Indianapolis Public Schools Board Elections Profiles

For those interested in the election, here are the profiles:

Indianapolis Star
Visions for IPS Success

A good public education system prepares children for future success and strengthens the community. That’s why choosing four candidates to serve on the board of Indianapolis Public Schools may well be the most important vote you cast in the May 2 primary.

Eleven people are running to fill four spots on the seven-member Board of School Commissioners. We asked them to write about what they consider to be the most important issues facing IPS, the largest school district in the state with 38,000 students, 80 schools and a $518 million budget. We heard from nine of the candidates, who address issues that include student achievement, early-childhood education, athletic policies, safety, funding, and parental and community involvement.

Milton L. Baltimore Jr., At-large

Education: Arsenal Technical High School graduate; B.S. degree from Tennessee State University; master’s degree from Butler University; attended Indiana University Law School one year.

Occupation: Retired IPS teacher of 34 years who currently works at the Finance Center.

Personal: Married, three adult children and three grandchildren.

My father was a well-known IPS teacher and administrator for more than 40 years. I am the only candidate who does IPS substitute teaching, and I see first-hand what is going on in IPS schools. I know that I have the expertise to meet the needs. IPS does not have a teacher on the School Board.

I am an avid supporter of Superintendent Dr. Eugene White, who is dedicated, creative, sincere and knows the problems of IPS students. So do I. I was raised in a large family and attended IPS schools.

The IPS board needs to work on budget problems with the public, governor, legislature, business leaders and others. More discipline authority needs to be given to the teachers and administrators.

Parents need more involvement, visits to the schools and to sit in classrooms. I will still do substitute teaching if elected to the board and will donate money to help with the deficient. I am sincere and know that IPS will become a great school system for all. I am asking for your vote to help me save IPS. It is time for a schoolteacher to be on the IPS board. Let me be that teacher.

Kelly E. Bentley, District 3, incumbent IPS board: Incumbent, past president.

Education: Attended IPS School 84, graduated from Broad Ripple High School.

Occupation: Work part-time for the Center for Family School Community Partnerships, a federally funded Parent Information Resource Center, and am a full-time student at IUPUI.

Personal: Wife and mother of two, both of whom have attended IPS schools. Board member, Horizons Urban Summer Youth Program, a summer academic enrichment program for IPS at-risk youth. I have been classroom volunteer and have lobbied the legislature on behalf of IPS children.

IPS has made great progress over the past eight years. Elementary students have made significant academic gains, the achievement gap has been narrowed and new programs have given parents expanded choices. Conversion of large high schools into small schools has fostered individualized education. Still, too many children fail the ISTEP-Plus exam and too many others drop out.

All children can learn. But some children must overcome formidable barriers to the learning process. We need to continue to partner with parents, community groups, social service agencies, faith communities, health-care professionals and business leaders to address these barriers to improving academic performance.

Quality public education is critically important to our city, but changes must occur in order to meet the needs of all students. Those changes include some type of equitable merit-pay system in order to ensure adequate recognition and compensation for the best and brightest teachers, and freedom to provide incentives to teachers of math, science, special education and other areas where we are experiencing shortages.

The state has changed how school districts are funded. IPS faces a $24 million deficit — and unlike the federal government, we must balance our budget. The challenge will be to cut costs without damaging the quality of classroom instruction. Last year, I led our effort to close schools to save money; ultimately, the IPS Board of School Commissioners made the very painful decision to close three buildings.

IPS faces other funding challenges. The district spends more than $4 million a year for a police force to ensure that schools are safe for all children; we receive no additional funding for this purpose. We are required to provide free textbooks to all students who qualify for free or reduced-priced lunch; the state pays only a fraction of that cost, and over the past five years, this mandate has cost over $10 million.

We serve more than 3,000 non-English-speaking students at a cost of more than $5 million per year; the district receives less than $1 million in funding for this. These examples are the reason that one of my highest priorities has been advocacy for adequate state funding for IPS. I am also a strong proponent of full-day kindergarten and am committed to finding a creative way to provide this to IPS children.

When I decided to run for the board in 1998, I wanted to make a positive difference in the lives of children and I believe I have. There are no magic bullets, no tidy ideological fixes that substitute for the consistent hard work necessary to achieve real, sustainable improvements. If we are to realize the vision the board shares with Superintendent Eugene White, we must continue that hard work.

Michael D. Brown, District 5, incumbent IPS board: Incumbent, current president.

Education: Earned master’s of divinity, doctorate of theology and B.S. degree in communications.

Occupation: Pastor, Positive Force Ministries; human resources supervisor, United Parcel Service; former math and science teacher; volunteer IPS basketball coach, referee and mentor.

The Indianapolis Public Schools district has some of the best and brightest students in the nation. The system includes hard-working parents and dedicated teachers and administrators, all committed to the best academic and social interests of the children we are blessed to serve.

As the president of the state’s largest school district, it has been my pleasure to help lead IPS in a direction that both addresses our shortfalls, while expanding efforts and initiatives that have led to positive academic outcomes. I have watched and participated in efforts by our district to eliminate some of the barriers that have prohibited too many students from maximizing their potential.

To suggest that we are meeting the total needs of our students and community would be a fallacy. Those who do not identify the many issues we must continue to address with regard to achievement have no place serving IPS’ children or families.

There is no question that IPS suffers too high a dropout rate and far too low graduation rates.

