JACKSON-MILTON SCHOOLS Board talks funds while parents, kids join in sum fun

The school board will put a renewal levy on the March primary ballot.
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NORTH JACKSON -- Mandy Miller enjoyed the challenge of placing the number of red counters in the egg carton's holes to correspond with the number in the hole.
The Jackson-Milton Elementary School first-grader also had fun using a computer to practice her addition and subtraction.
"I love to count," she said matter-of-factly.
Mandy was one of several pupils to take part in the school's annual Family Math Night Hooked on Math program Thursday, set up to help first-graders and their parents use various methods to develop an appreciation of math concepts.
How it worked
Families used 10 stations, including a computer introduced this year, and spent 10 minutes at each. There, they used a variety of means to reinforce math concepts, including story problems, sorting, combinations, counting and tangrams -- puzzles designed to fit various shapes together to form a square or other patterns.
Mandy's father, Jay King, said the idea has helped him be more effective in helping his daughter with her homework.
Matt and Kim Keck said the program has helped their son, Luke, with his math by using some objects common around the house to teach addition and subtraction. The math night also used items to help her son learn to compare estimates to exact amounts, Kim Keck added.
Principal Kirk Baker said pupils and their families rotate from station to station to maximize the amount of learning and hands-on activities available.
First-grade teachers Joe DiLoreto, Brenda McDougal and Sheila Braman organized the event.
Looking ahead
At Thursday's board meeting, Treasurer John Zinger projected the district would be operating in a deficit by the 2007-08 school year and announced a five-year, 2.7-mill renewal levy to be placed on the March 2, 2004, ballot.
The district continues to lose money, partially through open enrollment, he said. Specific figures should be available by the next board meeting in December, board member Sue Karash said.
Joe Malmisur, Jackson-Milton High School principal, told the board the high school has started using electronic portfolios to assess students' work.
The portfolios allow the school a better way to see what students have done and to show the community what the school is doing for students by combining a specific vision, an overall assessment, technology, various logistics and culture, Malmisur said.
Malmisur also praised students and staff for organizing a Veterans Day event Nov. 11 at the high school gym that honored 40 local veterans.