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Show Technology in Schools Is On the Move... 1,400 new computers PTA is Effective in Educational Issues and Support Region III PTA, which serves schools in Davis County, was active in many projects last year. Major emphasis was focused in the areas of transportation. parent involvement, communication, and informing parents about bond and leeway issues. The PTA in Davis County is comprised of hundreds of volunteers who give thousands of hours a year in committed and dedicated service to children. School programs and services have been varied and influential. Some of the accomplishments on the Region level: The PTA organized the Deseret News Spelling Bee for the District. Daniel Briggs from Syracuse Junior High won the Region Bee, the State Bee and finished in the top 20 in the National Spelling Bee. Membership in PTA was over 18,000, making Davis County one of the largest PTAs in Utah. PTA distributed materials, held information meetings and worked to get voters out in the recent bond and leeway election. Former Region Director and new Board of Education member Barbara Smith was elected as the Utah PTA Education Commissioner. Several Davis schools began an extensive program called Parents as Educators. This is a nationally funded demonstration program facilitated by the Utah State Office of Education and State PTA. Volunteers are trained to work with families in their school community, teaching them to be more involved in their childrens education and creating a learning environment in the home. The Reflections program was very successful this year. It was a challenge narrowing the entries to the 30 sent to the State competition. Nicole Callister, Mueller Park Junior High, was a State winner in Visual Arts and Davis had 1 7 Honorable Mention winners. Many hours were volunteered for the Hazardous Route Committee wrestling with the difficult task of deciding on transportation and safe pedestrian routes for students. PTA sponsored the Red Ribbon Week, effective in focusing on educating children to make decisions to be drug free. Kathy Allred Leads Davis Kathy Allred of Kaysville was named Director of the Davis Region for the Parent Teacher Associa- tion. Mrs. Allred was formerly Assistant Region Director, Having served the PTA for several years in various capacities, she is an advocate of family involvement in education. With the growth of our communities and changing lifestyles, Mrs. Allred is concerned with and has always been a champion of child safety programs. She feels there are excellent leadership development opportunities for parents in the PTA and encourages more parents to get involved. Kathy has devoted years of service to the PTA as Region Membership Director, Secondary School Liaison. Secretary Treasurer of her council. Secretary Treasurer of her local PTA board. Room Mother and computer lab volunteer. Bond Funding to End Junior High major concern voiced prior to the recent bond d election was the ineffectiveness of the schedule in the junior high schools. Parents, teachers and administrators raised questions about what was or was not working. With the passage of the bond issue and the construction of a new junior high school, all this became a moot point A year-roun- However, it is worthwhile to outline the findings of a recent report. The junior highs and elementary schools could not coordinate track placement and registration. Junior high students visits to elementary camtime. puses during k d school models for junior high that solve productivity problems are too expensive and require more space. Case loads were too high to accommodate the appropriate studentteacher ratio and the extended contracts. off-trac- Year-roun- 1 Region PTA Year-Roun- d Program teachers The unrealistic expectation that k could effectively teach and evaluate students coming in and out of classes with track changes. Communication is difficult Insufficient opportunity to offer accelerated classes . to many students. Difficult to balance classroom sizes, some classes too big and some too small. d school in the junior high schools has disrupted family life to a great extent. Cutting back of support services, such as library, counselors, resource and reading. activities missed by all-trac- Year-roun- Extra-curricul- ar off-trac- k students. Teachers reported feeling constantly stressed and tired, unable to keep up with paperwork. Parents feel track requests were ignored, the task was too complex for the counselors and staff. Parents feel frill curriculum was not being taught. Parents perceive core classes as big or bigger than before. The information explosion is fast coming to Davis Schools to be used as student and teacher resources. A few examples gives some perspective into this fascinating arena. In 1992-93- , Davis District installed 1,400 new computers. Over 150 computer networks have been installed in the last three years . Every school has at least one complete computer lab for student use. All schools are moving toward complete networking between teachers, media center, computer lab, and administration. One fourth of our schools have already reached this goal and the other 75 are at various stages. There is progress toward a District goal of a Wide Area Network (WAN), where all schools will be networked to each other and to the District office. It could be completed in two years. Davis District is now an EDNET hub, the capability of long distance learning, including teaching e video as well as audio commuthrough nications. The District office is currently connected to Internet, allowing the district to communicate, literally, worldwide. Through the University of Utah we can connect to any state or nation connected to this vast network of computer networks. The educational resources at universities and major libraries are vast. Within the next year or two, ten of our schools will be hooked up to the District Internet connection and gradually will include all schools. real-tim- Every school has set goals for implementing their technology funding which comes from state ET1 funds (Educational Technology Initiative) and also from school commitments.. New technology warrants yearly reevaluation. At Burton Elementary all sixth graders will study their math and language arts class on computers in a new computer lab. One teacher has been assigned to these classes where textbooks will be replaced with software. Funding comes from Centennial, ET1 funds and savings from other school programs." says Principal Michael Venable. Woods Cross High has established a simulated office environment" in their computerized business department. When students enter they are leaving the school". The office setting" these students enter is one they might find in any downtown business. A receptionist will direct them to various personnel working on office projects or to the vice president or president of the company". Students will rotate through modules to leam many aspects of the real business world. Now that many schools have reached their initial goal of a computer lab, they are expanding into areas of cooperative learning through the use of technology, multimedia presentations prepared in media by students, and networking centers. Students are now able to search through electronic books that show them video clips of what they are researching. They may even listen to the inaugural address of past presidents, actual whale songs, or hear a human heart beating. In this school year, as last year, teachers are receiving a considerable amount of training in the use of this technology. Our teachers demonstrate their commitment to their students because most of this training comes after school hours and on weekends. CD-RO- O Shauna Stevens, Davis High biology teacher, received an all expense paid trip to the National Science Founda- tion in Montana last summer. Recipient of the 1992 Excellence in Teaching Award, Ronald Peterson, Layton High, was nominated by former students as the teacher who had the greatest impact on their education. Working with the PTA to generate funds for a computer, Mike Packham, music teacher at Syracuse Junior, purchased a music program. The computer and program transpose the music into other staves, so the entire band can perform the students composition. |