 students and the ninth grade has a to tal of 392. Student elections are under way with primary elections of class officers scheduled for Friday, Sept. 20. General elcc- tion will be held Wednesday, sept. 25. Primary election of student body officers will be Monday, September 30, and the general election will be held Thursday, Oct. 3. Seventh and eighth grade yell leaders will be elected next week. Ninth grade cheerleaders were elected last week. Those elected were Teresa Allen, yell queen, Beiiette Stephens, Zcllah Mason, Cathy Bradford, and Alice Schafcr. Eight McLoughlin teachers are involved in team teaching this year on an experimental basis. The teams are composed of Mrs. Marvel Yung and Mrs. tauise Davis, geography; Jack Sutton and Larry Brunette, his tory; Mrs. Sherril Harshbargcr and Miss Sandra Lien, English; and Mrs. Eula Foley and Gor don Morris, math. Mrs. Henrietta Leon and Mrs. Maydell Daniels are teacher aides working with the teams. Six teachers were added to the faculty this year. Mrs. Margo Maves leaches typing, Mrs. Kay Brashears, sevcnlh and eighth grade ail, and Bob Bork, band. Three former Mclaughlin students are among the new teachers, Ed Albright, English; Tony Bi aimer, history and geography, and Tom Morris, math. Hedrick Junior High Sixty-five students signed up for the annual hunter safety course which hegan at Hedrick last week. This after-school course is designed to teach prop er care and handling of fire arms. Lew Thanos is the in structor. Students who have completed the hunter safety course may sign up for the rifle matches which begin next week. The marksmanship program allows students to qualify for National Rifle association awards and Army qualification awards. Matches will be held among the students, and occasionally (acui ty - student matches will be scheduled. The varsity football team held a controlled scrimmace with Ea gle I'oint Tuesday. Team weak nesses were determined in order that they could be worked out before the first conference game against North Grants Pass which was held Friday. The game is being played at iledrick and begins at 3:30 p.m. On that same day, the Hedrick eighth grade team will play the North GP eighth grade there. Mrs. Mildred Rogers, school li brarian, reports that every stu dent was in last week for orien- tution. Last week all history stu dents and those needing the li brary lor special reference pur poses will attend lectures on the use of the reference shelves. New shelving (or the reference section was installed during the summer. Coach Bob Radcliff reports that 41 ninth graders are nut for football with 22 lettermen in the group. The first game of the year matched Mclaughlin and Kla math Falls at I p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, on the McLoughlin field. The eighth grade team, coched by Bill Esselstyn. has 53 boys out (or the team. The (irst game is with Ashland, Sept, 26, on the Mac field. Seventh grade coaches Chuck Madary and Tony Brauner have divided 75 boys among the two seventh grade teams. The McLoughlin White team plays Hedrick Reds and the McLough lin Blacks meet Hedrick Blues Oct. 3 in their first games. A girls' Intramural sports dio- gram is now being organized by Miss Andrea Siverts, girls' phys ical education instructor. Games to be played include badminton, volley ball, and girls' basketball. r "Mobilheat" The Oil to Burn Amtrica'i largest Sailing Hatting Oil MODERN Oil Heated Home. Art Worth Mora - Saf.r-Cl.an.r-Ch.ap.r. Wt Sell and Take Trad.-int AUTOMATIC Oil FLOOR FURNACES COLEMAN OIL STOVES MEDFORD FUEL CO. Court and McAndrtwi Phone 772-2111 education was not preparing stu dents to meet the "new, unpre- dictable and Immensely com plex problems which they will face." "In other words," he wrote later in a book on the school. "in education we have to repair a leaky roof and at the same time rebuild weak foundations. I believe that the new Amidon concept is a demonstrably sue cessful step toward these goals." What is the Amidon concept? To many, it was a return to the 3 R's of the little red school house. In a way, that's exact ly what it was. Only a souped up version. Under the Amidon plan, as it became known, emphasis is on basic subjects: Reading, writ ing, arithmetic, spelling, science and history. In the Amidon classroom, the teacher runs the show. You never will hear a teacher ask, "What will we learn today, chil dren?" Teacher prescribes. Amidon school isn't easy. First graders have homework. Students walk in the corridors in single file. They may not talk. Discipline is important, not so much for discipline's sake but because a teacher can't teach as effectively if students are un attentive. The principal is Dr. Dorothy L. Johnson, a professional, cour teous and thorough. "We believe that children have not been challenged enough in the past," she said. "We felt they could do better." The land on which this school is built used to be a slum," she said. "There is no other word for it." Different Backgrounds The children are from wide ly different backgrounds. Many are Negroes who live in public housing where the rent is only $40 a month." But only 50 per cent come from the Amidon school district. The rest come from every section of Washington," D r . Johnson said. "They come here because their parents want them to. Their mothers and fa thers have to bring them to school every morning and take them home at