The Search for Common Ground – Speech to Mehlville School District Staff

At the August 19th, 2010 Mehlville School Board meeting I spoke to my colleagues on the school board and the staff of the Mehlville School District about the merits of moving forward with the COMPASS II recommendations.  The decision to be made that evening was whether or not to place an 88 cent tax levy on the ballot.

Here is the speech:

The text for this speech can be seen by clicking here.

The next day I sent an email out to the staff of the Mehlville School District.  That email can be seen by clicking here.

Letter received from Building Trades encouraging the board to seek $94 million in building improvements to the Mehlville School District

Mr. Tom Diehl, President
Mehlville District Board of Education
3120 Lemay Ferry Road
St. Louis, MO 63125

Dear President Diehl:

I am writing to express the unanimous endorsement of the St. Louis Building & Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO, for the COMPASS II proposal now being considered by the Board, which includes $98 million in facilities improvements and competitive compensation for teachers.

Our council affiliates, representing over 30,000 union building trades families, a great many of whom live in the Mehlville School District, have always been supportive of education because we realize its importance to the future of our area and our nation.

Your efforts to create a safe learning environment for the children could not have come at a better time:

First. because our children’s education is vital for their own futures as adults; the Mehlville School District has built a reputation for quality that our community and your District’s residents cannot afford to lose. This proposal, for minimal costs to taxpayers, will ensure the District’s

quality programs continue for decades.

Second, unemployment in the building trades, where a substantial number of your residents are employed either directly as construction workers or indirectly via suppliers of goods and services to the construction industry, is at an all-time high. Your building/remodeling efforts

would come at a crucial time and will be an investment back into your own community and surrounding communities, where good union wages will be spent and will turn over, or ripple, through the local economy many times over.

We strongly encourage the Board of Education to move forward with this well-conceived plan, which obviously has strong support from the community. Your efforts to bring the public into the early planning stages of determining goals and how best to meet them were exceptional. We applaud you for that effort. The public not only helped to shape the recommendations now before you, but the public input helped create wide spread understanding of the real need the District faces to meet those expectations. We support the COMPASS II recommendations and urge the Board to move forward quickly to take this important decision to the voters.

Rest assured that if you go forward, the Building Trades Council will support the Board’s decision.

