A Piece of History
I had the chance to get a peek at the newly renovated Edgemere Elementary School last week. The school, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, still retains much of its historic character. The outside of the building still blends into the neighborhood and even has some of the old touches inside. Crews enclosed the fire escape and you can still see some of the original outside brick in a walkway there.
One of the most interesting touches was the statue of Joan of Arc donated by the class of 1946. Principal Dennis Gentry told me that students used to touch the statue for good luck. He also said that in the 1980s when the building was being renovated, someone put the statue out to be thrown away. An alumni followed the trash truck and rescued the statue. It was returned to the school where it stayed and will remain, Gentry said.
There are pieces of history throughout schools all over the state, I imagine, whether they are buildings named for people or statues like the one at Edgemere. What kind of history is in your districts?
-Staff Writer Dawn Marks
Student test results – and should they be tested in kindergarten?
State test scores were released Thursday, for which student performance in part determined which schools landed on the NCLB-mandated 2008 Needs Improvement list.
Here’s a little more detail on how students fare on the different tests (click to enlarge):
Also Thursday, I ran across a story about how New York City officials want to give math assessments to kindergarteners. As you might imagine, there’s some debate over whether that’s too young an age for standardized testing. The full story is here.
Feel free to share your thoughts on these assessments or the Needs Improvement list below.
Wendy Kleinman
The Oklahoman
Let a cow-pass be your guide
There’s good news for those lost in vast pastures with no sense of direction.
Let a cow be your compass.
You’ll know this if you’ve already read today’s issue of “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.” Some German and Czech researchers found that most cows align to the north and south, seemingly drawn to magnetic poles.
Ummm, give me a minute to call cowpies on this study. I grew up on a dairy farm, and our cows didn’t seem to have a directional preference. Maybe they were directionally challenged. Maybe they were rebels.
I even called a relative to make sure I hadn’t missed something in my bovine-bound past. Nope, as usual, the cattle were facing any which way.
I hope no one is lost out there.
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
In another teacher’s words
In my last blog post I shared an e-mail from a teacher. Today I’ll share another.
Pam Blevins of Moore schools, who is also the regional museum educator for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, wrote to tell me about eight Oklahoma teachers who attended a regional workshop in Flagstaff, Ariz., last month.
The workshop was geared to teachers who had previously attended programs at the national memorial museum — but Blevins said more could have been eligible to go.
We weren’t (able) to get in touch with many of the Belfer and Belfer II participants in Oklahoma as their email addresses and/or phone numbers were inaccurate. There are currently close to 100 participants in Oklahoma as well as 5 Museum Teacher Fellows in Oklahoma. We would like to get in touch with as many as possible in preparation for another regional conference as well as a gathering in Oklahoma. They may contact me at pblevins@hotmail.com, putting Belfer as the subject.
Meanwhile, here’s a snapshot of those who went to Arizona.
From left: Nancy Pettus, Tulsa; Naomi Poindexter, Tulsa; Melinda Parks, Oklahoma City; Pam Blevins, Moore; Debra Hatler, Ketchum; Rhonda Snow, Moore; Kimberly Derby, Owasso; LouAnn Jones, Enid.
Wendy K. Kleinman
Education Reporter
Send Some Okie History Out West
We got a letter this week from Gloria, a 5th-grade student in Napa, Calif.
Gloria is writing a school report on the State of Oklahoma and she’s asking readers of The Oklahoman and its Web site for facts, postcards, brochures or souvenirs that tell about the Sooner State.
Well, Gloria, I grew up on an Oklahoma farm so I can tell you a bit about rural life here. The dirt is an orangey-red, the people are hardworking and proud, and sometimes a farmer’s most prized possession is John Deer-green.
Gloria says she’ll be writing about the state’s agriculture, history, economy, historical figures and events in her report. She signs her letter “Thank you very much for your support in making me a great researcher of your beautiful state.” Well, she’s already got the Okie-trait of politeness down pat.
You can write Gloria Maravilla at 2700 Kilburn Ave., Napa, Calif. 94558.
You can also post a comment on this blog or by e-mailing me at ssimpson@oklahoman.com and I’ll forward appropriate responses to Gloria.
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
Teach Me
It’s been a few years (read: decades) since my 8th grade Oklahoma history class.
But I got a refresher course at www.occc.edu/centennial today. Oklahoma City Community College has a handy outline of the Oklahoma Centennial Lecture Series coordinated by the Downtown College Consortium. Free lectures were held at campuses around the metro this fall. The last one is set for next week.
Power point presentations are online for the lectures “Oklahoma and the Great Depression” and “Places We Cried.” The latter is a chronicle of the Cherokee people.
Both presentations have photos and maps that poignantly illustrate these times in state history. The final lecture, “Heroes of Oklahoma,” takes place at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 15, at OCCC. Call 232-3382 for details.
For those who can’t attend, check out the Web site, which also is a great source for teachers who’ll be talking about statehood next week.
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
More than a place on a map
I didn’t know that beer and wine tastings could teach me anything about geography. Apparently, though, they can.
