'Saving Paradise' Legislation May Expand
Les Cheneaux Community Schools
By Amy Polk

A state proposal seeks to expand the current "Saving Paradise" legislation to other isolated schools in the Upper Peninsula, the Les Cheneaux Community Schools board of education learned at a meeting Monday, February 18. The Saving Paradise legislation provides additional funding for geographically isolated schools that, like the Whitefish Township School in Paradise, are too far from neighboring schools to consolidate. Whitefish Township, Mackinac Island, Beaver Island, Grand Marais, and DeTour Area schools split approximately $750,000 in supplemental state aid to help pay for the additional costs those schools bear.

Superintendent Rod Goehmann said an additional $1 million has been proposed to expand the program to all districts with less than five students per square mile. All but 16 Upper Peninsula schools would qualify under such a definition, including the Les Cheneaux district in Cedarville, which has 3.6 students per square mile.

The funding, if approved, would provide about $50 per pupil to the affected schools.

Teachers Christy Cloud, Janet Haske, Julie Pitko, Ryan Wilson, and Kathy Tassier will learn about the latest technology available to educators and how to apply those devices to everyday teaching when they attend the annual Michigan Association for Computer Users in Michigan conference March 5 through 7 in Grand Rapids.

In a related announcement, Mrs. Cloud said a new science curriculum for pre-high school students will stress scientific method, capitalizing on younger students' natural curiosity to promote questioning. Students must learn to form hypotheses, ask questions, and then learn how to prove a theory.

"Current research suggested that today's standards are too broad, resulting in superficial coverage that fails to link concepts or develop them over successive grades," Mrs. Cloud said.

Science teacher Kevin St. Onge said high school students are required to take three years of science, including biology, their choice of physics or chemistry, and one additional class. He believes classes like physics and physical science are helping students develop research and data analysis skills, and these are the kinds of skills required by Michigan's standardized tests.

Trustees authorized the purchase of a new bus for $74,941 as part of its bus bond resolution and schedule to purchase a new bus every year for five years. This is the fourth year of the five-year bond issue.

Trustees also approved the wording of the 18-mill renewal request that will appear on the May election ballot. The district is asking voters for 18 mills from non-homestead properties, like businesses, summer homes, and hunting camps. The school millage is levied in the summer and raises about two-thirds of the district's $3 million operating budget.

The theme of this year's elementary school Read-A-Thon is "Go for the Gold...Read!"

The Olympic theme will be based on the 2008 Summer Olympics location, Beijing, China, Elementary Principal Eric Cardwell told the board. Activities and decorations will have an Asian flair, and staff are planning to transform the halls of the school into a scene from China, he added. Students will be able to read from the top of a "winners' platform" and will receive Olympic medals for their participation.

As in previous years, a principal's challenge will be issued to students to give them incentive to read as much as they possibly can. Mr. Cardwell told The St. Ignace News that he and sixth grade teacher Ryan Wilson are planning a long walk if students meet the challenge issued to them.

They will start on M-134 and hike west as many steps as pages the students read, and camp wherever they end up. Mr. Cardwell and Mr. Wilson will record observances and notes from the trip and relay the story back to students.

The interactive experience will integrate the reading challenge with physical activity promoted by the school's current "Million Steps" exercise theme, Mr. Cardwell said. The challenge will be completed close to the end of the year.

Teachers Carrie Carr, Kathy Tassier, Julie Davis, and Jill Schaeffer will coordinate the event with the Student Activities Advisory Council, and volunteers are welcome.