FITNESS PROGRAM EMPHASIZES HEART HEALTH

The Edward Cardiovascular Institute has been a business partner with Naperville 203 for 13 years and has developed programs for students that emphasize lifelong cardiovascular health and fitness. These programs have become the basis of the Naperville 203 physical education curriculum, which has been recognized as a model for the nation by the Centers for Disease Control. Cholesterol levels in Naperville 203 students have gradually declined, and at least six heart conditions in students have been detected as a result of heart monitors implemented by ECI.

Other Highlights

• The 2002 School Report Card showed strong performance again this year. Average ACT exam scores in Naperville 203 came in at 24.4, a halfpoint drop from last year, and 86% of all students were meeting or exceeding state learning standards, compared with the state average of 60%.

• Kennedy Junior High was one of 170 schools nationwide, and one of only three in Illinois, to earn a National Blue Ribbon Award of Excellence from the U.S. Department of Education.

• A follow-up survey and analysis of voters was conducted. It showed that there were roughly five groups of voters: Education Boosters (19%); Skeptics (18%); Skeptics redux (19%); School personnel supporters (25%); and Plant and equipment supporters (19%). The Board of Education said it wanted to learn more about why people supported or didn’t support the referendum, and wanted to talk to people about their concerns and issues with the District.

Kennedy Teacher Shapes Learning In Polar Regions

As part of Naperville 203’s professional learning experience, Kennedy Junior High teacher Louise Huffman attended a National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) regional conference and was inspired by polar explorer Will Steger.

After his talk, Huffman was hooked on what she referred to as the “highest, driest, windiest, coldest, cleanest place on earth.” She presented newly created polar science curriculum at the Antarctic Institute at Hamline University in Minnesota, then applied for and was accepted to attend a trip of a lifetime. She was chosen as one of 12 teachers nationwide to participate in Teachers Experiencing Antarctica and the Arctic in 2002.

“Naperville was a great place to teach,” she said recently. “They gave teachers the freedom to explore and grow.” The three-month study and her substitute were paid for by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

On the excursion, Huffman stayed near McMurdo Station in the Dry Valleys, on the southern edge of Antarctica and helped scientists by mapping streams and studying algae, moss, and other life forms that live in small streams that trickle from the mountains during the summer in Taylor and Wright Valleys. She shared her work with her Naperville students daily in an online journal and connected them with many of the scientists working near McMurdo that season so the students could ask questions of the experts. Huffman and her teaching team’s enthusiasm for the excursion spread to the entire school, which held an Antarctica Day, and eventually to the entire district.