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The Putnam County
Volume 146 No. 31
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Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Three towns meet fluoride standards IDPH honors those efforts By Donna Barker Shaw Media Service
Three Putnam County community water departments are among the 430 community water departments throughout Illinois honored recently for maintaining statemandated fluoride levels during 2013. The Mark and Standard Water Departments were honored for not only maintaining recommended fluoride levels for all 12 months of 2013, but
for also being in compliance with recommended fluoride levels for the past five years, from 2009 through 2013. The Hennepin Water Department was also honored for maintaining recommended fluoride levels for all 12 months for 2013. This is the third consecutive year for the Hennepin Water Department to receive this honor. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced the
designations March 17 at the 2014 Illinois Section American Water Works Association Conference and Expo in Springfield. IDPH Director LaMar Hasbrouck commended the water departments for their achievements and also commented on the importance of communities maintaining recommended fluoride levels. “Water fluoridation can improve overall oral health for both children and adults. Studies show water fluoridation reduces tooth decay by
about 25 percent over a person’s lifetime,” Hasbrouck said. “Studies also show that widespread community water fluoridation saves money for both families and the health care system. We applaud those communities that maintain levels of fluoride in their water systems and encourage them to continue their efforts.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called fluoridation one of the 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century. The
American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Dental Association and the last five surgeon generals have stated water fluoridation is safe and effective, he said. In proclaiming March 17-23 as Water and Wastewater Operators Week in Illinois, Gov. Pat Quinn said 66 of the 430 honored water systems earned a commendation for meeting the state recommended fluoride levels for at least five consecutive years, with Princeton being one of the nine water depart-
ments maintaining recommended fluoride levels for at least 25 years. As reported by the IDPH, approximately 99 percent of those served by public water systems in Illinois receive the benefit of fluoridated drinking water, compared to the current national average of approximately 72 percent. Fluoride is found naturally in water, but in many communities, the amount of the mineral is too low and does not meet the required standards, the IDPH states.
The end of books in the classroom? Not yet...but technology is changing the landscape of learning By Ken Schroeder kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
MCNABB — Area schools have always worked to prepare students for today’s world. Changes in technology are likewise changing the way students are taught. The days of reading books in order to learn lessons may be gone in the notso-distant future. “I use digital media in my sixth-grade language arts room. I also use the iPad in my room to show students video clips from YouTube. We read nonfiction stories in class and I find video clips about the topic to share and teach with,” Amy Carboni, sixth-grade language arts teacher at Putnam County Junior High, said. “The students enjoy seeing two different sources on the same or similar topic.” Core curriculum is coming soon to classrooms from several educational book companies. These companies commented they will be changing the face of learning. In addition, the Obama administration has said it wants to be able to provide high speed Internet connections to 15,000 schools over the next two years while districts purchase the laptops and tablets Vol. 146 No. 31 One Section - 16 Pages The Putnam County
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needed to bring these lessons in. “We also have a program at PCJH called Study Island. This is a computer based program to help cover Common Core standards in reading and math. The students answer questions and earn blue ribbons if they get a 70 percent or higher on the standards,” Carboni said. “There are also games on Study Island to help students in the standards they choose to work on. Putnam County also uses the Accelerated Reader program for Grades 3-12. The students read books and answer questions about the book on the computer program. Each student has a required number of AR points to earn for the quarter. Because of the AR program, our students choose to read more often than if we didn’t have AR.” While technology is shaping the classroom, there are still some problems it brings that books were free from. “Technology is great when it works. I have had lessons planned for the computer lab before only to get everyone on a computer and the internet goes down. That
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Putnam County Record photo/ Dixie Schroeder
Putnam County Junior High attends IVCC Career Day Putnam County Junior High School students Paige Veronda (left), Anna Mattern and Cassidy King make safe playdough for children in the “Experience Early Childhood Education” class at the Illinois Valley Community College annual Junior High School Career Day. The event had 37 seminars of which area junior high school students could attend. PCJH eighth-graders attended the event.
Learning in three dimensions By Ken Schroeder kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
GRANVILLE — A new level of technology has made its appearance in classrooms at both the Putnam County High School and the junior high. Although the original physics behind the device can trace their roots to about 1900, the 3D Cubed Classroom is cutting edge technology. The 3D Cubed Classroom is a projection system which, with the help of special glasses, allows students to see how a two dimen-
sional object can become three dimensional, but also includes lessons on biology and astronomy. “I used it early on for three dimensional figures. We were doing orthographic, drawings, scale drawings and stuff like that. I think it helped the kids really visualize how a two dimensional figure can be folded in to a three dimensional figure. That’s mainly what I used it for, and I think it helped a lot,” PC High School math teacher Chuck McConville said.
“It also actually saved a lot of time in class, like constructionalwise, because they could visually see it animated and actually pull it apart and see it being put back together. It really helped. Some students have a hard time grasping that and some of the traditional methods on the board and trying to draw it. When they actually saw it on the computer, they got it within one lesson where it probably would have taken maybe three lessons.”
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