Page 4
... COMMUNITV OPINION
• 1t ie r. - February 22, 2012
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February 22, 1962
Fire destroyed the barn and
equitement on the Everett-Ambro-
sek place on Ames Creek road last
Sunday night. Firemen were called
to the barn at 7:30 p.m.. and when
they arrived the barn had been
completely leveled by the blaze.
Hay as well as farm machinery
was destroyed along with the barn
causing $4.000 in damage.
A dispatch of mail from Sweet
Home on Sundays and holidays
has been established, according to
post master Mrs. Nealia Haven.
The new service went into effect
last Sunday.
Jerry Wiles.3-year-old son of
Mr. and Mrs. Walter Wiles, Foster,
was released from Langmack hos-
pital on Monday following treat-
ment for scalded feet.
The youngster climbed into
the kitchen sink at their home. and
turned on the hot water faucet.
scaulding both feet.
February 25, 1987
Some wonder if vehicles have
declared open warfare on buildings
in the Sweet Home area.
in the last six weeks at least
six different vehicles have been
involved in accidents whose main
targts have been buildings.
From
Our
Files
Looking back on more than 80 years of
coverage in east Linn County...
The latest accident report-
ed was about 7 a.m. Feb. 18. as
Charles Hudson Butcher III was ar-
rested after his 1977 Chevrolet hit
the Magic Scissors Beauty shop.
According to Officer Bob
Worthington. Butcher had been
sleeping in his vehicle, in the park-
ing lot of the Frontier, then decided
to pull out into Main Street. "For
some reason he never made it."
stated Worthington. Damage was
estimated at $1.500.
The Sweet Home Christian
School will close its doors this June
after ten years of operation.
This announcement was made
by SHCS principal Roger Swigart
and Rev. Mark McCartin. pastor of
Community Chapel.
"It is hard to see the school
close" said Wwigart. He was one
of the original members on the
board.
How far are we willing to go for our youngsters?
Now that the Sweet Home
District #55 School Board has de-
cided to institute a four-day school
week next year. what's next?
As a community, we can re-
spond, individually or collectively,
in a number of ways: getting mad,
giving a collective shoulder shrug
and hoping for the best. or we cart
take steps to make something hap-
pen - we can get creative.
Though we, here at The New
Era, believed the four-day week
was the lesser of two evils - the
other being a litany of likely staff
layoffs, cuts to nonacademic pro-
grams, reduction in services, larger
classrooms, reduction of athletics.
cuts to music, reducing electives
EDIT0000)00IAL
and more furlough days, it still has
a lot of potential to be an evil.
For those whose paychecks
will be shrunk'by this move, it's
going to be tough. That was our
biggest concern with the four-day
week: the impact on the classi-
fied folks. As many of us already
know, thanks to reduced incomes
due to the economic difficulties
we've experienced, it's something
we wouldn't wish on anyone.
But there are other potential
difficulties here: the impact on our
i00hr
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community's youngsters - particu-
larly those whose families can't
give them the personal, consistent
attention that might be ideal in this
situation, due to work demands,
family dynamics and other factor.
What happens next will de-
pend on how we, as individuals
and as a community, decide we are
going to respond.
What the school district and
local parents, and others who care
about kids in our district, need to do
is get together and figure out what
potential problems we need to get
proactive about. Which youngsters
are most at risk in this situation?
What are the biggest risks - more
mischief due to excessive free
time? Educational difficulties due
to lack of class time? Substance
abuse? Obesity?
If you Google "'effects on stu-
dents of a four-day school week"
you'll see a wide variety of articles
that generally boil down to the
same conclusion: Four-day weeks
seem to harm some students, seem
to help others, and appear to have
little or no effect on the educational
progress of the rest.
The fact is, we want all of the
kids in our community, particu-
larly those who come from chal-
lenged backgrounds - little support
or encouragement at home, lives
disrupted by circumstances beyond
their control, maybe personalities
that easily veer toward bad deci-
sions - to exit our schools ready
to successfully take on the chal-
lenges of adult life. The fact that
classroom activities are not held on
Fridays could actually be a positive
for many of those kids - as long as
we can find a way to keep them ac-
tive in positive ways.
So what could we do?
Some. of course, could take
advantage of the extra-curricular
activities offered for older kids by
local preschools. The Boys and
Girls Club. which, as we reported
recently, has instituted behavior
requirements modeled on those
already in use in our schools, is
another option. These cost money,
but they're positive alternatives,
Church youth ministries could
assume a role in providing solu-
tions. Instead of, or possibly in
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addition to. Daily Vacation Bible
School in the summers, how about
Friday activities throughout the
year?
Youth sports programs could
hold concentrated skill develop-
ment for kids on Fridays.
High school and junior high
students might also volunteer in
some of the activities we've men-
tioned.
Organizations that need vol-
unteers, such as the Beautification
Committee, the Parks Commission
or the Trails Committee, might be
able to put together some programs
to give some of our younger gen-
eration investment in the commu-
nity.
The School Board should look
into options that might expand
work-study opportunities for high
school students to volunteer (or
work) at local businesses. With
the economy the way it is. the vol-
unteer angle might be more work-
able if it passed muster from state
regulators, but it could be a great
opportunity for students to gain
practical experience and learn the
pleasure of productive accomplish-
ment - particularly if they are not
used to that.
Activities that convince some
reluctant students to even continue
school - music, arts, clubs, sports
- and even classes could be held.
maybe only informally, on Fridays
in a productive way if adults who
care about kids are willing to de-
vote time to helping them become
responsible and productive citizens.
which is what a lot of those activi-
ties teach. Teachers are still getting
paid. What if they, like many of our
coaches, used some of that time in
productive, non-classroom activi-
• See Editorial, page 5
