Victoria loncar grant[1]

ProExcellentiaMartha Holden Jennings Foundation

S P R I N G 2 0 0 9

Skillful Reading

Riverside Local Schools has adoptedthe Wilson Reading Program tohelp students who have fallen behindin reading due to their decodingskills. The interactive programis being used throughout the districtin grades 3-12. Students involvedhave made significant gains andteachers like the systematic, multi-sensory approach. (see storypgs. 2-3)

Mastering Decoding Skills Leads toGains in Reading

M A R T H A H O L D E N J E N N I N G S F O U N D AT I O N 2

The purpose of the Martha Holden Jennings

Foundation is “to foster the development of

young people to the maximum extent through

improving the quality of teaching in secular

elementary and secondary schools

in Ohio.” Pro Excellentia is published to

describe a sampling of those efforts in six

key areas:

We ask that you please share this copy

with colleagues who may gain valuable informa-

tion and ideas from articles covered in this

publication.

Editor: Mary Kay Binder

www.mhjf.org

Mathematics, Science &Technology

Language Literacy

Arts Education

Educator Development

Leadership Skills forAdministrators

Other Student Services

Research-Based TechniquesTo close the achievement gap for

struggling readers, Riverside Local

Schools is providing targeted instruction

to at-risk students through the Wilson

Reading Program. The program will

improve literacy by providing targeted

instruction and teacher professional devel-

opment.

“An analysis of the district’s reading

assessments revealed approximately 16

percent of the students are considered ‘at

risk,’ reading significantly below grade

level,” says Vickie Loncar, Elementary

Curriculum Coordinator for the District,

which is located 30 miles east of

Cleveland and serves approximately 4,700

students. “If this continues, the achieve-

ment gap will only widen as these stu-

dents move through their education.”

The majority of these students, she

explains, have a core deficit in their

phonological or decoding skills. The

Wilson Reading Program is a researched-

based technique that provides direct,

structured, multisensory instruction and

gives students the decoding skills they

lack. The instruction is cumulative and

leads to successful fluent readers.

This is the second year the Wilson

Reading Program has been used within the

Riverside district. Once a student begins

the program, he/she needs to be followed

through to completion. On average, it

takes a student two to three years to

complete. For this reason, explains Mrs.

Loncar, Wilson has been established

throughout all buildings in the district. This

allows for consistency of instruction as the

students move from

elementary to middle to high school.

A 12-Step Process“Wilson is a 12-step program that really

teaches students the structure of our lan-

guage,” explains Mrs. Loncar, adding that

it is not only for those with learning dis-

abilities. “It’s for students who really strug-

gle with reading, who are reading two

grade levels below and really need specific

decoding skills.”

Linda Clayton workswith a student usingtile boards in aone-on-one tutoringsession.

“We had to address the achieve-ment gap. It would only widen asthese students moved through theireducation.”

Vickie Loncar, Elementary Curriculum

Coordinator, Riverside Local Schools

Students who participate in Wilson are

identified using the Dynamic Indicators of

Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS).

“We do a standardized assess-ment to see where their strengthsand weaknesses are,” explainsMrs. Loncar. “This program is notfor everybody. It’s not somethingyou would instruct on in theclassroom. It’s a small group,intensive program for identifiedstudents who would benefit from it.”

Wilson begins in grade three and is

offered to students through high school.

Students work either one-on-one or in

small groups with certified Wilson teachers

and follow a very structured, hands-on, 12-

step program. Elementary and high school

students follow the exact same process.

Students must master each step of the

program before they can move on to the

next level. Teachers track each student’s

progress by charting the results of every

tutoring session.

“We are really starting back at the

beginning” says Mrs. Loncar, explaining

that the Wilson Program starts off with

intense review of vowel sounds, consonant

sounds, and welded sounds. “We really

want to give them a solid foundation. In

the past, I think the regular class was mov-

ing on and these students didn’t quite get

what they needed.

Riverside Local Schools

“Wilson is very interactive,” shecontinues. “You are diagnosingthroughout the whole lesson, so youcan see right away if a student isnot getting it.”

Professional DevelopmentA significant part of the Wilson Reading

Program is the education of teachers.

For the past two years, teams of Riverside

teachers have been trained in the pro-

gram’s strategies with funding from a grant

from the Martha Holden Jennings

Foundation. During 2007-2008, 12 teach-

ers were certified in Wilson Level I, which

involves 90 hours of online instruction and

a 60-lesson practicum as well as demon-

strations and continuous feedback from a

Wilson trainer. This year, six teachers are

being trained in Level I and four in Level II,

which involves learning advanced strate-

gies for multi-sensory instruction, group

study practicum, and advanced word

study. The teachers are given all the mate-

rials and supplies needed for instruction.

“I thought the training was excellent,”

explains Linda Clayton, a 33-year special

needs teaching veteran, who is currently

undergoing Level II certification. Last year,

Mrs. Clayton worked one-on-one with a

third grade student who she says “blos-

somed” as she advanced through the first

four levels of the program. Mrs. Clayton

tutored the student for 45 minutes either

before or after school three days a week.

