By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer
Expulsions from Carbon County School District 1 schools have nearly doubled in the past two years ago.
Two years ago, there were 10 students expelled from the district. In 2006-07, the number rose to 13. This year, 19 kids have been told to leave.
According to Duane DeWald, public information officer for the district, not many offenses warrant expulsion. The top two categories for misconduct include substance abuse — the using or selling of drugs, usually marijuana — and significant violence. Other expulsion-warranting offenses include possession of a weapon, serious threats and intimidation, theft and arson.
“These things are lumpy,” DeWald said, pointing out that this years numbers may be somewhat high because there have been groups of children caught doing the same activity.
“This year seems a little heavy,” District 1 Superintendent Peggy Sanders said. “But there are at least two situations that have involved three to four children, and that tends to skew the numbers.”
School board member Jim Espy said the district is looking into ways to both circumvent future misconduct and better address it when it happens.
Espy said the school board is examining ways to “make the punishment fit the crime,” designed especially for children who may be caught violating school policy, but are either less involved or are there unintentionally.
“Any time we have students who are expelled, it’s a concern to board members,” board member Kristi Groshart said. “Expulsion is the result of kids who are violating the rules, and (the board’s) concern is that we do what we can for all the students.”
Currently, district officials follow the state regulation of a one-year expulsion. However, early re-entry is possible if the student appeals to the superintendent with a letter of apology, has a clean criminal record and participates in out-of-school programs as recommended by district officials, like attending a 12-week counseling course on substance abuse, for example.
“We must have well-disciplined schools and the kids must be safe,” Sanders said. “Sometimes the discipline is severe enough that it almost amounts to zero tolerance. We have to draw the line on certain behavior, but we want them back as soon as seems possible.”
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Ice Sculpting, chili cook-off upcoming
By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer
The Rawlins-Carbon County Chamber of Commerce hopes to hold an ice sculpture contest and chili cook-off on Saturday in an event dubbed “Fire and Ice.”
The two-part event includes an ice sculpturing contest that starts at 8 a.m. The large blocks of ice are provided by Candy Mountain and weigh about 300 pounds. They should be set in the sunshine along Cedar Street so sculptors can carve away in relative warmth. Participants should have six hours to make their design using chainsaws, hammers and chisels, hacksaws, or any other tools they can think of.
“We’ve had Mickey Mouse, dragons and angels in the past,” Chamber President Mike Lujan said. “The blocks stay up until they melt or break, so they usually last a few weeks.”
The chamber is currently searching for businesses interested in sponsoring sculptors for $100, as well as interested sculptors who can carve free of charge if a corporate sponsor is found. Registration is also open for entries in the chili cook-off, which starts at 11 a.m. in the Depot.
Participants cook a pot of green or red chili large enough to serve 100 people. The event costs $5 to enter. Anyone can stop into the Depot to sample the entries and vote.
Judging for both events takes place at 2 p.m. Prizes are available for the first-, second- and third-place finishers in each event. Prizes include gift certificates and other donations from chamber businesses. “Our goal is to get people into town and try to keep them there,” Lujan said.
The deadline for registration is Friday. For more information, call the chamber at 324-4111 or Lujan at 321-6453.
Times staff writer
The Rawlins-Carbon County Chamber of Commerce hopes to hold an ice sculpture contest and chili cook-off on Saturday in an event dubbed “Fire and Ice.”
The two-part event includes an ice sculpturing contest that starts at 8 a.m. The large blocks of ice are provided by Candy Mountain and weigh about 300 pounds. They should be set in the sunshine along Cedar Street so sculptors can carve away in relative warmth. Participants should have six hours to make their design using chainsaws, hammers and chisels, hacksaws, or any other tools they can think of.
“We’ve had Mickey Mouse, dragons and angels in the past,” Chamber President Mike Lujan said. “The blocks stay up until they melt or break, so they usually last a few weeks.”
The chamber is currently searching for businesses interested in sponsoring sculptors for $100, as well as interested sculptors who can carve free of charge if a corporate sponsor is found. Registration is also open for entries in the chili cook-off, which starts at 11 a.m. in the Depot.
Participants cook a pot of green or red chili large enough to serve 100 people. The event costs $5 to enter. Anyone can stop into the Depot to sample the entries and vote.
Judging for both events takes place at 2 p.m. Prizes are available for the first-, second- and third-place finishers in each event. Prizes include gift certificates and other donations from chamber businesses. “Our goal is to get people into town and try to keep them there,” Lujan said.
The deadline for registration is Friday. For more information, call the chamber at 324-4111 or Lujan at 321-6453.
