Thursday, February 4, 2010 N/Warren Town and County News Page Nine
OVIATT ELEMENTARY
By Dr. Laura Sivadge
Preschool-lst Grade Principal
and Rodney Martinez
2nd-3rd Grade Principal
Putting School Work First
Never before has homework been so controversial.
Busy parents and overscheduled children argue that
either there is too much homework or that schoolwork
should be done in school Teachers and principals, how-
ever, view homework as a way to reinforce classroom
lessons or give students needed extra practice. There
are many ways that parents, schools, and students work-
ing together, can put homework first while making it
seem like less of a burden.
What is the policy? Ask about the district, school, or
teacher's homework policy. Is there a set amount of time
your child is expected to spend on homework each
night? Ask how often there will be special assignments
or long-term home-based projects. Knowing the answers
to these questions can help you and your child sched-
ule the necessary time to complete the work.
Watch the time. Some children work faster than oth-
ers and some assignments are longer than others. How-
ever, if your child is spending hours every night on
homework, check for:
*Distractions. Is your child studying in a quiet, well-
lit place? Do not let television, phone calls, or siblings
distract him or her from completing the work.
*Advice. Is there someone available to answer quick
questions about assignments?
*Tools. Does your child have the tools (i.e., paper,
pen, calculator, dictionary) needed to complete the as-
signment?
*Attitude. The attitudes of children are often affected
by the attitudes of parents and caregivers. Children need
to see that you support your child's need to complete
both schoolwork and homework.
*Share concerns. An occasional homework overload
is not grounds for a heart-to-heart with the teacher. Be-
low are some signs that it is time for a conference or a
note.
*Busy work. 15-20 multiplication problems or spell-
ing words at a time is fine, but 50 is excessive.
*Brain busters. Talk with the teacher if your children
consistently do not understand their assignments.
*Brainless. Is everything just too easy? Does your
child mock the simplicity of the assignments? Let the
teacher know.
*Unpredictable. If your child is overwhelmed with
homework one da and has none the next, find out why.
Sometimes, kids put off projects until the last minute-
which means you need to work with them on organiz-
ing their study time. Families should expect a relatively
consistent homework load during the week.
Scale back. If your child's life is so full of after-school
and weekend activities that he or she has no time or
energy for homework, perhaps it is time to reevaluate.
These activities should never replace school as the pri-
mary focus of a child's life.
Stop yourself. Many parents "help" their children
by doing some of their homework. This is never OK. It
is far better to send a note to the teacher explaining why
your child did not finish the assignment.
Stay involved. Show your children that you care
about what they are doing in school. Check their as-
signment books every day to help them keep track.of
what's due next and what projects are coming up. Re-
view their homework, even checking in with them while
they are working on it.
Most importantly, give your child credit. Praise the
work they do. Compliment their study habits. Stay on
them if they slack off, but give them credit for all they
are doing and learning. Nothing could be more impor-
tant.
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I
MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS I
I
By Ken Foster,.6-7, Principal
Traffic Issues
As you are all aware, the weather has had a huge ef-
fect on our roads and parking lots here at the Middle
School. Up until winter break, things had been going
very well.
Recently, however, I have had reports and have ob-
served first hand several practices that are not safe and
just plain discourteous. One person tried to turn the
corner off Cherry Parkway too fast and almost ran into
our Middle School sign. One car was turning circles in
the parking lot and one was just moving too fast. All
these acts are just not safe. Please slow down!
As a former driver education teacher, I know it takes
over twice as long to stop on snow and up to eight times
as long to stop on ice. You must start slower, turn more
gradually and start stopping sooner in inclement
weather. As for being discourteous, many are parking
where they are blocking the flow of traffic or cars that
have appropriately parked. Before just stopping, think
about the other traffic and ask yourself, "Am I blocking
someone by parking here?"
Slowing down and being courteous will go a long
way in keeping our kids safe.
WARRIOR BASEBALL CAMP
The Norwalk Warrior High School Baseball program
will be conducting a baseball camp for potential future
Warriors in grades third, fourth, fifth and sixth Satur-
day, March 6.
Third and fourth grade camp will be from 9 a.m.-12
noon and the fifth and sixth grade camp will run from
12:30-3:30 p.m. The camp will be held in the Norwalk
High School gym with instruction from the Norwalk
coaching staff and current varsity players.
Registration forms can be found on the school website
under "Activities, .... Camp Info." The cost is $30 and
includes a camp t-shirt.
For more information contact Head Coach Chad
Wiedmann at 981-1838 at the high school. Camp regis-
tration is due Saturda Feb. 13.
