One Superintendent's Test of Endurance - Brief Article

School Administrator, Oct, 2001

A Streak Performer

In 27 years as superintendent in Alton, Mo., Edmond Gray never missed a school board meeting--some 324 consecutive sessions. That prompted his school board president to call him "the Cal Ripken of Alton schools," referring to the Baltimore Orioles infielder who holds the mark for consecutive major league game appearances.

Gray, despite retiring in June, says he has no intention of letting his attendance record end just yet. He told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "I will be here in July, but in the cheap seats in the back of the room."

A Fuzzy Finding

Is it possible to take seriously a national study on the ideal learning environment conducted by the Rug and Carpet Institute?

Our cynical sense at The School Administrator suggested this was worth a mention on the humor page.

The major survey finding based on responses from 1,050 teachers: A strong relationship exists between interior design and academic performance.

A Mover and Shaker

Cindy Marum-McKinney has a lot of control as principal of Westgate Elementary School in Edmonds, Wash., but not as much as some students think.

A class of 8th-graders was in the middle of a class lesson on earthquakes and plate tectonics when the classroom started to shake as a mid-morning earthquake rocked and rolled through the Seattle area.

Students later asked the principal if she had arranged to shake the school to give the presentation a more realistic feel.

A Room at Your House?

Gail Collins, a columnist with The New York Times, shared this in a recent piece about how school boards until recent years haven't had to worry about teacher supply:

"Boards of education could not only get away with paying the teachers next to nothing, they could make them live in the superintendent of schools' mother's back bedroom."

Triple Threat

Coincidence or conspiracy?

Schoolchildren who visited the wall of newspaper front pages from across the country at The Newseum in Arlington, Va., one summer day might have wondered.

There on the same day appeared page one stories in farflung places--The Dallas Morning News, The Leaf-Chronicle in Clarksville, Tenn., and The Honolulu Advertiser--detailing the restrictive new fashion rules that were going into effect this fall at their local schools. To emphasize the impact, the splashy news coverage included color photos to show the soon-to-be-taboo attire, such as open-toed shoes and logos on shirts.

Future Leaders?

High school students' reflections, contained in their applications for a scholarship program managed by AASA, on what it means to be a leader:

* "I don't know if I have leadership written all over my face. But in bossing people around, I'm great at that."

* "I have been the Junior Class President for three years.

Lost in Translation

Teachers of foreign languages in Melrose, Mass., have noticed some strange words and phrases showing up in students' homework assignments.

A Spanish student wrote that her mother often called her a good cabrito, or baby goat, while a student of Italian and pro football fan explained his joy in watching La Grande Ciotola or "The Big Soup Bowl."

Then the teachers at Melrose High School caught on; they discovered the students had first written the papers in English, then translated them with free and quick assistance from the Internet. The students used online translator services intended to foster international commerce and communication.

(Source: The Wall Street Journal)

They Said It

* "We're not Jerry Springer."--Garrard County, Ky.,'s school board chairman Joe Brown on why the board is considering limiting public comments at future board meetings.

* "What good does it serve for a student to write, 'I will not chew gum in class' 500 times?"--Bill Sloane, superintendent in Martin County, Ky., on his district's decision to abolish writing assignments as disciplinary penalties.

(Source: Kentucky School Boards Association)