Monday Update: CR superintendent says no to condom lesson for 8th-graders
Monday, June 4, 2007 6:50 AM PDT
By Staff
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E-mail this articleDespite an STD epidemic in the county, Castle Rock eighth graders will not learn the state-designed lesson on how to use condoms.
The condom lesson is part of the state HIV/STD curriculum the district uses. But for the past two years Superintendent Rick Wilde directed eighth grade science teachers to skip that particular lesson.
Health teachers asked the school board to override that decision in December. The teachers said the county's skyrocketing rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia justify giving eighth graders the state-approved information about how to protect against sexually transmitted diseases.
The lesson in question includes a demonstration of putting a condom on a banana as well as the proper sequence for condom placement, use and disposal. Abstinence is still stressed as the only sure way to avoid pregnancy and STDs. Older students do learn about condom use.
The school board discussed the matter at three different meetings and sent board member Bill Schumacher to health classes at the middle school and high school to observe what is taught and talk with teachers..
At the final meeting this spring, though, none of the board members made a motion to override Wilde, he said Friday. As such, no vote was ever taken and Wilde's decision stands.
-- Barbara LaBoe, The Daily News
Vision City Service Week gets underway today
More than 400 volunteers from 30 churches and members of the community are painting, cleaning, pruning, hammering and raking all over the Longview-Kelso area this week.
Projects include park landscaping, Mount Solo trail maintenance, marking storm drains, painting the Longview Memorial Stadium and picking up trash.
At 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, volunteers and those who benefitted from the work are invited to the Longview Memorial Stadium for a celebration of thanks.
There will be food, entertainment and relaxation, according to Frank Morrison, associate pastor of Northlake Baptist Church and organizer of Vision City Service Week. Students of the Fresh Attitude Dance Studio will perform, and there will be inflatable jumping playrooms for kids.
Nearly half of the volunteers are students of Three Rivers Christian School and members of church youth groups.
"I'll want to say 'thank-you' to everyone and promise not to make them work for a while," Morrison said.
-- Janine Manny, The Daily News
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