———r / ) NS Vol. 109 No. 28 Dallas, Pennsylvania RSI = SAAN CRIN | =H O1@1\Y/ [\VISIN IRE I=ISH ©] mi I | =80 5 VAN BN WANS R WAY =S = p |\V VAN RS 07 5 [O10] 5 BI IST B 21 [OF BS) / 50 Cents July 15 thru July 21, 1998 Tests Justa starting point for school hires By KYLIE SHAFFERKOETTER g Post Staff BACK MOUNTAIN - Earlier this month, the Massachusetts Board of Education raised the passing grade for teacher certification ex- ans, and became the 44th state to require pre-certification test- ing for prospective teachers. Penn- sylvania has required testing for a dozenyears, although local school officials don't rely heavily on the exams when making hiring deci- sions. The cut score or passing score on the Praxis Series Exam (for- merly the National Teachers Exam) will soon be raised for Penn- sylvania teachers. Some local educators say the test is used to weed out applicants, but no one thinks the exam alone can predict who will be a good teacher. The Secretary of Education’s office stated that scores are al- ready gradually being raised with each test. Dr. Michael Speziale, assistant superintendent of the Dallas School District, said it is state law that all teachers pass the Praxis Series Exam (PSE) and be certi- fied to be considered for a teach- ing position. A teacher cannot be certified without passing the PSE. “Dallas set a threshold of a 3.0 grade point average or higher in an applicant's major and asks for the PSE scores,” said Speziale. The scores must meet the state cut score that changes from year toyear based on averages. “Penn- 'sylvania scores are much more stringent than other states,” he said. With the PSE, potential teach- ers must take a test that mea- sures teaching techniques and general knowledge of the history of teaching and of their specialty. “People who take the test dem- onstrate, to some extent, their level of general knowledge. It's a good screening pracess,” said See TEACHERS, pg 8 Sold! Nathan Ayers, seated, an School at St. Paul's Luthe sponsor summer Bible schools a POST PHOTO/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Daniel Krause of Harveys Lake found what he was looking for at the Back Mountain library auction last week. More photos on page 5. Apostrophe or not, é | ® it's a nice place In 1949, Harvey's Lake became Harveys Lake by postal service edict By KYLIE SHAFFERKOETTER Post Staff HARVEYS LAKE - Standing in front of the Harveys Lake Bor- ough building a stickler for gram- mar could go insane. A sign on the building reads, “Harvey's Lake Borough Municipal Authority” (with apostrophe). Right next to the building, a very nice sign built on a small hillside reads, “Harveys Lake,” spelled without an apostrophe. The main borough building sign also goes apostrophe-less. So which is it, apostrophe or no apostrophe? Instead of plowing through grammar books and de- ducing the origins of the two sepa- rate factions of spellers, we de- cided to ask the folks who know. Down came the stamp on this _ reporter's notebook. “This is how you spell it,” proclaimed Harveys Lake Postmaster Walter Storm. The red capital letters spelled out the lake's name without an apos- trophe. “According to Uncle Sam there is no apostrophe,” explained Carlene R. McCaffrey, whose fam- ily has lived at the lake for more than 200 years. “The U.S. Postal Service decided there was no apos- trophe.” The old posters read, “We Want You,” © with Uncle Sam's finger pointing straight to- wards the reader. But apparently he doesn’t want our apostro- phes. ] “No one will go to jail or be fined for using the apostro- phe,” Harveys Lake historian Charles Petrillo assured this reporter. Petrillo At the municipal authority, it's Harvey's Lake. Next door, there's no apostrophe. See HARVEYS LAKE, pg 8 Vo-Tech students can play on Dallas. Lake-Lehman teams ~ By KYLIE SHAFFERKOETTER Post Staff DALLAS - At least 40 pegple packed into the Dallas School Board meeting room Monday night, filling seats usually left empty. The majority came to ex- press their anger and disappoint- ment over the decision to elimi- nate sports teams at West Side Vocational Technical School (Vo- Tech). The decision was made at last month’s Vo-Tech board meeting that all students who play sports would play them at the schools in their home districts, not at Vo- Tech. Two students from Dallas have played on Vo-Tech teams. Shirl Bellis of Hunlock Creek told the board that being on a sports team gave many kids self- esteem and kept them out of trouble. “My daughter is not the fastest and she’s not a starter (on her basketball team). But, that (team) made all the difference in her life because she was a part of something. And it wasn’t a gang after school or riding around Pub- lic Square. If we took sports away, what would we have? Nothing,” she said. . “I feel the students need their sports. I have two sons at West See VO-TECH, pg 3 Youth shows it's not just a game for Tigers By JEFF FANECK Post Correspondent DALLAS TWP. - Kathy Bednarek likes to golf. In fact, the 16-year-old really loves the often frustrating game and has been golfing for a decade. Kathy, who lives in Dallas, will be a junior at Bishop O'Reilly High School in Kingston this fall. There she is a mem- ber of the Queensmen golf team. Her other hobbies include mountain biking, skating, and just being with her friends. Kathy clearly remem- bers the first time she picked up a golf club. “When [ was five, I picked up one of my dad's clubs and went out to the back yard and began to hit balls.” That was enough to spark her interest in the lifelong game. Her impressive list of accomplishments began when Kathy was just 10 years old, playing at a tournament for 10 and 11-year-olds in Philadel- phia. When she was 10, she won the Maxfli PGA Championship and when she was 11, she finished second in the same tour- Kathy Bednarek holds her favorite club, an Adam's Tight Lies. She plays in youth tournaments around the area. nament. Kathy joined the Bishop O'Reilly team when she entered high school and now re- ally concentrates on that. Her summers are spent on courses in the area, including Huntsville Golf Club, Irem Temple Country Club, and Wilkes-Barre Municipal. Play- ing the different types of courses helps develop all parts of her game. Kathy is a member at Hunts- ville and loves the challenges it presents. “Huntsville is my favor- ite because it is very hard and it is taken care of very well.” Her favor- ite hole on the course is #9, a 454- yard dogleg left par 5 featuring a huge bunker at the dogleg, ranked 7th hardest from the red tees. But it’s not her favorite for the reason you might expect. “I've never been able to birdie it,” she said. “I've parred it a few times. I like the challenge.” Recently Kathy finished first at a Keystone Public. Golf Association's regional tournament at Mill Race in Benton, a week after doing the same at Four Sea- sons in Exeter. “Hopefully I'll be able to accumulate enough points to qualify to play in the champion- ship tournament in Harrisburg.” Her next chance at improving her standing came Tuesday at Mill Race in Benton, too late to in- clude the results in this edition. Golf has its ups and downs, and so does Kathy. While she can’t think of a single “best mo- ment,” the worst one quickly comes to mind. “One time I hit (in a tourna- balls into a haz- ard on one hole and ran out of balls.” She had to go back to the - clubhouse tobuy more balls, and was disqualified. But she is proud that she kept on playing, and finished the round See GOLFER, pg 3 14 Pages, 2 Sections Calendar..........via.0 14 Classified............. 12-13 Crossword................ 14 oi ECHIONBIS. ies. criesaivant 4 Obituaries................. 12 SCNOOL....ccoioivveiiansnis 11 SPOS... il fies eons 9 ment) about five’ CALL 675-5211 FOR HOME DELIVERY, NEWS OR ADVERTISING The Dallas Post MAILING LABEL- Please enclose this label with any address changes, and mail to The Dallas Post, P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612-0366
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