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Show Free Press - Thursday. July 28, 1983 - Page 2 Change win sweep through Utah schools c (im,mMit Utah residents in general, and patrons of the Alpine School District in particular, had better prepare themselves for i sweeping changes in the state's school system. in Utah residents general, because the State School Board is taking steps that will give the state more active into the point of setting some volvement in local districts minimum competency requirements for Utah students and the relegation of some school courses to the status of extracurricular activities. Alpine School District patrons because the district is the poorest in the state in terms of dollars per student. And if other districts are going to have to answer problems facing American education with tough decisions, the Alpine District is going to be forced to make some of the toughest. In a meeting last week with the American Fork Chamber of Commerce, an official from the State Board of Education outlined some of the answers the state board has come up with to improve schools throughout the state. LeRoy R. Lindeman, director in charge of special projects for the state board, said the Utah school system is still doing better than the nation in most areas. "But we are not doing as well as we ought to do," Lindeman said. Then he outlined some of the answers the state board feels will help improve Utah schools. Included in those answers are the following: - -- Eliminating classes that were considered extracurricular in the past, but have become part of the accepted school curriculum. These would include athletics, student government, work on the student newspaper and others. -- The establishment of statewide learning goals that include computer literacy. These goals would be specific enough for teachers to concentrate on teaching specific knowledge and then tests to follow up on how well the students are learning. ear-round school to solve student housing shortages that can't be solved by more school building. "If we were to just build the schools we need, it would take twice the amount of money the state takes in for the next five years," Lindeman said. "We can't possibly build buildings . -Y- By BETTY FOWLER What vision Brigham Young must have had when he designated Salt Lake Valley "this is the place" on July run-of-the-m- ill educational methods. And teachers have gone on the record opposing a switch from the six period day to seven and eight period schedules. But conditions dictate that there be changes in the way we educate our children. And over the next few years tradition will go by the wayside as schools make the adjustments that will enable them to teach the growing number of students who will enter the educational system. Right now the state board is doing what such bodies do constantly gathering information. Lindeman's meeting with local businessmen is one of many being held all over the state prior to the September meeting of the State School Board. There a timetable will be established to implement statewide minimum competency requirements. Other changes and recommendations will be forthcoming. The point is change in the schools is inevitable. The problems facing education are too great to be handled without innovative methods. School board patrons, teachers and students are going to have to accept that and try to work with innovation rather than fight it. Otherwise, our local schools won't be able to teach our kids the skills they will need to survive in a world where knowledge is growing even faster than the population. ) The scene he out on the old spring couch and read to our heart's content Woven rugs covered the coils of the spring couch and feather pillows were on each end so granddad could rest his sweatstained brow in a quick siesta before he continued his farmwork. Grandma would fetch a drink of water from the flowing well, or sometimes bring a glass of sparkling homemade grapejuice for him to sip while he rested in the shade. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was inspired by such a tree when he wrote his famous poem, "Uner the spreading chestnut tree, a village smithy stands," and Joyce Kilmer was probably thinking about such a tree when he wrote "I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as . a tree." . the thrill of swinging from rope or tire swings hanging from huge limbs of those old trees. Bill and Betty Anderson have such a tree in their backyard. A treehouse hidden among the branches must be a handy hideout for Billy and his By MARC HADDOCK to letters I JUIIAM buddies. Dennis Smith must have been inspired by such a tree when he wrote : about treehouses in his collection called "Stargazer." Robert and Delia Fox planted a weeping birch in front of their little bungalow on Center Street and its beauty attracts the poet in all of us when it's in full leaf in the spring and summer, when it turns a fiery gold in the autumn, and when the stark branches look like a giant cotton ball during December There are many pioneer trees in snowstorms. many children still enjoy Oh, what those trees could tell if f the a Under these circumstances, parent is hopeless once a child has been torn from him by a person who either the has no regard for life life of the child, the parent or himself. That's what make events like those surrounding these five children so frightening. And that's why these events, and others like them in Utah, change the way Utah parents look at the world. How can we help but have our fate, many