Published in the Columbia Missourian
The Columbia School District is still talking about redistricting, and you're invited. The redistricting commission wants community perspectives on its proposals for reorganizing elementary school enrollments.
The district's Enrollment Planning Commission will hold two public meetings this week on plans to reconfigure elementary school enrollments in the northern section of town.
"We don't have a corner on all the good ideas," said Donald Ludwig, chair of the commission.
The current proposed plan would move 57 students from Derby Ridge to Blue Ridge; 20 students from Blue Ridge to Two Mile Prairie; 66 students from Benton to Shepard Boulevard; and 26 students from Shepard Boulevard to Cedar Ridge.
Students from these elementary schools all feed into Lange Middle School, the commission's first target for redistricting. In the spring, the commission will look at the schools serving Smithton and Gentry middle schools.
Although commission members have a general idea of how they hope redistricting will flow, they stress that no plans are finalized and their minds remain open. They want to hear opinions.
"None of us have made a decision on anything yet," Ludwig said.
The principals of the schools hosting this week's meetings are not concerned about redistricting's impact on their facilities.
"We're willing and pleased to work with anybody who walks in our doors," said Teresa VanDover, principal at Shepard Boulevard.
Both David Brunda, Blue Ridge's principal, and VanDover are waiting to see what concerns surface at the meetings.
Tonight, Ludwig expects to hear from parents of children possibly slated to move from Derby Ridge to Blue Ridge or from Blue Ridge to Two Mile Prairie. Thursday, he expects to hear from parents of Shepard Boulevard and Benton schools.
"We'll allow any family who wants to speak, and we'll take notes and listen," Ludwig said.
Next week, the commission will meet to decide what it will recommend to the school board in January. The date for next week's meeting has not yet been set. The school board will meet at 7 p.m. Jan. 12 at the District Administration Building, 1818 W. Worley.
Wednesday, December 3, 1997
Friday, November 21, 1997
School board looks at long-range planning
Published in the Columbia Missourian
The Columbia Board of Education's work session Thursday morning moved the district forward in a number of important tasks: facilities planning, a technology initiative; and an audit committee.
The board will hold a public forum in January on the long-range facilities plan. The date for the meeting will be set at the board's December meeting.
Currently, the long-range plan eliminates the junior high school level in Columbia. Eighth-graders will be moved to middle schools and ninth-graders will be moved to high schools.
Kim Harding, Gentry Middle School principal, said a committee of middle school principals will convene next week with parents and district administration officials to examine the plan further. Because the committee has not met yet, the direction the discussion will take is unclear. However, the district concern about classroom space is almost sure to surface.
Under the plan, Smithton Middle School, which has about 940 students, would add an eighth-grade population of nearly 400.
Smithton Principal Wanda Brown-Cox is concerned about the number of trailers at her school and others in the district. She wants the students to have enough space, no matter what school they attend.
"I think it's a district concern more than a Smithton concern," she said.
The board continues to seek input from the public on the plan.
"We hope to encourage attendance from both students and other members of the community," said Harris Cooper, board president. "We want to make sure all the folks who will be affected by the plan have the opportunity to speak with us about it."
In other business:
The district administration got the go-ahead to apply for a five-year, $7.5 million competitive technology grant.
Board member Elton Fay asked board members to consider information that discussed the creation of audit committees.
The Columbia Board of Education's work session Thursday morning moved the district forward in a number of important tasks: facilities planning, a technology initiative; and an audit committee.
The board will hold a public forum in January on the long-range facilities plan. The date for the meeting will be set at the board's December meeting.
Currently, the long-range plan eliminates the junior high school level in Columbia. Eighth-graders will be moved to middle schools and ninth-graders will be moved to high schools.
Kim Harding, Gentry Middle School principal, said a committee of middle school principals will convene next week with parents and district administration officials to examine the plan further. Because the committee has not met yet, the direction the discussion will take is unclear. However, the district concern about classroom space is almost sure to surface.
Under the plan, Smithton Middle School, which has about 940 students, would add an eighth-grade population of nearly 400.
