new commissioner’s priorities include listening...

Kentucky TeacherSeptember 2000

Editor’s Note: On Sept. 8, the Ken-tucky Board of Education selected GeneWilhoit to be Kentucky’s next commis-sioner of education. Wilhoit, nowdeputy commissioner of the Depart-ment of Education’s Bureau of Learn-ing Support Services, is expected toassume his new duties on Oct. 1. Tra-ditionally, the education commissionerwrites a commentary for each issue ofKentucky Teacher. To introduce thenew commissioner to readers, wepresent his first commentary on Page1, with a brief profile of his professionalaccomplishments.

As I write this first column as Ken-tucky Commissioner of Education, thenews of my appointment is only a fewdays old. Actually, to meet deadlinesfor this issue of Kentucky Teacher, I’mwriting these words before officiallyoccupying the commissioner’s office.

The Kentucky Board of Education,representing you and all people in thestate, has given me an awesome, ex-citing challenge. I have been at theDepartment of Education for threeyears, working closely with the stateboard and department staff to helpdesign our new testing system and tohelp teachers and students achieve ourstate goal of proficiency by the year2014. I am even more excited todayabout Kentucky’s long-term commit-ment to better education than I wasthe day I got here.

As educators and education advo-cates, we know that we have movedbeyond reform to a solid, nationallyrespected system of public education.We know where we are going. The jobnow is to get there, and I am commit-ted to working with you to do the job.We know about the many good thingsgoing on in Kentucky schools, but wealso recognize some challenges andneeds:

• Achievement gaps between ma-jority and minority students must beclosed.

• Dropout rates have got to be re-duced.

• Literacy for all students must bea given in this state.

• Support for teachers and admin-istrators has to be increased.

• Family and community involve-ment must become a hallmark of ourschools.

• A statewide education data gath-ering system must be developed.

• Virtual learning opportunitiesand use of technology to enhanceteaching and learning need to be ex-panded.

I am meeting with the board in toreview these and other priorities. I alsoplan to meet with the Governor’s Of-fice and legislators as soon as meet-ings can be scheduled. Anyone who,like me, has worked in education atthe national level knows how truly for-tunate Kentucky is to have lawmak-ers who understand the profound eco-nomic and societal impact of educa-tion and who lead the way towardimproved opportunities for life-longlearning.

Also, between now and the end ofthe calendar year, I plan to embark onwhat I’ll call the Commissioner’s Lis-tening Tour. I want to travel through-out the state for a series of public fo-rums. I want to meet as many Ken-tuckians as possible — parents, teach-ers, students, school and district lead-ership, business and community lead-ers, representatives from educationgroups and the general public. Oncethe dates and locations are set andpublicized through the media andthrough the communicators for yourschool districts, I hope you will makeplans to meet with me at one of theseforums. I want to know what you think

— what you are excited about andwhat you are concerned about. I alsowant to discuss our joint effort to reachthe goal we’ve all set for ourselves:getting every student, every school, ev-ery district to proficiency by the year2014.

These are exciting times, and no-body could be more enthusiastic thanI am about how far we’ve come andhow dedicated we are to achievingeven more. Personally and profession-ally, this appointment is as good as itgets! I am eager to work with you onbehalf of our children and the futureof our state.

New commissioner’s priorities include listening to you

Education: Bachelor’s degree in history and economics, Georgetown College(Ky.); master’s degree in teaching, political science and economics, IndianaUniversity. Studies in educational administration, West Virginia College ofGraduate Studies.Affiliations: American Association of School Administrators; Council of ChiefState School Officers; board of directors, Agency for Instructional Technol-ogy; former chairman, Education Commission of the States Advisory Com-mission.Career Highlights:

• Social studies teacher at Northmont Junior High, Ohio; Mount Vernon High, Indiana; Bloomington High North, Indiana• Adjunct professor of education, Indiana University• Program director, Indiana Department of Public Instruction• Special assistant, U.S. Department of Education• Executive director, National Association of State Boards of Educa- tion (1986-93)• Superintendent, Arkansas Department of Education (1993-97)• Deputy commissioner, Kentucky Department of Education, Bureau of Learning Support Services (1997-2000)

Personal: Born in Tennessee, reared in Ohio; 57 years old; married to RebeccaCampbell Wilhoit; three adult children — Christopher, Kara, Jason; residentof Lawrenceburg in Anderson County

Meet Commissioner Wilhoit

Address correspondence to the newcommissioner at the Department ofEducation, 500 Mero St., Frankfort, KY40601; address e-mail to [email protected]; phone his office at (502)564-3141.

Gene Wilhoit

2 www.kde.state.ky.usKentucky Teacher • SEPTEMBER 2000

CommentaryFlorida teacher longs for Kentucky’s reforms

Editor’s Note: Kimberly Swartz, a teacher in Florida, sent the follow-ing message by e-mail to the Kentucky Department of Education’s Webmaster on June 23, 2000. She gave Kentucky Teacher permission to printit.

I went to Eastern Kentucky University for my certification, and I didmy student teaching in Rockcastle County. Now I teach in Florida. I didn’tknow how good I had it in Kentucky until I had to deal with the …education system here. My gifted kids here in Florida don’t work on ashigh a level as my average students did in Kentucky. Everything from thestate testing to classroom discipline was better in the Bluegrass! I havefriends who taught in Kentucky who say the same thing.

I try to integrate as much as possible from my student teaching expe-rience, including portfolios, rubrics and interdisciplinary work, but mostof the other teachers here never heard of such things. Please tell anyonewho complains about the Kentucky Education Reform Act to come downand visit for a while. They’ll appreciate what they have at home! …

Keep up the good work. It’s nice to know at least one state has takenresponsibility for its children.

Kimberly Swartz

Do you have a response to this commentary? Send it to KentuckyTeacher by e-mail at [email protected], by mail to 500 Mero St.,Frankfort, KY 40601; or by fax at (502) 564-6470.

John E. Heeb, CPA, is by professionpart sleuth, part fiscal wizard. For morethan 20 years, he has been focused onmaking certain Kentucky taxpayers’money is being spent the way it should.

On Aug. 16, Heeb put hisauditing and financial inves-tigation skills to work for theKentucky Department ofEducation as its internal au-ditor. The Kentucky Board ofEducation created the posi-tion last spring after a formerdeputy commissioner wascharged with misappropriat-ing education funds.

As internal auditor, Heeb will workwith department staff to provide analy-ses, appraisals and recommendationsthat will help identify issues relatingto internal financial controls. He willconduct internal audits and help staffreview and evaluate internal financialcontrols.

“The challenge is to look at thestructure of the department and itsprocesses and see if there are moreeffective, economical ways to dothings,” Heeb said. “Whether it’s sav-

Apply by Oct. 2 for HighlySkilled Educators Program

The application deadline to become a Kentucky Highly SkilledEducator is Oct. 2. Each year, highly skilled educators provide on-siteassistance to low-performing schools. Each teacher and school ad-ministrator selected for the program will assist a school in strength-ening curriculum, instruction and assessment practices and work withschool staff toward exceeding school improvement goals.

Participants will receive extensive training through seminars oneweekend per month from January through May 2001 and during thesummer. They will be assigned to specific schools in July. Each highlyskilled educator will receive 135 percent of current salary, up to$90,000, adjusted for 12 months of employment.

For details and an application, go to the Kentucky Department ofEducation’s Web page at www.kde.state.ky.us and look under “What’sNew” or contact Patricia Adams at (502) 564-2116; fax (502) 564-7820; e-mail [email protected] (or through the KETS globallist).

Reminder!

ing money or generating a better workproduct or work process, it will meana better education for Kentucky stu-dents.”

Heeb comes to the department af-ter serving nearly two yearsas Audit Branch manager forthe Kentucky Department ofCharitable Gaming. For 18years he was an auditor withthe Kentucky State Police’sDrug Enforcement/Special In-vestigations unit, where heprovided assistance in inves-tigating complex financialcrimes. Heeb became a li-

censed certified public accountant in1981.

His wife, Judy, is a teacher at Emi-nence Independent School in HenryCounty. Their daughter, Tori, is an 8th-grader at Oldham County MiddleSchool.

