CHRISTINE WOLFF
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cory Haar, 10, a fourth-grader at Dry Ridge Elementary School, crumpled a brown-paper grocery bag, enjoying every noisy second of "making a thunderstorm."
The result -- a rumpled grocery bag turned inside out -- was fashioned into a tall, slightly crooked Cat-in-the-Hat-style hat, which Cory painted in watercolor stripes.
Cory paid 15 "Dry Ridge Bucks" to participate in the hat project. He earned two Bucks a day for coming to school -- the payoff in a schoolwide program called Micro-Society.
"It teaches them that entertainment and relaxation all cost something," said Angie Jent, a Dry Ridge counselor. "They use the "money' to participate in activities and to go to special assemblies. Everything we do in Micro-Society is a choice."
DRY RIDGE, Ky. -- Visitors notice what sets apart a Blue Ribbon school such as Dry Ridge Elementary.
"It's that personal touch. You can see it in the kids. They are not just sitting in rows," said Principal Constance Deats. "They're up, interacting, exploring, working with things. . . . They are taking advantage of every opportunity to learn."
In her narrow, crowded office, she keeps a "reading chair." "Kids come in and read to me. The principal's office is a learning place, too," Mrs. Deats said.
Dry Ridge Elementary is the first school in Kentucky's Grant County to earn a Blue Ribbon, in an area changing from an agricultural area to a bedroom community.
Space a challenge
The school is jammed with students. Every bit of usable space has a function. Moving between some connected classrooms demands a twisting trek through stacks of equipment and supplies.
The school will gain space in fall 1999, when a new high school opens, freeing space for the middle and elementary schools.
But Dry Ridge Elementary's staff is proud to earn the Blue Ribbon under less than perfect conditions.
"We knew it was not just the physical appearance of a school but the heart and culture that would win," Mrs. Deats said. "When you walk in, you sense a synergy here."
Forty-eight percent of Dry Ridge Elementary's students are considered to be at risk to fail.
The school's strong outreach programs, including home visits by teachers, are aimed at working with parents to help lower that percentage.
Signs in hallways are printed in Spanish and English because, for some Dry Ridge students, English is a second language.
A grant-financed Language Enrichment Activity Program helps kindergartners and first-graders gain speech strength.
The school has a districtwide reputation for innovation and high academic achievement.
It was a training site for other Kentucky schools in the development of "Collaborative Classrooms," where teachers of special-education students teamed with regular staff to create programs.
"We really have the children's interest as the top priority," Mrs. Deats said.
"Every staff member takes ownership."
