But, she added, there should be more support for the arts, especially theater and drama; expanded teaching of technology applications, and more homogenous grouping of classes, "according to needs, interests and abilities" in Montgomery County schools.
She asked the Montgomery County school leaders to stress independence and responsibility in school programs, and to relate one subject to another more often.
Usually a professor of education addresses the group of county educators, but a student speaker was in keeping with this year's theme, "Good Schools Are a Great Investment," said Upper Perkiomen Superintendent Nelson Weber.
This week has been proclaimed one in which to recognize education, and local districts are welcoming visitors and offering special programs. The Montgomery County Intermediate Unit arranged the lunch.
HEAD OF THE CLASS
* Mark Pfaff of Horsham, a second-year student at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, was awarded the Auxiliary to the Lancaster Osteopathic Medical Society scholarship in recognition of academic achievement.
* Teresa A. Yobaggy, the business manager for Eastern Montgomery County Vocational Technical School in Willow Grove, is now registered by the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials. Once attained, the registration must be renewed every four years through professional development.
ON THE AGENDA
* Professionals from the world of science will gather today at Abington Junior High School for a symposium on careers for students in Montgomery County schools.
Science teacher Thomas J. Parsha coordinated the symposium in conjunction with the Montgomery County Science Teachers Association. Career exhibitors will be present from 1 to 4 p.m. From 4 to 5 p.m., Carol De Bunda from Pennsylvania State University's Abington-Ogontz Campus will discuss science careers. After her talk, exhibitors will hold discussions about their fields.
* The Upper Dublin High School drama club will present a Festival of One- Acts Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Auditorium, Loch Alsh Avenue.
All the acts are directed by students. Tickets are $5 and may be bought at the door or in advance by calling the high school at 215-643-8900, Ext. 231.
* Students in the Perkiomen Valley School District will perform with the Meetinghouse Strings Chamber Orchestra at 8 p.m. Monday in the band room of Perkiomen Valley High School. The concert of music for string orchestra concludes a workshop offered by the ensemble in cooperation with the Perkiomen Valley Music Boosters. The Meetinghouse Strings play music of the baroque and classical periods for local audiences.
The concert will include pieces by Wagner, J.S. Bach, Hofeldt and Saint- Saens, as well as some popular pieces. Orchestra members will perform both alongside the students and separately.
* Artwork by members of the Conshohocken Art League will be on display in the Community Gallery at Colonial Elementary School through Dec. 4. The exhibit was coordinated by art league president Mary Ann Daley, a Colonial School District parent. The league, in its 73d year, sponsors adult and junior classes at the Mary Wood Park House in Conshohocken.
* The Colonial Players at Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School will present three plays.
Voices From the High School and Class Dismissal will be presented tonight and Saturday at 7 in the high school auditorium. Voices features vignettes about the lives and feelings of typical high school students. In Class Dismissal, a frustrated teacher goes to extraordinary lengths to teach his students a lesson about themselves and human nature.
The third play, The Outsiders, the story of two groups forced to face each other, will be presented Dec. 7 and 8 at 8:30 p.m. in the high school.
Tickets for all three productions are available at the door, and are priced at $5.
* Dedication of a new curriculum technology laboratory at Bishop McDevitt High School in Wyncote is planned for Sunday at 3 p.m.
A grant helped buy 51 computers, four of which will be in the library. The computers are networked, and there are plans to hook them up with the Internet. Msgr. Philip J. Cribben, secretary for Catholic education in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, will preside at the dedication ceremony.
CLASS NOTES
* A fourth-grade teacher at Highland Elementary School in the Abington School District helped his students lay down the law.
Responding to a contest held by State Rep. Ellen Bard (R., Montgomery), teacher Frank Herman encouraged his students to develop a bill proposal. Bard selected their bill, and it was selected to be submitted to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The students' bill would require anyone, of any age, to prove ownership of a safety helmet before being allowed to buy a new bicycle. Currently, Act 170, Pennsylvania's helmet safety law, requires children 12 and under to wear helmets.
Bard visited Herman's class to discuss the lawmaking process. The helmet bill was assigned to the transportation committee for approval, and students are sending letters of support to the panel.
State government is part of the fourth-grade curriculum. But, Herman said, ''in order for the students to truly absorb the subject matter, the lessons need to go beyond the book and need to be real."
* Ursinus College astronomy students will spend more laboratory time looking skyward.
Douglas Nagy, associate professor of physics, has won a National Science Foundation Instruments and Laboratory Improvement Grant to help buy equipment for a computerized undergraduate astronomy observatory. The $25,710 grant was matched by college funds.
Five observing units, each equipped with a computer-controlled telescope, a computer and an astronomical photometer, were bought. The new work stations will allow students to spend more time in telescopic observation.
Both nonscience and science majors in the college's day and evening programs will use the equipment. They will be able to find and observe objects invisible to the naked eye, measure star brightness and obtain electronic images of objects difficult to see through the telescope. The equipment will be housed in Marsteller Observatory in Pfahler Hall, and can be controlled
from a computer laboratory. The system will be connected to the Internet.
* The Center School in Roslyn was officially welcomed to its new location with a flag ceremony on the school grounds, 2450 Hamilton Ave.
U.S. Rep. Jon D. Fox (R., Pa.) presented the school with a flag that had flown over the White House. The school, now in its seventh year, was founded by two parents. Its students have experienced learning difficulties in other settings.
For more information, contact the school office at 215-657-2200.
* Second graders at Wyncote Elementary School in the Cheltenham School District know how large a dinosaur is. They used a tarp, imagining it was a tyrannosaur's shadow, and counted how many classmates it would take to fill in its head and cover its length and width. They tallied the number of footsteps needed to walk down the dinosuar's back.
The hands-on activity "motivated students to learn," said second-grade teacher Beth Kanoff. "It integrated social studies and science with math."
