STUDENTS GET SANDWICH TO BEAT ALL

Central Junior High School students were given a 350-foot-long deli sandwich, potato chips and a drink Thursday afternoon for besting a challenge to participate in school activities this year.

Some 660 students waited patiently for their turn to walk along the sandwich, which would have stretched almost the length of a football field from goal post to goal post, and get their meal. Employees at Blimpie's Subs and Salads, 1001 Broadway, worked most of the day to prepare the food, which was served on the baseball field behind the school.

The food, which cost an estimated $1,700, was donated by an anonymous merchant who last summer issued a challenge that 80 percent of students be involved in at least one opportunity during the school year. School Principal Gerald Richards said the merchant made the challenge in part because of the school shooting that occurred in Littleton, Colo., last spring.

"He was concerned about things like Columbine and how uninvolvement might make a student more likely to be involved in violent incidents," Richards said. Some 91 percent of junior high students participated in at least one activity this year. The types of activities included academic and sport teams or clubs, science fairs, scholar bowl competitions, band and numerous other events.

Seventeen students were recognized for participation in more than 10 activities each.

"There were many of our students that were involved in three, four, five or more activities," Richards said. "I never tallied it by how much was sports and how much was academic, but I'd estimate at least 50 percent was academic."

This was the first time students were tracked regarding participation in activities. Richards said the school sponsored several activities to help promote involvement among students.

For example, about 50 students participated in the school's Make A Difference Day cleanup of the neighborhood surrounding the school. Others opted to participate in canned food drives, walkathons, and other special activities.

"It's not any one thing, and that's the good thing about it," said Richards. "It was a very diverse list of activities."

Judy McLain, a speech pathologist at the junior high, said there were many benefits to encouraging students to participate in extracurricular activities. Students involved in activities get exposure to positive role models and are able to spend their time more constructively, she said. Students also develop socially through their memberships.

"It helps them realize there's more to school than just studying," said McLain. "I've seen some students who have really changed when they got involved and were successful at it."

Richards said he will tally discipline referrals this summer to see if student participation had an effect on suspensions and other types of discipline. At least one experience indicates that discipline and student participation are related, he said.

Richards cited discord between a group of some 40 girls earlier in the school year that resulted in some suspensions and other discipline. The Girls In Action mentoring organization was founded at the school soon afterwards, and many of the girls became involved in activities sponsored after school.

The discord appears to have ended because of the girls' involvement in that group, Richards said.

"It's our belief, based on monthly reports, that we have seen a significant reduction in discipline referrals," he said. "That's just one case where we got them involved in something school-related and the conflicts disappeared."