Sincerely,

~~~

Gerald T. Feldhaus

Executive Secretary-Treasurer

Jim Barrett vs. Bill Zobrist – a Quick Case Study in why Republicans are not good for the cause of public education

I have received a couple of mailers in the mail that I am going to display here.  The reason why is that I want to contrast two political ideologies.  This is not a game.  This is about the lives of 11,000 children a year in the Mehlville School District and the lives of 90,000 residents in our district.

The 21st century Republican Party does not support public education.  They may pay lip service one on one, but they do not vote, sponsor, or write bills that would benefit public education in Missouri.

I am using the Zobrist mailer and the Barrett mailer as examples because they are what I have received.   First the Zobrist mailer:

What Bill Zobrist is saying here is that no matter what the cause, no matter what the purpose, no matter how worthy an effort may be, he will not support a tax increase.  Not only that, he will fight to “reduce” taxes.

Well I am here to tell you now, not all taxes are created equal.  If you believe in the cause of public education, if you believe in the efforts of the Mehlville School District, if you have kids, or grandkids in the Mehlville School District, or just plain recognize the benefits of public education in Oakville and Mehlville, then Bill Zobrist (and the rest of the Republicans with the same message) are NOT FOR YOU!!!  It doesn’t matter if you go to church with the guy.  It doesn’t matter if you BBQ with him.  It doesn’t matter if you played soccer for him.  It doesn’t matter if he is your best friend.  HE WILL VOTE AGAINST YOUR INTERESTS!!!  It’s not me saying it.  It is him saying it, right here, in his literature.

If you are an employee of the Mehlville School District or have a loved one that is, Bill Zobrist is not your man!!!  As a matter of fact, if he had your way, he would reduce our revenue and quite possibly cost you a job!  Bill Zobrist is not your man!

Need I mention that the largest employer in the within the boundaries of the Mehlville School District IS the Mehlville School District?

Did you notice that not one of the bullet points on this mailer includes JOBS!!!!

By the way, here is the front:

So, if not Zobrist and the rest of the Republicans, then who?

Well, any of the Democrats would do.  How do I know?  Because the party has a record of voting in favor of issues of public education.  Here is a mailer to prove it:

Jim Barrett supports public education in Mehlville

Jim Barrett has his finger (as do the other Democratic candidates for the 97th, including Jan Polizzi and Rudy Pulido) on the pulse of this community.  Notice how his bullet points are pro-Mehlville.  ”Working with the local business community to create and retain GOOD JOBS!!!”  Ensure our children have access to first class education. Provide for a safe community in which to raise our families.

Barrett hammers it home with the bullet point on the other side of his flyer:

Jim Barrett is pro-Mehlville School District

“Common Sense”.  In my mind it just isn’t common sense that matters.  Barrett shows his leadership by not making empty promises without any thought to the facts and the merits of any issue.  He promises to have a commitment to his community and to ENSURE OUR CHILDREN HAVE ACCESS TO FIRST CLASS EDUCATION…

If you believe in public education, and the vision of the Mehlville School District, then Barrett, Polizzi, or Pulido can be your only choice.

Mehlville School Board members work not to silo themselves – anti-groupthink practices

It is incredibly hard this day and age not to get caught up in groupthink, where a group tends to hole itself up and only consider the positives on any given event, sealing themselves off from criticism and building a sense of superiority over other interests.  Personal Media Environments, and silos are everywhere.  It is easier than ever to find other like-minded people such as yourself and not listen to what sometimes amounts to inconvenient information to a belief or an argument.

However, one thing that I really like about this current board that I serve with is that we go out of our way to look for critics and criticism.  We have community engagement sessions, we have meetings at the Panera Bread to allow community members to sit down and discuss issues with us.  We make our email addresses and phone numbers publicly available for anyone to contact us or communicate with us at any time.

Today, July 17, we had an open Town Hall meeting to discuss the Facilities Study commission by the Board of Education at Buerkle Middle School.  A couple dozen parents and community members came to voice their opinion and ask questions.  As always, it was another positive and productive meeting.  By positive, I don’t necessarily mean all positive attitudes.  I mean that it was constructive and it helps us as board members and administrators to make sure that we are considering every possible avenue before making a final decision.

The bottom line for me is that if you feel shut out of the process at Mehlville, you aren’t even trying.

Some background on Mehlville School District Salary Increases

Below you will find some background reading.  Proposition T was passed with the intent of unfreezing frozen salaries and continue COMPASS’s goal’s of moving our teachers and other staff closer to the county median.  We are also now out of a deficit spending mode, were able to restore tutoring cuts and cuts in textbook purchases. 

