Moscow Education (Idaho)

The “special assault unit” is called out to deal with voyeurism? That’s a new one on me.

From KREM TV:

KENMORE, Wash. -- A fifth grade teacher has been arrested for voyeurism after a hidden camera was discovered in the bathroom of his own home, according to the King County Sheriff's Department.

A woman who was visiting the teacher's Woodinville-area house discovered the camera "covertly" hidden in the bathroom, deputies said. Investigators believe there are multiple victims ranging from an 11 year-old to people in their 40s who visited the bathroom over the last year.

The man has resigned from his teaching post at Moorlands Elementary in Kenmore.

Investigators in the special assault unit are working on identifying the victims caught on camera.

The following article ran in today's Lewiston Tribune (subscription required).

Gordon Woods -- a key member of the University of Idaho team that brought prestige to the school by producing the world's first cloned mules -- has left Moscow for greener pastures at Colorado State University.

Woods increased his salary more than a third by becoming the director of the CSU Equine Reproduction Lab. He made about $100,000 per year at the UI, and will make $135,000 in his new position. But Woods said money wasn't the main reason for leaving.

"The equine reproduction laboratory at Colorado State is preeminent," Woods, 54, said by phone Friday from his new office on the Fort Collins, Colo., campus. "It has been historically, and is today, considered one of the top programs in the world."

Another huge loss to the University of Idaho.

Would that UI spend more money on its strengths and and cut its losses—especially in the politically correct areas. UI is going to continue to decline until it plays to its strengths and not to its weaknesses.

I wonder by what standard they determine their ethics?

Or will they be treating ethics like a smorgasbord subject?

From the Associated Press:

Three University of Idaho professors plan to expand bioethics classes so that students can obtain enough credits to get a minor degree in the study.

The professors are concerned about what they say is lagging knowledge about rapid advances in such things as genetic engineering.

Biology professor Larry Forney and fellow instructors James Foster and Jason Johnston-Yellin are expanding offerings so that the university will be able to create a bioethics minor as early as the 2007 fall semester.

Forney says society needs to have a better understanding of important issues to make good choices.

From the Associated Press:

SALT LAKE CITY – An Idaho professor has been charged with falsely claiming that he had mailed a dangerous substance to a trustee overseeing his bankruptcy case in Utah, federal authorities said Thursday.

The trustee received a plastic bag of brown pellets wrapped with a message: "Termites or hantavirus from mice?" Assistant U.S. Attorney Trina Higgins said.

Hantavirus is a potentially fatal disease passed through rodent droppings. Tests showed the contents were not hazardous, Higgins said.

Thomas F. Hale, 61, pleaded not guilty in federal court Thursday, two days after he was arrested at Salt Lake City International Airport after a flight from Chicago.

He is a history professor at Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho, and owns a house in Salt Lake City. In October 2005, Hale filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection, which allowed him to propose a plan to pay his creditors.

Here's a great story about a young teacher at a charter school in Washington, D.C., who was able to get her kids' fifth-grade math scores to jump from the 16^th to the 77^th percentile in just one year.

Charter schools allow teachers to innovate and adapt to the needs of their students. Something that the legacy school system cannot accomplish.

From the Washington Post:

When Lisa Suben took a job last year as the fifth-grade math teacher at the AIM Academy in Southeast D.C., she was told her lessons had already been prepared for her. AIM was the second charter school founded for low-income D.C. students by KIPP, the Knowledge Is Power Program. KIPP had gained a national reputation for math instruction. The KIPP leaders in D.C. had good reason to think, as they told Suben, that "we have math pretty much figured out."

Suben, 23 at the time, still thought she could do better. She told her supervisors she was going to produce her own fifth-grade math curriculum. A year later, her students achieved the largest one-year math score jump ever seen at a KIPP school (or any other school that I know of), from the 16th to the 77th percentile.

Given KIPP's history, this is quite an event. The two KIPP founders, Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin, were trained by Harriett Ball, one of the most imaginative and successful math teachers in the country, when they were struggling teachers in Houston. Feinberg and Levin started their own fifth-through-eighth grade middle schools in Houston and the South Bronx, each of them taking the key role of fifth grade math teacher so they could introduce their newest students to math the KIPP way. Susan Schaeffler made sure she, too, was the fifth-grade math teacher when she started the first KIPP school in D.C., the KEY Academy. That first KEY class was, on average, at the 34th percentile in math when they started fifth grade in 2001 and rose to the 92nd percentile for those who graduated from the KEY eighth grade in 2005.