Smithton Principal Wanda Brown-Cox is concerned about the number of trailers at her school and others in the district. She wants the students to have enough space, no matter what school they attend.
"I think it's a district concern more than a Smithton concern," she said.
The board continues to seek input from the public on the plan.
"We hope to encourage attendance from both students and other members of the community," said Harris Cooper, board president. "We want to make sure all the folks who will be affected by the plan have the opportunity to speak with us about it."
In other business:
The district administration got the go-ahead to apply for a five-year, $7.5 million competitive technology grant.
Board member Elton Fay asked board members to consider information that discussed the creation of audit committees.
Tuesday, November 18, 1997
Old theater experiences occupy special place in memory
Published in the Columbia Missourian
Old theaters just won't die. Memories of one-screen movie houses stay around forever, it seems, in our minds and hearts.
Smiley Herrin was a ticket taker in the 1930s at the Hall Theater at 100 S. Ninth St. That job and playing with the university band paid his way through college.
Going to the movies now different, he said.
Sometimes he doesn't even see a ticket taker in the theater. "A lot of them aren't around anymore," he said.
Herrin remembers two specific differences between the Hall and cinemas today: segregation and a lack of air conditioning.
Thirty seats up next to the projection booth were the only place black moviegoers were allowed to sit, Herrin said.
The air-conditioning system was hand-built to add comfort to the theater, which was constructed without one. Homer Woods, the theater's manager, set up the system. Large fans blew air over ice and out into the theater through vents beside the orchestra pit.
"It was a home-made outfit but it worked pretty good," Herrin said.
The theater had three shows a day, Herrin said. There was a matinee and two showings at night. Eventually the theater added a show at midnight on Saturdays.
Herrin's favorite film from those days was a Nelson Eddy and Jeannette McDonald film in the mid-1920s.
Highlights from Columbia's theater history:
1915: Construction on the Hall Theater began. It opened at 100 S. Ninth St. the following year.
From 1971 to 1978, it was used by the University Singers. In 1993, developer Max Gillard moved his Bermuda Gold jewelry store to the site. The following year, the Saint Louis Bread Co. opened in the same location.
1921: The future Uptown Theater - then called The Cozy - opened at 1010 E. Broadway. It was closed in 1986 to make room for office space.
1926: The Varsity Theater opened at 17 N. Ninth St. After closing in 1978, in 1988 it was open for five and a half months as the Comic Book Club. In 1990, the Blue Note moved to the site from its original location on Business Loop 70 East.
1928: The Missouri Theatre opened with the future Bob Hope on stage beside the future Radio City Rockettes. In 1978, the theater was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1988, it opened as the home of the Missouri Symphony Society.
1966: The Cinema Theater opened as the most modern theater in Columbia.
1967: The Forum Theater opened as a single-screen theater. In 1992, it was expanded to include eight screens.
1972: The Campus Twin opened at 1102 E. Broadway. In 1994, the theater began showing specialty and art films. A permit was granted for the construction of the Jerry Lewis Theater. The following year, Lewis withdrew his association with the theater. It was renamed the Biscayne III. Under new management in 1976, the theater focused on family movies. In 1992 the emphasis changed again, as it opened as a cut-rate theater.
1985: Construction began on the Mall 4 Theatres, which opened late in the year.
Old theaters just won't die. Memories of one-screen movie houses stay around forever, it seems, in our minds and hearts.
Smiley Herrin was a ticket taker in the 1930s at the Hall Theater at 100 S. Ninth St. That job and playing with the university band paid his way through college.
Going to the movies now different, he said.
Sometimes he doesn't even see a ticket taker in the theater. "A lot of them aren't around anymore," he said.
Herrin remembers two specific differences between the Hall and cinemas today: segregation and a lack of air conditioning.
Thirty seats up next to the projection booth were the only place black moviegoers were allowed to sit, Herrin said.
The air-conditioning system was hand-built to add comfort to the theater, which was constructed without one. Homer Woods, the theater's manager, set up the system. Large fans blew air over ice and out into the theater through vents beside the orchestra pit.
"It was a home-made outfit but it worked pretty good," Herrin said.
The theater had three shows a day, Herrin said. There was a matinee and two showings at night. Eventually the theater added a show at midnight on Saturdays.
