The 13th annual Jack London Award for Educational Excellence was awarded to the Dolphin Kings Chess Club at Robert L. Stevens Elementary School in Santa Rosa which was commended for the depth of serious teaching of critical thinking through chess. The program encourages all students to engage in intellectual activity, and approximately 1/4 of the upper-graders (grades 4-6) voluntarily participate. The direct correlation from the program to the classroom has translated to a distinct rise in mathematics scores on a standardized test.
Kathy Huffstutter is the school librarian and club advisor. "Kathy brought chess and the world to our school. Her enthusiasm for the game brings in master chess players from the community whom regularly volunteer to teach and play chess with students," says Susan Spencer, principal.
Robert L. Stevens Elementary School enrolls 436 students; 50-60 of them are involved in the Dolphin Kings Chess Club. The school is located in one of the highest poverty areas in the county, with a 30% English as a Second Language population. "The Dolphin Club meets the need for development of critical thinking skills which then transfer to other academic areas and are also crucial in order to excel in this fast-moving technological world," says Spencer.
"The chess students just seem to walk taller," says Huffstutter. For more information about the program, call (707) 575-8883.
In addition to the Dolphin Kings Chess Club as winner of the Jack London Award for Educational Excellence, two programs received special recognition. They are the Wildlife Management Museum at Petaluma High School and the French-American Exchange at Casa Grande High School and Petaluma High School. The Willdlife Management Museum Program began in 1989 when developer Hugh Codding donated the entire contents of his museum of natural history to Petaluma High School. Mr. Ron Head, a teacher at the school, turned a 1940 bus barn into a 10,000 sq. ft. wildlife showcase for the community and a hand-on learning experience for the students of Petaluma High School. Mr. Head's students guide approximately 9,000 visitors per year through North American, African, and Asian exhibits, a natural sciences room with dinosaur and prehistoric artifacts, mineral and rock displays, a 3,000 gallon saltwater tide pool, a 14 ft. Hadrosaur, as well as poaching and seismograph exhibits. The students also assume full responsibility for a live animal program, which includes fish, insects, mammals, and such reptiles as rattlesnaker and pythons. For more information about the program, call (707) 778-4651.
The French-American Exchange Program at Casa Grande High School and Petaluma High School involves connecting 38-45 French 9th grade students from College Sacre Coeur, a private catholic junior high school in Aix-en-Provence in southern France with the students from Casa Grande and Petaluma High Schools who are studying French. The program allows the students of both countries to experience "real" culture through people of the same age group. The three-week program involves the French visitors attending seven days of class with their American counterparts. They coach each other to use the others' language, andl take a school tour, be part of interviews and a fashion show, among other activities. The students are mixed into large groups to begin collaboration on a particular topic which will end with a group presentation in both languages. The goal is meaningful sharing of cultures and languages, both in the process of collaboration and presentation.
For more information about the program, call (707) 775-4622.
The Jack London Award for Excellence is sponsored by Sonoma State University, the California Faculty Associatoin, the California Teachers Association, and the Sonoma County Office of Education.For information about the Jack London Award for Educational Excellence, please call the Sonoma State University School of Education, (707) 664-2935.