Heeb’s office is on the firstfloor of the Capital Plaza Tower inFrankfort. To contact him, phone(502) 564-3141 or send e-mailthrough the KETS global list or [email protected].

John Heeb is internal auditor

[email protected]

(502) 564-3421 or (800) 533-5372 (toll free in Kentucky)

(502) 564-6470

Kentucky Teacher1914 Capital Plaza Tower500 Mero St.Frankfort, KY 40601

E-mail

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Teachers: Kentucky Teacher wants to know what you think, what you need from the Department of Education, what you want to see in future issues.

Talk to us!

John Heeb

3www.kde.state.ky.us Kentucky Teacher • SEPTEMBER 2000

Students at Simpsonville Elemen-tary are watching the 2000 SummerOlympics in Sydney, Australia, with abit of déjà vu. In their own way,they’ve “been there, done that.”

The destination for theirschoolwide walking program lastspring was Australia. Nearly 500 stu-dents at the Shelby County schoolwalked a total of 8,000 miles —roughly the distance fromSimpsonville to the southern hemi-sphere continent. Along the way, stu-dents learned about the “land downunder,” Olympic competitions andmany of the nations that participatein Olympic events. Students even de-vised Olympic-style games for theschool’s field day.

Two years ago, recognizing thathealthy students learn better, theschool included in its consolidatedplan a curriculum requirement forsome type of schoolwide walking pro-gram. A goal was to help interest stu-dents in lifelong physical activity. Thefirst year, students walked a total of7,000 miles — the distance acrossAmerica — using the gauge of 20 min-utes of hard walking equals one mile.Students walked around the schoolcampus during recess and classbreaks.

While looking for a walking pro-gram destination for the 1999-2000school year, teacher Maggie Nicholsonlearned through an e-mail listserv forphysical education teachers that two4th-grade classes in Manitoba,Canada, were looking for help in“walking” to Sydney, Australia, for the2000 Summer Olympics. Nicholsonvolunteered students at Simpsonvilleto help one of the Canadian classeslog miles toward their goal. (A 5th-grade class at St. Joseph’s School inGraves County walked with the otherclass.)

The Australian “walkabout” fit per-fectly with the school’s emphasis onteaching the whole student, saidNicholson, a physical educationteacher. Mathematics, social studies,art, music, science and language arts

teachers planned classroom activitiesaround the Australian trek and theOlympics.

In keeping with SimpsonvilleElementary’s tradition of linking fieldday to the world games each Olympicyear, each classroom selected a coun-try to represent in field day events.During May, the students researchedtheir countries and made flags for thefield day parade of nations.

“That’s what made it work,”Nicholson said. “It wasn’t just the PEteacher doing this. The regular class-room teachers collaborated with thePE teacher, and they incorporated their

Simpsonville students take Olympic walk to

By Faun S. FishbackKentucky Department of Education

Primary teacher Kathy Housley leads her students on a walkabout around SimpsonvilleElementary to log miles during last year’s Walk to Australia.

ideas in classroom activities.”Fifth-grade social studies teacher

Donna Harden had her students workin groups of two to four as they didresearch on Manitoba, Canada, orSydney, Australia. Once they gathered

information, they developed presen-tations, maps and games to teach pri-mary students what they’d learned.

“By 5th grade, students are able todo research, give reports and sharewith the youngers what they are learn-ing,” Harden said. “My students wereso sincere about teaching the primarystudents. You could tell by the ques-tions they asked in their games —‘Who wants to be a Canadian?’ and‘Who wants to go to the Olympics?’— that they had learned a lot.”

In addition, Harden had studentsresearch Olympic sports on theInternet in preparation for field day.

As a rite of passage, 4th- and 5th-grad-ers at Simpsonville get to develop fieldday activities. Each student devises agame and writes a transactive pieceabout it. Eleven games are selected forfield day, based on how well each stu-dent communicated his or her ideasabout the game and the skills and con-cepts of movement needed to play it.

“The process really gives studentsownership of the activities and theirfield day,” said Nicholson, the physi-cal education teacher. “Students wanttheir games to be among those playedon field day!”

The success of the students’ walkacross America interested officials atnear-by Jewish Hospital Shelbyville.Nicholson worked with the hospital’sexercise physiologist, Greg Brislin, toestablish a Mileage Club atSimpsonville last year. The hospitalprovided small rewards to students asthey met personal goals of walkingfive, 10 or more miles on the Austra-lian walk. Three students each walked70 miles before the end of the program.

“Walking to Australia and study-ing the Olympics were student-ori-ented, and much of it was student-de-signed,” Nicholson added. “Anytimestudents initiate their studies, they re-ally learn.”

To find out more aboutSimpsonville’s walking program andhow it crosses content areas, contactMaggie Nicholson or Donna Hardenat (502) 722-8855. Both receive e-mailthrough the KETS global list or [email protected] [email protected].

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Attention, teachers wishing for analternative to daylong, “sit and get”professional development sessions:Your wish is about to be granted! Dur-ing the past nine months, the Internethas brought on-demand professionaldevelopment to teachers in severalKentucky counties. The service couldbe available to you soon.

Last spring, the Fayette Countyschool district offered an online pro-fessional development program, “En-gaging Students in Reading ThroughUse of the World Wide Web.” Duringthe summer, middle school teachersat several content academies supple-mented their classroom studies withonline sessions. All who participatednow have access to a variety of onlineresources and the ability to collabo-rate with others from the academies,no matter where they teach in thestate.

Teachers are receiving their onlineprofessional development via the Ken-tucky Virtual High School Web site.KVHS began last January as a state-wide educational service deliveringcourses to Kentucky high school stu-dents. Simultaneously, KVHS admin-istrators began looking at ways tobring online learning opportunities toother Kentuckians. Professional devel-opment for teachers was a natural areato explore.

“KVHS offers the ability to provideprofessional development outside theregular classroom day,” said CathyBrandt, a technology resource teacherwho developed the online class forFayette County teachers and serves as“guide” for the participants. “Teach-ers can access their lessons in theevening, on weekends, between loadsof wash or after slipping supper in theoven. Teachers like the flexibility.”

The power of online learning,Brandt explained, “is that it takes placeover a period of time. You do a little,and then you can take what youlearned into your classroom and try

it. If it works, you can share your ex-periences with your online colleaguesand the guide. If it doesn’t, you canshare and get ideas for improvement.”

Carrol Callebs, a teacher at BryanStation Middle School, was in Brandt’sonline class. “These online courses aregreat for teachers because we can dothe work when we have the time,” shesaid. “This gives me time to learn andpractice instead of being presentedinformation and never being able toapply it immediately. … This resourceis so important, and the informationcan make teaching so easy.”

Brandon Hargis is one of the teach-ers at the Region 6 science academywho participated in online instructionthis summer. New to the classroomwith only a half-year of teaching atRockcastle County Middle, Hargis saidthe online tools would definitely ben-efit him and all other teachers in theacademy class.

“The big thing about professionaldevelopment,” he said, “is gettingideas from other people who have dif-ferent experiences and perspectives.

The KVHS tools make it easy. Youdon’t have to call long distance or waitfor the mail to arrive. You can get intodiscussions with individuals or groupsof teachers in real time, just like theyare sitting right across from you. Itdoesn’t get much better than that.”

Callebs agrees. “The threaded dis-cussions have given me informationthat I might not have found other-wise,” she said. “It also is helpful tosee other comments from teachers. Ialso like having the instructor avail-able for help.”

No More ‘Sit and Get’Online courses offer PD teachers want, when they want it


Using the KVHS to access professional development helpsteachers fulfill one of the 16 performance criteria in the tech-nology standard for new and experienced teachers. Online pro-fessional development gives teachers the opportunity to dem-onstrate performance criteria 10.7: Uses computers and othertechnologies such as interactive instruction, audio/videoconferencing and other distance learning applications to enhanceprofessional productivity and support instruction.

Meeting the Standard

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Bob Fortney, with Kentucky Virtual High School (KVHS), shows Region 6 middle school scienceteachers Tracy Powell-McCoy (left), Laverne Lindquist and Phil Williams where to click on thecomputer screen. As participants in last summer’s Region 6 Middle School Science Academy,they used the KVHS site and tools for part of their professional development.

