“Counselor says tutoring program will soon be in need of funds” plus 2 more |
- Counselor says tutoring program will soon be in need of funds
- Meet the boys of 'Billy Elliot'
- Detroit Lions Team Report
| Counselor says tutoring program will soon be in need of funds Posted: 08 May 2010 03:53 AM PDT HOLLAND SCHOOLSShare this story: A successful tutoring program in the Holland School District is in need of funding as federal stimulus funding that created it will dry up on June 30. Melissa Wagner, guidance counselor and program coordinator, recently offered Holland School Board members a glimpse of the program's success since its start-up in December. Between January and March, tutoring users rose from 212 to 429 students. Overall hours spent with a tutor also increased, from 101 hours to 251 hours. The impact on student grade point average (GPA) was astounding, Wagner said. High school students who were tutored on a regular basis, or at least once a week, increased their overall GPA by 4.8 percent. Tutored middle school students saw an overall increase of 2.8 percent, she said. Program tutors are compensated at $5 per hour, which is paid through a Visa gift card. The program is supervised by three instructors, one for each of the district buildings, who are paid $20 per hour. High School Principal James Biryla was quick to note that the tutors are not necessarily straight-A students, but that they rise to the occasion, and the partnership is mutually beneficial. "We tell the tutors, 'You are an example to others,' " Deborah Tatar, high school teacher and program coordinator, said, "and it affects them." Among 21 students who regularly tutor at Holland, GPA increased 1.18 percent. Tatar added, "A lot of neat relationships have developed. When you come into the library, you can't tell who is tutoring and who is being tutored." One high school student told the board that the tutors are careful not to do the homework of a struggling student. "We go over their homework with them, but they have to do it by themselves," she said. Wagner estimates costs for the program next year to run about $12,000. School Board President Stephen Welk said, "We had the funds to try this experiment, now we have to work on ways to support it in the future." Superintendent Dennis Johnson is tasked with finding funding so the tutoring program can continue in the 2010-11 school year.  Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | |
| Meet the boys of 'Billy Elliot' Posted: 08 May 2010 05:30 AM PDT It isn't easy being Billy Elliot. You're barely a teen, far from home, your days crammed with tutoring, rehearsals and the burden of starring onstage in front of thousands of strangers. Four youngsters, in fact, take turns throughout each week of performances at the Oriental Theatre. Billy is a provincial north England lad, whose father is a struggling miner unsettled by ballet. The four who play Billy boast supportive parents, some professional dancers themselves, as well as a remarkable diversity in international backgrounds. Tommy Batchelor Floridian Tommy Batchelor, 14, slips easily and believably into the role of Billy, thanks to his sharp, realistic acting and perky, self-made humor. In one bit, the boys are told to make a funny face, and Batchelor's rubbery mug is the most outlandish. His passion for dance predates Billy's preteen infatuation, however.
"I saw a biography of Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson when I was 3 on TV and thought, 'That is way cool,'" Batchelor says. He continued lessons after moving from Minnesota (the family now lives in Palm Beach Gardens) and, in 2006, played the Prince in the Miami City Ballet's "The Nutcracker." He was one of four boys who played Billy on Broadway, though he says injury kept him from opening week and qualification for the Tony Awards. "I asked to come to Chicago," Batchelor says. "I felt I was getting stale and wanted to go through the rehearsal process again." His favorite number is "Electricity," Billy's star solo at his big audition. "There's one set of 13 tours," he says, referring to the tour en l'air, that bravura whipping leg turn that's gold to male dancers. He's both youngster and wise old pro. "We go to the pool on our days off and have Nerf ball battles," he says of the kids in the cast. "And the audience is better because the theater's bigger. There are more people." Giuseppe Bausilio Unlike Billy, who fights with his dad about ballet's suitability, Giuseppe Bausilio is a child of the art. "My parents are both dancers, and so is my older brother," Bausilio, 12, says. "My parents met, in fact, while dancing at the State Theatre of Bern" in Switzerland, where Bausilio grew up. "I didn't really have a choice," he adds. "But now I thank my parents a lot. They brought me to where I am." Invited to audition in New York after coming in third in a competition there, he got a crash course in show-business travail. "I was in a room by myself with all the judges for 21/2 hours," he says. "We missed our flight back and left thinking I didn't get the part, until they called us by cell phone on the street." His mother's Brazilian, his father's Italian and he himself speaks five languages. He has been onstage much of his life and endured multiple competitions. "I never, ever dreamed of starring in a Broadway show, and I still don't think of myself as a star," he says. "I was so nervous right before my first performance, I was crying in the dressing room, asking, 'Why am I doing this?' "But dancers always have to be nervous. If you go onstage too relaxed, you'll forget everything." Cesar Corrales When 13-year-old Cesar Corrales dances the solo to "Electricity," you quickly realize you're watching a virtuoso. His moves are more intricate, his feats more daring and he doesn't just command the stage, he conquers it. "All my strengths are in that solo, the ballet, the acro," the latter his term for gymnastic oomph. "They gave me bigger steps because of my acro background, and I'm out of breath by the end, but I've been practicing much of my