You can bet that they are not teaching “new math” at the AIM Academy!

The following story of interest was in today's Spokesman Review (subscription required).

Next week, the University of Idaho is opening a series of discussions on science and scientific issues at the Coeur d'Alene Brewing Co., a brewpub and restaurant in downtown Coeur d'Alene.

The first discussion on Jan. 9 will cover animal cloning, a subject that UI – home of the world's first cloned mules – knows a thing or two about. Other programs will follow through May. UI says it's hosting the "Science on Tap" programs as a way to acquaint people with the important research being done at UI and Washington State University and to provide a casual forum for the discussion of scientific issues.

The school encourages families and students to attend, and says a background in science isn't needed.

The series begins with a presentation by UI professor Dirk Vanderwall, a member of the UI team that produced the world's first cloned mule in 2003.

As reported in Monday’s edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

Budget time is back at the University of Idaho.

All departments and units are working to establish three proposals to submit to the administration for the 2008-09 fiscal year.

Heavy cuts in the university’s recent history have made faculty and staff apprehensive of further funding shortages.

In an e-mail, UI spokeswoman Tania Thompson explained what is happening now as well as what is ahead for the university.

Each unit will produce three budget reports. The reports will represent three different scenarios: a flat year, a 5 percent increase, and a 5 percent decrease.

“The whole purpose of an institutional budget planning process is to undertake discussions of how to align our efforts with the university’s strategic plan,” Thompson wrote.

The UI adopted its Strategic Action Plan last spring. The plan outlines five goals for the university: enhancing teaching and learning; increasing scholarly and creative activities; strengthening outreach and engagement; and developing a positive culture, climate and organization.

I’ve played this game before. If truly put in a 5% decrease, and the school does get plussed-up, do you think they are going to give the departments that increase? So departments have to game the system in order to maximize their own budgets.

As reported in today's edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

2001 Five years ago today

Moscow School District’s enrollment figures from the past five years show students are moving out of the district. During that time, the district’s enrollment has dropped by 376 students.

And that hemorrhaging has not stopped in the last 5 years.

The following letter to the editor appeared in yesterday’s Lewiston Tribune:

The recent release of the 10th-grade WASL [Washington Assessment of Student Learning] test scores is further proof that the state''s current WASL-centered testing and accountability system is significantly flawed and hurts students and families. [Read: half our students are failing; the objective test must be dumbed down so everyone passes.]

Using the WASL as a barrier to graduation is unfair and inappropriate. A single high-stakes test does not provide an accurate assessment of whether every student has met the state's rigorous academic standards. [DMC: Actually, the WASL has been demonstrated to be a very objective and reliable assessment. But some people don’t like what the objective assessment is telling them]

Whether students have met the state's high academic standards should be measured in multiple ways, including grade-point averages and classroom work. [DMC: The problem is that with grade inflation and the inability to fail anyone any longer in the government schools, there is no objective means within the district itself.]

Teachers do not receive timely or detailed WASL data that can help them better serve their students' needs and improve individual academic achievement.

The state is funding WASL alternatives for only about 1,100 of the estimated 40,000 students who failed to pass all three WASL subjects.

We should support our state's high academic standards by providing the resources, information, assistance and system changes necessary so that every child can fairly and accurately demonstrate he or she has met those standards. [DMC: But that’s what’s under debate: with half of the Washington kids failing an objective assessment, it’s laughable to say that Washington has high academic standards. And the call to get rid of the WASL (or at least dumb it down) reinforces that fact.]

We can't punish students for not passing the WASL when the system isn't ready. [DMC: How long does the “system” need to get ready? They’ve known that this was coming for a decade. ]

Karle Warren, Clarkston

I’m sure there was a better way for him to illustrate his point to the teachers. From today's Spokesman Review (subscription required).

A Sandpoint school official trying to show that a new Internet filtering system won't stop all inappropriate computer use decided to illustrate his point by sending school district employees an e-mail with images of fruit, flowers and objects that resembled human genitalia, buttocks and nude bodies.

…

He said the message was part of an ongoing dialogue with district staff members about an Internet filter system he installed. Some teachers criticized the system and accused him of hindering their ability to teach and stifling their constitutional rights, Bangle said.

I hadn’t heard about this.

The thefts at UI were an inside job (custodian).

From the University of Idaho’s Argonaut:

A female custodial employee of the University of Idaho was charged with burglary and the attempted possession of a controlled substance as a result of an undercover operation conducted by the Moscow Police Department.

