A — BT i eo a ———— et Sunday, January 20, 2013 THE DALLAS POST PAGE 3 Curriculum will change to better prepare students By SUSAN DENNEY Dallas Post Correspondent racey Halowich, Director of iculum Instruction and As- sessment for the Lake-Lehman District, announced at the Jan. 14 school board meeting that the changes will affect students who are currently eight-graders and younger. Incoming seventh-grad- ers will take physical science classes next year. Next year’s ninth-graders will be required to take biology which will create a one-year in- crease in sections since 10th- science curriculum exam. She explained that proficiency on the exam will be a require- ment for graduation beginning with the class of 2017. The would change beginning in 2013-2014 in order to better prepare stu- dents for the Biology Keystone graders will also take the course. Halowich said the faculty is al- ready working on solutions on how to deal with 13 sections of biology, adding that some teach- er assignments will change. The curriculum change is in- tended to better prepare stu- dents for the Keystone exam and Next year’s ninth-graders will be required to take biology which will create a one-year increase in sections since 10th-graders will also take the course. the course will be offered as both a regular and an honors option. Halowich also said the history and English curriculum will change in 2014-15, as well. The new curriculum will feature con- tent connecting the periods of history studied and the litera- ture of those periods. Halowich said this is another effort to pre- pare students for mastery on Keystone end-of-course exams. “The more connections we can make, the more successful they (the students) will be,” she said A tax increase for Lake-Leh- man School District seems al- most inevitable after a lengthy presentation to the board by Tom Melone, of Al Melone and Associates, the district’s finan- cial manager. Melone and his associates are currently projecting a $2.1 mil- lion shortfall for the 2013-14 school year if the board does not request a tax increase. He pointed out that the state- allowed tax increase of 2.1 mills would not cover the projected retirement cost increase for the district in the 2013-14 school year. A mill is a $1 tax on each $1,000 of assessed property val- ue. According to Melone’s pre- sentation, the estimated in- crease in retirement benefits paid by the district would be more than $600,000 over the current year’s retirement costs. He said the state would cover a portion of those retirement ben- efit costs but that a 2.1 mill rise in taxes would not generate enough revenue to cover the re- mainder. Melone said the district could apply for an exception based on increased retirement benefit, al- lowing the board to raise the tax- es by a total of 3.9 mills. Lake-Lehman is one of a few districts in the state which lies in two counties. The current mil- lage rate for Lake-Lehman resi- dents living in Luzerne County See CHANGE, Page 10 Grant is recipien of VOICE The Pennsylvania Associ- ion for the Education of ing Children (Pen- YMA EYC) has selected Wil- liam J. Grant, CEO of Hilde- brandt Learning Centers, as its 2013 recipient of the VOICE Award. The VOICE Award is the only statewide award in Pennsylvania recognizing grassroots early childhood education advocacy leaders and is offered by the Penn- sylvania Association for the Education of Young Children (PennAEYC). Now in its third year, the VOICE Award celebrates not only individu- al award recipients, but the entire early childhood pro- fession. Grant was nominated by a member of the early child- hood community and the fi- nal vote was conducted by the members of the Pen- nAEYC Public Policy Com- mittee. As an early childhood ad- vocate, his nomination form stood out for its particular strengths in engaging a di- verse community and lev- eraging his professional po- sition to elevate high quality early childhood education resources. PennAEYC recognizes the critical role advocacy plays in high quality early learning settings and celebrates those who speak out on behalf of Pennsylvania’s children. As the voice for early care and learning, community advo- Award A William J. Grant, CEO of Hilde- brandt Learning Center, has been named the 2013 recip- ient of the VOICE Award by the Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children (PennAEYC). cates are an invaluable com- ponent to assuring all Penn- sylvania’s children get the start that they deserve in school and in life. Grant serves on the Penn- sylvania Child Care Associ- ation (PACCA) Board of Di- rectors and is currently the organization’s treasurer. He also serves as a member of the Back Mountain Memo- rial Library Board, is a Dal- las Township supervisor, a member of Council Miser- icordia and the Wilkes Uni- versity Undergraduate Advi- sory Board. The 2013 VOICE Award re- ception and dinner will be held Feb. 26 at the Harris- burg Hilton. Donors fill St. Therese's Church basement in Shavertown for the CC Besecker Memorial Blood Drive. f CC embers of the communi- ty rallied to keep alive the memory of Cecilia “CC” Besecker by participating in an American Red Cross blood drive at St. Therese’s Roman Ca- tholic Church in Shavertown. Besecker, daughter of Terri and Robert Besecker Jr., of Dal- las, was killed in an automobile accident on June 28, 2012. The 22-year-old Dallas High School graduate was attending Indiana University of Pennsylvania and studying fashion merchandising at the time of her death. Terri Besecker, an employee of St. Therese’s Church, said the church hosts blood drives throughout the year and thought such a drive would be a good way to keep CC’s memory alive. Blood donor Rachel Drummer, of Wilkes-Barre, gets prepped by American Red Cross phlebotomist Jess Marchakitus. BILL TARUTIS PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Caitlyn Metz, right, and Jenna Morgan, both of Dallas, look over photos of CC Besecker while CC's mom, Terri Besecker, greets new arrivals at a memorial blood drive in memory of CC at St. Therese's Church in Shavertown. Lake-Lehman life skills eighth- a 3 grader K ristina Mayewski, right, life skills teacher Lee Sikora and junior high language arts teacher Gail Honeywell chat at the life skills open house. tudents show off their life skills tudents in the Life Skills classes at Lake-Lehman Junior/Senior High School hosted an Open House on Dec. 19, offering refreshment and showing off their projects to friends and family members. RIGHT PHOTO: Lake-Lehman eighth-grader Michael Wojciechowski, left, senior Michelle Chappell, teacher Lee Sikora, superintendent James McGovern, junior Daniel Stefanowic and special educa- tion director Tina Antonello pose for a photo during the life skills students’ open house at the high school. ie a Parent Lori Romanofski, left, and Lake-Lehman para-professional Mary Lou Kocher look over a Christmas present wrapped by a life skills student.
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