"Many kids find school boring and some drop out. A teacher in South Valley School wants to make school more fun for kids. He uses a map of the United States in a gym to combine geography with physical educational games. Creative teachers using ideas like this help keep kids off the street and promote school instead of violence and drugs." Ryan Stanton, Colby High School, Colby, Kansas
"Some schools in Spokane, Washington, have started a program called Stay In School. This program offers students prizes for staying in school." Keith Parker, Wallace High School, Wallace, Idaho
"In ten states the National Guard has developed a program to assist high school dropouts who wish to complete their high school education. They send the teens through a boot-camp like program which is designed to boost interest in learning and increase self esteem." Mike Godfrey, Phoenix High School, Phoenix, Oregon
*Encouraging academic achievement:
"My high school has many great ideas, one of which is our Renaissance Program. Students with good grades, citizenship, and attendance are rewarded with cards that allow certain advantages. They can go out for lunch, receive business discounts, homework passes, and some may even choose a day off from school. This program challenges teenagers to achieve their best, while giving them a start to a successful life." Shelly Miller, Colby High School, Colby, Kansas
"The junior high school in my home town has installed a teams program that strives to reach kids and raise test scores on the Texas Academic Achievement Skills test." Jill Walser, Hereford High, Hereford, Texas
"Everyone from Walmart to Daughters of the American Revolution are rewarding excellent students for their achievements and interest in continued study. This encourages many students to do their best in everything and reach the goals they set. Organizations such as these are acting responsibly by promoting good behavior." Alice Elizabeth Juvenal, Blue Ridge High School, Blue Ridge, Texas
"One program that propels blacks toward college is the Love of Learning program at North Carolina's Davidson College. This minority enrichment program recruits promising young students from the nearby Charlotte-Mecklenberg public school system who are in the middle of their class. Students are selected in the eighth grade and must spend the next five summers at the program. Students attend meetings twice a month where they work on English and math and review for the SAT. a Parents must promise to attend quarterly meetings where they discuss such things as high school course selection and college financial aid. All 29 students that began the first year have gone on to college." Lanna Renee Hill, Danville High School, Danville, Kentucky"New York Jets' wide receiver Rob Moore is very active in education. His most important project is aimed at talented high school football players who are not as gifted in the classroom. His Books and Ball Camp is a week-long program run during the summer. In it, sixty high school juniors spend their mornings in the classroom, sharpening their academic skills in preparation for the college entrance exams. Afternoons are spent on the field for the purpose of sharpening their athletic skills. Motivational speakers appear from time to time, as well." Craig Sjostrom, Central Islip High School, Central Islip, New York"Danville High School, in Danville, Kentucky, has recently instituted a program called AVID, or Advancement Via Individual Determination. The program is to help students who ordinarily would not attend college to prepare for it by learning work and study skills. Teachers and tutors are available to help with academics, support, and motivation. AVID is a program conceived in the San Diego schools which has spread to other schools and become successful." Dee Hazelrigg, Danville High School, Danville, Kentucky"In Texas Adopt a School programs furnish Mexican pupils and teachers with critical supplies, personal attention and raise money for new schools." Jennifer Waddell, Rock Hill Senior High School, Ironton, Ohio"In my school district, each school has formed a partnership-in-education with a local business or industry. The partner provides the school with many needed supplies and equipment. They also provide students with motivators and incentives to learn, such as folders, pencils and bumper stickers for making the honor or merit rolls." Jeremy Wyatt, Camden High School, Camden, TennesseeSecretary of Education, Richard Riley launched his family involvement campaign at a speech at Georgetown University on February 15, 1994. The campaign's goal is to encourage adults to take a special interest in young people's schooling. Parents are provided with a series of concrete steps they can take to further their children's education. A week earlier the Senate passed Goals 2000; Educate America Act which sets voluntary national standards for education, and the School-to-Work Opportunities Act, designed to better prepare those students who don't attend college for the job market. Goals 2000 started out with 400 pages, but the defining regulations promise to add at least 4,000 pages more. Politicians habitually dump on the schools, social problems they have not been able to successfully handle; problems ranging from drug abuse and reckless driving to teenage crime and pregnancy. Secretary Riley admitted that before politicians address the problems "teachers and principals are already directly confronting violence, the breakdown of the family, ethnic and racial tension and the growing mismatch between the classroom and the job market." "Other schools are making efforts to involve parents and are seeing positive results. Parent-teacher conferences at Kinsley High School were moved to the cafeteria, a central location, so the parents would feel less intimidated. The conferences were also moved to the evening to accommodate working parents. The result has produced a 90 percent attendance rate by the parents. Allen Elementary School, also making adjustments for the convenience of the parents, had 80 percent participation in a family reading night and 100 percent attendance at parent-teacher conferences for a number of classes. Some teachers, too, are making an extra effort to shorten the gap between parents and the child's education. A teacher at Aleln Elementary added something new to parent-teacher conferences. She asked each parent to write a positive note to their child about what they had learned at the conference. The next day, the teacher gave the notes to the children. For some it was the first time they had received a compliment about schoolwork from their parents. One student taped the note inside her notebook. The triangle between the student, the teacher, and the parents proves to be important. In Alton, Illinois volunteer parents replaced the art program after budget cuts forced the art teachers to be laid off. The positive efforts of these parents do make a difference." Michelle Proberts, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, KansasKansas