Like many school districts with similar demographics, IPS has also fallen victim to an achievement gap where many of our African-American students lag behind their counterparts in core academic subject. When any of our students exits school ill-prepared to compete in the local and global marketplaces, our entire system suffers.

Quite frankly, despite the tireless efforts I have witnessed by our staff, much work remains if we are to ensure all children succeed during their IPS careers. Despite the statistics, however, I remain supremely confident that all children can succeed.

I am keenly aware of the issues the system faces. But I have never been more optimistic that IPS will become the world-class school district we all envision.

My vision for IPS is rooted in basic values that not only strengthen educational environments, but the entire community. That vision begins first with strengthened parental and community involvement.

With a better-engaged community behind us, IPS can enjoy an increased focus on accountability and academic rigor. We can ensure the increased options such as the small-schools initiative will work in the way they are intentioned. We can gain the grass-roots presence necessary to fight for the level of funding that will assure our children gain access to the physical fitness and mentally enriching activities we should provide.

IPS is indeed moving in the right direction. And I will not rest until the promise of the best possible education for all of our children is realized. As a life long supporter of public education, I am very encouraged with the progress being made for our students. However, we should be tempered because much work remains so that all of our children’s academic futures are bright.

Barry Campbell, At-large

Occupation: Business owner.

Education: Graduate of Lawrence Central High School and Valparaiso University.

Personal: Father of IPS first-grader.

I wish Superintendent Dr. Eugene White all the best in his goal of transforming Indianapolis Public Schools into the best urban school district in the nation. But more importantly and more immediately, I would like to see IPS become academically competitive with the Marion County township districts. White is the right man at the right time to do exactly that.

Alternative schools and programs are fine for the few students who are eligible or are chosen by lottery to participate, but I am more interested in raising the academic performance of the district as a whole.

The purpose of any school is to teach. Teachers teach. IPS teachers are underpaid when compared to the average teacher salaries of the surrounding townships. If we want to hire and retain the best teachers, we need to offer them a competitive salary.

Do we need more money to do that? No. IPS already spends more money per pupil than all but 10 other school districts in the state. Of the neighboring township districts, only Pike spends more. Where is IPS spending its money? A comparison of IPS employees to those of the average township districts reveals an excessive number of administrators and certified employees other than teachers.

While IPS has more than three times as many students as the average of the township districts, it has almost five times as many administrators and other certified employees. Obviously, these additional personnel have not improved academic performance. If IPS reduced the ratio of these employees per student to the average of the surrounding districts, the budget shortfall would be virtually eliminated.

Economies of scale would suggest that IPS should be able to provide the same services to students as the other districts at a lower cost per student. Any services that could be provided at lower cost by contractors than by IPS employees should be contracted out. These additional savings would allow us to pay teachers what they need and deserve.

Only when we treat our teachers right can we expect them to produce the same academic results from students as the neighboring school districts do. We can treat them right by adequately compensating them, by allowing them to teach with as little administrative interference as possible, and by encouraging and respecting their input on board policies such as curriculum and student discipline.

Children are eager to learn. We must ensure that teachers are as eager to teach. As the father of an IPS first-grader, I am driven to ensure that my daughter receives a decent education. As an IPS board member, I will work to enable the teachers to perform at their best. I look forward to assisting Dr. White to achieve his goal. But IPS needs to look to its neighbors for examples of higher academic performance at no greater cost.

Barbara Coleman-Knight, At-large, incumbent IPS board: Incumbent (appointed a year and a half ago).

Education: Graduate of Shortridge High School, Indiana Business College and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Occupation: Have worked for more than 25 years at the Indiana Department of Education as an education consultant in the Center for School Improvement and Performance.

Personal: Married to Charles “Tony” Knight and one daughter; both are Shortridge graduates. Serve on PTA and Montessori Parent Advisory committees.

IPS faces inadequate funding. My solution is to encourage the legislature to prioritize equitable funding for public education.

We know that third-grade success and failure data are used to project the amount of prison space that will be needed in the future. We must all work together to correct and prevent this growing problem through quality education. It is far more cost-effective to the state to invest preventively during early-childhood years than to feed, clothe and house inmates later in life.
Our best investment of state dollars is to provide each child with a quality education that will allow a lifetime of self-sufficiency.

IPS serves a large number of children who need a range of additional assistance to help them have a successful educational experience. The reality is that some expenses for classroom instruction do not disappear even if some students relocate to schools outside the district, because support structure costs remain stable.

Continuing expenses of building mortgages, utilities and salaries for teachers and administrative and support personnel must still be paid even if there are fewer students in a classroom. We must have a commitment from our legislature and governor to prioritize equitable funding for public education.

My vision is to produce students who graduate from high school empowered with a range of options to pursue their choice of career and higher academic interests. Recently, Dr. Eugene White initiated a program, Parents as First Teachers. Our district will work with parents to provide educational experiences from the time of birth so that all students will be prepared with a basic foundation when they enter school.

In elementary grades, Dr. White has also started a Teach and Re-Teach Mastery Learning program to ensure that students have the knowledge and skills needed as they progress through their educational experience. Our high schools have also been restructured into small schools to improve attendance and academic experiences.

My vision for IPS is also to provide educational experiences for students to become well-rounded, productive and contributing citizens. Academics are our first priority, but we realize that student participation in sports offers valuable benefits including team work, leadership development, goal setting, relationship building and self-discipline.