Herrin's favorite film from those days was a Nelson Eddy and Jeannette McDonald film in the mid-1920s.
Highlights from Columbia's theater history:
1915: Construction on the Hall Theater began. It opened at 100 S. Ninth St. the following year.
From 1971 to 1978, it was used by the University Singers. In 1993, developer Max Gillard moved his Bermuda Gold jewelry store to the site. The following year, the Saint Louis Bread Co. opened in the same location.
1921: The future Uptown Theater - then called The Cozy - opened at 1010 E. Broadway. It was closed in 1986 to make room for office space.
1926: The Varsity Theater opened at 17 N. Ninth St. After closing in 1978, in 1988 it was open for five and a half months as the Comic Book Club. In 1990, the Blue Note moved to the site from its original location on Business Loop 70 East.
1928: The Missouri Theatre opened with the future Bob Hope on stage beside the future Radio City Rockettes. In 1978, the theater was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1988, it opened as the home of the Missouri Symphony Society.
1966: The Cinema Theater opened as the most modern theater in Columbia.
1967: The Forum Theater opened as a single-screen theater. In 1992, it was expanded to include eight screens.
1972: The Campus Twin opened at 1102 E. Broadway. In 1994, the theater began showing specialty and art films. A permit was granted for the construction of the Jerry Lewis Theater. The following year, Lewis withdrew his association with the theater. It was renamed the Biscayne III. Under new management in 1976, the theater focused on family movies. In 1992 the emphasis changed again, as it opened as a cut-rate theater.
1985: Construction began on the Mall 4 Theatres, which opened late in the year.
Monday, November 10, 1997
Don't trash it: Halloween's over, but your pumpkin can still be useful
Published in the Columbia Missourian
Halloween is over, and your candy's almost gone. The pumpkin on your front step is turning black and starting to cave in. It's time to get rid of it before it gets really gross.
There are a few things you can do with it.
You can put it in the garbage and have the city trash collectors take it to the landfill. There it will sit, buried under more trash, far from the air it needs to decompose.
It could take 50 years - maybe more - before the pumpkin decays. Until then, it will occupy space in the landfill.
But pumpkins have a lot to offer the world. They have all kinds of nutrients to give to plants in your house and garden. You have a choice of things to do with the pumpkins.
"You can compost your pumpkin really easily," said Tina Hubbs, city recycling volunteer. A compost is a mixture of things considered to be trash that can be turned into fertilizer.
There are three options for composting here in Columbia.
First there's a yard compost. You can build a bin out of newspaper, sticks and string. In your yard bin, you can compost food, yard waste and pumpkins! It's very easy, not messy at all, and you can even do some of it yourself, if an adult helps.
You also can use a worm composter. This uses worms to help break down the waste. They east the food and organic waste you put in the bin, turning it into useful fertilizer. Cut your pumpkin into chunks and put the chunks into the worm bin.
The last option you have is to use the city's composting facility. Every house has clear plastic bags for yard and garden waste. You can put your pumpkin in there, too, and it will be composted at the city's central compost pile.
When the pumpkin has finished turning into compost, you can use it for lots of things. If you have a garden, you can spread the compost there to make it healthier. If you have house plants, you can mix the compost with soil to make a rich potting soil. You can also spread it on your lawn to help it grow.
There is more than one way to explore things to do with compost.
For example, pile up a bunch of leaves in your yard. Your parents will appreciate the help, and when you're done, you can jump in them!
After you've had your fun jumping in the leaf pile, put your old pumpkin at the bottom of it and cover it with leaves.
When spring rolls around uncover the pumpkin and see what it looks like. What happened to it over the winter?
If you want to learn more about composting, the city runs composting workshops throughout the year to teach you how. There are demonstration sites at Oakland Junior High School and the Community Garden on North Ninth Street.
Of course, besides pumpkins, you can compost food and yard waste as well. Composting is a great way to reduce the amount of trash your family generates, and you can help the environment by keeping useful stuff - such as pumpkins - out of landfills.
