South Florida Sun Sentinel from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 17

Sun-Sentinel, Sunday, August 18, 1991 3B LYJLiYRO I23IYL1A PB FIGURING IT OUT Old teaching methods die hard FUTURE'S FORMULA Math science in the classroom. Local parents, teachers, administrators and business owners have formed a committee to suggest how the Palm Beach County school district can improve the way it teaches math to students. Among the ideas: TRAIN TEACHERS to give math lessons in new ways. REVAMP LESSONS that rely solely on rote. PROVIDE CALCULATORS to all math students.

MERGE CLASSES of. sixth- and seventh-graders when they take math. LIMIT SIZES of math classes to 25 students. IBM and a member of the committee. "It's based on actively involving children in their own learning, getting away from isolated facts, putting mathematics into concrete applications." Beyond that, society's attitudes have to change.

Parents cannot shrug their shoulders and dismiss their children's failure in math classes. "In our public and even our schools, when you have people who can't read, we look at this as a negative: everyone should learn to read," said Amelia Mur-gio, principal of Allamanda Elementary in Palm Beach Gardens. "You don't have people say, 'I'm a poor It's not difficult for people to say, 'I'm terrible in Television shows such as Sesame Street guarantee that teachers have to work harder to capture children's attention, said Gyll Rowan, a Boca Raton parent. The way math is taught in middle and high schools also must change, said Pat-ti White, who teaches applied math at Palm Beach Gardens High School, an experimental class that uses math in real-life situations. White said she had to completely al- By LORI CROUCH Education Writer The teacher in front of the class writing arcane math problems on the chalkboard may go the way of inkwells and slates.

The Palm Beach County school system is making its first attempts to peel away the layers of hidebound tradition surrounding the way students are taught math. A group of parents, teachers, school administrators and business owners sifted through national research and lo-cal experiments to recommend changes. The immediate proposals: Provide calculators for all math students; train teachers in new ways to give math lessons; eliminate high school classes that rehash material that should have been learned in middle school; and rewrite the curriculum to discourage reliance on rote lessons. "There are revolutionary ideas out there," said Becky McLaughlin of Wellington Landings Middle School, a 1986 Dwyer Award-winning teacher. "We've tried to change the curriculum for years, but we need to make drastic changes in the way we teach." Other proposals will be examined more closely.

One teacher recommended merging seventh-grade math with sixth-grade so students take pre-algebra in seventh grade and algebra in eighth grade as a matter of course. Others recommended limiting classes to 25 students. Many of the recommendations echo a report from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, which calls for radical changes in the way math is taught. Business leaders welcome that. "The basic direction they're starting to pursue appears to be the direction that the mathematics educators nationally are pointing out as a better approach," said Patrick Kelly, manager of math and science development for ter her focus.

"It's time-consuming to teach; it's hard to change your teaching ap-! proach," she said. "When I first started teaching this, I was lost. You must be prepared to change the way you teach. Lecturing is not good enough anymore. I like being the facilitator, not the lecturer." Group prepares for possible arrest Organization to halt building to make its point 1 p-, DIGEST Staff reports Man found shot dead RIVIERA BEACH A man was found shot to death on Saturday morning in the 1200 block of Wedgewood Plaza Drive, and police have found no motive for the slaying.

Officers were called to the area after someone found the body on the sidewalk, Riviera Beach Police spokesman Michael Palla-dinosaid. The victim, identified as Terry Darion Taylor, 28, whose address was not available, was pronounced dead on the scene. No leads in Luna case i GREENACRES Investigators have received no new leads in the disappearance of Christy Luna, despite the airing of her story Friday night on America's Most Wanted, the missing girl's mother said on Saturday. Jennie Luna said she spoke with investigators, who told her. they had received no tips after the 30-second segment aired on the Fox Broadcasting Co.

show. Unless police agencies around the country get information about an immediate sighting of Christy, the information will probably not be forwarded to Greenacres investigators until Monday, Jennie Luna said. "So, we'll have to just sit and wait," she said. Christy Luna, 7, disappeared in May 1984 as she walked from her home to a convenience store 400 feet away. 1 In June, Palm Beach County sheriff's detectives arrested Victor Wonyetye Jr.

on several charges of burglary and trespassing in neighborhoods west of West Palm Beach. Wonyetye, who recently was released from prison on sexual battery charges, remains a suspect in the Luna disappearance but has not been charged. Haitians9 picnic set A picnic to promote cultural awareness, AIDS education and prevention, and community relations among Haitian residents will be held from noon to 6 p.m. today at Pompey Park in Delray Beach. The picnic is being sponsored by the Haitian American Community Center as an outreach service to inform Haitian residents of the available services and education programs in the county.

