14
Sep
2004
• In a press release issued by Bettendorf Police Chief Phil Reddington and Assistant Superintendent Carol Webb, Bettendorf Community Schools will be "altering its fifth-grade substance-abuse program for the 2004-2005 school year." Previously consisting of the DARE program in its entirety, delivered by trained Bettendorf police officers, it is being modified because of staff reassignments within the department and loss of funding for the program. DARE does not meet scientifically based research criteria required to receive funding under the No Child Left Behind Title IVA guidelines. According to the press release, a curriculum-oversight committee began meeting this summer and is currently in the process of gathering information to shape the program to be delivered to all fifth-grade students during the second semester. Several of the "effective" activities of the DARE program will be included as well as continuing the involvement of the Bettendorf Police Department in the school system.
• The deadline for Iowa students applying for acceptance at the United States military academies is fast approaching, according to U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). Young men and women planning to apply for a nomination to the classes entering service academies in the summer of 2005 must have all of their application materials in to Senator Harkin's Cedar Rapids office by Thursday, September 30. Harkin will nominate up to 10 Iowans for every opening he has at the academies, with final selection for admission made by the individual schools. High-school guidance counselors should have information about the application procedures that prospective candidates must follow. Harkin uses a competitive method to screen applicants, including the evaluation of ACT or SAT scores, high-school grade point average, leadership abilities, and physical aptitude. The Iowa senator also appointed an academy selection committee that conducts personal interviews with academy finalists. Interested individuals should contact Senator Harkin's Cedar Rapids office to obtain an application packet. Questions regarding the academy program should be directed to Tom Larkin: (319)365-4504 phone, (319)365-4683 fax, or 150 First Avenue N.E., Suite 370, Cedar Rapids IA 52401 mail.
• The Telecom Pioneers organization was founded in 1911 by telecommunication employees as a not-for-profit group and sponsors programs such as "And All God's Children Shall Have Shoes" and "Tools for Learning." The shoes program was established in the early 1960s by a group of Illinois Bell employees. It has become a chapter project supported by active and retired employees as well as businesses in the community. On September 10, volunteers visited Erickson, Lincoln, Audubon, and Frances Willard elementary schools in Illinois and gave out 80 book bags filled with the school supplies required by the school district. The bags and the items filling them were donated by employees and retirees of SBC of Illinois as part of the Tools for Learning project. The "shoes program" is taking donations of white socks to go with the shoes given out in that program. This year the Pioneers will be adding a gift package containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, combs, and other toiletry items for the children. Donations will be taken for those as well. All donations can be sent to SBC of Illinois, care of The Pioneers at 635 18th St., Rock Island IL 61201.
• Sign-language interpreters from Deaf Services Unlimited have been contracted by the Putnam Museum & IMAX Theatre to provide services to hearing-impaired audience members at select film showings this fall. Funding for the film series has been made possible by a grant from the Teens for Tomorrow Fund of the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend. Films and show times offering sign language interpreting at the IMAX Theatre include NASCAR 3D at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 25, and Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure at 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 16. Another film and show time will be announced at a later date. For more information, contact Beth Knaack, visitor services coordinator, at 324-1054 extension 266.
• The Iowa Department of Justice has been awarded $300,000 to improve services for children who have witnessed or suffered from domestic violence. The grant will be used to launch the initiative, which will focus on providing better services to children who come from families of domestic violence. It will serve more than 2,000 children in 33 domestic-violence programs throughout the state.
• Williams Intermediate School Principal Nancy Jacobsen and Lab Facilitators Mike Schellenberg and Rhea Green have announced the opening of a new Synergistic Systems lab, a state-of-the-art learning solution from Pitsco, Inc. Synergistic Systems is a revolutionary approach to teaching and learning. In a Synergistic classroom, the entire student experience is geared toward making sure students interact with the topic they're learning. Curriculum is delivered via modules - each an intensive, seven-session exploration of a particular topic. Modules are delivered at self-sufficient workstations that accommodate everything students need to complete their activities. The classroom becomes an applied learning center, a place where students use technology to explore and apply the concepts they learn throughout the day. Math, science, communication, and language-arts skills are put to practice as students complete their module activities. The new Synergistic Systems lab at Williams is being implemented as an Industrial Technology lab for seventh- and eighth-graders.
• Take a few minutes to read "History of the Income Tax in the U.S.," located at (http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?control=1597). The most intriguing line in this very readable piece notes that "adjusting for inflation, in the 81 years between the enactment of the income tax in 1913 to 1994, government spending increased 13,592 percent."
