By Lori EhdeLuverne students with impaired hearing have access to special equipment that makes teachers’ voices more audible.Clearer lines of communication make both learning and teaching more effective, and local educators are seeing value in new technology for the whole classroom — not just for the hearing impaired.At their Thursday, May 13, meeting, School Board members heard about a grant application Luverne teachers are submitting for a Sound Field Speaker System.The technology, which costs about $760 per classroom setup, includes a wireless microphone worn by the teacher and four small speakers, one for each corner of the room.The result, Angela Ahrendt told the board, is that all students get the same speaker/listener ratio. Without it, students nearest the teacher hear best, and those in the back of the room are disadvantaged.Luverne teachers said they didn’t understand the significance of sound until one Luverne student with hearing problems began using the speaker system in his classrooms.Teachers noticed improved behavior and longer attention spans among all students in classrooms where the equipment was in use."Unless you experience it, you don’t realize how powerful it is," said kindergarten teacher Shirley Harrison, who sometimes suffers voice fatigue.In applying for their grant, teachers are including information from studies showing how important good hearing is to successful learning.oConsidering noise from ventilation systems, overhead projectors and other voices in the room, most children in the classroom have trouble hearing every day, at some point in the day.oPoor hearing leads to students becoming distracted and becoming a distraction for other students.oStudies have shown that 40 percent of special needs students have varying degrees of hearing impairments. Considering 16 percent of Luverne’s students are considered to have special needs, the grant is worth pursuing.Five Luverne teachers presented information on the grant application Thursday: Ahrendt, Harrison, Lucinda Rofshus, Beth Capistran and Sandy Klosterbuer.Elementary Principal Melody Tenhoff praised their efforts at the meeting. "I’m really proud of them for taking on this project," she said.The grant will be written to large corporations with histories of supporting projects like this one. The district won’t be asked to pay for the Sound Field Speaker System.Final school days …School Board members reviewed final days on the school calendar:oStudents will be released at 1 p.m. Thursday, June 3, because of a regional track meet in Luverne. oThe last day of school for students will be Friday, June 4, with a regular dismissal time.oGraduation is at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 6, in the Cardinal Gym.oMonday, June 7, will be a staff inservice day.oThe first day of school this fall will be Wednesday, Sept. 1.oThe next School Board meetings are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, May 27, June 10 and June 24.In personnel action, the board:oApproved maternity leave request for Sheleen Bauer, English teacher, from Sept. 1 through Nov. 5.oAccepted the resignation of Dan Carlson, paraprofessional, effective at the end of the school year.oApproved an administrative agreement for elementary librarian Lorna Schoeneman and accepted her retirement at the end of the school year. oPlaced part-time music teacher Patti Nelson on unrequested leave of absence that will reduce her position from .65 time to .40 time for the 2004-05 school year. The move reflects a reduction in the number of music classes offered in the middle school and one less section in the elementary school.