Published in the Current
After 15 days in North Carolina, four workers from Bartlett Tree Service in Scarborough returned home Dec. 23, just in time for Christmas.
“It’s good to be home,” said Troy Delano just after getting his suitcase off the baggage carousel at the Portland Jetport. It was the longest he had ever been away from home.
His wife is due to give birth Dec. 31, and she was waiting eagerly for his return, hoping she wouldn’t go into labor early. “I was having some faith,” she said.
The men pulled 10-hour days from the beginning to the end, with no real time off. “We worked right straight through,” Delano said.
It was only fitting that the men head south after a Dec. 4-5 ice storm knocked out power for over 2 million North Carolina residents and damaged buildings and cars, resulting in a federal disaster-area declaration for the region.
Some of the North Carolina workers had come to Maine in 1998, to help clean up things after that year’s ice storm, and Delano said he ran into a North Carolina man who had worked with him then. “It was good to go down.”
This year’s task was both harder and easier than the one four years ago. Warmer temperatures meant the ice had melted, but “they have very large trees,” Delano said, because of the longer growing season.
The men were working to clear roads and power lines of trees and downed branches, but couldn’t take care of everything. “There’s still a ton of damage,” Delano said. “There’s still limbs on houses.”
By the middle of the first week they were there, all of the power was back on, Delano said, and workers remained to help with the rest of the cleanup.
They were originally slated to come home Dec. 20, but chose to stay longer to get more done. The people they met were very supportive.
Delano and Bill Reed went into a store to pick up some food and other items, and the man behind the counter gave it all to them free, and thanked them for their hard work.
“People were very generous,” Delano said.
Tim Lindsey of Bartlett Tree Service said he was glad to send workers down to help out, though Pat Lindsey, who also works at the business, said the men would have to work a half-day on Dec. 24 to meet the needs of customers who have been patiently waiting for tree work here in Maine.
North Carolina tree companies paid for their flights, and made sure that they made it back on time and in style. “They flew back first class,” said Tim Lindsey.
Thursday, December 26, 2002
Teens worry about proposed increase in driving age
Published in the Current
Secretary of State Dan Gwadosky is looking to increase restrictions on teenage drivers to improve road safety in Maine, but driving schools and driving students aren’t happy with what he has proposed.
Gwadosky would like to discuss with the public and legislators the possibility of increasing the driving age from 16 to 17; banning teens from driving between midnight and 5 a.m.; extending the length of time new drivers must hold learner’s permits before they can get their licenses; extending the ban on carrying passengers for an additional three months; and mandatory license suspensions for teenage drivers who get traffic tickets.
Gwadosky, armed with statistics indicating one teenage driving fatality every 10 days in the state, and 60 injured teens during the same amount of time, met with the Maine Legislative Youth Advisory Council early this month to discuss ways to make teenagers safer when driving.
He told the Current speed, inattention and driver distraction were all common factors in crashes involving teen drivers.
Gwadosky said he is “trying to find the best way to address those issues through legislation,” and the proposals are preliminary.
“I think it’s unlikely we’ll advance all of them to the Legislature,” he said.
Teens concerned
Several students in a Best-Way Driving School class, most of whom were 15 or 16, didn’t like Gwadosky’s ideas, especially raising the license age to 17.
Jacqueline Schmidt, in the minutes before she started her learner’s permit test, said she likes being able to get her license earlier rather than later, but she realizes safety is an issue.
“There are a lot of immature people that I know,” Schmidt said. Some of them, she said, should pay more attention to what they’re doing when they’re behind the wheel.
The real crunch, she said, comes when teens are 18 and have graduated from high school. Then, to get back and forth to work or college, they need a license.
“Once you graduate, you really need to be able to drive,” Schmidt said.
Before that, there are buses to and from school, and parents can often give teens rides to work and other activities, she said.
She suggested having driver education as a course in high school, which students must pass before getting their licenses.
