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Show r I Pace 2 - September 24. 1996 : Uintah Basin Standard f Program Moves Reality Into The Classroom Throughout the country , there is amove-meunderway to make classroom learning more realistic. According to some, the whole purpose of education is to prepare young people for life beyond academia. Others get so involved with teaching to the curriculum" that they forget that there are practical purposes for education. According to Bela H. Banathy, author of System Design of Education: Creating a Future, we would never dream of turning out an inferior or useless product from our factories and expect to stay in business, but we are constantly graduating students from our schools who are poorly trained for the employment market and life. Banathy argues that until we bring reality" into the classroom, education in the U.S. will continue to decline and so will American business. The program, a federal education reform program now being adopted in Utah, seeks to do just that. is designed to correct some of the problems that have developed in our education system as education has moved farther from its grassroot origins and into the world nt Schools-To-Care- er School-to-Caree- rs of bureaucracy. The program once again ties the com- munity to the school system and lets students take a look at what the real" world is like. It also gives students an understanding of why education is important and how hard it will be to perform tasks in the workplace without a knowledge of math and communication skills. Once they graduate, its much harder to pick up these skills. According to C. Vanessa Spinner, a Washington, D.C. woman widely respected in national education circles for her work in establishing partnerships between schools and communities, Public schooling is too important to leave to teachers. .'". Spinner was in Roosevelt last week to urge.community leaders and parents to become involved by creating a coalition between schools and businesses. By relating school to the workplace and community, students will develop a greater interest in education, and it will have more significance as they plan their future based on realistic attitudes and information. Community and Parental Involvement Required This program is a positive step in the right direction for education but it will only work if everyone is involved, including parents. Its important that parents participate in each step of the planning process. Sometimes, young people at the high school level feel burned out with school and may not be able to see the future clearly. Four more years of education may seem like forever. This is where parents play a very important role in maintaining the students status quo until they are once again excited about education. Sometimes, a counselor may fail to see a childs potential and so it is up to the parents who have a deeper knowledge of the childs abilities, to intercede. Its very important that the student not be so pigeonholed that his options become extremely limited by the time he graduates. Its also important, if the program is to work, that schools make a determined effort to elicit the support of volunteers among parents, grandparents, and all types of businesses in the community. Most seniors have years of experience that they can share with the young people from kindergarten on up. Engineers can share ways in which they use math and science, . why these subjects are important to the children, and help students understand what career opportunities are available. Core curriculum can be applied to farming, marketing, retail, cooking, sewing, designing, fashion, ranching, buying a house, selling a car, and a variety of other real-lif- e experiences. This is what is all about The students of today are the foundation of tomorrow. This is businesss chance to make sure the students are trained in the skills necessary for success as employees or leaders. rulings, treaties, etc. The Tribe cannot pul its trust in the decisions of the court. The Tribe has to inform the public about its side of the story instead of the public accepting a one sided version of the jurisdictional matter. If the basin residents "dont want such frustrations to continue then they must contact the Governor of Utah and let their desires be know. Otherwise the court battles will continue with issues begin decided one by one, decade by decade. Curtis R. Cesspooch State Schools want compensation for monument lands Dear Editor The declaration of the Grand National Escalante Staircase Monument today by President Clinton has taken over 200,000 acres of lands not owned by the federal government. These lands are owned by the schools of Utah, and are managed by. a: tnist 'lff support education. These lands are ' in the nations largest untapped energy reserve. This area has an estimated 62 billion tons of coal, 3.1 Ullion bands of oil, and trillions of cubic feet of gas. These resources are valuable to our School-to-Caree- rs schools. We recognize the difficulty of perseverance, it becomes one of the most powerful forces known to Union as volunteers this year. The internet needs adult supervision both before, during, and after school. People are needed to help supervise special projects such as the recent Leonardo on Wheels and SAT testing. We would like to thank the dozens of people who gave so unselfishly of their time, especially at a moments notice! There are also concerns at our high school that need addressing such as absenteeism and fighting. Many of us are willing to discuss these and other problems within our families. We need to address all these concerns as a community. Our hope this year is