Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/497293
COURTESY LincolnStreetSchoolstudentsarereadyfortheRedBluffRound-Up.A ercomplet- ing a poetry unit, students were encouraged to enter the Tehama County Library Cowboy Poetry contest. Three students from Lincoln Street School had winning entries; their poems can be viewed at the county library or in the school office. Students have enjoyed reading cowboy poetry and classic western kids' books, such as "Cowgirl Kate." For more information about Lincoln Street School, visit www. lincolnstreetschool.org. LINCOLNSTREET A WAY WITH WORDS Red Bluff Elks Lodge takes pride in honoring area high school students for their achievements and positive choices each quar- ter. The students were treated to a dinner and a plaque indicating their award. They also received a small scholarship to help with vocational expenses. Each student gave a de- tailed speech thanking par- ents and teachers and out- lined their career plans. The students, the school they represent and an in- dication of their immedi- ate future are Grace Mora, Corning High School, will be attending Cal Poly School of Business, wants to be a sports manager; Christopher Gray, Mercy High School, will be attend- ing Menlo Business College, majoring in business; Olga Valladares, Red Bluff High School, will be attending Azusa Pacific University, major in business man- agement; Veronica Vene- gas, Salisbury High School, will be attending Humboldt State University, wants to be a paramedic; Haley Bumpus, Centennial High School, will be attending U. C. Berkeley, major in busi- ness; Tyler Winter, Los Mo- linos High School, will pur- sue a career in medicine. ELKS LODGE Students of the quarter honored COURTESY PHOTO Pictured, from le , are Grace Mora, Christopher Gray, Olga Valladares, Veronica Venegas, Haley Bumpus and Tyler Winter. REDDING Girls Incorpo- rated of the Northern Sac- ramento Valley invites the public to "The Strong, Smart and Bold Brunch," a celebration of commu- nity leaders and a time to thank and inform Girls Inc. NSV's supporters. The late-morning meal, scheduled for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, May 17, will include an update on Girls Inc.'s latest news and de- velopments, the winners of this year's annual com- munity awards, a raffle for a fantastic prize and a chance to socialize with others who support Girls Inc.'s mission of inspiring all girls to be strong, smart and bold. All proceeds benefit Girls Inc. NSV, the non- profit organization that has served girls ages 6 to 18 in Tehama and Shasta counties since 2006. Girls Inc.'s all-girl pro- grams promote leadership and community service in girls, link them with local mentors, and encourage the pursuit of higher edu- cation. Girls Inc.'s wide range of empowering programs also teaches girls eco- nomic literacy, encour- ages their participation in sports, educates them about non-traditional ca- reers in science, math, technology and engineer- ing, and guides them in nurturing their own self- esteem. The Strong, Smart and Bold Brunch will be held at Riverview Golf & Country Club, 4200 Bechelli Lane, Redding. Tickets are $25 each or $175 for a table of eight. RSVP by May 13 to Kate O'Rorke at 527-7767 or girlsincNSV@gmail.com. For more information, visit www.girlsincNSV. org. GIRLS INC. 'Strong, Smart and Bold Brunch' set to thank supporters COURTESY Guests enjoy the 2014Strong, Smart, Bold Brunch. Bend School will be hold- ing an Eco Fair & Children's Festival 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sat- urday, May 2, at the Bend Elementary School, 22270 Bend Ferry Road. There will be a 5K run and 1-mile Strawberry Stroll for the younger kids 9-10 a.m., with check in at 8:30 a.m. The craft fair, barbecue, children's activi- ties and live local music will take place 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Bend Ferry Road clean-up will happen 10:30- 11:30 a.m. starting at the boat ramp to Bend School. BEND SCHOOL Eco fair, festival planned May 2 By Lisa Leff TheAssociatedPress SAN PABLO Seven-year- old Ja'Niyah Smith's first- grade class filed into a computer lab at a subur- ban San Francisco school recently and, as they do every week, practiced us- ing mouses to pop bub- bles with a cartoon pickle, catch flies with a frog's tongue and arrange vir- tual blocks into words. The students, their legs dangling off their chairs, fell quiet, the silence bro- ken by an occasional "I did it!" "Computers give us a