Schmidt said she is concerned that students in driver education classes now might be forced to wait to get their licenses. She said the wait makes sense for safety, but admitted she wants her license as soon as possible.
As for the proposed curfew, she thinks one from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. makes sense for students who have jobs or other activities that require them to stay out late. She also thinks it odd that a kid can get in a car and drive at age 16 but can’t drink until age 21.
“You can take someone’s life with a car,” Schmidt said.
Another student, John McDonald, also opposed raising the age limit on getting a driver’s license.
“I think that’s stupid,” said McDonald. “I don’t think that one year is going to make a difference.”
Andrea LaBonty said her parents spend a lot of time driving her around, and that will get easier when she has her license. She also hopes to get a job once she can drive to it.
Getting her license earlier, she said, would reduce the load on her parents.
LaBonty also said that nobody obeys the three-month passenger ban as it is, so extending it wouldn’t have any effect.
Dana Bennett said that if he was told he had to wait until age 17 to get his license, “I’d be pretty mad.” He also thought younger people, not yet in driver’s education, would also be “annoyed” by a new rule.
Kate Lonsdale, 17, said her brother brags about speeding. She said waiting until teens are more mature would be a good idea. Lonsdale said she may wait until she’s 18 before going for her road test.
“Driving is a big responsibility, ” she said. Some people can handle it, and others can’t, she added.
Lawmakers interested
That’s why Gwadosky wants to help teens get more experience before they get their licenses.
Six legislators have already contacted Gwadosky to express interest in sponsoring a bill that would toughen driving laws, including restricting passengers, who are an issue because some of the teens killed and injured on the roads were not driving themselves.
Teens are interested in getting their licenses, he said, but the state has to balance that with safety. Gwadosky said it is a good idea to drive through all the seasons before going for a road test. His son, now 19, did that, and his 16-year-old daughter is doing so now, he said.
The Legislative Youth Advisory Council is more willing to make changes to the permit process, Gwadosky said, than to up the licensing age.
“There’s a tremendous interest,” Gwadosky said. “A driver’s license represents freedom and independence.”
Part of that is because of the state itself. “We have no public transportation,” Gwadosky said. Additional young drivers are important for families in rural areas, but young drivers still have a lot to learn, he said.
“Getting their license isn’t the end. It should really be the beginning,” Gwadosky said.
He has tried to create an environment in the state where family members are involved in driver education, but realizes that is hard to do. “There are some things we can’t legislate,” he said.
Gwadosky and driver educators do agree that some of the requirements are not enough, but they differ on how to deal with them.
Gwadosky encourages parents to rethink their own driving habits and be good models for their teens. They should work on specific areas of driving skills and give feedback to their children, he said. “The quality of the drive time is significant,” Gwadosky said.
Driver educator Ron Vance, who owns Best-Way Driving Schools with offices and classrooms throughout Southern Maine, worries more teens will drive without a license if the law changes.
Rather than change the driving age, he suggested an increase in the number of hours teens must drive with their parents. Other states require 50 hours with parents, rather than the 35 hours Maine requires, Vance said.
“We can help reduce (teen driving deaths) with the parents’ help , ” Vance said.
Secretary of State Dan Gwadosky is looking to increase restrictions on teenage drivers to improve road safety in Maine, but driving schools and driving students aren’t happy with what he has proposed.
Gwadosky would like to discuss with the public and legislators the possibility of increasing the driving age from 16 to 17; banning teens from driving between midnight and 5 a.m.; extending the length of time new drivers must hold learner’s permits before they can get their licenses; extending the ban on carrying passengers for an additional three months; and mandatory license suspensions for teenage drivers who get traffic tickets.
Gwadosky, armed with statistics indicating one teenage driving fatality every 10 days in the state, and 60 injured teens during the same amount of time, met with the Maine Legislative Youth Advisory Council early this month to discuss ways to make teenagers safer when driving.
He told the Current speed, inattention and driver distraction were all common factors in crashes involving teen drivers.