Teachers participating in onlineprofessional development via KVHSwill have access to these features:

Announcement Center — a mes-sage and information point for thewhole class;

E-mail Class — participants can e-mail anyone in their course withoutleaving the online class site;

Online Chatroom — participantscan communicate in real time with theinstructor or others in the class;

Webliography — instructors andteachers can share and access Websites that enhance course content.

This school year, the Kentucky De-partment of Education’s Early Child-hood Branch is developing online pro-fessional development modules thatwill be available to preschool and pri-mary teachers statewide. KVHS plansa new initiative to engage teachers increating online professional develop-ment for their colleagues. As a result,the Kentucky Virtual High School willopen another component of its virtualcampus — the Online ProfessionalDevelopment Course Catalog. FayetteCounty also will be offering severalonline courses.

For more information about profes-sional development available thisschool year via KVHS, contact BobFortney at (502) 564-2020, ext. 203, orby e-mail at [email protected].


Welcome back to New to the ’Net,a series designed to take teachers fromnovice to proficient in using the Webfor teaching and learning.

Lesson 1, published in the Augustissue of Kentucky Teacher, definedInternet terms, guided you onto theWorld Wide Web and previewed someWeb resources for teachers. If youmissed Lesson 1 and need a printedcopy, phone (502) 564-3421 or send arequest by e-mail to [email protected]. If you already know Webaccess basics, go to www.kde.state.ky.us and click on Newt, the New tothe ’Net mascot. You’ll find a link toLesson 1.

In This Lesson . . .• Learn about the Web’s depth and

why you can’t believe everything yousee there.

• Get tips for evaluating Web sitesfor yourself.

• Discover how to find what you’relooking for.

• Find out how to return to yourfavorite sites quickly and easily.

That’s an ambitious agenda! Let’sget started. First, go to the KentuckyDepartment of Education’s Web homepage (www.kde.state.ky.us) and clickon Newt to get to the New to the ’Netpage. (If you need a refresher on howto do this, consult Lesson 1.)

BookmarkingDid you bookmark the New to the

’Net page during Lesson 1? If not, youmay want to do so now. A bookmarkputs a Web site’s address into your per-sonal list so you find it quickly in thefuture.

Click on “How to Bookmark” for aquick tutorial. Note: Bookmarks arecalled “Favorites” in the Explorerbrowser. When you finish thebookmarking tutorial, go back to theNew to the ’Net page. You have twoways to get there quickly:

1. Choose New to the ’Net in yourlist of Bookmarks/Favorites, or

2. Click on the Backicon until you areback on the Newto the ’Netpage.

N o wclick on“ L e s s o n2.”

SearchingThe Web has millions of pages, and

more are posted every day. How canyou find the information you want?

The tool you need is an Internetsearch engine. A search engine helpsyou sort through the virtual haystackof Web sites to find that “needle” —that specific bit of information youneed. Maybe you’ve heard of somepopular search engines: Yahoo,

AltaVista, Excite, InfoSeek, AskJeeves.There are many more. Each one hasits strengths, depending on the searchtopic and the researcher’s skill.

From the Lesson 2page, click on “Howto Search” for a tuto-rial on search en-gines. Be sure to lookfor the “Insider’sTip.” It’s a keeper!

Evaluating Web SitesThe Web is the 21st

Century equivalent ofAmerica’s Old West: a new

frontier of wide-open spaces;many people, organizations

and businesses racing tostake claims; few restric-

tions about what they say or do.Because the Web is unregulated terri-tory, there are no guarantees of accu-racy, no assurances that everyone whoposts information is doing so withhonorable intent.

How do you evaluate the accuracyor worth of a Web site? A first step isto check the site’s “domain.” Domainsorganize the Internet into sectionsbased on the types of individuals ororganizations posting the sites. Mostsites fit into six domains (see chart),and more domains are on the horizon.

New to the ’Net A Course for Web NovicesLesson 2:What’s on the Web, and how can I find it?By Fran SalyersKentucky Department of Education

.com Commercial or company www.classroomconnect.com

.edu Education organization www.uky.edu

.gov Government www.nasa.gov

.mil Military www.army.mil

.net Network www.thelearningsite.net

.org Organization (nonprofit) www.iste.org

Some government-affiliated enti-ties use state and country codes astheir domains. For example, the Ken-tucky Department of Education’s Webaddress is www.kde.state.ky.us. Thesame is true of many sites posted byK-12 schools and school districtsthroughout the nation. The addresswww.fleming.k12.ky.us leads to theWeb site of Kentucky’s FlemingCounty school district. To learn aboutschools in St. Paul, Minn., go towww.stpaul.k12.mn.us.

A site’s domain name gives youclues about who is posting the infor-mation and why. Such information canbe important to your evaluation of theinformation posted there. For details,click on “How to Evaluate Web Sites”on the Lesson 2 Web page.

ReflectClick on the “Reflect” link on the

Lesson 2 page and document your re-sponses to the questions. This docu-mentation could be useful to you ifyou are taking this online course forprofessional development credit.

Send comments and questions toyour New to the ’Net mentor, NaomiCornette, by e-mail at [email protected] (or through the KETS glo-bal list) or by phone at (502) 564-7168or (800) 533-5372.

Web DomainsExampleWhat It MeansDomain Name


Customized trainingGEAR UP partner Forward in the

Fifth, a private, nonprofit organizationserving school systems in 39 easternand southern Kentucky counties, con-ducted a needs assessment and metwith teacher focus groups before pro-fessional development offerings weredetermined. “Our partners at BereaCollege made sure the training wouldequip teachers to prepare students forhigher-level courses,” said Ginny Ea-ger, executive director of Forward inthe Fifth. “The teacher training alsoaddresses parent/teacher relations,technology and mentoring.”

Planners worked GEAR UP activi-ties into the middle school’s consoli-dated plan to make sure that the mostimportant need — time — was met.“We redesigned class schedules to in-clude 80 minutes of planning time forteaching teams each day,” said Prin-cipal John Hale. “The key to makingthis work was allowing flexibility. Theteaching teams schedule what they

To most of us, to “gear up” meansto get ready. Rockcastle County MiddleSchool students are “gearing up” forcollege through a program named justthat — GEAR UP (Gaining EarlyAwareness and Readiness for Under-graduate Programs).

Working together, RockcastleMiddle School, Berea College, Forwardin the Fifth and School-to-Work LocalLabor Market Area 16 earned a $1.9million federal grant last year to helpfund the program for five years.

“GEAR UP is our vehicle for intro-ducing postsecondary education to our6th- and 7th-graders,” said AndyBeichler, GEAR UP services coordina-tor for Berea College. “It begins theiracademic preparation for college, in-troduces them to campus life and col-lege requirements, and demystifies thewhole idea [of college].” Every studenthas the opportunity to participate.

School personnel helped design thegrant, weaving GEAR UP componentsinto programs already in place at themiddle school. That involvement alsointroduced teachers to myriad re-sources and how to use them.

GEAR UP includes four compo-nents: students, parent involvement,professional development, and schooland community relations.

Two programs get middle-schoolers ‘used to the notion ...

need for each class. The only timesthat are not flexible are lunch, breaks,and exploratory and physical educa-tion classes.”

Students reap rewardsAn integral part of the GEAR UP

partnership is mentoring, based on themodel discussed in “Yes, You Can: AGuide to Establishing Mentoring Pro-grams to Prepare Youth for College.”Mentors — community members andBerea College students — keep jour-nals throughout the year to recordmeetings with the middle school stu-dents, indicate achievement and docu-ment best practices.

Career awareness and collegepreparation activities address theneeds of the different grade levels.School-to-Work Local Labor MarketArea 16 provides career explorationsoftware, sponsors career fairs, sup-ports a seven-week careers class andassists with job shadowing opportu-nities.

Summer exploration and enrich-ment activities provide opportunitiesfor self-exploration and developmentand career and college exploration.The content changes each year.

