Pocomoke Students Go Green.

Students Become First Green Schools Society Inductees

(View article from The Dispatch)

https://mdcoastdispatch.com/2019/05/02/students-become-first-green-schools-society-inductees/

Recess Still Under Discussion With Board of Education

SNOW HILL – The question of whether or not recess will become mandatory in Worcester County schools is still up in the air.

At the Board of Education’s Dec. 7 Budget Public Input Session, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jon Andes introduced a proposed revision to a policy that would require all elementary level schools, grades pre-k through fifth, to have daily recess.

However, because several members of the board were absent and others wished for more time to review the proposal, the issue was tabled until the Dec. 21 meeting.
Board President Bob Hulburd told the audience that the matter was too significant to be decided without every member’s input.

“I think we all need to be here to make the decision,” he said.

Hulburd also stressed the fact the board was not acting in confrontation with Pocomoke Middle School, whose recess policy had sparked the debate.

While Andes’ proposal would contradict the current PMS system, which does not provide daily recess, Hulburd made it clear that whatever the board decided, it in no way reflected any negativity on the school.

“Everyone here should go away knowing that Pocomoke is a great school, with great leadership,” Hulburd said.

While the draft of the proposition is a significant step forward, some people in the audience were not satisfied with the tabling of the issue for another two weeks.

Parent Todd Palmer, who originally brought the matter to the board’s attention, had hoped for more action to be taken at the meeting.
“We’re upset with the delay,” he said, referring to the group of parents he represents. “We were under the impression that we’d have an answer tonight.”

Doug Voss, another concerned parent, shared some of Palmer’s feelings.
“We’re disappointed there was no decision,” Voss said. “We’re really looking for an unambiguous statement [from the board].”

One detail that bothered Palmer was the possibility that Andes’ proposition would just be a suggested guideline, instead of county policy.

“We want a policy,” he said. “A suggested guideline can be manipulated.”

However, Voss remarked that it did seem like the proposition would be going into policy.

Palmer expressed disappointment that not all board members had been in attendance at the meeting. He did, however, clarify that he was grateful to the board for making time to listen to complaints of the public.

Palmer and several other parents plan to be in attendance at the next meeting.

by:Travis Brown

www.mdcoastdispatch.com

Parents Of Pocomoke Middle School Students Make A Request

Parents of Pocomoke Middle School Students have done a wonderful thing by taking their concerns to the school board. Does the lack of recess have anything to do with educating the student for life or for educating the student so they can pass the required testing that gives the school a higher rating? Is it really about the student?

Pocomoke Middle School parents have a request of the school's administration: Please reinstate recess.

Most adults have some sense that taking a break from routine is a good thing, whether it's a few minutes to walk away from the task, 15 minutes to chat with co-workers or a full-fledged half-hour brisk walk. People who return to work (or the classroom) after a break often find themselves feeling refreshed, focused and ready to tackle the job at hand.

A break is a great stress reliever, too.

In today's public schools, everyone from administrators to teachers and students is feeling the pressure to increase test scores and meet the increasing demands of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Indeed, Pocomoke Middle School's elimination of recess was part of the effort to improve academic performance and raise test scores. Eliminating recess increases instructional time in the classroom.

But is this productive? Research indicates withholding recess may actually contribute to behavior problems and decreased ability to focus on the part of students, making elimination of recess counter-productive. A recent study on how recess affects academic performance found that in schools without recess, the amount of instructional time lost to fidgeting adds up to the amount of time it takes to have recess; the gain in instructional time may be without benefit. Other studies reach similar conclusions. Teachers who do not get an adult equivalent of recess may also become more irritable as the day wears on.

According to a 1998 study, this need for regular downtime is part of our physiological makeup -- our brains need a break every 90 to 110 minutes to recycle chemicals for long-term memory establishment. Regular physical activity can contribute to both mental and physical well-being.

Perhaps schools should seek to increase the quality -- as opposed to the quantity -- of available instructional time. Experience, tradition, science and observation all point to the same conclusion: Recess effectively contributes to an enhanced ability for students to focus on academics.

