Features

[MARCH 8, 2001]  Zion Lutheran is in the midst of celebrating Lutheran Schools Week. Each day has had a dress-up theme and activity.

Monday, students and teachers wore pajamas to school. On Tuesday, everyone sported the school colors, blue and gold. For Wednesday, students dressed in their best. Today’s theme is Funny Hat and Sunglasses. Tomorrow students will be allowed to wear shorts—if the weather cooperates.

Besides dressing themes, special events were planned for Lutheran Schools Week. On Monday, students enjoyed pizza for lunch. At 1:00 on Tuesday afternoon, students performed in a talent show. The whole school bowled this week—half on Tuesday and half on Wednesday. Early on Wednesday morning, the school sponsored a family breakfast for parents and their children. Perhaps the students will appreciate tomorrow the most. They will be allowed to attend class in any other grade.

The school’s excitement about this week is visible not only in the children but also in the faculty and staff.

[Jean Ann Carnley]

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[Zion Lutheran students look on as Amanda Baker and Michelle Eack perform a gymnastics routine at the Talent Showcase Acts Tuesday afternoon. The acts included singing, instrumentals, gymnastics, dancing, a poem by the third grade class and many skits by the fifth grade class.]

[Members of the sixth grade class get ready to demonstrate a square dance.]

[Waiting for their music to cue, Annie Sheley, Amanda Howard and Allicent Pech patiently stand on stage. They performed a Celtic dance.]

[Kayla Huskins sang “Shine Jesus Shine” in the show. She impressed many audience members with her strong voice…and she’s only in the first grade.]

[MARCH 7, 2001]  March 2, 2001, marked the 97^th anniversary of Dr. Seuss’ birth. All across the country, students participated in the fourth annual Read Across America. Last year 30 million adults and children spent a day at school reading to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday. This year the theme was "Oh, the Places You’ll Go," so students were focused on planning their careers and traveling far and wide.

This national program is celebrated here in Lincoln. Renee Dreusicke and Tammy Barcalow coordinate Read Across America for all of District 27. According to Barcalow, all of the schools participate in some way, but she believes Northwest celebrates the most.

Dreusicke is a Title 1 teacher at Northwest. Unfortunately, after all her efforts in planning Read Across America, she was forced to miss the March 2^nd celebration for a weeklong Title 1 conference. Barcalow teaches fourth grade at Northwest School.

[Mrs. Jones, sixth grade teacher, read to Miss Barcalow's fourth grade class during the reading round robin.]

Dreusicke and Barcalow learned about Read Across America from the National Education Association and have participated all but the first year. Barcalow articulated the event’s goal: "Encourage everybody to read, and [reading] takes them places." While the program does focus on Dr. Seuss books, reading books of any kind is encouraged.

At Northwest, students and teachers alike have enjoyed past celebrations. Last year they dressed up for the Dr. Seuss book "My Many Colored Days." The Northwest School library has many Dr. Seuss books, but Barcalow has noticed that around Dr. Seuss day, they are all checked out.

The Read Across America activities are planned and sponsored by the Lincoln Elementary Education Association (LEEA) members. LEEA hopes to encourage reading among parents with babies, so they purchased copies of this year’s theme book to give to any babies that were born at the local hospital on March 2, 2001.

In preparation for this year’s activities, and in keeping with this year’s theme, students decorated (paper) tennis shoes to indicate where they want to travel. Some students wanted to visit close-to-home places such as Iowa, St. Louis or the Chicago Field Museum. Others drew pictures of Colorado, Arizona, Florida, San Francisco and camping trips. Some of the more exotic destinations were Brazil, Alaska, Ireland, Paris and Hawaii.

In addition to art projects, there was a writing competition. Each year, Northwest’s librarian writes the March 2 menu in Dr. Seuss style. This year, the librarian decided to let the students write the menu. Some teachers assigned the challenge to every student, while other teachers decided to let individual students decide whether or not to enter the competition. The winner of the contest was sixth grader Daniel Parsons. He said his poem took about 15 to 20 minutes to compose, and it was a little hard to find rhyming words.

