Extra time + activities = math success
Students see improvement with extra help
Slight fee increase to hedge inflation
Student Recognition
Board sets calendar for three years
Extra time + activities = math success
Board members and administrators got in on the game during the teachers’ demonstration of a kinesthetic classroom activity that they use to help students who think of themselves as math phobic.
Divided into two teams, each member has to solve the same math problem correctly. If they do, then one member of the team gets to try to make a hole in one on a portable putting green. With the room suddenly filling with shouts and laughter, the teachers’ point was clear. They have found a way to get even the most reluctant students excited about learning algebra.
Clinton Anticevich, Candice Sagliano, Stacey Vest, Tom Kaberna, Rakhi Mistry, and Jessica Foster used the golf activity to explain their work on a new math class, double-period algebra. The class was created as an effort to get all high school students through algebra and exposed to geometry before taking the Prairie State Achievement Test in April of their junior year.
Ten years ago, less than 40 percent of Lake Park students started freshman year in an algebra class. Today, 85 percent are in algebra or above, said Dr. Edward Wardzala, East Campus principal.
The kinesthetic exercise demonstrated one of several techniques the teachers use to keep students engaged in a subject they hate or fear for twice as long as any other class. The teachers use more than 35 different visual, auditory and tactile activities to reinforce the day’s lesson.
“That may seem like chaos, but when it’s organized chaos, it’s highly beneficial,” said Ms. Foster. She surveyed her students and found 60 percent of them will learn better with tactile or kinesthetic activities – getting up and moving around – while 20 percent are visual learners and would benefit from Power Points and posters, and 10 percent are auditory, meaning they can learn by listening to a teacher lecture and taking notes. The remainder of the students fit into more than one category.
The teachers worked over the summer to develop the curriculum and also met weekly throughout the first semester to come up with all the activities and assignments.
Their first signs of success came with the end of the first semester – only 2.5 percent of 199 students are failing. That has come not only from changing the classroom environment but also by offering help before and after school, and homework help via e-mail until 10 p.m.
“Their success, energy and creativity is impacting the entire department,” Associate Superintendent Lynne Panega said.
This is the second year the school is offering double-period algebra, so the impact on test scores won’t be measurable for one to two more years. But the change will clearly benefit students, Dr. Wardzala said.
“Prior to double algebra, these students would have about half an algebra course before taking the PSAE,” Dr. Wardzala said. “(The teachers’) enthusiasm and creativity is what keeps me going every day.”
Extra help pushing up grades for struggling students
Dr. Edward Wardzala, East Campus principal, established a Learning Resource Center one year ago for students failing in more than one subject. Instead of going to a study hall, they are assigned to the LRC, where teachers are on hand every period of the day to help with math, English and science. The teachers also help students develop organizational skills.
The Grade Point Average for 51 sophomores enrolled in the program first semester increased .64 from the end of their freshman year, Dr. Wardzala told the Board of Education. Seventy-seven percent of the students enrolled in the program saw an increase in their GPA from one year ago.
There are 80 students enrolled in the LRC this semester.
“We’re looking to increase opportunities for students. Developing relationships and connections is what it’s all about,” Dr. Wardzala said.
Slight fee increase to hedge inflation
The student general registration fee will increase 3.4 percent for the 2007-08 school year to keep pace with inflation, and summer school fees will increase to discourage students from registering late, or changing their minds and dropping classes.
The general registration fee will increase from $250 to $259, the technology fee, to help cover paper and ink costs, will increase from $25 to $26. That brings the total fee increase to enroll students for the 2007-08 school year up by $10. Students who drive to West Campus will also see a slight increase in the parking fee from $105 to $109.
These increases will generate $30,400 in new revenue for the Education Fund. Assistant Superintendent for Business Jeffrey O’Connell said the Education Fund deficit has been chipped away since initial figures of $620,000 in the fall to just under $200,000 through a new electric contract, a state textbook grant and staffing changes that occurred through attrition.
For summer school, a $25 late fee will be charged for students who register after the deadline. If a student decides to drop a class in summer school, it will cost $15.
Student recognition
Six members of the Lake Park Lancers girls swim team were recognized for their accomplishments in their fall season. Each of the girls contributed to the team’s second place at IHSA Sectionals and they qualified for the IHSA State Swim finals. The following girls were recognized: Loreli Patsche, Lindsey Collins, Kelsey Coleman, Sandra Gregor, Jamie Schingoethe and Kara Field. They placed first in the 200 yd. Medley and 400 yd. Freestyle. Kara Field placed 1st in the 500 yd. Freestyle.
Board sets calendar for three years
The Board of Education approved the school calendar for the next three years, including start and ending dates, holidays, vacation periods, parent conference dates, in-service days, school improvement days and six-week/semester grading periods.
The board requested the administration establish the calendar for three years instead of just one year to assist the elementary sender districts – as well as families and staff – for planning purposes.
The district will continue with its practice of having final exams before winter break, which causes the school year to start early compared to neighboring districts, but also ends earlier, usually around the Memorial Day weekend.
School holidays all three years include Labor Day, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving Day, Martin Luther King Day, Casmir Pulaski Day and Memorial Day.
The dates for the school calendar are as follows: