JSU holds forum on online protection

By Steve Ivey
Star Staff Writer

10-31-2007

JACKSONVILLE — Spencer Tinsley offered an easy threshold to remember on how open to be with personal Web pages.

"If you don't want your grandmother to see it, don't put it on there," he said.

Tinsley and Chris Stokes, student peer educators at Jacksonville State University, presented advice in a forum titled "Your space, MySpace, our space, everybody's space."

Students gathered in the Theron Montgomery Building heard tips on how to protect themselves on social networking sites popular with college students such as MySpace and Facebook.

While those sites allow users to alter how much information others can see without first requesting access, Stokes noted that the sites report fewer than one in five users ever adjusts the privacy settings.

"It's really a false sense of security," he said.

Sgt. Robert Schaffer with JSU's police department said most students would never think of broadcasting their photo and address at a Gamecock football game, yet many publish that information on the networking sites.

See the full story here.

ACT registration eadline Nov. 2

An announcement came from ACT this week that the next administration of the college-entrance exam will be Dec. 8. To sigh up, students must register by Friday.

The cost for the test is $30 for the traditional ACT and $44.50 for students who wish to take the optional writing portion.

Students may register late through Nov. 15, but they will be charged an additional fee.

Most high school counselors should have registration forms, and ACT offers this Web site for registration and other tips for preparing for the test.

Class pumpkin returns to patch with note attached

By Steve Ivey
Star Staff Writer

10-30-2007

Cherie Prickett gathers around the returned pumpkin with her Alexandria Elementary School kindergarten class. Photo: Bill Wilson/The Anniston Star

ALEXANDRIA — The case of the purloined pumpkin came to a happy ending Monday morning.

Cherie Prickett's kindergarten class had watched the orange gourd grow all school year. But when the students went to check on it last week, they were instead treated to a trick.

The pumpkin had vanished from the vine. Someone had absconded with it.

Ghastly.

The whole school produced posters, seeking a safe return for the seasonal squash.

Monday morning the pumpkin was back, reattached to the vine with black electrical tape, complete with an unsigned apology:

"I am so sorry. I hope that you can still have a happy Halloween."

See the full story here.

Program looks to increase ranks of minority professors

By Steve Ivey
Star Staff Writer

10-28-2007

Stephanie Zeigler’s parents convinced her that a career in biology might be more lucrative than pursuing her interest in music.

But once she arrived to study at Mercer University in Macon, Ga., Zeigler found that none of her science professors looked like her.

Now the Saks High School graduate is working to join the slim ranks of black college professors in the South.

She’s completed her doctoral studies in microbiology at Auburn University and soon will defend her thesis. She did it with help from the Southern Regional Education Board’s Doctoral Scholars Program.

Begun in 1993, the program aims to increase the number of minority college professors.

“I was listening to a professor discuss how he had been in Chicago, and high school students told him that getting good grades was acting white,” Zeigler said. “I thought that was horrible. Some people believe blacks are not capable of achieving, and that’s just not true. But if you don’t have the role models, you might get lost.”

A conference sponsored by the Doctoral Scholars Program wraps up this weekend in Washington, D.C. More than 1,000 attendants gathered to hear tips and strategies for surviving graduate school and then becoming college faculty.

“If once they’re on the job they’re successful and get tenure, that’s what we ultimately want them to do,” said Ansley Abraham, director of SREB’s program.

Data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows that about 33 percent of college students across the country are racial or ethnic minorities, but minority professors make up just 15 percent of all college faculty.

See the full story here.

JSU students can give input on transit system

By Steve Ivey
Star Staff Writer

10-25-2007

Students at Jacksonville State University can have their say today and Friday on where they’d like to get on the bus.

Officials from JSU and the East Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission will be on the second floor of the Theron Montgomery Building from 9 a.m. to noon to hear opinions on a proposed transit system for the campus.

JSU commissioned a study on a bus system as part of a $1.9 million federal transportation grant the school received in 2004. The Board of Trustees agreed to go forward with plans in April.

At that time, Mickey Hall of Skipper Consulting, a transit consulting firm in Birmingham, recommended JSU establish two campus routes and another through the city of Jacksonville.

Jacksonville Mayor Johnny Smith said he did not think the city planned to include itself in the transit system.

Hall said a feasibility study found 98 percent of JSU students said they would use a bus system, but he said about 28 percent, or 2,500 students, was a more realistic target for who would use the shuttles daily.

See the full story here.

State education fund down $100 million for 2008

By Markeshia Ricks
Star Capitol Correspondent

10-25-2007

MONTGOMERY — A cooling state economy might soon mean smaller budgets for Alabama schools and colleges.

After three years of record growth, Joyce Bigbee, executive director for the Alabama Legislative Fiscal Office, said growth from sales and corporate income taxes, which fund the state’s approximately $6.7 billion Education Trust Fund, began to slow this year.

Bigbee expects that budget requests for 2009 will reflect that slowdown.

The Education Trust Fund was expected to grow by 8 percent, but revenue only grew by 6 percent, Bigbee said.

That means that the fund, which pays for public K-12 education, and two- and four-year colleges, will have about $100 million less to carry into the 2008 budget.

State Department of Education Superintendent Joseph Morton and Department of Postsecondary Education Bradley Byrne will present proposed 2009 budget requests at the State School Board’s work session today.

But little could be gleaned Wednesday about how conservative those requests will be in light of the slowing economy.

See the full story here.

Schools look to offer incentives to students

By Steve Ivey
Star Staff Writer

10-25-2007

Wachovia Bank partnered with Saks schools to award students with good grades and perfect attendance a T-shirt. Photo: Kevin Qualls/The Anniston Star

About 1,000 students in Saks got a new addition to their wardrobe over the past week.

Saks Elementary, Middle and High schools teamed with Wachovia Bank to give T-shirts to students with good grades and perfect attendance.

Calhoun County Board of Education member Phil Murphy said Wachovia signed up for the pilot incentive program for the first quarter. He said the school system hopes to expand beyond Saks in the future.

Murphy said more than 700 students in the three schools earned all As and Bs, and another 200 or so earned perfect attendance.

A similar project is in the works for the Anniston City Schools. Board member Bob Etnire has said he would like to partner with local businesses that would sponsor an attendance incentive program.

“In the private sector, we work on incentives and we award people,” he said earlier this year describing his plans.

“I think it can work in the schools.”

See the full story here.

Character Counts

Schools across Alabama are continuing their celebrations of Character Counts week. It was no different when I stopped in at Kitty Stone Elementary School in Jacksonville yesterday. Principal Bob Phillips was leading me to a math classroom for today's piece on the 40th anniversary of the handheld calculator during a morning class change. Entire classes paraded by and flashed their hands toward Phillips in a "C" shape to let him know they had made it through the week with no disciplinary actions by their teacher.

As declared by Gov. Bob Riley, Character Counts week focuses students on the six pillars of character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.

The handheld calculator turns 40

By Steve Ivey
Star Staff Writer

10-24-2007

Photo: Texas Instruments

JACKSONVILLE — An abacus can't land an acrobat in a tub of water.

No, performing such delicate equations — to figure out how to launch a diver off a moving Ferris wheel and onto another moving target — demands the precision of a graphic calculator.

That was the problem recently at hand for John Van Cleave's senior math class at Jacksonville High School. Thanks to the work of three inventors in 1967, students had push-button access to the answer.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the handheld calculator, an invention that revolutionized how kids learn math.

"If you want to multiply using pi, you can use 3.14," Van Cleave said. "But if you use the graphing calculator, you can be that much more precise.

"In the early grades they need to learn to do the arithmetic themselves. But by the time they get to me for algebra, it's much more important they know the process."

See the full story here.

Good advice always rhymes

In that spirit, some Halloween poems from the American Red Cross to keep trick-or-treaters safe when they're out and about next week:

• Map out the route that you plan to roam, so adults are assured you will find your way home!
• If you visit a house where a stranger resides, accept treats at the door and, please, don’t go inside.
• When you get ready to put on your disguise, use face paint instead of masks, which will cover your eyes.
• Always remember, before you embark, to wear light-colored clothing to be seen in the dark!
• Whether you walk, slither or sneak, do it on the sidewalks and not in the street.
• As you roam through the neighborhood collecting your treats, please look both ways before crossing the street!
• Wigs, capes and costumes are flammable attire, so avoid open flames to prevent a fire!
• Use a glow stick instead of a candle so your jack-o-lantern isn’t a safety gamble!
• You may fly on a broom or a space ship from Mars, but please be on the lookout for drivers in cars!
• Monsters and zombies should stay off the lawn, and only visit homes with their porch lights turned on!
• You may be dressed as a werewolf, a cat or a frog, but be cautious around strange animals, especially dogs.
• Have a grown-up inspect your candy when you’re done trick-or-treating to remove open packages and choking hazards before eating.

School boards should get involved, speaker at state conference urges

By Steve Ivey
Star Staff Writer

10-23-2007

HOOVER — School systems are no different than any other form of government in the country.

An expert staff runs the day-to-day affairs, but civilian outsiders set the course.

