Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 14 November 2003 — Page 6

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THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2003

Science Bound student excels

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Mark Thompson, a freshman at Arlington High School and participant In Purdue University's Science Bound program, watches as his uncle, Matt Thompson, checks out e-Stadium at a Purdue football game. E-Stadium, developed at Purdue, allows football fans to score up-to-the-minute statistics, review player and coach biographies, and answer trivia Questions.

Pacers Foundahon donates uniforms te IPS

BY ERICKA P. THOMPSON Staff Writer This season there will be a different look on the basketball court of all seven IPS high schools. Courtesy of the Pacers Foundation, every high school boys’ and girls’ varsity basketball teams will wear new game uniforms. “We are proud to assist IPS with a donation that is not only financial aid, but one that is practical and displays the interest that the Pacers have always had in supporting the community,” said Pacer Sports and Entertainment CEO and president, Donnie Walsh. In an effort to make this donation, the Pacers Foundation—on behalf of Pacers Sports and Entertainment, the Pacers and the Fever—initiated the design of the uniforms. Jeff Foster, center for the Pacers, and Niele Ivey, point guard for the Fever, made individual donations as Reebok

manufactured all the uniforms. IPS Superintendent Pat Pritchett was grateful to the Pacers Foundation for the donation. “To get brand new uniforms for our student-athletes makes a whole lot of difference,” he said during the presentation and ceremony of the uniforms at Conseco Fieldhouse. “Community support is key to making that difference. It’s important that businesses support our schools and we certainly want to thank the Pacers Foundation, the Indiana Pacers and the Indiana Fever.” Mayor Bart Peterson was also on hand at the ceremony to show his support. He also let the stu-dent-athlete representatives of each high school know that they were all “looking good” in their new uniforms. “The Pacers are an outstanding corporate citizen,” he said. “They not only bring our community together by the excitement that they bring to the basketball

court, and the Fever I might add, but as an organization they are incredibly important to the community.” He added, “To be able to provide these new uniforms without any expense to our school system is hugely important.” Some may not recognize the importance of the new uniforms or how much they were needed, but the athletes certainly do and they are definitely appreciative. “I think its great that the Pacers gave us new uniforms for two reasons: we really needed them and to show that people really do care about us,” said Fitzgerald Batteast, a senior at Arlington High School. StarlaGary, a junior at Northwest, added, “Last year, we had to share our uniforms with the boys. They were big and we had to tie them up to make them fit,” she said. “I’m happy we have uniforms that fit and they are made just for us.”

Smaller high schools could close achievement gaps

By JOSHUA COHEN Staff Writar The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, an organization focused on improving global education and health, gave the University of Indianapolis Center of Excellence in Leadership (CELL) a $ 11.3 million grant to cover startup costs for high schools of no more than 400 students. Key leaders from education, business, government and the community met recently to begin discussing plans to create 10 new, small high schools and redesign five, outmoded schools. This group created the Network of Effective Small Schools to help carry out that goal. Supporters of small high schools have produced research that shows smaller student bodies close the achievement gap, improve college attendance rates

and decreascdiscipline problems. “Indiana is similar to the rest of the nation in having a persistent achievement gap between white and minority students,’’said E. Lynne Weisenbach, CELL executive director. “A study by the Manhattan Institute for Policy and Research found that as recently as 2000, only 69 percent of U.S. students who entered school as ninth graders fouryears earlier actually graduated, and the numbers were even worse for minorities.” This is a trend Indianapolis would like to change, and many think smaller schools are the answer. It is not something that can be done quickly and without a lot of support. “Community engagement is vital,” explained Weisenbach. “The community can and should be involved in discussions about

how we can ensure high learning for all children.” However, larger high schools are preferred over small schools by the state because of cost issues. “They’re less expensive to operate on an annual per-pupil basis,” said Torrey Strohmeier, director of the Change Uib for the Coalition of Essential Schools, a national small-school network in Oakland, Calif. The hope is that the positives that come out of having smaller student populations outweigh the negatives. “Ultimately,” Weisenbach predicted, “this initiative to develop small high schools here in Indianapolis will eliminate achievement gaps through the efforts of our entire community." The Associated Press contributed to this story.

EDUCATION BRIEFS

Charter school grant The City of Indianapolis has secured a $1.6 million grant from the Indianapolis-based Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation to increase the number of high-quality, mayor-sponsored charter schools operating in the city. The grant will fund Mayor Bart Peterson’s new "Seed &

Lead” initiative, which will address the need to increase the number of quality proposals for charter schools in Indianapolis.

More parking at IUPUI

Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis began construction of a 1,300 space-

parking garage Nov. 6. The $13.5 million project will not only provide additional parking spaces for students, staff and faculty, but will ease campus traffic flow by widening Barnhill from a two-lane to a four-lane street between Michigan and New York. Funds to construct the garages come solely from parking fees.