The participants include Florida Rural Legal Services, the Haitian American Organization For Women, the Delray Beach Police Department and the American Red Cross. The event is free and open to the public. Tax-taker goes mobile The Palm Beach County Tax Collector's Office has announced locations and schedules for mobile branch service this month. Residents using the service can transfer motor vehicle titles, obtain license plants, re- new vehicle and mobile home registrations, register boats, pay taxes, buy hunting and fish-Ing licenses and be provided with all the services offered at established offices of the Tax Collector. In Boynton Beach, a mobile office will be at the Shoppes of Boynton at North Congress and 22nd avenues from 10 a.m.

to 3 p.m. on -Tuesdays. In Boca Raton, the mobile office will be at the City Water Treatment Plant on North-; forest Boca Raton Boulevard on Mondays, and at the Office Depot parking lot on West Glades Road. The office hours at both loca-I tions are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

On Thursdays, the (nobile office will be at the West Boca Plaza pn U.S. 441 from 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Paby boy run over, dies PAHOKEE A 15-month-old boy was fa-. (ally injured on Saturday when his uncle backed a car out of a driveway and ran over him, Florida Highway Patrol officials said, Navil Ruiz, of the 1000 block of East Main Street, Pahokee, was pronounced dead at Everglades Memorial Hospital, where he was driven by his mother after the 1:30 p.m.

accident. Troopers said the boy's uncle, Bonifacio TRuiz, 23, also of Pahokee, was backing out of the driveway of his sister's home when he struck his nephew as the boy played behind the 'car. 2 burned by gas fire i PALM BEACH GARDENS A father and son were seriously burned on Saturday when gasoline fumes ignited while they were refueling a small, hot gasoline engine, fjjre officials said. "The identity of the father and his son were not immediately available. Both were ini-.

tially taken to St. Mary's Hospital in West Palm Beach before being flown by the county's emergency helicopter to the Jackson Memo- rial Hospital burn unit in Miami. It had not been determined how the accident occurred, but investigators suspect the gas fumes were ignited by the heat of the engine, one firefighter said. found dead Investigators are trying to figure out what caused the death of a woman whose body was found on North Dixie Highway near Pompano Beach early on Saturday morning, police said. Susan Stover, 42, of 351 NE 31st north of Pompano Beach, was found in the 2800 block of North Dixie Highway shortly before '4 a.m.

Investigators from the Broward Sheriff's Office and Florida Highway Patrol initially thought Stover was the victim of a hit-and- 1 run accident, said Jim Leljedal, a Sheriff's Of-' fice spokesman. "But further investigation and examination of Stover's head injury indicates her death was not traffic-related, but was more likely the result of a fall injury," Leljedal said. Broward County Medical Examiner's Office will determine the official cause of death. By CHELE CAUGHRON Staff Writer RIVIERA BEACH Jesus Mer-cado went down to the ground as a role-playing police officer beat him on the shoulders while arresting him for civil disobedience. "When you started wrestling me to the ground, I felt this was just one of the costs associated with fighting for justice," Mercado said.

"You got to suffer a little bit of personal pain for the good of the whole." Members of the Minority Contractors Association of Palm Beach County plan to block the construction gate of the county judicial complex being built across from the current courthouse. The civil disobedience will be a message against what they think is a lack of minority hiring for the public project. "I don't want to be arrested, but I'm willing to be arrested because I think we have a very important statement," said Ketly Blaise, the association's communications chairman. "The problem is that there is a lack of minority participation in public projects. It's been like that for the last 10 years, and it's time to stop." Members of the group have agreed that Tuesday's protest will be a nonviolent one.