Parents get involvedThe GEAR UP partners expose par-

ents to a stream of activities from thetime their children enter middle schooluntil they graduate from high school.Parents and students take group toursof college campuses.

Fewer than 6 percent of adults inRockcastle County have a college de-gree. A series of 16 workshops and in-formation sessions help parents fromthe first steps of planning for collegewhen their children are 6th-graders tocompleting financial aid forms whentheir children are high school seniors.

Systemic change in schooland community

“Just as we know that individualstudents do better in school when their

By Sharon Crouch FarmerKentucky Department of Education

GEARing UP

in Rockcastle

Rockcastle County Middle School 8th-graders in the GEAR UP program prepare to catch items being tossed their wayduring a character-building exercise involving communication, focus and self-exploration. The activity was one ofmany enrichment activities for students in the program.

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.. that college can be a reality for them’

For more information, contactAndy Beichler, Berea College GEAR UPServices Coordinator, at (606) 985-3553 or [email protected] Principal John Hale atRockcastle County Middle School,(606) 256-2235 or [email protected] (or through the KETSglobal e-mail list).

Extended school services and tu-toring programs in Kentucky publicschools are integral to meeting theacademic needs of at-risk students.Programs that encourage personal self-worth and individual growth and pro-mote goal setting and continuing edu-cation are important as well.

One initiative that aims at meetingboth academic and personal growthgoals is the Knight Mentoring Pro-gram. This program, a partnership be-tween Cumberland College and Whit-ley County Middle School, helps at-risk elementary students make thetransition into middle school and oninto high school by pairing them withcollege-student mentors. Funding forthe program comes from the John S.and James L. Knight Foundation.

“The Knight Mentoring Programworks to overcome any or all at-riskbehaviors,” said Lans Lay, director ofthe family resource and youth servicescenter at the middle school. Lay re-ports that program results indicate thatmentor guidance decreases at-risk be-haviors.

“That is not to suggest that all stu-dents do and will succeed,” he said.“It simply means that most at-risk be-haviors decrease to some extent.”

The program pairs 20-25 collegestudent volunteers with at-risk middleschool students selected because of ex-cessive absence, frequent disciplinary

action, functioning below ability level,and socioeconomic or other concerns.

The maximum number of middleschool students involved is 30. “Whenyou increase the number of pairsabove this level, you begin to lose theability to accurately track and main-tain the program focus,” Lay ex-plained.

The college mentors and middleschool students provide informationabout their own interests as they en-ter the program. This information be-comes the basis for matching the part-ners. “We hand-pick who will workwith whom,” said Lay.

College mentors and their studentpartners meet in a variety of settings,such as athletic events or at the mov-ies. There are also opportunities forgroup activities each semester.Without the program, “there are lim-ited opportunities for social interactionbetween these two groups,” Harp said.“We bring them together and also usethat time to expose the middle schoolstudents to college life, encouragethem to succeed in school and getthem used to the notion that collegecan be a reality for them.”

The Knight Mentoring programhas been an “outstanding learningtool for everyone,” Lay said. “Col-lege students polish leadership skillsand learn the value of volunteering.Middle school students learn by the

example of their mentors and expe-rience the value of education and ofdoing things for others.”

Leaders of the program, establishedin 1994, are Lans Lay at the middleschool, Debbie Harp, CumberlandCollege’s director of counseling and ca-reer development, and DianaWarmoth, the college’s coordinator ofleadership studies. The program’sguidelines were developed by a steer-ing committee assembled in 1994 byCumberland College President JimTaylor and Whitley County SchoolsSuperintendent Lonnie Anderson.

For more information, contact LansLay at Whitley County Middle School,(606) 549-7050 or [email protected] (or via the KETS global e-maillist) or Debbie Harp at CumberlandCollege, (606) 539-4404 [email protected].

parents are involved, we know thatwhole schools do better when thecommunity is interested,” said Eager.

School-to-Work Local Labor Mar-ket Area 16 developed a teacher in-tern program. For three days duringthe summer, teachers team up withbusinesses to see first-hand how aca-demic content applies in the work-place.

Community mentors receive train-ing in helping middle school studentsmeet the challenges they face. HasanDavis, chairman of the Kentucky Ju-venile Justice Advisory Committee andnationally known for his work in youthadvocacy, designed the training.

Last year 22 mentors worked with130 students. Some mentors met withstudents one-on-one, and othersworked with entire classrooms.

A college and career fair involvesboth community and educational in-stitutions. Other special events, suchas motivational speakers, get bothcommunity residents and parents intothe school. “When we get them physi-cally into the schools, they instantlybecome excited and involved,” saidBerea’s Beichler.

“No school could accomplishsomething like this alone,” said Eager.“The program demonstrates what canhappen when strong partnerships areformed for the long term.”

Raising Possibilities in WhitleyBy Sharon Crouch FarmerKentucky Department of Education


My class’s journey to fancifulworlds began with a slim volume bor-rowed from the public library. MyraCohn Livingston’s book, “I am Writ-ing a Poem About . . .: A Game of Po-etry,” invited my 6th-grade languagearts students and me to participate ina game that involved word play, cre-ativity and abstract thinking. In theprocess of play, Livingston’s gameencouraged an excitement for poetrythat few of my students had ever ex-perienced.

The rules of the game were simple:Students would write a poem eachweek for six weeks. Their poems hadto include specific words, randomlydrawn from a collection of nouns sub-mitted by the class. We selected oneword the first week, two words thesecond, and so forth. Students hadfour days to write their poems, and apanel of anonymous judges chose awinning poem each week. The writ-ers of the winning poems receivedprizes.

After a pointed discussion aboutthe importance of putting a little extrathought into the nouns submitted, weagreed as a class that we’d dispose ofany nouns that simply wouldn’t workfor us. We also decided that makingslight variations to the nouns (pluralsor words formed by adding suffixes,for example) would be acceptable.

Students wrote their nouns on slipsof scrap paper and dropped them inan empty flowerpot. I closed my eyesand drew one slip of paper. Our firstword was “weed.”

The only guideline was that stu-dents would include the word at leastonce, either in the poem or the poem’stitle. Before we began, I led a brief re-fresher lesson on free verse and rhymescheme. Students could choose eitherstyle. By the end of the class period,most students were busily scribblingideas. I sat down to join them. It wasMonday, and poems were due Friday.

On Friday, I collected the students’work and read the poems. Thoughpleased with their efforts, I noticed

that most of the students chose a typi-cal garden weed as the topic of theirpoems. Only a few succeeded at pen-ning more abstract ideas. One of thosewas our first winner, 11-year-old Brit-tany, who wrote:

During the weekend, I pored overthe remaining poems, eager to sharethe results with my students the fol-lowing Monday. Before reading thewinning poem, I read several honor-able mentions, drawing attention towell-written lines, use of sensory de-tail, rhyming patterns and repetition.Because a few students submittedparagraphs, I also reminded them ofthe importance of using white spaceas they developed poetic forms.

I pointed out several poems thatincluded abstract thought, and I ex-plained to the students the gradualprogression from concrete to abstractthinking. We also discussed the useof simile, metaphor and symbolism asvehicles for transporting studentsalong the sliding scale toward deeperlayers of meaning in their poetry. Aline from 11-year-old Kristoffer’s hon-orable-mention poem, “The Weed,”provided an excellent example. ForKristoffer, the weed had become “anoticeably green sword trying to breakfree of the Earth’s grasp.”

Before the bell, each studentdropped two nouns into our flower-pot. I closed my eyes and drew.

“Horses and box,” I announced.“Poems are due Friday.”

On Friday, I circled the room, col-lecting poems and reading as I walked.I was amazed at the level of creativityexpressed by these 6th-graders. Everystudent had benefited from our dis-cussions on both white space and ab-stract thinking. Katelyn’s poem,

“What’s Your Reason,” claimed theprize. (See Page 9.)

At the beginning of the third week,scraps of paper scribbled with nounslittered almost every table. Studentswere whispering among themselves,conspiring to have favorite nounsdropped into the flowerpot. One stu-dent wrote the word “magic” on allthree of his paper slips. The wordsdrawn — mud, flower, star — werebarely out of my mouth before stu-dents went to work. Valentine’s Daywas approaching, and several studentstried their hands at love poems. Lynn’swas especially poignant. She was ourthird-round winner.

