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Hood Canal School
board considers cuts
By KEVIN SPRADLIN
kevin@rnasoncou~ty,com
Politics and a possible re-
duction-in-force aside, Michele
Barger is looking forward to
handing out new reading text-
books to each Hood Canal School
student for the 2012-13 school
year.
The elected board is expected
to vote on the matter at 5:30
p.m. tonight at its open public
meeting.
Barger, language arts teacher
for the school's 75 seventh- and
eighth-grade students, said
there is simply not enough ma-
terial in the current textbooks
pertinent to the state's common
core standards.
There also are not enough
books to go around, said Barger
and Kathy Gray, Title I/Learn-
ing Assistance program coordi-
nator.
"What we had was no longer
in print," Barger said while
reviewing what could be next
year's textbooks on May 17 in
the school library during an
open review for the public. "We
didn't have enough books."
If the district wanted to sim-
ply purchase more of the same,
they are no longer m print,
Barger said.
"We're just kind of out of
luck," she said.
Barger also said that modern
textbooks should better help
teachers prepare students for
the state assessment.
Students' test scores in read-
ing on the Measurement for
Student Progress (MSP) could
be better, both Gray and Barg-
er acknowledged.
For the 2010-11 school year,
56.5 percent of seventh-graders
met Adequate Yearly Progress
standards as prescribed by the
federal No Child Left Behind
Act.
"It's not any secret that Hood
Canal School needs improve-
ment," Gray said.
Journal onolo by Kevin Spraalln
Michele Barger, language arts teacher for seventh and eighth grade students at Hood Canal School, reviews one of
the new textbooks she hopes the elected board will approve at its public meeting tonight. The current textbooks are
16 years old.
"I'm looking for too s
to he p me teach."
dents' study of the material.
"You can talk about that ques-
tion before you ever start" the
(~ne =!:oot cause~ foE Barger'~t:.s~bject, Barger said.
suppor:L:for new, v.bt)oks .,¢.omes
from her primary instinct as a
teacher.
"What I really, really like
about it (is that) it's organized,"
she said of each book's content.
Barger flipped open a teach-
er's edition of one of the new
books, which are published by
various companies.
The start of each section be-
gins with a question, such as
"How do you make a good im-
pression?"
Discussion and answers to
that question begin the stu-
The books, which include
tasks, issues or skills from so-
cial studies, history, science
and most any other subject stu-
dents are responsible for learn-
ing, also clearly identify vo-
cabulary words and emphasize
proper crammer from cover to
cover.
Each story and subject area
also includes references to a va-
riety of websites that, Barger
said, don't take the place of a
teacher but strongly supple-
ments what's learned from a
textbook.
Each video. Barger said,
shows "just enough to catch a
kid's attention."
Baseball star Jackie Robin-
son. who broke the color barrier
in his profession, and American
Red Cross founder Clara Bar-
ton are only two of the many
key figures in history the vid-
eos focus on.
The books also have special
sections for students that don't
live in English-first families,
Barger said. Highlighted sec-
tions of Edgar Allan Poe's "The
Tell-Tale Heart" help summa-
rize passages for students for
whom Poe's English might be
difficult.
"You can all be reading the
same story" and get the same
understanding, Barger said.
"But these people are getting a
little extra help along the way,
which is great."
Barger also said that the
thoroughness of the content is a
time-saver and allows her more
time to focus on planning the
lesson itself rather than creat-
ing content for the lesson.
"I'm looking for tools help
me teach." Barger said.
The issue of the textbook pur-
chase and possible layoffs are
two separate items on the dis-
trict's agenda.
Tom Churchill, Hood Canal
School superintendent, said it's
possible that board members
Churchill said.
The decision is based large-
ly on the school's enrollment.
Churchill said the school's grad-
uating eighth-grade class is
large while the incoming kinder-
garten class is small.
If the numbers don't fluctu-
ate as expected, however, "and
if we want to hire them back ...
they have first right to recall."
Churchill said.
