10’ The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, September 4, 1996 Hands-on (continued from page 1) take warning” from a morning red sky. ' "They'll get to blow up the teacher when they begin a study of air and its properties. According toa study guide prepared for the district's elementary classes by Wilkes University’s Dr. Walter Placek, the students will make and use indi- vidual compressed air units (heavy duty quart-size food storage bags taped shut around plastic straws) to lift the teacher, who is seated on a platform. The students pro- vide the air; the teacher's weight compresses it. The district purchased the new materials with a $4,000 grant, as partofa change in the elementary science curriculum emphasizing practical applications of basic sci- entific principles. “Now that I have a hot plate, we'll make it rain in class next week,” Mrs. Williams said. “You'll be the first class to try it out.” She said she has used the hands-on approach for several years, but not to this extent be- cause the materials weren't avail- able. ; “l always left tuning forks, mag- nets and other items out on a table for the students to explore in their spare time,” she said before class started. “I have boxes of new materials ready to be catalogued and used.” Students will also use familiar items, including cotton balls, coins, a cork, a metal washer, sponges, buttons and popsicle sticks to explore magnetism, ab- POST PHOTO/GRACE R. DOVE Ethan Christiana knows the correct answer to a question in Mrs. Carol Williams's fifth-grade science class at Lehman-Jackson Elementary School, which is using a hands-on approach to science this year. sorption and conduction of heat and cold, light reflection and flo- tation. Some lessons, such as using a pumpkin to study longi- tude and latitude (and later recy- cling into a jack-o-lantern) are geared for specific seasons. “The high school science stu- dents will also be back this year to do experiments with the children,” Mrs. Williams said. “They're ab- Frank Laubach of Benton, a most unusual missionary Frank C. Laubach: Born Sep- tember 2, 1884, in Benton, PA. DiedJune 11in 1970 atage 85. Buried in Benton, PA, under the’ inscription: “World Missionar- ies.” Is that all there is? Hardly. Even though those cold statistics are about all that is shown in lists of world personali- ~ ties, they hardly hint at the ~ ground-breaking firsts accom- plished by this remarkable man. .*. Frank Laubach single- ~ handedly developed and practiced a novel literacy program which spread worldwide and is being used as a model even today, 60 years after he initiated it. TIME called him “Mr. Literacy." Lowell Thomas said, “Frank Laubach is one of the world's most restless men, a globe-trotter with an’ accordion passport. Even in his70’s he planned to visit coun- tries he may have missed. By camel and canoe, elephant and ox-cart, he was a unique mission- ary, with a worldwide parish.” Thomas also called Laubach the “foremost teacher of our times.” For 40 years Laubach visited over 100 countries, bring- 9 ing literacy to what he called “the silent billion.” He formed teams of volunteers who field-tested his new teaching methods to improve lives through literacy. This work still goes on. A prolific writer and accom- plished speaker, he wrote 40 books on prayer, literacy, justice and world peace. He has inspired both individuals and community groups throughout the United States, and in 1955 founded Laubach Literacy International, a non-profit educational organiza- tion which is still active. - Although many new computer- based methods exist today, his “Each One Teach One” technique with phonetic charts is still con- sidered by many reading special- ists as the most workable for the widest range of volunteer/pupil relationships. A local ex-teacher says, “I find it works. And it's fun. So why bother with anything else?” For more information, call the Hoyt Library at 287-2013 and ask for Mary Callahan. You may also call Marge Petroski at 287-6342 or Rita Kane at 288-5892. by Jack Hilsher solutely marvelous! It's a good experience for the older students and the younger ones look up to them so much. They have excel- lent rapport with one another.” Last year's biggest hits were group dissections of a shark and frogs, she said. “My students re- ally loved it,” she said, smiling. Mrs. Williams credited high school science teacher Gail Keen and gifted teacher Mary Alice Lukasavage with helping to make the program a success. “You can call them for anything at all,” she said. Math, science (continued from page 1) “We also plan to make algebra arequired subject forall students,” he said. High school math students will also have the opportunity to study probability and statistics this year. Again, it's a practical approach and much more than simply fig- uring batting scores, Price said. “For example, students will learn to analyze data and apply it by constructing graphs and fre- quency distribution tables,” he said. “They'll also learn about the misuses of data, in which some-. one interviews 10 people, then writes that ‘one in 10 people drinks tea with milk,’ for example. Prob- ability and statistics involve much more than studying a racehorse's record and trying to predict how it will place in its next race.” Math teachers will continue to fine tune the courses and design new problem-solving approaches for grades K to five, using a federal grant to buy materials. “I'm trying to encourage the teachers to move from the text- book to the practical approach,” Price said. “If they don't have a textbook, teachers are sometimes reluctant to develop a course and their own teaching materials. When I taught, I oriented my les- sons more toward problem-solv- ing and less toward the book. ” | Price said the district will ex--. pand its peer teaching program, which brought Spanish lessons, - taught by high school students to" grades K through three last year. Students in grades four through. six will learn French from their “big friends” at the high school, . giving them exposure to both lan- guages by the time they reach the: middle school. 4 Foreign language teachers from | the high school will also work " with the elementary teachers to, help make them more comfort-'. able with the idea of incorporat-: ing another language into their, curriculum. iF Also new this year is aresearch course required for all ninth-grad-. © ers, who will use computers and « the Internet to research and solve. solutions. Turkey supper at Loyalville Sept. 14 The Loyalville United Methodist Church will hold a Turkey Suppet- in the church hall on September 14 from 4:30 until 6:30 p-m. On the: menu: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetable, bread. and butter, home made pie and beverages. } ~ problems, then write about their." The church is located on the Loyalville Road - West off Route 118 of East off Route 29. [literacy (continued from page 1) lots more.” King announced a luncheon to be held on Saturday, Sept. 7, at the Ramada Inn in Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, at 12 noon. She says, “This will honor the hun- dreds of trained tutors and other volunteers who have served adult literacy in the area. Speaker will be Cheryl Keenan, Director of the Bureau of Adult Basic and Lit- eracy Education of Pennsylvania's Department of Education. It will be a good event to learn about us.” The luncheon is open to any- one and the cost is modest. For a reservation and more information call the Hoyt Library at 287-2013, or chairmen Marge Petroski, 287- 6342 or Rita Kane, 288-5892. Back Mountain volunteer tu- tors without exception speak highly of their experiences work- ing with WVLV assignments. John Penman of Center Hill Road, a retired Commonwealth Telephone engineer, says, “I plan to go back to working as a tutor, as I've been away from it for awhile. And I'd be at the luncheon except for a golf tournament - that has to come first before anything else!” Penman laughingly recalls, “My favorite ‘student’ - I almost said ‘patient’ but that isn't right - was the head chef of a local restau- ot NEW CLASSES NOW FORMING! "DAVID BLIGHT DANCE SCHOOL PAC Faculty Why Drive Further Than Trucksville? © | ALL ADULT INSTRUCTORS * BEST PRICES PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS IN BALLET + POINTE * TAP * JAZZ + VOCAL GYMNASTICS * MOM & ME © « TOT CLASSES "The Most Complete Performing Arts