The individual was discovered taking items from a locked office in the Kibbie Dome on Nov. 16 and Nov. 17. She was not arrested but will be summoned into court to face the charges at a later date.

The individual also admitted to prior thefts of other controlled substances taken from the Kibbie Dome earlier this semester. A probable cause affidavit will be filed at the Latah County Courthouse next week disclosing the suspect’s name and further details of the investigation.

The following letter to the editor appeared in today’s Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Michael J. O’Neal’s column (Opinion, Dec. 12) refers to a Nov. 2 incident on the Washington State University campus where a professor (John Streamas) used a vulgar racial term during a political demonstration. A few more facts concerning this situation.

In a Dec. 9 Associated Press story, WSU President Rawlins said: (1) “His (Streamas) comments were totally inappropriate and I think he knows that” and (2) “One utterance of a faculty member in the heat of discussion is not the kind of behavior for which you terminate someone. But, we are looking at reprimands, at whether this is a pattern of behavior.”

In the Dec. 13 AP story in the Daily News, it states Streamas left an unsolicited voice mail message for investigators in which he said:

“This is a racist university. Many of our students say that WSU stands for White Supremacist University. I don’t care about the hurt feelings of one white person. The feelings of one little hurt white boy who’s got all of his white-skinned privilege are nothing compared to the hundreds of people he offended with his racist fence.”

This voice mail is clear evidence that: (1) Streamas does not believe his comments were inappropriate as implied by President Rawlins and (2) his comments are a pattern of behavior.

Sid Houpt, Pullman

As reported in today's edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

The Whitepine School District faces another month of lost rent money after the Deary Planning and Zoning Commission delayed issuing a conditional use permit for the building that houses the Idaho Distance Education Academy.

The Planning and Zoning Commission postponed its recommendation after issues surfaced during its public hearing Thursday.

Commission chairwoman Alane Watkins said she felt uncomfortable pushing something through over the holidays when there had been a narrow time frame for public input, especially when one Deary City Council member reported he had not received the public notice letter he should have been issued, because he owns adjacent property.

The commission will make its recommendation during its Jan. 2 meeting, and use the additional time to review whether each of the 12 notice letters reached their appropriate destinations. The commission also requested formal site plans from the Whitepine School District to facilitate its decision.

Teachers (and aides) may not hug their 4–year-old preschoolers. The kids could be charged with sexual harassment.

From the Associated Press:

School administrators gave a 4-year-old student an in-school suspension for inappropriately touching a teacher's aide after the pre-kindergartner hugged the woman.

A letter from La Vega school district administrators to the student's parents said that the boy was involved in "inappropriate physical behavior interpreted as sexual contact and/or sexual harassment" after he hugged the woman and he "rubbed his face in the chest of (the) female employee" on Nov. 10.

We’re spiraling out of control. But wait until you read the next post…

From the Herald-Mail:

HAGERSTOWN - A kindergarten student was accused earlier this month of sexually harassing a classmate at Lincolnshire Elementary School, an accusation that will remain on his record until he moves to middle school.

Washington County Public Schools spokeswoman Carol Mowen said the definition of sexual harassment used by the school system is, "unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favors and/or other inappropriate verbal, written or physical conduct of a sexual nature directed toward others."

Mowen said that definition comes from the Maryland State Department of Education.

According to a school document provided by the boy's father, the 5-year-old pinched a girl's buttocks on Dec. 8 in a hallway at the school south of Hagerstown.

Charles Vallance, the boy's father, said he was unable to explain to his son what he had done.

"He knows nothing about sex," Vallance said. "There's no way to explain what he's been written up for. He knows it as playing around. He doesn't know it as anything sexual at all."

The incident was described as "sexual harassment" on the school form.

The Moscow School Board voted yesterday to hold an election in March to increase their supplemental levy by $1.97 million. Now there are a number of questions that normally swirl around levy issues. (Is the money used wisely? Why is MSD more expensive than other districts? Voters who pursue other education options being less inclined to support it, and so on.)

But in this case, and in this election, I think all these standard issues are really beside the point. The real point in this election is one of simple affordability. The major industry in town (the University of Idaho) is in serious decline. Our Moscow civic leadership has been busy chasing new prospective businesses out of town. Within the next year, a good portion of the tax base is going to move just across the state line, and the businesses in the new mall there will no doubt set up some blinking lights to summon Moscow shoppers over. Ross Perot's famous phrase about the giant sucking sound comes to mind.