The board has allocated
$60,000 for t~e~piurchase of new
bo,oks i.n ~the~current budget.
I~oWever. C]~urchill said it's
possible the board could consid-
er delaying the purchase of new
textbooks until next year, when
any savings of laid off teachers
connect the two issues. Wou!d. be realized.
"It,!l be interesting to: see" Gray said the School Improve-
where:the vote On the purchase ment Team began reviewing ma-
oftextbooksgoes, Churchill said, terials from several publishing
"Given the fact we are reducing companies in December.
a couple of staff members." The group was assisted by
Three teachers at the school the Office of the Superinten-
have received official notices dent for Instruction in Olym-
that their jobs are not guaran- pia and grant-funded consul-
teed for the 2012-13 school year, rants.
PUD
Continued from page A-1
TO0 LATE TO CLASlllft
Holzgrove and Smith
encouraged just about ev-
eryone to inquire about the
weatherization program. A
family of four with an an-
nual income of more than
$40,000 qualifies as low-
income, Smith said.
"A lot of my friends
would qualify for that,"
Smith said, "and they don't
even know it."
Energy conservation,
Smith said, "is a win for
you and a win for us."
More than videos
Technology has increas-
ingly become a part of the
interaction between PUD 3
personnel and the district's
32,520 customers -- 30,240
of which are residential
customers.
Less than i0 years ago,
the district didn't even ac-
cept credit card payments.
Now, 4,744 customers rou-
tinely pay with credit cards
or pay online.
That figure nearly dou-
bles (8,653) when includ-
ing automatic bill paying
customers.
In addition, a total of
9,944 customers have cre-
ated an online account with
PUD 3. A total of 2,739
of those customers have
signed into their accounts
in the last six weeks.
"Customer service drives
a lot of what we do," Smith
said. "Bill payment is the
No. 1 reason people come
to our website."
Holzgrove said that,
in fact, it works the same
way when people visit the
Johns Prairie complex.
When a customer comes
in to pay a bill, a customer
service agent simply logs
online and pays the bill
much like the customer
could do -- from the com-
fort of their own chair at
home.
Parks
Continued from page A-1
move faster, he said.
Ziegler said the next
step in the process is to
obtain a professional ren-
dering of what each site
might look like with some
of those basic amenities in-
cluded.
That could happen by
late August and will be
shared with the public.
Ziegler said his depart-
ment's comprehensive
plan includes the goal of
having every city resi-
dent live within a half-
mile of a neighborhood
park.
30' TOLLY CRAFT sedan.
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in Shelton, $30,000. 360-877-
9916. P5/24
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Dr., LakeLand Village, Allyn.
Saturday, May 26, 12-6pm.
Glass and wood sculptures, art,
antiques, and miscellaneous.
Follow signs. No early birds.
Cash only. B5/24
ESTATE SALE. Antiques, pow-
er tools, adult bikes, jewelry, lin-
ens, much more. 500 E. Olym-
pic Vista Dr., Union. Saturday,
12-6pm; Sunday, 9am-4pm.
Cash only. B5/24
TWO BEDROOM secluded cot-
tage at Hartstine Pointe, a gated
community. $750 monthly, $500
deposit. No pets. Available June
1. 360-229-6081. $5/24
18' OLYMPIC with 150hp Tower
of Power and EZ Loader trailer.
Plus tarp and bows. R.uns great.
$1,500 OBO. 360-427-2937, no
calls after 8pm. R5/24
HELP WANTED: CNA swing and
night shift in adult family home.
Bring resume to: 1109 Northcliff
Road, Shelton. N5/24-31
FAWN LAKE COMMUNITY ga-
rage sale. Saturday, June 2nd
8am-4pm; Sunday, June 3rd
8am-2pm, Cole Road. F5/24-31
2 BEDROOM MOBILE home
near Little Creek Casino. Quiet,
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curity and damage deposit re-
quired. 360-490-1763. B5/24-31
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Shelton-Mason County Journal-Thursday, May 24, 2012 -Page A-7