IN FULL BLOOM
A SILVER LINING
Visitors flock to see acres of sunflowers Lawrence & State 3A
KU cornerback recalls Hurricane Katrina Sports 1B
L A W R E NC E
JOURNAL-WORLD ®
75 CENTS
-/.$!9 s !5'534 s
LJWorld.com
City’s middle schools modify feedback system for sixth-graders
Just a little friendly competition
By Peter Hancock phancock@ljworld.com
Parents with sixth-grade students attending Lawrence middle schools this year will receive a lot more feedback based on the traditional A-through-F grading scale. But Lawrence school district officials say they have not completely abandoned the “standards-based progress reporting” system that grades students on an E, S, M and T scale. Instead, according to district spokeswoman Julie Boyle, middle schools will now use a hybrid system in which students will see only the traditional A-through-F grades on their report card for their courses but will continue to receive standards-based grades to rate certain learning behavSCHOOLS iors such as coming to class prepared, listening, following instructions and using time wisely. Will Fernandez, principal at South Middle School, said it should be a welcome change for parents. “There has been a bit of problem with parents understanding the E, S, M and T on the old report card,” Fernandez said. “Because
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photos
ABOVE, Cara Oliphant, left, 21, backs up her brother Matt, 17, as they compete in the Flatpicking guitar contest during the 33rd Annual Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championships on Sunday in South Park. The siblings, from Chanute, are past champions, with Cara winning in fiddle in 2005, and Matt in banjo in 2011. AT RIGHT, John Shaw, of Lincoln, Neb., practices near a flower bed in South Park before competing. See a photo gallery at LJWorld.com.
Please see GRADING, page 2A
Monday-morning produce giveaways starting today
Musicians, spectators experience a sense of community at fiddling championships “
By Nikki Wentling
I see people there just jamming, and a few years later they put together a band and A stream of people compete. There’s that continuum, that sense walked along the sidewalks in South Park on Sunday af- of community.” nwentling@ljworld.com
ternoon, donning hats and sunglasses and carrying lawn chairs and coolers. Kids played in the fountain west of the gazebo, and adults found some relief in plastic cups full of cold beer. Wherever spectators found themselves — under a distant tree, next to the food trucks and vendors or right in the center of it all
— Gayle Sigurdson, fiddling and picking championships coordinator — they could clearly hear the traditional Americana music wafting from either of the two makeshift stages in the park. South Park was the site of the 33rd annual Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championships on Sunday.
Business Classified Comics Deaths
Low: 70
5A 5B-10B 9A 2A
Events listings Horoscope Movies Opinion
— Features reporter Sara Shepherd can be reached at 8327187. Follow her at Twitter.com/saramarieshep.
KU researchers win grant
2B, 10A Puzzles 9B Sports 4A Television 8A
9B 1B-4B 10A, 2B, 9B
Join us at Facebook.com/LJWorld and Twitter.com/LJWorld
Today’s forecast, page 10A
– Sara Shepherd
Please see FIDDLING, page 2A
INSIDE
Humid
High: 94
Musicians in each of the eight categories — miscellaneous instruments, folk ensemble, youth fiddling, open fiddle, banjo, flatpicking guitar, mandolin and fingerpicking guitar — were judged on rhythm, timing, execution, creativ-
ity and expression. While musicians played on stage, spectators spontaneously got together to jam away from the stage, and clapped and sang along to familiar tunes. “My favorite aspect is the continuum of the event,” said Gayle Sigurdson, coordinator of the competition. “I see people there just jamming, and a few years later they put together a band and compete. There’s that continuum, that sense of community.”
Just Food has a surplus of fresh produce — a good thing, as long as the organization can connect with people who need it. To help do that, Just Food is starting a Monday-morning produce giveaway beginning this week. At 10 a.m., Douglas County residents in need can pick up produce at the Just Food Mobile Food Pantry, at 1000 E. 11th St. With the exception of Labor Day, the pickup will happen at the same time each Monday as long as the growing season continues to produce extra veggies, Just Food director Jeremy Farmer said. Farmer attributes the surplus to two things: More gardeners than ever are donating produce to the pantry, and the weather has been agreeable for farmers, who also donate. “Because of the rain, they’re just inundated with food,” Farmer said. “Nobody wants it to go to waste.”
Vol.155/No.238 20 pages
A team led by Kansas University researchers has won a $1.7 million grant to help create a standardized test that clinicians and scientists could use to treat people with communication disorders. Page 3A
ÔōōĜ q ōŒä ZŒļ¼¼Œ© <|ŷļ¼ĉ ¼
Ôƃ H%%
·
|ĉź ń¼Œ ĒÏ Ô Œêļ¼ń êĉ ńŒĒ ÷
Ź ùş®¼ń ¼ ĒĉĒăź ļ|®ê|ù Œêļ¼ńĪ
Z¼¼ ńŒĒļ¼ ÏĒļ ®¼Œ|êùńĪ
ŹĤĪ Ĥ ÄŎŝōŎĜŗ
ŌÄÑéÄŗƃéĎƃĎƃ
ŝŌŗÑ Zq q|ĉ|ă|÷¼ļ© `ĒĤ¼÷|
ŌÄÑéŝŌĜéƃĜĎÔ