By Tim Leeds
Havre High School has a new requirement for its students.
The students are given an assignment book they are to use throughout the year. Kay Nessland, counselor at Havre High, said the assignment book fits in with the school's goal of helping its students learn life-management and career-planning skills.
As well as having monthly planning and day-planning calendars, the books also have sections for students to record their own grades, tips on study skills, answers to common grammar and English usage questions, common mathematical and scientific formulas and equations, the periodic table of the elements and assorted conversion tables.
Nessland said the school hopes to improve the students' skills in academics, time management, organization and accountability by using the student planner. As well as having the calendars available to plan their schedules, students are to use them to record their assignments and keep track of their activities and progress.
Nessland said the teachers at the high school were asked to make sure their students were using the books. She added that some teachers are adding some incentives to use the books, such as offering extra-credit questions about previous assignments that should be recorded in the book.
She said the school hopes parents of students will also encourage their kids to utilize the features of the book.
The assignment book contains a hall pass section to encourage its use. Teachers at the high school are to make a note in the section whenever they give a hall pass to the students. Nessland said this feature is intended to make sure the students have the books with them at all times and use them.
The school buys the first book for each student, but Nessland said any students losing their book will have to buy their own replacement, at a cost of $4.