Our superintendent offers an extraordinary vision of overall excellence for every area of IPS. Our challenge is to improve our athletic program without significant cost and without offering less opportunity for participation in sports at each high school. My solution would be to let each high school keep its current sports programs in place supplemented by camp training experiences, enlist the help of the parks department, enhance volunteer efforts to coordinate elementary sports programs and offer a high school sports magnet option at only one location.

Finally, my overall solution for IPS challenges was to hire our highly qualified superintendent, Dr. Eugene White.

Maureen Jayne, At-large

Education: Graduate of Broad Ripple High School; attended Indiana University Bloomington and now working on a B.S. in general studies at IUPUI.

Occupation: Licensing adviser/secondary student-teaching assistant, IUPUI School of Education.

Personal: Husband, Tim, and three children who attended IPS schools.

I have a vision that Indianapolis Public Schools will be able to offer full-day kindergarten to every child, with preschool opportunities as well; that the graduation rate will become 100 percent; and that IPS succeeds in its renewal project.

Indianapolis has a public school district to be proud of. IPS opens its doors to 38,000 students every school day, and 81 percent of those students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Poverty walks around this school district. But every child has a school to go to.

IPS needs to reach children even in the preschool years. Research states that poverty severely impacts educational growth. I would like to see all necessary resources devoted to alleviating symptoms of poverty as children prepare to attend school, including nutrition and health care. Many free or low-cost services are currently offered by the city, businesses and nonprofits. These services could be bundled in a package easy for parents to take advantage of.

Research has shown that the earlier the brain is stimulated, the more its influence on academic achievement. Full-day kindergarten will academically strengthen at-risk students. Indiana is behind the rest of the country in providing this basic building block. Any vision of IPS’ future must include programs that will help the very youngest children in the district. This fall the class of 2018 will enter first grade. We must see them succeed.

Twelve years later, those first-graders should be high school seniors graduating. I support the small schools that have been implemented in IPS high schools. Every student is known to a group of teachers. Communication between school and home can improve. Smaller class sizes would help. We mustn’t shortchange high school education. I see prioritizing education paying huge dividends to society.

IPS is two-thirds of the way through a building renovation and construction campaign. There are brand new and renovated schools in the neighborhoods, adding property value and community pride. The last third of the project involves mostly elementary schools. Our community must find a way to finance this project. IPS is as important an urban renewal project as anything else in our city.

The heart of my vision for the future of IPS is to expand the community’s perception of who IPS students are. There are students who are achieving in IPS. There are students participating in extra-curricular activities. There are graduates in every field. We all need to be visiting IPS schools. Parental involvement is important. Every school needs an active Parent Center where parents can feel welcomed and informed.

Very importantly, all of us must act on reforming and improving our public schools without hurrying the educational process. There is a time for everything. We must be careful to protect the learning moment.

Derek Redelman, District 3

Education: Attended IPS schools and graduated from Northwest High School; B.A. from Miami University (Ohio) in public administration and political science; MBA from University of Chicago.

Occupation: President and founder of Redelman Consulting, a public policy research and advocacy firm focusing primarily on K-12 education issues; former senior fellow and director of education policy at Hudson Institute, executive director of the Christel DeHaan Family Foundation and Project E; director of education policy for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce; and policy analyst for the Indiana Department of Education.

Personal: Wife, Shellie, and three children.

May 2 is a critical date for the future of Indianapolis Public Schools. The recent hiring of Eugene White as superintendent holds great promise for some of the challenges that face IPS, but ultimate success will depend on the election of a board that will support and complement his leadership.

As a professional education researcher, I know that IPS can do better. There are plenty of examples here and throughout the country that are proving that urban schools can be successful. Three common themes to success are high expectations, increased options for parents and efficient use of resources. These also represent the areas where I have focused my own work in education.

On high expectations: I encouraged Indiana policy leaders to rewrite state standards that had ranked among the worst in the country and now rank among the best. I helped write Indiana’s new accountability law and helped push the Core 40 high school graduation requirement. I also wrote a new law requiring better reporting of high school dropouts and have been a leading advocate for fixing Indiana’s broken state testing system.

On choice: I helped write Indiana’s charter school law and originated the idea of letting Mayor Bart Peterson oversee charter schools. I have served as a consultant to national charter school leaders and have helped more than a dozen charter schools get started in Indiana, including 21st Century Charter School, Tindley Accelerated School and KIPP school.

On finance: I have helped highlight the majority of education funds that are spent outside of the classroom, much of that on administration and construction debt. I have also helped charter schools to develop successful operating budgets with almost half the funds that are available to traditional public schools. And I have advocated for greater flexibility to allow local districts to focus funds on local priorities.

Each of these areas holds great potential for IPS. In less than a year, Dr. White has gotten a great start on raising expectations and expanding options for parents. I am proud of the work that I have done to help make those changes possible — especially my work on charter schools — and I look forward to helping Dr. White expand and implement those efforts.

IPS also faces some tough budget decisions, thanks to poor management by the current board and a continuing exodus of students. With an operating budget that now exceeds $13,000 per student, I can assure taxpayers that I will not seek higher taxes to overcome this challenge. I can also assure current IPS families that teaching positions and other classroom expenditures will be the absolute last place that I will support cutting.

Continued changes in IPS will not be easy, but the futures of our kids, our neighborhoods and our city all depend on it. I look forward to helping with the aggressive reform agenda that Dr. White has recently initiated and I would appreciate your vote on May 2 to help make sure those reforms continue.

