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~ Effective Schools/School Improvement Process I-I Anoka-Hennepin School District 11 received a $10,000 grant from the Medtronic Foundation that will be used to train resource teachers as part of the school district's Ef- fective Schools/School Im- provement Process. "We are pleased that the Medtronic Foundation is ex- tending this grant to our dis- trict in support of the training of resource teachers," said Jerry Lerom, administrator for Effective Schools. The grant will help fund the estimated $85,430 .cost of training 42 resource teachers over the next three years. The school district is just completing its first year. of the Effective Schools/School Im- provement Process, which is designed to increase student achievement. Effective Schools is a process through which a building leadership team consisting of the princi- pal-and several teachers sys- tematically analyzes the needs of its own school and then develops and implements a plan to meet those needs. Resource teachers are a key part of the Effective Schools Process. The primary task of the resource teacher will be to assist other teachers in in- structional matters. Each elementary school will have one half-time resource teach- er; each secondary school will have two half-time resource teachers. The school district currently uses resource teachers in the program for gifted and talent- ed students. These resource teachers conduct workshops on effective teaching strate- gies and then model those strategies in the classroom for other teachers to observe. Medtronic Foundation makes grants each year in the areas of health care, culture and community services in ad- dition to education. The foundation sought grant requests in areas of edu- cation related to school-based management, teachers' prog- rams that allow them to oper- ate an educational business and increased. community in- volvement in K-12 education. "District support of this pro- gram (Effective Schools). . . convinced us that this one- time $10,000 grant was an ap- propriate way to aid you in a successful first year with 'this program, even though it is not one of our top priorities at this time," said Jan Schwarz, man- ager of The Medtronic Founda- tion in a letter to Lerom. The foundation focuses its grant awards on communities where Medtronic plants are 10- catea. Medtronic, the world's leading l11anufacturer of im- plantable medical devices, has a research facility in Coon Rapids. Amity Aid Program to Expand I .. Following the recommenda- tion of a curriculum study committee, the Amity Aide program in Anoka-Hennepin will be expanded next year to better meet the needs of for- eign language students. Through the nationwide Amity Institute, young adults from Spanish, French and Ger- man speaking countries spend time helping teach foreign I a n g u age sin A m e r-i can schools. Before budget cuts were made in Anoka-Hennepin several years ago, over a dozen Amity Aides were employed in the district's secondary schools each year. The budget has allowed for only a handful ~ r" $ I ~ ./ !. ....../.N.~ ~~~ -"v ,f_ ~. ~'~''-c... 'w:1~~"lJ.' . .'. ~*---~ I ) l' ) I If I ' I; I of aides the last several years, however. "We believe the program is so beneficial for students that we will increase the number of aides next year to bring it back to the level it was at before cuts were made," said Steve Farrell, foreign language con- sultant. Amity Aides spend three hours each day assisting foreign language teachers in the classroom and three hours taking courses at the school to which they are assigned. "There is nothing better than having a live native speaker in the classroom," said Nancy Robehl, a Spanish teacher at Anoka High ,School who has worked with Amity Aides since 1972 when the program was first instituted in AnOka-Hennepin. "An Amity Aide is better than a book, a movie, a tape, or a picture. You have SOmeone who can re- spond to the student's ques- tions about the culture, some- one who knows the latest slang." Farrell said Amity Aides "can make the culture come alive "'for ,students. They can bring experience to the class- room that the foreign langu- age teacher hasn't had." Having an Amity' Aide makes it easier for students to get more individual attention in the class. The teacher can Don't Miss It! ADMISSION: Adults $6.00 Children 5-12 $3.00 Under 5 Free Sr, Citizens $3.00 A Sporting Event For The Entire Family In The Real Out-Of-Doors · Shooting Events · Fishing Exhibits · Campings & RV Equipment · Boats, Motors · Trailers · Informal Dog Trials · Water & Land Retrieving · Hunting Exhibits · Fishing Seminars · Super Stars · Decoys, Woodcarvings · Taxidermy · Wild Game Cooking · Duck & Goose Calling Contests break the class into small groups -- the aide works with one group while the teacher works with another. Although Juan Carlos Or- donez, a native of Colombia, South America, is an industrial engineer, he joined the Amity Aide program because he wanted to.leiun to speak Eng- lish more fluently and because he wanted to know more about life in the United States. "I en- joy sharing friendship and my culture with students," he said. In additIon to helpIng Robehl teach Spanish classes and taking classes at Anoka High School, he also attends classes at the College of St. Thomas. Amity Aides live with host families during the school year. The host family provides rOOm and board and includes the Amity Aide in family ac- tivities as an "adopted" son or daughter, explained Farrell. They are paid a small stipend for their work in the school .district. Most Amity Aides are in their early to mid 20's, all have had at least one to two years college experience in their native country and are fairly fluent in English. Anyone wishing to serve as a host family for an Amity Aide can contact Steve Farrell at the Educational Service Center: 755-8220, or their child's foreign language teacher. 2 Big Weekends August 24-25 & Labor Day Weekend, Aug. 31; Sept. 1, 2, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Armstrong Ranch Kennels Ramsey 612-427 -0944 " , I: k I' I' 'I I I ----- -- .~ ~ I --I