Wednesday, October 19, we had visitors from Leeds High School. Mrs. Moser and her sophomore students came to the Grand Forks Herald to learn about the newspaper and explore career opportunities. They participate in the Herald’s Newspapers in Education Program.
Leeds sophomore students in the paper storage room at the Grand Forks Herald Production Plant.
Leeds sophomore students and bus driver Gary in the pressroom at the Grand Forks Herald Production Plant.
Here is a wonderful example of students making a difference. The article and photo were submitted by Mrs. Clark, Business & Marketing teacher/DECA Advisor from Grand Forks Central High School. Thank you for sharing Mrs. Clark!
Grand Forks Central High School Students and Staff wearing Pink on Pink Out DayIn support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Central DECA Chapter, made up of marketing students, has gone above and beyond. They developed activities to raise awareness and money to for the American Cancer Association.
It started with a couple of marketing students talking about their experience with others who had cancer. After that, the Chapter took off with ideas to build a Breast Cancer Awareness project. The Chapter kicked off the project by selling bracelets and filling a wall with pink ribbons. Each pink ribbon represented someone who had cancer and people shared their stories of faith hope, and love. In preparation for PINK OUT day, 270 T-shirts were sold to students and staff with the logo; “Real Knights Wear PINK”.
PINK OUT day was held on October 27, with over 250 students and staff wearing the pink T-shirts. During the day, tickets were being sold for a chance to win one of the 14 Raffle Baskets. Drawing for the baskets took place at the volleyball game that night, with the winners announced at the game. The prizes were donated by local businesses and organizations.
Donating over $1,300 to the American Cancer Society, the Central DECA chapter was proud of their efforts! We want to send out a big thank you to all the staff and students who participated in PINK OUT activities.
To tie in with Red Ribbon Week, I’d like to share with you a Newspapers in Education tab which was included with Grand Forks Herald classroom copies, GF/EGF newsstand and home delivery copies today (Oct. 27). The tab was sponsored by David Frisch of the GFAFB Demand Reduction Program. David is also a member of the Grand Forks Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. What a great local resource we have in the area!
Click on the following link to download the Stay Smart, Don’t Start tab: http://legacy.grandforksherald.com/pdfs/Stay%20Smart2011.pdf
Note: if you are going to print this pdf, make sure to adjust your print setting to fit on page. The pdf is bigger than 8.5 x 11 (normal print size.)
Are you looking for a fun family Halloween activity? Check out the Half Pint Haunt this Sunday sponsored by the Grand Forks Historical Society.
The last full week in October is National Red Ribbon Week. What exactly is it and how did it get started?
It is an ideal way for people and communities to unite and take a visible stand against drugs. Show your personal commitment to a drug-free lifestyle through the symbol of the Red Ribbon.
WHY? The Red Ribbon Campaign was started when drug traffickers in Mexico City murdered DEA agent Kiki Camarena in 1985. This began the continuing tradition of displaying Red Ribbons as a symbol of intolerance towards the use of drugs. The mission of the Red Ribbon Campaign is to present a unified and visible commitment towards the creation of a DRUG-FREE AMERICA. The Red Ribbon Campaign is now the oldest and largest drug prevention program in the nation reaching millions of young people during Red Ribbon Week in October each year.
Here are some ACTIVITIES FOR CLASSROOM TEACHERS
1. Testimonial Letter Write a testimonial, a sort of celebrity endorsement, telling other students at your school the reasons you support zero tolerance of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) among youth. Your goal is to come up with a letter that convinces your readers to participate with you in campaigning for the welfare of youth making good choices about healthy versus risky behaviors. Make the letter convincing — so think about the kinds of things that make a testimonial believable. You don’t want your readers to think you’re writing because you have to. You want them to understand that you WANT to share your beliefs. Think about the things that will ring true and the things that will sound fake. Be sure your letter rings true.
2. Children’s Book Write a children’s book for younger students (K-5). Encourage your readers to avoid drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or violence (don’t try to deal with all four in one short book!) Explain the ideas behind being alcohol, tobacco, and drug free. Use language and descriptions younger children will understand. The scientific explanations and other reasons to avoid drugs, tobacco and alcohol that are given to teenagers can be harder for younger students to understand. Focus on a particular kind of abuse and explain some of the main ideas in ways that will help your audience understand why you urge them to avoid substance abuse.
3. Describing Abuse Your job is to write a “place” description, but the place you describe is one that you and you alone construct. Specifically, if substance abuse were a place, where would it be? Don’t simply describe a place where you think people might abuse alcohol or drugs — describe an imaginary, abstract place that represents substance abuse. What would it look like? Sound like? Smell like? Taste like? Feel like? What objects, plants, or animals are there? What’s missing? What things and sounds would you never hear? Your goal is to describe the place so your readers will understand why you would urge them not to visit. Remember it’s an imaginary place though!
4. Analyze an Ad Find four to five printed advertisements for alcohol or tobacco, and analyze the ads for the hidden messages they send out. How are they attempting to persuade people to use their products? What are the advertisers suggesting that you’ll gain or have if you do as the people shown in their ads? What stereotypes are the ads exploiting (and why)? In what ways might their persuasive techniques apply to people your age? Are there aspects to the ads that seem to target teens? Write a paper that analyzes the ads that you’ve gathered with the goal of telling others how to read the ads — show them the hidden messages and unravel the underlying “lies” that appear there.
