Meeting experience and story

The experience of covering a meeting was confusing but interesting. Many of the issues discussed were vague – the board had obviously talked about some of the subjects before. The short term and long term measures taken in the district to dilute traffic were not specified, they were simply called short term or long term. The Board of Education meeting took place on Nov. 22, 2010, at 7 p.m. in Stevens Point, WI. All nine members of the board were in attendance, along with six students from Kennedy Elementary School, 18 from Ben Franklin Junior High School and their parents. The board voted yes to canceling the next board meeting in December and to the continuation of safety work in school zones.



The school improvement plan and the one to one laptop initiative were the major subjects of the Stevens Point Area Public School District Board of Education meeting.
The meeting on Nov. 22 included four guest speakers to inform the board and audience of each of these issues. The school improvement plan, brought to the board by Mary Jo Lekner, is designed to help elementary students with reading and math, so they do not fall behind. Similarly, the one to one laptop initiative focuses on individual student needs, but at a high school level.
Lekner said the teachers at Madison Elementary School are currently urging their students to work on math and reading skills. The faculty has put together a homework club available after school for students struggling with math. In addition, a new goal has been set for reading – all students will be able to perform proficiently in advanced levels of reading. About 62 students are now utilizing extra help with reading through the school.
“We have a building reading coach and a math coach who work with the students every day,” she said.
The one to one laptop initiative allows students to use laptops provided by the school to work on assignments individually and as small groups. Ashley Stewart and Michelle Rafe, two sophomores from the senior high said it is easier for them to be creative when they have a space to themselves. Stewart said her English class’ online message board is helpful because people who aren’t comfortable enough to speak up in class can do so on the computers.
Jill Quinn, an English teacher at Stevens Point Area Senior High said that the one to one laptop initiative makes assignments much easier for her and her students. She said she can grade them quicker and doesn’t have to waste time taking her students to and from the computer lab during class.
“Normally we listen to a professional recording of Julius Caesar on CD, but we found the full text on this lit —to —go website,” said Quinn. “So when students are absent from class they can not only read the text, but they can listen to it.”