Committees to study possible school expansion
By Anthony Gadson
cnhi News Service
BREMEN � Bremen school board members looked to the future during their second monthly meeting last Tuesday.
At the recommendation of Superintendent Brent Kaufman, the board approved four committees to study the possibility of facility expansion over the next 10 years.
�We would like to have community members as well as staff on those committees to draw conclusions about the needs of the corporation,� Kaufman said.
Each committee will have its own focus: One will cover an overall facility review; one will review curriculum; one will be a technology committee; and one will be an athletic facility committee.
The committees will start working in the summer. Board members will bring back names of community members to serve on the committees at the next board meeting.
�We need to look at three, five and 10 year plans,� Kaufman said. �Our goal is to do renovation without raising taxes. We might be able to do all of our projects over several years, in phases, and try to do those at a cost of not more than $2 million each time. I think we can do that without raising taxes.�
New Contract
The proposed master contract for teachers may be up for approval at the next board meeting.
Kaufman said that an agreement has been reached for the new pact.
�We had things to work on together, and we did. We worked together and solved them.�
The board will meet in executive session before the next meeting, when Kaufman expects to have a contract to ratify.
Science Report
The meeting opened with a report from teachers in the high school science and physical education departments.
Science teachers John Fishback, Shelley Browning and Kevin Ecenbarger explained how they teach.
Their report is the latest in an explanatory series of teaching methods the board has been receiving. It started with the kindergarten level and has progressed to departments in the high school.
Reading and writing have become vital to the way the state tests students. The science teachers put a premium on reading and writing as well. Fishback used the example that bold words in the text are meant to help students by giving emphasis to key words, but the result can sometimes be the opposite. Students may only focus on the word itself and miss its use in context.
Besides just learning what the words mean, the teachers want their students to be to be able to know the words and how to use them. In order to prove their methods work, the teachers are using different testing methods.
Fishback uses worksheets with five true/false questions, for the students to answer before actually reading a section. In this way, when the student comes across the answer to the question, the are ready for it and are better able to identify it as important.
Using concept maps in order to learn vocabulary has also been a key in Ecenbarger�s classroom.
The students receive a worksheet with incomplete sentences; the students complete the sentences by using new vocabulary terms.
In this way the student learns about a term and everything related to it rather than just its definition.
�I believe that science is very �vocab� ridden,� Ecenbarger pointed out. �In the past, students may be told to know a word and then they all flip to the back of the book to the glossary. That does not help learn at all.�
In order to get his students to become more well-rounded, Fishback also incorporates math and charts.
Calculating circumference and reading charts on residual nitrogen times helps students become more familiar with things they may see in the future.
�I like to do a little bit of math to keep the kids from getting rusty,� Fishback said.
Physical Education and Health Dept.
Patti Davis gave the presentation on the physical education department and the health department.
Davis also pointed out reading and writing are also big components in physical education..
�A quarter of the student�s grade is based on writing or reading,� Davis explained. �My students fill out a journal every day for health class, and those in Current Health Issues must write a paper, where all the information comes from medical journals.�
Students in physical education also take tests on rules and regulations of sports. Davis pointed out that she can gauge, using the tests, whether the student is doing the readings.
�It really shows,� she said.
Other Business
�The board accepted a $230.61 donation to the high school by the Target department store chain.
�The board also approved the $244 fee for Driver�s Education this summer.
The price will cover an expected rise in costs because so many students signed up for it this year. Another car (and instructor) may be needed. The price will cover the additional car, mileage, fuel, insurance and the workbook. Students not in the corporation will pay $300 to take the course.
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