life. I'd watch my dad and imitate him at home." His Cuban parents, both dancers, got some of the best training possible in their homeland, then moved to Mexico, where Corrales was born. He began formal lessons in Canada, where his father recently retired from Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal. "When I first moved to attend ballet school in Toronto, by myself, it was hard, I hadn't realized how rarely I would see my parents," he says. But he's a lifer. "When I'm done with 'Billy,' I want to go back to training. If you don't keep it up, you won't become the good ballet dancer you always wanted to be." He loves when Billy's hooked to a harness and soars to the top of the stage in flight. "But it's scary," he admits. "I still have nightmares about it." J.P. Viernes J.P. Viernes shares much with Billy Elliot, though not his Anglo-Saxon ethnicity. Viernes — the initials stand for John Peter, his schoolmates' solution to two "Johns" in their class — is the American-born son of Filipino immigrants. "No one mentioned my ethnicity at all in the audition process," Viernes says. The instruction papers said all ethnicities were welcome, and his casting, judging from the whoops at a recent audience, is warmly received. A bright-eyed and speedy Billy, Viernes is a tiny-mite charmer and a natural for when Billy's lifted and swooped by an adult like a human airplane. Viernes, 13, followed in his sister's dancing footsteps, first taking a class at age 7 in Half Moon Bay, Calif. The son of a postal worker and a nurse, he found, in a line that could come from "A Chorus Line," that "I really liked it, I kept at it and, now, I'm here." "Dancing isn't a stigma for men in the Philippines," Resina, his mother, notes, in explaining her family's support. "But this isn't easy, either. I've gone part time in my career, and my husband and daughter are back home." Viernes' favorite number: "The grand finale, after the final curtain, when we all dance for fun. It's a big celebration for the cast — we got through another show." Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | |
| Posted: 08 May 2010 08:46 AM PDT
| The Lions traded up to draft running back Jahvid Best No. 30 overall because they think they can use him in several ways to make an immediate impact. They need to add explosiveness to their running game, so defenses won't sit back and smother wide receiver Calvin Johnson, and running back Kevin Smith is recovering from a torn ACL. "We threw just about everything we have at him, didn't spoon-feed it, didn't do just a little bit," coach Jim Schwartz said. "We did just about everything because he's a guy that when he does come back, he needs to assimilate right away into the offense. We can't slow the offense down for where he is. So we moved him around a lot, exposed him to a lot of different things." How did Best handle it? "He sort of got his feet under him as the weekend went on," Schwartz said. "He started off maybe a little bit lethargic, then all of a sudden just exploded, and you can see what you saw on film with him. He obviously has speed. He obviously has instincts and quickness and those kind of things." As Best took a break at one point, resting on one knee along the sideline, offensive coordinator Scott Linehan came up with a smile and started tutoring him on the spot. "He just keeps throwing offense at me," Best said. "Outside of what we're learning for this camp specifically, he throws in more stuff just on the fly — just letting me hear it, so then, when I come back and everybody knows it already, I'll just have it already in my mind." Best knows he has a lot to learn and a lot of pressure on him. "I definitely feel the pressure," Best said. "There's a lot of potential that I have to play. But I've just got to come in and do the best I can and help the team the best way I can. Things should go great." Best said his Lions playbook was about as thick as the only he had at California. "But at Cal," he said, "the running back portion was just like ..." He held his thumb and forefinger a pinch apart. "It was a little bit slim," he continued. "I didn't need to know everything. But at this level, you've got to know everything. I've got to know what the receivers are doing. I've got to know everything about the linemen. I've got to know what the quarterback's thinking. So I've got to learn the whole thing." NOTES, QUOTES The Lions looked like a different team during the first organized team activity they opened to the media — and not only because they have added so many players to the roster. They also have gotten back several players from injuries, at least on a limited basis. Quarterback Matthew Stafford went through all team drills after having clean-up knee surgery at the end of the season. Right guard Stephen Peterman returned to his starting spot after finishing last season on injured reserve with an ankle problem. That was expected. What wasn't expected was seeing tight end Brandon Pettigrew, running back Kevin Smith and cornerback Jack Williams on the field. All three suffered torn ACLs the second half of last season. "Those guys are starting to do individual-type drills and stuff like that," coach Jim Schwartz said. "They're still not even close to being cleared for team work and competitive stuff. "They're not right in the middle of a long-term rehab. They're probably more past the middle. But they've still got a long way to go. They've done well in their rehabs. There's been no setbacks. Hopefully by the time training camp comes, they'll be able to be on the field and not have very many limitations." Pettigrew said he started running about a month ago and had been cleared to "start amping it up a little bit." He tore the ACL in his left knee after tearing the one in his right knee in high school. "As far as coming back, I may be coming back a little bit quicker, stability-wise maybe a little better, a little bit faster," Pettigrew said. "But I'm still taking it easy, not rushing at all." Smith said his injury might end up as a blessing in disguise. "It's frustrating