Ramsey Resident - 1985 - January

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, , , I I l - t '" ',. r Page 10 - Ramsey Resident, January 1985 School' Board Sets Levy Anoka-Hennepin District 11 School Board set a levy Oc- tober 8 of $35.9 million on pro- perty taxes to pay the local share of the school district's expenses. Although that is a $2 million increase over the previous year's levy, it is near- ly $2 million less than the maximum $37.8 million levy allowed by law. The Board is levying nearly the maximum allowed in the General Fund, which pays the bulk of educational expenses. The General Fund levy is $25,022,419 rather than the maximum of $25,779,110 allowed, primarily because the Board 'chose not to levy the full amount allowed for next year's summer school program. "We are not levying to the extent possible in sum- mer school because we feel' under an obligation to the tax- payers to keep some con- straints on the levy," said Superintendent Lewis Finch. The Board also levied $4.7 million for the Capital Outlay fund which pays the cost of building renovation and major equipment purchases. While this is again less than the maximum allowed by law, it is an increase over the $2 million capital outlay levy ap- proved last year. The Board had levied as lit- tle as possible in that fund two years in a row after it had promised the voters to do so in exchange for approving an excess levy two years ago. "We feel we kept faith with the taxpayer when we kept the capital outlay down two years in a row. It is still less' than the maximum in several categories," said Superinten- dent Finch. The increased capital outlay levy this year was needed primarily to cover the' cost of major computer pur- chases for the schools. Following is a summary of the 1984 tax levy: Fund General Transportation Community Servo Capital Outlay K-12 Debt Servo A VTI Debt Servo A VTI Construct. Grand Total All Funds Maximum , Levy Allowed $25,779,110.95 1,959,806.27 868,346.10 5,711,093.72 3,224,468.65 134,895.72 184,600.00 $37,862,321.41 Recommended Levy $25,022,419.26 1,959,806.27 650,288.95 4,795,464.87 3,216,515.00 134,800.00 184,600.00 35,963,894.35 / TED: Volunt at':,Ramsey Se't, Moms, Dads, Gi' ,., etc., anyone vvbp..h~ and energy,eng.,vvOu be part ofan,.~v~~"'m~ Volunteer (~rogr~rT],i;: school, cbntact&~athY!..}~rnr at 753-4q39~ ~I~ase,joi~il us; you'll find, it fun and very 'rewarding fbr yourself and the students at Ramsey. Social Worker Program expanded Worry about divorce in the family, alcohol use of a parent, and other personal problems can make it difficult for 'a child to concentrate on school work. To help youngsters cope with such problems, Anoka- Hennepin School District No. ,11 expanded its social worker program this fall to focus directly" 'on elementary schools. With the addition of four social workers, each elemen- tary school in the district now has the services of a social worker at least one full day per week. "The purpose of the ex- panded program is to provide more services directly to the elem~ntary schools. In the past, our two social workers covered kindergarten through grade 12 on a crisis basis," .. ..--- ."'- said Judy Sutter, student ser- vices coordinator. "Now schools will provide more ongoing, preventative kinds of services rather than concentrating on putting out fires." Sutter 'explai ned that team work will be emphasized to provide comprehensive help for students. The social workers, the s,chool psy- chologists, nurses and chemical awareness resource persons will work with the principal and the rest of the staff to provide coordinated support services for students, staff ,and parents. Psychol- ogists and social workers will be scheduled in elementary schools the same day, so they can meet weekly with Child Study Teams. (These teams, composed of teachers, prin- cipals, social workers, Mary, Ehling', student newspaper advisor at Anoka High School, was named Min- nesota Journalism Advisor of the Year. The Anokahi, Anoka High School's student newspaper, was one of three high school newspapers in the state to receive the All Minnesota Newspaper Award presented by the Minnesota High School Press Association at its September convention. This year's seniors who worked on the award winning paper last year include (back row, leU to right) Lee Ingrassia, Mark Malmberg, Kerry Engels, Kari Youngquist, (front row) Patty Hass, Laurie Kielty, Lisa Schellenberg and Darlene Derr. Laurie and Lisa are co-editors of the newspaper this year. Mary Ehling (back row, right) is the faculty advisor for the newspaper. Mary Ehling Named Journalisl11 Advisor of the Year, Mary Ehling, English teacher and advisor of the Anoka High School student newspaper, was named Journalism Ad- visor of the Year by the Min- nesota High School Press Association at its September convention. "I was really surprised and honored," said Ehling. As a member of the executive board of journalism advisors, Ehling has always