Debbie Manns, a veteran school-board trainer from Texas, told a group of Alabama school board members Monday that they should embrace their role as policymaker and involve themselves in ensuring that students achieve.

Manns said she's seen too many boards more interested in how teaching takes place than what children actually are learning.

"Administrators can feel threatened or downright annoyed when boards start asking questions," she said.

"But the public is much more demanding in what they expect from their boards — public, corporate or otherwise. I've been telling boards for years, it's your job to ask questions."

Board members from the state's 181 school systems were in Hoover on Monday for a conference of the Alabama Association of School Boards.

See the full story here.

Bidding on expansion may be soon

By Matt Kasper
Star Staff Writer

10-23-2007

JACKSONVILLE — Make room for the youngsters, or at least, the younger students at Jacksonville High School.

An estimated $1.4 million planned expansion at Jacksonville High, which includes seven additional classrooms, could be bid as soon as this December, according to Eric Mackey, superintendent of Jacksonville City Schools.

The expansion also will include additional restrooms.

Mackey and board of education members will meet at 6:30 p.m. today to discuss the project during a scheduled board meeting at the high school library.

Six of the seven classrooms will be designated for seventh-graders, he said, with the seventh classroom set aside for special-education instruction.

The project was approved by the board in September as part of a five-year capital plan, which includes seven projects prioritized according to need.

Approval is still pending on the final drawings; it also has yet to be approved by the planning and building commission.

See the full story here.

According to new data, the number of teachers who are men is at a 40-year low

By Steve Ivey
Star Staff Writer

10-20-2007

Jonathan Gilbert, a fourth-grade teacher at Golden Springs Elementary School, helps Dorothy Winston with classwork. Gilbert is among about two dozen male teachers at Calhoun County’s public elementary schools. Photo: Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star

Jonathan Gilbert wanted to parlay his knack for working with kids into a teaching career.

Taking education classes at Alabama A&M University, he quickly learned what made him stand out most among his classmates: his Y chromosome.

According to new data from the National Education Association, the country’s largest teachers union, the number of male teachers is at a 40-year low.

“There were several (classes) where I looked around and I was the only man,” said Gilbert, now a fourth-grade teacher at Golden Springs Elementary School.

“At first I didn’t really think of it that way. But I realized I would be in the minority.”

NEA reports that a quarter of the nation’s 3 million teachers are men. Male elementary teachers are even more scant at just 9 percent, down from an all-time high of 18 percent in 1981.

Locally, Gilbert is among about two dozen male teachers at the county’s public elementary schools.

Data from the Alabama Department of Education show about 4 percent of the 616 elementary teachers in Calhoun’s five school systems are men. About half of those are physical education teachers.

See the full story here.

Calhoun County fourth-graders visit Janney Furnace in Ohatchee

By Andy Johns
Star Staff Writer

10-20-2007

White Plains fourth-graders listen to a lesson Friday about Civil War artifacts. Photo: Bill Wilson/The Anniston Star

OHATCHEE — An army flooded Janney Furnace and the Confederate memorial there Friday morning.

Luckily for Ohatchee residents, the 1,100 elementary schoolers were more interested in the Civil War displays and hot dogs than conquest.

Fourth-grade classes from across Calhoun County visited Janney Furnace, where Calhoun County Commissioner Eli Henderson and other volunteers displayed Civil War artifacts, played period music and dressed in antebellum clothes.

“Is this sun glasses?” asked one student, pointing to an antique nail on a display table that was bent like the arm of a pair of glasses. The nail’s owner, Jack Morris of Ohatchee, explained and then told him about the cannon balls and Minié balls, a type of cone-shaped bullet. Morris displayed a table full of rifle balls and cannon shells.

“I didn’t bring anything that would explode,” he said.

See the full story here.

See a slideshow from the field trip here.

Anniston BOE to send money request to city

By Steve Ivey
Star Staff Writer

10-19-2007

The Anniston Board of Education will resubmit a letter requesting $44,000 from the city for improvements to the auditorium at Anniston High School.

Interim Superintendent Joan Frazier said a letter containing the request was to be sent during the summer to City Manager George Monk, but Monk has said he never received it.

The board approved sending the request again during its Thursday night meeting.

The money would pay for lighting and other improvements to help performances by the Knox Concert Series, but Frazier said the improvements also would benefit the high school.

Some of the equipment was damaged by the May 2006 fire at the school.

See the full story here.

JSU science program included in federal budget

Sen. Richard Shelby's office announced this week that the Senate's Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill for 2008 includes $250,000 for the Science Education Initiative at Jacksonville State University.

