Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 60

NEWS DAY I The Arizona RcpublicThocnix Gazette 6 Tuesday, June 20, 1989 NEWS DAY ANNIVERSARY Art lovers find whimsy 'At Beach' -p 4 I Edwin and Kllcnor Kraft Edwin Kraft and the former Fllcnor Woodhcad of Phoenix celebrated their. 50th wedding anniversary June 3. The Krafts were married June 3, 1939, in Cleveland and moved to Arizona in 1978. They have two children: Dale Wcndt of Scottsdalc; and Florence Kotccki of Westminster, Calif. The Krafts have 10 grandchildren.

FxJwin Kraft was an engineer with Northrup Aircraft, Fllcnor Kraft was a schoolteacher. gigj-kg CI yap i i "I 1 It ft Cj District may drop early-admittance tests for children David PetkiewiczNews Day Jenna Marcum finds that Dream-Makers, a children's artwork collection in Tempe, is a nice place to do homework. Children paint, color, draw dreams for regional art show Officials fear rule instills feelings of failure in tots If searing temperatures have wilted your spirits, the season finale at Galeria Mesa offers a humorous antidote with "At the Beach," a nationally juried exhibition featuring 20 artists from 1 3 states whose works center on the sights and sounds of the most commonplace summer-recreation site the beach. The 29 artworks on display range in media from acrylic-on-canvas paintings to meticulously formed ceramic sculpture. Aside from their whimsical tones, the pieces arc united only by their clever depiction of the limitless possibilities available withip the context of beach life.

An example is the acrylic paintings of Scdona artist J.B. Collins. In Close lincountcr, extraterrestrials are caught swimming in a lonely stretch of ocean, while a well-tanned passcr-by casually strolls the shore. A second painting, titled Are Hie Keys in the conveys the potential anxiety of a nudist beach. Phoenix resident David Douglasi offers a sculpture titled Nude Beach, featuring an array of dinosaurs frolicking in the sand.

An equally eye-catching work Is that of Indiana sculptor Joe Rohrmaj). His five ceramic pieces consist ordinary men and women caught jh the act of being ordinary sleeping, reading, talking or acting as voyeurs to the exploits of the other bcah dwellers. One of the most provocative picecs in the show is Texan Miguel Cortinas' oil, burlap and masonitc painting Caution: Slippery When Wet. It features two Rubcnesque womch smoking cigarettes while they bak.e in the sun. What Cortinas docs for cancer, Maryland artist Mark Sullivan docs for the environment in his oil painting Beached Whale.

The scene is one of confusion as a bathing-suit-clad crowd flocks to a beached whale. In the foreground is a female sunbathcr, whose startled look of disbelief rekindles memories of public reaction to news of the recent Alaskan oil spill. "At the Beach" will remain on view at Galeria Mesa, 155 North Center through July 8. The exhibition is free to the public. For more information, call 644-2242.

By SHELLEY WIEST-TURNER News Day staff Peace, rainbows, Santa and a Dragaroo arc all a part of children's dreams, and one place children's dreams can come true is through art on paper. Some of those dreams can be viewed at Dream-Makers, a colorful collection of children's artwork that opened Friday at the Tempe Community Center, at the southwestern corner of Southern and Rural roads. Binncy and Smith the maker of Crayola crayons and other art products, is sponsoring the show, which includes artwork by children from several Southwestern states. Binncy and Smith offered Arizona State University's art-education department a $1,000 grant to help put together the exhibition in Arizona. Dr.

Bernard Young, an art-education professor at ASU and coordi nator of the exhibition and the exhibition's art workshop, said that' Binncy and Smith is returning some of its profits to art The workshop art is not part of the exhibit. "One thing I thought was nice about the program was that the children did not have to use only Crayola products," Young said. "They could use any product they had at home or available to them." Binncy and Smith also made available $500 in art supplies for use in the workshop, which is already booked for the 30-member class. It will be held today through Friday. Artwork for the exhibit came from children residing in the Southwest, Hawaii and Guam was collected at Colorado State University.

Works from 12 Arizona children were selected for the exhibit. All painting and drawing media were allowed, and some children chose to combine media and objects in collage techniques. Luke Payne, a 6-year-old from Tempe, used markers and watcrcol-ors to create his dream of Santa and His Reindeer. Sara Kalmanovitz, an 1 1 -year-old Scottsdalc resident, said in her dream statement about her piece, "My dream is that people won't judge people by what they look like, but what they are like inside." She backed her statement with a collage titled Figure, made up of magazine pictures of human facial features arranged together to create a distorted human face. "I thought the work showed a lot of insight," said Marcic Blaklcy, a Tempe resident viewing the show.