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Writing is something Parsons enjoys doing, although he has other talents: He plays the trumpet and recently placed fifth in the county spelling bee.

Northwest’s celebration activities were planned for Thursday and Friday afternoon. On Thursday, student and teachers had to be prepared to Drop Everything And Read (DEAR). Several times during the day, the principal announced DEAR time. No matter what the classes were doing, everyone had to stop and read for 10 minutes. After lunch, a number of fourth through sixth graders, in "Cat in the Hat" hats, visited the kindergarten through third grade classrooms to read to the younger students. Also on Thursday, all Northwest’s teachers wore their Read Across America shirts in anticipation of the next day.

[Donned in full Dr. Seuss garb, Miss Barcalow read "Gerald McBoing-Boing" to a kindergarten class.]

On Friday, students dressed up to indicate a career they hope to pursue. The teachers donned "Cat in the Hat" clothing. Jim Ash, father of a Northwest student, read this year’s theme book, "Oh, the Places You’ll Go," to the school. The students were filmed, and Ash asked students about their reactions to the book. He plans do a special piece on the local cable station, LincOn-TV.

Following the reading of "Oh, the Places You’ll Go," the fourth through sixth graders went to classrooms of younger students to listen to the teachers read, and the kindergarten through third graders listened to the older students’ teachers read Dr. Seuss books. Every 10 minutes, the students moved to the next classroom, until each class was visited. Barcalow commented that last year was the first year for this, and it went "very smoothly."

In addition to the school activities, some teachers planned their own activities for Read Across America. One activity Barcalow enjoys is having students compose "No Way Poems." The poems are quite varied, but they all remain in the "would not, could not" fashion of "Green Eggs and Ham."

If your school missed this year’s Dr. Seuss celebration, go to www.nea.org/readacross/ for information and resources on planning next year’s program.

[Jean Ann Carnley]

[MARCH 6, 2001]  This past week, parents and teachers once again created a Winter Fantasy at Washington-Monroe School. Each year, the Washington-Monroe Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) coordinates and sponsors a Winter Fantasy week at their children’s school. The PTO understands that wintertime is difficult on children because they spend so much time indoors, so about six years ago the members decided to interrupt the monotony with fun and educational activities.

[click here to see photos]

The PTO picked this year’s theme by interviewing last year’s fifth and sixth graders. The parents and teachers then reviewed the suggestions and chose Africa. The planners typically lean toward warm places to combat the Illinois winter chills. Last year’s destination was Australia. Students have also recently "visited" the Caribbean and Jamaica.

Cathy Huerd and Barbara Follis were in charge of coordinating this year’s African Winter Fantasy. Under their direction, the Winter Fantasy PTO committee organized a parent and child movie night, created African relay races, charted a safari expedition and scheduled two African guest speakers. In addition to these activities, students were given dress-up themes for the week, and everyone decorated the school.

Before Winter Fantasy week began, students created African artwork in Mrs. Sisk’s art classes. The halls were lined with drawings of animals from Africa. Also, teachers decorated their rooms and designed their lesson plans to focus on Africa. Jody Nettles, mother of a Washington-Monroe student, drew a wall-size mural of the African continent. Specific regions and countries of Africa were highlighted on the map to coordinate with Friday’s safari expedition.

Each day of the week had a different dress-up theme. On Monday, students wore sunglasses, and on Tuesday they wore hats. Wednesday did not require too much time to get ready for school—students wore their pajamas in class. Thursday was backward day, and on Friday, students sported animal shirts.

Monday night’s activity was a big success, according to Cathy Huerd. More than 100 students and their parents gathered in the school gym for Disney’s "Tarzan." The floor was lined with sleeping bags and pillows, and the viewers ate popcorn.

Each day of the week, Barbara Follis traveled to different classrooms and read African folk tales to the students. One day she read "Elephant’s Child," a story by Rudyard Kipling about how the elephant got its trunk. Another day, Follis read "Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock." Many African folk tales talk about the Anansi, a spider who is a trickster.

