The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 75, No. 16, Ed. 1 Tuesday, November 19, 1996 Page: 1 of 12
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Volume 75, No. 16
Telephone Number 422-8302
Tuesday, November 19,1996
Baytown, Texas 77520
50 Cents Per Copy
GCCISD trying to put ‘time’ back in school day
Although some critics argue stu-
By JASON MOORE
The Baytown Sun
The challenge: Find a way to
give students the opportunity to
take more classes during the cur-
rent school day while also allow-
ing them time to participate in ex-
tracurricular activities.
Last month, the school board ap-
proved an option that gives stu-
dents more flexibility to take addi-
tional courses, but forces them to
do so before or after the regular
school day.
The so-called “zero period” plan
gives students the option of taking
a zero period class before and/or
after the regular school day.
In theory, the option gives stu-
dents the opportunity to earn 28
credits over four years of high
school.
day, students spend about 440 min-
utes in school, 368 of which are dents wanting to take one or both
actually spent in the six classes zero periods would be at school
roughly 12 hours a day, adminis-
> tration officials point out most stu-
> dents involved in sports or band al-
■ ready spend long hours at school
■ each day.
“Our classes start at 7:30 a.m.,
so most kids get to school around
• 7:15 a.m. right now, today. And if
you drive by the fields out there, a
lot of those kids are still out there
i around 6 p.m.,” said Director of
Secondary Education and former
principal Jimmy Creel.
i “The only difference (with the
; zero period option) is now students
can get seven credits during the
day.”
However many parents and
teachers want Lee and Sterling
high schools to institute block
scheduling, a popular new sched-
TIME'
to
LEARN
Time. A national study in 1994 during a typical school day.
called it “the missing element in -- - --
the school reform debate.”
Students just don’t seem to have
the time to
take the class-
es they want,
play sports and
still graduate
with the num-
ber of credits
“recommend-
ed” by the
state (24) and
required by the
top colleges
for admission.
Under the current system, an av-
erage Goose Creek high school
student spends about 580 minutes
in each class per two weeks. Each
ule that is used at as many as half
of the nation’s high schools, ac-
cording to some estimates.
With block scheduling, which
one writer called a “less is more
approach,” students attend four
courses per day (as opposed to the
current six), but the classes last
longer, usually around an hour and
a half. Classes now run a little un-
der one hour in a six-period day.
Proponents say students concen-
trate better and retain more materi-
al when in fewer individual classes
of longer duration each day.
The block system, they say, al-
lows students to earn as many as
32 credits in four years and gives
them the time to participate in ex-
tracurricular activities.
Critics say the proposal seriously
reduces the time students spend in
a particular class each week.
Students stay in each class
longer, but because classes alter-
nate every other day, they actually
spend less time — about 450 min-
utes as opposed to the current 580
— in class each two weeks.
It’s a tradeoff some are willing to
make, while others — including
the GCCISD board of trustees —
are not.
Janie Cardenas, principal of
Baytown Junior School, which im-
plemented block scheduling five
years ago, said the system has
worked at her school, where math
scores are higher than most other
junior schools in GCCISD.
“I am a huge fan of block sched-
uling. The kids love it. The teach-
ers love it. It has definitely worked
at Baytown Junior,” Cardenas said.
In fact, the percentage of stu-
dents who passed the math section
of the statewide TAAS (Texas As-
sessment of Academic Skills) test
is higher than just about every oth-
er junior school in GCCISD.
Since students only go to four
classes per day, Cardenas said the
schedule translates into less time
spent taking roll at the beginning
of class, and less time for students
to roam hallways.
“The pace of the schedule
means a calmer atmosphere. In my
opinion, it provides for a safer en-
vironment. And our kids are able
to study a subject more in depth
since they are in class longer;” Car-
denas said.
But for the high schools, the
scheduling question, for now at
least, has been answered.
Students are already being asked
what zero period course they want
to take next year.
Whether the zero period option
will work, only time — the miss-
ing element —- will tell.
Caring aunt
rescues trio
in trouble
By CHIEF GOODFELLOW
Wanda epitomizes the spirit of what the
Goodfellows program means in Baytown. .
Wanda, a single parent, emixxfes that
spirit, and recenty demonstrated it when she
rescued three children forced to live on the
streets after the children, their mother and
stepfather were evicted from their one-bed-
room apataient. She rescued her niece and
The 28 year-
old student was
raising her own
2-year-old alone
before she took
in a toddler, a 5-
year-oldanda
7-year-old. Their
motherhas
since left the
city. The chil-
dren were suf-
fering from ne-
gleet because
their mother and
stepfather were
overcome with an addiction to illicit drugs. In
adefton to neglect, the chidren were often
battered by their abusive stepfather.
She said the children needed help, so she
took them in. Her problem now is that she
doesn’t have the means to provide for the
chidren, especiaBy witii the hoWay season
approaching. 1 don't know when the last time
tie chidren had a real Christmas,” Wanda
said. 1 feel for these children, and ai children
whose parents are out there doing drugs.’
Wanda said the Goodfetiows program is a
way to show the kids that people do care.
Idontexpectpeopletogivemeany-
thrng,” Wanda said, regarding her request for
some assistance.'But if they do give from
their heart, it would be a great hep."
Goodieiows is arfrnHstered by The Bay-
town Sun and various volunteers in the com-
munity. For more infotmation, cal The Sun at
422-8302.
scamp out cigarettes
Students at the Early Learning School recently promoted the Great American Smoke-
out, which is Thursday. Pictured stamping out smoking is, in back from left, Chase My-
ers, 4, school director Jeri Brooks, and Jordon Godwin, 4. In front are William Moore, 4,
and Melissa Pichardo, 5.