After the show closes in Tcmpc on July 7, it will travel to California State University. The show may be viewed Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

early enrollment in kindergarten. While most of district's five board members seem to favor prohibiting early enrollment, one ardently opposed the change. "I'm not willing to stop testing," board clerk Cynthia Turner said. "I really believe in flexibility." Hut board member Kathleen Thompson said she believes too many children arc being hurt by failing the testing. "I have a great concern over the children who come out of it with a bad experience," Thompson said.

"There arc more of them" than those who pass, she said. Board members Linda Hickcy and Barbara llanigsbcrg said they want to discontinue the testing and stick by a strict age requirement, possibly allowing a two-week grace period for children whose birthdays fall on or before Sept. 15. Board President Jacqueline Awcr-kamp seemed to be the least decided on the issue, although she strongly criticized parents who put too much pressure on their young children to pass the tests. Awcrkamp said she has received phone calls from one parent whose child did not pass the entrance screening and who said she was "so embarrassed" and that her child had failed her.

Two parents urged the board not to discontinue the testing. "Wc have entrance tests that do what they should do," said Mike Sherman, whose 4-year-old daughter would miss the age requirement by three months if the policy were changed for the upcoming school year. "It seems to me (that) you have something that is working, but the problem is counseling parents." Sherman said the district should concentrate on helping parents teach their children that there is no shame in failing a kindergarten-entrance test or possibly help parents couch the failure in a way that the child is not psychologically hurt by it. Cheryl Wood, who has a 4-ycar-old daughter born in December, said she will enroll her daughter in private school if the district discontinues the testing program. "If you take that choice away, you're back to saying that all 5- year-olds arc 5-ycar-olds and all 6- year-olds arc 6-ycar-olds," she said.

By KERRY FEHR News Day staff Concerned about sending a message of failure to 4-year-olds, the Kyrcnc Flcmentary School District is considering dropping an academic-testing program for children who want to attend kindergarten early. The governing board spent about an hour Tuesday discussing the merits of its kindergarten age-exception policy, which allows children as much as four months short of their fifth birthday to tdst into kindergarten early. District officials claim that with a two-thirds failure rate for 4-ycar-olds who arc tested for early admittance to kindergarten, too many children arc left with a sense of failure and defeat. "We arc in a position of being very concerned by how the children interpret" their failure, said Mada Kay Morchcad, district director of programming. "I think it's easier for children to say, 'I was not old Morchcad said 65 children did not pass the district's eligibility screening for early enrollment last year, leaving both the children and their parents disappointed.

"The consensus of the kindergarten teachers is that the assessment process is filled with errors and should be eliminated," she said. The screening is conducted by district teachers and attempts to measure a child's academic readiness for kindergarten. Dale district psychologist, said the degree of accuracy in such academic tests is "tenuous at best." The district is considering one of four policies, ranging from requiring children to be 5 years old by Sept. 1, with no exceptions, or continuing to allow early admittance for 4-year-olds who will be 5 by the following Jan. 1 and who successfully pass the academic screening.

Any change in the policy would not go into effect until the 1990-91 school year. If the policy is changed, Kyrcnc would join several districts, including Tcmpc and Mesa, that no longer allow Pupils to play chess overseas FOR THE RECORD BIRTHS DESERT SAMARITAN MEDICAL CENTER PUPILS, from page 1 Davcy said. "1 contacted the British national youth coach in London, and he was pretty excited about the idea. "We'll be staying' in university housing in England and Wales, and we'll be playing our matches in various elementary schools." The Fuller team members, accompanied by parents, are scheduled to leave for London on Thursday and return July 10. The cost of the trip will be about $1,200 per player.

"We wanted to get sponsors, but it looks like the parents will end up paying for most of the trip," Fazio said. "My wife, Kathy, will be going with Brian, and I'll be staying home, teaching summer school at Mesa Community College. I'm the one paying for the trip." He said the U.S. Chess Federation's ratings will be used to pair Fuller's players against their opponents. "They have their own chess federation over there that rates players, so wc should end up with even matches," he said.

He pointed out that his son, Brian, as well as Jason and Scott, are rated in the top 50 among the nation's 11- to 1 2-ycar-old chess players, and Brad is rated in the top 50 among 9- to 10-ycar-olds. "Puller finished third in the nation with four fourth-graders competing, Davcy said. "That means our team is pretty competitive, but I think it will be even more competitive after this trip." Most other national-tournament players were sixth-graders. Davcy isn't sure where his son, Greg, got his chess ability. "I play chess like I play golf, which means I'm not very good," he said.

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