Judie Williams, At-large
Education: Attended Hartford, Conn., public schools K-12. Degrees from Central Connecticut State University (B.S. in elementary education), master’s degrees from Indiana University (counseling) and Butler University (administration).

Occupation: Served as an educator in Connecticut, Massachusetts, IPS and Wayne Township. Has had personal and professional experiences in private, parochial and public schools.

Personal: A son who attended IPS schools and is an IUPUI graduate and a daughter who graduated from Park Tudor and Purdue University; two grandsons.

As an educator and parent, I was perplexed at the inconsistency in delivery of educational instruction throughout Indianapolis. I learned from my son’s educational experience that I had to be an advocate for his success. I learned that I could not just send him to school and expect him to come home with the attitude, knowledge and skills necessary to succeed at the next level.

I learned as I transitioned from suburban to urban schools that there was not equity in resources and expectations.

One thing I know for sure is that a public school system can provide the resources, programs, and opportunities necessary for student success.

My vision for all children in IPS is that they be inspired to work hard and empowered to take advantage of the opportunities available to live purposefully in this world.

There are multiple challenges in IPS that require action to change the direction of the system. It appears that the longer children are in IPS schools, the dumber they are getting. It will take a comprehensive effort to focus on what matters. The IPS budget should reflect that a major percentage of funds are directly channeled into classroom/certified teaching. Presently, it appears that there is almost a 50-50 split between support staff and direct teaching staff. We are reading about teacher cuts when direct time-on-task instruction is a critical area in improving student performance.

It is time for IPS to make the changes necessary to improve student performance.
Teachers need ongoing training and tools to access information available to support student instruction and learning.

Our expectations will determine the attitude and achievement of our children and families. We must go beyond our comfort zones to engage families and communities in the learning process. We must look truthfully at where we are as a district and determine where we need to be. Our time and talent must reflect our mission. We want all students to learn at high levels and reach their potentials to compete in a global world.

Where are we in ensuring opportunities, resources and programs for all children?

All students need to have the information necessary for success at each level of instruction. It is the responsibility of the educational community to know what students must do and what level of competency is necessary to show mastery. This information must not be given to some and kept from others. When information is denied to a group of citizens they become weak and are left behind.

We must do things differently and parents must be a key to this change. Our school system is in crisis. This creates an opportunity to make a positive difference for the future of our society.

Olgen Williams, At-large

Education: Attended IPS School 41 and Shortridge High School; earned B.S., master’s and doctoral degrees.

Occupation: Executive director of Christamore House Family and Community Center. Substitute teacher and Sunday school teacher for more than 29 years.

Personal: Wife, Mary, and 11 children.

I have worked with many Indianapolis community and professional organizations. A great deal of that work is centered on children. I am blessed to have a career that allowed me to address these pressing issues of community and youth.

I have lived in the IPS district for more than 45 years.

My memberships and community activities include Human Relations Advisory Council of Wayne Township Schools for more than 18 years, president of the Haughville Community Council, Westside Concerned Dads, board member of Indiana Youth Institute, advisory board member of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Urban Scouting Committee, Great Indianapolis Progress Committee, Indianapolis Race Relations Council, Westside Education Task Force Committee, and George Washington Community School Committee and currently serve on IPS Wendell Phillips School 63 Re-opening Committee.

I am running for the board because I think we need board members who are more accountable to the community and visible to the voters, IPS staff and parents of the students. Some board members are invisible to their community after elections and therefore are not in touch with the staff of IPS, parents, students and community. A board member must listen to the ideas and concerns of the whole community. The School Board should be accountable to the taxpayers to give assurance that funds are being spent wisely and efficiently.

I have concerns about the safety of students and staff and will support plans to ensure that all schools have adequate security and that staff be trained to handle these issues. I would like to see more programs to allow students to receive extra help to pass the ISTEP-Plus and graduation qualifying exams and graduate from high school.

I would like to see more support for:
All children to reach their full potential and become happy, successful adults.
Fostering cooperation among homes, business, churches and schools.
Getting the views and aspirations of parents so they can be partners with the school system in developing programs that help create a culture of learning in the homes.
Helping to close the disparity between the goals of parents and those of educators.
Ending the frustrations of many teachers over lack of control of curriculum planning and decision-making.

If elected to the school board I would continue to serve the Indianapolis community tirelessly to give all children my best to ensure they are receiving an education that is second to none.

Pakistan

This is a letter from a doctor in Pakistan who is concerned about the “race to the finish line” rather than the needs of the people as he sees it. This could be said all over America as well. We want programs NOW but we don’t always understand the problems. In fact in America, we don’t even know what early childhood is. When the experts figure that one out, the money drain, will stop. Right now I’d advocate a stop, look and listen before we put another dime into early childhood. Our governor here in Indiana is privatizing a lot of state run projects. That’s an initiative that would really help early childhood.

Childhood and Globalisation
Sunday April 23, 2006
Pakistan Tribune, Pakistan

I refer to the recently organised conference and symposium on “Early Childhood Development” by the Sindh Education Foundation. I would like to share my observations and point out a few missing things, which I think would have added value and relevance to the conference. Early childhood is the formative period for the development of the personality as a whole. I think that generally we fail to distinguish between its various stages, i.e. early, middle and late childhood, which spans from 0 to twelve years.