of us are losing sleep as we imagine what those parents must perspective changed when we look at the lives that are shattered when have felt, must still be feeling. children become the victims of the I look at my own daughter and just the idea of most degrading type of human anything like that happening to her ; behavior. As a result we've fingerprinted chills my blood. Because I know there is no way to our children and prepared detailed profiles of each. We've indoctrinated stop it. them, teaching them who to trust Stricter laws are no deterrent for and who to doubt. We've driven the kind of person who randomly them to school and accompanied selects children to kill and then them when they've gone for drinks buries them in a lonely, shallow in the theater. We've kept them with grave. us in the store rather than Utah's new child kidnapping law, them hang around the letting candy the strictest on the books, did machines. who slow to the down person nothin'g And still we are uncomfortable, put those two bodies in the earth in because we know that these steps, in Salt Lake County this year. fact any steps we take, will never be That person is acting on motives enough against some individuals. When children become victims of that don't take into consideration the on these kinds of crimes, it brings home to wants impose penalty society to us the knowledge that our world is that type of criminal behavior. " not safe, and it never will be. " You can teach your children to be That's something we cannot afford careful, to be wary of people they don't know. You can instruct them in to forget, but it's something we don't like to think about. the kind of behavior that is acSo those three shallow graves ceptable, and tell what to do when haunt me someone, anyone, steps over those they bring home to me some of my deepest fears. And while boundaries. I know that 10 But once a small child finds himyears from now I self or herself in a situation where could make the trip to that site an adult can force the child to do unerringly, despite the ordinary anything, all that education will do nature of the location, I won't. Not in 10 years, not in 100. him no good. BdlUdpr9s four-year-o- . . ' A Editor: an accident? Regarding Dr. Ellsworth's letter I have lived in American Fork 12 in your July 15 issue. and have never received a years Who - needs in our speeding ticket, even with three you community, Doctor! radar units. I feel our police So long doctor's offices, so long department is to be commended for machines and modern, its efforts. expensive diagnostic machines. Good-bhospitals. "' I'm sure Dr. Ellsworth has seen We could easily turn the tables, the results of a human body when Doctor. How many of our medical struck by an automobile. costs are necessary and how much Are three radar units any less is going to pay for expensive important in preventing an equipment and extensive medical comforts and conveniences that we can't afford for our own. Don't get me wrong,. I have a great deal of respect for my family doctor and trust in his judgement concerning the health of myself and my family. . . . . y y accident than your equipment is in schooling? Sometimes we feel like assessing the medical damage after we are paying for things for your : But Doctor, you pose a question "Isn't an ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure?" Isn't 30 miles (or 25 as you stated) per hour easier than a visit to the hospital? Maybe it's time you sat yourself :; aaaHaaBaalaaW franch Mat, or Incknfat cholca of bakad potato, maarnd potMoM. Cholca of aoup or dlnnor talad, l.'O. tin ffrol drink, and our Sundownara chaaaa I ll -- a" .....ivintmerrts too. to the practice of American Fork 15.00 SHAMPOO SETS HAIRCUTS J. Chris Crawford D.D.S. II --Carol D. Thornton PERMS is pleased to announce the association of v " Maybe it's time you sat yourself down and set some - priorities. Maybe you need to have a good talk with yourself on the true value of things. Are the police officers wrong because they cought you, or are you J wrong, so you are offended? How about it, Doctor? Are the people of American Fork worth; protecting?- - , OPENING SPECIALS Gary L. Matthews D.D.S. .or when you order a New York Steak Dinner at our regular low price of $4.99 about Speeding tickets protect people : ONLY , . IjRhi, and The three graves lay secluded in a clump of small cedar trees at the base of Lake Mountain just over a mile off the main dirt road that runs : along the mountain's foothills. It's not hard to get there and not very far about 15 to 20 minutes of driving from American Fork. The road doesn't get very rough until you turn off that main road. But even after that we made it all the way in a cedars a drive that was made not passenger car. once, but three times at yearly inWith all that, it's not a place tervals. And each time, for the same anyone would particularly want to purpose. It is evident, from the shallow go. I didn't, but my job took me ther. graves and the digging that took The graves aren't next to each place there this weekend that other; they are about 40 feet apart whoever pointed out the sites knew and placed in a triangular con- exactly what he was doing. Even after four years, the location of that figuration. All that's left now are four holes first grave had been so clearly etthree for the actual graves, and a ched into the mind of the informant, fourth, much smaller, near one of that he went to the spot unerringly. the graves where officers had If I had passed the area for any started to dig and then