5. I-Search on Substance Abuse Find a detail or fact in a DARE, MADD or similar document (or at a Substance Abuse Prevention Website see list below.)
6. Letter to the Editor Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper urging readers to support a drug free culture for all youth in our area, outlining the reasons that you support the ideas and efforts, and the things your school is doing. A good letter will do much more than simply say, “Just say no.” Write a persuasive piece that makes your perspective on the project clear.
Partnership for a Drug-Free America www.drugfree.org www.timetotalk.org
Parents -The Anti-Drug http://www.theantidrug.com/
Parents LEAD
(Listen, Educate, Ask, Discuss) is a program designed to help parents talk to their children about underage drinking. http://www.parentslead.org/
Stop Medicine Abuse www.StopMedicineAbuse.org
Stop Underage Drinking
(Three downloadable PDF Action Guides based on the Surgeon General’s Call to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking.One for families, one for communities and one for educators.) www.stopalcoholabuse.gov
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(NREPP has developed a searchable database of interventions for the prevention and treatment of mental and substance use disorders to help people, agencies, and organizations implement programs and practices in their communities.) http://nrepp.samhsa.gov
National Institute on Drug Abuse
The Science of Drug Abuse & Addiction http://drugabuse.gov
National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens
The Science Behind Drug Abuse http://teens.drugabuse.gov/
Office of National Drug Policy http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp
Get Smart About Drugs
A DEA Resource for Parents http://www.getsmartaboutdrugs.com/
Grand Forks Public Schools Receives CTE Director’s Award of Excellence The Career and Technical Education department of the Grand Forks Public Schools recently received two Director’s Awards of Excellence during the opening session at the 41st Annual Professional Development Conference. This award is an acknowledgement of superior career and technical education programs within North Dakota. The competitive award among all secondary and post-secondary programs distinguishes the particular Career and Technical Education program as being the best in the state.
The Grand Forks Public Schools Career Development program was recognized for providing a comprehensive and systematic K-12 career development program using counselors and the Career Education department, annual 8th grade career fairs to learn career cluster opportunities and explore nontraditional careers, and two high school career centers providing students access to career resource materials and opportunities. Staff members recognized with the award included Sandy Espe, Jennifer George, Joyce Larson, Peggy Anderson, Mary Lien, Jackie Haugen, Melissa Mickelson, Marilyn Ripplinger, and CTE Coordinator Eric Ripley.
The Information Technology program at Red River High School was recognized for providing a comprehensive IT curriculum that is up-to-date and relevant instruction providing a foundation for careers in IT, becoming an IC3 testing site offering students industry-level certification opportunities, and an active Skills-USA chapter that had 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in the State 2011 SkillsUSA Programming event and the 1st place winner in the Internetworking competition. Accepting the award was instructor Paul Zettler and CTE Coordinator Eric Ripley.
Career Development (From L to R – Joyce Larson, Melissa Mickelson, Jennifer George, Sandy Espe, and Eric Ripley)
RRHS Information Technology (From L to R –Paul Zettler, Eric Ripley)
For more information visit their website at http://www.gfschools.org/education/dept/dept.php?sectionid=774&
or their areavoices blog http://4myfuture.areavoices.com/
Here are some newspapers in education activities to use in your classroom. They are from the “Reading Realities” guide written by John E. Guenther and Ann West and distributed by the NIE Institute.
To download a printable copy, click on the following link: http://legacy.grandforksherald.com/pdfs/SHORT%20TAKES%201.pdf
Grand Forks achieved national recognition as one of America’s Promise Alliance’s 100 Best Communities for Young People presented by ING for its initiatives to help young people. The competition recognizes communities across the country that focus on reducing high school dropout rates and providing service and support to their youth.
A five-time winner of the 100 Best Communities for Young People competition, Grand Forks has shown its commitment to enhancing youth education by offering programs that provide safe places, paring educators with students in need and providing community service opportunities for young people. Among these programs is Grand Forks’ Helping Hands Summer Camp, where young people gain work skills and give back to the community through volunteering. Through the Partners for Academic and Social Success program, at-risk students in Grand Forks meet with educators to discuss schoolwork and factors affecting students’ work. The program also connects students with 12 private businesses and about 50 nonprofit organizations for mentorships and internships.
“We are proud of Grand Forks for being named one of the America’s Promise Alliance’s 100 Best,” said Grand Forks Mayor Michael R. Brown “This award recognizes the hard work of many community members that have dedicated their time to making a difference in the lives of our young people.”
Grand Forks will receive a $2,500 grant, signage identifying the community as one of the nation’s 100 Best Communities for Young People, and access to America’s Promise Alliance’s community development resources.
Born to Be Wired
By Emily Listfield
Generation Wired sends thousands of texts, plays hours of games, and has hundreds of “friends” they have never even met. Find out how to keep your kids safe and healthy in a hyper-connected world.
Be sure to check out and download the Cyberspace Safety Guide to use with the article in Sunday’s Parade Magazine found in the Grand Forks Herald and The Forum.
Click on the following link to download the 4-page guide: http://legacy.grandforksherald.com/pdfs/Cybersafe%20Parade.pdf