“It’s intensive,” she comments, “but they

need it, and it has paid off.”

“The program is all spelled out for

you,” adds Jean Jones, a SLD teacher

who is also being trained in Level II. “It’s

all right here,” she remarks pointing to the

large binder that contains the step by step

procedures the teachers follow. “It’s very

easy to use. Once you start doing it, it just

makes sense.”

Mrs. Jones worked with a fifth grade

student last year who could read and

decode at his grade level but struggled

with spelling. The student made significant

progress and she is confident that he will

continue to improve because he is

participating in Wilson in the middle

school this year.

Other teachers at Riverside have also

noted positive results thus far. Students

who were part of the practicum last year

showed an average two grade level

increase in both their decoding and com-

prehension skills. They are more confident

on attacking an assignment that includes

reading and have a stronger grasp of the

foundation of reading for use across the

curricula.

For more information:Mrs. Vickie Loncar, Riverside Local Schools585 Riverside Drive, Painesville, Ohio [email protected]

3

Students in the Wilson Reading Programwork in small groups and quiz each otherusing sound cards.

P R O E X C E L L E N T I A • S P R I N G 2 0 0 9

4M A R T H A H O L D E N J E N N I N G S F O U N D AT I O N

The Business of Learning

Junior Achievement of Greater Cleveland

Junior Achievement (JA) of Greater

Cleveland has been working to make eco-

nomics and business come alive for stu-

dents in 270 schools and organizations

throughout Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, and

Lorain counties through creative, hands-

on curricula.

Programs are presented by business

volunteers who visit classrooms in grades

K-12. They focus on seven key content

areas: citizenship, economics, entrepre-

neurship, ethics, character, financial litera-

cy, and career development. All lessons

have been tested, meet state standards,

and are updated in response to comments

from teachers, students, and volunteers.

Together the curricula and the volunteers

work to raise students’ educational and

career aspirations, teach economics and

financial knowledge, and develop job-

related skills.

“Our mission is to inspire and prepare

young people to succeed in the global

economy,” explains Wendy Kinsey,

President, Junior Achievement of Greater

Cleveland.

This year, JA Cleveland was able to

expand the number of programs it offers

to students in several inner ring suburbs --

Cleveland Heights-University Heights,

Brookpark, Maple Heights, and South

Euclid-Lyndhurst -- through a grant from

the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.

InspirationJA recruits a diverse group of business

volunteers from a range of industries.

These men and women serve as mentors

and role models who help today’s children

grow into tomorrow’s success stories,

explains Ms. Kinsey. JA provides an ori-

entation program for both the volunteers

and teachers who participate in the pro-

gram. At each level, they are given a

packet of materials that contains lesson

plans, hands-on activities, and discussion

topics to use in each week’s program.

Often, volunteers establish a relation-

ship with a particular teacher, and return

to that same teacher’s classroom year

after year. Kevin Frey, Internal Audit

Manager at Airgas, has volunteered in

Stacey Cohen’s first grade classroom at

Fairfax Elementary School in Cleveland

Heights for the past three years. He says

he always got along well with children and

enjoys being with them.

Mr. Frey recently visited Ms. Cohen’s

classroom to present the first grade JA

curriculum, which covers the role of fami-

lies in the local economy. Over five sepa-

rate sessions, he and the students dis-

cussed a variety of topics including the

interdependence of family members; the

difference between a family’s needs and

wants; and how jobs provide income to

pay for both.

Mr. Frey says the students he works

with come from a variety of backgrounds

and he enjoys their different perspectives.

He views his “guest appearances” as a

break in the school day’s more structured

learning and hopes the students have fun

learning with him. “This is a different way

to learn,” he says. “It’s a little more inter-

active than they may be used to.”

In the long run, he hopes his efforts

help to educate students about the variety

of possibilities that are available to them

and to encourage them to set and

accomplish goals so they can become

successful.

Ms. Kinsey adds that students who are

exposed to JA programs throughout their

13 years of education will meet a variety

of business professionals who will

acquaint them with all sorts of different

job possibilities and inspire them to

achieve their own dreams.

For more information:Ms. Wendy Kinsey, Junior Achievement ofGreater Cleveland, 1422 Euclid Avenue,Suite 525, Cleveland, Ohio 44115

Businessman Kevin Frey teaches a lesson on “needs and wants” to first graders at FairfaxElementary School in Cleveland Heights. The children are identifying places on a floormap that families go to in their community to get their needs and wants satisfied.

A Global PerspectiveAt Waterford High School in

Appalachia’s Wolf Creek Local School

District, a school-wide project is educating

students about serious global issues

and empowering them to get involved.

Through Interactive Video Distance

Learning (IVDL) and guest speakers, stu-

dents are learning directly from those

who have been victims of disasters such

as genocide, poverty, and world hunger.

They are also hearing from organizations

who work to alleviate the suffering from

these events, such as the Peace Corps,

Doctors Without Borders, and Habitat

for Humanity.