It would be helpful to address each period specifically as the needs, issues or problems related to each stage are different. There are three major stakeholders of child development; parents, teachers and experts on human behaviour (psychologists, psychiatrists, sociologists, etc). But I noticed from the conference programme that local experts on human behaviour were missing.

The issues and problems discussed and interpreted by parents and teachers would produce more fruitful results and help in finding solutions if human behaviour experts were brought in.

Human diversity is under threat from globalisation and very few sections of the society are conscious of this issue. Unfortunately, it has been observed that institutions and individuals who claim to be creating awareness against the negative impacts of globalisation on culture, language, education and society are themselves engaged in promoting and advancing globalisation.

The Sindh Education Foundation has opened a large number of schools for girls and women in disadvantaged and backward areas. But it tends to produce documents and educational material in English, while there is a dire need for them to be done in Sindhi or Urdu. I was wondering which child was being referred to during the discussions; the rural, the semi urban or the urban.

However, it was obvious that the discussions revolved mainly around the elite child who watches TV, goes to an English medium school and suffers from lack of attention from its busy parents. I think we should be mindful of the fact that alienation from the local people and discouraging diversity are morbid signs of globalisation.

Dr Qadir Abro
President Organization for Mental Health
Karachi

Helpful Hints


Robynn sent this. I love helpful hints. Just finished reading a novel by a woman named Anne Douglas Sedgwick 1873-1935. The book was published in 1924 as was really about the difference between the French way of life and the English after WWI. The descriptions were absolutely beautiful, and the soft sweet activities were enviable. The dialogue was to die for and the descriptions of meals, homes, clothes were really quite interesting. You often wonder how people do the things they do to be perfect hosts and hostesses and have perfectly wonderful homes and still be genuine – sans servants. Well here are some easy tips.

Helpful Things-Who Knew??

Sealed envelope – Put in the freezer for a few hours, then slide a knife under the flap. The envelope can then be resealed. (hmmmmmm.).

Use Empty toilet paper roll to store appliance cords. It keeps them neat and you can write on the roll what appliance it belongs to.

For icy door steps in freezing temperatures: get warm water and put Dawn dish washing liquid in it. Pour it all over the steps.

They won’t refreeze. (wish I had known this for the last 40 years)

Crayon marks on walls? This worked wonderfully! A damp rag, dipped in baking soda. Comes off with little effort, (elbow grease that is!). Permanent marker on appliances/counter tops (like store receipt BLUE)… Rubbing alcohol on paper towel.

Whenever I purchase a box of SOS Pads, I immediately take a pair of scissors and cut each pad into halves. After years of having to throw away rusted and unused and smelly pads, I finally decided that this could be much more economical. And now a box of SOS pads last me indefinitely! In fact, I have noticed that the scissors get sharpened this way!

Blood stains on clothes? Not to worry! Just pour a little hydrogen peroxide on a cloth and proceed to wipe off every drop of blood. Works every time! Now, where to put the body?

Use vertical strokes when washing windows outside and horizontal for inside windows. This way you can tell which side has the streaks. Straight vinegar will get outside windows really clean. Don’t wash windows on a sunny day. They will dry too quickly and will probably streak.

Spray a bit of perfume on the light bulb in any room to create a lovely light scent in each room when the light is turned on.

Place fabric softener sheets in dresser drawers and your clothes will smell freshly washed for weeks to come. You can also do this with towels and linen.

Candles will last a lot longer if placed in the freezer for at least 3 hours prior to burning.

To clean artificial flowers, pour some salt into a paper bag and add the flowers. Shake vigorously as the salt will absorb all the dust and dirt and leave your artificial flowers looking like new! and works like a charm!

To easily remove burnt on food from your skillet, simply add a drop or two of dish soap and enough water to cover bottom of pan, and bring to a boil on stove top.

Spray your TUPPERWARE with non stick cooking spray before pouring in tomato based sauces
and there won’t be any stains.

Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.

When boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of sugar to help bring out the corn’s natural sweetness.

Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away.

Don’t throw out all that leftover wine: Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces. Left over wine? What’s that? (lol)

To get rid of itch from mosquito bites, try applying soap on the area And you will experience instant relief.

Ants, ants, ants everywhere …. Well, they are said to never cross a chalk line. So get your chalk out and draw a line on the floor or wherever ants tend to march. See for yourself.

Use air-freshener to clean mirrors. It does a good job and better still, leaves a lovely smell to the shine.

When you get a splinter, reach for the scotch tape before resorting to tweezers or a needle. Simply put the scotch tape over the splinter, then pull it off. Scotch tape removes most splinters painlessly and easily.

Now look what you can do with Alka Seltzer. Clean a toilet. Drop in two Alka Seltzer tablets, wait twenty minutes, brush and flush. The citric acid and effervescent action clean vitreous China.
(But, but, the stains are above the water line.)

Clean a vase. To remove a stain from the bottom of a glass vase or cruet, fill with water and drop in two Alka Seltzer tablets.

Polish jewelry. Drop two Alka Seltzer tablets into a glass of water and immerse the jewelry for two minutes.

Clean a thermos bottle. Fill the bottle with water, drop in four Alka Seltzer tablets, and let soak for an hour (or longer, if necessary).

Unclog a drain. Clear the sink drain by dropping three Alka Seltzer Tablets down the drain followed by a cup of Heinz White Vinegar. Wait a few minutes, then run the hot water.

The Garden School Tattler

Well, I’m grounded. I’ve had to go to my room. How long I will stay there depends on how much I behave myself. Not likely.