Another illustration that comes to mind is the one about champagne tastes and a beer budget. And you can't chase all the champagne vendors out of town, and then complain about the beer. As a simple matter of economics, tax support for the MSD requires a thriving tax base. When you cut the latter, you cut the former. Some might want to complain, if this levy goes down, that it was the nefarious work of home schoolers, Christian conservatives, or what not. But this one appears to me to have been done already, without any opponents of "government schools" lifting a finger.

No, this was done by the liberals running the Moscow show. You can't take a chain saw to the orchard, and wonder resentfully the following autumn about the apple shortage.

Via Blog & Mablog

Here’s the UI’s newest advertising campaign.

Would you say that’s $1,000,000 well spent?

http://www.uidaho.edu/holidaystudent/

From the Young America’s Foundation:

As college costs soar through the roof—averaging above $31,000 a year for tuition, room & board—today’s college students study adultery, the male genital, and Native American feminism. The Dirty Dozen highlights the most bizarre and troubling instances of leftist activism supplanting traditional scholarship in our nation’s colleges and universities.

The growth of these courses gobbles up tons of money and resources and ignores scholarship from conservatives. For instance, books and speeches from the late Milton Friedman and Ambassador Jean Kirkpatrick are rarely studied in the classroom, yet leftist works are prevalent in college classrooms nationwide. Scores of courses were researched from hundreds of the nation’s leading schools. The Dirty Dozen is the worst of the worst. This year, we have also included a dishonorable mentions category—courses that could’ve easily made the list.

The classes are listed below. And the University of Washington ranks in the Dirty Dozen.

• Border Crossings, Borderlands: Transnational Feminist Perspectives on Immigration at the University of Washington
• Occidental College’s The Phallus
• Queer Musicology at the University of California-Los Angeles
• Amherst College in Massachusetts offers Taking Marx Seriously: “Should Marx be given another chance?”
• University of Pennsylvania’s Adultery Novel
• Whiteness: The Other Side of Racism is Mount Holyoke College
• Native American Feminisms at the University of Michigan
• Johns Hopkins University — Mail Order Brides: Understanding the Philippines in Southeast Asian Context
• Cornell University’s Cyberfeminism
• Duke University’s American Dreams/American Realities
• Swarthmore College’s Nonviolent Responses to Terrorism
• UC-Berkeley’s Sex Change City: Theorizing History in Genderqueer San Francisco
• Cornell University’s Sex, Rugs, Salt, & Coal
• Hollins University’s Drag: Theories of Transgenderism and Performance
• University of Colorado-Boulder’s Introduction to Lesbian, Bisexual, and Gay Literature
• Swarthmore College’s Peace Study in Action
• Swarthmore College’s Renaissance Sexualities
• Oberlin College’s first-year seminar, She Works Hard for the Money: Women, Work and the Persistence of Inequality
• Hollins University’s Lesbian Pulp Fiction

 

As it gets more and more difficult for Idaho students to afford college, the state is looking at various ways to beef up financial aid opportunities.

From Northwest Public Radio:

The issue is one that’s been coming on for a couple of years now, education officials say, and it’s a growing problem: Idaho’s high school graduates are having an increasingly difficult time paying for college. It’s no longer enough to just work part-time and go to school. Students are saddled with an increasing amount of debt, so state education leaders are looking for various ways to try to improve the financial aid picture.

The Idaho State Board of Education, for example, is asking the State Legislature to develop need-based scholarships for students from low-income families. That idea followed the work of a task force put together by the State Board to consider the problems.

Also, the University of Idaho has said it will increase aid to Presidential Scholars and National Merit Scholars. Officials say it’s one way to try to ensure that the state’s most talented high school students attend college in state. This year, 84 of the state’s top 100 high school students decided to attend college out of state.

A growing number of rural school districts in the Northwest are bucking the nationwide trend toward beefed up school calendars. Instead, they’re paring back: cramming more hours into fewer days. The goal is to cut costs without sacrificing learning. Is it working?

From Northwest Public Radio:

The small community of Challis in central Idaho made the move to a four-day school week four years ago -- to rave reviews, according to superintendent Rob Campbell.

CAMPBELL: "One, the students are actually on task more. They’re out of school less for extracurricular activities."

That’s a common refrain in rural areas where travel time can take hours. The original goal was to save money on things like transportation and heating. Campbell says there have been some cost savings, though less than anticipated. Still, families in Challis don’t want to switch back.

CAMPBELL: "We did a survey – how many would like to go back? 80% said ‘no way.’"

Critics of the shorter-week-longer-day approach worry that it tests the limits of a child’s attention span. Parents take on a bigger child care burden. And some workers suffer a pay cut.