Lady Warriors
Continued from p. 8
and overcame a strong sec-
ond quarter by Norwalk to
win 40-29. The Warriors
took early control of the
game when Makenzie
Reed scored on a lay-up
with 6:26 in the first quar-
ter and led 2-0. After a
couple of Tama scores,
Paige Lammers hit from
beyond the arc to pull
Norwalk within two, trail-
ing 7-5. Lammers again hit
a shot with 1:55 remaining
and the Trojans managed
a 12-11 lead at the end of
one. Reed hit a three to put
the Warriors on top 14-12
and then Brie McAninch
scored when Reed hit her
with a pass and the lead
was 16-12. Norwalk led at
the half 18-16 and had a
chance to extend the lead
with no time on the clock,
but missed on the oppor-
tunity at the free-throw
line. Norwalk was unable
to find the same offensive
intensity in the third quar-
ter and was outscored by
Tama 15-4 and the Trojans
took a 31-22 lead into the
final quarter. Both teams
traded baskets in the
fourth quarter and South
Tama held on for the win.
Reed led Norwalk with 12
points. Taylor Welden fin-
ished with six, Lammers
five, McAninch two and
Devin Brown one. The
Warriors fall'to 5-5 in Little
Hawkeye Conference play.
Norwalk Battles No. 1
The Lady Warriors trav-
eled to Sioux City Satur-
day morning, Jan. 30, to
take on the number one
rated Heelan Crusaders.
Heelan jumped out to an
early 18-9 first quarter lead
taking advantage of the
height difference they en-
joyed over Norwalk. The
Warriors battled back in
the second quarter;
Lammers hit her second
three-pointer of the first
half and McAninch hit a
12-footer from the wing
and the lead was cut to 23-
14. Reed found Hall
VanVelzen under the bas-
ket and the lead was 24-21
with 1:55 left to play.
Thirty seconds later Reed
drove through the lane
and found VanVelzen
again under the basket and
Norwalk trailed by one.
With 40 seconds remain-
ing Reed and VanVelzen
teamed up again and the
score was 27-25. Heelan's
all-stater Carli Tritz scored
on a short jumper in the
lane with 2.5 seconds and
the Crusaders went into
the rocker room leading
29-25. The third quarter,
Tritz showed why she
signed to play at
Creighton and took over
the game. The Warriors
were outscored 21-7 and
trailed 50-32. Lammers hit
her third three of the game
in the last quarter, along
with a steal and a score by
Tori Mateer, but it was not
enough as the Warriors fell
71-50. Lammers led
Norwalk with 11 points.
Concluded p. 11
Know Your Constitution Winner
Headed to Washington, D.C.
Nicole Golay, of
Norwalk High School, will
be in Washington, D.C.
Feb. 21-26, as a winnerof
the Know Your Constitu-
tion contest. She will be ac-
companied by teacher AI
Hart. Sponsored by the
Iowa State Bar
Association's (ISBA)
Young Lawyers Division
(YLD), the annual contest
is designed to encourage
high school youth to learn
more about the constitu-
tions of both the United
States and the state of
Iowa.
Each fall, a quiz with 50
multiple choice questions
and one essay question is
distributed to high school
students all over the state.
The students are then
given several weeks to
complete the test. While
the multiple choice ques-
tions cover facts, the essay
requires the students to
make practical use of their
constitutional knowledge
by applying it to the situa-
tion given in the essay
prompt. This year's essay
question asked students to
address constitutional is-
sues related to the gay
marriage debate.
After all quizzes are re-
turned to the ISBA office,
the YLD committee grades
them, selecting up to 100
finalists, one from each
Iowa House district.
"Hundreds, if not thou-
sands of exams were com-
pleted by high school gov-
ernment students across
the state," said Lance
Lange, co-chair of the YLD
Know Your Constitution
Committee. "Of the 608
exams thatwere eventu-
ally submitted, approxi-
Nicole Golay
mately 60 high schools
were represented. One
hundred students were
chosen as finalists and,
from the finalists, five win-
ners of an all-expense paid
trip to Washington, D.C.
were randomly selected."
As one of the five win-
ners, Golay will attend the
Close Up program. Close
Up uses Washington, D.C.
as a living classroom, giv-
ing students an opportu-
nity to see government
and democracy in action.
Through Close Up,
Golay will be able to go
beyond a mere tour of the
monuments. She will have
the oppornity to interact
withiembers of Congress
on Capitol Hill and visit
the Supreme Court, expe-
riencing a unique and
close-up view of how the
government operates.
The Iowa State Bar As-
sociation is a voluntary
organization of more than
7,900 lawyers and judges
who are licensed to prac-
tice law in the state of
Iowa. Oldest of the volun-
tary bar associations in the
country, the ISBA has been
in continuous operation
since its founding in 1874.
Lady Warriors
vs South Tama
Makenzie Reed. Photo by Brad Springer.