Pocomoke Middle School has now tried operating with and without recess. Short of discovering that academic performance improved dramatically without recess, administrators should reinstate recess as parents have requested.

www.delmarvanow.com

Parents Want To Know What Happened To Recess

NEWARK -- Parents of Pocomoke Middle School students told the school board they want recess reinstated at their children's school.

Several parents of PMS students attended Tuesday's board of education meeting to voice their concerns over the lack of recess offered to fourth- through eighth-graders at Pocomoke Middle. They called recess a "fundamental need" for the students.

"Recess is something ancient," parent Douglas Voss said. "It's timeless."

Voss said recess, which had been offered on a limited basis in recent years, was eliminated at the school this year in an effort to further increase test scores and academic performance. If it were implemented in a balanced way, he contended, a recess of just 30 minutes a day could be beneficial.

"A cognitive break in the middle of the day does improve academic performance," he told the school board.

Voss said the brain needed time to relax so that students could continue to engage cognitively during the latter half of the school day. He added that schools with recess had fewer discipline problems.

Another parent, Michael Hooks, compared the student dismissal at Pocomoke Middle in the afternoon to a scene in the movie "Grease," with kids sprinting out of the building. He said he and his wife had trouble getting their fourth-grader to do his homework after school because he was so wound up -- a problem they did not have with him last year, when he enjoyed recess at the elementary school.

"They don't have that outlet," he said.

Theophilus Moses said that with childhood obesity rates high, it was crucial that the middle schoolers get some time outside. "They are our future," he said. "We owe it to them."

Although school board members said they needed more time and information before they could make a decision on the matter, they did pass a motion to have Superintendent of Schools Jon Andes review the county's policies and procedures regarding recess and to make a recommendation on the subject to the board. They expect to address the issue by budget work session scheduled for Dec. 7.

"We're really going to take a hard look at this," board member Doug Dryden said, thanking the parents for their professional presentation. "This is the way the process is supposed to work."

PMS principal Caroline Bloxom stressed that the school worked in partnership with its parents in a statement that did not commit the school to any course of action on recess.

"We are partners with our parents," she said in a statement, "and we seek their involvement and feedback. In fact, being receptive to all opinions is crucial to school improvement."

www.worcestercountytimes.com

Pocomoke Middle School To Be On TV Today

Don't forget!

This morning the Pocomoke Middle School will be one of the handful of schools in the nation featured in this weeks "Education Nation" series on NBC's "Today Show."

Film crews were at Pocomoke Middle last week to gather footage for the feature.

Pocomoke Principal Caroline Bloxom was interviewd and filmed along with teachers and students.

Congratulations Principal Bloxom, Pocomoke Middle School students, teachers and staff !!

Pocomoke Middle School To Be On 'Today Show'

Congratulations Principal Caroline Bloxom, PMS Teachers, Staff and PMS Students! You should be very proud!!!

POCOMOKE CITY -- Pocomoke Middle will be one of a handful of schools in the nation featured in next week's "Education Nation" series on NBC's "Today Show."

NBC News film crews and the "Today Show's" Ann Curry visited the school Monday night, Tuesday and Wednesday to gather footage for the feature.

"Our entire school felt an enormous amount of pride to have the 'Today Show' visit," Principal Caroline Bloxom said.

The school gained the notice of producers working on the series after being named one of the country's 10 NASSP Breakthrough Schools for its improvements in student achievement in 2008, and then being profiled on the U.S. Department of Education's website in 2009.

On the "Today Show" piece, Pocomoke Middle will be featured as an example of a successful public middle school in spite of the challenges it faces as a rural school with a high population of poverty. Curry interviewed Bloxom, while teachers and students were filmed sharing their thoughts on programs and initiatives -- such as its literacy program and Arts Immersion initiative -- that they thought made the school unique.

Bloxom, who is beginning her 11th year as the school's principal, said it was an exciting experience for her as well as the school's students and staff to have film crews at Pocomoke Middle.

"It's not every day that a national news network rolls into our school," she said.

She said students and staff were looking forward to seeing what producers chose to use for the three- to four-minute piece that would be aired on "Education Nation."

"They have an amazing amount to choose from," Bloxom said.

Although it's not known what time the piece will air on Wednesday, Bloxom said if it was during school hours the school would be tuned in. Otherwise, students will get to view the piece on DVD after it is broadcast.

http://www.delmarvanow.com/