Symposium lassos American West
mance in the title role of the then-provoca-
tive film “Baby Doll” in 1956, and noted
western author Elmer Kelton.
Author and film critic Jon Tuska will
open the symposium at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Tuska, of Portland, Ore., is an agent for fic-
tion authors, a producer of documentaries,
By DAVID MOHLMAN
Special to the Sun
A two-day program on the American
West will bring to Lee College this week an
actress who was nominated for an Acade-
my Award, the author described by Texas
Monthly magazine as “the grand old man
of the Western,” a writer/agent/ film con-
sultant who is a recognized authority on
Western fiction, and a film writer and di-
rector whose four decades of work feature
Hollywood legends from Randolph Scott to
John Wayne.
“The American West in Film and Litera-
ture: Romance and Reality” is a sympo-
sium set for Thursday and Friday at Tucker
Hall on the Lee College main campus, Lee
Drive at Gulf Street Admission is free.
Among the speakers are actress Carroll
Baker, remembered best for her perfor-
a film consultant, critic, lecturer and author.
Burt Kennedy, who directed “The War
Wagon” (1967), starring John Wayne and
“The Train Robbers” (1973), starring
Wayne and Ann Margret will talk about
the development of the Western film.
The Lee College Lyceum Committee is
sponsoring the symposium, which is hosted
by the Lee College Division of Social &
Behavioral Science, the Lee College Divi-
sion of English & Communications and the
Lee College chapter of the Walter P Webb
Historical Society. For more information,
call 425-6566.
Tuesday: Partly cloudy, be-
coming cloudy tonight. Highs
near 80.
Wednesday: Cloudy, dense
fog in the morning. Highs in
the upper 80s.
Art by Ashley Tiller
Trustees OK
plan to reopen
Crockett in ’97
By JASON MOORE
The Baytown Sun
The Goose Creek school board Monday
night unanimously approved a short-term re-
mediation plan aimed at getting students and
staff at Crockett Elementary back to their
campus by Jan. 7,1997.
Administration officials with the Goose
Creek Consolidated Independent School Dis-
trict decided to close the school on Oct. 15
after minute traces of hydrocarbons, also
known as mineral spirits, were discovered in-
side Crockett, at 4500 Barkaloo Road.
. Since then, the more than 600 students and
staff at the school have been attending classes
at GCCISD’s West Town Center on Decker
Drive. West Town, a strip center converted
into school facilities, had been vacated only
the day before the closing of Crockett by stu-
dents and staff of Ashbel Smith Elementary.
They had been attending class at West
Town for four years while a new Ashbel
Smith campus was built. That campus was
completed in October.
Although the unknown source and risks of
the hydrocarbon vapors prompted officials to
close the building as a precautionary mea-
sure, subsequent testing, though still unable
to pinpoint the source of the vapors, has indi-
cated that the air quality inside is safe.
So during a board of trustees meeting
Monday night, the school board approved a
plan to ensure any remaining airborne conta-
minants or odors inside the school are elimi-
nated. An investigation into a musty, “locker-
room” type odor reported by students and
staff as for back as September 1995 led to the
discovery of the hydrocarbons.
To ensure no contaminants exist inside the
building, the board of trustees unanimously
approved (with trustees Olivia Messiah and
Ben Basquez absent) a short term plan to re-
turn students to the building shortly after the
Christmas break
The plan, which is projected to cost about
$130,000, includes:
■ The removal of all carpeting, both on
walls and floors.
■ Renovations of the air-conditioning sys-
tem, including the condensate P-traps, chill
water coils, airside filters and duct work.
■ Sealing all exterior walls.
■ Fogging die building with medaphene to
kill all remaining bacteria and ozone to re-
move any remaining odors.
School board’s
Braden Woodall
to step down
Goose Creek Consolidated Indepen-
dent School District Trustee Braden
Woodall announced his resignation from
the school board
Monday night, ef-
fective as of Jan. 26,
1997.
Woodall, whose
District 7 includes
southeast Baytown,
said he will not be
able to fulfill resi-
dency requirements
after he moves in
January. He said he'll be moving about
half a mile outside of his district
The school board is expected to open
the school board elections scheduled for
Jan. 18,1997, to include Woodall’s seat
The position includes two of the three
years of a trustee’s term. Woodall was
first elected in 1995 and re-elected earlier
this year.
The seats for District 2, currently occu-
pied by Ben Basquez, and District 5, oc-
cupied by Clarence Albus, will also be up
for election in January. Candidate filing
is now open and ends at 5 p.m Dec. 6.
Early voting begins on Dec. 30.
■ Re-testing after the remediation work to
ensure that all objectives were met
Although the source of the hydrocarbons,
which are well below federal guidelines, has
not yet been determined, Crockett Principal
Betty O’Sullivan, who took over just this
year, said she feels comfortable returning to
the school. “I am very pleased with this plan.
A lot of thought and care went into this deci-
sion, and I feel comfortable with it We’re all
excited about going back,” she said.
Although the school will look different
without any carpeting, O’Sullivan said teach-
ers will counsel students about the change.
The money for the remediation work will
come out of the school district’s General
Fund.
News tip? Call 422-8302
For home delivery, call 422-8302
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Dobbs, Gary. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 75, No. 16, Ed. 1 Tuesday, November 19, 1996, newspaper, November 19, 1996; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1176366/m1/1/?rotate=270: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.