Gwadosky said he is “trying to find the best way to address those issues through legislation,” and the proposals are preliminary.
“I think it’s unlikely we’ll advance all of them to the Legislature,” he said.
Teens concerned
Several students in a Best-Way Driving School class, most of whom were 15 or 16, didn’t like Gwadosky’s ideas, especially raising the license age to 17.
Jacqueline Schmidt, in the minutes before she started her learner’s permit test, said she likes being able to get her license earlier rather than later, but she realizes safety is an issue.
“There are a lot of immature people that I know,” Schmidt said. Some of them, she said, should pay more attention to what they’re doing when they’re behind the wheel.
The real crunch, she said, comes when teens are 18 and have graduated from high school. Then, to get back and forth to work or college, they need a license.
“Once you graduate, you really need to be able to drive,” Schmidt said.
Before that, there are buses to and from school, and parents can often give teens rides to work and other activities, she said.
She suggested having driver education as a course in high school, which students must pass before getting their licenses.
Schmidt said she is concerned that students in driver education classes now might be forced to wait to get their licenses. She said the wait makes sense for safety, but admitted she wants her license as soon as possible.
As for the proposed curfew, she thinks one from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. makes sense for students who have jobs or other activities that require them to stay out late. She also thinks it odd that a kid can get in a car and drive at age 16 but can’t drink until age 21.
“You can take someone’s life with a car,” Schmidt said.
Another student, John McDonald, also opposed raising the age limit on getting a driver’s license.
“I think that’s stupid,” said McDonald. “I don’t think that one year is going to make a difference.”
Andrea LaBonty said her parents spend a lot of time driving her around, and that will get easier when she has her license. She also hopes to get a job once she can drive to it.
Getting her license earlier, she said, would reduce the load on her parents.
LaBonty also said that nobody obeys the three-month passenger ban as it is, so extending it wouldn’t have any effect.
Dana Bennett said that if he was told he had to wait until age 17 to get his license, “I’d be pretty mad.” He also thought younger people, not yet in driver’s education, would also be “annoyed” by a new rule.
Kate Lonsdale, 17, said her brother brags about speeding. She said waiting until teens are more mature would be a good idea. Lonsdale said she may wait until she’s 18 before going for her road test.
“Driving is a big responsibility, ” she said. Some people can handle it, and others can’t, she added.
Lawmakers interested
That’s why Gwadosky wants to help teens get more experience before they get their licenses.
Six legislators have already contacted Gwadosky to express interest in sponsoring a bill that would toughen driving laws, including restricting passengers, who are an issue because some of the teens killed and injured on the roads were not driving themselves.
Teens are interested in getting their licenses, he said, but the state has to balance that with safety. Gwadosky said it is a good idea to drive through all the seasons before going for a road test. His son, now 19, did that, and his 16-year-old daughter is doing so now, he said.
The Legislative Youth Advisory Council is more willing to make changes to the permit process, Gwadosky said, than to up the licensing age.
“There’s a tremendous interest,” Gwadosky said. “A driver’s license represents freedom and independence.”
Part of that is because of the state itself. “We have no public transportation,” Gwadosky said. Additional young drivers are important for families in rural areas, but young drivers still have a lot to learn, he said.
“Getting their license isn’t the end. It should really be the beginning,” Gwadosky said.
He has tried to create an environment in the state where family members are involved in driver education, but realizes that is hard to do. “There are some things we can’t legislate,” he said.
Gwadosky and driver educators do agree that some of the requirements are not enough, but they differ on how to deal with them.
Gwadosky encourages parents to rethink their own driving habits and be good models for their teens. They should work on specific areas of driving skills and give feedback to their children, he said. “The quality of the drive time is significant,” Gwadosky said.
Driver educator Ron Vance, who owns Best-Way Driving Schools with offices and classrooms throughout Southern Maine, worries more teens will drive without a license if the law changes.
Rather than change the driving age, he suggested an increase in the number of hours teens must drive with their parents. Other states require 50 hours with parents, rather than the 35 hours Maine requires, Vance said.