Community to battle bullying
By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer
A kid leans forward in his chair and drops gum into the hair of the girl sitting one row up.
Another kid won’t go to the bathroom for the eight hours he’s at school. A handful of others are afraid to go to their lockers. All these cases instill fear in one person, power in another and a chain reaction throughout the community, Dave Dingman said.
Dingman is a Carbon County District 1 School Board member, but he said he’s speaking out about bullying because he’s a concerned community member.
Bullying is not unique to Rawlins, nor does it only occur with children. Anything involving one person exerting power over another because it makes them feel good constitutes bullying, Dingman said. According to this definition, bullying includes anything from littering to domestic violence. However, recent efforts in Carbon County to combat bullying focus on helping children and their parents find resources to handle the issue.
According to an article by Dr. Michael B. Green, “Violence committed on school grounds often derives from conflicts that emerge in the community.” Understanding the connection, Dingman and others pushed for the formation of a community-based committee to respond to bullying in schools. The group is now known as Safe Schools, Safe Homes, Safe Community. After receiving a grant in October, the committee has been able to connect with the statewide SAGE Initiative. Aiming to provide support, access, growth and empowerment, the program gathers social agencies under one roof to better service communities.
“When a mother has a depressed child, she can appeal to this program to get help,” Carbon County School District 1 Curriculum Director Marilyn Vercimak said.
Getting help should be easier for parents since the committee aims to streamline each agency’s application process. Vercimak expects there to be more demand for services since more people will be aware of them.
She believes the expansion of the original committee is crucial to community involvement not just in bullying but in other areas of parenting. “It’s hard nowadays,” she said.
Though Vercimak and Dingman, who are spearheading the community effort against bullying, are also associated with the school district, they emphasized that the issue is not solely a concern for the schools. “Should the schools adopt these kids?” Dingman asked. Since Dingman believes bullying is a learned behavior, it makes sense to him to address it wherever learning takes place, including the community. Vercimak pointed out that the school already has a list of responses to bullying while the community’s response efforts are lacking.
Safe Schools, Safe Homes, Safe Community expects to hold educational meetings for teachers and community members on how to handle bullying in the coming weeks. “If you handle it well, it goes away,” Vercimak said. She expects to start receiving funding from the SAGE Initiative once the committee receives training from representatives in Laramie.
Times staff writer
A kid leans forward in his chair and drops gum into the hair of the girl sitting one row up.
Another kid won’t go to the bathroom for the eight hours he’s at school. A handful of others are afraid to go to their lockers. All these cases instill fear in one person, power in another and a chain reaction throughout the community, Dave Dingman said.
Dingman is a Carbon County District 1 School Board member, but he said he’s speaking out about bullying because he’s a concerned community member.
Bullying is not unique to Rawlins, nor does it only occur with children. Anything involving one person exerting power over another because it makes them feel good constitutes bullying, Dingman said. According to this definition, bullying includes anything from littering to domestic violence. However, recent efforts in Carbon County to combat bullying focus on helping children and their parents find resources to handle the issue.
According to an article by Dr. Michael B. Green, “Violence committed on school grounds often derives from conflicts that emerge in the community.” Understanding the connection, Dingman and others pushed for the formation of a community-based committee to respond to bullying in schools. The group is now known as Safe Schools, Safe Homes, Safe Community. After receiving a grant in October, the committee has been able to connect with the statewide SAGE Initiative. Aiming to provide support, access, growth and empowerment, the program gathers social agencies under one roof to better service communities.
“When a mother has a depressed child, she can appeal to this program to get help,” Carbon County School District 1 Curriculum Director Marilyn Vercimak said.
Getting help should be easier for parents since the committee aims to streamline each agency’s application process. Vercimak expects there to be more demand for services since more people will be aware of them.
She believes the expansion of the original committee is crucial to community involvement not just in bullying but in other areas of parenting. “It’s hard nowadays,” she said.
Though Vercimak and Dingman, who are spearheading the community effort against bullying, are also associated with the school district, they emphasized that the issue is not solely a concern for the schools. “Should the schools adopt these kids?” Dingman asked. Since Dingman believes bullying is a learned behavior, it makes sense to him to address it wherever learning takes place, including the community. Vercimak pointed out that the school already has a list of responses to bullying while the community’s response efforts are lacking.
Safe Schools, Safe Homes, Safe Community expects to hold educational meetings for teachers and community members on how to handle bullying in the coming weeks. “If you handle it well, it goes away,” Vercimak said. She expects to start receiving funding from the SAGE Initiative once the committee receives training from representatives in Laramie.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