“We are such a small school in a

secluded area and we want our students

to have access to what is going on in the

global community,” explains Kelly Miller,

who teaches Language Arts at Waterford.

She is the coordinator for a year-long

project called “Beyond Boundaries:

Student Activism from Waterford to the

World” for the school’s 200 students. “But

we want them not just to know what is

going on, we want them to understand

how they can become a part of a solution

through student activism and service.”

With a grant from the Martha Holden

Jennings Foundation, educators arranged

for speakers to visit the school, some in

person others via distance learning, to tell

their personal experiences. The students

heard from Holocaust survivors, the Lost

Boys of Sudan, and a survivor of the

Khmer Rouge. They learned about issues

such as landmine eradication, the lack

of drinking water in many parts of the

globe, and the extent of poverty in third

world countries. They also heard from

representatives of organizations intent on

providing relief to those experiencing

these problems.

“This is a very small, very rural,and very agricultural community,

and the students’ experi-ences are very limit-ed,” explains Mrs.Miller. “They justcan’t believe howother people livebecause it’s not in

their experiences.”

EmpowermentMrs. Miller stresses that the project’s

intent is to empower students to become

actively involved in alleviating some of

these pressing global problems. After

studying and making presentations about

several relief and social service organiza-

tions, the student body chose one -- Kids

Against Hunger – to be the recipient of a

major, school-wide fundraiser. The school

also hosted a “service fair” in which 30

exhibitors from local to global organiza-

tions talked with students about the mis-

sion of their groups and opportunities for

volunteers.

“We want to empower the students by

teaching them that they can do something


Through Interactive Distance Learning, students atWaterford High School are learning about otherpeople’s lives and considering how they might havean impact on global issues.

Global Awareness Sparks Student Activism

Wolf Creek Local School District

about things that are going on in the world

every day, which they may not see, but

that are happening. We want them to

know that they can become part of a solu-

tion for these events,” explains Mrs. Miller.

“This has been eye opening,” says one

senior who was deeply touched by the

accounts of a woman who works with

orphans in Honduras. “We just don’t real-

ize how bad it is in other countries. We

have such great privileges here and we

can take care of each other. But where

there is no money and everyone is poor –

it’s just such a shocker.”

Mrs. Miller says that the entire project

– presentations, interviews, IVDLs -- is

being documented by students in the

school’s tech class and will eventually be

available as podcasts.

For more information:Mrs. Kelly Miller, Waterford High SchoolP.O. Box 67, Waterford, Ohio 45786


Art Competition Rewards Effort and Talent

Cuyahoga County Regional Scholastic Art Competition and Exhibition

Engaging Studentsin Their World

In January, 2009, The Cleveland

Institute of Art (CIA) hosted the opening

reception of a very special exhibit. On

display in the Reinberger Galleries were

282 pieces of award-winning artwork

created by junior high and high school

students in Cuyahoga County. These

pieces were among 1,522 samples of

student work entered into the Cuyahoga

County Regional Scholastic Art Competition

and Exhibition. A group of professional

artists and art professors judged each for

its originality, technicality, and personal

vision. Exceptional pieces received an

Honorable Mention, Silver Key, Gold Key,

or American Vision award and were

mounted and displayed in the Reinberger

Galleries for three weeks in January. Top

place American Vision and Gold Key win-

ners were then forwarded to a national

competition in New York City.

For 29 years, CIA has sponsored the

Scholastics competition to encourage cre-

ativity in young people and to recognize

outstanding achievement in the visual arts.

Open to Cuyahoga County students in

grades 7-12, it is the most prestigious

juried visual arts competition for young

artists in Greater Cleveland. It offers stu-

dents exposure to professional artists,

contact with other top student artists in

the county, a look at the work the other

students are producing, and an opportuni-

ty to see their work displayed in a profes-

sionally mounted gallery exhibition.

Each year, CIA invites more than 300

art teachers in the county to submit

student work to the adjudicated event.

Art teachers note that through Scholastics,

daily art lessons are applied to a “real life”

situation in which artwork is judged by

impartial jurors based on its merits. Each

teacher can enter up to 15 pieces of their

students’ art, so they serve as the first

round judges in the process.

“I look for work that goes beyond –

something that is a little more personal,

more expressive,” says David King, a

teacher of two-dimensional art at Chagrin

Falls High School. Mr. King has been sub-

mitting student work to the Scholastics

competition throughout his 25 years of

teaching.

“I think competition is a normalprocess in the art world. The stu-dents compete with others their ownage; it’s just a good experience togo through.”

Daniel Whitely, who teaches advanced

drawing, honors painting, and portfolio

workshop at Shaker Heights High School

agrees. When selecting work to enter into

the competition, he looks for well-designed

pieces that clearly convey the artist’s

intent, has challenged the student and

pushed the artist to think. “They learn their

own creative process through this experi-

ence,” he remarks. “There are different

ways of approaching things and they need

to know what it takes -- from beginning

Shaker Heights High School student Emily McCandless, who won a Gold Key for thesepaintings in her portfolio, says students should have fun with the competition and “do”what they like: “Everything that I paint is something that I love, that’s meaningful to me --even the vegetables.”