“We can help reduce (teen driving deaths) with the parents’ help , ” Vance said.
Away from home for Christmas
Published in the Current
For Christmas 1943, Harry Foote got no rest, “no presents, no party, no big meal.” He and the rest of the First Marine Division spent Christmas Day that
year, and about three weeks afterward, attacking Japanese positions on the Pacific island of New Britain.
U.S. strategists thought the Japanese would not expect an invasion on “that sacred day, ” said Foote, who later became the editor of the American Journal newspaper. “But it was war, and the First Marine Division landed.”
They started at the airfield on the western end of the island, at Cape Gloucester. “As we landed, they bombed us and strafed us on Christmas Day,” Foote said.
“We were in rain and mud from that day on.” Instead of luxuriant holiday meals, they ate “Spam and canned hash.”
Twenty years later, Matt Martinelli was in the Navy, stationed in Sicily for Christmas 1963. Sailors at the base invited the kids from a nearby orphanage over for a holiday meal of spaghetti. The kids got gifts of sweaters, stockings and candy.
The sailors also gave the orphanage a new oven and refrigerator.
“It was amazing how possessive they were of the little things we gave them,” said Martinelli, who now lives in Scarborough.
Martinelli served on three aircraft carriers, and despite involvement in the Korean and Vietnam wars, got lucky, always having “clean sheets and showers.”
The year before the Italian orphans’ feast, he had been stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and had just come through the Cuban Missile Crisis, during which the admiral in charge of the base told the men that they could count on being overrun if Castro decided to attack.
At Christmas, Bob Hope was elsewhere, so “Perry Como came to entertain us,” Martinelli said. The film version of “West Side Story” had also come out, and Martinelli remembered the USO brought down a copy of it to show as well.
And despite the recent threat of war, the base was quiet and peaceful on Christmas.
“It’s always an emotional experience being away on a holiday,” said John Rich of Cape Elizabeth, who served in the Marines during World War II and later became a war correspondent through Korea and Vietnam, and even reported on the Gulf War in 1991.
“We always got our turkey,” Rich remembered of his days in the service.
Even at the front, where soldiers “were busy enough,” the military always managed to get them hot food for the holiday meal.
New Year’s Eve 1943, he was in San Diego helping load ships preparing for the landing in Kwajelein.
The more senior officers were in town partying. “It was their last New Year’s in the U.S.,” Rich said. “For a lot of them it was.”
Behind a wall near the loading area, a few men had a bottle or two of alcohol, Rich remembered. “We got more and more screwed up,” he laughed, as he recalled everyone sneaking behind the wall to take a few nips of New Year’s cheer.
In Korea, Chinese troops decorated the lines between the forces. “The Chinese came down and hung some things on the barbed wire,” Rich said.
Christmas in Afghanistan
This year, Army Capt. Geoff Crafts of Cape Elizabeth will spend Christmas in Kandahar, Afghanistan. He returned to the main U.S. base in the country after three and a half months in the hinterland on intelligence-gathering missions, said his father, Stephen Crafts.
After all of that, it was on their way out that Capt. Crafts thought he might die. The helicopter that was taking him back to the base lost power in one engine. “They thought they were going down,” his father said. They did not, and managed to have a “hard landing,” but a safe one, in Kandahar.
Now, “they’re getting ready to celebrate Christmas,” his father said. The Crafts family has sent Geoff “a lot of stuff,” including 358 pounds of food in weekly packages over the past few months.
Last week, the troops got a visit from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, and the Army ’s highest-ranking non-commissioned officer, Command Sgt. Maj. of the Army Jack Tilley. Drew Carey and Roger Clemens also visited the camp.
His family has sent Crafts a miniature tree, battery-powered lights and “all that tacky stuff,” his father said. “They hang it all over their tents.”
