Island Dispatch, 2003-06-27

              Island DISPATCH Teachers Team Up Page 14 57 Years As the Voice of Grand Island Award Winning Newspapers Resurfacing The Road Page 17 Plioik: (716)773-7(>7(» • I «i\: f716) 773-7190 • l-.-Mail: M TVwsO clmail.com \ol. 59  No. 17  June 27.2003  24 I\i»es  85c The Farmer's Almanac ! predicts: T-Storms Warm hitii-jif' < t'hfi k the wmilu; ; on j)? 2 i  Founded 1944 ® Complete Community Coverage The Official Newspaper of the Town of Grand Island and the Grand Mand School District Grand Island hosts first-ever Relay for Life Grand Island and the American Cancer Society teamed up for the town's first-ever Relay For Life, held at Grand Island School this past weekend. The event, which featured many activities, kicked-off with a cancer survivor walk. Grand Island residents and survivors Christine Ryshkus and Ted Bates (above from left) took the first official steps of the walk. For complete coverage of the Relay For Life, look inside of today's Dispatch, (phpto by Brian Garman) M .. :  Two local teens arrested New York State Park Police has reported the arrest of two Grand Island youths, both 16 years of age, for criminal trespassing, a felony count Of burglary and three counts of felony criminal mischief. At 11:45 p.m., Thursday, these two youths entered onto Beaver Island Golf Course and broke a window to gain entry into a building. They then took and drove three cushman-type utility vehicles on and around the golf course. They later drove one of the vehicles four miles to Whitehaven Road, Grand Island, to the old Nike Base where the town of Grand Island has a maintenance center. The park vehicle became stuck and had a flat tire. The two youths then broke into the town building and removed two pieces of equipment: a large Jacobsen lawn mower and a yellow Ford tractor, causing an estimated $30,000 damage. Detective James Comfort of the New York State Park Police, along with investigators Fred Vincent and Mike Dalfonso of the Erie County Sheriffs Department, worked with evidence found at the park break-in and developed several leads. The information gathered from the initial leads eventually led to the two youths, who, when under questioning, admitted to the burglary and damaging of property. The two young men were processed at Park Police Headquarters at Niagara Falls for charges relating to park jurisdiction then turned over to Dalfonso for processing on charges for Grand Island damages. School district 'mapping' the future by Jon Sandino In a time when academic standards are on the rise and students are finding it harder to graduate, the Grand Island Central School District is now in the process of launching a program that students could benefit from, and thus eliminate the aforementioned worries. "We are currently looking at our curriculum, finding gaps and responding to the poor curriculum," said Dr. Karen Karmazin, district director of curriculum/instruction, at Monday's school board session. According to Karmazin, "Curriculum Mapping," which is a calendar-based program, will allow the district to collect data about what is going to be taught and then display it. Karmazin hopes this will help students and parents "better understand what is being taught." "By advertising what we teach, parents will then look and say... they're going to be studying this in fourth grade, and maybe we'll take a family trip to look at government or study about New York state," Karmazin explained. She finished with a Power Point presentation, which gave attendees an early first-hand look at "Curriculum Mapping." Keep reading the Dispatch, as more is to come on this program in the future. Facilities Update Speaking of the future, Superintendent Dr. Thomas Ramming touched base on district facility updates, some of which are complete and others that will need several months time to complete. Sticking with the Power Point theme, Ramming also conducted a computerized presentation, loaded with photos and information pertainingpertaining to Huth Road, middle school and high school related projects."What we're going to cover tonight is what's going to be done at Huth and where we are with that, and what has been done at the middle school and high school as well as what's left to be done," said Ramming. In regards to Huth, Ramming informed the gathering "bids came in this spring and they were approved by the board back in late April. All of the contracts except one, the windows, have been awarded... we anticipate the construction will begin in the very near future." Ramming speculated the work could begin as early as a few days to a few weeks. Projects include installing new windows, exterior doors and a roof; incorporating a fire alarm system into the building; remodeling the main office, which will allow for a better view of visitors coming into the building; continued on page 24 m' Weekend at a Glance Saturday Kidßiz Sidewalk Sale Tops Parking Lot, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information call 773-6723 or 878-4030 Grand Island Chamber of Commerce 'Island Happenings' Tops Plaza, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information call 773-3651 Saturday & Sunday Grand Crafts on the Island Town Commons Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information call 773-1100 or 773-5081 For a complete listing of area events, visit NFP's Web site at www.wnypapers.com Saturday, June 28™ l I CONCRETE WORK IJiaGS ■ 1^ AM - 4:00 PM Driveways • Patios • Sidewalks • Pattern, Stamped & Colored Concrete ■Rtfß}* Tops Parking Lot 773-3651 '■ R.E"s™AIEf •£iSI•£iSI,N^S. mmmm "™ . _j | call JftM 775-1215