Kinsley High School - Kihischo Yearbook (Kinsley, KS)

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DISTRICT WIDE KINSLEY OFFEREE SCHOOL NEWSLETTER VOLUME 2, NUMBER 1 AUGUST 23,1984 KINSLEY, KANSAS 67547 AISE program brings two Scandinavian students to KHS; host families consider ‘sharing’ the key element to program Two Scandinavian students enrolled in Kinsley High School last week as part of the American Intercultural Student Exchange program (AISE). Stein Hoymyr, 17. from Vettre, Norway, has become a part of the Larry Westhoff family. Kinsley, for this school year; Thomas Ben tin. 16. has joined the Thomas Copeland family, rural Kinsley. According to Mrs. Donna Westhoff. Hoymyr’s American mother, AISE believes that an international student exchange program makes a “vital con tribution to human understanding by offering students, their par ents. and host families an irreplacable opportunity to deepen comprehension and respect for other peoples and cultures.” The program also allows both the exchange student as well as the host family an opportunity to discover the realities of the human community.” Family involvement The success of the program, according to Mrs. Westhoff and Mrs. Susan Copeland, lies in both the student, the host family, and the host community understanding the guidelines that AISE uses to bring international students to an American setting. First, says Mrs. Westhoff, the program stresses school and family involvement. This is not just a travel experience for the student. The student 15-17 years of age is to become a part of the daily family life and to accept his her share of the respon sibilities.” To make preparations for Hoymyr’s coming, the Westhoffs have added a bedroom and have planned a temporary schedule of what activities to pursue with Hoymyr. including getting Hoymyr ready for the fall football season. The Copelands have involved their three sons (one in kindergar ten, one a pre-schooler, and one in junior high) in planning how they as a family can give Bentin the best experience we can to show what life in the States is like. says Mrs. Copeland. Other AISE guidelines for the exchange student include these: No drinking of alcoholic beverages, including beer and wine except at family and religious events; no use of illegal drugs or even an association with such; no driving of a car or a motorcycle; no traveling outside the local area by himself or with other teenagers-except on approved school and church related activities; no hitchhiking; no taking of a job outside the home except neighborhood jobs such as lawn care and babysitting. Mrs. Westhoff explains that the breaking of these regulations can mean that the student automatically returns to his home country. And AISE students in Southwest Kansas have been returned home one was a year ago.” Concerning the drinking of alcoholic beverages. Mrs. Westhoff says that the organization is concerned with abuse. First, the majority of the students in this program aren’t old enough to purchase alcoholic beverages. Furthermore, a different attitude towards alcoholic beverages exists in this country than in most European countries. In Europe, the tendency to be abusive is not as great as it is here. An exchange student can take the theoretical driver’s education class, but not the practical driving aspect. If an accident would occur, says Mrs. Westhoff, AISE could be sued as well as the student’s natural parents . . . and the host family. Abuse of this guideline means an automatic return for the exchange student. Biographies Hoymyr comes from a suburb of Oslo. Norway, an area of approximately 450,000 people. His interests include soccer, ice hockey. basketball, tennis, body building. He. who has had nine years of English, has one sister. Anne, age 10. His father, employed by the Scandinavian Airlines System, and his mother, employed by an in vestment security company, were both exchange students during their teenage early adult years. Hoymyr’s academic interest lies in the social sciences and economics. Bentin. who has studied English for five years, comes from Copenhagen. Denmark, and is an only child. His father is an assistant banker and his mother an accountant. His career objective is to learn perfect English and to become an accountant like his mother. says Mrs. Copeland. Acceptance To help the Kinsley-Offerle community accept Hoymyr and Bentin more quickly. Mrs. Westhoff and Mrs. Copeland discuss four points: First, says Mrs. Copeland, these young men want to learn to speak perfect English. Thomas shared this with us during a telephone call. We told him that he “might more easily learn perfect American slang. Mrs. Westhoff adds: Nothing works better than for one to take (Continued to page 6) AISE students Thomas Bentin and Stein Hoymyr prepare to tour the high school building with Stephene Westhoff. junior, acting as the guide. 5

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HIGHLIGHTING Committee seeks to fill gap to meet state mandate Filling the gap remain a constant struggle for the USD No. 347 Board of Education curriculum committee. Our school system needs a K 12 program of basic facts and concepts. A school requires a well-articulated, sequential framework from which to work so instruction time becomes effective. When overlap or omission of concent occurs, students become bored, unmotivated, or lost. This results in graduates of our school system not fully educated. In approaching the teachers of K-12 last spring, the committee began the groundwork for a curriculum guide. Before classes start this fall, planning begins with a teachers' work day to formulate a plan for the guide and how comprehensive the guide will be in the end result. Ideas come together at a day-long meeting in mid-fall after teachers have worked on their individual areas. The goal of the board of education curriculum