And though they are far from home, Crafts and his comrades are doing well. “Spirits are high,” his father said. The men are almost constantly together in training or in wartime, so “they’re almost like family. ”
At the Crafts home, the family is gathering. The other two kids are visiting, one from college and one from right nearby where she lives.
“This is the second out of the last three Christmases he’s been gone,” Stephen Crafts said.
But they got a special treat: a call from Geoff a couple of days ago. Even though it was over a satellite phone with a long delay and an unspoken set of rules about what questions family can ask, Stephen said his son is doing well. “He’s always kept his sense of humor. ”
For Christmas 1943, Harry Foote got no rest, “no presents, no party, no big meal.” He and the rest of the First Marine Division spent Christmas Day that
year, and about three weeks afterward, attacking Japanese positions on the Pacific island of New Britain.
U.S. strategists thought the Japanese would not expect an invasion on “that sacred day, ” said Foote, who later became the editor of the American Journal newspaper. “But it was war, and the First Marine Division landed.”
They started at the airfield on the western end of the island, at Cape Gloucester. “As we landed, they bombed us and strafed us on Christmas Day,” Foote said.
“We were in rain and mud from that day on.” Instead of luxuriant holiday meals, they ate “Spam and canned hash.”
Twenty years later, Matt Martinelli was in the Navy, stationed in Sicily for Christmas 1963. Sailors at the base invited the kids from a nearby orphanage over for a holiday meal of spaghetti. The kids got gifts of sweaters, stockings and candy.
The sailors also gave the orphanage a new oven and refrigerator.
“It was amazing how possessive they were of the little things we gave them,” said Martinelli, who now lives in Scarborough.
Martinelli served on three aircraft carriers, and despite involvement in the Korean and Vietnam wars, got lucky, always having “clean sheets and showers.”
The year before the Italian orphans’ feast, he had been stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and had just come through the Cuban Missile Crisis, during which the admiral in charge of the base told the men that they could count on being overrun if Castro decided to attack.
At Christmas, Bob Hope was elsewhere, so “Perry Como came to entertain us,” Martinelli said. The film version of “West Side Story” had also come out, and Martinelli remembered the USO brought down a copy of it to show as well.
And despite the recent threat of war, the base was quiet and peaceful on Christmas.
“It’s always an emotional experience being away on a holiday,” said John Rich of Cape Elizabeth, who served in the Marines during World War II and later became a war correspondent through Korea and Vietnam, and even reported on the Gulf War in 1991.
“We always got our turkey,” Rich remembered of his days in the service.
Even at the front, where soldiers “were busy enough,” the military always managed to get them hot food for the holiday meal.
New Year’s Eve 1943, he was in San Diego helping load ships preparing for the landing in Kwajelein.
The more senior officers were in town partying. “It was their last New Year’s in the U.S.,” Rich said. “For a lot of them it was.”
Behind a wall near the loading area, a few men had a bottle or two of alcohol, Rich remembered. “We got more and more screwed up,” he laughed, as he recalled everyone sneaking behind the wall to take a few nips of New Year’s cheer.
In Korea, Chinese troops decorated the lines between the forces. “The Chinese came down and hung some things on the barbed wire,” Rich said.
Christmas in Afghanistan
This year, Army Capt. Geoff Crafts of Cape Elizabeth will spend Christmas in Kandahar, Afghanistan. He returned to the main U.S. base in the country after three and a half months in the hinterland on intelligence-gathering missions, said his father, Stephen Crafts.
After all of that, it was on their way out that Capt. Crafts thought he might die. The helicopter that was taking him back to the base lost power in one engine. “They thought they were going down,” his father said. They did not, and managed to have a “hard landing,” but a safe one, in Kandahar.
Now, “they’re getting ready to celebrate Christmas,” his father said. The Crafts family has sent Geoff “a lot of stuff,” including 358 pounds of food in weekly packages over the past few months.
Last week, the troops got a visit from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, and the Army ’s highest-ranking non-commissioned officer, Command Sgt. Maj. of the Army Jack Tilley. Drew Carey and Roger Clemens also visited the camp.