During the course of the game, webegan to notice that our nouns weretransforming themselves into adjec-tives and verbs. Students wanted toknow if that was okay. It was. For ex-ample, for round two, 12-year-oldBrooklyn used “horses” and “box” thisway:

FrogsIn my boxed-in little world

Wild horses run like the windEagles soar their highest

AndFrogs leap as high as they please.

During round three, 11-year-oldAdam, exercising poetic license, cre-ated a new word to complete hispoem:

GalaxiesGalaxies are like a summer’s

Rain in JuneA mudfull of stars.

As the game continued, we dis-cussed the power of juxtaposing seem-ingly unrelated words to create images.Some students claimed that the morewords we added, the more inspiredtheir poems became. They seemed tothrive on the challenge of incorporat-ing words without forcing them to fit.We encouraged each other to break outof our comfort zones as writers. If wenormally wrote rhymed verse, for ex-ample, we attempted at least one freeverse poem during the course of thegame.

As we approached the fifth andsixth rounds, we decided, asLivingston’s students had done, to al-low for some choice among selectedwords. We drew six words for roundfive. Through class consensus, wechose four of those words as “requiredwords.” Each student could choosewhich of the two remaining words toinclude. Some students challengedthemselves by including all six wordsin the fifth round and all seven wordsin round six.

Results far exceeded my expecta-tions. Eleven- and 12-year-olds pro-duced poetry rich in imagery and de-tail. Their personal poetic voices be-gan to emerge, and they delightedlyrecognized and welcomed this devel-opment. After we’d exhausted ourprize fund and the game had come toan end, students voted to continuewithout prizes, save for my homemadebookmarks proclaiming each winnera “Poet Laureate.”

Students decided to expand thegame by submitting verbs, adjectivesand adverbs in addition to the nounsto which we’d restricted ourselves inthe first six rounds. Thus altered, thegame went on. Sixth-graders contin-ued to think abstract thoughts, con-juring metaphors and juxtaposingwords to create images as they wrote.

After all, what is poetry if not acollaboration of words such as con-crete, door, worm, elbow and sky?Daniel, age 12, put it this way:

Poetry is like a wormIt crawls along the writer’s mind

Until it is just rightIt slithers around

Through many different formsUntil the writer is happy

Playing with PoetryStudents learn to use common words to express thoughts and feelings in uncommon ways

By Lori Ann SheroanTeacher, Bourbon County Middle School

Editor’s Note: Myra CohnLivingston’s book “I am Writing aPoem About . . .: A Game of Poetry”was published in 1997 by Margaret K.McElderry Books, New York.

The StarsAs I gaze at the bright stars

One is different from all the restBrighter

Like a weed in a bright green meadowTaller

And more proud


For granted.Many a culture are trapped;Trapped in a box that enclosesthem like worms;Ready to be Fed to the Fish;At the Fisher’s call;While we run Free;Free like the horse in an unfencedpasture;Not boxed in like so many oth-ers;Now why again is your reason;Your reason for wanting more?

Round Three

He Loves MeBy Lynn Morrison, age 11

I gaze at the starsAll the twinkling lightsFill the sky

The warm fresh mudOozes between my toesFeeling strange and new

Picking the petals off the flowerOne by one,He loves me, He loves me not

Whatever happens here is a mys-teryThe flower is my destinyThe petals are my life

Round Four

The TimesBy Kristoffer Howard, age 11

The times were specialWhen Mom would empathizeWhen I had a bad day.When I had strep throatShe put a lukewarm washclothOn my foreheadShe lulled me to sleep.

The times were specialWhen Dad would take me fishingBy the stream.When we would catch a turtleAnd take it homeInstead of the prize-winning bass.

The times were specialWhen Grandmother T. would talkAbout GodAnd the creatures He madeWhen we would play cardsShe would tell meThe tricks of the tradeInstead of the old wayJust beating me.

The times were specialWhen Papaw would tell me everythingOn how to handle a baby lambFrom the startSo it would be the bestIn the end.When he would show meHow the ants work togetherTo live in peace.The times were specialWhen the family would get togetherTo show love and compassion.

The times were specialWhen big brotherWould help me on homeworkOr share a simple hug.

All these timesWere the good onesThe special onesAnd they still are!

Round Five

The WallflowerBy Sheila Rutherford, age 12

Sitting alone,NervousnessLike water,FloodingOver me.

ThousandsOf feet,On concreteFloor,Lights dim,Disco ball twinkles,Loud drumsBecome silent.The silenceGrows intoSoft music.

The room’s skyTurns black.The groundIs grey,Except forThousands ofDancing trees.

A door opens,And a boy comesIn.

Round Six

The Little ThingsBy Kayla Gray, age 12

The raindrop crawls,Like a frightened turtleTo the edge of the blade of grass.

The cracks in rough, dry handsMoisten with tulip-pink lotion.The echo in the bounceOf the basketball,And the color of eyesGo unnoticed,With so many other little things.

Where salty, harmless tearsEnd up after being wiped awayBy soft, warm hands…And where exactly the rainbow endsAre wonderful visions in aSmall child’s mind.

If only imaginationsNever faded away,We’d all noticeThe little things.

Round Two

What’s Your Reason?By Katelyn Auvenshine, age 11

Sometimes we take what we have;Which is less than we want;

sky

concrete

bruise

door

elbowworm

antturtle

stream

creature

worm

Winning Poems from ‘The Poetry Game’

CRACKRAINDROP

COLOR

TEARS

BASKETBALL

WATER

BREEZEmud

flowerstar

boxHorses

His face is hiddenBy a shadow.Takes my hands,Mind goes blank.

I get up,Trip on my longGown,Falling, falling.

His same,Powerful hands,Reach down,Helping me up.

Bruised elbowWill help meRemember thisNight.

Walking ontoDance floor,

Squirming,Like 2 wormsOn aGray sidewalkWhile the sunShines down,

We dance.

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Young poets Kristoffer Howard and Sheila Rutherford take part in a six-week “poetry game”in teacher Lori Ann Sheroan’s language arts class at Bourbon County Middle School.


Editor’s Note: April 11, 2000, wasthe 10th anniversary of the signing ofthe Kentucky Education Reform Act. Tomark the occasion, the Kentucky De-partment of Education published acomprehensive report, “Results Matter:A Decade of Difference in Kentucky’sPublic Schools.” West Louisville El-ementary is one of 12 schools profiledin that report. These 12 schools are ex-amples of successes happening inmany schools — and inspiration forschools still looking for the keys to fu-ture success.

There was a time when veteranteacher Sandra Keller thought ofschool assemblies as enjoyable breaksfrom the work of the classroom. Kellerviews them differently now. She’s of-ten concerned that assemblies takeaway from her teaching time in theclassroom.

Reform and its accountability fea-tures have made time — and the ef-fective use of it — a constant concernat Keller’s school, West Louisville El-ementary in Daviess County. In 1999,the school declared a moratorium onvisitors from other schools specificallyto preserve the maximum possibletime for teaching. Requests for visitsbegan pouring in after the school’sscores on state tests began to soar,putting this farming community schoolin the company of suburban schoolsserving the children of mostly high-income professionals.

Its overall score of 87 included a107 in reading, Keller’s specialty.

Maintaining that kind of performancemeans that every minute must count.

West Louisville has improved itsperformance under reform by main-taining its traditional methods — “Westill have an English book and teachthe grammar,” Keller said — whileadding on and blending in elementsof reform.

The school added routine use ofopen-response questions, writing port-folios and a strong general emphasison writing. “When we read, we write,”

Keller said. The school continues touse basal readers and to teach phon-ics. A new accelerated reading pro-gram features a series of works of lit-erature followed by regular tests thatstudents take via computer, one ofmany increasing uses of technology inclassrooms.

Everything is grounded in thestate’s “Core Content for Assessment,”which Keller describes as “my bible.”Science teacher Dawn Young keeps hercore content document on her desk

When students in this rural Daviess County school postedhigh scores on state core content tests, educators from allareas of the state came calling. The school finally had todeclare a moratorium on visitors, just to ensure that teach-ers had time to teach!

