The Naples Daily News from Naples, Florida • 61

MAPLES DAILY MEWS Sin Mov 10 1S74 By JOHN TIFFINS IMMOKALEE First graders who may be heeded toward a bleak educational future are being given the chance to acquire learning and reading skills through a program started this fall at Bethune School in Im- Special Program Helps High Risk' 1st Graders The two teachers Mrs Shirley Hodge and Mrs Judy Rou say the students are progressing well under the program They are aided by paraprofessionals Doris Townsend and Alice German The classrooms look much like other first grade areas and according to the teachers the students do most of the activities other first graders do only there is more emphasis on reading and individualized instruction The main differences lie with the equipment and the' teaching personnel The ECPC students use aids such as System reading machines language masters tapes and other tools not-available to mast Hrst graders hi addition having fulltime paraprofessionals in first: grade classrooms at Bethune is unique to the ECPC program Other classes have regular teacher aides who come in for specfic times during the week but not on a full time basis like the ECPC parprofessionals Mrs Jelks believes the program will be instrumental in keeping many of the students in school in later years a student get the basics in the first grade he is a drop-out then although he will not actually leave school for seven or eight Mrs Jelks commented CaHed Early Childhood Preventive Curriculum (ECPC) the program is helping 30 first graders through more individualized instructions and leaning aids ECPC is patterned after a program that has been under way in Dade County schools for three years This school year four other Florida counties including Collier adopted the program according to Mrs Florence Jelks Bethune principal The ECPC program Is haded under a US Office of Education Tide 111 gnat Working with the students are two certified teachers both of whom received service training over the summer in Dade County plus two paraprofessionals Although there are two separate classrooms of 25 students each team teaching techniques are often used between the two jectives are to implement a learning program emphasizing pre reading areas improve the attitude toward school and develop a positive self-concept through Individualized instruction and (earning activities and to implement an individualized developmental reading program Last spring the Early Childhood Center at Pinecmt School in Immokalee selected 80 kindergarten students who through their past school work were considered first graders The students were Inter given several reading tests and II were selected far the ECPC program According to the listed goals of the program the ob HELPING HAND Alice German paraprofessloaal ia the ECPC pregrass helps pupUs with their wait Although reading is sauhasized students da all activities ether first graders ds and seem to enjoy the dass OM advaaty Is fulltime paraprefasslaual such as Mrs German help assure that students receive mere Indlvhmallied LEARNING A NEW WORD the ward The dass fsatares of learning aide such as tapes fanaaf the ECPC riasssi tells the Href graders about a inatir tmphnrii 'i Mrs Hedge reports the students are doing won la the 7 vi: i'fv To Meet Monday Night island's Future Civic Association then conform er exceed the the waterway suddenly dlmhrishaa to lam than 5 teat answer questions and field ob-Urriong The membership will hear af the battle agaluat lethal yeUewtag that threatened the? has an impressive report coming up Her committee has lined up the Neapolitans to provide music for dining and dancing from 8 pm until 1 am the menu is built around prime rib of beef The Chrie Hals-imlttse conferred this liar with tarramycin by a sizable By TONY WEITZEL Marco Bureau Chief Marco future far and near will get a searching look by members of the Marco Island Civic Association Mon-: day night at the Marco Yacht Club Under President Ralph gavel will be an agenda ranging from a suggested waterway maintenance district to in-depth consideration of the new Collier County charter provisions with a hefty list of other items In between Al West and Aileen Lou will be on hand to explain the proposed new charter and to the Marco River quadrants Engineers have found that some dredging is necessary at waterway entrances perhaps at three-year intervals because the rapid movement of tidal waters through the tidal strait called the Marco River tends tb build sand bars at entry poinu This is most noticeable at the entrance to the 209-foot wide Chestnut Waterway which runs alongside the yacht dub The tidewater alawa as It enters the waterway and dspssHs aflt at palm just aft the entrance so that beata leaving the waterway find the 10 la 12 foot esntarfina depth af muter plan a and the hundreds of lots in the waterway sections each have from 80 to 200 feet of seawall Cost of the seawalls was included in lot prices and in every case was credited with adding a large percentage of the value of the property involved When the first Marce seawalls were Installed In 1085 and I9M there were esunty specificatieu regulating their ceastruetlea Now there are rigid specificatieu set up by esunty ordinance and Marce seawalls constructed since Deltona officials confided this week that they are considering a three-year warranty on seawalls they install In the nur future they plan to distribute a book on seawall maintenance and to set up a subsidiary company to carry out seawall maintenance and repairs Recent estimates by private contractors on seawall construction have run from $33 to $50 per running foot On the average Marco waterway lot that would run into a $5 000-plus assessment Cost of maintenance for the involved waterway entrances would be Deltona engineers estimate about $35000 over a three-year period Deltona has suggested that the county establish a waterway taxing district but County Commissioner Steve Mitchell who lives on Marco has already gone on record as opposing a new taxing district without a vote of the people Seawall maintenance is quite another problem Marco was established under the 1905 maintenance af Island water-ways and qeawalh which are an Integral part af the island commented' John Pistor Civic Aiaociation vice to leave any tree unprotected on Map June Goddard who heads the arrangemenu committee for the annual dinner dance Nov 29 at the Marco Beach Hotel Deltona has already an nounced that It intends to turn over Its maintenance dredging permits for all waterways in VV- 'V "i I' 'I.