Education Centerin NE PA" G OPEN HOUSE and WALK-IN REGISTRATION Tad FRIDAY, SEPT. 6, 4:30 - 7p.m. 5 (Carverton Rd. next to Mary Taylor's) rant. He couldn't read a single word, so he had the waiters recite all their orders verbally. The guy managed to get by because he had an amazing memory, absolute total recall. We worked together several times a week for a year and became friends in the pro- cess. He eventually moved out of town to open his own place and I missed him.” Lehman Township's Joanne Presper, who also helps with vol- unteer records in the Literacy of- fice, had her own favorite pupil - a waitress from Honduras whose English needed polishing so she could realize a dream. Presper says, “Ofall things, she wanted to work in a bank! So she studied hard with me and eventually landed a bank job. I got a kick out of that!” Darcy Gollhardt of Lake Street tutored while in college and for a year or two after. She says, “I enjoyed working with foreign stu- dents who needed to improve their English. But now I'm a full-time: ‘Mom’ and had to give it up.” Newberry Estate's Catherine Law came here from England three: years ago. Her two sons, 8 and oO, have slowed up her tutoring but she intends to “pick it up again.” She enjoys teaching adults how to: apply their new literacy skills in. everyday occupations like shop- ping or coping with kids school- work. ‘Law remembers her first ques- tion of Mary Callahan when she volunteered, in her veddy British accent, “Will it be all right to teach them to read the way I talk?” It was. Welding 72 hours, T-Th 6-9 Drafting & CAD 10/15-11/26 36 hours, M 6-9 9/17-10/17 Healthy Cooking 9/18-10/23 Plumbing and Pipe Fitting 72 hours, T-Th 6:30 -9:30 Air Conditioning - Intermediate $140 39 hours, T-Th 6:30-9:30 Long Hair Styling:Braiding Techniques $70 18 hours, Th 6:30 - 9:30, Basic Cooking Techniques 15 hours, T 6:30-9:30, 10/1-10/29 Single sessions @ $10 each. WILKES-BARRE AREA VOCATIONAL - TECHNICAL SCHOOL | Adult Evening Courses Register Tuesday, September 10,5 - 8 p.m. in the school cafetorium | REGULAR COURSES - 144 CLASS HOURS - $260 9/16 or 9/17 to mid-March, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Air Conditioning - Basic Electrical Occupations - Basic Residential Construction Machine Shop (meets 6-9) T-Th M-W M-Th T-Th T-Th T-Th begin. ELECTRICAL APPRENTICE - 162 Hours - $280 Starts 9/17; registered apprentices only. SHORT-TERM FALL COURSES Begin week of 9/16. Diesel Equipment & Operation $140 Masonry 36 hours, Th 6:30 - 9:30 Small Appliance Repair 36 hours, W 6:30-9:30 Intro to Personal Computers 36 hours, T 6:30 - 9:30 Forklift Operations 24 hours, T-Th 5:30 - 7:30 $140 Licensed cosmetologists only. SPECIAL INTEREST FALL COURSES Register early; class sizes are limited! Powder Puff Automotive 30 hours, T-Th 6:30-9:30, $75 $50 $45 Wilkes-Barre Area Vocational Technical School P.O. Box 1699, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18705 « (717) 822-4131 The Wilkes-Barre Area Vocational Technical School is an equal opportunity education institution and will not discriminate onthe basis of race, color, national origin, sex and handicapinits activities, programs or employmentactivities as required by Title VI, Title IX and Section 504. For information regarding civil rights or grievance procedures, contact Frank Bielenda, Title IX and Section 504 Coordinator, PO. Box 1899, Wilkes-Barre PA 18705, (717) 822-4131. For information regarding services, activities and facilities that are accessible to and usable by handicapped persons, contact Frank Bielenda, Support Programs Coordinator, (717) 822-4131. Floral Design 18 hours, T 6:30-9:30, From Hobby to Business 18 hours, Th 6:30-9:30, AARP 55 Alive/ Mature Driving T 10/8-Th 10/10, 6-10 p.m. Call after 9/11 to register. ES — — REGISTRATION INFORMATION. Payment for courses starting in September isdue at registration, and credit cards are not accepted. Students who live in non-participating school districts pay an additional fee of $20 ($10 for courses under 50 hours). Costs for any books or materials are paid when courses $70 $70 $70 $55 Ends 10/24 $50 9/17-10/22 $50 9/19-10/24 $8 ha ¥ oJ
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers