od 4 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA January 3, 2001 EDITORIALS New method makes math an ‘everyday’ tool Maybe it’s true that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but teachers in Dallas elementary schools are proving that experi- enced teachers can learn to instruct math in new and interest- ing ways. Teachers at the Wycallis and Dallas schools appear to be as excited as their students about the progressive “Everyday Math” program, known casually as Chicago math, after the university at which it was developed. The curriculum uses common objects and activities to show children that math is not just a bunch of confusing, obscure concepts but a practical tool that we use every day; thus the moniker. For example, students measure their desks and books to learn about rulers, and use a “tool kit” that includes coins and other familiar items. The lesson plan sprinkles math through- out the class day, and each concept will be revisited several times as the school year progresses. The new program is being introduced to the lower grades, who will follow it through to their high school graduation, at which point it will be taught at every grade level. That kind of continuity can go a long way toward helping everyone — even those who think they're “not good at math” — develop a practical and useful understanding of this vital skill. Starting the new year in fun This is the time for making resolutions, even ones we have no intention of keeping. In the spirit of the season, The Dallas Post is taking the liberty of offering a few resolution suggestions to people who have been in the news in the past year. For Bill Peiffer, president of Dallas Borough Council: A resolution to obtain a manifest for the destruction of cassette tapes of council meetings, so he won't be embarrassed by forgetting how the last one was disposed of. For Clarence Newcomb, Shavertown firefighter: To get some new, stylish outfits for his loyal and long-suffering Dalmatian, Ember. For Frank Galicki, principal of Dallas High School: To study the complete lyrics of Elvis Presley, so at next year’s faculty concert he remembers all the words! For Michael Gavin, attorney for Nextel Communications: Next time he’s looking for a place to put a wireless communica- tions tower, to find a spot that isn’t in the backyard of the new home of a high-powered attorney. For Chris Scharff, soccer coach at Dallas High School: To take the Lou Holtz approach to projections about the coming season, and modestly suggest the team might win more games than it loses, maybe, if enough things go their way. Publisher's notebook Ifyou thought the presidential election was a mess, you ought to check out the “Bowl Championship Series” instituted by the NCAA to stave off demands for a football playoff tournament. For you non-sports fans, bowl games are the ones that take place weeks after the regular season has ended, and which are designed primarily to provide vacations for players, coaches and fans while offering wonderful promotion opportunities for busi- nesses that have nothing better to do with their shareholders’ money than to attach the company’s name to traditional games. Thus you end up with such stirring titles as “Capital One Citrus Bowl”, “FedEx Orange Bowl,” and my personal favorite, the “galleryfurniture.com Bowl.” (I hear next year’s big game will be the “usbankruptcycourt.com Bowl.) Anyway, since college football is much too pure to engage in a tournament to determine the best team in the land — apparently a critically important distinction on certain cam- puses — teams are ranked on the basis of their season record and schedule by a computer, which has been programmed to distinguish between a narrow victory over a tough opponent and a blowout of a weakling. Thus, we went into the weekend with this scenario in place: Oklahoma, which was the only unde- feated team this season, was ranked Numero Uno, but was an underdog in the national championship game to Florida State, which was ranked second despite having lost to Miami, which was to play Florida instead of meeting Washington, which beat Miami during the season but ended up ranked fourth before pasting Purdue in the Rose Bowl. And that doesn’t even count Virginia Tech and Oregon State, each of which handily won their bowl games to end the season with a single loss each. After Wednesday night, all will be satisfactorily resolved, provided Oklahoma beats FSU by a whisker and Miami barely gets by Florida. If, however, as the touts project, FSU wins and Miami wins big, we could have a “split” national championship, which could very well result in the same fate for the computer that makes the rankings and the skulls of the people who came up with this scheme in the first place. But no matter what the outcome on the field, you can be sure of one thing; the schools involved will rake in millions in sponsorship and television revenues, beer companies will reach huge audiences, and several players will not bother to finish out the school year. Isn't this what college athletics is supposed to be all about? The Dallas Post SeLEADER TY NEWSPAPER GROUP P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612 * 570-675-5211 Julie Imel EDITOR Elizabeth Skrapits REPORTER Ruth Proietto PRODUCTION MANAGER Ken Brocious ADVERTISING ACCT. EXEC Ronald and Charlotte Bartizek PUBLISHERS EMERITUS Stephen Peterson PRESIDENT & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER 1-800-427-8649 Holiday fixture in a holiday storm. Photo by Charlotte Bartizek. Knights notes Donora Hillard As temperatures plummet and snow coats the roads, Lake- Lehman will have a new super- intendent to dictate school delays and cancellations. Robert 0. Roberts, former principal of the MLEB (Middle Level Educa- tion Building), was declared the district's administrative leader just two weeks ago. Mr. Roberts had served as acting superin- tendent following Dr. William Price’s July retirement. In addition to being the principal of the junior high — a phenomenal undertaking in its own right — Mr. Roberts has been a football and basketball coach, world culture and social studies teacher, chairman of the Welcome, Mr. Roberts social studies department, senior class advisor, assistant principal of the high school and the school district's staff development coordinator. Allvof this has been accomplished in his 30 years at Lake- Lehman. In interviews he has noted that it is the district's sense of community he values most; involved par- ents who truly care about their children’s education. In fact, his greatest concern is of losing contact with the very students he is attempting to lead, since positions of power often call for isolation. It is rare and wonderful to find an administrator who truly makes an effort to level with students, encouraging them to enjoy the high school experi- ence. Mr. Roberts believes that education is the key, and has led by example, He began his post-secondary education at ROBERT ROBERTS LCCC, moving on to obtain a BA in history and government. He then earned his Master's degree for secondary school adminis- tration at the University of Scranton, and acquired his superintendent letter of eligibility from Temple University. I have known Mr. Roberts for the majority of my high school career; he and my father met in high school and are still friends, conversing at football games and still finding humor in nicknames from adolescence. He has always gone out of his way to be courteous and congenial toward me and the entire student body. I am completely confident he will continue to manage with kindness and respectability in own unique way. Congratulations Mr. Roberts, and don’t worry; 1 won't divulge your high school moniker. "LEGISLATORS DIRECTORY Federal Officials Representative Paul E. Kanjorski (Democrat) Wilkes-Barre: 825-2200 Washington: (202) 225-6511 e-mail: paul.kanjorski@hr.house.gov # 400M, 7 N. Wilkes-Barre Blvd., Wilkes-Barre PA 18702 or 2353 Rayburn Building, Washington, DC 20515 Senator Arlen Specter (Republican) Wilkes-Barre: 826-6265 Washington: (202) 224-4254 e-mail: senator_specter@specter.senate.gov 116 South Main Street, Wilkes- Barre PA 18701 or 711 Hart Senate Office Bldg., Washington, DC 20510 TE Eid Senator Rick Santorum (Republican) Scranton: 344-8799 Washington: (202) 224-6324 Fax: (202) 228-4991 e-mail: senator@ santorum.senate.gov 527 Linden St., Scranton, PA 18503 120 Russell Senate Office Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 State Officials State Senator Charles D. .Lemmond (Republican) (717) 675-3931 e-mail: smurphy @pasen.gov 22 Dallas Shopping Citr., Memorial Hwy., Dallas PA 18612-1231 State Representative George Hasay (Republican) 287-7505 or 542-7345 or 474- 2276 or 477-3752 119 S. Mountain Mountaintop PA 18707 Hasay’s