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Show (C(IMMmBMtt Rcview"Wednesday,May2M986 rEditorial Extended day plan to teach growing classes There is no easy answer to the dilemma facing local schools as student enrollment increases, and money to educate those students become harder to come by. And with its recent proposal for an extended day, Highland Elementary has found itself caught in the middle of a paradox that may have no simple resolution. All parents want their children to get the best education possible. But Highland Elementary is bulging at the seams -- - with no relief in sight as incoming kin-dergarten classes keep getting bigger than their predecessors. There simply will not be enough classrooms at the school next year to handle the incoming students. The dilemma is not unique to Highland. Schools throughout the state are facing the same problem. In the past, the answer for this ever-increasi- army of the young was simple - build more schools. But schools cost more to build than ever. With taxes already too high for most home owners, there is no source of funds to pay for that new $8 million elementary school building. The chances for a bond election to build a new school has also been jeopardized by a call for another leeway election, forced on the district by school board patrons. That means it will be at least another year before the district will even ask for funds to build new schools -- - not to mention the contruction time required before new classrooms could open. Utah state legislators have sent a clear message to local schools: "Find ways to teach the new students with the space you have." Different schools are seeking several answers to that : challenge. Year-roun- d school is one of the most talked about experiments -- - with two Alpine District elementaries currently trying that plan. The plan increases by about 20 percent the number of students who can go through the school system. The productivity model which ends it's two-yea- r trial period at American Fork Junior High School is another. In effect, the program reduced the number of teachers while increasing the capacity of the school by 20 percent same as year-roun- d school. Highland's extended day proposal is another plan which advocates hope will help the school teach the growing number of children more effectively. The plan will divide the children into two shifts - and the teachers into core teachers and specialists. The early students will spend the morning with the core teachers, studying basic subjects, such as reading, writing, math and spelling, and the afternoon with specialists in areas like art, music, science and others. The second shift would come later in the day, begin with specialized instruction and then would spend the afternoon with core teachers. That way the core teachers would handle two classes a day, but only have to prepare one teaching plan. Teachers who were interested in specialized teaching could do that, as well. It will, as the other programs mentioned, increase the capacity of Highland Elementary by about 20 percent buy the school some time as enrollments continue to swell. While the plan received high grades from teachers at the school, and generally iavoraDie response fr0m Highland residents, some parents have expressed concern about the plan. Early hours for the first shift of students is one complaint. Parents are also concerned that younger students need the stability of a single teacher throughout the day, rather than a core teacher who has two classes and twice as many students to worry about And the specialized classes, where subjects like art and science are taught, will be bigger than standard elementary classes. Another concern are combination classes which will mix grades --- with third and fourth graders in the same classroom, for example. Parents are right to be concerned about their children's education. But this is not the time to balk at new ideas simply because they are new. Innovation is going to play a major role in education over the next few decades -- - and the Highland Elementary plan is well conceived. The program has the support of teachers and a majority of parents -- - the kind of support that will make it work. The naysayers, who are unwilling to accept any compromise short of surrender by the school board stand in the way of solving the tremendous problems' facing education. It is the parents and teachers who are willing to adapt to change in education who will help the public school system over the current crises of a growing population and increasingly stricter educational requirements. f letters to y the editor J Ironport part of the oldtimers' days p.g. blah By MARCELLA WALKER There is a sign in one of the local fast food eateries which says something to the effect, "New drink Ironport". It might be a "new" drink to that particular drive-i- n but it certainly is not new to anyone who was a teenager in the 50's. Ironport was one of our favorite drinks back them. It was delicious and tasted somewhat like creme soda does now. Ironport was almost as popular as Coke and easily as popular as rootbeer. Ironport went great with hamburgers, which is all we ate in those days. There weren't , quarterpounders pr fish burgers, or bacon-burgers- ,; TDUt 'there were cheeseburgers. - ... . Ironport was right up there with cherry Coke. At the soda fountain where pop was on draft, you could get them to mix cherry and Coke. It was delicious and much, much better than the facsimile they are now passing off as' Cherry Coke. Remember? Across the street from my junior high school was a soda shop. They had sandwiches, hamburgers, shakes, malts and all kinds of drinks. Even us kids who carried a sack lunch to school (the school did not have a hot lunch program) would run across the street and eat our lunch with a Coke or Ironport. The Rootbeer was popular and so was Seven Up. There were some others such