Students act on their Constitutional rights

Students at Holy Family Catholic School recently stepped back in time – more than 200 years – for Constitution Day.

The assembly was a learning experience that included the whole school. Seventh- and eighth-graders dressed up, portraying significant characters, either playing a part in the Constitution or what the result of the Constitution represented.

George Washington and Ben Franklin made an essential appearance; along with the first woman to vote; a young man reading the newspaper, portraying his freedom of speech; and a priest and a young man praying, shared their freedom of religion.

The younger classes colored pictures of the United States and learned of their importance. During the assembly, students were taught the preamble to the Constitution with sign language.

Revised calendar posted online

The Coeur d’Alene School District has revised the calendar for the 2010-’11 school year and has posted the calendar on the district website.

As stated on the website, the calendar reflects the elimination of six furlough days that had been scheduled for the current school year, due to an approximate 3.2 percent pay cut to district employees as a result of the Coeur d’Alene Education Association and the district’s recent contract negotiations.

The district was able to cancel the furlough days due to a federal jobs bill, distributed by the Idaho State Board of Education. The district received $1.8 million from the bill and used approximately $1.2 million to eliminate the furlough days.

The district will also reinstate spring parent-teacher conferences to the 2010-’11 school calendar. The conference day was eliminated in the original calendar so students would meet state requirements for instructional days.

The Post Falls School District has also canceled its furlough days for the current school year after receiving $1 million from the federal jobs bill.

Post Falls teachers had also received a 3.2 percent pay cut due to contact negotiations, but were scheduled to take five mandatory furlough days.