His family has sent Crafts a miniature tree, battery-powered lights and “all that tacky stuff,” his father said. “They hang it all over their tents.”
And though they are far from home, Crafts and his comrades are doing well. “Spirits are high,” his father said. The men are almost constantly together in training or in wartime, so “they’re almost like family. ”
At the Crafts home, the family is gathering. The other two kids are visiting, one from college and one from right nearby where she lives.
“This is the second out of the last three Christmases he’s been gone,” Stephen Crafts said.
But they got a special treat: a call from Geoff a couple of days ago. Even though it was over a satellite phone with a long delay and an unspoken set of rules about what questions family can ask, Stephen said his son is doing well. “He’s always kept his sense of humor. ”
Cape model for school leadership
Published in the Current
Cape Elizabeth is one of eight communities chosen in New England – and the only one in Maine – as a model for attracting strong leaders to its board of education.
The town now will be part of a study done by the New England School Development Council on how towns can attract excellent school board members.
“When you have an outstanding school board and superintendent working as a team,” students do very well at learning and on independent testing, said researcher Richard Goodman.
The study is being funded by a $40,000 grant from the Wallace Reader’s Digest Foundation.
After seven years of studying leadership in public school systems around the region, Goodman and his colleagues decided that one question had never
been asked: “What does it take for a community to attract and retain” school board members “who care about children and know or learn quickly the role of the school board,” Goodman said.
“Cape Elizabeth is one of those in Maine that’s been considered to be a top school system for a number of years,” he said.
Superintendent Tom Forcella said the study will provide a look at “how we are able to encourage people in the community to get involved with the School Board.”
Goodman said he and his colleagues will interview school board members and superintendents, as well as other community members, in each of the
eight towns chosen for the study. Among the other towns are Wayland, Mass., Farmington, Conn., and Hollis-Brookline cooperative school district
in New Hampshire.
Goodman said a school district in Vermont has not yet been chosen, and neither have two urban school districts in New England, but he expects those
decisions to be made within the next couple of weeks.
He said strong school boards tend to let superintendents run the schools, and make sure the superintendent is a good one and has the necessary support to do the job.
“It takes a community,” Goodman said, to get strong schools.
Cape Elizabeth is one of eight communities chosen in New England – and the only one in Maine – as a model for attracting strong leaders to its board of education.
The town now will be part of a study done by the New England School Development Council on how towns can attract excellent school board members.
“When you have an outstanding school board and superintendent working as a team,” students do very well at learning and on independent testing, said researcher Richard Goodman.
The study is being funded by a $40,000 grant from the Wallace Reader’s Digest Foundation.
After seven years of studying leadership in public school systems around the region, Goodman and his colleagues decided that one question had never
been asked: “What does it take for a community to attract and retain” school board members “who care about children and know or learn quickly the role of the school board,” Goodman said.
“Cape Elizabeth is one of those in Maine that’s been considered to be a top school system for a number of years,” he said.
Superintendent Tom Forcella said the study will provide a look at “how we are able to encourage people in the community to get involved with the School Board.”
Goodman said he and his colleagues will interview school board members and superintendents, as well as other community members, in each of the
eight towns chosen for the study. Among the other towns are Wayland, Mass., Farmington, Conn., and Hollis-Brookline cooperative school district
in New Hampshire.
Goodman said a school district in Vermont has not yet been chosen, and neither have two urban school districts in New England, but he expects those
decisions to be made within the next couple of weeks.
He said strong school boards tend to let superintendents run the schools, and make sure the superintendent is a good one and has the necessary support to do the job.
“It takes a community,” Goodman said, to get strong schools.
Thursday, December 19, 2002
New science curriculum puts physics first
Published in the Current
This year, freshmen at Cape Elizabeth High School have started their science learning with physics rather than earth and physical science – a new trend in education that says the way science has traditionally been taught is backward.