West Louisville Elementary makes every resource count

By Jim ParksKentucky Department of Education

and checks off the concepts and skillsas she teaches them.

While teachers say they are doingmore group work and more hands-onactivities in their classrooms, disci-pline and homework remain a strongfocus. Instead of using a “canned”commercial program, the faculty didits own research and developed itsown approach to discipline. Home-work is assigned on a regular basis,and students who have trouble gettingit done at home are assigned to theafter-school Extended School Servicesprogram.

In Daviess County, which is amongthe state’s top half-dozen school dis-tricts based on elementary studentscores, the local district office has pro-vided strong support through profes-sional development and districtwidecommittees focused on curriculumand instruction.

With a manufactured housing de-velopment expanding nearby, theschool’s once stable student popula-tion is growing and more diverse. That,too, is heightening concern about us-ing all minutes and resources well.

Kentucky’s test measures what stu-dents are learning. Said Keller: “Eachof us feels personally responsible forour test scores.”

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Technology coordinator Susan O’Bryan assists student Halie Medkiff at West Louisville El-

ementary, where a focus on core content has resulted in some of the state’s highest test

scores. Another student (top of page) adds her artistic touch to the school’s mural based on

the history of the world.


The Kentucky Character EducationProgram is a collaborative project be-tween the Kentucky Department ofEducation and the Ohio Valley Educa-tional Cooperative. The program isbased on the assumptions that char-acter education must be integrated intothe curriculum, must be the inten-tional focus of the entire school, mustbe an integral part of the behavior ofstudents and school staff toward oth-ers, and must address the specificneeds of each school.

The stories on Pages 11-13 describehow five Kentucky schools are partici-pating in the program. First, here is aglossary of character education terms:

Kentucky Character EducationProgram — a program that integratescharacter education into the curricu-lum and makes it an intentional,schoolwide focus.

Peace Education (Conflict Resolu-tion) — the program component inwhich students select peer mediatorswho learn strategies to help other stu-dents deal with problems or conflicts.

Project BRAVO! (Resiliency) — theprogram component that trains teach-ers to use research-based methods andmaterials to help students succeed inthe classroom through resiliency, co-operative learning and academicachievement.

Second Step Violence PreventionProgram — a curriculum of pre-planned lessons for teaching empathy,problem solving and anger manage-ment to students in preschool through8th grade.

Character Traits — 10 character-istics or behaviors (altruism, citizen-ship, courtesy, honesty, human worth,justice, knowledge, respect, responsi-bility and self-discipline) taughtschoolwide within the context of theregular curriculum.

Danville Bate Middle:R-e-s-p-e-c-t

When faculty, parents and studentssat down a couple of years ago to pre-pare Danville Bate Middle School’sconsolidated plan, they identified lackof respect as their Number One safeschool issue, said Principal ChuckStallard.

Bate Middle already had in placethe two basic components of charac-ter education: a peer mediation pro-gram and a family and consumer sci-ence curriculum that exposed everystudent in the school to many socialand behavior skills. They wanted a dif-ferent approach to supplement whatthey were already doing.

By joining the Kentucky CharacterEducation Program, the school madecharacter education a schoolwide ef-fort. Every teacher taught Second Stepviolence prevention lessons during a16-week period and reinforced char-acter education in content areasthroughout the year. The result,Stallard said, is that students are bet-ter informed about being respectfuland responsible.

However, Stallard cautioned, suc-cess in character education doesn’thappen overnight. Art teacher CathieHarris, a member of the school’s char-acter education advisory committee,said some changes are planned for the2000-01 school year:

• Redefining student groups —Homeroom teachers taught SecondSteps lessons. Because homeroompopulations are determined alphabeti-cally by students’ last names, thereoften was not a good mix of studentsto encourage discussions.

• Changing lesson times — Lastyear, the school changed from a six-

period to a seven-period day, andhomerooms reconvened at the end ofthe day for Second Step lessons. Thelate classes turned out to be less pro-ductive than they might have been ear-lier in the day.

• Improving teacher comfort —As the school enters the second yearof the program, the committee willhelp teachers become more familiarwith program materials.

Work in the family and consumerscience classes continues to comple-ment Second Step. About half of thecurriculum at every level involvesproblem solving, said family and con-sumer science teacher Pat Royalty. “Itell the students, if you can’t cook orsew, you’ll live. But if you can’t getalong with other people, you’ll live apretty unhappy life,” she said.

Peer mediators are selected inRoyalty’s classes. She and CecileNapier, the school counselor, direct thepeer mediation program. “Peer media-tion works well with character educa-tion,” Napier said. “We’re seeing morereferrals from teachers since we startedcharacter education. Students arelearning more skills to solve their prob-lems, but they still want to talk it out.”

Principal Stallard pronounced thefirst year of the character educationprogram a moderate success. Royalty,the family and consumer scienceteacher, said, “I haven’t seen majorchanges, but we have to wonder whatwe would be like without the pro-gram.”

For more information about thecharacter education program at BateMiddle, contact Stallard, Napier, Har-ris or Royalty at (859) 238-1305. Theire-mail addresses are cstallard@ d a n v i l l e . k 1 2 . k y . u s ;c n a p i e r @ d a n v i l l e . k 1 2 . k y. u s ;[email protected]; [email protected]. All arelisted on the KETS global list.

Character EducationFive schools demonstrate what it is, how it works, and how it benefits students and schools


Bedford Elementary:Character Building

“We’ve got to do something!” wasthe battle cry among faculty membersat Bedford Elementary about threeyears ago. Student attitudes and be-haviors had changed a lot since theteachers were students themselves —most of them at Bedford Elementaryor other Trimble County schools.

Without a guidance counselor onstaff, teachers and Principal SharonRowlett tried to deal with angry, mis-behaving students and their problems,but they knew they needed help.

They found that help in the Ken-tucky Character Education Program.Now, nearly three years later, there isthe occasional disruptive student whospends time in Rowlett’s office. Teach-ers still meet with parents when a stu-dent misbehaves. Generally, behavioris more under control.

“We realize the problem hasn’tbeen solved,” said Rowlett. “But wehave a lot more strategies to help stu-dents than we did, and we are betterable to teach students strategies theycan use the rest of their lives.”

Bedford Elementary uses both pro-gram components. “Peace Educationteaches students to be nice to their fel-low man,” said Rowlett. “ProjectBRAVO! helps them do their best aca-demically.”

Peer mediation is part of theprogram’s Peace Education compo-nent. At Bedford Elementary, 4th- and5th-graders elect classmates to a tri-bunal of trained mediators that meetsat least weekly to help resolve con-flicts among the school’s 418 students.

“Before, everyone was always ar-guing,” said 5th-grader and peer me-diator Latasha Sullivan. “Student be-havior doesn’t make school as disrup-tive now.”

While peer mediation works forsome problems, other situations arebetter referred to the principal orteachers for resolution. Adults handle


threats, out-of-control students andsituations involving body contact.

Primary teacher Carolee Kunkelsaid Project BRAVO! helps studentssucceed in the classroom by teachingtest-taking skills and writing, espe-cially writing answers to open-re-sponse questions.

For more information aboutBedford Elementary’s character edu-cation program, contact SharonRowlett or Carolee Kunkel at (502)255-3217 or by e-mail at [email protected] and [email protected]. Both are on theKETS global list.

At Browning Springs MiddleSchool, parents of 6th-graders oftencall Principal Susan Weatherford earlyin the school year and asked incredu-lously, “My child said she didn’t havehomework because all she’s doing ispracticing how to behave in the lunch-room, at assemblies and on schooltrips. Is that right?”

Weatherford is quick to explain:With students coming from threeHopkins County feeder elementaryschools, it’s important that all studentsknow teachers’ expectations for be-havior at Browning Springs Middle.Spending a day or two at the start ofthe school year pays big dividends inmaking good behavior part of theschool climate the rest of the year.