Basically, these were voter approved salary increases/raises…

(For quick reading, I put in Bold the most pertinent information.)

Committee to kick off Prop T canvassing
Mehlville School District voters will consider Prop T on Nov. 4

---

MIKE ANTHONY
Executive Editor

"Our theme and message is pretty simple: To maintain quality schools (and) to protect our investment without increasing our taxes."
— Jeff Clobes, Together For T chairman

October 15, 2008 – A citizens’ committee promoting the Mehlville School District’s Proposition T hopes hundreds of supporters will turn out Saturday, Oct. 18, for a rally to kick off the group’s canvassing efforts.
The rally will take place at 8 a.m. in the gymnasium at Oakville Senior High School, according to Jeff Clobes, a district parent and chairman of Together for T.
"I think the important thing to note on this is that it’s really a community effort,” Clobes told the Call. "We want the community to be involved and we want it to kind of bring the spirit of the community together …”
Clobes continued, "We’re basically asking for any and all community members that are interested in helping with the canvassing process to show up at Oakville High School on the 18th at 8 a.m. to take part not only in the rally, but also in the canvassing effort.”
Among the speakers at Saturday’s rally will be Superintendent Terry Noble. In addition, Clobes said local elected officials and candidates would be invited to attend the rally, which also will feature musical performances by students.
Noting that the rally will take place from 8 to 9 a.m., Clobes said some of that time will include instruction for volunteers — "how to approach canvassing and just kind of talk about the importance of canvassing and the role that it plays in the overall election process.”
The Together for T chairman also praised the efforts of Rogers Elementary School Principal Jeff Bresler, who is serving as canvassing chairman.
"Jeff is really leading the canvassing effort with both the teachers as well as the community and trying to engage both groups to get involved in the canvassing effort. This is probably the largest undertaking of our campaign. So Jeff really needs to be commended for his abilities in coordinating all of these efforts,” Clobes said.
Voters will consider Proposition T in the Nov. 4 election. If approved, Proposition T would transfer roughly 31 cents per $100 of assessed valuation from the district’s debt-service fund to the operating fund.
The measure would generate roughly $5.6 million annually for the operating fund.
Proposition T would not increase Mehlville’s overall tax rate, but would extend the district’s bonded indebtedness by 15 years — to 2029.
The transfer was recommended to the Board of Education by the Facilitating Team of the district’s public-engagement program COMPASS — Charting the Oakville-Mehlville Path to Advance Successful Schools.
Clobes, a longtime district volunteer, had served as co-chair of the district’s Facilities Planning Team, which formulated a long-range facilities master plan as part of COMPASS.
"Our theme and message is pretty simple: To maintain quality schools (and) to protect our investment without increasing our taxes,” Clobes previously said. "And that really kind of sums it up in a nutshell. Prop T is designed to kind of help us balance the budget without taking additional, serious cuts to the district. What we’re trying to do is restore the budget cuts in textbooks and supplies and tutoring, but more importantly, retain and recruit qualified classroom teachers for the district. Terry Noble’s goal of becoming a high-performing school district basically starts with the ability to hire and retain those quality classroom teachers.”
After Saturday’s effort, canvassing will continue as follows:
• From 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 25.
Volunteers will meet at Bernard Middle School, 1054 Forder Road.
• From 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26.
Volunteers will meet at Bernard Middle School.
• From 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Nov. 1.
Volunteers will meet at Bernard Middle School.
To obtain more information about Prop T or to volunteer, call (314) 315-2650, e-mail propositiont@gmail.com or visit www.YesForPropT.com.
Of Saturday’s rally and canvassing, Clobes said, "Really, with today’s economic realities, this may provide somewhat of a break, if you will, from all of the negative news that’s going on regarding the economy.
"We really want to create a feel-good event, but the message is still strong that we want to encourage everyone on the merits of Proposition T.”

2008-11-12 Impact News

Mehlville voters give green light to Prop T
Community’s approval of Prop T ‘an overwhelming victory,’ Diehl says

MIKE ANTHONY
Executive Editor

"We want to reassure (the public) that we’re going to be good stewards of the resources that they’ve entrusted us with and we’ll use them for the purposes that we stated we would use them for."
— Terry Noble, Mehlville School District superintendent

November 12, 2008 – With approval of Proposition T in last week’s election, Mehlville School District officials pledge to be good stewards of the resources entrusted to them by voters, according to Superintendent Terry Noble.
