European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 11, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A schools debating merits of National Honor society Westhampton mass. A complaining that the selection process often puts personality ahead of grades some High schools Are dropping or considering eliminating their National Honor society chapters. Hampshire regional High school  joined those that have withdrawn from the 22,000-Ehap-Ter nos a program that High school students with a a a by average or higher have listed on their Quot College applications for the past 70 years. The school complained that Entrance requirements of character leadership and service Are too subjective. A too often selection becomes a matter of personality a said Deborah Niswonger chairwoman of the school Board that oversees 645-student Hampshire High. She said the non Scholastic criteria Rule out too Many a serious  at the urging of teachers including the nos adviser the Board voted to install its own Honor society with grades the Only criteria. Hampshire was the Only school in the past year to quit the society said Dale Hawley director of student activities for the National association of secondary school principals. Although schools have wide latitude in using the selection criteria they cannot base their deep Sion soley on academics Hawley said. A ave Are looking for the total child who is outstanding both in and out of the classroom. A local faculty councils tolerate different Levels of behaviour. But there Are a lot of smart people who May be working hard but not chosen because they have not demonstrated Strong character a its those criteria that moved Hampshire and other schools to opt out of the society. Cony High school in Augusta Maine Hasni to had an nos chapter for at least seven years and a  no to missed it said principal Charles Adams. A people Felt the issues of leadership character service and whatever were too difficult to Quantity a he said. Roger Loniaker principal at t. F. Riggs High school in Pierre s.d., said a if i was a betting Man id bet there Isnit a school that  a a a a tonal Honor society chapter that Hasni to at some Point in time considered   550-student school will continue in the olt organization a until we really find if is too frustrating a Loniaker  . Alumni group plans Maryland reunion Gaithersburg my. A amps the Rota alumni association is planning a school reunion july 5-7 in Gaithersburg my. The association made up of former students parents and teachers of David Glasgow Farragut High school in Rota Spain began forming an alumni roster in August 1990. Founder Kim Mackey said the six name list  Sunee grown to include 300, with 70 confirmations received for the reunion. A most overseas brats done to have an Opportunity to have a class reunion a Mackey said. Those interested should write or Call Kim d. Potter Mackey Rota alumni association 112 Duvall Lane 1104, Gaithersburg my. 20877 Telephone 301-869-7644.boston University extends scholarships for spouses Mannheim Germany a amps a Boston University is extending its scholarship program for spouses of service members serving in operation desert storm. Spouses can now receive the 75 percent tuition reduction during the summer semester if they meet the following conditions a the class must contain at least 12 tuition paying students. A the scholarship May be applied toward one course  application must be made during registration week which runs april 15-19. A the student must pay the remaining 25 percent Cost of tuition and other fees including the Cost of textbooks. A scholarships do not apply to professional development courses. Monday March 11, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 9 education Maverick creates problem with  unorthodox math South Huntington . A Quot he flunked trigonometry As a boy but John Saxon now presents himself As the Savior of math education and delights in branding the nation s math experts As incompetents. The a Smath establishment a the National Council of teachers of mathematics and top state math officials a is to blame for . Teen agers scoring last in International comparisons of numerical skills Saxon charges. A it is Only in math education where people who Are abject failures Are called experts Quot says Saxon whose Back to basics math textbooks have been rejected by several states and whose Blunt personality leaves even supporters cringing. A they can Point to no Success in math education in 30 years and yet they Call themselves experts a he said Many in the a a establishment a do indeed oppose Many of saxons methods a and they done to much like this former test Pilot and Junior College teacher turned math textbook publisher either. But interviews with teachers around the country make it Clear that this math Maverick from Oklahoma  tapped into widespread discontent Over math education and is causing educators to rethink How the subject should be taught in  classrooms. Since 1982, Saxon  sold some $20 million Worth of  texts to 3,000 schools around the country. Saxons philosophy lies in  fourth Grade through Hilj school textbook series that he Hopes will banish 30 years of a new maths and replace it with a a practice practice practice regimen of Basic skills. Or As he put it in an interview a i beat math into the Little  saxons latest Battleground