had to move other reason, it would be hard for me their shovels to a foot or two before to find it today even though I was close to the Cedar Valley site only a they found the actual site. Littered around the area are the few months ago when the National of the investigation Guard held it's big air drop early one evidences carried out by law officers paper Saturday morning. But I'll never forget where it is scraps, photographic film wrappers and an occasional plastic bag. now, even without the bright yellow Two of the graves were dug in soft plastic band that has been strung clay, the third was in rockieHsoil; from tree to tree to cordon the area and it was harder for the officers to off during the police investigation. Because the site, and the events dig that one out. At first the location didn't make that led up to the placement of those but then I . three small bodies there haunt me any sense to me realized that nothing about the just like they haunt thousands of murder of the five young boys other Utah parents. makes any sense to me. Most of us don't have to suffer the The act itself is incomprehensible. pain, the sense of loss, that invaded But I found myself trying to un- the lives of the parents and relatives derstand what cannot be un- of those three boys but when we derstood. I thought of the drive from heard about their disappearance, Salt Lake to that lonely clump of and now that we have learned their ft All public schools in the Alpine School District will open their doors for classwork on Monday, Aug. 29 - tins from district Superintendent Gary Keetch, who adds that many parents have been calling the district to find out when school begins. Most of the students in the district have already registered for this coming year's coursework; however, new students will have to register at the school where they will attend. Registration dates for new junior and senior high school students vary. ; : Parents may call the school counselors after August 15 to set up an appointment to register new students. There will also be a common dale for new student registration" at each secondary school. New elementary students in the distrjct will register at the school where they will attend on Thursday, August 18. More information may be obtained by calling the individual school. FOR only they could whisper messages from the long ago. Their leaves rustle in the breezes, the limbs move to and fro when the wind blows, inspiring musicians and poets to set their thoughts on paper for us. If you want a fun summer paattime, drive around town and pick out your favorite trees, then try and remember all the tree songs that have been written over the years. What about "Whispering Pines," "Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me," and "Tie a yellow ribbon around the old oak tree." For nostalgia how about Til be with you in apple blossom time" and "Cherry pink and apple blossom white;" all children know "In the leafy treetops" and "Popcorn popping on the apricot tree." Others are "Willow weep for me" or "I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm." Stretch a hammock between the branches of your tree, lie back and dream a little, sip a lemonade, and live. That's what summer is all Against some danger there's little protection Schools will open doors on Aug. 29 ' 24, 1847. looked down upon was desert, without homes, people, animals or trees. In fact, the only trees were the pines growing in the mountains and the willow trees growing along banks of rivers and streams. Now, the first thing you see, as. you gaze at the valleys in Utah are the trees! That is the first thing people do when they build a home, they plant a tree. My grandparents brought a start of a chestnut tree with them when they moved from Salt Lake City and settled in American Fork. They planted that chestnut tree first then built their first little home next to the tree. The home is long since gone, but the huge chestnut tree still stands as a sentinel to their past and to signal the landmark for may future generations of citizens. The family grew right along with that beautiful tree. Swings swung from its lofty branches, and many a threshing crew were fed beneath its shady leaves and limbs. It was a sanctuary where we could stretch fast enough." The answer, he says, is to use the buildings we have more efficiently.by creative scheduling. -- Changes in staffing patterns in schools where aides and activities volunteers handle some of the to more time teachers spend teaching. freeing "Education has been described as our last cottage industry," Lindeman told the chamber members. "We have to differentiate our staff and bring in technology." These are all tough answers to tough questions. And none of them is likely to be implemented without strong opposition. Alpine School District has already experienced that type of opposition when three elementaries tried to implement some creative scheduling. The proposal was quickly killed by parents who were unwilling to change from traditional 99 .this is the place. . 2 weeks only General Dentistry 3." 2." - now through 81083 men women children Good Tuetday Only, August 2, 1983 777 N. 500 W. SUITE 201 MTMt MIT MMDS Child t Mtnu Sarvad.to Anvona Anytime JPMISH FORK HS North Mala Strati Ptiona Biff tnWISrl FORK MS Nertk MtiliStntt Rtiwti 7M mi HOURS Mon Thuri. PROVO ' Friday a Saturday ti :jvpm. 11 6- - riUfYV I owneroperator . ... Gall for - Judy Leonard appointment, flexible hours. 794171 373-610- 0 E. mTmTm ? 300 N., American Fork of new "(North hospitaljr"""""" |