by David Hill
Editor
It’s been a good start to the school year at Franklin Middle School and Lincoln High School, according to principals at the schools.
During a meeting of the Board of Education in Thief River Falls on Monday, Sept. 25, the principals talked about the start of the school year and some of the programs staff and students have been working on.
Enrollment numbers at Franklin Middle School are: 169 in sixth grade, 152 in seventh grade, and 120 in eighth grade. Dr. Tony Greene, principal, said it has been a really good start to the school year.
One of the new programs at the school is the House Council. These students help with planning and creating fun for the school.
Another new program at the school is the House System. The House System is a school-wide competition whereby students get points for doing uncommon things, like sweeping the kitchen, cleaning classrooms, being to class on time with all materials and ready to learn, taking respect and giving respect, and using technology for learning.
Greene said the school is preparing to implement a Teens Toward Zero Deaths chapter at the Middle School. He said Roz Groven and Melora Bergee came to them about setting up a chapter at the school and he jumped on it right away. The Lincoln High School chapter is a state leader in TTZD. Greene said they would be starting with one grade, the eighth grade.
Greene said an area identified by the school that needs work is service learning. Service learning is an educational approach that combines what students have learned in school with community service opportunities.
It has been and continues to be busy at the school. Greene said this year sixth graders participated in Conservation Education Day, mid terms are coming up, a book fair is coming up, parent-teacher conferences are coming up, and Anti-Bullying Awareness Day is on Oct. 2.
Lincoln High School Principal Scott Brekke presented an update with Laura Juve, counselor at the school. He started by praising staff who work hard to provide opportunities to students. He said they’d had a good start to the school year. He added that the start of the year was different than it had been the past three years. He said effects of COVID appear to be waning and kids are back into more comfortable routines. Online learning, he said, did not work well for kids.
Homecoming was this week, so kids have been very busy. Staff, he said. continue their work on math curriculum, and are now looking at science and social studies.
He said he brought Juve with him to allow her to talk about changes to LINC. Brekke said LINC was revamped this summer and now is being called College and Career Readiness.
Juve has over 17 years of educational experience, but only four in Thief River Falls. Each of the past four years, she said, has involved substantial change.
College and Career Readiness is offered to students 9-11. There’s a different curriculum for each grade. As a result of studies this past summer, the curriculum for each grade has been updated and made more equitable and consistent. This means every student in each grade gets the same lesson, and the grading rubic or criteria is the same.
Juve said things are going well. She said they are using Google Classroom, which streamlines the process of sharing files between teachers and students.
When the University of Minnesota began offering Ramp Up to Readiness, a college and career readiness curriculum, Thief River Falls was among the original participants. Since then, Brekke said the curriculum has been free to the school.
When asked what the students think of it, members of the Board of Education turned to student representatives Gretta Grzadzielewski and Kailee Larson. The students said they understand the importance of the class. In the past, they said students could tell which teachers were comfortable teaching it, and which ones did not feel prepared to teach it.
When new member of the Board of Education John Syvertson asked whether financial readiness was included, Juve explained that financial readiness is taught in the Senior Focus program.