“I really enjoy looking aroundat the Exhibition at other people'swork -- seeing what they comeup with and getting inspiration forwhat I could possibly do in thefuture.”

Courtney Gill, Shaker Heights High School

Gold Key Award Winner

for Portfolio

AndrewWeaver of

Chagrin FallsHigh Schoolwon a GoldKey and anHonorableMention atthe 2009

Competition.


to end -- to [create] a piece of art that is

exhibition worthy.”

Award WinnersMr. Whitely submitted 10-12 student

portfolios (which consist of eight art

pieces, an artist’s statement, a letter of

recommendation, and the students’ tran-

script) in this year’s competition. Three

won Gold Key awards. Shaker students

also competed in jewelry design, graphics,

fine arts, and ceramics.

The Scholastics competition has provid-

ed thousands of students who apply

themselves in the visual arts with the kind

of challenging, competitive, and rewarding

experience more broadly available to

teens involved in athletics.

Organizing the event is a substantial

undertaking. Artwork is dropped off at CIA

one day in December and within 20 hours

it is adjudicated by a group of professional

artists and art teachers. The pieces are

first divided into 19 different categories,

which include painting, photography,

model design, product design, and

video/film among others.

“The judging is intense,” says Richard

Maxwell, Assistant Director of Continuing

Education & Community Outreach at the

Institute. He adds that CIA looks for jurors

who work outside of the county to ensure

impartiality in the judging process.

While not every student wins an award

at the competition, Mr. Maxwell hopes all

students who participate will continue to

pursue their passion for art. “I hope the

students learn that they should not give up

and that they should continue to create,” he

says. “It helps increase their learning in

other avenues as well.”

Mr. King recognizes that value, too.

“The students are not entering the competi-

tion just to win an art show,” he remarks.

“They’re doing it because they love art and

they love sharing it with other people.”

For more information:Mr. Richard MaxwellThe Cleveland Institute of Art11141 East Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio [email protected]

Shaker HeightsHigh Schoolstudent JoeSchorgl won aGold Key forhis comic bookillustrations.


On-line Classes Enhance Gifted Program

Virtual LearningGifted students from four districts in

Clermont County are learning through a

series of on-line courses in several subject

areas. The virtual classes, which are

being developed by their teachers, allow

these small, rural districts to efficiently

serve their gifted populations. The courses

build on the state standards but go more

in-depth and involve critical thinking skills

and lots of creativity.

Gifted students and gifted teachers are

sprinkled around the county at many dif-

ferent schools, explains Amy Bain, Gifted

Coordinator, Clermont County Educational

Service Center. “We couldn’t really have

classes of three students here and four

students there,” she remarks. The educa-

tors realized, however, that if the county

offered courses on-line, students could

select classes specific to their areas of

passion – whether in science, social stud-

ies, language arts, or math -- and the dis-

tricts could share gifted personnel among

all the schools.

A pilot project last year in the districts

of Bethel-Tate, Clermont Northeastern,

Felicity-Franklin, and Williamsburg local

As a culminating activityfor the class on AncientEgypt, students use thescientific method to deter-mine the best substancesfor mummifying squid.

schools, proved the idea could have phe-

nomenal results. Students in the different

districts read the same novels, analyzed

historical documents, and shared their

thoughts and comments on-line. Each

week teachers provided through-provok-

ing prompts and students were able to

discuss issues that went well above typi-

cal grade-level conversations. At the end

of each quarter, students met face-to-face

for live debates and discussions and the

opportunity to meet their counterparts

from other districts.

The Program ExpandsWith a grant from the Martha Holden

Jennings Foundation, the county expand-

ed the program in 2008-2009 to include

gifted students in grades 3-8 and to

increase the number of virtual course

offerings.

Last spring gifted teachers from all

four districts along with Mrs. Bain met to

develop the courses. While most are inter-

disciplinary, the focus of each is science,

social studies, or language arts. Currently,

almost 350 students are enrolled in the

classes.

“Once we decided to offer on-line

courses, we were surprised with the lack

of available resources,” explains Mrs.

Bain. “We discovered that we needed to

create the classes ourselves. This was

exciting in that we could develop the

courses with the gifted students’ needs in

mind.”

“It takes a long time to map it out, to

break it apart, to get the best resources,

to align it to the standards, to consider

learning styles and interests,” says

Heather Frost-Hauk, who teaches gifted

students in grades 6,7, and 8 in the

Bethel-Tate district. “The great thing is

that we all work together to compile and

pool resources, brainstorm ideas, and

map the units. Then, the [teacher] respon-

sible for the unit fine tunes things.

“There is so much to consider;” she

adds, “I love the challenge though.”

Mrs. Frost-Hauk says her passion is in

language arts so she concentrates on that

subject and leaves science and social

studies to other teachers. Titles of courses

she developed include Oh Rats! (Mrs.

Frisby and the Rats of NIMH); Basics of

Writing; My Kind of Research; Creative

Writing and Poetry; and Dracula.