district encompasses: Harveys Lake, Lehman Town- ship, Jackson Township, Lake Township, Franklin Township, Ross Township, and Dallas Township’s north voting district. State Representative Phyllis Mundy (Democrat) 283-9622 or 655-3375 Suite 113, 400 Third Avenue, Kingston PA 18704 Mundy’s district encompasses: Dallas Borough, Dallas Town- ship except for the north voting district, and Kingston Township. Blvd., Pick up your copy of Wyoming Valley Proud People, Proud History featuring hundreds of historic photographs contributed by community organizations, businesses and families who have helped shape the history of our region. at the office of The Dallas Post, 607 Main Rd., Dallas $39.99 + tax ONLY YESTERDAY 70 Years Ago - Jan. 2, 1931 SHEEP EXPERT TO SPEAK TO SHEEP GROWERS 4 The William T. Payne Farm, on the Fernbrook-Demunds Rd., would play host to a sheep spe- cialist from the Pennsylvania State College, who would speak on sheep management. Kingston Twp. Chief of Police Avery was busy running down and killing unlicensed dogs. The State Dept. of Animal Industry ordered the killings due toanum- ) ber of dogs being bitten by a dog that had rabies. : The Rural Basket Ball League was to get underway at the Dallas High School gym. Games would start Thursdays at 8 p.m., and be followed by dancing. Admission was 35¢ for the game and dance, or 25¢ for the dance only. 60 Years Ago - Jan. 3, 1941 6 FIRST LOCAL MEN CALLED UP IN DRAFT Jack D. Honeywell, Dallas, and Allen H. Ockenhouse, Shaver- town, were the first men from the Back Mountain to be drafted. John Kuchta, Harveys Lake, was recovering at Nesbitt Hospi- tal from injuries suffered when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver two weeks ago. No trace has been found of the driver. Harveys Lake Police Chief Ira Stevenson and Patrolman Fred Swanson recovered antiques sto- len five years earlier from the Troxell cottage. The loot, two hand-woven bedspreads and a Sterling silver tea service, were found in a home in Luzerne. 50 Years Ago - Jan. 5, 1951 9 LAWSON FAMILY MAKES MOVE FROM ENGLAND The Back Mountain welcomed the family of Mr. and Mrs. Charles - Lawson, who moved to Huntsville from England, seeking better liv- ing conditions than were avail- able in post-war Great Britain. Mrs. Lawson is the daughter of @ Mrs. Eliza Fielding, Huntsville, with whom the family of eight was staying temporarily. Kingston Twp. supervisors be- gan plans to give several hundred acres of land on top of Bunker Hill to the Borough of Luzerne. Arthur Smith, secretary to the supervi- sors, said the transfer would save the township and school at least $1,500 annually. Dr. L.E. Jordan, president °'$ the Back Mountain Citizens’ Com- mittee for Better Schools, re- sponded to critics of a proposed consolidation of schools by point- ing out the overwhelming sup- port the concept had from educa- tors and parents. 40 Years Ago - Jan. 5, 1961 DR. FLACK LASSOS A DEER Dr. George Flack, with some ¥ help, kept a buck deer out of the way of speeding traffic near his home on Memorial Highway. Af- ter enlisting some young men to coax the deer close to his house, Dr. Flack lowered a rope from a second floor sundeck around the animal's neck. The startled deer promptly kicked out the kitchen window before he could be tran- quilized and removed from dan- gy ger by game commission officers. Paul M. Rodda, Pioneer Ave., was appointed secretary of the Pennsylvania State Society of Ar- chitects. He is a partner in the firm of Allen, Rodda and Hauck. The new A&P Market, the first structure in the new Dallas Shop- ping Center, was under roof, with interior work taking place at ‘9 rapid pace. 30 Years Ago - Jan. 7. 1971 FIRST BABY CUTS IT CLOSE Susan Luksic, infant daughter of John and Lucille Luksic, Over- brook Rd., Dallas, wasted little time in becoming the new year’s first baby. She emerged at 15 seconds past midnight, Jan. 1, joining brothers John, 3 1/2, and Michael, 17 months. Fred Lamoreaux announced that he would retire as chairman of the Dallas Twp. Board of Su- pervisors after 19 years in the post. He took the vice chairman- ship until 1974, at which point he said he would leave the board. He also said he would retire as roadmaster in March. In order to synchronize publica ® tion dates as closely as possible, the 20 Years Ago segment will resume next week.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers