April 1998 News Archive
Monday, April 20, 1998
Broadway Comes to Santa Barbara
Footlights, greasepaint, and the strains of Broadway show tunes point the way to top-notch theatrical productions slated to run during April and May in the Santa Barbara High School District. Theatergoers will appreciate the reasonable admission fees ($5 to $10), boundless talent of young student performers, and quality entertainment in the productions offered during the 1998 spring season.
The Santa Barbara High School District proudly announces the following 1998 spring theatrical productions:
- Charley’s Aunt. A comic farce written by Brandon Thomas. Dos Pueblos High School, 7266 Alameda Avenue, 968-2541 x263. Every Wednesday through Saturday, April 22-May 9 at 7:30 pm, Charger Theatre. Special "Command Performance" on Tuesday, April 28 at 7:30 pm, public invited. $7/General Admission; $5/Student, Senior Citizen, Children.
- Guys & Dolls. A musical fable of Broadway based on story and characters by Damon Runyon. Written by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows; Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser. San Marcos High School, 4750 Hollister Avenue, 967-4581 x255. April 23, 24, 25 and April 30, May 1, 2 at 8 pm, San Marcos Auditorium. $10/General Admission; $8/Senior Citizen and Children under 12.
- Oliver! Written by Lionel Bart; Produced by Tans-Whitmark. La Colina Junior High School, 4025 Foothill Road, 967-4506 . April 30, May 1, 2 at 7 pm, in the La Colina Auditorium. $5/General Admission; $4/Students and Children.
- Three Penny Opera. Written by Bertolt Brecht; Music by Kurt Weill. Santa Barbara High School, 700 E. Anapamu St, 966-9101 x220. May 1, 2, 8, 9 at 8 pm and May 3 at 2 pm, Santa Barbara High School Auditorium. $5/Adults; $3/Students.
- Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen. An original musical revue featuring Brodway songs and student-written material. Goleta Valley Junior High School, 6100 Stow Canyon Road, 967-3486 x601 or x604. May 7, 8, 9 at 7 pm and May 9 at 2 pm, Goleta Valley Junior High School Auditorium. $6/Adults; $3/Students.
All City Honor Band To Perform
Young musicians from throughout the community will gather on May 5, 1998 for a performance of the All City Honor Band. The performance will take place from 7:30-9:00 p.m. in the La Cumbre Middle School auditorium. It is the culmination of a year of hard work and study by more than 200 students.
The concert will be comprised of performances by elementary, junior, and senior high school students representing 16 local public schools in the Santa Barbara School Districts. Returning to the podium as guest conductor will be Dr. Charles Wood, Santa Barbara City College music instructor.
La Cumbre Middle School is located at 2255 Modoc Road. The public is invited to attend. Admission is free.
Rob DeConde Recognized as a Tandy Technology Scholar
Rob DeConde, a senior at San Marcos High School, was recently selected as one of the 100 recipients of the Tandy Corporation Prize for excellence in mathematics, science and computer science. Photos of Tandy Technology Scholars appear in the April 20, 1998 issue of Time magazine and other selected national publications.
The national prize recipients receive a $1,000 award to be used at the college or university of the student’s choice plus a certificate of recognition.
The Tandy Scholar program was established nine years ago, according to John V. Roach, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Tandy Corporation. The program is funded by Tandy Corporation and administered by Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX.
Poets and Painters Come Together in a Surreal Collaboration
What began as a dinner conversation between two teachers has turned into a Dali-esque collaboration between middle school and high school students. When Hattie Beresford, a La Cumbre Middle School English teacher, and Kasia Stefanek, an art instructor at Santa Barbara High School, realized that the middle school students were engaged in writing surreal poems, and the high school students were creating surreal paintings, a project was born. La Cumbre students created poems that were provided to Santa Barbara High students as inspiration for surreal images.
The poets and the painters will meet for the first time at an Opening Reception of a collaborative show at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Ridley-Tree Education Center, McCormick House. The reception will take place on April 23, 1998, from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. The exhibition will continue through May 18.
To create the poems, La Cumbre students were instructed to make lists of words by completely ignoring the meaning of the words and paying attention only to sounds. After learning how to create slant rhymes, the students were instructed to write three four-line stanzas using using the collection of interesting-sounding words as inspiration.
The poems were then sent to Kasia Stefanek’s class, where each student was assigned to use the images from one of the poems as inspiration for their own surreal painting. The high school students began the project after having studied the artwork of Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, and other surrealists. Although students were encouraged to find specific imagery from the poetry, they were given the freedom to interpret the poem in whatever manner seemed most meaningful to them.
On April 23, 1998, when the poets and artists meet for the first time, the middle school and high school students will have the opportunity to meet their colleague and see how poetic images are interpreted into a visual media.
The Ridley-Tree Education Center is located at 1600 Santa Barbara Street. Gallery hours are: Tuesday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Goleta Valley Junior High Students Receive Top Scores in Math Contest
Goleta Valley Junior High students placed first in both 7th and 8th grade regional standings in the 1998 California Math League contest. The regional encompasses Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties. GVJHS 8th graders placed 12th in the State competition.