been in- volved in the selection of the Advisor of the Year. "This year they must have made their choice at a meeting I missed, because it really came as a surprise," she said. She' believes she was selected for the award partly because of her involvement in the state organization. She has taught at Minnesota High School Press Association workshops and the annual fall convention, and has served on the Executive Board of Journalism Advisors for the past five years. She also edits the board's newsletter. The fact the the Anokahi is an award-winning newspaper was probably also part of the decision. The paper has con- sistently won awards from the National Scholastic Press Association and the Colum- bia Press Association. Last year, as in the past, the newspaper won the Afl- Minnes,ota Newspaper Award, presented annually to only three high schOol newspapers each year by the Minnesota High School Press Associa- tion. "There is quite a bit of turn- over in journalism advisors in Minnesota, so the fact that I 'have stuck with the job for quite awhile may have had something to do with me be- ing selected for the award, - also," said Ehling. Ehling began teaching En- glish at Anoka High School in 1975. She served as yearbook advisor there two years before taking the newspaper advisor assignment in 1977. She en- , joys the job primarily because she likes working with the type of students who work on the school newspaper. "The quality of the kids I work with really makes it fun: They are, inquisitive, fun-loving, and they take responsibility for their work seriously," she said. "We spend a, lot of time together outside of class, especially when there is a deadline coming up, so we get _ to know each other really well an d t hat's ,f un. " E hi i n g estimates that she and many of her students spend an average of six to 10 hours a week after school working on the newspaper. Many students who take the class as juniors decide to continue it in their senior year as well. In addition to putting out a newspaper, Ehling concen- trates on teaching students basic journalism skills, since many are interested in pursu- ing careers in journalism- related fields. "Most of the students come in with pretty good writing skills, so I don't have to teach them basics of gram- mar, but we work a lot on writing lead paragraphs, writing concisely, gathering news, and writing in a news style, which is different from what they are used to," said Ehling. Students also learn photography, page layout, how to interview, and more. psychologists, nurses, and special education teachers, meet to discuss special needs of individual students.) The social workers will do some individual short-term counseling with students and make referrals for long-term counseling if - they feel it is needed. They will also serve as resources for teachers'who - want to know how they can 'best help students cope with - problems 'and change their behavior if necessary. ,"The classroom teacher will continue to be the person responsible for'monitoring a student's progress and behavior," said Sutter. "The , social worker and psycholo- gist will help the teacher es- tablish behavior plans for indi- vidual stCJdents and develop strateg ies for worki ng with these stude-nts, but the teacher is really the key." Teachers are already begin- ning to see results from the expanded program. "I have never seen a program that has The groups were designed to had an impact as quickly as help build self-esteem in the social workers," said children who are shy and Frank Meuers, a teacher at' withdrawn or acting out in Evergreen Pa(k Elementary school. School. Sherrie McAloon, a As a result of these groups, Wilson Elementary School teachers found the need for Teacher, added that the social more help for students with workers have "already been.k personal problems. Many of very helpful." the children in these groups The social. worker program have problems related to the was expanded in response to chemical use of their parents. a need elementary teachers The Health Curriculum Com- saw in their students, accor- mittee, which studied the ding to Sutter. "Many elemen-' support groups as part of its tary teachers expressed to me overall study of health ser- and other administrators that vices and health - education, nearly every classroom has at recommended that these least one or two children who groups be made a voluntary can't concentrate on school component of each school's work because of personal pro- chemical awareness program. blems. The teachers felt they Sutter said a goal of the pro- really needed a person they gram is to have two teachers could turn to for help for in each elementary school these children," said Sutter. trained as group facilitators As part of the- chemical by the middle of the 1984-85 awareness program, some school year. elementary schools piloted The social workers will be a student support groups and Cont. to page 11 friendship groups last year.