Ames Coalition for Effective Schools Petition

David Gradwhol brought to our attention a petition to include neighborhood schools in the planning of the Ames Community School District’s “World-Class Education Philosophy”. The closure of Crawford had a negative impact on our neighborhood and we encourage our members to support this petition. Below is the message he forwarded – if interested, you can contact him at gradwohl@iastate.edu or David Putz, chair of the Ames Coalition for Effective Schools, at amesces@gmail.com.

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If you support the inclusion of either neighborhood schools, smaller elementary class size, or both, in the Ames Community School District's Comprehensive and World-Class Education philosophy, please respond as follows:

Address: AMESCES@gmail.com
Subject: Response to Petition

Along with your name and home address to document your response, include one of the following statements of your support:
1) I support the inclusion of neighborhood schools in the ACSD's philosophy on Comprehensive and World-Class education.
2) I support the inclusion of smaller elementary class size in the ACSD's philosophy on Comprehensive and World-Class education.
3) I support the inclusion of both neighborhood schools and smaller elementary class size in the ACSD's philosophy on Comprehensive and World-Class education.

Thank you for your support of schools and kids in Ames!



PETITION TO INCLUDE NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS & SMALLER ELEMENTARY CLASS SIZE IN THE AMES COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT COMPREHENSIVE AND WORLD-CLASS EDUCATION PHILOSOPHY

In the community survey conducted this spring by the Ames Community School District (ACSD), both neighborhood schools and smaller elementary class size were left off the survey.

Neighborhood schools are located in areas where children can safely walk to school, are small enough so children don't get lost in the crowd and allow teachers, families and the surrounding community to work together to educate children. Neighborhood schools:
- Promote family involvement with students and schools.
- Improve community support and volunteerism.
- Provide a welcoming and safe environment.
- Reduce the need for busing, making more money available to educate kids.
- And, as a result, improve academic performance.

Smaller elementary class size:
- Gives teachers more time to teach by spending less time on classroom management.
- Increases teacher morale and reduces burnout.
- Lets teachers identify educational issues sooner and deliver individualized instruction.
- And, as a result, improves learning - especially for students who have challenges.

Because of this, neighborhood schools and smaller elementary class size are important aspects of a comprehensive and world-class education!


This petition is sponsored by the Ames Coalition for Effective Schools (AmesCES), a group of parents and community members interested in providing the best possible education for kids!

VEISHEA Advisory Council

A request arrived from ISU’s Office of VP for Student Affairs for a member to represent SCAN on the VEISHEA Advisory Council. If you’re interested, email Fern Kupfer, flkupger@iastate.edu.

I figured I'd post about this here in case anybody wanted to share any experiences they've had being on an ISU committee.

Entertainment within walking distance: review and preview

First off, a review. I went to the BB King concert Wednesday, and the King of the Blues was...the King. Occasionally rambling between songs, amazing during them, but definitely showing his age -- he shared the wisdom that's come with his 83 years freely. The warm-up band from Chicago was pretty good too (although between them, intermission, and the intro numbers by BB King's own band, he didn't get on stage until 9, so there was only an hour out of a two and half hour show with the headliner. Still a good show overall.) They did a standard 5 song warm up set. BB King did a number of songs, only one of which I recognized from an older album. He made a Willie Nelson reference at one point, who's coming to Stephens in December (I'm guessing BB King didn't even know). Isn't it great how we can walk and see not just the academic and student events, but some of the most amazing artists of the 20th century?

The other review I'd hoped to do was the movie I'd wanted to see, Nick and Norah -- surprisingly, it hasn't stayed a second week so I'm going to have to hope it returns or goes to the North Grand theaters. The two movies at the Varsity now just don't appeal to me (Eagle Eye and Sex Drive), although the new big-budget western directed by Ed Harris, Appaloosa, and the new plot-twist-riddled police corruption story starring Colin Ferrell and Ed Norton, Pride and Glory, look like they have potential. I'm hoping they stay for a little while since I'll be out of town from Friday through Tuesday, so if they're out after only a week I won't get much of a chance.

In other upcoming walking distance events, the Greek community is a bit busier with the fundraisers this week, with brats at Adelante Wednesday night, spaghetti at Sigma Alpha Epsilon late Thursday night/friday morning, and walking tacos hosted by Phi Beta Chi at the Memorial Lutheran Church (they're one of the few Greek organizations that doesn't own a house.)

This weekend is big for student productions, with the Symphony Orchestra on Friday, Band Extravaganza Saturday evening, and the ISU Theatre production of Tartuffe all weekend (showtimes and ticket prices at their websites).

Other performing arts include the Billy Joel based musical, Moving Out, on Thursday, and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra on Sunday.

Lots of concerts and comedy at the M-Shop, and lectures (mostly at the Union) in the next week -- none of them from a genre or academic discipline respectively that I'm especially interested in, but in a couple of weeks is Carly Fiorina, and later that week is a forum with Dr. Politics and Arnie Arneson. I am a WOI addict so I will probably be there for that.

Finally, athletics -- Football is away (there's only 1 home game left, it's the 15th.) Basketball exhibitions have started, with a couple this weekend, as well as a volleyball game. Wrestling starts next week, so we are definitely shifting gears away from fall and into winter.

As always, if you made it to anything, please post your comments below!