is this affluent Long Island suburb where parents believing that the state mandated math curriculum was leaving their children ill equipped for College math overcame opposition from state curriculum authorities and a won permission to become the first in new York state to test Saxon s approach. A last fall saxons Brand of math began a closely watched three year trial in two beginning algebra classes at South Huntington a Walt Whitman High school. But Here and elsewhere its too Early to Tell if the Saxon approach will do All it claims. One of the few serious studies conducted with Pittsburgh students in 1987, found that sax Oft yielded no test gains compared with other books Saxon is hard to categorize. Mis texts blend Rote math Drill and constant repetition of lessons previously Learned a similar to the japanese a Kumon a method that helped make that country a math Leader. The algebra i text for example  no chapters but 132 a lessons a each focusing on a particular skill a. Graphing inequalities for example. Students work on 30 or so practice problems but unlike traditional texts the vast majority of practice questions Deal with previous lessons Learned. Unlike Many math experts Saxon frowns on students using hand calculators especially in elementary grades. And Saxon teachers Are expected to act As coaches rather than lecturers and employ other progressive classroom practices such As cooperative learning. As might be expected leading math educators Haven to taken kindly to being told by this prickly outsider that they be been doing it All wrong for decades curriculum officials and some classroom teachers in new York Minnesota Texas California Idaho and even  Home state of Oklahoma insist Saxon is trying to March mathematics education backwards., a a there a no application to anything in real life. Students wind up More like trained monkeys a said Nancy Guldburg a math teacher at Eden Prairie High school in suburban Minneapolis. But Mel twitch who  used Saxon to teach  four math sections at Utah s Provo High school for the last three years is among Many others who swear the texts Are making students enjoy math so much that they stick with it through calculus. Twitched said its too soon to Point to big test gains. But at Provo Only two sections of students now take simplified Quot consumer math compared with six sections before Saxon he said and calculus enrolment is up from 38 students before Saxon to 107 students. Crail sheim student cited for drafting by Jimi Jones education writer it often takes time for an artists work to catch on. For 11 year old Eugene Chang of crash inv Germany that was True. His drawing titled a a Frog in my hand a made it into the january edition of highlights for children Magazine a 3 million circulations a a monthly for children aged 2 to v 2. If the drawing looks naive to for an 11-year-old, keep in y / la a a i i mind that Chang submitted it to the Magazine two years ago As a fourth grader. Eugene s Frog at the time changes class was learning to draw their hands and although he so not All that fond of frogs he thought adding one to the picture of  Palm was a Good idea. Eugene now a sixth grader at Crail sheim elementary said he submitted the drawing to highlights on  own and never had much Hope of its being published since the Magazine had sent him a letter saying they did no to think it could use it a right  service scheduled for Dodds Germany Deputy Wiesbaden,.Germany a a memorial service  been scheduled for the Deputy director of the department of defense dependents schools Germany Region who died of cancer March 3. The service for Robert e. Lundgren will be held at 3 . Sunday at the Haine Berg Chapel in Wiesbaden. A reception will follow at Haine Berg elementary school. Lundgren was buried saturday in Elgin Texas. His wife Kittie and their son Erik will return to Germany for the memorial service. In lieu of Flowers the family asks that donations be made to the or. Robert e. Lundgren memorial scholarship fund co Gen. . Arnold High school Apo 09457-0005. A v so when Chang received another letter recently saying the Magazine might be Able to use  drawing a i was shocked a a he said. Quot i stopped getting highlights in the mail about a year  Crail sheim principal Theresa Carney said the school Hadnot received the january Issue of highlights yet but that she thought it was wonderful that Eugene a drawing had been published. A everyone is proud of him a she said. A Eugene is one of our talented and gifted students and does Well in anything he does. We re proud to have him recognized for one of  Many  Eugene a member of the geography club student Council and Cross country track team enjoys Reading drawing and collecting fossils pennies and Stamps. Head like to be a doctor someday. Smalltalk. Carmen Nieto a fourth Grade teacher at bad Kissinger elementary school in Germany wrote in with a great revelation from one of her students. While teaching a class on american indians Nieto asked her students a who  traced their ancestors Brack to the indians a Robert Williams May not have traced  family tree but he had a thought on the subject. A maybe in a part Indian because when i take a really hot Shower i turn red a he said. H you have a slice of classroom Lifa to share please Sand it to Small talk tha stars and str pea attn a cml Jones Apo 09211