Party leaders make their picks for school board candidates - Gr...

The Republican and Democratic executive committees have recommended two candidates each for the Board of Education, with party leaders on both sides throwing their support behind an incumbent and a newcomer.

[Theresa Stanton]

I am the only candidate who is a certified teacher. I feel the Board of Education should have at least one member with a background in Education. I have been encouraged by some to seek the party's endorsement by obtaining the necessary number of signatures, as was done in the past.

I would be interested in hearing from readers. What is you opinion?

[Cos Cob mom]

You go girl! I have a link to a new student activitoes policy that I want you to read. Seems that the boe want to severely limit any fundraising our kids can and HAVE to do for trips, coaching staff. This will kill plant & wreath sales, any kind of cookie dough and othe rstuff. The fundraisers are critical for our kids! Th ebow won;t fund atrip to the Met, Lincoln Center, chorus etc. Who was the brainchild behind this dodo bird?

http://www.greenwichschools.org/uploaded/dist... etc.

[BoE Watcher]

Cos Cob Mom I think you are completely wrong in your reading of the policy. The BoE is not attempting to stop the fund-raising that you describe; that's exactly what the Board wants to support. It doesn't want commercial fund-raising or activities that puts kids at risk (ie, door to door soliciation). I have attended every Board meeting, Policy Governance Committee meeting and know all the board members. At no time have any of them ever suggested what you are saying or suggested a policy change to have that occur. They would all say that it is a completely inaccurate reading of the policy. There are reporting requirements focused on complying with various state regulations and statutes and there are gift cap policies to ensure equitable fund-raising across the schools. The fund-raising activity you describe should not be impeded by any of this. Please talk to your PTA head; I am sure they will re-assure you that what you believe is occuring is not the case. Better yet, call one of the board members and hear it from them.

[GOPer]

Theresa, the reality is you got so few votes because your candidacy has no resonance with people. Issues of start times and food quality in the cafeteria is not a reason to run for BOE. Those are issues you can effect better from the outside. You do it if you want, but your problem is your message and it is just going to get tougher in an election

[go ahead]

Theresa Stanton wrote:

I am the only candidate who is a certified teacher. I feel the Board of Education should have at least one member with a background in Education. I have been encouraged by some to seek the party's endorsement by obtaining the necessary number of signatures, as was done in the past.
I would be interested in hearing from readers. What is you opinion?

In my opinion, given the school system's poor and declining performance, and the slow-motion disaster that was the Ham Ave project, none of the incumbents deserve to be re-elected. I they were directors of a corporation, they would all have been replaced already.

I would urge you to write an oped in the local press laying out what you want to do, what you want to change, and what the current board has done wrong. Appeal to the RTC through the people of this town. We all deserve a robust debate, especially given how unresponsive the school board has been for so many years.

And school start times and cafeteria food are excellent issues to begin with. It is abundantly clear that the BOE won't do anything about start times, no matter how widely that change is desired.

Go for it!!

[Theresa Stanton]

GOPer wrote:

Theresa, the reality is you got so few votes because your candidacy has no resonance with people. Issues of start times and food quality in the cafeteria is not a reason to run for BOE. Those are issues you can effect better from the outside. You do it if you want, but your problem is your message and it is just going to get tougher in an election

Since proper nutrition affects the health, well-being and academic performance of our children, I believe it is a valid concern of both parents and the BOE.

Since proper sleep affects the health, well-being and academic performance of our children, I believe it is also a valid concern of both parents and the BOE.

I think these issues BOTH have a GREAT DEAL of resonance with PARENTS, the majority of whom DID NOT have the opportunity to cast a vote.

[Jeannie Intrieri]

I support Theresa Stanton for the nomination on the Republican side for the position on the board. She is the ONLY candidate with a background in education. She is a certified teacher in NY as well as CT. She has served on the PTA for 12 years in the Greenwich School system. Someone with her expertise in education as well as her superior knowlege of the schools would be a great asset to the board.

[Greenwich Dad]

Jeannie Intrieri wrote:

She is the ONLY candidate with a background in education.