I never liked to ground my teenagers either – meant they had to stay home with me. Work detail is a lot better trade off than sitting in one’s room.

Today I have to sit in my room. The doctor says I overworked my fillet mignon, and only half believing him, I continued to go, go, go and today it’s a “go to your room and stop.” What I really need is a little meat tenderizer and some time in the field.

Today I had planned to go to early Mass, breakfast with Edith and then go over to school to paint a brick floor in my new learning niche at school would be a great way to spend Saturday. I also wanted to work on the new Chinchilla “environment” but there is always next week.

One of the things my class loves to do is to gather for games. We use a lot of our school work as “do you know” games. It’s a really good way of teaching because every single child has the chance of winning, and they all do. It’s a matter of listening and doing, and that’s what school will demand all their lives. Every child shines every day.

But because I like to have areas to do things, I thought a nice corner with windows, and plants would inspire the children to relax and enjoy the game playing. Game playing is after all supposed to be fun. If I can find those outdoor folding chairs, I’ll get those as well. I want to make this learning corner a place the kids love to be.

A classroom is an important thing in a child’s life because they spend so much time there, and a classroom should be a place where children ask to play. Using a classroom is an essential part of teaching. By a 40,000 year tradition, people like change of environment during the day. That’s why the common day care is simply wrong in its setup. Keeping children confined to a single no change room is cruel.

Changing a small space to seem like it has different environments is the challenge. In my very small room there will be four different places to learn. We will continue to have the long table and blackboard for math and for art. We will have the patio learning center by the south and east windows, we will have the Chinchilla cage with book shelves and chairs for reading and the “Niche” which will eventually be set up as a hands on center for making. There is a loom given to us by Ty’s grandfather which is always available for weaving, and the girls have been doing some needlework, and the table there is just perfect for some crafts. I have a spinning wheel as well and would like to teach the children how to card and spin and then work the threads in different ways.

“Junk! Not a part of an academic environment and therefore frivolous!” So spaketh the classroom Nazi. The clean freak with the sparkling floors and the work sheets. Miss Judy does not get along with the CN because all things should be considered.

So consider each section, there is purpose and elegance to a set up that graciously invites children to learn while it actually does the work of real teaching. The patio learning center is a place that offers time for the children to expand reading skills with games. It’s a happy place to learn to read because each child is gaining game skill and is answering boldly. When the group activity is done, the child can gravitate toward the reading center and try it on his own. How many times have you read something and been distracted by the antics of a bird or a squirrel and the thinking wheels began to really turn? I’d like to have get two chinchillas and let the children watch them in a close to natural environment.

Craft with the hands stimulate rhythm. It connects thought with do. It helps problem solving, and it ends up a product in the child’s hands that says, “I made this all by myself.”

So, when the fillet mignon heals, Miss Judy will attack that room with a vengeance.

Next week is show time again. We have been practicing and the kids sound pretty good. This week we will add a few new things just for fun.

We hope the program is as fun for parents as it has been for the kids.

We’ve been spending a lot of time outside getting the sun so the summer field trips don’t surprise the kids.

Fog

There has been a school delay this morning, Friday, April 21 because if Fog. Between my house and school there are some valleys that are treacherous, so we will be there as soon as possible which means about 8:00. E is going to Mass and will head over to school from there and should be arriving about 7:45 if she can.

You can call me at home if you need to know more. (It’s in the handboook)

Judy

Preschool Diets


This came from South Africa as well. It’s an excellent article and could be a “ditto” all over the world.

Diets for preschool children

Preschool children and toddlers have similar dietary needs to ensure adequate growth and to prevent nutritional problems such as deficiencies and obesity. However, the quantities of food that preschool children require are larger and the variety of foods they are prepared to accept is greater than in the case of toddlers.

Other factors that play a role

By the time a child reaches the age of four, he or she has become a social being. This impacts considerably on food intake. Some of the factors that can influence children in this age group are obvious, others are subtle and may not be evident to anxious caregivers who despair about the child’s dietary habits.

The following factors can exert an influence on your child’s food intake and food preferences:

a) The family environment

For preschool children the family is the primary influence, which determines what food habits the child develops. If significant role models such as a father or older brother or sister express dislikes for certain foods, then the younger children in such a family may well follow suit.

Caution the older members of the family NOT to show active dislikes of certain foods such as vegetables or fish, if you want your preschool child to learn to eat these nutritious foods.

Once again, it is important to make mealtimes pleasant and relaxed occasions so that the child can eat in peace without stress or anxiety. Don’t turn your shared meals into battle grounds and don’t humiliate your child by making her sit at the table for hours after everyone else has left, ‘to eat all the food on the plate!’. This is a recipe for disaster and will teach the child to fear mealtimes and eating.

Try to remember that children between the ages of four and six still have small stomach capacities and are physically unable to eat large quantities of food. Rather give them small portions and more frequent small meals so that they can eat the food you offer them without creating stress.

Also try to allow sufficient time for the young child to eat his food. It is not his fault that you may be in a tearing hurry to get to work. Putting pressure on children to eat fast can also cause stress and lead to frustrating eating habits. The child may start eating too fast, or even slower than his skills permit, in order to send you a message that he is not feeling happy about rushed meals. This creates a vicious cycle that will make all concerned even more uptight.

b) The influence of society

As mentioned above, preschool children are usually social beings and society can influence their food intake and likes and dislikes considerably.