Improving the school climate waspart of what interested the BrowningSprings faculty in the Kentucky Char-acter Education Program. A peer me-diation program had been in place forfive years. The faculty was using mul-tiple approaches to positive discipline.They had addressed behavior in pub-lic places and behavior in the class-room. Character education was thenext logical step to helping BrowningSprings students become self-suffi-cient, responsible individuals,Weatherford said.

Just one year into the program,Weatherford said, improvements at theschool are evident. “We’ve seen refer-rals to the office decline,” she ex-plained. “We’ve had fewer students indetention and fewer suspensions.”

Choir and art teacher Ruth Hardyand 8th-grade language arts/reading

teacher Janet Corum notice thechange. Both see students taking own-ership of their school, working wellin cooperative groups and being moretuned-in to how their actions affectothers.

Last school year, students focusedon three of the character education

program’s 10 character traits: respect,responsibility and self-discipline.Teachers found appropriate ways toreinforce those traits duringhomeroom discussions and as part oftheir content studies through selectedreadings and Project BRAVO! materi-als. Teachers modeled respectful, re-sponsible behavior.

“We don’t just teach and model thecharacter traits,” Hardy emphasized.“We live it here at Browning Springs.”

“Students receive positive rein-forcement in everything they do,”Weatherford says. “Good behaviorbecomes part of their way of think-ing. Students develop resiliency tohandle themselves properly in othersettings. We still have students whotest the system, but we do have a calmschool climate as a result of studentshaving learned to be more responsible,more respectful and more self-disci-plined.”

For more information, contactWeatherford, Corum and Hardy at(270) 825-6006.

Browning Springs Middle:Setting Expectations

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Artist-in-residence Rex Robinson offers assistance to student Lindsay Wood during work on aBaroque-period mural at Browning Springs Middle School. The principal, Susan Weatherford,says the artistic process, not the product, links this activity to the school’s character educationprogram.

Bedford Elementary peer mediators Kindoll Jones and Latasha Sullivan (facing camera) work withAllyson Johnson and Kayla Brown to solve a conflict.


Teachers at Elkhorn ElementarySchool in Franklin County began thisschool year with a renewed effort inthe Kentucky Character Education Pro-gram. For the past couple of years, theschool has not been able to implementthe program fully because the facultyand staff lacked training in all compo-nents, said school counselor RhondaBarmore. Other factors in the slowimplementation were a search for anew principal and an influx of newteachers during the program’s secondyear.

The program didn’t stand still, butit isn’t yet a schoolwide success. “Intwo years, we’re seeing a differencein some students,” Barmore said, “butthere are some students we haven’treached at all.”

Need more information?

This is the final year of a federal grant the state Department ofEducation funnels to schools participating in the Kentucky CharacterEducation Program. Efforts are under way to find funding to continueand expand the program. Materials and videos under developmentwill be available to any school after the grant ends.

For details about the Kentucky Character Education Program,• contact Rhonda Bailey, Kentucky Department of Education, at

(502) 564-3791 or [email protected] (or via the KETS globallist);

• contact Michael Franken, Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative,at (502) 647-3533, Ext. 217, or [email protected] (or viathe KETS global list);

• visit the program’s Web site at www.kde.state.ky.us/osis/resources/tp/ce/default.asp.

Mason Corinth:‘BRAVO!’

The writing portion of ProjectBRAVO! initially caught the interest ofMason Corinth Elementary teacherGail McAdams during a professionaldevelopment workshop about fiveyears ago.

“Project BRAVO! was the academicanswer to open-response questions,”said McAdams, a 4th-grade teacher.“The songs, posters, steps to writingand vocabulary help children remem-ber simple rules in their writing.”

For two years, Mason Corinthteachers used Project BRAVO! withtheir students (primary- grade 6) to in-crease writing skills. “We’ve seen im-provement in writing every year we’veused the program,” said 4th-gradeteacher Jennifer Caldwell.

Three years ago, Mason Corinthwas selected to participate in the Ken-tucky Character Education Program.Teachers received training in SecondStep, a companion to Project BRAVO!that teaches social and behavior skills.They began using the program in theirclassrooms, and the school counselorbegan working in each classroom onceeach week to extend the charactereducation focus.

Role playing is part of many Sec-ond Step lessons. “Putting students ina situation and having them makechoices in the safe setting of the roleplay prepares them to face similar is-

sues in real life,” said Caldwell. “I be-lieve it drives home the point of thelessons.”

The teachers’ investment of timein professional development in pro-gram components is worthwhile, bothCaldwell and McAdams said. “Stu-dents are better able to work out theirown conflicts,” said Caldwell. “Thismeans that conflict resolution con-sumes less of my time, allowing moretime for instruction. It’s a case of alittle extra time and work in the be-ginning going a long way throughoutthe school year.”

Teachers noticed a change in stu-dent behavior the first year. “That’swhat is so great — to see immediategrowth the first year,” said McAdams.

While the teachers see studentsusing character behavior strategies atschool, they hope the program is giv-ing them tools to use in other aspectsof their lives. “Even when I go home,I use what I’ve learned with my ownchildren,” said McAdams. “And that’swhat we want the students to do: gohome and share the skills they learnwith their brothers and sisters andwith their parents.”

For more information, contactCaldwell, McAdams or Principal DavidFordyce at (859) 824-9510 or by e-mailat [email protected],[email protected] [email protected]. All threeare on the KETS global list.

This year, the district is offeringteachers two professional developmentdays for training in the Second Stepcurriculum and encouraging teachersto incorporate more program activitiesin their classrooms.

Barmore said in-school supportfrom Kentucky Character EducationProgram staff has been helpful. “Thepeer mediation part and curriculum forpeace education are very teacherfriendly and counselor friendly,”Barmore said. “If we can use the pro-gram consistently from kindergartenthrough fifth grade, I know it will bebeneficial schoolwide.”

Contact Barmore at (502) 695-6730or by e-mail at [email protected]. Her e-mail ad-dress is on the KETS global list.

Elkhorn Elementary: Renewed Effort


The Speed Art Museum in Lou-isville invites educators and stu-dents to an exhibition of works byJacob Lawrence, one of the fore-most American painters of the20th century. The exhibition,Jacob Lawrence: The FrederickDouglass and Harriet Tubman Se-ries of 1938-40, will be on displayFeb. 6 through April 22, 2001.

This exhibition has strong cur-riculum links in Kentucky’sschools. The artist, JacobLawrence, is listed on high schoolhumanities visual arts referencecharts. The exhibition offers cur-riculum possibilities in arts andhumanities, social studies and his-tory.

Lawrence was an African-American artist who grew up inHarlem during the Depression. Hebegan his career around 1935 inthe atmosphere of the Harlem Renaissance. The exhibition at the Speedwill feature two of his narrative series produced in the late 1930s: theFrederick Douglass Series and the Harriet Tubman Series. Sixty-threepaintings document the struggles and achievements of the two renowned19th-century abolitionists.

The exhibition is organized by the Hampton University Museum inHampton, Va.

The Speed Art Museum is hosting two exhibition-related events forteachers:

• Teacher Preview — Feb. 15 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. ET; free ofcharge; information and tools to help teachers develop appropriate in-struction related to the artist and the exhibition. Registration required;phone (502) 634-2734 by Feb. 7.

• Teacher Reception — March 8 from 3 to 8 p.m. ET; free of charge;special viewing in an “open house’ event; artist demonstrations andlive music of the late 1930s. Reservations recommended; phone (502)634-2700.

To schedule a tour for student groups, phone (502) 634-2725 orsend e-mail to [email protected].

For more information about the exhibition, go towww.speedmuseum.org on the Internet or phone (502) 634-2700.

News from the Speed

Exhibition will feature worksby leading African-American artist

Through a new network of techni-cal academies, Kentucky high schoolshave a new opportunity to give stu-dents a jump-start into continuingeducation or top-paying jobs in tech-nology.

Cisco Systems, a world leader inthe production and distribution ofcomputer network equipment, hasjoined the Kentucky Community andTechnical College System, the Ken-tucky Department of Education and ahost of education partners to estab-lish Cisco Networking Academies. Theacademies offer training in computernetwork design, maintenance andtroubleshooting.