that I hurt my knee, but knowing that I get to take my time coming in, I'll be a little more healthy and not that worn down because I'm not doing that much in OTAs," Smith said. "When training camp starts I'll be doing spotty stuff, I imagine, so I should be pretty fresh by the time I'm ready to get on the field, and that's a plus in this situation." —Right tackle Gosder Cherilus had arthroscopic surgery to clean out debris from his right knee in mid-April after tweaking the knee during offseason conditioning. He played through injuries to both knees, an ankle and a shoulder last season. "It's been there for a while, but at the end of the day, we got it taken care of, and hopefully soon ... I'll be back before you know it," Cherilus said. —The Lions claimed wide receiver Marko Mitchell off waivers. The 6-foot-4, 218-pounder caught only four passes for 32 yards in 10 regular-season games last year, but he caught 11 passes for 113 yards and three touchdowns in the Redskins' final three preseason games. The Redskins drafted him in the seventh round last year out of Nevada, where caught 53 passes for 1,129 yards and eight touchdowns in 2007, then 61 passes for 1,141 yards and 10 TDs in '08. "He's big, and he's fast," coach Jim Schwartz said. "He's got really good size, and we're trying to corner the market on Nevada-Reno wide receivers." The Lions also signed Nevada product Nate Burleson as a free agent. —The Lions signed wide receiver Mike Moore, an undrafted free agent who played at Georgia with quarterback Matthew Stafford. Moore said he drew interest from other teams but wanted to play with his former teammate. "You want to go to a team that has a great quarterback," Moore said. "For me, there's nobody better than Stafford, as far as a young guy up and coming right now. ... I experienced it firsthand, so I really knew what kind of guy he was. He's always prepared. He's the ultimate competitor, and that's the type of guy I want to play for." With Stafford during the 2008 season, Moore caught 29 passes for 451 yards. Without him during the '09 season, he caught 25 for 249. He was probably at his most productive when he was with Matt," Schwartz said. "He's got really good hands. He's smooth. He's got some strength. Maybe not a blazer, but a Southeast Conference receiver that's been productive." —The Lions brought in three quarterbacks for tryouts during rookie orientation: Louisiana Tech's Taylor Bennett, New Mexico's Donovan Porterie and Eastern Michigan's Andy Schmitt. But the Lions might not carry a fourth QB in training camp unless they have an injury. "I'm not sure if we'll go with four," Schwartz said. "These guys all did some pretty good things, and we'll keep it open. I don't think there's anybody that was here that if a situation arose during training camp or something like that that we would hesitate to call them." The Lions want to give the snaps to starter Matthew Stafford, the No. 1 overall pick last year; backup Shaun Hill, whom they acquired from the 49ers; and Drew Stanton, a second-round pick in 2007 who is considered a developmental QB. "It's just hard to get four quarterbacks a lot of work in camp," Schwartz said. "When you're rolling through, it's one thing if you have a veteran that's not practicing very much. But Drew Stanton's still a young player. Shaun's coming in to a new team. Matt's still a young player. That fourth quarterback's generally throwing drills and stuff like that, and from where we are as a team, we'll probably use that roster spot." —Miami (Fla.) safety Randy Phillips stood on the sidelines during rookie orientation, wearing a No. 39 jersey with his name on the back. But he has not signed a contract — at least not yet — because he is recovering from surgery to repair a torn labrum. "He's with us right now," Schwartz said. "I think I'll just leave it at that. He's with us right now, and he's not able to practice right now, so we'll just see where that goes." —As the Lions wrapped up rookie orientation, the players did a little running. Schwartz said they had to learn the level of conditioning needed to compete in the NFL. One exception might be defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, the second overall pick in the draft. "I think I'm in pretty good shape," Suh said. "They gave us a little test of what the conditioning test will be like. I don't find it too hard to my eyes. ... You can go back and ask our strength coach at Nebraska. I don't miss runs. I don't miss times. So I'm that type of guy that if I'm down, I'm going to push myself through." QUOTE TO NOTE: "Is my name Kevin Smith? There's your answer." — RB Kevin Smith, asked if he would be ready for training camp after tearing an ACL last season. STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL MEDICAL WATCH: Right tackle Gosder Cherilus had clean-up knee surgery in mid-April to remove debris from his right knee. He should return before the mandatory minicamp June 23-25. ... Tight end Brandon Pettigrew, running back Kevin Smith and cornerback Jack Williams are going through individual drills after suffering torn ACLs the second half of last season. The Lions hope all three will be ready for the season opener. ... Cornerback Eric King is participating fully after recovering from a shoulder injury. ... Right guard Stephen Peterman is back from an ankle injury. ... Safety Daniel Bullocks is practicing after missing two of the last three seasons because of a knee problem. ... Safety Ko Simpson is still sidelined by a knee problem. FRANCHISE PLAYER: None. TRANSITION PLAYER: None. UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS —OL Damion Cook spent the season on injured reserve. If he comes back, it will be for depth. —QB Daunte Culpepper appeared certain to be gone, but both sides haven't ruled out a reunion. —CB Anthony Henry isn't the cover man he once was and spent most of the season in the doghouse. —QB Patrick Ramsey signed only at the end of the season to dress as the third quarterback with Matthew Stafford injured. The Lions are looking for a veteran backup.
UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS (not tendered offers) —*LB Cody Spencer (not tendered as RFA) spent the season on injured reserve with knee injury. RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS (*indicates restricted because of uncapped year): None. EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FREE AGENTS: None. PLAYERS RE-SIGNED —DE Copeland Bryan: Not tendered as RFA; terms unknown. —*S Daniel Bullocks: RFA; (tendered at $1.759M with second-round pick as compensation); $1.759M/1 yr. —LB Vinny Ciurciu: UFA; 1 yr, terms unknown. —LB Zack Follett: ERFA; terms unknown. —*OG Dylan Gandy: RFA; (tendered at $1.176M with fourth-round pick as compensation); $1.176M/1 yr. —TE Will Heller: UFA; $3.95M/3 yrs. —OT Corey Hilliard: ERFA; terms unknown. —CB Kevin Hobbs: RFA; (tendered at $1.101M with no compensation); terms unknown. —*DE Jason Hunter: RFA; (tendered at $1.759M with second-round pick as compensation); $1.759M/1 yr. —OT Jon Jansen: UFA; $855,000/1 yr, $50,000 SB. —*OT Daniel Loper: RFA (tendered at $1.226M with no compensation); $1.226M/1 yr. —S Marquand Manuel: UFA; $805,000/1 yr. —TE Jake Nordin: ERFA; terms unknown. —OG Manny Ramirez: RFA; (tendered at $1.101M with fourth-round pick as compensation); terms unknown. —*S Ko Simpson: RFA; (tendered at $1.176M with fourth-round pick as compensation); $1.176M/1 yr. PLAYERS ACQUIRED —WR Nate Burleson: UFA Seahawks; $25M/5 yrs, $11M guaranteed. —OG Trevor Canfield (waivers Seahawks). —WR Brian Clark: Not tendered as RFA by Buccaneers; 1 yr, terms unknown. —RB DeDe Dorsey: FA; 2 yrs, terms unknown. —QB Shaun Hill (trade 49ers). —CB Chris Houston (trade Falcons). —LB Landon Johnson: FA Panthers; 1 yr, terms unknown. —WR Marko Mitchell: Waivers Redskins. —LB Ashlee Palmer: Waivers Bills. —TE Tony Scheffler (trade Broncos). —OG Rob Sims (trade Seahawks). —DE Kyle Vanden Bosch: UFA Titans; $26M/4 yrs. —CB Jonathan Wade: Not tendered as RFA by Rams; terms unknown. —CB Dante Wesley: UFA Panthers; $1.54M/2 yrs, $20,000 SB. —DE Corey Williams (trade Browns). PLAYERS LOST —CB Phillip Buchanon (released). —TE Casey Fitzsimmons: UFA; retired. —LB Larry Foote: UFA Steelers; $9.3M/3 yrs, $1.8M SB. —DE Robert Henderson (traded Seahawks). —CB Kevin Hobbs (released; had been re-signed as RFA). —DT Grady Jackson (released). —CB Will James: UFA 49ers; 1 yr, terms unknown. —OG Daniel Loper (released). —TE Michael Matthews (released). —S Kalvin Pearson (released). —RB Cedric Peerman (released; had been re-signed as ERFA). —LB Ernie Sims (traded Eagles). —CB DeAngelo Smith (released; had been re-signed as ERFA). —DE Dewayne White (released). —CB Brian Witherspoon (released).
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