Orientation Program At Slauson Helping Students--and It's Fun!

Summer school isn't such a drag, it seems, when there are cookouts at Kensington and tickets to Tiger baseball games. After all, these are educational too. The 14 incoming seventh graders hadn't balked at the idea of a six-week orientation program at Slauson Junior High Sehool, but, they admit in unison, "we didn't expect it to be fun." They are calling the shots, from choosing their own books for oral reports to planning the whole group's lunches. "If they doo't like my suggestions, we do something else," explains Mrs. Andrades Smith. "One of the program's goals is self-direction." It's a giant step from a sixth grade room of about 30 to a junior high of 1,100, so Slauson staff members asked the district elementary schools to list students who might have adjustment problems. The major-I ity of their parents, contactedl personally, were quite willing I ior their children to enroll. Warren Matthews, a Slauson malh teacher who is directing the program with Mrs. Smith, demonstrated some of the teaching machines and self-checking devices the youngsters are using for judging their own progress in math and other subjects. "It's better they decide what their weaknesses are than be told by the teacher," Mrs. Smith feels. "The students are beginning to assume the responsibility for their own learning," Matthews adds. The informal program has also included some remedial work in reading, writing and spelling. Trips to Canada and the Detroit ghettos are planned in the weeks to come. The two teachers, testifying to a "tre-l mendous amount of satisfaction irom working with the children on such a close basis," are writing reports for reference by other faculty members n e x t year and will maintain a fol-. lowup contact with the students' Ifamilies. But this isn't the only "school work" going on at Slauson right now. There are flower beds lining sides of the building, freshly painted bleechers in the gym, a new periodical section in the library . . . And, with the city's permission, there may soon be a psychadelic trash container. These are some of the projects of 30 seventh and eighth graders earning 75 cents an hour each morning for "improvements that would otherwise have never been made before f all," director Dean G. Bodley says. About half of the 23 boys and seven girls might be classified as having "adjustment problems" at school. The rationale behind selecting a heterogenous group is that in associating with typical peers and teachers to improve Slauson's image, the "hard to reach" students might change their view of the formal school situation. Bodley also hopes the 30, having chipped gum off the bottom of desks and repainted the scuffed up gym bleechers, may be inclined to stop property damage if they see it occuring next year. The youngsters can usually be found in scattered work crews cataloging books, hammering new shelves or hoeing a garden around the flagpole. Bodley and music instructor Thomas Johns assign duties and supervise, but hardly play watchdog. One of the group's first projects was to visit each home in the surrounding neighborhood and ask if yards had been littered or trampled by students last year. "Residents, surprisingly, said no," Bodley said, "but the contact was valuable." If the pace keeps up, Slauson should gain an obstacle course for the physical education department and an outdoor amphitheatre with seats of railroad ties built into the hill. The dual program of image building was conceived by Slauson Principal Roland Lehker and is being coordinated by Collier Owens. The staff and student salaries, building material and lunches are being reimbursed with $9,725 of the city's a 1 1 o c a t i o n for accelerated human relations projects this summer. For among the byproducts of this program are positive friendships that should ensue during the coming year. Sharing lunch together daily with the eighth and ninth graders, the incoming seventh graders won't feel so alone when they begin regular classes this f all. There has been much discussion, in the orientation class, about the importance of getting to know one another as individuáis, without prejudice or stereotype. "And you know something?" Mrs. Smith says. "We adults must get so wrapped up in our own worlds we never listen to kids. They say 'it's so good to be around people who think we can think.' " It seems the ones who had trouble adjusting will be prepared to help the rest of the students adjust instead. I