In the Northwest, Oregon was the first state to introduce a 4-day school week. The concept is spreading in Idaho. Washington state is still holding fast to the 5-day model.

State by state info from the Conference of State Legislatures: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/educ/4DaySchWeek.htm

From the Indiana State Governor. These ideas may also have merit for Idaho.

Two initiatives recently proposed by Gov. Mitch Daniels would keep graduating college students in-state and lure world-class researchers to Indiana's public universities. However, a lottery lease plan that would, in part, finance the initiatives may be more the center of attention with Indiana legislators.

The initiatives: (1) a forgivable loan of up to $20,000 for students who attend four-year colleges or universities in Indiana and stay in the state for three years, else repay the loans, and (2) a fund that would create endowments to cover salary and start-up costs to draw the aforementioned researchers and scholars from outside of Indiana.

The financing: Lease the Hoosier Lottery for a fixed term to a contractor that would operate the lottery and continue an annual payment of $200 million to the state. The state would then license and regulate the operator, which would provide an up-front payment to support the education initiatives, and possibly receive an ongoing percentage of the operator's revenue that is above a certain amount.

If the state achieved up-front proceeds of $1 billion, for example, 60 percent or $600 million would be directed to the Hoosier Hope Scholarships. That amount would enable some 1,700 Indiana high school graduates to receive financial assistance each year. The other 40 percent, or $400 million, would be used for the World Class Scholars Fund. Each year, $50 million would be available and leveraged to at least double that amount through required university matching funds and federal grants. Each awarded grant, which universities would place into an permanent endowment, could range from $500,000 to $3 million.

Volokh Conspiracy and Instapundit (two of the biggest conservative blogs in the country) have picked up on the John Streamas brouhaha.

Here’s the WSU report on John Streamas (over at Palousitics).

HT: Tom Forbes

In response to Keely Mix and the rest of the “throw money down the hole” cheerleaders, Jerry Weitz says it all. And Jerry is a friend to public education:

Keely, the only time the MSD listens to suggestions for educational improvement, agrees and does not follow through, is during the process of asking for more money. The MSD lacks in skills training and by Pullman's standards is about twenty years behind. Pullman has a full 180 days of instruction last time I compared, beats MSD scholastically, has higher post secondary enrollment, higher graduation rates, uses WSU extensively, and costs less to run (ADA). In order to compete globally, MSD ought to consider 200 days of instruction, have a credible skills program, and use the resources of UI. Only then should the money be forth coming....otherwise it will be business as usual. Think globally and act locally. Let's make MSD the lighthouse district of Idaho by insisiting on global standards.

As reported in yesterday’s edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

The Idaho Distance Education Academy is still up and running despite a stop-work order that was put on a building it leases from the Whitepine School District.

“We are a virtual school, so we can make things work,” said Daryl Bertelsen, superintendent of the Whitepine School District and the Idaho Distance Education Academy charter school.

“We moved the people out of the office,” he said. “They will be out until the city issues a temporary occupancy permit.”

Bertelsen said four technicians and administrators with the school had been in the building for about a week when the notice to cease operations was posted by the Deary building inspector.

Bertelsen said the notice was posted because he “had neglected to get the conditional use permit.”

The district needed the permit to convert a house into an administrative office, which it leases to the charter school.

The district purchased the house, located at 606 South Avenue, for approximately $100,000 in July. The house is located in a residential zone.

Without the permit, the district began renovation work to convert the building. The work included the installation of additional phone, Internet and power lines. Work on the building was still underway when the stop-work order was issued.

Dale Fletcher, the city’s building inspector, said the stop-work order let school officials know they needed to stop use of the building, and then acquire a conditional use permit before seeking any additional building permits.

“Any and all work that I am aware of was done without a permit,” he said. “They would need a conditional use permit to do that type of work in that building in that zone.”

Fletcher said the district’s actions are considered unlawful use without first having the conditional use permit.

Once the district became aware of the problem, it sought permission for temporary occupancy from the Deary City Council at its Dec. 6 meeting. The council denied the request. The district now will go before the Deary Planning and Zoning Commission during a public hearing Thursday.

What would be the logic for denying the temporary occupancy request? What harm does it do?

The final report from WSU on the Streamas Screed can be found over at http://www.geocities.com/mqct84/WSCRREPORT.pdf

Tom Forbes gives an excellent commentary. No need for me to duplicate his efforts.

I would note, however, that if Streamas had used the n-word rather than a white slur, this entire debate would be academic (pardon the pun).