The nation’s largest geography education conference starts in Oklahoma City tomorrow. But don’t think that means nothing more than the arrival of 700 people who could pull a Ken Jennings in the geography category on ‘Jeopardy!’
Twenty-four lucky participants will go out to Bricktown on Thursday night for a “blind” tasting of four microbrewery drinks. They’ll learn “how to critically evaluate a malt beverage” and learn about the geography of brewing in America. Another group will discover how soils, hydrology and climate affect crops of grapes and wine production – during a tasting at the Canadian River Winery and Vineyard.
Also during the National Council for Geographic Education conference, geography teachers will learn things like how to integrate global positioning systems into their lessons, how Asian governments are preparing for future disasters and how climate change is portrayed in American films – “reel science.”
Students – many on Fall Break right now – also will take part. Among the opportunities for youngsters, Washita County 4-H members will host a poster session, and a hands-on workshop is designed for elementary and middle school students to create travel brochures.
Geography is not just about memorizing maps. There’s culture, climate, cartography and more. And it’s all in Oklahoma this weekend.
Wendy K. Kleinman
Education Reporter
QUIZ YOURSELF – Can you answer these geography-related questions about Oklahoma?
1. What is the highest point in Oklahoma and where is it located?
2. Forests cover what percent of Oklahoma?
3. In land area, Oklahoma City is how big compared to other U.S. cities?
4. Oklahoma is one of only two states whose capital city includes the state name. What’s the other?
5. Oklahoma has more man-made what than any other state?
6. What does Oklahoma have more miles of than any other state?
7. Oklahoma’s Cimarron County is bordered by more states than any other U.S. county. Can you name them?
8. Oklahoma is home to the highest what in the world?
9. Only one river in Oklahoma flows north. What river is it?
10. The state’s name comes from two Choctaw words meaning what?
ANSWERS:
1. Black Mesa in the Panhandle (4,973 feet).
2. 24 percent.
3. It’s the third-largest city in the U.S. (608 square miles) – before Jacksonville, Fla. (759 square miles) and Anchorage, Alaska (1,698 square miles).
4. Indianapolis, Indiana.
5. Lakes, with more than 1 million surface acres of water.
6. Original Route 66.
7. Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas.
8. The highest hill, Mount Cavanal, at 1,999 feet.
9. The Poteau River.
10. “Red People.”
Quiz information from www.travelok.com and www.50states.com.
Anybody got 110 candles?
This week I learned more about the histories of two of Oklahoma’s institutions for higher education.
Both were gearing up to celebrate milestone anniversaries.
Oklahoma City Community College will celebrate its 35th birthday on Tuesday. OCCC is one of the state’s newer two-year colleges but also one of the fastest growing. It opened with 1,049 students in 1972 but now is the fifth largest higher education campus in Oklahoma with nearly 20,000 students.
Northwestern Oklahoma State University is one of our oldest institutions, established a decade before statehood. Tomorrow they celebrate 110 years of educating students, having grown from 58 students attending classes in a rented church building in 1897 to a main campus in Alva and branch campuses in Enid and Woodward.
Many more Oklahoma colleges and universities will celebrate milestone anniversaries in coming months and years. The events are a reminder of the continuing will of Oklahomans to better their lives and provide quality education to future generations.
Happy Birthday to them all!
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
Brit Wit
A knight in shining humor spoke today at the University of Central Oklahoma.
Sir Ken Robinson, a creativity expert knighted in 2003 by Queen Elizabeth, spoke about reforming education systems to encourage more innovation and imagination. It was a good speech, filled with lots of funny asides in his lyrical British accent.
About moving to the United States and enrolling his daughter in American History: “We don’t study American History. We suppress it. Get over it really. We’ve apologized, what do you want? We stay indoors on July 4th, draw the shutters and look at pictures of the queen and think about what might have been.”
About the technology revolution: “There are scientists studying ways to use our own bodies as broadband receivers. You could exchange files by holding hands, really, or whatever method you prefer. It all depends on the size of the file anyway.”
Of course, those quotes didn’t quite make it into the story I wrote for tomorrow’s paper. All in all, he was an entertaining speaker that created quite a bit of laughter.
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
Who are these dudes?
Most of the students entering college this fall, members of the Class of 2011, were born in 1989. For them, Alvin Ailey, Andrei Sakharov, Huey Newton, Emperor Hirohito, Ted Bundy, Abbie Hoffman, and Don the Beachcomber have always been dead.
That’s according to Beloit College’s annual mindset list, which can be found here:
http://www.beloit.edu/%7Epubaff/mindset/2011.php
Here’s a sampling into the mind of today’s college freshmen:
- What Berlin wall?
- Humvees, minus the artillery, have always been available to the public.
- Rush Limbaugh and the “Dittoheads” have always been lambasting liberals.
- They never “rolled down” a car window.
- Michael Moore has always been angry and funny.
- They may confuse the Keating Five with a rock group.
- They have grown up with bottled water.
- General Motors has always been working on an electric car.
- Nelson Mandela has always been free and a force in South Africa.
- Pete Rose has never played baseball.
