Students ace CIMs

All third and fifth grade students at Camp Sherman's Black Butte School have met or exceeded state standards in math problem solving and writing.

The school recently received results from testing for the Certificate of Initial Mastery. The state-mandated tests demonstrate students' ability to reach certain "benchmark" levels of achievement at third, fifth, eighth and tenthgrade levels.

A total of 12 students took the tests at Black Butte School, six at each grade level. Twenty-six students are presently enrolled at the school in kindergarten through sixth grade.

Toni Turner teaches kindergarten through third grade; Toni Foster teaches grades four through six.

Foster is quick to attribute the students' consistent success to community involvement in the school.

Parents and community form a network of tutors and volunteers. Chan and Martha Cathcart (see story, page 3) are reading tutors at the school. Laurie Adams, Pam Horning and Ruth Lovegren tutor in art. Laurie recently led grades four through six through the M.C. Escher art exhibit at Portland's art museum explaining the fine points of his works.

Musical training is provided by Jeni Foster and several student performances are presented each year for the community. Spanish language help is provided by Christy Franzsen-Oriz.

Students at the rural school do not lag behind their peers in exposure to technology. Thirteen Macintosh computers are used by students for school projects, writing reports and connecting with the Internet via a networked 56K line. Intel's recent computer donation to Oregon schools will soon bring seven new computers to Black Butte School. In grades four through six, homework is exchanged by e-mail between home and school by 11 of the 13 students in these grades.

There are also two satellite dishes used for downloading educational programs, viewing breaking news stories and participating in a Spanish language teaching program from Seattle. A Primestar dish also allows viewing educational materials off the satellite.