as Bubble Up, Squirt, and Canadian Club soda. A frosty mug of rootbeer at Hires or A and W was highly desired. Those were the days of carhops. Nearly every, girl pulled a small stint as a carhop. It kept you running and was fun in the summer and terrible in the winter. Lot's of flir-ting went on with the carhops. The drive-in- s were the places for the teens to hang out in those days. We would congregate at one on the south end of town and see who all was there and eat a hamburger, fries and drink and then head back across town to the north side to a drive-i- n to see who was at that one. That way you would see nearly . every other kid in town between the two stops. The drive-in- s were a social phenomenon that no longer exist. It was the best way of flirting around, meeting new guys and gals, and having fun that we had. It is a wonder the proprietors could stand it. People would hang around at their establishment all evening and never leave to make room for others: But the lucky shop owners who had the kids coming were grateful because many were not the and would have loved to have been. As I look around now at all He different flavors of pop, I think we were kind of lucky to have hadnotso many to choose from. We didn't have to worry about diet drinks and their horrid aftertaste, let alone what time might prove they do to our poor innards. They might not have been good lor our skin, either, but who cares? We loved it. However, we did nothaveit all day and all night like many do now. We could not go to the corner gas station and buy a 46 oz. guzzler which we could sip at for hours o end. Paper cups did not have lids to fit. You drank your pop from a glass container with a straw or from the bottle. I'm not sure our kidneys are tall to hold the contentsof a 46 oz. gu-zzler but it sure is a popular item. School 'kids dash down between ' classes or during lunch to buy one. f Working people keep them on hand, Some folks go buy their guzzler before they eat anything at all in the morning. It makes you wonder how we lived with out this great item.. But then, we were born in the olden days. My daughter asks if we were born before they invented water. Incidentally, for all those who 3 were wondering, it was a baby girl early Sunday morning. proprietor did not care if we brought our own lunch as long as we bought a drink. They cost five cents in those days. In the store, pop came in bottles. Pop did not come in cans. The return of the bottles netted a couple of cents a piece which we used to buy penny candy. In those days in my home town Coke was the best selling cola followed closely by Royal Crown and Pepsi Cola was down the list. PG has been great place to live, thanks Dear Editor: This open letter to all citizens of Pleasant Grove City comes perhaps as a surprise to many of you. We have heard from many in-dividuals in the past few months expressing the opinion that they would have lost their shirts even if they had bet on our family moving. The facts ares as follows: On Monday, June 2, the Robert C; Morton Family will move to the Atlanta, Ga., area. Everything that needed to occur in its proper sequence for a family to make such a move has fallen precisely into place as required. We as a family feel most excited about what the future may bring us, either as in-dividuals or a family unit. Having lived in this ' beautiful community these past 14 years has brought to our family many ex-ceptional and wonderful friends and experiences. It is because of you great people that we feel this letter is in order. The Morton family deeply acknowledges the warm reception we've received over these years together. Our chldren have attended "some of the finest education facilities in the state (even the nation). They have had exceptional teachers and principals who have provided their every need. The many hours spent on behalf of John, Jared and Melanie in their academic endeavors is tremen-dously appreciated. As you know, being an educator myself, teachers really are not thanked enough for their untiring efforts. We have tried very hard to personally thank all the teachers during the courses of each year. Thanks again. To all those special parents who have entrusted me with the care and responsibility of teaching their own children, I express again my sincere thanks. The 340 or so young people who have entered and left my classes have been very special to me. I hope they have enjoyed their experiences only in part as much as it has been my thrill to be with them. We will continually watch and learn of your successes and goals in the coming years. ' Forgive us for a minute while I mix a little religion here. Having lived in this particular setting among LDS people was totally a decision made many years ago. We decided as we built our home here that this was as fine an area for spiritual growth as there was in the valley. We have met literally hundreds of upstanding Christian people living their lives as best they can. We sincerely appreciate the example of love, caring, sharing, giving and life you have exhibited for our family to model. Most of you know our families are far from us. Yet, every special family holiday occasion brought us many opportunities to share in the spirit of the gathering. Thanks for the opportunity to grow with you. Many of you ktioW "our family' through all the various recreation activities of this great city. Our children have participated in soccer, football, basketball, baseball, dance and gymnastics. They have parl-cipate- d regularly on the swimming team. We have enjoyed the many fine parks for picnics and gatherings with friends. Our lives are so much the better for having had these super ac-tivities. You also know that I have been personally involved in the many differing recreational ac-tivities as an official. There have been so many young men and women who have participated in sports activities that I have had the pleasure