Finally, the report shows that Streamas further insulted Ryder by calling him a "little hurt white boy whose got all his white skinned privilege."

According to Greg Mankiw, Professor of Economics at Harvard University, the answer is yes.

Which probably explains why it is not generally taught at public universities to other than business students.

Would that economics were a core course—like all of the mandatory multicultural courses…

From WorldMagBlog:

Geneva College has filed a lawsuit against the Pennsylvania and U.S. departments of labor, after a nondiscrimination law prevented the school from posting a job ad on the state-run CareerLink Web site.

Because the site is federally-funded, the U.S. Workforce Investment Act does not permit job advertisers to limit eligibility to a particular religion. As a Christian school, Geneva says the law violates its First Amendment right to religious freedom.

The following story of interest was in today's Spokesman Review (subscription required).

After a 10-day search, the University of Idaho has found its new head football coach – eight miles away.

Washington State defensive coordinator Robb Akey has accepted an offer to become Idaho’s coach, multiple sources said Tuesday. An official announcement is expected today at a 2 p.m. press conference.

Akey, 40, has been an assistant coach at WSU since 1998. He was promoted to defensive coordinator prior to the 2003 season. Akey’s duties also include coaching the defensive line.

HT: Honda

The following letter to the editor appeared in today’s Lewiston Tribune:

Over the last 25 years, I have been deeply involved in education policy and politics in federal and state government, as well as the corporate, nonprofit and university sectors. During this time, I have had hundreds of opportunities to work with the media in all forms. I have had great respect for the media, as reporters have generally reported facts in an honest and straightforward manner. Unfortunately, an Associated Press story by Jesse Harlan Alderman is a stunning exception. The story, about Superintendent-elect Tom Luna is sloppy, slanted and much ado about nothing.

Simply put, there has never, ever been any question that Tom Luna was a political appointee, serving President Bush and Secretary Paige, at the U.S. Department of Education. Tom's capsulation of his work in Washington, D.C., has been accurate to the letter. Mr. Alderman misrepresents my statements in order to support his faulty premise that Luna "embellished" his resume and "misrepresented his position" with the department. Mr. Alderman's premise is tenuous at best. Even he acknowledged he was "splitting hairs."

Tom Luna is a man of integrity, and until today that integrity has never been questioned. In fact, Tom's work at the department was stellar. He represented Secretary Paige and President Bush with honor and distinction.

The voters of Idaho have spoken and they are anxious to let Tom get to work improving student achievement for Idaho's children.

Mr. Alderman and the Associated Press owe Tom a formal apology.

William D. Hansen
Senior Managing Director
Chartwell Education Group LLC
Washington, D.C.

They would never get away with this in public school.

Teaching medieval literature, I mean; not the torture rack.

From the Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal Star:

Each year to launch her English 4 unit on medieval literature, Lincoln Lutheran teacher Mary Schudel challenges her students to go above and beyond last year’s class when coming up with props for their presentation.

“At the beginning of the unit, I show them samples of projects students have done in the past,” Schudel said.

“It’s just a nice change of pace, and it puts more responsibility on them as learners,” Schudel said.

The group that gets the crime and punishment presentation has one of the best chances to bring medieval times to life by picking a torture method and replicating it. Akins, Alex Deeter, Michelle Dulac, David Synhorst and Jacob Tewes researched many forms of torture for their presentation, but decided to use a rack for their main prop.

“It’s incredibly morbid,” Synhorst admits. “The more we read the more we kind of got disgusted with our topic.”

“I think pretty much the reason we did this is to show our classmates how gruesome it is,” he added. “It definitely made it real for me.”

Over Thanksgiving, Akins, Tewes, Deeter and Synhorst got together at Tewes’ house and built the rack with some spare lumber.

“It’s a simple enough device that we knew we could make it without any definite blueprints,” Tewes said.

“We were thinking how to build it as we did it.”

The rack comprises a bedlike frame, ropes at the top and bottom for tying the hands and feet and a crank system to tighten the ropes that stretch the torture victim. It was one of the most common forms of interrogation used across Europe during medieval times, they said.

There was a bit of trial and error building it, and Akins and Deeter served as test victims a few times each. When it was time to present, the group found there were plenty of class volunteers to try out their creation.

The group is still deciding what to do with the rack, which is sitting in Schudel’s classroom for now. They’ve talked about disassembling it or selling it on ebay, she said.

“And if all that fails, I’ll use it for detention.”

Now there’s a teacher with a sense of humor.