Dangers of TV watching

Probably the most important external influence on a young child’s life is television. Preschool children watch an alarming amount of TV and are exposed to many advertisements linked to food and beverages. The problem is that young children are highly receptive to glamorous TV messages that are specifically designed to target children. Most of these ads are for foods low in dietary fibre and high in fat or sugar, and energy-rich cold drinks.

In addition to the ‘brain washing’ that young children are subjected to when they watch TV, there is the added danger of them turning into couch potatoes. The couch potato syndrome is one of the main causes of childhood obesity. So if you love your child and want to prevent her from developing all kinds of poor eating habits and turning into a couch potato, then limit the amount of time she spends watching TV.

It is such an easy option to have your child ‘baby-sat’ by the TV when you are busy or too tired to play games with him, but remember that by allowing him to watch unlimited TV, you are creating endless dietary problems for him and for yourself.

In a recent study conducted in the USA, physical inactivity due to excessive TV watching was one of the prime reasons for childhood obesity. So let your children play games and learn to swim and ride a bike. This way, they’ll learn to be active for the rest of their lives.

c) Peer group pressure

When young children come into contact with other children of their own age, and these children have poor eating habits, it can complicate things considerably. The only way to stop your children from learning poor eating habits from their friends and at nursery school, is to teach them good habits and warn them that they are going to meet other children who will tell them that it’s ‘cool’ to have chips, sweets and cold drinks.

Help your children by explaining how to counter peer pressure by saying, “Thank you, but I don’t need chips/sweets/drink cold drinks, because they are not healthy and can make you fat! I think it’s cool to eat healthy food/drink healthy drinks”

d) Food at nursery school

Also check what your children are given at nursery school to ensure that they are getting healthy, nutritious food. If the nursery school serves too many cold drinks and sweets and not enough fresh fruit and wholewheat sandwiches with healthy fillings, then talk to the supervisor. After all, you’re paying for your child’s care and such care should include healthy food and beverages. – (Dr I.V. van Heerden, registered dietician)

South Africa


It’s always interesting to read about other countries and their problems.

Namibia: Girl Child Movement joins AIDS War

April 19, 2006

By Andnetwork .com

The Namibia Girl Child Organisation has in principle decided to throw its weight behind and closely cooperate with various local organisations working among orphans and vulnerable children in the country.

This decision was taken at the organisation’s three-monthly national meeting that was held last weekend at Jacob Morenga Secondary School in Katutura. Branches from around the country were represented at the lively meeting of young girls. Topics discussed during the conference included: the children’s movement and early child to child approach; insight into an early childhood centre; connecting the neurons; HIV/AIDS and the girl child; cooperatives for health; and global warming and the girl child.

Sibongile Majambe, national organiser of the Girl Child Organisation in the Western Cape, was a special guest at the two-day conference under the auspices of the Namibian Women’s Association (NAWA).

“The ‘Child to Child’ approach in assisting communities is as old as the hills because other children in a family have always looked after their younger siblings.

However, this system requires the implementers to be well prepared and coached for the task at hand, whether it is helping children with their homework, early childhood education or running health clubs,” said NAWA’s chairperson, Otilie Abrahams, in welcoming the delegates to the conference on the first day. Her husband, dr Kenneth Abrahams, in his contribution to the conference spoke on “Connecting the Neurons: the Importance of Early Childhood Education”.

“Children learn a second language best before the age of five because that is when the neuronal connections of language are ‘hard-wired’. Thus, we often miss the optimum time for learning, since children only start at the age of seven. What we now know about the early growth of the brain should impel us to re-examine our current education system, in particular with regard to early childhood education.

Through inadequate implementation of early childhood education we are wasting human potential and depriving society of its benefits,” dr Abrahams said.

Janice Henckert, head of the Pre-Primary section at St. Georges Primary School, discussed the cognitive and motor skills necessary for children to acquire, as well as the way to inculcate these.

The coordinator of the HIV/AIDS programme of the Namibia Red Cross Society, Fredrika Herero, encouraged abstinence from sex among the youth in efforts to fight the pandemic. “Girls should not think that they are ready for sexual activity simply because their bodies are changing. Sex is an adult activity, requiring a sense of adult responsibility.

Premature sex and child bearing often cause long-term changes to the body, which could seriously endanger a woman’s health later in life as well as her chances of bearing healthy children,” Herero, who claimed that women are 20 times more likely to contract the HIV/AIDS virus than men, said. Yesterday the Girl Child movement at David Bezui-denhout Secondary School started a four-day winter school in mathematics and science for its members.

TV and Lunch

They actually paid to have this done:

TV Viewing During Lunch Affects Preschool Children’s Intake

April 4

In a recent Penn State laboratory study, preschool children who usually eat meals at home while watching TV ate one-third more lunch when they were shown a cartoon video during lunchtime versus when they ate lunch without TV.

The children who did not eat in front of the TV at home and for whom TV viewing during meals and snack was novel, actually ate significantly less on the days the lunchtime cartoon was shown compared to the days on which there was no video.

Dr. Lori Francis, assistant professor of biobehavioral health and first author of the recently published paper on the study, “The study shows that TV viewing can either increase or decrease preschool children’s food intakes and suggests that when children consistently view TV during meals, TV viewing may distract children from normal fullness cues which can lead to overeating in children as it may in adults.”

In their paper, the researchers write, “To promote self-regulation of energy intake in young children, parents and caregivers should be advised against providing opportunities for children to eat during TV viewing.”

