Study Table Gives An Extra Nudge

The school day was over, but four students worked away at their math, health and history homework.

Teacher Kim Bishop slowly made his way from table to table, checking each girl, encouraging them along.

“How can we get you passing?” he asked one girl. To another, he suggested studying not only the night before a test, but several nights in a row, just 15 minutes.

When seventh-grader Elyse Miller wanted to go to the library to research just why one’s hair changes color after being in the sun a lot, Bishop steered her toward a resource right in the classroom.

“The library’s probably closed. … Do you think there’s anything in these health books?” Bishop offered.

This is study table. It’s a new program at Centennial Middle School designed to give students who have failed a test or missed homework assignments the impetus to get their grades up. For now, study table is designed for athletes, although any student is welcome. Any student on a team who is failing a class must spend a week in study table and will miss that week’s game.

“We just can’t allow our students to flunk,” said Amy Bragdon, Centennial principal.

She and other staff members emphasize that study table is an opportunity, not a punishment. And the four volleyball players who were in study table on Monday seemed to have gotten that message. Each girl agreed that the program is a good one.

“It’s not always fun, because you miss volleyball,” said Danielle Scharberg, a seventh grader. “But it’s a good chance to get your grades up and a quiet place to work. It’s a good idea.”

Danielle was in study table because she had failed a test in her pre-algebra class.

Eighth-grader Erica Ashley colored in letters for a cover to decorate her math notebook. She’d finished her history homework. She, too, was perfectly clear on why she was there: “If you don’t study for your test, you won’t pass,” she said.

For Stephanie Thiesfeld, another seventh-grader, the lesson learned was about homework: “They don’t take late assignments anymore. They did in sixth grade.”

At 3:30 p.m., at the end of the 40-minute session, the athletes are free to join their practice. They must give their coach a bright pink study table pass, to show they’ve been where they were supposed to be.

“OK, gals, you’re excused. Thank you for working so hard,” Bishop said.

Study table enrollment changes week by week. Bishop pulled out attandance sheets that showed as many as 21 students early in October. The numbers have dropped week by week, to 13, then 8. Most students are in no more than two weeks in a row, he said.

The second week in study table, each student and his or her parents meet with school officials to decide if there’s enough progress for that athlete to play in the next game.

Bragdon said she is most pleased about how well Centennial’s coaches have supported the program. Most parents have also supported the idea.

West Valley High School officials are discussing ways to adapt the program for high school athletes. That may come about next year, said athletic director Wayne McKnight. Any such plan would need school board approval.

The Wiz of the West

Actors and producers from the Children’s Theater of Missoula and more than 50 students at St. Mary’s Catholic School are performing in The Wiz of the West this week.

The story is the tale of the Wizard of Oz with a twist. Or is that a twister?

St. Mary’s students are learning their roles this week.

Performances are at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Trent Elementary School Auditorium, 3303 N. Pines.

Tickets are $5 for adults, $2.50 for students eighth-grade and younger. Tickets are available at St. Mary’s School or at the door.

East Valley musical boost

A visiting violinist, Daryl Silberman, wowed orchestra members at East Valley High School last week. Silberman played for Marla Pflanz’s students, emphasizing the variety of styles a musician can adopt.

“Daryl was wonderful,” said Diana Francis, a junior and a cello player, who learned from Silberman that there is a way to play fiddle music on a cello.

Sheldon Rippee, a sophomore violinist, said that in a culture which pretty much ignores stringed instruments, he was glad to learn from a musician who adapted well to working with teenagers.

“I wish she could have been playing for the whole high school, the way she did at the elementary schools,” Rippee said.

Rippee is a member of East Valley’s Strolling Strings, a group of about 25 musicians who will represent the school at the Midwest Strolling Strings Convention in Minneapolis on Nov. 13-15.

Cyclones at St. John Vianney

The Spokane Cyclones, a wheelchair basketball team, recently visited St. John Vianney School.

“During the Cyclones visit you could tell that the students were having fun by the loud cheers of encouragement when someone made a basket.

After that the students broke into discussion with the team members. They taked about their injuries, lifestyles and alternative means of doing everyday activities like driving a car or getting dressed.

“The members talked about how it doesn’t matter what’s on the outside, yet it’s what is on the inside that counts,” wrote Taylor Cox, eighth grader, and Erica Morbeck, seventh grader.

SHARE THE NEWS If you have news about classroom activities at Spokane Valley schools or about the achievements of Valley students, teachers or school staff, please let us know. Write: Marny Lombard, Valley Voice, 13208 E. Sprague, Spokane, WA 99216. Call: 927-2166. Fax: 927-2175. E-mail: marnyl@spokesman.com.