"We’re really pleased. We’re really excited," Noble said. "First thing I want to say is how grateful we are to our public for supporting us at the polls. We want to reassure them that we’re going to be good stewards of the resources that they’ve entrusted us with and we’ll use them for the purposes that we stated we would use them for."
In the Nov. 4 election, Proposition T received 31,089 "yes" votes — 62.23 percent — and 18,867 "no" votes — 37.77 percent, according to unofficial totals from the county Board of Election Commissioners.

"Our efforts to be transparent have helped us communicate more effectively with the community and we appreciate the fact that they are giving us this opportunity to resolve some economic issues that we’ve had as all families are having in this current financial situation."
— Tom Diehl, Mehlville Board of Education president

Proposition T will transfer roughly 31 cents per $100 of assessed valuation from the district’s debt-service fund to the operating fund. The measure will generate roughly $5.6 million annually for the operating fund. Proposition T will not increase Mehlville’s overall tax rate, but will extend the district’s bonded indebtedness by 15 years — to 2029.

Revenue from Proposition T primarily will be used to stabilize the district’s budget. Funding the teachers’ salary schedule — which was frozen for the 2008-2009 school year — and addressing technology needs and reinstating supplies and textbooks that were cut this year likely will be done with Proposition T funds.
The transfer was recommended to the school board by the Facilitating Team of the district’s public-engagement program, COMPASS — Charting the Oakville-Mehlville Path to Advance Successful Schools.
Noble praised the volunteer efforts of members of the citizens’ committee Together for T in helping to pass Proposition T, including Chairman Jeff Clobes, and four subcommittee chairs — former Board of Education member Candy Green, communications; Rogers Elementary School Principal Jeff Bresler, canvassing; Randy Lowry, community outreach; and Kelly Wicks, fund-raising.
The superintendent also praised the work of COMPASS co-chairs Dan Fowler, a former Board of Education member, and Jim Schibig, a former elementary school principal who also served as treasurer of Together for T.
Noble thanked the hundreds of volunteers who went door to door canvassing in the weeks leading up to last week’s election.
"Most of the people we were able to talk to about this prior to the election, once they were informed about what we were trying to do, were very supportive. So we felt like really the key was just to reach as many people as possible and make sure they were informed …," he said. "The canvassers were all coming back, reporting how many friendly faces and supportive people they were meeting and really were optimistic about our chances just from their own personal experience of knocking on doors and distributing information."
Board of Education President Tom Diehl said, "I just want to echo what Terry said about our appreciation to the people of the Mehlville School District. This was an overwhelming victory. I think the voters realized that our schools are an important asset to the community. When our kids need their backing, they’re there for us."
Noble and Diehl said they believe approval of Proposition T is a vote of confidence in the school board and administration.
"I think it’s also a reflection on the level of the trust that the community is willing to give us as a board and an administration to manage the resources of the district," Noble said. "Of course, I think that’s something we need to prove every day. I don’t think you ever stop. It’s just we need to prove that to people and that’s what we intend to do. You have to earn it and then you have to maintain it."
Diehl said, "Our efforts to be transparent have helped us communicate more effectively with the community and we appreciate the fact that they are giving us this opportunity to resolve some economic issues that we’ve had as all families are having in this current financial situation. The news regarding state revenues isn’t encouraging, so we do have to do everything we can at the local level to protect our schools. And once again, our voters have stepped up to the plate to support us."
While the COMPASS Facilitating Team had recommended a second ballot measure, the Board of Education decided not to seek voter approval of that proposal — a 37-cent tax-rate increase to help fund the long-range plan that incorporates suggestions from those who participated in the community-engagement sessions — at this time. A telephone survey of 400 district residents had indicated that while 59 percent opposed a 37-cent tax-rate increase, 64.8 percent of those respondents would support the no-tax-rate-increase transfer of 31 cents from the debt-service fund that Proposition T would allow.
Of Proposition T, Noble said, "This was part of the finance plan. The reason we chose to go ahead and go with this first (is because) we’re running a deficit budget and we needed to get that back in the black for survival. But that was part of the plan along with the 37-cent increase. So the board has elected to put the plan on hold basically because Prop T doesn’t really do a whole lot for the plan itself … I think that I can speak for the board to say that we are definitely going to remain focused on moving forward with the plan, but we’re also going to be monitoring the economy and try to find the right time to move forward with a future proposal.
"Again, I really think it depends on the economic situation as to when we would want to go for that because we do think we’ve got a good plan. We think we’ve got one that the community will support. We need to articulate that to the community and communicate it. I’m finding what’s so reassuring about the election is I think this community is supportive of our schools. I think what is required is that level of trust … but also that we’ve got a plan and that we can be trusted to follow the plan once the resources become available. I’m encouraged that when the community is as informed about the entire vision and all that entails that, they will be excited about it and supportive of it."
Diehl said, "I think there’s no doubt that the recommendations of COMPASS would have some real positive impacts on academic achievement and help us better prepare our students to face the 21st-century challenges that they will encounter, but we have to be pragmatic and we don’t locally have the ability to shape the world’s financial markets. That’s it in a nutshell and while we’d like to have that type of funding available in the next 30 minutes even, that’s not going to be realistic."

Oakville High teacher wins Loeb award | ksdk.com | St. Louis, MO

Image via Wikipedia

KSDK – An Oakville High School algebra and calculus teacher won the 2009 Saint Louis Science Center/Carol B. and Jerome T. Loeb Prize for Excellence in Teaching Science and Mathematics.

Tammy Popp was presented with the award at an awards banquet at the Saint Louis Science Center Tuesday morning.
Four other St. Louis area teachers, all finalists for the prize, were recognized as well. Jennifer Fruend, a science teacher at Rohan Woods School, came in second place. Oakville High School physics teacher Stephanie Allen, University City High School biology teacher Julie Ertmann and Washington Middle School math teacher Sandra Turner were also recognized.

Popp and the other finalists received cash prizes, and each nominated teacher’s class was invited to accompany them to the Saint Louis Science Center for the awards ceremony, followed by a private screening of a film in the OMNIMAX® Theater and time to explore the museum.

The Loeb Prize, which rewards teachers who significantly enhance their students’ performances in the areas of science and mathematics, was established in 1996.

KSDK

Oakville High teacher wins Loeb award | ksdk.com | St. Louis, MO

Receiving the MNEA School Bell Award was a true honor

First and foremost, I want to thank MNEA President Kay Cappos and the other teachers who supported me for the School Bell award. Receiving the Bell award was both a surprise and a great honor. Recognition of this magnitude from the classroom teachers of the Mehlville School District for the efforts I started back in 2004 is overwhelmingly fulfilling. When combined with the fact that my late grandfather, an accomplished and ardent supporter of Mehlville, received the same award over 40 years ago, it is more humbling that anyone can ever imagine. It is important that I also acknowledge that what this Board of Education has accomplished over the last four or five years did not happen by my efforts alone. They would have been utterly impossible without the help of our current board, as well as past board member and President, Ken Leach.

I also would like to thank the Executive Editor of Call Newspapers Mike Anthony for the following column in the May 7th, 2009 edition of The Call.

Mehlville teachers present annual recognition to Frank

May 06, 2009 – It’s no secret that this newspaper al-ways has believed Karl Frank Jr. to be an outstanding member of the Mehl-ville Board of Education.

Mr. Frank’s service to the community as a board member has been exemplary. He first was elected in 2005 — when the district was at a crossroads as a misguided majority of the board seemed determined to run Mehlville into the ground.

Mr. Frank’s leadership helped re-verse the direction in which the district was headed and Mehlville voters entrusted him to a second three-year term in the 2008 election.

At the Mehlville School District’s annual Recognition Night last week, Mr. Frank joined some distinguished company when he was presented the School Bell Award by the Mehlville National Education Association. The Mehlville NEA School Bell Award is presented annually to a member of the community who has made significant contributions to the education of Mehlville School District students.

Past recipients of the School Bell Award include former Board of Edu-cation member and longtime district supporter Dan Fowler and state Rep. Sue Schoemehl of Oakville.

Besides being in such elite company, Mr. Frank had a personal connection to the award because his late grandfather Kurt Frank, a 1942 graduate of Mehlville, also was a recipient of the School Bell Award.

In presenting the School Bell Award last week, Mehlville NEA President Kay Cappos stated: "This individual is a proud product of the Mehlville School District and currently entrusts his children’s education to our district as well as operating a successful business in Mehlville. This individual stepped forward several years ago as a catalyst for the positive change our district is presently enjoying. This year’s award winner has served one successful term on our Board of Ed-ucation, bringing stability, transparency in communication and integrity to the Mehlville School District …
"After he was elected to a second term to the board, this year’s recipient was instrumental in moving the district forward through the passage of Proposition T, improving the school district’s financial situation …”

She concluded by stating, "Because of his devoted service to our district, the Mehlville NEA is proud to present its 2008-2009 School Bell Award to Karl Frank Jr.”
We couldn’t agree more.

Congratulations, Mr. Frank, on re-ceiving the School Bell Award. It truly is deserved.

Practicing Your Way to a Higher I.Q. – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

Image via Wikipedia

 

We’ve written earlier about Anders Ericsson’s research on talent, and we’ve blogged on the subject repeatedly. Ericsson’s thesis is that raw talent is overrated, and that experts in a given field (be it hockey or music) accomplish excellence primarily through “deliberate practice.” Nicholas Kristof wrote yesterday about a new book about I.Q., also reviewed here, by Richard Nisbett. He argues that I.Q. is only 50 percent heritable and that the controversial racial I.Q. gap is environmental rather than genetic. Nisbett offers some suggestions to parents to raise their kids’ I.Q.: “praise effort more than achievement, teach delayed gratification, limit reprimands, and use praise to stimulate curiosity.” He is also strongly in favor of the intensive early-childhood programs favored by our new education secretary.

Practicing Your Way to a Higher I.Q. – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

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• Raising our I.Q. (kristof.blogs.nytimes.com)
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• Richard Nisbett – "Intelligence and How to Get It" (eyeonbooks.com)

Diehl, Ocello top vote-getters in election for two seats on Mehlville school board

As seen in the April 16 edition of Call Newspapers.  Picture by Bill Milligan.

Diehl, Ocello top vote-getters in election for two seats on Mehlville school board
Diehl, Ocello plan to continue moving school district forward

BURKE WASSON
Staff Reporter

April 15, 2009 – For the second consecutive time, Mehlville School District voters have elected Tom Diehl and Micheal Ocello to three-year terms on the Board of Education.
Incumbent President Diehl and incumbent Vice President Ocello won a five-candidate race for two board seats in the April 7 election. Diehl and Ocello, who first were elected in 2006, have been re-elected to serve until 2012 on the school board.
They were challenged by William Klemm, Linda Mooy and Gary "Brit" Rose.

Diehl received 7,568 votes, or 39.37 percent; Ocello received 5,751 votes, or 29.92 percent; Mooy received 2,306 votes, or 12 percent; Rose received 1,916 votes, or 9.97 percent; and Klemm received 1,648 votes, or 8.57 percent, according to unofficial election results.
Diehl said he is grateful for residents’ support and pledged to build upon the improvement the district has seen since 2006.
"I just want to thank all the voters for supporting our efforts to move the Mehlville School District forward," Diehl said. "Everyone on the school board has been working hard these past few years to be responsive to the community and meet the needs of our children."
Ocello also was pleased to be re-elected and vowed to keep the school district moving in the same direction since he and Diehl were first elected in 2006.
"I am pleased and appreciative," Ocello said. "I appreciate the people who came out and voted for us and supported us. And my goal is to continue the progress as promised. We’ll continue the direction we’re moving."

Diehl, Ocello top vote-getters in election for two seats on Mehlville school board

Letter writer upset by anonymous ‘hate-mail flier’ pertaining to Ocello

As seen in the April 16th Edition of Call Newspapers…

Letter writer upset by anonymous ‘hate-mail flier’ pertaining to Ocello

April 15, 2009 – I was very upset to find a hate-mail flier pertaining to Mehlville Board of Education Vice President Mike Ocello on my front door.
I didn’t find it until the day after the election in which I voted in favor of Mr. Ocello and Board of Education President Tom Diehl.
This attempt at character assassination was entirely uncalled for. I am aware, as many other voters are, of Mr. Ocello’s business enterprises and though I don’t patronize them, as long as they are legal in their present jurisdictions, I see no reason to raise any complaints.
Mr. Diehl and Mr. Ocello along with the other present Mehlville Board of Education members and supervisory personnel have done a superb job of leading our school district back to respectability.
As long as our district schools continue to show improvement, I see no reason other than pure malice and maybe a little jealousy to engage in such a disgraceful political attack.
If Mr. Ocello is such a dastardly character as portrayed in this flier, why didn’t the gutless "Concerned Citizens of the Mehlville School District" sign their names instead of hiding behind anonymity?
Edward E. Krite
Oakville

Letter writer upset by anonymous ‘hate-mail flier’ pertaining to Ocello

Mehlville School District First in region to become certified as Red Cross Ready – StlToday.com

Image by Vidiot via Flickr

 

MEHLVILLE SCHOOLS > All are certified as Red Cross Ready — The Mehlville School District became the first in the region to have all of its schools certified as Red Cross Ready Rating members. This means every school is preparing for emergency situations, such as dangerous weather to pandemic illness, based on Red Cross criteria.
The district has had crisis plans in place, but with the Ready Rating Program, the plan includes more parental involvement at school and home, the district says.
The free service is open to any business, group or school. Schools that join earn a yearly $300 safety stipend to help with emergency planning. For more information about the Red Cross Ready Rating Program, visit readyrating.redcrossstl.org.

04/08/2009 – Education Digest > 4/08 – STLtoday.com

Teachers Learn to Help Kids Behave – WSJ.com

This is pretty good.  I am always on the lookout for some creative ways to keep the kids eyes forward and brains open. 

Behavior problems among small children are a growing issue. The possible causes are many: pressure on teachers to stress math and reading over emotional skills; family instability; a decline in playtime; heavy use of child care; or a rise in learning problems such as attention-deficit disorder. Based on preliminary findings from a federal child-care study, discussed last week at a conference for the Society for Research in Child Development in Denver, the slight increase in behavior problems found in children who spent lots of early time in child care persists all the way to age 15, in the form of more impulsivity and risk-taking.

But now, some novel teaching programs are showing great promise in solving the behavior problems, and perhaps in reducing ADD diagnoses. By giving children more time for dramatic or pretend play, and by building into the school day more lessons in self control, researchers are seeing both big reductions in bad behavior, and gains in cognitive skills. The findings have value for well-behaved children too; research shows behavior problems among a few children tend to drag down other kids’ conduct.

Teachers Learn to Help Kids Behave – WSJ.com

Mehlville School Board Results – 2009

DIRECTOR MEHLVILLE SCHOOL

Vote for 2 (WITH 49 OF 49 COUNTED)

BRIT ROSE . . . . . . . . . . 1,916 9.97

LINDA MOOY . . . . . . . . . . 2,306 12.00

WILLIAM KLEMM . . . . . . . . . 1,648 8.57

TOM DIEHL . . . . . . . . . . 7,568 39.37

MICHEAL OCELLO. . . . . . . . . 5,751 29.92

WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 35 .18

Testing a syncronized post

testing a post to three different blogs.

Kidipede – History and Science for Kids – Homework Help for Middle School

Kidipede – History and Science for Kids – Homework Help for Middle School

Is your kid really gifted? Probably not – CNN.com

Is your kid really gifted? Probably not – CNN.com
Did your child walk and talk early? Does she have a brain like a sponge? Scribble magnificently? Love learning? Ask questions that leave you marveling (and scrambling to Google an answer)?
You can’t make your child be gifted, but you can help your kid reach his or her potential.

You can’t make your child be gifted, but you can help your kid reach his or her potential.

Wow, clearly she’s a genius!

Or, um, maybe not.

“Gifted” has become one of the most tossed-about words in the parenting lexicon. Unfortunately — sorry, but let’s get this out of the way right up front — it’s also one of the most misused.

The vast majority of children are not gifted. Only 2 to 5 percent of kids fit the bill, by various estimates. Of those, only one in 100 is considered highly gifted. Prodigies (those wunderkinds who read at 2 and go to college at 10) are rarer still — like one to two in a million. And despite the boom in infant-stimulation techniques, educational DVDs, learning toys, and enrichment classes, those numbers haven’t been increasing. You can’t build giftedness; it’s mostly built in.

SpeedRead

SpeedRead
SpeedRead is a tool for increasing your ability to read and retain information. SpeedRead can read an text file and display the words sequentially. The user can adjust rate words are displayed, the number of words displayed at a time, and the minimum number of letters to qualify a word. A performance counter clocks the actual number of words displayed, the total time and time between word groups.

Teachers or users can also later test reading comprehension by administering a quiz based on the material displayed. SpeedRead is a useful tool for improving reading comprehension tests such as the SAT, PSAT MCAT and LSAT.

Remember ‘go outside and play?’ – Los Angeles Times

Full Story – Remember ‘go outside and play?’ – Los Angeles Times
Reader, if you’re much over 30, you probably remember what it used to be like for the typical American kid. Remember how there used to be this thing called “going out to play”?

For younger readers, I’ll explain this archaic concept. It worked like this: The child or children in the house — as long as they were over age 4 or so — went to the door, opened it, and … went outside. They braved the neighborhood pedophile just waiting to pounce, the rusty nails just waiting to be stepped on, the trees just waiting to be fallen out of, and they “played.”

“Play,” incidentally, is a mysterious activity children engage in when not compelled to spend every hour under adult supervision, taking soccer or piano lessons or practicing vocabulary words with computerized flashcards.

