Brainerd Dispatch | www.brainerddispatch.com
Kids School Pages
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
1S
HX]dda EV\Zh MARCH 2012 Baxter
Forestview Middle School
Pequot Lakes
Central Lakes College
Garfield Elementary
Pine River/Backus Schools
Crosby/Ironton
Lake Region Christian School
Riverside Elementary
Crosslake Community School
Learning Tree Preschool
St. Francis Catholic School
Discovery Woods
Nisswa Elementary
Staples/Motley
Write On! NIE Week Top Student Essays If you were chosen for president of your class, what would you like to happen in your class that would make it a better place to learn?
1st – 3rd grade
4th – 6th grade
7th – 9th grade
1st Place – Rhea 2nd grade, Mrs Trettle, Garfield Elementary
1st Place – Emma Benson Grades 3-4 Multiage, Kathie Harman Eagle View Elementary
1st Place - Nessa Engen 7th grade, Mrs. Wiste Pequot Lakes Middle School
If I were class president the lockers wouldn’t go “SLAM!” That’s why I’d make sure kids are doing their work, follow rules, along with fun activities. When you learn you’re going to have some homework. If I were class president, kids wouldn’t be saying, “Uh…more homework!” Instead, if you don’t have anything encouraging or kind to say, just don’t say anything at all. If you follow the rules you won’t get notes in your assignment book. By following rules you will get to do fun activities. When you get your work done, and follow the rules, you’ll get to participate in fun activities. These fun activities could be playing games and other fun things. If I were class president, I’d try to do all these things to improve our class.
To be student class president is a privilege to be taken seriously. If I were to be elected to that role, there are a couple of topics that come to mind that I would propose to the student body. The first topic would be the use of iPads or Tablets in the classrooms. The weights of students’ backpacks are tremendously heavy and a burden to carry around. Having iPads would literally do away with the heavy textbook. I feel assignments could also be turned in to our teachers more efficiently via these devices. The second topic I would propose is that a class be offered to students in communication and etiquette. With all of the texting and emailing, humans are losing the ability to talk and socialize the old fashioned way. A lot of teenagers have phones, but only feel comfortable texting, not actually calling someone and talking. These are only two topics, but ones I feel are important to propose if I were class president.
2nd Place – Rachel Voges Grades 3-4 Multiage Kathie Harman, Eagle View Elementary
2nd Place – Libby O’Neil 3rd grade, Mrs. Kautto, Staples Elementary 3rd Place – Emme Brandt 1st grade, Mr. Petersen, Pillager Elementary Thank you to all the students who submitted essays for the NIE Week Write On! Contest, to teachers for their support of Newspapers in Education and to Kid Scoop, which provided the topic. For more information about Newspapers in Education or Increasing Literacy through Newspapers:
http://brainerddispatch.com/more
Teresa Hirst NIE Coordinator 218-855-5838
Click on NIE
teresa.hirst@brainerddispatch.com
2nd Place – Matthew Maybon 9th grade, Mrs. Schulte Brainerd High School South Campus
3rd Place – Kaisa Keller-Heikkila Grades 3-4 Multiage Kathie Harman, Eagle View Elementary
3rd Place – Megan Tschida 7th grade, Mrs. Eggen, Forestview Middle School
10th – 12th grade
1st Place – Brittany Bement 11th grade, Mr. Devine, Brainerd High School
If I was class president of the 2013 graduating class, I would change the things that have been overlooked. The most important thing that needs to be altered is the lack of recognition that average students receive. There is always that pressure to excel beyond individual capacity, and sometimes that isn’t good either. The best way to change this is to allow for more awards than just student of the semester, which only allows one student from each class to be recognized. In a school of around 500 students per grade, not many are given the opportunity to shine. Students are advanced in many
ways, most of which are not recognized and that is due to the competitiveness inside the classroom. It takes more than just sitting in a classroom by grade. Things such as GPA, work ethic, and overall learning ability should also be considered when creating a class of students. It will be more work, but will exemplify for every students’ needs; as opposed to hitting the random button on the computer. Students that feel less pressure in class feel better about their grades, and students that are proud of their academic success have a better schooling experience.
2nd Place – Aimeejoy Balko 11th grade, Mr. Fisher, Brainerd High School
3rd Place – Ryan Filikns 11th grade, Miss Kovacik, Lake Region Christian School