Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Counselor's Desk

By Donald Crane It was around 6:30 a.m. when Tom Morrison called.

Due to a slight water problem at the high school, he advised me to wear my boots.

The heavy rain blowing through the damaged part of our building had flooded the hallways, rest rooms, classrooms, and office.

When I arrived at school, some were already at it with mops, vacuums, and such.

The corner in which all of the records, books, and ledgers we had salvaged from the fire were stacked was the hardest hit. With the help of some willing students, everything was moved into any available space, where hopefully, it will dry.

I must add finding available space around our current facilities is rather difficult.

The new carpet in the counselor's office where the principal, secretary, and I are housed, was saturated. Boxes of records, paper, and office supplies were saturated, but once again, fortune smiled upon us and no permanent records were damaged.

Some health records got wet, but they were old ones and will probably still be usable if needed. If trials and adversity produce patience, surely the staff and administration of PHS are accumulating great amounts.

As you read this, we are in the midst of the ACTAP (Arkansas Comprehensive Testing and

Assessment Program) for our junior class. This is the "EXIT TEST," and it takes a full week, by testing two periods per day. The test has three main parts which boil down to the old adage of "reading, writing, and arithmetic." Juniors who pass it are home free. Those who fail even parts of it will have to re-test the week of April 21, 1997.

Testing such as this always disrupts our normal schedule, and lacking facilities as we are, it is a "real disruption."

Teachers must be reassigned to other rooms and the students they normally have must be supervised by others. Testing remains as the standard rule of evaluation for our time. We're stuck with it and will continue to do the best we can. Hopefully, our juniors will also.

I have placed a "scholarship board" outside the office. Students can read the requirements, decide whether or not they qualify, and ask for the scholarship by number.

How's that for service?

It's something they should be familiar with -- like placing an order at the Sonic.