TODAY'S ISSUE: "Gwinnett Reads" Success Now Promises More
ELLIOTT BRACK:School Calendar: Can't Have Cake and Eat It Too
McLEMORE'S WORLD: Watching Too Much TV News Can Cause Problems
FEEDBACK: Inherent School Conflict and Why MLB Scores So Many Runs
DOG DAYS TIPS: How You Can Cool Your House Naturally
TODAY'S QUOTE: Reflections On What It Means To Be Episcopal

"Somehow we've got to have a church that allows the various stages of faith development to live together. If you want a church that has rules that are immutable, don't be an Episcopalian."

-- The late Rt. Rev. Walter C. Righter, retired Bishop of Iowa.

"Passive cooling involves using non-mechanical methods like reflecting heat, blocking heat and using shade to maintain comfortable temperatures in a home. Walton EMC recommends several ways to apply passive cooling methods."

TODAY'S ISSUE
Libraries look forward to next "Gwinnett Reads" program
By Dan English
Chairman, Gwinnett County Public Library Board
Special to GwinnettForum.com

AUG. 8, 2003 -- As Gwinnett concludes its first "Gwinnett Reads" campaign, the Gwinnett County Public Library Board is basking in the glory.

This event could not have succeeded without many active and generous partnerships with community organizations and businesses. However, the library itself promoted the idea and initiated the process, and carried it through with style and an infectious enthusiasm that generated a groundswell of community support and participation.

From the choice of a book, "All Over but the Shoutin" that appealed to both men and women...to a cookout attended by Rick Bragg and over 400 readersŠ..to book discussions at each branch...to a gala reception at the Jacqueline Casey Hudgens Center for the Arts, attended by over 100 people, eager for one last chance to hear Mr. Bragg recount stories about his life and his family in rural Alabama...the entire "event" was a smashing success.

Readers were also invited to enter an essay contest, with the 12 lucky winners attending a dinner with Mr. Bragg at the Library Director's home. The essays, which will be posted on the library's web site, www.gwinnettpl.org, through August, answered the question, "How has Rick Bragg convinced you that his story and his family's story are important?"

They were all very different, but very personal and heartfelt. All in all, ""Gwinnett Reads"" accomplished its goals admirably: encouraging the community to read and discuss an enjoyable and thought-provoking book through a series of gatherings that were widely accessible and, in the process, building a sense of community spirit.

In the broader sense, the first "Gwinnett Reads" campaign serves as a high-profile kickoff for the library's new strategic plan. This plan relies heavily on input from community leaders, and their recommendations led us to adopt "Commons" as an area of focus during the next three years.

This new direction sprang from the observation that the library provides a natural gathering place in the community, a fun, friendly, attractive space where customers can interact with others or spend quality individual time. In other words, the library is a great forum for community involvement in future "Gwinnett Reads" events and author visits.

The library staff is just getting started on this concept for upcoming involvement, so there are great possibilities. In fact, the new "Gwinnett Reads" committee will begin planning for next year's campaign soon.

Meanwhile, the library has put a lot of effort into making sure customers can renew their materials, place holds, and search electronic databases, and get answers to their information questions without visiting the library. But even so, the need for new buildings is still present. All Gwinnett citizens deserve to have a branch that is close enough for them to use for both traditional and exciting new purposes. This will, of course, require continued funding and community support for libraries on the next SPLOST referendum.

Paraphrasing my words in a recent e-mail to Jo Ann Pinder, the library's Executive Director, I am fortunate to "ride the coat tails" of the GCPL staff. I, and the rest of the Board, are proud of the first "Gwinnett Reads," and proud of the staff's passion for serving the citizens of Gwinnett County in a way that keeps them coming back for more.

ELLIOTT BRACK
Problems abound when trying to plan school calendar
By Elliott Brack
editor and publisher
GwinnettForum.com

AUG. 8, 2003 -- As school starts Monday, August 11 in Gwinnett, many want a more traditional calendar, starting after Labor Day and ending before Memorial Day?

Most school officials tell you "Can't be done." There're reasons.

Two basic culprits are around, plus some other extenuating situations. They are:

a. The absolute mandate requiring 180 days in the school calendar.
b. The April date testing of all students for achievement and competency.

Just to show you how tough these two requirements are, count the days for yourself. Here's how.

Academicians want to the first semester to end before Christmas, finishing Dec. 19, allowing two weeks Yule Holidays. So count backward the days each month, with 15 in December, 17 in November, 21 in October, 21 in September and 15 in August and you have school opening August 11, with 89 days in that semester.

January 5 and 6 are teacher work and training days. So counting forward, you get 17 in January, 20 in February, 21 in March, 16 in April and 17 school days in May. Do not forget what has become a week's vacation at Easter!

There are also two "snow days" set into the schedule for bad weather. That puts the last day of school on May 25, unless a third snow day is needed, which would have school end on May 26, two days before the Memorial Day break. (But these are teacher's work-training days.) Altogether, there are 91 days set for the second semester, for a total of 180.

Some philosophy enters into that decision, centering around the April testing days. Since these tests determine not only whether students will pass, but also how well the schools are scored, school officials want to get in as many days instruction prior to the testing as possible.

Couple that with another finding: that students achieve better marks on grades if they take the fall semester exams before Christmas. As one school official put it "Or else you waste more days of reminding them of what they learned before" when they return after Christmas and then have to take tests.

Yet school officials are feeling the pressure to open schools later, nearer if not after, Labor Day. Tom Wilson, the former Buford superintendent who is now superintendent of the Carrollton city schools, is proposing for his board in 2004-05 that they push back the calendar at least a week. This year his schools started August 7. Next year he proposes starting August 16, some nine days later, entirely because of comments from parents advocating a later start.

Others around the state, in particular the hospitality industry, want the post-Labor Day start, so that the vacation season will be extended. Yet even the hospitality group must recognize that at least this year, in most systems, the year will end prior to Memorial Day, at least not cutting into that part of the vacation.

Laying over all this, of course, is the move by the Board of Regents requiring all their colleges to be on the semester system. By having both colleges and county school systems on a similar calendar, it allows teachers to get in more time for mandated upgrading of their skills in the summer.

What many people miss, and some would maintain would be better, is substituting the quarter system for a semester system. That way, students could get in 60 days instruction on a quarter system before Thanksgiving, and still start school after Labor Day. That would put the second quarter ending in early March, but to do that, the third quarter would have to end two weeks into June. (And state testing should be mandated for May.)

What all this says is that you can't shoehorn all the required days of instruction, plus holidays, between Labor and Memorial Days. Students, parents, and school officials cannot have their cake and eat it, too. That's why school starts "so early."

MORE: Contact Gwinnett Forum at: elliott@gwinnettforum.com

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