committee proves essential as teachers must use this guide effectively and not shove it into a drawer and forget the program. The guide, a valuable tool, becomes useful to help school personnel improve instruction, clarify purposes, and communicate activities to others. In conjunction with the school board's goal of a curriculum plan, the Kansas State Department of Education requires each district the task of developing district goal and curricular objectives. Each unified school district and non-public school must record educational goals and curricular objectives for each instructional area in the educational program. The due date set of September 1, 1985 hastens our work toward the goal. The Kansas State Department of Education attempts to bring all instruction to a level of excellence that addresses all the studies done in the past few years showing our weakness in education. -Julie Ackerman, president Board of Education, USD No. 347 BOE, administrators prepare teaching assignments, budget “Excellence in education has become the motto of the board of education and the administration as together they have planned during the summer for the opening day of school for students next Wednesday. Superintendent of schools Robert J. Shanks says, With the emphasis on educational excellence in our nation, the board of education and the administration hope that we educators can recognize the opportunities in our Kinsley-Offerle schools as we work with the parents and the com munity-at large to provide an ex cellent education for each student. Assignments Striving towards excellence, the board has changed some staff assignments, including these: •Mrs. Jean Edney will teach middle school and high school band and high school vocal music. A graduate of Wichita State Univer sity, Mrs. Edney has taught at Montezuma and at Junction City and has directed the Kinsley-Offerle community band this past summer. •Mrs. Darlene Weers will teach all vocal music in grades K-8. •High school industrial arts teachers. Duane Adams and George Bakumenko, will also teach at the middle school, expanding the offerings in metals, woods, and mechanics. •Middle school teachers Ron Miller and Galen Graff will also teach at the high school-Miller in American history, Graff in mathematics. •Mrs. Norma Murphy will teach home economics classes to stu dents in grades 7-12. •Mrs. Sally Maack will teach one section of the third grade at Southside: all elementary teachers will teach art. •Ray Daniels is the custodian at Southside and will continue driving the bus to and from the Garfield special education center. Inaugurating these teaching and staff assignment changes will demand cooperation from the faculty, the board of education members, the students, and the public, says Shanks, and that spirit does exist.” Budget Shanks announces tht the mill levy for the 1984-85 school year will be 78.29, a decline of 5.73 mills from the 1983 84 year of 84.02 mills. These figures are for the general as well as the capital outlay funds. The decrease comes from such factors as an increase of $37,310 in valuation for the school district, an estimated receipt of $74,025 in state aid based upon projected student enrollment, and a reduction in the percentage of delinquent taxes within the school district. In working with the budget. Shanks makes the following observations: •For the operating of the regular bus routes. 85 percent of the actual costs will be covered by state aid. •The district anticipates receiving $79,000 in transportation aid from the state for the 1984-85 school year. the initiative and go up and make yourself acquainted with these young men. Include them as part of any conversation or activity. And avoid doing anything that would jeopardize their staying here the entire school year. Second, all people have a need to be respected-and frequently nonverbal gestures convey a message people of all languages can understand. Those students accepted for this exchange program, says Mrs. Westhoff, are for the most part rather socially mature who can make rapid adjustments. But still it takes time to get used to new foods, new customs, different family habits, different curfew hours. At first, the exchange student may want to withdraw, but patience is the key. Give the student time to make the cultural adjustment.” Third, the host family plays an integral part in the success of this program. A local family,” says Mrs. Westhoff. participating in this program must want to learn about the people of other countries. And this goal comes about when the family treats the exchange student not so much as a guest but as a •The total utility costs (including telephone) for the 1983-84 school year were $4,384 less than they were for the 1982-83 school year: $37,674 compared to $42,058. member of the family. And from our involvement in this program, continues Mrs. Westhoff, our family will realize that there’s more to the world than Kinsley, Kansas USA. There’s a world where friendship and understanding unite our interests with those of others. Fourth, Hoymyr and Bentin will meet periodically with 21 other AISE students in the Dodge City area. “These sessions are directed by the area representative. Leslie Schoonover of Dodge City, says Mrs. Westhoff. Mrs. Schoonover’s purpose is to help the exchange students adjust more easily to the American lifestyle. Sharing “One word, summarizes Mrs. Copeland, describes the exchange program as our family sees it: sharing. Thomas comes from a highly populated area with no siblings in his family. He comes to rural America to live in a home with three brothers. “And in making that adjust ment, Thomas will learn how to share: we as a family will learn more about sharing, and we will all be the better for the experience,” says Mrs. Copeland. Two Scandinavian students begin classes at KHS (Continued from page 5) 6