Wahluke: Education powerhouse

Students and administrators work to improve test scores, provide extracurricular programs and step up use of technology

MATTAWA — Across the 48-acre campus of the Wahluke School District in Mattawa, students and educators are gearing up to improve student test scores, technology education and extracurricular programs.

Despite failure to meet state standards two years in a row on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, and finding adequate resources to expand programs for a growing student population, of which 86.3 percent are Hispanic, the district has made significant progress and the results are evident.

In the last two years, a scores on the WASL have seen significant improvement in reading, math and writing, and teachers are finding new ways to make learning both fun and educational.

"The most outstanding part of student achievement is continual growth from year to year so that over a period of time, kids are able to overcome major obstacles and do very well when they graduate," said Bill Miller, superintendent of the Wahluke School District.

Test scoresthe past two years show student comprehension and application of academic curriculum are improving.

WASL results from 2003 show an increase that is nearly double that from the year before. In areas such as fourth-grade reading, student scores went from 20.3 percent of the students passing to 39.6 percent. Significant increases in writing for seventh-graders on the WASL also saw an increase from 12.1 percent during the 2003 school year to 33.1 percent in 2004.

While this still leaves roughly 60 percent of the students not meeting state standards on the WASL, school administrators are confident that improvements will continue as teachers make changes to curriculum and the amount of time spent on improving different skill areas.

"We're seeing some really great success," said Kris Molitor, principal at Mattawa Elementary. She attributes that success to intervention programs such as Reading First and teacher commitment to improving academic skills. "Teacher fidelity to teach reading for 90 minutes every day has made a difference and teachers do not interrupt that time for anything."

And part of that success is extending opportunities for learning that go beyond the classroom.

At Wahluke High School, "Power Hour" before and after school offers students individual help on class assignments and WASL preparation.

"This provides flexibility for kids who need help in classes and offers strategies for how to work on problem solving skills," said Dale Hedman, principal at WHS.

Using lunch time to get in a few additional minutes of extracurricular activities such as guitar playing, is proving to be a worthwhile investment that has piqued the interest of approximately 40 students at Morris Schott Middle School who come even during their lunch hour to practice.

"We can't offer a class," said Darla Madewell, band teacher at Morris Schott Middle School.

Due to a lack of class periods in the day and not enough teachers to offer a guitar class, Madewell believes offering time during lunch for students to play guitar is a worthwhile investment. Band is an integral part of a child's education and learning to play an instrument is important, "especially with so many different cultures," she said.

Raul Aguilar is one student who comes during his lunch hour to play the guitar and says using that time to learn a new skill gives him an opportunity to "learn more things and maybe get to play for my family."

Music isn't the only way students are getting to show a bit of their creative side.

At the high school, art and theater students anticipate being able to show off their art and theater skills at the future site of the new high school that is planned to be finished in August of 2006.

Art students are currently making clay tiles that will be placed inside a 105,000-square-foot facility, which will provide nearly double the amount of space and an auditorium that can seat 375 people.

Having more space for the theater department at the new high school will mean being able to have "a real stage and more space to move scenery around and be more creative and have something to really share with the community," said Bob Martini, drama teacher at WHS.

The use of technology is another way students are showing their comprehension of computer and academic skills.

Access to more than 700 computers, 100 of which are wireless, in addition to laptop education programs in the fourth- through 11th-grades, students are acquiring the skills to be technologically literate for the future.

Students' ability to use computer technology and have access to current and relevant information is crucial, Miller said. "Their jobs will depend on it," he said.

Students are not only being taught how to use technology, but how to apply that knowledge in real world situations.

At school assemblies students are using digital cameras to practice photography skills. In U.S. history classes, groups of students present projects to their peers using Power Point software which is projected onto a screen in the classroom.

As students learn how to use the technology, they are acquiring multiple other skills such as how to write for online audiences, designing art for Web sites and using math skills to create computer programs, said teacher Matt Thornton, who teaches a web design class at MSMS.

Using technology to teach students is one way to "keep them engaged and motivated by finding a way they enjoy learning and using that to teach," said Michael Holland, principal at MSMS. "The biggest thing is to make this a place where kids feel like they want to come and be."