The Galveston Daily News from Galveston, Texas • Page 7

GALVESTON COUNTY, TEXAS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 1999 A7 schools in brief Texas ACT scores below average Police Deadline for college entrance exam Friday The ACT college entrance and placement exam will be administered Sept. 25. The registration postmark deadline is Friday. Late registration postmark deadline is Sept. 3.

An additional fee is required for late registration. ACT Assessment scores are accepted by virtually all colleges and universities. The cost is $22. For information, contact a high school counselor or register online at www.act.org. Literacy workshop for volunteers scheduled SEABROOK Literacy Advance of Houston will have a two-part training workshop to instruct volunteers how to teach English as a second language to non-English speakers.

The workshop will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Aug. 28 at the Evelyn Meador Library, 2400 N. Meyer Road.

Volunteers do not need to be bilingual and need no previous teaching experience. To register, call (713) 266-8777. Car wash to benefit SF Project Graduation SANTA FE Santa Fe High School Project Graduation 2000 will have a fund-raiser car wash from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Texas First Bank, state Highway 6 and FM 646.

For information, call Bruce Blankenship at (409) 9254711. SMAC to discuss membership, logo SMAC 2000, Senior Mexican- American Class, will meet at 7 p.m. Monday in the first-floor meetingjpom at Columbia Mainland Medical Center in Texas City. All interested students and their parents are invited. Items to be discussed include membership, a logo and theme.

For information, call (409) 9383791. UH-Clear Lake offers financial seminar HOUSTON The University of Houston-Clear Lake will offer the workshop, "Successful Money Management," starting Thursday and continuing every Thursday through Sept. 9. The workshop will discuss reducing taxes, investing wisely, planning for retirement, selecting the best insurance and becoming financially independent. Registration is $75 per person or $95 per couple sharing materials.

Advance registration is preferred. For information, call the UHCL Center for Advanced Management Programs at (281) 283-3121. Items may be submitted to The Dally News, P.O. Box 628, Galveston TX 77553. The fax number Is (409) 740-3421, and the email address Is news- news.com.

COINS WANTED Buy Sell Trade Gold Silver Collector Coins STAN'S COINS 304 W. Main St. League City (281)332-9553 The Associated Press AUSTIN Texas students' scores on the ACT college entrance exam held steady but remained below the national average as a growing number of seniors in the state took the test, according to figures released Tuesday. Texas' composite score was 20.3 out of a possible 36. That compares with a national average composite of 21.

There was an increase in the number of Texas students taking the test for the third year in a row 65,094 out of 212,773 seniors graduating from public and private high schools. That's up from 64,064 last year. "The growing number of students taking the exam suggests that more seniors are considering college as a viable option," Education Commissioner Mike Moses said. Of those taking the test in Texas, 11 percent came from families earning less than $18,000 annually, compared with 9 percent nationally, officials said. The Texas Education Agency said educational research generally shows students from economically disadvantaged families tend not to perform as well on A higher percentage of minority students also took the ACT in Texas, according to the state agency.

Forty percent of Texas test-takers identified themselves as minority in 1999, compared with about 21 percent nationally, TEA said. A key factor related to ACT performance was students' course of study. Students who took a core curriculum at least four years of English and three years each of math, social sciences and natural sciences scored an average of 21.2, compared to 18.2 for those who didn't. By subject, the state average score on the English part of the test increased from 19.5 last year to 19.7 this year, science reasoning increased from 20.3 to 20.4. Bayport Continued from Page A6 However, Bayport wasn't without support.

Port employees and union members brought their families out to support the initiative. "I can understand their concerns," said Deloyd Hill, who has worked at the port for 11 years. "But this means more jobs for the area." Ted OTtourke, financial secretary for the International Long- shoremen's Association Local 20 in Galveston, said the barbecue sandwiches were tasty and that the ILA Bayport project. "Ned Holmes said it in there," O'Rourke said of the Port of Houston Authority director. "The biggest thing is that you can't take the chance of losing the opportunity.

And we've got the opportunity to be the load center for this part of the country. I un- Mentors Continued from Page A6 Allen said. "We had some students from the National Honor Society to assist them in academic subject areas." The revamped mentoring program, which is scheduled to begin in October, will involve weekly lunches between the student and the mentor. The two also should be matched better thanks to a more specific application the mentor will have to fill out, said Deborah Phillips, the program's parent educator. "We really want to try to match up the mentors with the mentees so that they have some things in common and can really bond," Phillips said.

