I EDUCATION
leport Card Day
These 5th graders say it's
not as painful as it looks.
AMY J. MEHLER
Staff Writer
IFT
wenty-six freshly-
scrubbed, shining
faces lifted up,
around, back and
forth and down,
scanning every inch of Room
121. They were there, but
where was Cheryl Blau, the
fifth grade teacher?
Second in an occasional
series about life in the
fifth grade
"She said she'd be back in
a minute," exclaimed Jen-
nifer Kurland to the chil-
dren around her.
"Shh, I think I hear her,"
whispered Jonelle Thomas,
with her eyes peeled to the
door.
Her whispered remark
rippled across the classroom
like a surfer skimming the
ocean waves. Suddenly,
everything and everybody
quieted. The last audible
sound was the screech of
metal chairs against the
floor.
"But does she have them?"
persisted Joshua Linton,
looking as though he
couldn't wait another
minute.
"Miss Blau said she
would," answered Chantal
Shaw.
Just then, "she" appeared
in the doorway:
The Grade Demon. The
one that visits students at
Southfield's Leonhard
Elementary School the end
of each 10-week card-
marking period. That
purveyor of reward and
punishment, in whose every
slash of yellow number 2
pencil rests the collective
psyche of all trusting
elementary school children.
All eyes swung to Miss
Blau. She didn't look like
54 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1992
your typical Grade Demon.
But then, Grade Demons are
famous experts in disguise.
There she stood, calmly
waiting to seal the fate of the
first child with the misfor-
tune to have a last name
beginning with the letter A.
That made Anita Alosachi
the first victim; boy, did she
know it. Anita squared her
slim. shoulders and waited
for her name to pierce the
electrically-charged air.
The thing was, nobody
seemed too terrified. Not
even mildly terrified.
Mainly because Miss
Cheryl Blau, 30, doesn't look
too threatening. For one
thing, her smile is too wide
and ready. In fact, her entire
manner is far too cheerful
and loving for someone who
wields this sort of power.
In her hands, a stack of
report cards is but a ream of
Alaina and
Melissa compare
report cards.
paper, hardly the harbingers
of doom and gloom they are
believed to be.
"Anita; come and get your
report card," Miss Blau said.
And so it began. One by
one, until every student
from Alosachi to Wingate
had his report card.
"Remember to bring them
back tomorrow, signed,"
Miss Blau said, emphasizing
the word signed. These are
seven of the deadliest words
ever spoken to most chil-
dren.
"Make sure you read the
comments I wrote," Miss
Blau told the class. "In my
mind, they're more impor-
tant than the grade."
If Miss Blau was in charge
of testing, children wouldn't
receive letter grades.
"Just because that's the
way it's always been done,
doesn't mean that that's the
way it has to stay," she said.
Her students heartily
agree.
"When parents look at
grades, they don't always
know how hard you are try-
ing," Chantal said.
"I hate them," said Marlon
Gisi. "It's not fair to judge
people with numbers."
Josh had a different sug-
gestion. "What if there were
no such thing as a report
card?" he said. "What if we
relied on everyday
homework and papers? That
shows how we're doing every
day instead of one grade for
every marking period."
Jennifer said that when
she was in second grade, she
got a C. After that, she
decided it didn't pay to work
a lot.
She doesn't believe that
anymore, however.
That's because no one fails
in Leonhard's fifth grade
classes. Not with Miss Blau,
not with the other three fifth
grade teachers. Outcome-
based education (OBE) is the
Leonhard philosophy.
"We believe success breeds
success," Miss Blau said.
"We provide an atmosphere
in which fifth graders feel
secure and confident about
their abilities."
Because letter grades are
mandatory, students receive
letters A through C. "If a
student is functioning at a
different rate of success, he
or she will get an 'I' — which
means In Progress," Miss
Blau explained. "We will
work with that student until
he or she has mastered
whatever skills or content he
or she was studying."
Anyone receiving less than
70 percent on any test or
quiz is allowed to take the