Many classroom projectsshould make us proud

To the editor

   For the last several months, there has been a steady stream of letters from Dr. Michael Munley, Walter Rodgers and others, complaining loudly and at great length about waste and inefficiency in the Hillsborough school system.
   Although I am not affiliated in any way with the Hillsborough school system, I recently had an opportunity to meet and speak with several dedicated teachers and came away with a whole new appreciation for the efforts of these hardworking people.
   Dr. Munley should meet Steve Miller, who heads Hillsborough High School’s Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) Lab. Using some of the most advanced computer hardware and software available, both the students and their teacher are learning how to create and edit musical compositions ranging from Heavy Metal and Hip-Hop to Classical and Oriental.
   The course revolves around a software program called Micrologic, which allows users to perform operations known as sequencing. Both the hardware and the software were installed in August, just before the start of the current school year. All of the computers in the lab are networked, so students can send their compositions to Miller or to other students. Does this cost money? You bet, and Dr. Munley would probably be horrified at the use of such expensive equipment for what I am sure he would consider frivolous purposes.
   I had an opportunity to observe one of Miller’s classes, however, and saw students who, at the beginning of the year, according to Mr. Miller, had only the most rudimentary knowledge of music, but now are creating complex musical scores that compare favorably with work done by composers with years of experience. There are also some amateur musicians in the class who plan to make music their college major, and what they are learning will give them a tremendous head start.
   Mr. Miller admits that, although he has a background in music and is "pretty good with computers," he spent many nights and weekends (unpaid) becoming familiar enough with the system to teach it to the students.
   Dr. Munley should also meet Dianne Leoni, an award-winning Math Specialist at Amsterdam Elementary School, who notes wryly that many adults shy away from math because of their poor experiences as children, but that the days of "drill and kill" are long gone. She tells her students that math is all around us, and learning it should be enjoyable. Then she tries to find ways to make it fun. Many of these games involve cards, coins and other objects that must be counted, added and subtracted in order to win.
   Ms. Leoni notes that she is constantly looking for ways to apply math to the real world in exciting, creative ways. Seven years ago, for example, Amsterdam School students began collecting canceled stamps. The goal was to collect one million stamps in an effort to give the students an appreciation of what a million of something might look like. This year, as an added incentive, Leoni asked students to bring in stamps in groups of one hundred and fill out a coupon with each bag. Every marking period, the coupons are placed in a container, one student’s name is selected and that student wins a $100 US Savings Bond. The first bond was sponsored by the Hillsborough Branch of Amboy National Bank, and was presented by Branch Manager Jonathan Pagano to second grader David Schutz.
   Ms. Leoni also believes that the Internet can be used as a learning opportunity. She has spent many hours of her own time (unpaid) searching for web sites where students can play math games on-line. At some of these sites, for example, students can play games in which they attempt to solve a certain number of math problems within a given time limit. The degree of difficulty of the problems and the time allowed to solve them can be customized to fit the student’s level of achievement.
   As a result of her innovative approach to teaching math, Ms. Leoni was awarded the 2000 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. She was also invited to emcee the student portion of an Innovators Conference held at Princeton University on Jan. 11. This event was organized by Prosperity New Jersey and the Innovation Garden State Alliance, a coalition of business leaders, educators and public officials working to ensure continued support for scientific research and development.
   The purpose of this letter is not to dispute Dr. Munley’s claim that we need to be ever vigilant in watching how our tax dollars are spent, but simply to point out that the Hillsborough school system is not entirely the morass of bureaucracy that he and Mr. Rodgers paint it to be. While there are undoubtedly inefficiencies, many of them mandated by state and federal government, there are many dedicated teachers whose efforts should make the people of Hillsborough proud.

Robert P. Baker
Saxson Street