"We have applications that ask the mentors about their interests and hobbies." Throughout the process, Allen said getting the student to graduate from high school is the No. 1 priority. "We feel with extra support from community members they can achieve that goal" Allen said. Last year, the 15 students enrolled in the teen-mentoring program graduated from high school, Phillips said. The mentor will provide a support mechanism for the student to discuss personal issues, goals, careers and some academics.

The mentor will not be obligated to do anything other than talk to the student during the lunch hour, representatives have said. "We don't want to overwhelm mentors with really deep problems," Allen said. They just need to let us know if there's anything that needs to be taken a step further." Phillips said she was working on having a feedback sheet available to mentors. At the end of each session, the mentor will evaluate the discussion to decide whether the student might need to seek further professional guidance. Each mentor will go through four to six hours of training.

"We think it will take several sessions to train, and they must be committed to that," Phillips said. Allen and Phillips on Friday will be learning more about a similar mentoring program at a school within the Houston Independent School District. www.via1000.com PH: TOLL FREE 1-877-842-7325 Ex.3 A A Per 50ms DOSE! M. Cards Ace. 5,000 BTU 18,000 BTU $549 UP WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD! REBATE on Friadrich 5,000 18,000 BTU 'JKvt CondftionersX Installation available 5938 BROADWAY T.V.

APPLIANCE 740-0606 ORTHLE derstand the concerns people have about this, but Bayport should go on." The corps of engineers recorded all of the concerns voiced Tuesday night and will pass those along to the port authority for responses. The authority must address the concerns, which include air pollution, traffic and threats to water recreation, before the Corps will grant permits to start construction on the project. Continued from Page A6 of a child is a first-degree felony that carries a possible prison term of five to 99 years, as well as a fine of up to $10,000. Indecency with a child by contact is a second-degree felony, which carries a possible prison term of two to 20 years, as well as a fine of up to $10,000. Pilot jailed, faces drug possession charges LEAGUE CITY A Kemah man suspected of flying a plane full of marijuana was in the city jail Tuesday.

Roy Daniel, 27, faces a felony charge of possession of marijuana in a case that began with a tip to police. The tipster reportedly told police when the plane was coming into Houston Gulf Airport, in the 2700 block of FM 1266, police said. The man flying the plane reportedly was loading his cargo onto a truck when a team of League City police officers, and Galveston County Narcotics Task Force agents arrested him, police said. Daniel was in jail Tuesday evening under $140,000 bond. The charge carries a possible prison term of two to 20 years as well as a fine of up to $10,000.

Officials unsure of explosion's source TEXAS CITY BP Amoco officials on Tuesday were looking for the root of a small explosion and fire at the company's oil refinery on Monday. The fire, which caused an as- yet-undetermined amount of damage at a fluid catalytic cracking unit, came to life about 3:10 p.m., and company firefighters extinguished it about 20 minutes later. Although many people in the area saw a pillar of black smoke rising from the site, the incident required only a Level 1 alert, said company spokeswoman Patrice Mingo. A Level 1 emergency indicates that the incident is confined to a small area or fixed site and that it poses no immediate threat to life or property. "The which was very visible, was only hydrocarbons burning," she said.

"No hazardous materials escaped." No one was injured in the fire at the: unit, which breaks hydrocarbons down into fuel components. INDEPENDENT SCHOOLDISJRIC! Wednesday, August 18,1999 7-30 P.M. Open Meeting Board Room Lovenberg Administration Building 3904 Avenue Galveston, Texas Reconvene RegularJ Minutes Superintendent's Report Other Reports Citizens' Requests to Address the Board Mr. Joseph King Schaaf Mr. Meyer Reiswerg Mr.

Rudy Gonzales Personnel Agenda Item 1. Agenda Item 2. Agenda Item 3. Agenda Item 4. Agenda Item 5.

Agenda Item 6. Agenda Item 7. Tax Collections Mr Adoption of Administrators Professional Development Appraisal System (PDAS) Calendar for 1999-2000 ConTder Adoption of Teachers Professional Development Appeal Agenda Item 9. Agenda Item 10. Agenda Item 11.

Conditioning Units for Vouchers Routine Reports Budget Amendments ctsider Selection of Alternate for Texas Association of School Boards Delegate Assembly Consider Settlement Agreement with Laura Devnes Action Items Deferred from the Consent Agenda Suggested Future Agenda Items Discussion of Proposed GISD 1999-2000 General Operating Budget Annual Report on GISD Security Workshop Item 1. Workshop Item 2. Workshop Item 3. Workshop Item 4. Discussion Students Adjournment Itisihei ands NOTICE rcommentsbeBmitedtothrte.