Halloween is over, and your candy's almost gone. The pumpkin on your front step is turning black and starting to cave in. It's time to get rid of it before it gets really gross.
There are a few things you can do with it.
You can put it in the garbage and have the city trash collectors take it to the landfill. There it will sit, buried under more trash, far from the air it needs to decompose.
It could take 50 years - maybe more - before the pumpkin decays. Until then, it will occupy space in the landfill.
But pumpkins have a lot to offer the world. They have all kinds of nutrients to give to plants in your house and garden. You have a choice of things to do with the pumpkins.
"You can compost your pumpkin really easily," said Tina Hubbs, city recycling volunteer. A compost is a mixture of things considered to be trash that can be turned into fertilizer.
There are three options for composting here in Columbia.
First there's a yard compost. You can build a bin out of newspaper, sticks and string. In your yard bin, you can compost food, yard waste and pumpkins! It's very easy, not messy at all, and you can even do some of it yourself, if an adult helps.
You also can use a worm composter. This uses worms to help break down the waste. They east the food and organic waste you put in the bin, turning it into useful fertilizer. Cut your pumpkin into chunks and put the chunks into the worm bin.
The last option you have is to use the city's composting facility. Every house has clear plastic bags for yard and garden waste. You can put your pumpkin in there, too, and it will be composted at the city's central compost pile.
When the pumpkin has finished turning into compost, you can use it for lots of things. If you have a garden, you can spread the compost there to make it healthier. If you have house plants, you can mix the compost with soil to make a rich potting soil. You can also spread it on your lawn to help it grow.
There is more than one way to explore things to do with compost.
For example, pile up a bunch of leaves in your yard. Your parents will appreciate the help, and when you're done, you can jump in them!
After you've had your fun jumping in the leaf pile, put your old pumpkin at the bottom of it and cover it with leaves.
When spring rolls around uncover the pumpkin and see what it looks like. What happened to it over the winter?
If you want to learn more about composting, the city runs composting workshops throughout the year to teach you how. There are demonstration sites at Oakland Junior High School and the Community Garden on North Ninth Street.
Of course, besides pumpkins, you can compost food and yard waste as well. Composting is a great way to reduce the amount of trash your family generates, and you can help the environment by keeping useful stuff - such as pumpkins - out of landfills.
Sunday, November 2, 1997
Parents get more than money from annual event
Published in the Columbia Missourian
At 5:30 a.m. the sun is rising over the fields. Clouds obscure the horizon at the edge of a brightening sky.
Clouds fill the kitchen, too, as Two Mile Prairie Elementary School's pancake griddle heats up, throwing smoke into the air.
"Okay, higher math here. 45 servings," says principal Jack Jensen, as he dips a measure cup into a two-pound can of ground coffee.
Volunteers are busy preparing for an onslaught of hungry humans, all trooping in for the school's PTA fund-raising event. Some volunteers supervise the 10-gallon Hobart mixer beating pancake batter into readiness. Others tear into cases of Jimmy Dean pork sausage, setting them in trays for the waiting broiler.
6:15 a.m. The griddle is way too hot, and it smokes as the volunteer chefs struggle to gain control of the temperature.
"Well, I burned the first batch," says first-shift chef Tom Thurston.
"That's to season the griddle, isn't it?" Jensen says, laughing.
With the griddle burning-hot, Thurston shuts the flames off.
"I can cook for at least an hour on this," he says.
Even before the sun made its appearance, the bright-eyed adults had set up 14 tables, with eight chairs at each, in the school gym. They follow one of the eight rules of eating, posted on the wall: "No more than eight to a table." They hope that the guests will obey rule seven: "Eat your own food."
For $2.50, guests get all the pancakes and sausage they can eat, fresh from the Two Mile Prairie kitchen.
The volunteers - among them a small-business owner, an MU administrator, and a homemaker - are armed with four gallons of pancake syrup, 40 pounds of pancake mix and more than 250 sausage patties.
By 6:30 a.m. there are enough volunteers on hand to have some waiting around for things to do. In 90 minutes the doors will open and the eating will begin.
"We had a steady stream of people from 8:00 to about 9:30," Jensen said.
10:00 a.m. The big rush is over. Everyone has lost count of everything.