“The on-linecourses havechallenged meto re-think theway I vieweducation andservice options forgifted students,” commentsRenee King, who teaches giftedstudents in grades 3-8 at Felicity-Franklin School. “I no longer havea ‘one size fits all’ service -- Ihave options! I find myself lookingat individual student needs morethan ever.”

Clermont County Educational Service Center


Course SelectionsStudents typically have three classes

or more to choose from each quarter. For

each course, students meet weekly with a

gifted teacher and then have weekly virtu-

al activities that can be completed on-line.

They are encouraged to work at their own

pace, provided they meet required dead-

lines. Students come to the face-to-face

classes armed with information they have

learned during the week. Throughout the

course, the students share their findings

and comments with gifted students in the

other schools. Each course includes a cul-

minating project or activity where the stu-

dents from the different schools get

together. This project serves as the

course assessment and allows students to

set goals that drive learning during the

prior eight weeks.

“Students love being able to choose

what they study,” says Mrs. Bain. “Those

gifted in science no longer are grouped

with other gifted students in a reading

class. Now they can take courses such as

Anatomy, Cells, Flight and Rockets,

Amazing Animals, or Chemistry.

Developing courses that match the areas

of identification has been a wonderful

advantage of the program.

“This is not a ‘canned’ program,” she

continues. “The courses are updated and

tweaked for each group of students. We

really look at what the students are doing,

what they might need.”

Mrs. King believes the program’s

biggest benefit is its flexibility. On-line

courses allow students and teachers

access to the class at any hour of the day,

any day of the week. And if students are

particularly interested in a topic, they can

share what they have learned with other

students via forums or discussion boards.

Mrs. Frost-Hauk says she likes the fact

that students get a whole package: “They

learn to be responsible for their learning;

improve their skills when it comes to tech-

nology; learn ‘real-life’ skills – as on-line

courses are becoming the future of col-

lege courses; learn to respond construc-

tively to their fellow students in the way of

forums and wikis; work at their own pace;

Gifted students at Felicity-Franklin Elementary School workin the computer lab on anImmigration project. Theirteacher, Renee King, suggesteda variety of Web sites theycould explore to gather informa-tion they will share at theirweekly face-to-face meeting.

and can incorporate their interest in their

course selections,” she says.

“It’s important for teachers torealize that on-line education is avaluable tool that can be very pow-erful in impacting student achieve-ment,” stresses Mrs. King. “It isnot a class without a teacher. Wemake face-to-face weekly meetingsa core component of the virtualclasses. We are constantly in com-munication with students on-line orface-to-face to ensure qualityresults.”

For more information:Mrs. Amy BainClermont County Educational Service Center2400 Clermont Center Drive, Suite 202Batavia, Ohio 45103-1957

Agriculture students at Utica High

School are planning to produce 100

gallons of biodiesel fuel each week from

recycled cooking oil and market it to area

farmers for use throughout the growing

season. The students will handle all

aspects of production from collecting oil

from a local restaurant to operating a

biodiesel fuel processor to distributing the

final product. Prior to making their first

gallon, the students researched all

aspects of biodiesel fuel technology. They

studied the chemistry behind the fuel, the

cost effectiveness of production, and its

potential environmental impact.

Instructors Jeff Hindel, Industrial

Technology, and Steve Priest, Agricultrual

Education, conceived the idea in the

spring of 2008 when diesel fuel prices

were rising dramatically.

“The fuel crisis spearheaded this proj-

ect,” says Mr. Hindel, explaining that Utica

is a small farming community and stu-

dents at the school live on and work those

farms. “When diesel fuel was over $4.00 a

gallon last May we got together to think

about how we could help our community,

and this is what we decided to do.”

In addition to providing the community

with a less expensive fuel, Mr. Priest notes

that biodiesel fuel burns cleaner and is

less corrosive to engines than fossil fuel

and its emissions are less harmful to the

atmosphere than standard emissions.

User Friendly ProcessorWith a grant from the Jennings

Foundation, the teachers purchased a

self-contained biodiesel fuel processor

that is easy to operate and requires little

maintenance. It is set up in a walled-off

area of the Ag shop. All chemicals needed

to make the fuel come pre-measured; stu-

dents simply pour in the oil and chemi-

cals, push the start button, and let the

machine do the work. Twenty-four hours

later they drain off glycerin, a by-product

of the production process, and start the

final wash. In another 24 hours, the fuel is

ready to use.

A small group of seniors in the

Students are filtering the recycled cooking oil thatwill be used to make the biodiesel fuel.

Students Manufacture Alternative Fuel

North Fork Local School District


Students are adding pre-measured methanol to thebiodiesel fuel processor.

Agriculture program made their first 50-

gallon batch in mid-March.

“It’s nice that we know how tomake an alternative energy source,”says one student. “This will be a bigpart of energy in the future, andmaybe one of us can head up a com-pany that will make biodiesel fueland introduce it to all of America.”