to work with as an active official. I certainly would like to feel that growth and the love for fair play in the cornpetitive arena has been achieved by all you players, coaches, spectators and fellow of-ficials. It will be a significant loss to me to be leaving all the wonderful people who are deeply involved with basketball and Softball in the community. Play hard, play fair and be winners - on and off the field of competition. And lastly, we would like to ex-press to all you people who have welcomed our family into your cirlces of friendship. Among our most cherished experiences in Pleasant Grove that we will take with us forever are the many, many friendships we have been blessed with these years. Can expressions of thanks and gratitude be totally adequate for this occasion? Is it possible for your friends to feel of our love and appreciation through the written word? Perhaps you can sense how deeply special you are to the Morton family. We sincerely hope this is the case. We shall not say, "Goodbye". We shall not say, "So long". We shall say, "Thank you so very much and we look forward to again being with you as the occasions may arise." You always will have a place to stay when you visit the south. Anytime! --Bob and Ruth Morton John, Jared and Melanie. Yearbook nostalgic, but in the heck is . . . period. (I think I got a case of athlete's face from wearing the dirty nylon over my head.) "This school will never be the same without us, but now we must go forth to share all our knowledge with the rest ofthe world (That shouldn't take long.) Love, Chots" It is bad enough that I can only vaguely remember Mr. Knudsen snarfing a Gainesburger, and stand on the fifth amendment V should anyone want to know about the kidnapping of Mrs. Hunter. Bui who in the heck is Chots? Gee... I '11 feel terrible if she didn't graduate. grassroots f'-'i'- ' Copyright f f P" I 1986 ! , 1 Becky "i 1 f Grass 'zme' 2 Johnson by BECKI GRASS JOHNSON the inscriptions that tell it like it was. My favorite from my senior yearbook is the one that reads as follows: "Dear Grass, "It was a. wild year in type! Remember the day Mr. Knudsen found the Gainesburgers we put in his briefcase and he didn't know what they were, so he ate them? Woof-woo- f! "It's been a blast having so many classes with you through the years. You probably never knew it, but I used to copy off all your tests, so if I don't graduate this year, I'm going to hold you personally responsible. Ha-h- "Don't forget that I put my reputation on the line to help you kidnap Mrs. Hunter during fifth "When you see a monkey in a tree, pull its tail and think of me." That was one of the poetic lines somebody penned in the back of my yearbook. Then there was the witty classmate you wrote, "U r 2 good 2 b 4 gotten." But some things are . best forgotten, like the graffiti on the school lockers or the "pigs in a blanket" the cafeteria served on Thursdays. I'd like to forget the humongous, plywood tree that fell on rne backstage during the eighth; grade assembly and ripped the side out of my skirt. I'd like to forget the day we had to dissect a sheep's eye! in biology. Sometimes it feels like it alL happened a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... until I open the yearbooks. Then suddenly those moments spring to life right off the pages; the homecoming game when we creamed Jefferson High, the Senior Sneak to Lava Hot Springs and the day someone turned a skunk loose in the auditorium. As I turn the pages with pictures of my classmates, I wonder which ones achieved their aspirations. Who left town? Who have jobs? Better yet, who have hair? I'd like to know who it was that drew a moustache on the home ec, teacher and sunglasses on the pep band. It was probably the same budding young artist who drew a cigar hanging out of the principal's mouth, crossed eyes on the cheer queen and fish nets on the football coach. There were others who signed their John Henrys right across the front of their pictures. So now, 12 years later, I am left with some impressive samples of their handwriting, but can't begin to tell what it was they looked like. Most autographs in the back of yearbooks contain phrases like, "Be good and stay out of trouble. Have a fun summer. You are a cool kid," and "Good luck and success. Don't chase too many boys," etc. I like AUTO LOAN HATES REDUCED (Subject to credit opprvol) I NEW CARX J 11.50A.P.R. r" USED CAr I n.75 a.p.r. rT. ; I USED CAR 112.0 A.P.R. --t. yr. old f f Call or visit the American Fork U.S. Thrift & Loan Office for fast, personal, friendly service. U.S.THRIFT8LOAN A SUBSIDIARY OF U.S. BANCORP. Member FDIC 131 E. Main, American Fork 756-525- 8 Salute to Liberty Open letter to the Mayor and Citizens of Pleasant Grove. Dear Neighbors, In commemoration of the 100th birthday of the Statue of Liberty, our national symbol of freedom and beacon of hope, we are hosting "A Salute to Liberty." We would like to invite you and your families to celebrate with us the week of June We hope you will come and share your patriotism and American spirit with us. Activities will begin with a band concert, Sunday, June 8 at 7:00 at the Springville Civic Center on Main Street. Culminating activities will include a Grand Parade, Saturday morning at 10 a.m. and a Fireworks Extravaganza at dark at Memorial Park Saturday. Other activities go on throughout the week. Come join us for our 1986 Art City Days Celebration, "A Salute to Liberty" Dr. Ken Creer Mayor of Springville JJleaaant (Sroue fiUuieui ISSN No. U.S. P S. No. Published weekly except semi weekly for Thanksgiving and Christmas by Newlah. Inc. It South Main Pleasant C,ru r. Llah THrphune Numbers Advertising & Circulation Nw Publisher Brell Beizant Editors Marc Haddock Marcella Walker Subscription price $16" per year Second class postage paid at Pleasant Grove Post Office l'iimjicr Smd idilrr-.- t rhanitn In IMi H.,xT AmtTiun'..rk. luhwmi |