• On Saturday, September 18, Habitat for Humanity-Quad Cities will host a groundbreaking ceremony at 622 Ninth Avenue in Rock Island for Partner Family Felicia Bragg and her children. The public ceremony begins at 10 a.m. Observed during the third weekend in September, Building on Faith Week urges faith communities to pray for those inadequately housed, to make decent shelter a matter of conscience, and to contribute both time and treasure toward eliminating poverty housing. Twenty-two churches from the Quad Cities faith community will be participating in the Building on Faith Week. For more information, look at (http://www.habitatqc.org) or call (563)359-9066.
• The deadline for Iowa students applying for acceptance at the United States military academies is fast approaching, according to U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). Young men and women planning to apply for a nomination to the classes entering service academies in the summer of 2005 must have all of their application materials in to Senator Harkin's Cedar Rapids office by Thursday, September 30. Harkin will nominate up to 10 Iowans for every opening he has at the academies, with final selection for admission made by the individual schools. High-school guidance counselors should have information about the application procedures that prospective candidates must follow. Harkin uses a competitive method to screen applicants, including the evaluation of ACT or SAT scores, high-school grade point average, leadership abilities, and physical aptitude. The Iowa senator also appointed an academy selection committee that conducts personal interviews with academy finalists. Interested individuals should contact Senator Harkin's Cedar Rapids office to obtain an application packet. Questions regarding the academy program should be directed to Tom Larkin: (319)365-4504 phone, (319)365-4683 fax, or 150 First Avenue N.E., Suite 370, Cedar Rapids IA 52401 mail.
• The Telecom Pioneers organization was founded in 1911 by telecommunication employees as a not-for-profit group and sponsors programs such as "And All God's Children Shall Have Shoes" and "Tools for Learning." The shoes program was established in the early 1960s by a group of Illinois Bell employees. It has become a chapter project supported by active and retired employees as well as businesses in the community. On September 10, volunteers visited Erickson, Lincoln, Audubon, and Frances Willard elementary schools in Illinois and gave out 80 book bags filled with the school supplies required by the school district. The bags and the items filling them were donated by employees and retirees of SBC of Illinois as part of the Tools for Learning project. The "shoes program" is taking donations of white socks to go with the shoes given out in that program. This year the Pioneers will be adding a gift package containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, combs, and other toiletry items for the children. Donations will be taken for those as well. All donations can be sent to SBC of Illinois, care of The Pioneers at 635 18th St., Rock Island IL 61201.
• Sign-language interpreters from Deaf Services Unlimited have been contracted by the Putnam Museum & IMAX Theatre to provide services to hearing-impaired audience members at select film showings this fall. Funding for the film series has been made possible by a grant from the Teens for Tomorrow Fund of the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend. Films and show times offering sign language interpreting at the IMAX Theatre include NASCAR 3D at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 25, and Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure at 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 16. Another film and show time will be announced at a later date. For more information, contact Beth Knaack, visitor services coordinator, at 324-1054 extension 266.
• The Iowa Department of Justice has been awarded $300,000 to improve services for children who have witnessed or suffered from domestic violence. The grant will be used to launch the initiative, which will focus on providing better services to children who come from families of domestic violence. It will serve more than 2,000 children in 33 domestic-violence programs throughout the state.
• Williams Intermediate School Principal Nancy Jacobsen and Lab Facilitators Mike Schellenberg and Rhea Green have announced the opening of a new Synergistic Systems lab, a state-of-the-art learning solution from Pitsco, Inc. Synergistic Systems is a revolutionary approach to teaching and learning. In a Synergistic classroom, the entire student experience is geared toward making sure students interact with the topic they're learning. Curriculum is delivered via modules - each an intensive, seven-session exploration of a particular topic. Modules are delivered at self-sufficient workstations that accommodate everything students need to complete their activities. The classroom becomes an applied learning center, a place where students use technology to explore and apply the concepts they learn throughout the day. Math, science, communication, and language-arts skills are put to practice as students complete their module activities. The new Synergistic Systems lab at Williams is being implemented as an Industrial Technology lab for seventh- and eighth-graders.
• Take a few minutes to read "History of the Income Tax in the U.S.," located at (http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?control=1597). The most intriguing line in this very readable piece notes that "adjusting for inflation, in the 81 years between the enactment of the income tax in 1913 to 1994, government spending increased 13,592 percent."
• On Saturday, September 18, Habitat for Humanity-Quad Cities will host a groundbreaking ceremony at 622 Ninth Avenue in Rock Island for Partner Family Felicia Bragg and her children. The public ceremony begins at 10 a.m. Observed during the third weekend in September, Building on Faith Week urges faith communities to pray for those inadequately housed, to make decent shelter a matter of conscience, and to contribute both time and treasure toward eliminating poverty housing. Twenty-two churches from the Quad Cities faith community will be participating in the Building on Faith Week. For more information, look at (http://www.habitatqc.org) or call (563)359-9066.