"People get angry when you get violent, but we want the County Commission to hear us, not to be angry," Blaise said. Still, the association members underwent training in civil disobedience on Saturday to learn how to react to potential problems such as rough officers or angry hecklers. "We're expecting no violence from police, and we are expecting that if there are arrests that we will go with dignity with no problems," said Susan Glaser of the Peace Center of Palm Beach County, who was training the group. The Minority Contractors Association sued the county in May, alleging that county officials discriminated in awarding contracts. The lawsuit seeks $15 million in damages and a court order that would require the county to award 25 percent of all future con- hy -( i I Staff photoSUSAN Q.

STOCKER Jim Hunter, left, Javier del Sol, Jesus Mercado and Bill Barton role-play as demonstrators or as police. cent of the $124 million project is be- ing done by a minority contractor from Miami, Blaise said. "The taxpayers are paying their taxes," said James Hunter, a minority contractor. "But they don't know, where their money is going." tracts to minority-owned businesses. The Palm Beach County Commission has asked attorneys and other representatives of the group to meet with it on Monday.

The protest is scheduled for 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Blaise said the demonstration will go on as planned on Tuesday, but it may have a different tone depending on what is said on Monday. The group has been working since April to encourage the County Commission to give minority contractors a bigger piece of the pie. About 11 per Yamato closing is final round of rail projects Detour routes for Yamato Road railroad intersection closing from 7 a.m.

Monday, until 6 p.m. Aug. 30. John Riley said. Officials are discouraging motorists from using local streets, primarily be-' cause most of the roads are narrow and, not suited for through traffic.

At the IBM complex west of the rail-, road crossing, notices of the detour, have been posted for a couple of weeks on 200 bulletin boards, as well as published in the plant's newsletter and nounced on public address IBM communications specialist Julie-Eagle-Cardo said. "If they come from the north, we are -urging them to get off 1-95 at and if they are coming from the we are suggesting they use the Palmet-. to Park interchange," she said, explain-1 ing that Palmetto Park Road gives easier access to Military Trail than the. nearer but elevated Glades Road interchange. ii(U In addition, the company is suggest-1, ing that employees who live in the Boca' Raton area use Spanish River Boulevard for access to the plant's south entrance, or Clint Moore Road for access, to Congress Avenue north of the plant, Eagle-Cardo said.

pleted as quickly as the Linton Boulevard crossing, which reopened last Tuesday, more than three days ahead of schedule. Once the crossing is closed on Monday morning, police will be on hand to monitor traffic and direct cars, Sgt. Mike McCutcheon, Boca Raton police spokesman, said. "If everybody pays attention to what they are doing, it should be pretty easy," McCutcheon said. The detour route, though, is expected to be more complicated for drivers than either the Linton or the Atlantic Avenue detours.

Southbound drivers on 1-95 will not be notified there is a detour until after they pass the Linton Boulevard interchange. To get west of the tracks, they will either have to double back to Linton, go south to the Glades Road interchange or use the maze of local streets. Drivers who know the area will probably use local streets to avoid detouring all the way north to Linton, but those streets are not a part of the official detour, Boca Raton transportation analyst By FRED LOWERY Staff Writer Round three of the south county railroad runaround is scheduled to start at 7 a.m. on Monday when the CSX System railroad crossing at Yamato Road closes for two weeks of repair. The closing is the last of three major CSX railroad crossing reconstruction projects this summer in the Delray Beach-Boca Raton area.

Previously, the Atlantic Avenue and Linton Boulevard CSX crossings were shut for repairs. The Yamato closing could inconvenience scores of employees at the IBM plant south of Yamato Road and west of Interstate 95. They are being advised to use the plant's Spanish River Boulevard entrance and to arrange alternate routes. The Yamato crossing could well be the most complicated of the three repair projects, said Ed McClane, of Palm Beach County's Traffic Division, who has been in charge of planning and setting up detours for the closings. Because of the layout of the Yamato crossing, it is not expwtpd to be com JJjbL Atlantic Ave 1 Ml I rx -s 8 2 co 3j MP Linton Blvd if 1 JJ Yamato Rd Staff graphicDiego V.

del Valle.