Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 8 June 2001 — Page 16

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THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2001

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Morning Afternoon Location: Brebeuf Je 2801 West 86th Street, In Cost: $130. Registration is limjj Send your regisj Alan Hei

It’s your chance to celebrate with 10,000 reaMife heroes, at “Heroes in the Heartland”- the Opening Ceremony of the 2001 World Police & Fire Games. A parade of public safety athle^s from around the world kicks off the show followed by a moving tribute to the reaMife heroes who keep our communities safe. Then it's time to turn up the music with performances by the Indianapolis Children’s Choir, Light of the World Gospel Choir and Grammy Award-winning country music artist Steve Wariner in a Hoosier welcome party! Join in the celebration! HEROES IN THE HEARTLAND June 9 at 3 p.m. in the RCA Dome. Tickets are $15, $25 and $40 and are available at Ticketmaster outlets or at www.ticketmaster.com. Charge by phone at (317) 239-5151. $2 discount coupons are available at all Central Indiana Marsh Supermarkets. FOUNDING SPONSORS | OFFICIAL SPONSORS I PROUD HOSTS

OFFICIAL SUPPLIERS Allison Transmission; Coca-Cola; Compaq; Coors Brewing Co.; Ford Motor Company: George E. Fern Co.; IndyGo; Microsoft; Nextel; Pierce Manufacturing. Inc.; Sport Graphics; Xer

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Prepare now for testing School will be ending soon for and will use in the upcoming years.

the largest school system in Indiana. The Indianapolis Public Schools finished up this week. Most other school districts have ended and are now on summer vacation. We are all aware that ISTEP testing begins in the fall. A few months into the 2001 school year, the statewide test will be given. The headlines will probably remain about the same. Overall the scores will remain low across the board. There will be some gain in one grade level or two, maybe in math or English. One or two public schools will be highlighted for their improvement, but the large majority of them will be have 30-40 percent of their students falling well below the state’s standards. This is not intended to be a negative view of the testing procedures or the schools that administer the tests. Look back at this article when the results are released in the spring and see if the predictions are accurate. Correcting all that is wrong with the testing procedures and improving all of the students scores with one simple solution will never happen. But improving the students’ scores individually, one kid at a time will eventually improve the overall scores of the school, the district, and eventually the state. Sure the testing begins about six months from now. Preparation is the key to success and now is the time to begin laying the foundation and creating the blueprint so that your child will have success and score better on this test than he/she did last year. Many schools will begin remedial work and test preparation

Education Does

Matter

By Leroy Robinson

around September. However, there are no rules stating that parents cannot begin preparing their child now, during the summer months, for the standardized tests that will begin in the fall. The standards can be reviewed by writing or visiting the Indiana Department of Education, at 251 E. Ohio St., or by contacting the state superintendent at 229 State House, both in downtown Indianapolis. There are workbooks on each subject area and books that have practice tests available in them at the many educational stores throughout the area. Even the major chain stores such as Target, Meijer, and K-mart have workbooks for all grade levels and the different subject areas. Applying for a Marion County library card and visiting the library three or four times a week to read would be a good step in the right direction. Requiring your child to do a weekly book report should be the minimum in an effort to increase their reading comprehension skills. Also, they should hand write the report, and it should be checked for spelling and grammatical errors. lUPUI's education department has a library that contains all of the resources that teachers have used

All of the materials are subject and grade specific. Money is not necessarily required in order to prepare your child for success. Perseverance, dedication, and time are the only requirements that are needed. There are various summer programs that students can be enrolled in. However, the majority of them are heavy on the recreation and light on the academics. Although some time is spent on education related activities, please do not let this be a substitute for what you can do as a parent. The more time, effort, and energy that you put into your child, helping to increase their love of learning, the more you will see their test scores improve. Many students do not perform well on these tests and in the classroom, because they have not had much success in either. They have not had much success because they have not been prepared to learn and achieve at a high level. When a child has success in any area or while participating in an activity, they tend to enjoy it much more. When speaking to a student who says they love school, look at their grades, and this will tell you why. If a student continues to fail test after test and class after class, how can we expect them to enjoy school? Teach your child to love school by “teaching" your child. Subscribe to the FREE parent newsletter, Parents and Urban Education by writing me at: [email protected], or 9701 E. 63rd St., Indianapolis, IN. 46236 Call me at: 317-393-2188.