The students’ plan is to produce the

fuel for local farmers who would con-

tribute a donation to the school’s

Agriculture program in return. They have

produced a detailed PowerPoint presenta-

tion highlighting the environmental and

financial benefits of “buying” their school-

grown product and will use it as a market-

ing tool when talking to community groups

this spring.

“This is a wonderful experience for

us,” remarks another student. “It gives us

an idea of how to run our own business

and also allows us an opportunity to help

our community.”

For more information:Mr. Jeff Hindel, Mr. Steve PriestUtica High School260 N. Jefferson StreetUtica, Ohio 43080

11

Walking in Their Moccasins

Children who live along the southern

shore of Lake Erie are getting a unique

opportunity to learn about the Native

Americans who once walked in their back-

yards. Through a program called, ”Walking

in Their Moccasins,” designed by educa-

tors at The Lake County Historical Society,

children in grades 3-5 learn about the cul-

ture, art, technology, and lifestyles of the

pre-historic people known as the

Whittlesey* focus people.

“School children who live in this area

learn everything they need to know about

eastern woodland tribes, southern mound

builders, even the Alaskan Native

Americans, but they learn nothing about

the Native Americans who once walked

through their backyards,” says Kathie

Purmal, Executive Director, The Lake

County Historical Society. Their history,

culture, and disappearance are an integral

part of the history of Lake County and sur-

rounding areas and local teachers know

very little about them.


Jennings Foundation and the expertise of

a previous youth education director, the

Historical Society developed a standards-

based program to teach students how the

Whittlesey focus people used their envi-

ronment and technology to create a better

way of life.

Environment and TechnologyThe Historical Society is fortunate to

have a site that offers a unique environ-

ment for conducting an interactive pro-

gram – a combination classroom and out-

door setting where students can learn

both through direct instruction and hands-

on discovery. In creating “Walking in Their

Moccasins,” Ms. Purmal drew upon

decades of success the Historical Society

has had with the popular Pioneer School –

where students learn about early American

life in an authentic environment where

they actually haul wood, cook over an

open fire, and attend school in a one room

school house.

“We saw how the proper environment

really lit the imagination,” says Ms.

Purmal. “And with the imagination, of

course, comes the learning.”

The three-hour Native American pro-

gram is divided into indoor and outdoor

sessions. Students enter “Professor

Whittlesey’s” laboratory inside the muse-

um to learn more about the lifestyles of

these prehistoric peoples. The classroom

is set up as a Whittlesey campsite with a

wigwam surrounded by “rock cliffs.” To

learn about the different time periods

The Lake County Historical Society

these Native Americans lived in the area,

the students examine a variety of “arti-

facts,” discuss them, and match them

with real artifacts held in display cases.

The students’ job is to identify the objects

as tools, weapons, or decorative pieces

by using observations and information

included in a written field guide.

Outdoors, the students have an eight

acre wooded environment in which to

learn through experience. A group of high

school students assisted in creating a vil-

lage that includes a long house; wigwam;

native garden; and cooking, tool-making

and clay pot area. Using materials found

in the environment, students role play the

Whittlesey people solving problems asso-

ciated with obtaining food, shelter, and

clothing. They make tools out of stone,

wood, and bone. They grind corn with a

mortar and pestle and use deer antlers to

work in the garden.

“The lesson we want them to learn is

how these people used their environment

and technology to create a better way of

living,” says Ms. Purmal. “And through

that, we hope will grow a respect for the

Native Americans that once walked the

southern shores of Lake Erie.”

For more information:Ms. Kathie PurmalThe Lake County Historical Society8610 Mentor Road, Kirtland Hills, Ohio 44060

*The name Whittlesey comes from CharlesWhittlesey, an archaeologist who exploredLake County in the 1830’s and uncoveredremnants of primitive life in the area.

A museum display of the Whittlesey peopleteaches students how they survived intheir natural environment.


Jennifer McCalla in her classroom atNormandy High School.


Top Educator Awards

to make it better.”

A 10-year teaching veteran, Mrs.

McCalla enjoys working with kids and

“seeing their expressions when they get

it – when they have that ‘aha moment.’

“With some kids it may take a little bit

longer,” she adds, “but that’s what it’s all

about.”

Casey PtasznikCasey Ptasznik aims to recapture the

enthusiasm a kindergartner has for learn-

ing and instill it in her high school stu-

dents. With funds from the 2008 Master

Teacher Award, she is working to bring her

world history classes to life. She pur-

chased 13 laptop computers that she

envisions ninth grade students at Chardon

High School will use to make multimedia

and PowerPoint presentations, conduct

research, assemble timelines, and create

political advertisements and cartoons.

Actually, she says, the whole department

will benefit from the computers, which are

stored on a portable cart and can be

moved from room to room.

“The range of activities and skills that

we are going to be able to do is going to

be a lot more extensive,” says Mrs.

Ptasznik, who says her teaching style will

change a lot due to the immersion of the

technology in her lesson plans.

“We do a lot of skills-basedlearning,” she adds. “While thestudents are learning a conceptwithin world history there is alsoat least one skill connected toevery activity, and the computerswill play into that.