All in all, “going out to play” worked out well for kids. As the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg testified to Congress in 2006, “Play allows children to create and explore a world they can master, conquering their fears while practicing adult roles. … Play helps children develop new competencies … and the resiliency they will need to face future challenges.” But here’s the catch: Those benefits aren’t realized when some helpful adult is hovering over kids the whole time.

Measles is back, and it’s because your kids aren’t vaccinated: Scientific American Blog

Measles is back, and it’s because your kids aren’t vaccinated: Scientific American Blog
If you didn’t vaccinate your kids, you too could find yourself partly responsible for the resurgence of a disease thought eliminated in 2000

Measles—a highly contagious disease-causing virus—is making a comeback in the U.S., thanks to parents fears over vaccines. Fifteen children under 20, including four babies, have been hospitalized and 131 sickened by the red splotches since the beginning of this year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, in 15 states and the District of Columbia.

The CDC had announced in 2000 that the disease was eliminated in the U.S. thanks to a vaccine that can completely control it. But fears of autism have led some parents to forego this treatment and at least 63 of the sickened children were unvaccinated.

STLtoday – Recycling grows, but recycling income for some drops

Full Story -STLtoday – Recycling grows, but recycling income for some drops
The good news: More and more people in St. Louis County are recycling. They’re putting their paper in curbside bins, which makes it convenient and easy.

The bad news: Fewer and fewer people are bringing their recycling to the big green and yellow bins seen on the parking lots of schools and churches. Schools get money through those bins, and the company that oversees them has collected 25 percent less recycling compared to the same time period last year. That’s nearly $9,500 less to schools, and more than seven tons of recycling going elsewhere.

100 Toutube Videos teachers could use | Smart Teaching

Link – Blog | Smart Teaching
With the increasing use of technology in classrooms, it’s no wonder that teachers have a growing interest in using YouTube and other online media sharing sites to bring information into their classrooms. Here are 100 YouTube videos that can provide supplementary information for the class, give inspiration, help you keep control of class and even provide a few laughs here and there.

History Education: Wanderlust: GOOD traces the most famous trips in history

Wanderlust: GOOD traces the most famous trips in history

North Texas school district will let teachers carry guns | Front page | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle

Of course, this is the same state that elected George Bush to be their governor. 

North Texas school district will let teachers carry guns | Front page | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle
HARROLD, Texas — A tiny Texas school district may be the first in the nation to allow teachers and staff to pack guns for protection when classes begin later this month, a newspaper reported.

Trustees at the Harrold Independent School District approved a district policy change last October so employees can carry concealed firearms to deter and protect against school shootings, provided the gun-toting teachers follow certain requirements.

In order for teachers and staff to carry a pistol, they must have a Texas license to carry a concealed handgun; must be authorized to carry by the district; must receive training in crisis management and hostile situations and have to use ammunition that is designed to minimize the risk of ricochet in school halls.

Call Newspapers Endorses Prop T. for November 4

Thanks again to Mike Anthony, Burke Wasson, Bill Milligan and the rest of the staff at Call Newspapers for their continued support of our efforts in the Mehlville School District.

Full Story – i.call
Call urges Mehlville voters to approve tax-rate transfer Nov. 4
MIKE ANTHONY
Executive Editor

Mike Anthony

August 13, 2008 – Mehlville Board of Education members recently proved they are listening to the community.

We believe the Board of Education has taken a prudent step to stabilize the district’s finances by unanimously voting to place Proposition T on the Nov. 4 ballot.

If approved, Proposition T would transfer 31 cents per $100 of assessed valuation from the district’s debt-service fund to the operating fund.

The measure would generate roughly $5.6 million annually for the operating fund. Proposition T would not increase Mehlville’s overall tax rate, but would extend the district’s bonded indebtedness by 15 years.

MoSports.com – Panthers begin season ranked No. 2

MoSports.com – Panthers begin season ranked No. 2
The Mehlville Panthers went 10-3 last season in a tough Suburban West Conference and they made it all the way to the Edward Jones Dome before falling to Kansas City powerhouse Rockhurst. However, that team had three key leaders that are not going to be on the field with the Panthers in 2008. Mehlville will be under the reigns of new head coach Eric Meyer and will have to replace the offensive and defensive players of the year for the conference in 2007 graduates Brandon Clark and Alexis Reedus. The Panthers must overcome these challenges this season, but they have the talent to do it.