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Community Corner

Board of Education Approves New Textbooks and Adopts Pilot Classes

The Meriden school board tonight approved 17 new textbooks, mostly for high school courses, and voted to make three pilot classes part of the permanent high school course offerings.

The Meriden Board of Education tonight voted to approve 17 new textbooks as recommended by the board’s Curriculum Committee. The board also unanimously agreed to make two pilot physical education courses and one pilot music class permanent offerings at Platt and Maloney.

Of the approved textbooks, nine are for UConn ECE (Early College Experience) courses or AP (Advanced Placement) courses. In all, more than $66,000 worth of books have been requested, including 12 world language texts, two fine arts texts, two science texts, and one social studies text. Aside from music books for Washington and Lincoln Middle Schools, all the other texts were for the high schools. Schools may now order these textbooks, provided funds are available.

The adopted pilot classes that will become permanent courses at Platt and Maloney are:

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  • Personal Fitness Module—Students develop and follow an individualized personal fitness program.
  • Outdoor Adventure Activities—Students learn basic skills and safety procedures for activities such as rock climbing, kayaking, SCUBA diving, white water rafting, mountain biking, hiking, camping, surfing and emergency care in the wilderness.
  • Exploring Music—Students learn fundamental musical concepts through aural and physical interaction with music.

Both of the physical fitness classes may be substituted for the regular physical education class, but only once. When asked why, Superintendent Mark Benigni explained that these classes are in high demand. “We let you take it once. Then we have to let someone else have a chance,” he said.

In other business, the board authorized the superintendent to sign an agreement with the state of Connecticut to ensure that all foods sold to students meet state nutrition standards. This includes not only foods served in school meals, but also items sold in vending machines, school stores, and even as part of school fund-raising activities. In exchange for this assurance of the nutritional quality of the foods served throughout the schools, Meriden will receive an additional 10 cents per lunch from the state. The only foods exempted from the agreement are those sold in connection with an event outside of normal school hours.

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Also during the meeting, representatives from Israel Putnam Elementary School made a presentation to the board about the school’s K-Kids Club. Sponsored by the Kiwanis Club, this service club gets students involved in projects that help the school and the community, such as writing to men and women serving in the military, organizing an outdoor cleanup day and serving as regular helpers around the school.

Teachers and administrators from Roger Sherman School also shared a PowerPoint presentation about the success of the school’s parent-involvement efforts. According to Principal Louise Moss, the goal of the program is to increase parental and community involvement at the school by 10% annually. They have exceeded that goal with activities ranging from a National Parent Involvement Day to a CMT Circus in which parents and their children engage in educational and fun science experiments to prepare them for the CMTs. The school also recently opened a brightly decorated new Family Center filled with donated furniture and stocked with information and links to important community resources.

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