"I know we've served a lot of pancakes," Jensen said, shaking his head.
What were neat stacks of plates, napkins and forks are now small piles of lonely place-settings.
It's a PTA fund-raising event, but it's hard to tell. Nobody talks about the PTA. All the conversation is about friendships, communities and neighbors.
"It's almost more of a social event," said Rhonda Smith, a mother of four. Two of her children have now left Two Mile Prairie. The other two are still at the school.
Parents gather with their children, greeting friends and talking about Halloween.
"It's like your own little country store," Smith said. Maybe, but it's a country store with a playground. When they're done eating, the kids take their pancake-and-sausage energy outside.
Ten or so of them play soccer in the November sunshine.
11:00 a.m. Katrina, a new kindergartner, plays on the slide with her brother and sister, who have left Two Mile Prairie for Lange Middle School.
Inside, other children are helping the parents clean up. One wields a mop taller than she is. Another stretches to reach the middle of a table with a sponge.
The grown-ups are washing dishes. Everyone is laughing and smiling.
It was a success. The impressive array of food was enough to sate the appetite of the masses. There was no extra. It's all gone.
At 5:30 a.m. the sun is rising over the fields. Clouds obscure the horizon at the edge of a brightening sky.
Clouds fill the kitchen, too, as Two Mile Prairie Elementary School's pancake griddle heats up, throwing smoke into the air.
"Okay, higher math here. 45 servings," says principal Jack Jensen, as he dips a measure cup into a two-pound can of ground coffee.
Volunteers are busy preparing for an onslaught of hungry humans, all trooping in for the school's PTA fund-raising event. Some volunteers supervise the 10-gallon Hobart mixer beating pancake batter into readiness. Others tear into cases of Jimmy Dean pork sausage, setting them in trays for the waiting broiler.
6:15 a.m. The griddle is way too hot, and it smokes as the volunteer chefs struggle to gain control of the temperature.
"Well, I burned the first batch," says first-shift chef Tom Thurston.
"That's to season the griddle, isn't it?" Jensen says, laughing.
With the griddle burning-hot, Thurston shuts the flames off.
"I can cook for at least an hour on this," he says.
Even before the sun made its appearance, the bright-eyed adults had set up 14 tables, with eight chairs at each, in the school gym. They follow one of the eight rules of eating, posted on the wall: "No more than eight to a table." They hope that the guests will obey rule seven: "Eat your own food."
For $2.50, guests get all the pancakes and sausage they can eat, fresh from the Two Mile Prairie kitchen.
The volunteers - among them a small-business owner, an MU administrator, and a homemaker - are armed with four gallons of pancake syrup, 40 pounds of pancake mix and more than 250 sausage patties.
By 6:30 a.m. there are enough volunteers on hand to have some waiting around for things to do. In 90 minutes the doors will open and the eating will begin.
"We had a steady stream of people from 8:00 to about 9:30," Jensen said.
10:00 a.m. The big rush is over. Everyone has lost count of everything.
"I know we've served a lot of pancakes," Jensen said, shaking his head.
What were neat stacks of plates, napkins and forks are now small piles of lonely place-settings.
It's a PTA fund-raising event, but it's hard to tell. Nobody talks about the PTA. All the conversation is about friendships, communities and neighbors.
"It's almost more of a social event," said Rhonda Smith, a mother of four. Two of her children have now left Two Mile Prairie. The other two are still at the school.
Parents gather with their children, greeting friends and talking about Halloween.
"It's like your own little country store," Smith said. Maybe, but it's a country store with a playground. When they're done eating, the kids take their pancake-and-sausage energy outside.
Ten or so of them play soccer in the November sunshine.
11:00 a.m. Katrina, a new kindergartner, plays on the slide with her brother and sister, who have left Two Mile Prairie for Lange Middle School.
Inside, other children are helping the parents clean up. One wields a mop taller than she is. Another stretches to reach the middle of a table with a sponge.
The grown-ups are washing dishes. Everyone is laughing and smiling.
It was a success. The impressive array of food was enough to sate the appetite of the masses. There was no extra. It's all gone.
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