that we can organize the PTSA in our high school as well as it is organized in other schools around us.. Our first meeting will be held in the conference room at' Union High on Wednesday. Sept. 25 during the lunch hour so that all concerned students and teachers as well as community members can attend. The meeting will begin at 11:45. If you are not able to attend and would like to either be on the PTSA Board or simply volunteer a little time to our teens please call one of us. We all need to be involved if we want this school year and those to come to be successful for all of our students. Sincerely, 4 Ranette Loughton, Julie Eldredge, 722-42Carmen Robison, 722-57. humankind." The unnamed author then cited the example of Ammon, King son (Book of Mosiah's as Mormon, Alma, Chapters he persevered in the righteous conversion of King Lamoni. This entire Viewpoint editorial is of profound significance. I recommend it to all of every faith who long for the good to prevail everywhere, in each one of us, and especially in our sorrowfully corrupted public schools. I have more thoughts to share with your readers in future issues of the Uintah Basin Standard. Yours truly, Naomi G. Baldwin once-wick- . EDITOR'S NOTE: The Uintah Basin Standard welcomes and encourages opinions from readers int he form of letters to the editor. Letters may be utilized to express opinions or comments, to highlight outstanding service individual or of an organization, or any other worthwhile purpose. Letters may not be used to replace Cards of Thanks, or to list sponsors, participants or contributors to a particular event or purpose. LETTERS MUST CONTAIN 400 WORDS OR LESS. BE TYPED OR WRITTEN LEGIBLY, SIGNED. AND INCLUDE NAME, ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER OF THE AUTHOR. Letters will be published unless they contain libelous or defamatory statements. We reserve the right to withould a name by request if the nature of the letter is positive, and to edit letters. Letters may be submitted to the Standard office at 268 S. 200 E., 84066 by the Roosevelt, Utah, deadline published (normally Thursdays at 5:00 p.m.) All letters become property of the Uintah Basin Standard. Reader shares thoughts for a better world Dear Editor You know that these letters to you can be very effectively manipulated to discredit us who submit them. I call it trashing. You know a spelling error here, a punctuation error there, a strategically placed "typo" or deletion, or a meaningful" layout of the whole page. The techniques are more psychologically clever than good. They speak more of mockery and derision that of respectful openness and fairness. Because, there has been so much groaning, too, over the length of my past appeals to your editors and readers good sense, I make this one brief. The Viewpoint editorial in the Church News, August 24, 1996, of the Deseret News began, "Patience, were told, is a virtue. And it is. "But when you combine it with faith so that it becomes ed 17-1- 9) Upset over President Clintons land grab Dear Editor Apparently President Clinton felt he had nothing to lose politically in Utah by putting those directly affected in the federal slammer regarding the 1.8 million acre surreptitious land-gra- b for his national monument In actuality, he was honoring the one-wor- ld government architects to preserve certain resources for the posterity of the elites mad machinations. I faxed them that their extortion would land them in Gods Slammer. They went ahead, so they can figure on not returning to the human race for 20,000 years. Half of that will be in the inner darkness of earth with screaming spirits, while the remainder will be spent dodging a fly swatter. Wayne Johnson ago ' current As a teacher very much involved with the Comprehensive Guidance program, I would like to offer some reassurance to Mr. Stephen Coakley. First of all, the funding for the program came through the State Legislature, StateTribe de . . with many requirements to assure "quality control" throughout the program. The Student Education Occupation Plan, or SEOP is but one component of die program. Other facets of the program are Responsive Services, to ensure the availability of crisis intervention, drug education, assistance with school-relate- d relationship issues, and mare; Guidance Curriculum, which offers structured instruction in personal development, jobskills, legal seeking and issues in the job market, and more; system support, which enables teachers and counselors charged with the various responsibilities inherent in the program to access in developing resources state-wiand maintaining the programs in their individual schools. The program component which includes the SEOP is Individual Planning, which includes a wide range of exploratory activities designed to assist a student in hisher individual determining interests, access information about job opportunities in myriad areas of school interest, explore post-hig- h educational opportunities, and so on. Perhaps most important is that job-keepi- Dear Editor, The whole issue of legal battles needed at Union of After Dear Editor continue until state stops pushing the pending. School to Career program defended Court battles will concerning still exchanges, we are concerned with whether there remain adequate federal resources to compensate our schools for the full value of what has been taken today. We expect a written commitment from the President to compensate our schools with full value. We expect all disputes over value to be resolved in favor of our children as the President committed in his speech. We expect full compensation to be expedited. Scott W. Bean Superintendent, Utah State Schools 25 jurisdiction rests with the Governor of Utah. Die state attorneys must seek authority to pursue the costly, lengthy, legal, court cases. Do you think the Governor would allow state monies to be spent on the continuous legal battles if he didnt agree with the pursuit of the jurisdictional matters? The Ute Indian Tribe has to explain its side of the legal matters. The StateCountyCity attorneys twist the court decisions to suit their own purposes. The Tribe on the other hand waits and hopes that the judges will render a fair decision based On prior court are consummation 722-265- PTSA Volunteers Dear Editor As a new school year begins all of us as parents and students are excited and concerned about what the school year will bring. We have very active PTA organizations in nearly every school in the Basin, however Union High School is lacking in parental support in the ParentTeacherSludent Association. We would like to remedy that disparity this year. Many people are .needed at, trading, as currently many millions of dollars in trades with the federal government initialed several years the demands program and the commission, parent participation in developing plans for each student, whether the student is college-boun- records world of work immediately after high school, is a candidate for military service, or will pursue school training in a post-hig- h vocational or trade program. Far from "picking careers for students, the program, and the teachers and counselors involved in it, seek to offer students the opportunity to reach for their individual stars, with . the maximum of possibility attaining their respective goals. Far too many students, when asked what they plan to do after they graduate, say, "Go to work, I guess." "What do you plan to do?" Oh, I dont know...just get a job, I guess." Another . "outcome" is for a student to decide late in hisher high school career to be a bone surgeon or a rocket scientist, only to find that heshe hasn't taken the right classes to be into a particular accepted educational program. Early identification of any ambition, all career goals are although obviously subject to change with timd;o,mqyii!is4rvei, RJ'iivert1'U disaihtmbit''that'riaylbaHnt Ja! student for many years to come. I really dont think there is a teacher or a counselor alive who could have deterred Abraham Lincoln or Thomas Alva Edison from the achievements of their lifetime. It pains me to be characterized as a recruiter of slave labor, which I most assuredly am not. Mr. Coakley s Perhaps children are highly motivated, individuals who have no need of the kind of assistance offered through the Comprehensive Guidance program. If so, more power to them! The name of the game is "opportunity," and I plan to offer it to as many students as I self-direct- can reach. t Sincerely, Barbara A. Smith Teacher, Thompson School Yoder resignation was warranted Dear Editor, I feel it appropriate to respond to Karen Prices "letter to the in order editor", published to let the public know the "real on the Marie Yoder truth", resignation. The "real truth" is this was not aregular resignation. It was an agreement between Marie Yoder as public County Commissioner agreed that if she would resign and clean out her desk immediately, they would show some compassion and restraint and not have her arrested and charged with unauthorized andor misuse of public funds for personal gain. She was also required in this agreement to pay back the county SM39.00, within 24 hours to replace the misused funds. Commissioner McKee is not the reason for Marie Yoder's are many There resignation. reasons. I will list just a few! On August 12, 1995 at Eagle Hardware in Murray, Utah. S812 was charged to the county credit card for the purchase of a table saw for personal use. While in Salt Lake City, shopping few saws, an additional $107.30 was charged cm that same card to pay for expensive meals at Marie Calendars, and the Ruby River Restaurant. Total of misused funds on August 12, 1995 intends to enter the d, indicate. - $919.68. When . county personnel discovered the $919.68 that was charged, Ms, Yoder was triced She did" so on pajf it" 1995 ' with November "15 personal check that would not clear the bank. Finally by July 11, 1996, the money was paid back in full. But as the public record clearly st of 1996, an shows, by additional $1400 plus, had been charged on the county credit card for personal expenditures such as car insurance and vacation expenses! It was this kind of conduct that caused them to ask for . tq, tack' r mid-Augu- her resignation. As to die reference by the author that commissioner McKee needs to get back behind the plow, perhaps Ms. Price, Ms. Yoder, and others in public positions should spend some time behind the same plow and maybe a few trips behind the wood shed. It may help them to understand what a hard earned dollar is and why we expect public officials to watch and spend our tax dollars wisely!! Whether they be a relative or not. Respectfully, Arthur McKee Business practice called unethical Dear Editor ' On Friday, September 13 my wife and I took my 1994 GMC truck to Evans Shur-Fa- st lube to have, road tar removed and truck Continued on page 3 Uintah Basin Standard Inc. Periodical pottage paid at Roosevelt and Duchesne, Utah (USPS 646-90- 0) 268 S. 200 R. Roosevek, Utah 84066-310- 9 Published weekly POSTMASTER: Said address changes to the Uintah Basis Standard at 268 S. 200 R, Roosevelt, Utsh S406& 1 09 OFFICE HOURS: 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 pm. Monday, 9:00 im. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday dim Friday. 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