On Friday morning, students joined in African relay races and a safari expedition. The races included a Trunk Trot, Cheetah Chase, Crocodile Crawl and balancing baskets on one’s head. On the African expedition, students saw an African hut, Mount Kilimanjaro off in the distance, real African wildlife, and termite mounds designed by Follis and her husband. Follis explained that the hut was constructed out of refrigerator boxes, and boasted, "Our PTO is so great with duct tape!" The termite mound was covered with termites, and students used sticky party blowers to simulate anteaters grabbing some grub.

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In the afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt, parents of a Washington-Monroe student, shared stories about their home and their travels in Africa with the third through sixth grade students. The Hoyt family is from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, in southeast Africa,and moved to Lincoln about three months ago. Mr. Hoyt grew up in Lincoln, but when he was a teenager his parents decided to do mission work in Africa. He has lived there for over 20 years. Mrs. Hoyt and the Hoyts’ children were born in Zimbabwe.

During the safari, and later in the afternoon, the Hoyts shared their culture with Washington-Monroe’s students. They displayed several stuffed African animals that they own, a few small animal statues created from different materials, some Zimbabwe currency, and various woven and knitted decorations. The centerpiece on the display table was a beautiful map of Zimbabwe, and each region was covered in a different animal skin.

The Hoyts discussed different lifestyles in Zimbabwe—that is, villages versus towns. They explained to Washington-Monroe students some of the chores for which African boys and girls are responsible, described the schools children attend, and discussed typical foods.

While the Hoyts talked to the older grades, parents were helping the kindergarten through second graders construct and decorate rattling noisemakers. After the presentation and crafts were complete, the PTO dished out Safari Snack Mix. The trail mix was a unique blend of sunflowers, sesame sticks, raisins, popcorn and animal crackers.

Planning and executing a large event such as this year’s African Winter Fantasy was a lot of work, so Barbara Follis asked to say "a big thank you . . . to all the PTO parents that helped. It’s not one person who does this, it’s a team effort; and I feel really lucky to know all of them."

[Jean Ann Carnley]

[MARCH 2, 2001]  Students at Lincoln Community High School (LCHS) are learning what it’s like to be a parent too soon. The nationally recognized "Baby Think It Over" program is giving students a parenting opportunity that may help them to make better lifestyle choices.

The program is in conjunction with the Logan County Healthy Communities Partnership.

This parenting unit is offered in the high school’s consumer education class, a course required for graduation, in an effort to get more young men to participate. The class is taught by Marsha Howland. "This is our second year participating in the program," she said. "The first year the program was not taken seriously by the students or by many of the teachers. But this year people seem to understand the program’s benefits, and it’s having better success."

LCHS has four dolls whose behavior is controlled by a battery-operated computer chip. According to Howland, the "Real Care Babies" are more lifelike than the ones used last year. Each baby can be programmed to one of 15 different schedules. Some settings require the student to provide a greater amount of care than others. The schedule selected determines how often the baby has to be handled. It could be as little as 11 times or as much as 33 times within a 24-hour period, the required length of parenthood. The babies come with a graph that indicates the level of care required for each schedule as well as the time that the care will be needed. Students pick the schedule that is most conducive to their lifestyle. A working student can choose a setting where the baby will be relatively quiet during their work hours or one that sleeps through the night.

The difficulty lies in determining why the baby is crying and attending to that specific need(s). Students must find out if the baby wants food, to be burped, needs a diaper change, wants to be rocked or if he is just fussy. Then they have two minutes to satisfy that need(s) and put a computerized key into the baby’s back to stop him from crying.

If the student fails to care for the baby within the allotted time, the computer records it as neglect.

The manner in which the baby is cared for is recorded in the microchip and is then downloaded by Ms. Howland once the babies are returned. The computer chip even records if the baby was handled incorrectly, such as if his head was unsupported, if the baby was put on his stomach or side too long, or if the baby was shaken or dropped. It also records how often the baby was fussy or happy.

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Students have to obtain written permission from their parents to participate in the program because they must agree to assume financial responsibility for the $350 doll. Permission also must be obtained from each of the student’s teachers because the baby can be a disruption to their class with its crying and suckling noises.

