Charter Academy teacher receives grant
Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy students will be able to make a DVD yearbook next year thanks to a $400 grant teacher Heather Solsvik received from the Northwest Professional Educators.
The grant will pay for a digital video camera, a key ingredient in a DVD yearbook that the school was lacking.
“We planned to do it this year but didn’t have the equipment or money to pull it off, so this grant will help us get the project off the ground,” Solsvik said in an e-mail.
The DVD is expected to be sold separately from the traditional yearbook to cover costs.
“The scary part is I’ve never done this before, and have no clue how to edit video on the computer,” Solsvik said. “Fortunately many of my students have taken a computer science class and learn all of those snazzy skills.”
The NWPE awards teacher scholarships and classroom grants twice a year. All educators are eligible, though NWPE members get first preference. The next application deadline is Oct. 31. Visit the group’s Web site at www.nwpe.org for more information.
Charter school founder featured in gubernatorial news release
Speaking of the NWPE and the charter academy, academy founder and renowned English teacher Bill Proser was featured in a news release from Gov. Butch Otter’s office touting the NWPE. Otter declared April 23 to be “Northwest Professional Educators and Teachers Choice Day.”
His wife, Lori, signed a proclamation declaring such as Proser, NWPE Executive Director Cindy Omlin and Sandi Long, a teacher at Eagle Middle School, looked on.
“Our members are teachers by calling and professionals by choice,” Omlin said in a news release. “We allow their voices to be heard by providing an open forum for a respectful exchange of ideas.”
NWPE is a nonprofit professional educators’ organization that rivals traditional teacher unions like the National Education Association.
Otter’s proclamation will likely be seen by many as a testament to his liking of charter schools and school choice and his disapproval of lobbying unions like the NEA.
Kindergarten registration coming
The Coeur d’Alene School District will hold kindergarten registration May 15 from 9:30 a.m. to noon at all 10 elementary schools. A child must be 5 years old by Sept. 1 to enter kindergarten this fall.
Pam Pratt, director of elementary education, said registering in the spring gives students priority in school placement and enables the child to be scheduled for a readiness assessment to determine whether he or she should be in the half-day or full-day program.
When registering, parents must provide proof of residence (a current utility bill with name and address), a certified birth certificate and immunization records. Children entering Idaho schools are required to have 5 DTP, 3 polio vaccines, 2 MMR and 3 Hepatitis B shots. Any parent who chooses not to immunize must bring a signed waiver. Waiver forms are available at the school district administration center.
Although kindergarten is not mandatory in Idaho, children who complete kindergarten gain academic and social skills that prepare them for first grade, according to a news release from the Coeur d’Alene School District.
Through a supplemental levy passed in 2003 and renewed in 2005, the district was able to implement a full-day program for students who need extra help to develop reading and math comprehension. Last year, 86 percent of the extended-day kindergarten students reached “proficiency” level by year’s end, according to the district.
Coeur d’Alene’s kindergarten curriculum includes language arts, math, science, social studies, music, art and P.E. Examples of what students learn include: pre-reading/reading skills, writing simple sentences, identifying coins, writing numbers up to 20, counting to 110, telling time, identifying shapes, and the concepts of addition and subtraction.
In science, students learn about the weather and the characteristics of plants and animals. In social studies, children use globes and maps, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and are taught about citizenship, common courtesies and respect for others.
Any family who is unsure of their attendance area or needs more information should call the district office at (208) 664-8241.
Distance academy student to Boys State
A student at the online school Idaho Distance Education Academy will participate in Boys State, a summer leadership and citizenship program sponsored by the American Legion for students in their junior year in high school.
Joel Schaefer, son of Neal and Barbara Schaefer of Coeur d’Alene, will be in Boise June 3 through June 9.
Boys State participants are divided up into “cities” that campaign and elect officials, representatives and senators in mock elections on the municipal, county and state level. If you know of any other area students selected, please notify the newspaper using the contact information below.