The results of the study are detailed in, “Does Eating During Television Viewing Affect Preschool Children’s Intake?,” published in the April issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. The authors are Francis and Dr. Leann L. Birch, distinguished professor of human development and family studies, at Penn State.

Twenty-four children, ages three through five, and their mothers participated in the study. The children were all normal weight, predominately European American and middle class.

On two separate days, the children were served lunch in small groups and also shown a 22-minute video of a cartoon version of Dr. Seuss’s Daisy-Head Mayzie, which contains the message that love is more important than fame. On two other days, the children ate lunch together but were not shown the cartoon.

The same lunch was served on both the TV days and the non-TV days: pizza, unsweetened applesauce, baby carrots and two percent milk. In addition, the children were offered an afternoon snack of 2 percent milk, fish-shaped baked snack crackers and dried sweetened banana chips.

To measure the children’s eating habits at home, their mothers were asked how frequently the child eats snacks while watching TV, how frequently the child eats other meals while watching TV and how frequently the TV is on when meals are eaten together as a family. The mothers also reported on their child’s daily TV watching. According to these reports, on average, the children watched 1.5 hours of TV daily and eight of the 24 children (33 percent) usually ate meals or snacks while watching TV.

The results showed that, overall, the children ate significantly less snack and lunch on the TV days compared with the non-TV days. However, children who watched more daily hours of TV or who usually ate in front of the TV at home ate more lunch on the TV days.

The researchers write, “This finding suggests the possibility that children who are given opportunities to eat while watching TV may become less sensitive to internal cues to satiety.”

Uganda

In another part of the world:

Uganda: Italian NGO Builds Day-Care Centre in Luzira Prison

April 3, 2006
Jean-Marie
NsambuKampala

AN Italian NGO operating the Family of Africa Orphanage in Uganda, has built a day-care centre for children whose mothers are jailed at Murchison Bay in Luzira Prison.

It is a state-of-the-art day-care centre located within the premises of the women’s prisons unit. The Rotary Club of Port Bell will furnish the centre. They will equip it with play items, utensils, bedding, seats and entertainment facilities.

Fr. Felix Sciannameo, the president of the Family of Africa NGO says the centre will be officially opened on April 21 by Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala.

Sciannameo said the above while receiving 40 mattresses worth sh1m from the Rotary Club at the orphanage in Luzira on Friday.

Chief guest Nakawa chairman Protazio Kintu hailed the orphanage and day-care centre and promised to invite Kabaka Ronald Mutebi to “see the great work done to lessen the suffering of children in his kingdom.”

Sarah Odongo, the Rotary Club president, said children jailed with their mothers were not less than their counterparts outside. “It is so unfortunate for them to grow up in jail.”

“We do not want children to miss out on life because their mothers are in prison,” Odongo said.

“We will train and equip the staff to handle the children well. Women prisoners should stop going for work with their babies strapped on their backs.”

Odongo said the project would reduce mothers’ anxiety knowing their children would be looked after.

Based in Italy, which has a big percentage of its benefactors, Family of Africa looks after about 100 orphans at the Comboni House in Luzira. They all go to primary school.

Those who finish primary school are sent on to St. John’s Boarding Secondary School in Mukono.
Sciannameo said Family of Africa also has a branch in Fort Portal where they own an agricultural project. He said the orphans are brought to him by Government authorities, court, probation or education officers.

Family of Africa plans to build another home for prisoners’ children outside the prison soon after the opening of the day care centre. Fr. Sciannameo says the home will target older children who are abandoned by society, after their parents are jailed. “The house will be exclusively for unwanted children of prisoners.”

He urged Ugandans to reflect on the principle that only Ugandans can best solve Uganda’s problems.

The Garden School Tattler


It was one of those all brakes on days yesterday. We have a spring show to put on in about ten days and the kids decided that they wanted to play outside instead. Ordinarily, I would have taken their lead. It was a truly beautiful day. But we dutifully came inside and sang for about 45 minutes – a long time in the life of a child.

Twelve kids wouldn’t sing. Then the twelve began to pull other kids out of the singing until we had a quasi chaos. Probably should have quit, but we pressed on till the end and twelve kids lost their happy faces. That’s the most you can do with discipline. Warn, and follow through. Now they know we have to do this, and today will be better. We will reward today as well.

If we were singing five little this or that or some easy songs, it would be one thing, but our music program, although designed for fun is actually very hard. We will be performing the Praise the Lord psalm from Daniel and every child has a part. Then we will move to a song written for the psalm that has lots of parts. There is a chorus and some of the older children have solo parts.

The second song is a blending of the original Shaker song, Tis a Gift to be Simple, Arron Copeland’s Appalachian suite, and the newer Lord of the Dance. There’s an echo we’re trying to do and it’s really quite sweet.

We will be singing some for fun songs like “Would You Like To Swing on a Star, Mr. Maestro, and an African song. We will be singing a variation on the Battle Hymn of the Republic and Taps.

These are songs the children picked out. But they have to do it for it to sound like anything.

Yesterday in class, reading was tough and so was math. I suppose we are moving toward summer just like any school and the kids are restless. Otherwise, the behavior was OUTSTANDING. I have never been closer to a group of children nor feel more attached. I think Edith feels the same way. In fact yesterday we couldn’t keep the hugs away. There was an actual line and that means more to us than anything.

Anybody have a tiller?