After all of this prenatal care, the student has to name the baby and must refer to the baby only by name throughout the simulation. Ms. Howland than delivers the 7-pound

Real Care Baby into the student’s arms, along with a stroller; a diaper bag with a bottle, two color-coated diapers, a instruction book for babysitters and daycare workers, and cans to mimic the actual weight of a real bag; a car seat; and a key that is used to stop the baby from crying after the correct need has been met.

After four hours of parenthood, Wesley Schaub and Amber Wright, both juniors, felt the experience is one that everyone should have. Schaub said that she felt overwhelmed. "My baby takes a lot of care," she said. "It’s a hassle." Wright said caring for her baby was not that bad, especially since the diaper wasn’t really messy.

Senior Jeff Jones, another participant, said, "A baby really opens your eyes. It gives you real responsibilities. It’s hard to concentrate in class with the baby." He admitted that he is not ready to be a father anytime soon.

Participants take a pre- and post-test, and their parents are asked to evaluate the program after it’s over. Howland said, "Many of the students and parents indicated that the program should be started in the earlier grades." Lincoln Junior High School and Chester-East are participating in the program using less-demanding models of the Baby Think It Over babies.

Students who choose not to participate in the program earn the credit by choosing a parenting topic from a preapproved list and writing a paper.

[Kym Ammons-Scott]

Zion School celebrates

[MARCH 2, 2001]  A family breakfast, a talent show, field trips and dress-up days are among the activities planned at Zion Lutheran School in Lincoln next week as it celebrates National Lutheran Schools Week.

Students will participate in "Chapel Family Fun Day" on Monday with games and pizza. Chapel families are small groups of students, each with a variety of ages, who sit together at the weekly chapel services.

The school science fair, for grades four to eight, is planned for Thursday. Class switch day on Friday will give the students the opportunity to attend class in different grades.

Zion Lutheran, now in its 27th year, is recognized by the state of Illinois and is accredited by National Lutheran School Accreditation. It is part of the nationwide network of Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod schools.

[News release]

Honors & Awards

[MARCH 7, 2001]  Bailey Bassi was named to the fall semester dean's list at Washington University, St. Louis. Bassi is the daughter of Kathleen Bassi and Dale and Susan Bassi of Lincoln. She is a sophomore literature major. Students must complete at least 14 semester hours and achieve a minimum grade point average of 3.5 to be named to the dean's list.

Announcements

[FEB. 15, 2001]  Applications for the Dwight F. Zimmerman Scholarship, sponsored by the Abraham Lincoln Healthcare Foundation, are currently available.

Applicants must be a graduating senior from Lincoln Community High School, Mount Pulaski High School, Olympia High School, Hartsburg-Emden High School or Illini Central High School, or a student currently attending Lincoln College.

All applicants who are chosen as finalists to interview with the scholarship selection committee will receive an award to be applied directly toward tuition, fees and books. The two top applicants will receive scholarships of $1,500. Other finalists will be awarded $500 scholarships.

Applications are available in the guidance offices of the above-listed schools. Applications are to be submitted to the Abraham Lincoln Healthcare Foundation, 315 Eighth St., Lincoln, IL 62656. The deadline to submit an application for the Zimmerman scholarship is April 6. For more information, call the foundation office at (217) 732-2161, Ext. 405.

People who wish to contribute to the scholarship fund may send their contributions to the Abraham Lincoln Healthcare Foundation, 315 Eighth St., Lincoln, IL 62656.

[FEB. 8, 2001]  Parents in the Mount Pulaski-Elkhart area who have a child who will be 5 before Sept. 1, 2001, should call the Mount Pulaski Grade School, (217) 792-7220, or Elkhart Grade School, (217) 947-2451, to register their child for kindergarten. This year the registration will be a phone-in process. After pertinent information has been submitted by telephone, parents will receive a packet of information and registration materials in the mail. Registration began Feb. 7 and continues through March 16. If you have any further questions, call the school where your child will attend.