I assume you mean on the Republican slate.

[GPS parent]

Is Dr Ellis leaving? Doesn't she have a background in education?

[Nick N]

No wonder we don't perform well. Our BOE is worried about how much kids sleep and eat, things that are THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF PARENTS! How about the three R's and science? Mrs. Stanton, I appreciate your wanting to get involved, it's one of the more taxing volunteer boards in town. But what about parental responsibility?

[Theresa Stanton]

Early School Start Times Impairs Teen Health and Grades

What are the health implications for our children?
"lack of sleep (is implicated ) in the following maladies...obesity, depression, acne, weakened immune system, memory loss, diabetes, high blood pressure and more" (Blinded by Science, 2/2008, Discover Magazine)

There is "increasing evidence that shortened sleep times result in metabolic changes that contribute to obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes and heart disease. Limited sleep is also a problem for teenagers whose sleep needs INCREASE during the critical years of adolescent development" (10/19/06 article on Yahoo)
What do the experts say?

Dr. Kotch, a Board Certified pulmonary physician and sleep specialist from Redding, CT:
"Teens need nine hours of sleep for optimum function, but few get it. High School kids today are lucky to get six hours of sleep. The circadian rhythms of adolescents and teens are set so they have an easier time falling asleep in the evening, 11 pm to 1 am, and they don't really wake up until 8 or 9 in the morning. Teachers will tell you that the first period classes are frequently full of sleepy kids. Some areas have pushed back the high school start times with very good results. The whole state of Minnesota did and found the students are performing much better." (Jan. 24, 2008, Health and Fitness section, Hersam Acorn Newspapers)

Dr. Ronald E. Dahl, a sleep expert at the University of Pittsburg:
sleep deprivation among teenagers creates "a negative spiral" of fatigue, emotional instability, poor decision making and risky behavior.(Personal Health, NY Times, 10/23/2007)

Dr. Mary Carskadon, sleep researcher at Brown University of Medicine, Providence RI:
Few adolescents sleep the amount they need...more than a quarter of high school students are chronically sleep deprived. "These early school start times are abusive", she wrote.(Personal Health, the NYTimes, 10/23/2007)

Teens and Car Crashes
Teens have the highest crash rates in the country. They are also likely to get the least sleep. Many sources, along with the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), believe these two factors are linked.
Two critical factors collide when teens are in their early years. 1.) They need nine-and-a-half hours of sleep every night to accommodate an upswing in growth and hormone development, and 2.) they get far less sleep than they need - an average of seven-and-a-half hours a night or less.(Geico Direct Magazine, Fall 2008)

What are the Academic Implications?
"with the benefit of functional MRI scans, researchers are now starting to understand exactly how sleep loss impairs a child's brain. Tired children can't remember what they just learned, for instance, because neurons loose their plasticity, becoming incapable of forming the synaptic connections necessary to encode a memory....A different mechanism causes children to become inattentive in class. Sleep loss debilitates our body's ability to extract glucose from the bloodstream...one part of the brain suffers more than the rest: the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for "executive function"...a tired brain...gets stuck on the wrong answer and can't come up with a more creative solution.(Bronson, Po, Snooze or Lose)

In Edina, Minnesota, where high school start times were changed for 7:25 am to 8:30 am, the results were startling. In the year preceding the time change, Math and Verbal SAT scores for the top 10% averaged 1288. A year later, the top 10% averaged 1500, and increase that couldn't be attributed to any other variable.

For more info, see the following web sites:
Sleepfoundation.org
wiltonlwv.org (see "recent studies")

[ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ]

Theresa Stanton wrote:

Early School Start Times Impairs Teen Health and Grades
What are the health implications for our children?
"lack of sleep (is implicated ) in the following maladies...obesity, depression, acne, weakened immune system, memory loss, diabetes, high blood pressure and more" (Blinded by Science, 2/2008, Discover Magazine)
There is "increasing evidence that shortened sleep times result in metabolic changes that contribute to obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes and heart disease. Limited sleep is also a problem for teenagers whose sleep needs INCREASE during the critical years of adolescent development" (10/19/06 article on Yahoo)
What do the experts say?
Dr. Kotch, a Board Certified pulmonary physician and sleep specialist from Redding, CT:
"Teens need nine hours of sleep for optimum function, but few get it. High School kids today are lucky to get six hours of sleep. The circadian rhythms of adolescents and teens are set so they have an easier time falling asleep in the evening, 11 pm to 1 am, and they don't really wake up until 8 or 9 in the morning. Teachers will tell you that the first period classes are frequently full of sleepy kids. Some areas have pushed back the high school start times with very good results. The whole state of Minnesota did and found the students are performing much better." (Jan. 24, 2008, Health and Fitness section, Hersam Acorn Newspapers)
Dr. Ronald E. Dahl, a sleep expert at the University of Pittsburg:
sleep deprivation among teenagers creates "a negative spiral" of fatigue, emotional instability, poor decision making and risky behavior.(Personal Health, NY Times, 10/23/2007)
Dr. Mary Carskadon, sleep researcher at Brown University of Medicine, Providence RI:
Few adolescents sleep the amount they need...more than a quarter of high school students are chronically sleep deprived. "These early school start times are abusive", she wrote.(Personal Health, the NYTimes, 10/23/2007)
Teens and Car Crashes
Teens have the highest crash rates in the country. They are also likely to get the least sleep. Many sources, along with the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), believe these two factors are linked.
Two critical factors collide when teens are in their early years. 1.) They need nine-and-a-half hours of sleep every night to accommodate an upswing in growth and hormone development, and 2.) they get far less sleep than they need - an average of seven-and-a-half hours a night or less.(Geico Direct Magazine, Fall 2008)
What are the Academic Implications?
"with the benefit of functional MRI scans, researchers are now starting to understand exactly how sleep loss impairs a child's brain. Tired children can't remember what they just learned, for instance, because neurons loose their plasticity, becoming incapable of forming the synaptic connections necessary to encode a memory....A different mechanism causes children to become inattentive in class. Sleep loss debilitates our body's ability to extract glucose from the bloodstream...one part of the brain suffers more than the rest: the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for "executive function"...a tired brain...gets stuck on the wrong answer and can't come up with a more creative solution.(Bronson, Po, Snooze or Lose)
In Edina, Minnesota, where high school start times were changed for 7:25 am to 8:30 am, the results were startling. In the year preceding the time change, Math and Verbal SAT scores for the top 10% averaged 1288. A year later, the top 10% averaged 1500, and increase that couldn't be attributed to any other variable.
For more info, see the following web sites:
Sleepfoundation.org
wiltonlwv.org (see "recent studies")

Teresa GO TO SLEEP

[MOONLIGHT]

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ wrote:

<quoted text> Teresa GO TO SLEEP

:)

[in the movies]

Theresa Stanton wrote:

<quoted text>
Since proper nutrition affects the health, well-being and academic performance of our children, I believe it is a valid concern of both parents and the BOE.
Since proper sleep affects the health, well-being and academic performance of our children, I believe it is also a valid concern of both parents and the BOE.
I think these issues BOTH have a GREAT DEAL of resonance with PARENTS, the majority of whom DID NOT have the opportunity to cast a vote.

as for your observations, well lets just say, a good title might be; "sleepless in seattle" or a better title would be: "clueless"

[DrG]

What background is that exactly?

[DrG]

Jeannie Intrieri wrote:

I support Theresa Stanton for the nomination on the Republican side for the position on the board. She is the ONLY candidate with a background in education. She is a certified teacher in NY as well as CT. She has served on the PTA for 12 years in the Greenwich School system. Someone with her expertise in education as well as her superior knowlege of the schools would be a great asset to the board.

What background in education, is that exactly?

[GHS Dad]

Theresa Stanton wrote:

I am the only candidate who is a certified teacher. I feel the Board of Education should have at least one member with a background in Education. I have been encouraged by some to seek the party's endorsement by obtaining the necessary number of signatures, as was done in the past.
I would be interested in hearing from readers. What is you opinion?

a lot of hot air