night. They are sons of Army offi cers, daughters of diplomats, foreigners, children of wealthy parents and those on relief. Although 65 per cent of the 640 students are Negro, there is no racial problem. Amidon starts at the kinder garten level and runs through the sixth grade. One of the most improtant subjects in each of these levels is phonics. We found in the beginning that the children weren't listening to the words," Dr. Johnson said. "Now, our language instruction is 75 per cent phonics." According to the results, the system works. Most of the chil dren in kindergarten can read, and read well. Dr. Johnson gives most of the credit to the teachers. "The teachers here all have three things in common: They like children; they believe they can learn; and they show infi nite patience with them." Superintcn dent Hansen agrees. He said the most im portant quality a teacher can possess is the gift of caring. Under this guideline, one teacher who docs belong at the Amidon school is Miss Margu erite Jamicson. A tall brunette in her 20's, she believes in the Amidon way and practices it in her first grade classroom. Hern Eliminated "The frills of education have been eliminated," she said. "We believe in pushing the child of average ability. They have been coddled in the past." On discipline, Miss Jamicson said: "Some visitors said (hey did not like (he idea of the children being required to walk in line In the corridors. They ask if the school isn't missing out by not teaching social graces. But is the school the place for this? 1 1 think it belongs in the home." Every Amidon student took standard, national achievement tests at the end of each of the school's three years. The results from this year's testing are not complete, but here are the 11 and l2 results: In 1961, 76 per cent of (he stu dents scored above the national average, 6 per cent equalled it j lenged. In turn, the parents are don't know whether I am going and 18 per cent scored below In 1362, 96 per cent were above, 2 per cent equal and 2 per cent below. But principal Johnson feels that even more important were the results of tests based on what was expected of the stu dents, knowing each one's abili ties and talents. The report card: In 1961, 74 per cent scored higher than was expected. That figure climbed to 87 per cent the following year. j Results Equal I The results at home were equivalent. Parents say their children are happy to be chal- naPPy- ' to pass but I enioved beim; in Here are some representative ' your class " remarks from the children: "Amidon," a sixth grader said, "is some swell school! We have to work hard but I like it. You know, I never liked school before." Another sixth grader told his teacher, "We played a lot last year (at another school). It was fun but we didn't learn much. Now we hardly ever play but we're having (un just t h e same." And there was the fourth grader who shook hands with his teacher at the end of the year and said with a smile, "I The Amidon plan embodies a track method. Bright, average and slow learners are put into separate classrooms. A specific period of time is allotted (or every subject in the curriculum. There is room lar imagination but a teacher can't spend 90 minutes on one subject when she should be devoting only 45 minutes to it. if (his happened, something else would be neglected. With the exception of reading, every subject is taught lu the class as a whole. "The Amidon plan is designed to utilize the best of the oM and new in education," said Hansen. "It is simply the logical union between what has been d'scov ered about the way people learn and the content to be learned. It is not a return to the horse and j buggy days, although much; good education was available m those days." ' Said Hansen, I he UecaU-j of the '60's should tell the Hu.y cf the success of this type of edu cation for children today," Said a six-year-old to h e r teacher last term: "I like home work. When can we have some more?" VALE (UPI) Tom Goodwin, while he was showing her hour 70, a long-time resident of Mai-1 10 (jre a ,22 caliber rifle heur County, was shot to death Tu ., , ,, '. in his hore here Friday eve-1 J0, ly.. Sheriff Robert lice on charee. Ingram Said I Ineram euirt a .nrnno,'. Mary Rita Stark, 38, told himauest has been scheduled she shot Goodwin accidentally! Goodwin formerly owned ex- tensive ranch property near the PLAN'S GUAM PROJECT WASHINGTON (UPI) - The Navy is planning a multi-million-dollar project on the Pa: cific island of Guam to restore or rebuild facilities damaged by Typhoon Karen last November. Officials of the Bureau of Yards and Docks said Friday the cost of the project would be "in the neighborhood of $20 million." community of Juntura. He sold nis holdings recently and moved to Vale. Mobilheat "Oil to Burn" S&H GREEN STAMPS MEDFORD FUEL CO. Ph. 772-2111 mwmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmWBmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 3 Swift's Premium-Sweet Smoke Taste Mb. pkg. n I r IWr II I I I 1 f its M l", j n u r w ii - 1 I -1 I in. i i r i ri i iw m m mm w w m k VI VI 4 BtOttit Cuijal (Vwt- ffl nnrv7 uuLnj Safeway Skinless Mb. (All Beef 1-lb- pkg. round if VELURE TISSUE Two Ply Facial Quality 10 Roll Pack 1' Instant Tea Instant Tea Cracker Meal Lipton's 3-OI. Ltplon'l 1 1 1 Ot. Nabiuo 9 1 j Oi. 93c 47c 21c 100 beef. 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