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Show 10 The Daily Lian nirmimc, - : I I I For the economically underprivileged a chanc, irom CIUWUCU numti auu im up families. They are neglected, ignored, ig-nored, unattended and, sometimes, some-times, maltreated. In one case five children were awakened at 1 p.m. by their drunken father, and bea- , ' s not that the. ; h-e the abi BY LIDIA WASOWICZ Chronicle Staff Since more than half the students stu-dents at Blaine Elementary School come 'from families with less than $3 000 annual income and are two or three years below grade level they need special attention and a new approach to learning, according to Mr. Hess, principal ot the school. "J like this school because I like this build' I much prettier than my house. " I These children whose hves in the economically depressed areas of Salt Lake City have been engulfed en-gulfed by failure, require extra Srance! patience and encouragement. encou-ragement. In an effort to break the pattern of failure existmg-in the daily routines of many Blaine students, the school adopted Project Pro-ject PLAN in September, 1970. "Project PLAN was chosen, from among many possible individualized indivi-dualized programs for two basic reasons: it emphasizes success an it permits the use- of many different dif-ferent approaches to learning, said Mr. Hess, who is also supervisor super-visor of the libraries of instructional instruc-tional media and television for Granite School District. According to Mrs. Helen Martin, teacher, the theoty behind Project PLAN is to combine in one school all experimental projects pro-jects which produced successful results in the various Granite District Dis-trict schools. ten with rawhide. The school had these children immediately removed re-moved from their home. "Our greatest problem isn't really maltreatment. It's lack of attention. The majority of parents are divorced. The mother is often too busy trying to make a new life for herself to give her child the attention he needs. There are some parents who are doing the best they can with what they have. Unfortunately, sometimes, that just isn't enough," Mrs. Martin stated. "We can't insure the child's - f ' r l t . . . '- ' I -A, . v - 4 f r , ' - . 7 ' X " 7 Mmmm, I t, jt. " ." W , i-- - , r .. ' y .-: ''? ' .,' , V .. ; ; ." I schools haven't been able t. their needs. We try , 7 St8 jobs h i- tidal one wages, which t employers more wfc,.: : apprentices," noted Jirnk' . Some f the d,opoi;! from teaching, take couR at the school and attendr or night classes at their !K schools. Such is the case r old Charlotte Westerfield Cher's assistant. " ?o,0s" the afternoon here, lish, math and art. F bi about half of next iieal ,,(. school to pick up enoui to graduate," she said. ' Charlotte also noted 1 has never enjoyed anytlg tlian teaching children. "1 suppose 1 love child:, cause I've had so much esp-with esp-with them. I'm the olfc . family of seven. I reft working with kids," shta; ; Charlotte has been ufc ; of her family ever since t-. t-. remember. Her fatherdieJ-, fatherdieJ-, she was born. Henrietta: rnmp hirl' frnm Ik I "Here, if I do something wrong, the teacher takes me up to her desk and talks to me. " The entire program at Blaine School centers around individualized indivi-dualized instruction, which best meets the needs of each child. The essentia goal is to defeat the hopelessness in the student's attitude. atti-tude. Often, this is difficult to accomplish. Many of the youngsters come happiness at home. Our main concern con-cern is to make sure that the child feels secure when he comes to school," remarked Mr. Hess. Project PLAN seems to be doing do-ing just that. Since Blaine is a "walking school", that is, there is no bussing, its studentbody has become one large family, Now- here in the building is a child tc "Every child reads or writes at his own speed. There is no set limit. No one can fail. The program has worked for two months. be seen without a companion or two. The overwhelming majority of the students show great admiration, admira-tion, respect and love for their teachers. "I like it better here than in my old school because it's funner to work here. The teachers over there were meaner. Each time I'd do my work wrong they'd yell at me. Here, if I do some tiling wrong, the teacher takes me up to her desk and talks to me. She explains tilings to me and is really nice," said Penny, a 10-year-old redhead. "We're a family here." paralyzed from the m . The family is living on tilt on Charlotte's earnings. Such a background em! young T.A. to become . involved with her slida: are in similar situations. Pc-not Pc-not a rarity at Blaine. 0 year-old asserted, "1 E school because I like this!.. It's so much prettier i. . house." (Blaine is b oldest buildings in it; School District, dam: ' World War II days.) t Whatever tlieii lies Continued on pas to change, to learn, to work ahonanoelt ,i(,ns. the children look happy and 'em at nennl,. , . . 'T at,foP!e " comP!ed nine -year-old Ricky. In the classroom, however, even kids hke Ricky become totally involved. In mis respect Project PLAN is succeeding. The program is federally funded and receives district funds. ,jons. the children look happy and become unbelievably involved in school. Projecl PLAN enables them to see their progress in school, a much needed boost for the initially half-hearted students. "I like going to school better dun I like playing. I don't want of the teacher is to help the student with individual problems and to make sure the child follows a balanced studying schedule rather than emphasizing one field. The program luis been in effect for two months. Already, evidence evi-dence of success is noticeable. The students' academic work has been improved, children actually enjoy going to school and are eager to work, as reflected in the tremendous tre-mendous decrease in absence, tardiness and rowdiness. shouts die class. Then a solo, "I bet I can get the next word faster than you!" "I bet you won't!" The winner gets candy from the teacher. Grades three through six work under the second division, die Project Plan, which includes individual indi-vidual study. Every child reads or writes at his own speed. There is no set time limit. No one can fail. Everyone reads aloud, but no one reads together. The only purpose I "I like going to school better than I like playing. I don 't want lo be dumb all my life. " divided into three groups of about six members each. Every group studies a different subject. Every half hour the groups rotate. In one group students write- in another they differentiate between be-tween large and small objects between "above" and "below",' ect. The third group, which sounds as if it was testing the endurance of its vocal chords reads. The teacher holds up letters' and makes her group say the sounds. Mrs. Pack, kindergarten teacher, tea-cher, holds up letter "M". "What's this sound?" she asks. "MMMMMMMMMMM" hums the class togedier. Next, she shows an "A", then an "N". "What's the word?" "MMMMMMMAAAAA-AANNNNNNN "MMMMMMMAAAAA-AANNNNNNN MAN!" lo be dumb all my life," 10-year-old Edward exclaimed. On the other hand there are pessimists. "I don't like the school stall. 1 think it's cruddy. It's got a rotten principal, and I don't like him. 1 like to fight on school sounds, but he won't let me. He always yells at me for fighting. I like my teachers better, but they take away my elastics when 1 shot It also contains two divisions. The first is called the Distar Program and is intended for lower grades, kindergarten through second grade. It's a highly structured struc-tured way of handling small groups. The objective is to get as much and as loud a response as possible. Youngsters never respond re-spond alone. Children in Distar classes are . i n . f i . . - ' n . ?! v . l ' ... - ' "' ' " 1 . 4 " : f. " , - t " " V " t ' - N!r; . "i . " i V - ' v ' ! - " i 1 . ' ' ' 1 I ' , " - " , 1 . . ..... . ..... ... i. . : , .. I "What's this sound?" the teacher queries? "MMMMMM," hums the class together. Next, she shows an "A", then an "N". "What's the word?" "MMMMMMMMAAAAAANNNNNNNNN. . MAN!" shouts the eager class. |