break, so when we are in class, our minds can be fresh for learning," Ja'Niyah explained as she deftly maneuvered a tur- tle across a 14-inch desk- top screen. For teachers, adminis- trators and parents in San Pablo — and across the country — the games are a way to help students, sometimes as young as 5, acquire the technol- ogy skills they will need to excel on standardized tests that now are be- ing offered online for the first time by a majority of states. New exams linked to the Common Core state standards are replacing the multiple-choice tests taken with paper and pencils in 29 states this spring. Among the func- tions even the youngest test-takers must be able to execute are switching between screens, opening drop-down menus, and re- arranging words and num- bers. While adults raised in the pre-Internet era might assume today's youngsters are born computer-conver- sant, educators say hands- on instruction is neces- sary because the tests re- quire different dexterities than the ones many young- sters pick up playing with smartphones. "Children can be quick learners when technol- ogy is in front of them at school, but knowing very intuitively how to drag and drop or highlight words or even indent a paragraph on a Google doc is not go- ing to come naturally," said Susan Gonzalez, the computer lab teacher at Ja'Niyah's school, Bayview Elementary. The Common Core tests are given in grades 3-8 and again in high school. The ambitious benchmarks outline what students are expected to learn in math, reading and writ- ing. There are no specific standards for technology, but tech know-how infuses the goals. The writing standards, for example, call for stu- dents to "use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing" with the help of adults starting in 1st grade. By the time they finish 6th grade, they are sup- posed "to demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of three pages in a single sitting." In keeping with the Com- mon Core's purpose of pre- paring students for college and careers, questions on the new computer-en- hanced assessments are open-ended instead of multiple-choice. After the tests were given a dress rehearsal last year in 21 states that are part of the Smarter Bal- anced Assessment Consor- tium, one of two national alliances that have devel- oped online tests based on the standards, some teach- ers expressed concerns that the tests assume a level of digital fluency that may be foreign to children in homes without comput- ers and that the amount of keyboarding involved was excessive for younger stu- dents. Brandt Redd, SBAC's chief technology officer, said he expects fewer con- cerns this year since teach- ers have had time to give practice tests and identify any mechanics that need work. "Technology skills are going to have some impact on student performance, but we have tried to mini- mize that as much as pos- sible," Redd said, noting that teachers and adminis- trators "were far more ner- vous" than students, who "weren't at all bothered" by the test's technological de- mands. The standards them- selves have become po- litically fraught in some states, and scattered tech- nical glitches and even cy- berattacks have hampered the rollout of the online tests. Morgan Polikoff, an as- sistant education professor at the University of South- ern California, said to the extent the test has moti- vated school districts to procure more classroom computers and teach chil- dren how to use them, it's all for the good. "I don't think you want to go overboard and spend tons of time on skills that are not useful outside the context of the test, but it's sort of wrong or foolish or short-sighted to not pro- vide some kind of instruc- tion on how to use these tools," Polikoff said. "Yes, typing is a useful skill for taking these tests, but be- ing a fast and accurate typ- ist is a very useful skill pe- riod." TECHNOLOGY SKILLS As s tu de nt t es ts m ov e on lin e, ke yb oa rd in g en te rs cu rri cu lu m SunCountryQuilters presents "SecretLanguageofQuilts" Quilt Show April 25 th & 26 th 2015 Tehama District Fairground Over 200 Quilts Vendors • Demos • Food Admission $7 For more information 528-8838 or (916) 425-8230 www.suncountryquilters.com (530) 529-1220 100 Jackson St.,Red Bluff 2 FREE Tanning Sessions withanynew membership in the month of April Valid:4-1-2015to4-30-2015 EDUCATION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, April 17, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A7