“It’s going to force me to learn too,”

she admits, remarking on the variety of

new software programs that will be avail-

able for teachers to use.

Jennifer McCallaJennifer McCalla believes it is extreme-

ly important for teachers to stay current

with trends in technology. A mathematics

educator at Normandy High School in

Parma and the 2008 recipient of the

George B. Chapman, Jr. Teacher Award

for Excellence in Mathematics Education,

Mrs. McCalla says using graphing calcula-

tors and computer software gives stu-

dents the best chance to understand the

math they are learning, as opposed to just

memorizing rules and formulas.

“My own experiences in learninghigher mathematics have convincedme that tools that allow students to‘explore’ and ‘play with’ variousideas foster fundamental under-standing of the ‘why’ of mathemat-ics in addition to the ‘how,’ ” sheremarks.

Mrs. McCalla, who holds a master’s

degree in education technology, used the

award to establish a mobile graphing calcu-

lator lab that is being used by nine teachers

in classes from Algebra Topics to AP

Calculus in the mathematics department at

Normandy. The lab consists of a set of 30

TI-Nspire graphing calculators, a PC Video

projector, and a laptop installed with TI-

SmartView Emulator software. Using the cal-

culators, students can see multiple repre-

sentations – tabular, graphical, and numeri-

cal -- of the same problem on one screen.

“I’m slowly getting teachers to under-

stand all these calculators can do,” says

Mrs. McCalla, who is providing in-service

for teachers in the department in hopes

that all will incorporate them in their les-

sons. She believes effective teachers

need to be open to try new things. “They

need to be adventurous,” she says. “If

you try something and it doesn’t work

you can adapt it, or change it, or edit it

Casey Ptasznikinstructs agroup of worldhistory studentsat ChardonHigh School.


Mrs. Ptasznik has been teaching high

school social studies for 13 years. Her

original plan was to go to law school and

focus on educational law, but a semester

of student teaching changed her mind.

“I have really enjoyed the kids,” she

remarks, adding that teaching is never

boring because the students are constant-

ly changing. “I can take the same course

and teach it three times a day and it is so

different class to class.”

Mrs. Ptasznik believes one of the most

important qualities in a master teacher is

having the ability to assess what students

need and provide it for them, which, she

concedes, is easier said than done. She

also believes it is important to offer guid-

ance and emotional support outside of the

classroom.

Thomas Stork“It is the students who do the learning

and if they are not directly engaged with

the content then they are not effectively

learning,” says Thomas Stork, who has

taught science at Athens High School for

the past 30 years. “They have got to be

directly engaged, they have got to be con-

necting the ideas to their experiences in

the real world. And it is the teacher who

arranges for that to happen.”

In courses ranging from Integrated

Science to AP Physics, he encourages

students to investigate the world around

them and then incorporate that knowledge

into a coherent world view. As the 2008

recipient of the Arthur S. Holden Teacher

Award for Excellence in Science

Education, Mr. Stork aims to tap the stu-

educatorexcellence

dents’ connection to information technolo-

gy and apply it to their investigation of

force and motion in ninth grade physics

lessons.

Using technology purchased with

award funds, students work in teams

using wireless data gathering devices to

measure force, acceleration, and position

as they engage in a variety of activities.

They download and analyze this data on

computers, record their activities using

video cameras, and will eventually create

podcast presentations to share what they

have learned with elementary students.

“I have worked to try to incorporate

students’ direct experience through avail-

able technology all my career,” Mr. Stork

remarks. “As engaged as I am, I recognize

that I am not nearly as plugged in as my

students.” From iPods to text messages,

he adds, their connection with information

technology is continuous and second

nature; he would like to take advantage of

that interest and turn it to an instructional

purpose.

With three decades of experience

behind him, Mr. Stork jokes that he is still

learning how to do his job. Yet, he does

have some advice for new teachers:

“It’s really all about the students.That’s the deal. The whole focushas got to be getting to know them,”he says. “And that’s the fun of it.So enjoy your students – that wouldbe my advice.”

Thomas Stork, Science Teacher atAthens High School.

“All of these are technologiesthat engage the reluctant learner,”says Ms. Depue. “I truly believethat’s part of the enthusiasm thatkeeps the kids coming.”

The intervention sessions ran for sever-

al weeks prior to the state testing in April.

Participants were identified through a pre-

assessment test given in January. Those

invited to the “club” exhibited weaknesses

in several learning outcomes. Results of

these tests also indicated to the teachers

the skills students were lacking, and they

designed activities to meet those needs.

The Saturday sessions began at 11:30,

allowing the students the ability to “sleep

in.” They started the afternoons with a

pizza lunch, which were followed by four,

hour-long academic sessions. The large

group was broken into smaller groups of

6-10, which rotated through the different

activities. The activities varied each week

and included such tasks as dissecting a

fetal pig, designing a scavenger hunt using

hand held GPS devices, and creating pod-

casts that can be viewed on the class

Web site.

Ms. Depue firmly believes that integrat-

ing technology in the curriculum is a signif-

icant motivator. “Every time new technolo-

gies come out we want to ban them,” says

Ms. Depue referring to devices such as

cell phones and iPods.

