[Winona Online Democracy] Scott:
Your first post and defense of the ALC put a breath of fresh air on my perception of the school. Thank you for working with these students. I too observe the loitering and smoking, but no more than at the high school. The south wall of the high school and the softball field dugouts hold a lot of smokers. What kind of playground equipment do you buy for high school students? The same scene can be found around many businesses - just adults not students. Many smoke-free buildings have a legion of smokers taking their breaks just outside the door making entry to the building a test of lung power. Worse yet, every time the door is opened it sucks the bad air into the building. The ALC probably has a higher percentage of smokers. I'd also guess its students have different priorities. One of your students - a former boy scout in my troop (C.N.) - is working 35 hours this week at his job. How is a 16 year-old supposed to do well in school when he (and his parents) choose to let him work that much. I'm pleased to learn you are at the ALC, Scott. I'm not pleased that enrollment is growing and I think an old bar is a terrible place for a school. On the other hand... I'm not "smoking" the same stuff Bob is by defending the surprise the school district pulled on us by announcing a new facility for the ALC. Becoming more informed will enlighten us all. I challenge anyone to find school board minutes that discuss the "new ALC." Surprise decisions and "surprise" agenda items by the school board should worry us just as much as the growing enrollment at the ALC. Jim Galewski > From: Scott Lowery <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2006 23:06:31 -0600 > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Winona] Re: WALC > > [Winona Online Democracy] > > Although I agree with much of Craig Brooks' observations, I have to > correct some misinformation. The ALC most emphatically does not > "allow the students to smoke" and I'm kind of shocked that Craig > would say that we do, even conjecturing that we have some faulty > rationale for doing so. As with other school programs with an > adolescent population, some students smoke off-grounds before and > after school. This year, our students have been good about observing > our rule that they stay at least a block away from the school if > smoking before and after school. We do have a half hour of open > campus at lunch, so some of our students can be seen at that time, > smoking outside the nearby Kwik Trip or elsewhere in the surrounding > neighborhood. Maybe that's where the misconception comes from. We > most certainly do not allow any smoking on school grounds. Actually, > given the small size of our building, students are much less likely > to escape detection if they decide to try to sneak a smoke in school, > compared to regular high school programs. > > We do have a lot of students who are smokers, and it seems that many > of them have grown up in households where that's the norm. Staff have > many conversations every day with kids about smoking, reminding them > of the effects on their lungs and their billfolds, and often we're > able to offer encouragement for those trying to quit. We've also had > smoking cessation guest speakers, and our teen support counselor > provides one-on-one advice and goal-setting around tobacco use and > many other issues. Please know that we are working every bit as hard > as other education and human service providers to help teens make > better decisions with regard to smoking. > > The more I think about Craig's comment, I find myself discouraged by > the way rumors and negative perspectives can be spread in this > community. On the other hand, maybe I should look at this as a good > opportunity to clear up a misunderstanding. > > > Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2006 02:41:04 -0800 (PST) > From: Craig Brooks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [Winona] alc > To: [email protected] > Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > I thought I heard a WAPS admin. person say that the majority of > PSEO use was for the VoTech College. I have not idea how to access > that info. except contacting WAPS. I wish more school admin. and > Board members were on this listserv. > > I am on the Comm. Educ. Advisory Committee and I have been hearing > about the plan to move much of their operation into the old Big O, > where the ALC is, for a long time. So, I wasn't surprised by the > news they were going to move and that ALC was going to move. I know > some school people did not want the ALC near small kids programs and > seemed to want it out of sight because of the bad PR with the kids > standing around on the street smoking, etc. So, some of the > possibilities considered were rejected for those reasons is my guess. > The place planned is by and near one the landlord already leases to > the school -- it is called the Greenhouse Program for spec. educ. EBD > high school kids. (Greenhouse simply refers to what the property > used to be.) In my opinion all the school programs should be smoke > free. Kids at ALC and Greenhouse are allowed to smoke and I sispect > staff think banning it will cause problems. I have heard that > argument regarding adult psych. wards in hospitals and the results of > smoking bans has not resulted in problems. ould also be addressed? > -- > ------------ > sent by: > > Scott Lowery > 461 Sunnyview Drive, Rollingstone MN 55969 > home phone: (507)689-4532 > school phone: (507)454-9587 (Winona Area Learning Center) > home email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > school email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy > All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. > No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. > To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit > http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona > Any problems or suggestions can be directed to > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page > at > http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org