Her journey to France

By OSEYE T. BOYD Staff Writer Parlez vous Fran^ais? You may not, but soon-to-be North Central senior, Adrianne Slash, has spoken French for 11 years. This summer, Slash will spend seven weeks in France. She will stay with a host family in the town of Brest, in the province of Brittany. The trip to France is not just for fun. Slash is traveling with the IU French Honors program and will take five classes daily. Selected to the program after enduring a rigorous application process. Slash will be going back to France for the second time. The first being when she was a fifthgrader at Orchard School for two weeks as an exchange student. IU offers the program for students taking French, German or Spanish. Slash says students must have acceptable grades, complete a 32-page application with recommendations from parents, family friends and teachers. An interview speaking mostly the foreign language must also be conducted. Financial aid is available and the program is open to anyone meeting the criteria. “Money will not stop a kid from going. Most of the kids selected are from public schools,” said Adrianne’s father Joseph. Of the 32 students going on the trip, she is the only African-Ameri-can student going to France. While in France, the students are not allowed to date, drink alcohol (unless with their host family) — the legal drinking age in France is 16, and the biggest rule is no English. Slash says the English rule deters many students from going on the trip. Students are allowed only one phone call home upon arrival — to let their family know they're safe

Adrianne Slash

— and e-mail once a week up to one hour. If any rules are broken, students will be sent home, except for speaking English. Instead of going home, the student will not receive a diploma for completing the program. Receiving a diploma is great, but Slash is more excited about testing her skills. “I think my recognition will be if I come home speaking fluently,” said the well-spoken Slash. “That’s enough recognition for me. After 11 years of studying the language it helps to practice and use it. There’s a reward in it that you get to actually practice and use it.” But speaking French is not the only skill in Slash’s repertoire. She is a member of several choirs at school: the Northemaires gospel choir. Counterpoints concert and show choir, and the Descants all girl-show choir; she is also a member of the youth choir, F.A.I.T.H., at First Baptist Church North Indianapolis. "I live out of my car. I like to stay busy. Sometimes they (her parents) tell me to just lay down and go to sleep." said the teen. Slash somehow finds a way to maintain her grades. Her father

beams with pride as he talks about his daughter receiving an academic letter. “Adrianne has been on the high honor roll since she's been at North Central," the elder Slash said. Unlike most teens, Slash also enjoys spending time with her parents, but her favorite past time is writing poetry and song lyrics, although she would never try to make a career out of either. Instead she has loftier plans of attending Hampton University or Florida A&M to study political science, become a business or foreign relations lawyer and then segue into a career of politics as a senator. She believes education is tried and true and careers in the music industry are fleeting. Her father believes all the hard work he and his wife did has paid off, “It makes you feel extremely proud to see that your children, your teen-age daughters, have come up through their adolescent years and (have) not given you any problems and excelling academically. (It) makes you feel very good as parents and confirms that as parents we have made the right parental choices for Adrianne and her sister, Alex.” Many times she has to prioritize her activities. Her parents taught her to look at the big picture and see how her goals will be affected. Going to France is a choice she made that may help her in long term goals. She also believes high school is a chance to explore many options. “Get involved in everything you can. Because if you don't you'll never understand what high school was supposed to be about anyway. It’s proven that the active students are the ones that excel. Thg nonactive students are the ones who hate high school. If you don’t get involved you'll never know.”

education

IPS Teacher of the year Dr. Mark Blachly, a physics, chemistry and pre-calculus teacher at Arsenal Technical High School, was named the 2001 IPS Teacher of the Year. He will compete for the 2002 Indiana State Teacher of the Year title.

Charter school conference A charter schools conference will be 8:30a.m.-4:30p.m. June 12 at the Marriott Hotel downtown. The event is sponsored by the Indiana Charter Schools Network and Resource Center, Center for Education Reform, the Indiana Chapter of the Black Alliance for Educational Options and t Project E. Details of the new law and sources for grants and financial assistance will be highlighted. Attendees will hear from national, state and local charter school leaders regarding charter school startups. Project E will also distribute a “Getting

Started" binder on charter schools. Registration is $35 per person including lunch and all materials. Group rate is $35 for the first person and $20 for each additional person from the organization. Call 464-2694 for more information. College tour We're Helping Youth! Inc. and R.E. Patrick and Associates will sponsor the Autumn Break 2001 College Tour Oct. 25-27. Cost is $195 and due in full by Oct. 5. Payment plans are available. For more information 923-4581 ext. 250.