It's one of a couple dozens items for Alabama included in the Senate version of the bill.

The initiative works with teachers on developing hands-on lessons in science that are less time-restrictive on the classroom schedule.

"As our nation becomes more and more dependent on new innovative technologies, we must provide students with the basic understanding of the amazing accomplishments that can be achieved through scientific discovery," Shelby said in the announcement. "I believe that Jacksonville State is well positioned to serve the needs of East Alabama's youth with cutting-edge, hands-on science programs."

Calhoun County students build robot for competition at Auburn University

By Steve Ivey
Star Staff Writer

10-18-2007

Career Tech students Caleb Sweatt, left, and Kyle Crumley work on their robot while other students look on in the background. Photo: Trent Penny/The Anniston Star JACKSONVILLE — Skylor O’Kelley needs a bigger drill bit. He cut holes in an aluminum bar at the Calhoun County Career Technical Center on Wednesday, but they didn’t quite align. The bar will attach to a forklift robot that students from all over the county school system will enter in a competition Saturday at Auburn University. “This is more involved than the stuff we usually work on,” said O’Kelley, an 11th-grade machining student at the center. “I can’t wait to see it work.” A team from the county’s gifted education program will compete against more than 20 others and try to move the most boxes and bottles across a stage. Alabama Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology, organizer of the competition, gave each team materials ranging from plywood and PVC pipe to motors and golf balls. “Kids flock to this stuff,” said George Blanks, an Auburn engineering professor and director of the BEST competition. “It’s cool to build something from nothing.” John Moore, a teacher in the county’s gifted program, said about 20 of his students debated using a forklift, bulldozer, crane and even helicopter design. But they didn’t have the proper equipment to build their final idea.

So he took the design to the career tech center, where precision machining students are building the robot this week. “Our tools were so crude, the wheels fell off when we tested the one we built,” he said. “This wouldn’t have been possible without these students up here. It’s been great seeing such a cooperative effort with students who wouldn’t associate with each other having to work together.” See the full story here. For more information about Alabama BEST, go here.

Forum discusses local work force development

By Steve Ivey
Star Staff Writer

10-17-2007

Bob McKenzie from the Alabama Center for Civic Life speaks at a forum to discuss the area's economic future at the Anniston-Calhoun County library. Photo: Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star

Two hours may not be enough.

About 20 members of the local business and education community gathered Tuesday morning to discuss Calhoun County's economic future.

Bob McKenzie, from the Alabama Center for Civic Life, led the conversation but urged those attending to continue it beyond the Ayers Room at the Anniston-Calhoun County Library.

"It's the difference between a wedding and a marriage," he said. "Most of us here can control our lunch hour. We have to broaden out efforts to continue what we want to do."

The Calhoun County Community Foundation cosponsored Tuesday's forum, which focused on finding the best ways to train the next generation of workers.

The group looked at four options compiled by the National Issues Forums for making sure companies have a skilled, local labor pool:

• Use schools to impart character education and workplace skills.

• Focus schools on math, science and technology education.

• Partner schools with businesses to train children for locally available jobs.

• Train children to be "big-picture" thinkers rather than train them for repetitive tasks that will soon be done by computers or by workers in other countries.

See the full story here.

Special education records set to be destroyed

The Alabama Department of Education announced today it will destroy certain special education records Oct. 30. The records pertain to special education complaints filed between Jan. 1, 2000 and Jan. 1, 2002.

Parents of children involved in those complaints can request the records by sending a written request to:

Doris McQuiddy
Alabama Department of Education
Special Education Services
P.O. Box 302101
Montgomery, AL 36130-2101

The letter should include your name, current address and telephone number. The department said all records will be destroyed if it has not received a request by Oct. 30.

Or, for more information, call (334) 242-8114.

Report says JSU needs more student housing

By Steve Ivey
Star Staff Writer

10-16-2007

JACKSONVILLE — If Jacksonville State University can enroll nearly 1,000 more students, it will need space for them to live.

That was the report heard by the university's Board of Trustees on Monday.

This fall's enrollment stands at 9,077, but officials hope to increase it to 10,000.

For those students, JSU currently has 1,609 on-campus beds available, and those are 96 percent full.

That's enough to hold about 18 percent of the student body, compared to a state average of 30 percent capacity.

JSU President Bill Meehan told the board offering more on-campus housing is one of the university's top priorities.

"A strong student life attracts many of our quality traditional students," he said.

The board received a study Monday showing that students generally prefer suite-style housing. A survey found most prefer a two-bedroom suite with private bathrooms, though four-bedroom units with shared baths are also acceptable.

See the full story here.