School menus

• Lincoln Elementary Schools

• West Lincoln-Broadwell

Lincoln Elementary Schools

Breakfast menus

(Milk is served with all meals)

National School Breakfast Week

Thursday, Mar. 8 — Apple wedges with peanut butter, toast

Friday, Mar. 9 — Cereal, cinnamon toast, juice

Monday, March 12 — Cereal, bread and jelly sandwich, juice

Tuesday, March 13 — Silver dollar pancakes with syrup, sausage

Wednesday, March 14 — Cereal, cinnamon toast, juice

Thursday, March 15 — Cream of wheat, toast, fruit

Friday, March 16 — Cereal, graham crackers, juice

Monday, March 19 — Cereal, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, juice

Tuesday, March 20 — French toast sticks with syrup, fruit

Wednesday, March 21 — Cereal, pop tart, juice

Thursday, March 22 — Breakfast pizza, fruit

Friday, March 23 — Cereal, cinnamon toast, juice

Lunch menus

(Milk is served with all meals)

Thursday, Mar. 8 — Barbecue rib on bun, french fries, peas, peaches

Friday, Mar. 9 — Shrimp shapes with sauce, green beans, corn bread, pears

(Milk is served with all meals.)

Monday, March 12 — Ham sandwich on bun, french fries, pudding, corn

Tuesday, March 13 — Corn dogs, baked beans, rice crispy treat, strawberry applesauce

Wednesday, March 14 — Beefy nachos, peas, carrot sticks, pears

Thursday, March 15 — Oven-fried chicken, mashed potatoes, bread and butter, peaches

Friday, March 16 — Cheesy pizza sandwich, green beans, Trix yogurt, fruit cocktail

Monday, March 19 — Hamburger on bun with cheese, corn, carrot sticks, apricots

Tuesday, March 20 — Ravioli with meat sauce, mashed potatoes, bread and butter, pears

Wednesday, March 21 — Pepperoni pizza, lettuce salad, Jell-O, peaches

Thursday, March 22 — Homemade vegetable beef soup, peanut butter sandwich, celery stick, whipped dessert

Friday, March 23 — Fish sandwich with tartar sauce, green beans, hash brown, apple crisp

West Lincoln-Broadwell

Monday, Mar. 5 — No school: Casimir Pulaski Day

Tuesday, Mar. 6 — Barbecued chicken on bun, french fries, corn, mixed fruit

Wednesday, Mar. 7 — Creamed turkey on biscuit, whipped potatoes, peas, Jell-O

Thursday, Mar. 8 — Ham horseshoe, fries, raw veggies, pineapple

Friday, Mar. 9 — Soft pretzels with cheese sauce, tossed salad, fried veggies, apples

Monday, Mar. 12 — Tenderloin on plate, potatoes and gravy, cheese broccoli, applesauce

Tuesday, Mar. 13 — Chicken fillet on bun, french fries, corn, pears

Wednesday, Mar. 14 — Beef-a-roni, lettuce salad, green beans, garlic bread, fruit crisp

Thursday, Mar. 15 — Chicken nuggets, au gratin potatoes, slaw, fresh fruit

Friday, Mar. 16 — No school: Teacher’s Institute Day

Monday, Mar. 19 — Chicken noodle soup, combo meat sandwiches, raw veggies, fruit pie

Tuesday, Mar. 20 — Corn dog, nacho chips with cheese, corn, mandarin oranges

Wednesday, Mar. 21 — grilled Cajun chicken on bun, french fries, mixed veggies, applesauce

Thursday, Mar. 22 — Turkey tenders, cheesy potatoes, peas, Jell-O

Friday, Mar. 23 — Parmesan french bread with Italian cheese sauce, lettuce salad, mixed fruit

Monday, Mar. 26 — Cheeseburger on bun, french fries, baked beans, sugar cookie

Tuesday, Mar. 27 — Cream chicken on biscuit, whipped potatoes, peas, pears

Wednesday, Mar. 28 — "Cat dog" (two-cheese hot dog) on bun , potato coins, corn, pudding cup

Thursday, Mar. 29 — Tenderloin on bun, french fries, slaw, fruit

Friday, Mar. 30 — Cheese pizza, green beans, tossed salad, fruit turnover

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