The science faculty have had to work hard to restructure the physics curriculum to depend less on math and more on the concepts of physics itself, but so far the project seems to be a success. The idea is that physics offers a big picture look at how the universe works and is therefore the most logical starting point in science education.
Department head and physics teacher, Michael Efron, said some tweaking has been required. The year started with four sections of honors and five sections of college prep classes. Three of the college prep sections had stronger students and two sections were of what Efron called students with a “weaker background,” not only in science but also in math and English.
“We struggled with how best to handle that,” Efron said. In the end, two sub-levels of college prep were set up, and some students, with the permission of their parents and other teachers, were rearranged to make the classes of more equal abilities.
“Then we could teach everybody at a better pace,” Efron said.
It has presaged a change in the science curriculum across the grades.
“We really want to offer three levels in all the base courses,” Efron said. That way, the department will be able to meet more students’ needs.
Other changes have been as significant and with good educational payoff.
Physics teacher Michael O’Brien said teaching physics to ninth-graders rather than seniors doesn’t mean teaching any different subject matter, though it does mean using less math. “It’s not the physics that people think of, with all the formulas and equations,” O’Brien said.
Instead, students learn the concepts relating to the way the world works. “Physics explains the natural world,” O’Brien said.
In the honors classes, students do use more math than in the college prep level, but while most of the students have finished the Algebra I course, none have had calculus or other advanced mathematics.
Next year, there may be a requirement for students in the honors level to have completed Algebra I, Efron said, but that remains under discussion.
But this year’s honors freshmen are doing just fine.
“They’re stepping up to the plate,” said teacher Courtney Ferrell, who was hired this year specifically with the transition in mind. She can teach both physics and chemistry.
The book the students use doesn’t involve much math. On a recent test supplied with the class’s textbook, Ferrell said, the average score was a 92, indicating, she said, that they can handle the work just fine.
Physics teacher Kerry Kertes teaches freshman honors classes, too. “The math we give them is the same math I give my seniors,” he said. “The bar’s pretty high, but I’d rather have kids reach up.”
During class time, Kertes meets with students who are taking the Algebra I class this year, to make sure they are keeping up.
The class includes as many as three or four demonstrations each week, plus two lab classes. There is also group work in small and large groups.
“The world of physics is a natural, everyday thing,” Kertes said. But not everything is as easy to explain to a freshman as to a senior. Examples using cars were common for senior physics students. That has to change for freshmen, who haven’t yet gotten their licenses.
Also changing is the level of independence students have. Where seniors taking physics would be able to read the text on their own as homework, Efron now reads the text along with some of his classes, discussing the questions that come up along the way.
Looking to next year, Kertes, who also teaches chemistry, sees that physics will lay a strong foundation for chemistry, which will be followed by biology junior year.
Doug Worthley, who teaches chemistry, said there will be new concepts next year, but the same process.
Having the ideas on a larger scale is better to do first. With the students’ experience in physics, he will be able to show that the same thing that happens between two balls hitting each other happens to two atoms hitting each other.
“The biology teachers just finished chemistry,” Worthley said, setting up the cellular basis for this year’s biology. When the freshmen get to biology in two years, that won’t be necessary.
“The sciences aren’t really separate,” Worthley said.
The opportunities don’t stop there. The new order of science classes allows for new electives in science for seniors. Not only will the marine biology and anatomy and genetics classes be available, but others are under development as well.
Efron said he may have found one class idea, looking at the philosophical implications of physics in terms of where humans fit in the scheme of things.
“If the world really works this way, where does that leave us,” Efron asked. Most of the freshmen, he said, seem uninterested, while his seniors are fascinated by it.
The students, too, are enjoying it, though they are not in a position to see the overall picture just yet. Freshmen Casey Pearson and Caroline Etnier said they are enjoying the class. Both had been wary of not knowing enough math, but it hasn’t been a problem so far, they said.
This year, freshmen at Cape Elizabeth High School have started their science learning with physics rather than earth and physical science – a new trend in education that says the way science has traditionally been taught is backward.