The academies are designed toserve high school and college students.The four-semester program will beoffered at 11 regional academies (seebox) and, through them, at local acad-emies in participating colleges, highschools and area technology centersthroughout the state.

High school students will gain

New partnership brings high-tech opportunities

skills in TCP/IP, Ethernet, routed andswitched networks, and standard lo-cal area network technologies. Learn-ing objectives are closely tied to na-tional mathematics and science stan-dards and work force competencies.Graduates may take a test to qualifyfor the Cisco Certified Network Asso-ciate certificate, which confirms a highlevel of technical skill and competence.The certificate has benefits whetherprogram graduates enter the workforce or continue their formal educa-tion.

Instructors at the regional acad-emies will teach the Cisco curriculumand offer support to teachers at highschools that choose to offer the pro-gram, which is voluntary. More than50 Kentucky high schools, area tech-nology centers and colleges are par-ticipating; the goal is 100.

More information is available onthe Internet at www.cisco.com/edu/academy or from Tony Nunn at (502)246-3146 or [email protected].

Cisco’s need for skilled workers to fill highly technical jobs has ledthe company to establish 3,695 regional Cisco Networking Academiesin the U.S. and 64 countries. In Kentucky there are regional acad-emies at these 11 sites:

Ashland Community College

Bell County High School

Elizabethtown Technical College

Hazard Community College

Henderson Community College

Jefferson Community College

Kentucky Advanced Technology Center

Laurel Technical College

Northern Kentucky Technical College

Paducah Community College

Central Kentucky Technical College

Cisco Networking AcademiesPainting by Jacob Lawrence


Commission onWomen introduces

new resourcesThe Kentucky Commission

on Women, in partnership withthe Kentucky Department ofEducation and KET, announcesthe release of two resourcesabout Kentucky women.

•A new Web site atwww.womeninkentucky.comprovides information about theachievements of Kentuckywomen.

•A documentary, “Womenof Kentucky: Our Legacy, OurFuture,” offers an overview ofwomen’s efforts to gain andmaintain a voice in Kentucky’spublic affairs. Gov. Paul Pattonand First Lady Judi Patton pro-vided funds to send the videoplus related materials to everyKentucky public school andcommunity library.

CONTACT: Ann Ferrell, Ken-tucky Commission on Women,614A Shelby St., Frankfort, KY40601; (502) 564-6643

Bulletin BoardBy Lisa Y. Gross

Actors Theatre offers discountsActors Theatre of Louisville offers two discounts for

Kentucky students and school employees for the 2000-01 season.

The “After Class Pass Educators’ Series” and the “Su-per Saver Student Series” will offer the Mainstage Sub-scription (seven plays) for $56 and the Off-BroadwaySubscription (four plays) for $32. Valid verification ofstudent or school employment status is required.

CONTACT: Actors Theatre box office, (502) 584-1205

Agency seeks nominations for mathand science teacher recognitionThe Kentucky Department of Education seeks nomi-

nations for the Presidential Award for Excellence inMathematics and Science Teaching. This National Sci-ence Foundation program identifies outstanding K-12science and mathematics teachers in each state to serveas leaders in the improvement of education.

Kentucky honors 12 teachers each year. Four ofthem will become National Presidential Award win-ners. The award includes a $7,500 National ScienceFoundation grant to each winner’s school plus a tripto Washington, D.C. for workshops and recognitionevents.

Submit nominations by Feb. 12, 2001, to AnnBartosh at [email protected] or Teresa Spurlingat [email protected]. For details, send inquir-ies by e-mail or phone (502) 564-2106.

Bar Association announcesphoto contest for students

The theme of this year’s American Bar Associa-tion Images of Freedom Student Photography Com-petition is “Celebrate Your Freedom: Protecting theBest Interests of Our Children.” Students age 12 to18 are eligible to participate for prizes. Entries aredue Feb. 15, 2001.

The ABA sponsors the competition in coopera-tion with the National Newspaper Foundation, theNewspaper Association of America Foundation andthe Newspaper in Education programs of local news-papers throughout the United States. The sponsorswill display winning photos nationwide in children’smuseums and on the Internet.

CONTACT: ABA Law Day Project, 541 N.Fairbanks Court, Chicago, IL 60611-3314; (312) 988-5735; www.abanet.org./publiced/lawday orwww.lawday.org

KCTM 2000 Conference setfor November

The Kentucky Council of Teachers of Mathemat-ics (KCTM) has set this year’s conference for Nov.11 at Lafayette High School in Lexington. The pro-gram will feature local, state and national speakers.Participants will have opportunities to examine newinstructional materials with a look toward the math-ematics materials adoption process that starts in2002.

The KCTM annual awards banquet will be inLexington on the evening of Nov. 10.

More information is available at the KCTM Website at www.kctm.org.

Alternate portfolio training setTeachers, parents, administrators and others are invited to alternate portfolio develop-

ment training sessions set for all regions of the state during September and October. Theone-day training is voluntary, but all special education teachers who have students inassessment for accountability this year are encouraged to attend.

Participants must pre-register. For dates and locations, contact Tina Buster [email protected] or (859) 257-8456.

Free bluegrass music workshop offered for teachersA free workshop for elementary classroom, vocal and instrumental music teachers

on “Teaching Core Content with Bluegrass Music” will be offered Oct. 21 from 9 a.m. to5 p.m. EDT at the Galt House in Louisville. The workshop will include presentations onthe history of bluegrass music; interactive activities and lesson plans; rhythm instru-ments; vocal harmony structure and instrumentation; using bluegrass fiddle tunes inSuzuki violin instruction; and more. Certificates for professional development creditwill be issued.

Participants must register in advance by phone or e-mail. Registration includes a freeone-day pass to the International Bluegrass Music Association’s weeklong trade show,award show and fan fest.

CONTACT: Nancy Cardwell, IBMA, (888) 438-4262 or (270) 684-9025;[email protected]

BULLETIN BOARDTH

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September 2000

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Kentucky Department of EducationVisit the Kentucky Department of Education’s Web site: www.kde.state.ky.us

Kentucky TeacherKentucky Teacher

Kentucky Teacher is published by the Kentucky Department of Education for teach-ers, school administrators, counselors, support staff, parents, students, legisla-tors, community leaders and others with a stake in public education. Pleaseaddress correspondence to Kentucky Teacher, 1914 Capital Plaza Tower, 500 MeroSt., Frankfort, KY 40601; e-mail [email protected].

The Kentucky Department of Education does not discriminate on the basis of race,color, national origin, sex, religion, age or disability in employment or the provi-sion of services. Alternate formats of this publication are available upon request.

Printed with state funds by the Winchester Sun, Winchester, Ky.,on recycled paperISSN 1526-3584

Interim Commissioner of Education.

Associate Commissionerfor Communications

DirectorDivision of Public Information

Editor

Copy Writers

Photographer

Graphics and Design

Kevin Noland

Hunt Helm

Armando Arrastia

Fran Salyers

Sharon Crouch FarmerFaun S. Fishback

Lisa York Gross

Rick McComb

Susie Morrow, ManagerBill Davis

Michael Gray

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News for the Nation’s Most Innovative Educators

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

FIRST-DAY FAREWELL - Rachel Young waves good-bye to her parents on her firstday of school at Peaks Mill Elementary in Franklin County. Rachel is one of ap-proximately 630,000 students enrolled in Kentucky public schools this year.

New commissioner eager to listen............................................1

Students walk to Australia!......................................................3

Online courses offer PD on demand.........................................4

New to the ’Net Lesson 2:What’s on the Web; how can I find it?.....................................5

Middle-schoolers learn to think ‘college’..................................6

Young poets use words in uncommon ways.............................8

This school makes every resource count.................................10

Five schools demonstrate benefitsof character education...........................................................11

News and opportunities for teachers.............................2, 14, 15

As educators and education advocates, we havemoved beyond reform to a solid, nationally re-spected system of public education. We know wherewe are going. The job now is to get there, and I amcommitted to working with you to do the job.

Gene Wilhoit, deputy commissioner forlearning support services, on his goals asKentucky’s next commissioner of education.See Page 1.

new commissioner’s priorities include listening...

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