e g h iin Ti er l THE
May 4, 2010
Volume 50 Issue 27
1015 Division St. Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613
Seniors step into teachers’ shoes Meg Lane Staff Writer
This semester six students — Tyler Moran, Sarah Korte, Emily Hester, Jennifer Pham, Kari Fancik and Sarah Kline — are switching sides of the teachers desk and learning what it’s like to be in charge through the cadet teaching class. “This class is designed for seniors that are interested in education as a career. Cadets gain real world teaching experience by working with students in the elementary and middle school classrooms,” business teacher Mike Hansel said. “They work with individual students, small groups and teach at least one lesson to the entire class. In addition to their teaching, they are also involved in planning, grading and the day to day activities that go on in their school. By the time they are done
with cadet teaching, they will have had at least the same experience as a level 1 UNI student, some often do much more. It is a very rewarding experience, and many of the cadet teachers visit their classrooms after they are completed with the class.” Kline said this has been a real experience for her to see how much teachers really do. “I have learned to respect what our teachers do for us a lot more just because of the troubles that I have gone through with my lesson plans not going the way I wanted them to and having to deal with absences. Teachers have to put up with a lot, and I am very thankful for every teacher that I have had for being willing to go through that,” Kline said. Which Hansel adds is one of the goals for this class. “My goal for this
class is to show students that teaching is a very rewarding yet challenging career that takes patience and dedication to students and life long learning.” Kline so far has been working with Mr. Rothamel’s ninth grade history class at Peet Junior High. She has just finished working on the Progressive Era. Kline has a love of history and really hopes that she could one day teach it. “I love teaching history. It’s something that I find interesting, and I love it when my students show a little interest in the subject matter,” Kline said. Kline said some the most helpful parts about cadet teaching has been the teachers help with her lesson plans and the feedback. It has really helped her to improve on her skills to become a better teacher. At middle school level, however, behavior is still a
Submitted Photo
Senior Lindsey Gettman dresses up for Halloween with a cadet student during a lesson last semester. possible issue. Kline said, “Students that misbehave in class, it’s just like any other junior high class. They get a warning or two, then it’s out into the hall with them so
they don’t disrupt the rest of the class anymore.” Kline is planning on majoring in elementary education with a middle school and history endorsement.
CF prepares for worst case scenarios Ellen Gustavson Staff Writer
April 20th has been seared into the minds of many people. This date is not only Hitler’s birthday or “weed day”; this was the date of the school shooting at Columbine. While students at CFHS do not expect to encounter something as horrific as this, the Cedar Falls Community School District recognizes the importance of safety drills, and has decided to take them to a
new level. Besides the usual fire and tornado drills, safety drills will now include shelter in place, lock down, and off-site evacuation drills, which will be routinely held with students. “We need to be prepared in case of an unforeseeable emergency,” said Assistant Principal Dr. Dana Deines. “Hopefully we’ll never have to use these, but you never know what could happen.” A lot of preparation goes into these drills behind the scenes. A District Safety
Committee, which was formed last year, plans the drills. There is also an Incident Command Team (ICT) with members prepared with a specific job in case of a crisis situation, including getting students home safely, dealing with law enforcement and dealing with the media. This month a lock down will be practiced, in which outdoor and interior doors will be locked. There have been rumors that the drill will include a
simulated armed intruder; however, this is not the case. In June, there are plans for an off-site evacuation drill, in which students will be led to a location within walking distance. This summer the District Safety Committee is also working on a reunification drill, which would practice what would happen in the event that students left the school and could not return. Many districts in the area are also practicing these emergency drills. Waterloo has done these drills for the
last two years And while some may say that situations like these never arise — knock on wood — they should remember the shooting of coach Ed Thomas in Parkersburg last summer. While students have done well in the past with these and similar drills, Deines stresses that students need to continue to take these drills entirely seriously and follow directions. “The best thing is for students to be attentive, cooperative, and courteous,” Deines said.