The science faculty have had to work hard to restructure the physics curriculum to depend less on math and more on the concepts of physics itself, but so far the project seems to be a success. The idea is that physics offers a big picture look at how the universe works and is therefore the most logical starting point in science education.
Department head and physics teacher, Michael Efron, said some tweaking has been required. The year started with four sections of honors and five sections of college prep classes. Three of the college prep sections had stronger students and two sections were of what Efron called students with a “weaker background,” not only in science but also in math and English.
“We struggled with how best to handle that,” Efron said. In the end, two sub-levels of college prep were set up, and some students, with the permission of their parents and other teachers, were rearranged to make the classes of more equal abilities.
“Then we could teach everybody at a better pace,” Efron said.
It has presaged a change in the science curriculum across the grades.
“We really want to offer three levels in all the base courses,” Efron said. That way, the department will be able to meet more students’ needs.
Other changes have been as significant and with good educational payoff.
Physics teacher Michael O’Brien said teaching physics to ninth-graders rather than seniors doesn’t mean teaching any different subject matter, though it does mean using less math. “It’s not the physics that people think of, with all the formulas and equations,” O’Brien said.
Instead, students learn the concepts relating to the way the world works. “Physics explains the natural world,” O’Brien said.
In the honors classes, students do use more math than in the college prep level, but while most of the students have finished the Algebra I course, none have had calculus or other advanced mathematics.
Next year, there may be a requirement for students in the honors level to have completed Algebra I, Efron said, but that remains under discussion.
But this year’s honors freshmen are doing just fine.
“They’re stepping up to the plate,” said teacher Courtney Ferrell, who was hired this year specifically with the transition in mind. She can teach both physics and chemistry.
The book the students use doesn’t involve much math. On a recent test supplied with the class’s textbook, Ferrell said, the average score was a 92, indicating, she said, that they can handle the work just fine.
Physics teacher Kerry Kertes teaches freshman honors classes, too. “The math we give them is the same math I give my seniors,” he said. “The bar’s pretty high, but I’d rather have kids reach up.”
During class time, Kertes meets with students who are taking the Algebra I class this year, to make sure they are keeping up.
The class includes as many as three or four demonstrations each week, plus two lab classes. There is also group work in small and large groups.
“The world of physics is a natural, everyday thing,” Kertes said. But not everything is as easy to explain to a freshman as to a senior. Examples using cars were common for senior physics students. That has to change for freshmen, who haven’t yet gotten their licenses.
Also changing is the level of independence students have. Where seniors taking physics would be able to read the text on their own as homework, Efron now reads the text along with some of his classes, discussing the questions that come up along the way.
Looking to next year, Kertes, who also teaches chemistry, sees that physics will lay a strong foundation for chemistry, which will be followed by biology junior year.
Doug Worthley, who teaches chemistry, said there will be new concepts next year, but the same process.
Having the ideas on a larger scale is better to do first. With the students’ experience in physics, he will be able to show that the same thing that happens between two balls hitting each other happens to two atoms hitting each other.
“The biology teachers just finished chemistry,” Worthley said, setting up the cellular basis for this year’s biology. When the freshmen get to biology in two years, that won’t be necessary.
“The sciences aren’t really separate,” Worthley said.
The opportunities don’t stop there. The new order of science classes allows for new electives in science for seniors. Not only will the marine biology and anatomy and genetics classes be available, but others are under development as well.
Efron said he may have found one class idea, looking at the philosophical implications of physics in terms of where humans fit in the scheme of things.
“If the world really works this way, where does that leave us,” Efron asked. Most of the freshmen, he said, seem uninterested, while his seniors are fascinated by it.
The students, too, are enjoying it, though they are not in a position to see the overall picture just yet. Freshmen Casey Pearson and Caroline Etnier said they are enjoying the class. Both had been wary of not knowing enough math, but it hasn’t been a problem so far, they said.
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