Ramsey Resident - 1985 - January

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-- -,.......- -- ---- ~ Ramsey Resident, January 1985 - Page 11 / -" Amity Aide Program The spotlight was on District No. 11 's Am ity Aide program last week as the director of Amity Institute toured Anoka-Hennepin foreign language classes and met with teachers and ad- ministrators. Dr. Christopher Stowell, director of the Amity Institute in California and son of the institute's founder, visited foreign language classes at Anoka and Coon. Rapids Senior High Schools. Presently, the school district has six amity aides, three at Coon Rapids Senior High and three at Anoka Senior High. Two additional aides are scheduled to arrive second semester at Northdale Junior High School. Amity Institute is a clear- inghouse for selection and processing of amity aides for schools nationwide. The Ami- ty Institute was founded by Dr. and Mrs. Ernest and Emily Stowell, in Eau Claire; Wisconsin, over 20 years ago. "The Stowells were pro- Winners of the reading contest at Ramsey Elementary School were (left to right) Chad Evans, grade four, David Butler, grade one, Andy Prekker, kindergarten, Jimmy Rinehart, grade two, and Craig Olson, grade three. They are pictured here with Principal Paul Reifenberger wearing a Miss Piggy mask. Reifenberger wore the mask when he went to read to classes as part of Pig Out On Books, the school's reading contest. Ramsey Elementary School Principal Paul Reifenberger marked Children's Book Week, Nov. 12 through 16, by reading to students throughout the week. Here he captures the attention of second graders with the story of "Wriggles the Wishing Pig." Students competed in a book reading contest entitled "Pig Out on Books." Winners at each grade level received gift certificates for a "Pig Trough" at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor. To earn a certificate to enter in the con. test drawing, children in kindergarten through grade three had to read or have read to them five easy books; third and fourth graders had to read three books. "We had some children who had earned as many as ten certificates," said Reifenberger. "I have never heard so many comments from parents . all positive. The children put pressure on their parents to read, too." To wrap up the class', children come together to playa simple game - throwing balls through the hoop held by instructor Julie Swokowski. Aquatics Program Offered for Handicapped Children and Their Parents Handicapped children and their parents learned how to have fun together in the water through a new aquatics pro- gram offered this fall at Roosevelt pool through the Anoka-Hennepin School Dis- trict No. 11 Community School Program. Some children in the pro- gram were a bit scared at first, but by the third class, many were eagerly jumping into the pool, learning to put their faces in the water, floating, and playing simple games. Instructor Julie Swokowski, who has a degree in adapted physical education plus cer- tification in adapted aquatics, said she has seen a lot of change in the children in just three short class periods. "The first week, most of the kids just screamed, but now they are learning to have fun," said Swokowski. Because the class includes children of various abilities, Swokowski spends a great deal of time working in- dividually with parent and child. Each child has a separate I ist of ski lis to work on in the class - things such as floating, holding their breath, jumping into shallow water, pushing balloons through the water, etc. The list of skills are posted on a large blackboard at the side of the pool. Each time a child masters a new skill, Swo- kowski places a special marker next to it onthe board. "Tne kids and parents get really excited when they can put a marker up for another skill. They see real ac- complishment," she said. . Though some of the child- ren will probably not learn to swim well, they can learn to f:njoy the water. "That's the ,nain emphasis of the. pro- gram. We want to give parents some ideas for ways they can have tun in the water with their children and feel comfor- . table while they are doing it," she said. Parents are enthusiastic about the class and happy that it is now available for them. June Fairley said her son didn't like being in the *~ ~ , ~l' .,)7 rr,.. ..... water at all at first, but now he's beginning to enjoy it. "My husband and I wanted something like this where we could be in the water with Jason and learn ways.to make it fun for him," she said. "He really likes it, he's doing great, he's starting to be able to get his face in the water." . "Mrs. Fairley said she would recommend . the class to others. "I think it's good for anyone, even for children who can't walk," she said. Mary Jo Trasco said her son hasn't yet learned to have fun in the swimming pool, but she believes he's getting used to water. "He seems to be get- ting more relaxed, and I think that's good," she said. "Jon has swimming in school, so I think it's important that he get used to the water and start learning to enjoy it." The five week program will be offered again. The class is limited to eight parent-child teams and it will be held if at least five register. For more information, call Bill Arndt, Anoka-Hennepin aquatics . director, 755-8220. fessors at Eau Claire State University who wanted to utilize foreign nationals as in- structional assistants irf their foreign language classes," said Dr. Robert Blaine, secon- dary curriculum coordinator for the Anoka-Hennepin School District. '~The experi- ment was so successful, they were asked to secure native speakers for la,;"guage class- es in other educational in- stitutions and thus began Amity Institute," he said. The Stowells later moved the Amity Institute to Califor- nia where it continues today. Over 100 amity aides are now serving in schools throughout the nation. The Anoka-Hennepin Amity Aide program began in the. 1971-1972 school year with 13 aides. It grew to 24 aides at its peak in 1979. As a result of budgetary cuts, the amity aide program was discontinued three years ago. "The eight amity aides have now been contracted through individual building budget allocations this year," Blaine said. Blaine explained that the amity pro- gram provides a very valuable service to students, staff and community. Working with teachers, the aides model the target language, cultural ex- periences, and work in- dividually with students. The community benefits through the participaton of host fami- lies. The aides serve voluntari- ly, a peace corp in reverse, so to speak, receiving only a small gratuity from the school district. The community, through the hospitality of its residents, host the aides in their homes for either a semester or full year. "The value of having a vibrant foreign person in the home is immeasurable," Blaine said. "Lasting friendships are not uncommon so that the families of amity aides, many times, host the American families when they are travel- ing abroad." Ramsey Elemenfary School Principal Paul Reifenberger registers to vote with kindergartners in a mock election Nov. 6. Lois Ballinger has her kindergartners vote in every presidential election. She gave students ballots with pictures of Walter Mondale and Ronald Reagan and checked to make sure each child could identify fhe two before marking them in a miniature voting booth she had rigged up in her classroom. Garth Lappin, director of secondary education in Anoka-Hennepin School Distric't 11, was. honored for 35 years of service to the school district. The Anoka-Hennepin School Board honored him during Pride Week, Nov. 11 through 17. He was presented with a pen set by School Board Chairman Larry Johnson (left). Lappin was first employed in the district in 1949, directly after - graduating from the University of Minnesota. He taught history and coached wrestling at Anoka High School. He served as a counselor at Anoka Junior High and as principal at both Coon Rapids Junior and Coon Rapids Senior High Schools. He was appointed coordinator of secondary curriculum in 1967 and director of secondary education in 1971. Cont. from page 10 resource to teachers who have been trained as group facilitators. They may also co- lead some groups in some schools. Although the focus of the social workers will be in the elementary schools, they will cover the secondary schools on an "on-call" basis. Sutter is optimistic that the increased social worker staff will be able to provide more of the help elementary school students need to develop cop- ing skills to deal with pro- blems in their personal lives. "We have always focused more in the past on helping the secondary student with these kinds of problems. Now with, more emphasis on the elementary schools, we hope we can help kids learn to deal with problems early so they will have developed coping skills and have fewer pro- blems as they move into . junior and senior high," said Sutter. For more information. on the program, contact Judy Sutter, student services coor~ dinator, 755-8220. -'. - - - -- .