“Instead of spending a lot of time mak-

Technology Creates Interest in Saturday School


Marietta Middle School

Teachers Embrace TechnologySaturday Club was a popular spot for

seventh graders at Marietta Middle School.

More than 50 pre-teens attended the aca-

demic program to the envy of classmates

who remained on the waiting list.

“It’s all about making learning fun,”

says seventh grade teacher Kimberly

Depue, who developed the weekend pro-

gram with her colleague, Kathy Finley.

The teachers set out to engage reluctant

learners in activities they don’t get to do

during the usual school day. Their

ultimate goal is to improve the perform-

ance of these students on the Ohio

Achievement tests in the areas of mathe-

matics, science, technology, and language

arts.

The teachers believe the secret to their

success is the integration of technology.


Jennings Foundation, they purchased a

variety of technological tools, such as

handheld GPS units, iPods, Vernier probes,

and graphing calculators, which totally

engage students in the learning process.

Students in SaturdayClub use a variety oftechnological toolsthat interest them inlearning.

ing rules for not using this [technology], I

think we need to start really brainstorming

how to make it practical and useful in the

classroom. We’re not teaching [students]

the technology, we’re using the technolo-

gy as a tool to teach the academic out-

comes.”

Student TeachingA second purpose of the Saturday Club

is to give Marietta College students who

are earning a teaching degree through the

CORE (Developing Core Teachers in Ohio’s

Appalachian Region) Program an opportu-

nity to practice their classroom skills.

These students are professionals in mathe-

matics and science-oriented fields and

have chosen to pursue teaching as an

alternative career. The college students

helped design as well as teach the

Saturday lessons.

“The [student teachers] learned a lot as

far as getting that experience to teach,”

says Ms. Depue, who is an instructor in

the CORE Program.

“They enjoyed working with the target

group, they enjoyed working with each

other, and they’ve had lots of great expo-

sure to all kinds of classroom tools. Now

they’ve seen [the technology] in use. I

think that’s given them valuable informa-

tion as well.”

For more information:Ms. Kimberly Depue, Marietta Middle School242 7th Street, Marietta, Ohio 45750


Jennings Science WorkshopsGrades 5-8 • June 22-25

Grades 2-4 • July 6-9

Jennings MathematicsWorkshopGrades 6-8 • July 27-30

Jennings Educators’ RetreatJuly 30-31

ments, an on-line version is also available.

If a district has not developed an imple-

mentation plan, a teacher or curriculum

director can attend the program and then

assist the district in the design of its plan.

Each program can be taken for either two

semester hours of graduate level credit

from Ashland University or 12 professional

development contact hours.

For workshop registration forms,

please visit the Ashland University web

site: www.ashland.edu/econedcenters

For more information:Mrs. Paula Aveni, Director Economic EducationEconomicsAmerica, Cleveland Centerof Ashland Universitywww.ashland.edu/econedcenters

In December 2006, the Ohio legisla-

ture passed Senate Bill 311, which

requires the integration of financial literacy

into the high school curriculum for stu-

dents entering high school beginning in

2010. Each school district can determine

at what grade level it will teach the con-

tent, in which course, and by whom.

To help teachers get up to speed on

teaching personal finance and assist dis-

tricts with the implementation, the Ohio

Centers for Economic Education worked

with the Ohio Department of Education to

create a program called “The Teachers

Academy for Personal Finance.” The pro-

gram, which is funded in part by a grant

from the Martha Holden Jennings

Foundation, provides classroom-ready,

interactive resources to deliver the

required instruction and helps support an

implementation plan. The Teachers

Academy covers six content modules:

1. Financial Decision-making

2. Working and Earning

3. Budgeting, Banking, Saving, and

Philanthropy

4. Effective Use of Credit

5. Wealth Creation and Investing

6. Risk Management

The two-day course will be offered at

several locations throughout Ohio this

summer. For teachers struggling to bal-

ance professional and personal commit-

2009FinancialLiteracyWorkshops

June 22-23The Youngstown Club

Youngstown, Ohio

June 22-July 24On-Line

June 24- 25Polaris Career Center

Middleburg Heights,

Ohio

July 1-2Ashland University

Columbus Center

Columbus, Ohio

August 17-18Mansfield Chamber

of Commerce

Mansfield, Ohio

Financial Literacy Workshops

Ashland University

Teachers enjoy learning together at theJennings summer workshops.

Those who attend the Teachers Academyreceive a box filled with materials andsupplies they can use in their classroomto teach financial literacy.

Martha Holden Jennings FoundationThe Halle Building1228 Euclid Avenue, Suite 710Cleveland, Ohio 44115

P R O E X C E L L E N T I A

Helping Teachers and StudentsHelp Themselves

Non-profitOrganization

U.S. POSTAGEPAID

Cleveland, OhioPermit No. 2282

Art Competitionpage 6

Top Educatorspage 12Junior

Acheivementpage 4

Victoria loncar grant[1]

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