Ryan Allison led the school and region as top scorer with a near perfect 39 out of 40. Other 8th graders making up the team were Jake Harter, Sepehr Parhami, Sally Pine, and Jason Rys. Top 7th grade students included Lynn Lohas, Mark Duell and Erin Gaines.
Stanford 9 and S.A.B.E./2
Beginning on April 13, 1998, students in grades 2-11 in the Santa Barbara School Districts will participate in the recently mandated (Senate Bill 376) Stanford Achievement Test, Form 9. This test is generally referred to as the Stanford 9 or the S.A.T./9. The test is part of the new Standardized Testing And Reporting (S.T.A.R.) Program which is being administered to all school districts throughout the State.
Students in grades 2-8 will take tests in reading, written expression (language), spelling, and math. Students in grades 9-11 will take tests in reading, writing (language), math, science, and history/social studies. Parents and students are being informed about the role of the Stanford 9 and S.A.B.E./2 tests:
- Standardized tests provide parents, students, and educators with baseline data on student performance. They are one of several types of measures used to monitor academic progress and identify areas for improvement.
- Standardized tests are one way to monitor the relative success of various District interventions and academic programs.
- The tests are useful tools in making comparisons and evaluating the similarities and differences among schools and districts across the State of California.
- For Spanish-speaking children, standardized tests are a basis for redesignation. Redesignation from a Spanish-language academic program to an English-language academic program occurs when students perform at the 36th percentile on standardized testing.
District officials are encouraging all students to participate. After the test is administered, an analysis of test results will ascertain the actual number of students who took the test(s). That information will be released after the Stanford 9 is administered.
The Stanford 9 test package was secured by the State of California, Department of Education. The State acquired the test program through a contract with the firm of Harcourt Brace. In accordance with Senate Bill 376, the State pays all costs associated with the basic Stanford 9 testing package plus certain additional related costs. The test package costs $4.10 per student. It includes test booklets, practice booklets for students in grades 2-4, basic scoring for individual students and schools, and shipping of booklets to the school districts.
Additional related costs include sales tax on the cost of the test booklets, mailings to parents, and administrative expenses such as training of test site coordinators and analysis and evaluation of test results. The test package plus related costs is projected to be $6.80 per student. That is the maximum amount that will be borne by the State.
For an additional fee, school districts can request additional reports or services (beyond the basic testing package and related costs noted above). In such instances, the extra costs will be borne by the school districts. The Santa Barbara School Districts do not anticipate requesting additional services from Harcourt Brace. Rather, additional analyses of test results will be conducted by the Districts’ Director of Research and Evaluation, Lisle Staley, and staff.
Limited English Proficient (L.E.P.) students in grades 2-6 and English-as-a-Second Language (E.S.L.) I and II students in grades 7-11 will also take the Spanish Assessment of Basic Education, Form 2 (S.A.B.E./2). That test will be administered during the week of May 4, 1998. The $6.80 per student cost of the S.A.B.E./2 test will be borne by the State.
The new Stanford 9 tests, which will be administered in English, will probably be very difficult for L.E.P. students. Prior to, and at the time of Stanford 9 testing in English, Spanish-speaking students will be encouraged to do the best job they can and to answer only those questions that they understand. In a recent letter to parents, they were informed that the student’s present ability to read English will be taken into account when the test scores are evaluated by teachers. Each year, students will gain more experience with reading and writing in English and it is expected that students will feel more comfortable taking these tests in English as their experience level increases. These tests are a very important tool in determining student redesignation.
The District feels that the Stanford 9 and the S.A.B.E/2 will be useful tools. According to Lisle Staley, "Our District needs baseline data in order to make judgments about the effectiveness of our new language arts program and of the interventions we use for L.E.P. students. While the S.A.T./9 is not by any means the only measure we should use, it is the one standardized measure we currently have in place for nearly all students."
The District recognizes that no single test tells educators everything they need to know about how well a student is learning. But testing students over time, on different subjects, and observing their performance in the classroom helps educators identify the strengths that each child has and the areas where each child needs help.
In the letter to the parents of children in grades 2-11, Deputy Superintendent Deborah Flores presented information about the Stanford 9 and S.A.B.E./2, as well as the important role that parents play in helping their child best prepare for testing. Dr. Flores said, "There are several ways that parents can complement the academic preparation the teachers provide. Research indicates that students perform better when they are well rested and have a solid breakfast on the day of the exam. Equally important, support and encouragement from parents and teachers go a long way toward helping students put their best foot forward."
In keeping with statewide implementation of the tests, the Santa Barbara School Districts will implement the test with standard instructions and within the specified amount of time. There are strict, State-imposed rules that apply to the testing process. Because there can be no interruptions or distractions while students are being testing, media coverage/photographs will not be permitted.