CHIEFLAND HIGH SCHOOL COMMENCEMENT CEDAR KEY HIGH

Transcription

VOL. X ISSUE 2
Published by the School Board of Levy County
CHIEFLAND HIGH SCHOOL
COMMENCEMENT
May 2010
CEDAR KEY HIGH SCHOOL
COMMENCEMENT
Friday, June 4, 7:00 p.m.
Football Field
Valedictorian: Morgan Smith
Salutatorian: Casey Sims
Saturday, June 5, 10:00 a.m.
Gymnasium
Valedictorian: Hunter Cannon
Salutatorians: Sara Miller and Caley Hibbitts
BRONSON HIGH SCHOOL
COMMENCEMENT
WILLISTON HIGH SCHOOL
COMMENCEMENT
Saturday, June 12, 7:00 p.m.
Performing Arts Center, Gainesville
Valedictorian: Rebecca Kaye Warren
Salutatorian: Kimberly Renee Hill
Tuesday, June 8, 7:00 p.m.
Performing Arts Center, Gainesville
Valedictorian: Tiffany Crosby
Salutatorian: David Deeks
A MESSAGE FROM SUPERINTENDENT HASTINGS
Let Us Count Our Blessings!
In difficult economic times we
often lose focus of the blessings
that are ours. As our educational system continues to be
challenged by diminished state
funding, we are especially
thankful for the generous contributors of time, energy, money
and encouragement that enable
us to move forward.
In addition, we are also receiving a sea of mandates, most of
which are not funded. But as
usual, with challenges come opportunities. That is the reason so
many great inventions have been
developed in our country, i.e.,
automobiles, planes, televisions,
communication devices, and the
list is endless! Then we think of
all of the medical advances that
have occurred - even in our life
time. All of these were made
possible by educated minds
from dedicated people.
We are truly a blessed nation
and are fortunate to live in a
wonderful county where our
children are our most valued
possession. Therefore, we cannot lose sight of our mission:
―To educate and prepare students for a successful future‖.
We are often reminded that not
all children come from a beautiful family. In fact some children
did not even sleep in a bed last
night. Therefore, right or wrong,
it falls on the educators to make
a difference in their lives --AND THEY DO!
It is often said: God gave us 2
ears and 1 mouth; therefore, we
should listen twice as much as
we talk. God also gave us a brain
which we use to think and to
reason. Maybe, most importantly, God gave us a heart to
lead and love and have compassion: this is why TEACHERS—
teach!
I want to say a special
“THANK YOU” to all of the
dedicated people of Levy County
who treasure our students.
What a Blessing!
Robert O. Hastings,
Superintendent
THE SCHOOL BOARD OF LEVY COUNTY
Cameron Asbell
District 1
Bronson
Beth Davis
District 2
Cedar Key
G. Frank Etheridge
District 3
Williston
Paige Brookins
District 4
Chiefland
Rick Turner
District 5
Yankeetown
The School Board of Levy County meets at 7:00 p.m. on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of each
month, and at 9:00 a.m. on the third Tuesday of the month. All meetings are open to the public.
For School Board information, contact Board Secretary Pam Morrison at 486-5231.
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May 2010
Dr. Gina Tovine - Assistant Superintendent
DISTRICT INSTRUCTIONAL TEAM UPDATE
Our district instructional team works diligently to stay
abreast of ―best practices‖ and state mandates to assist our
schools in improving student achievement. The team meets
weekly to address key issues by reviewing multiple data
sources and conducting program evaluation.
Initiatives were identified for improvement and implementation based on input from schools during the quarterly reporting process, instructional team action research and planning sessions, Principal Professional Learning Community
meetings, district committee dialogue, and informal conversations with all stakeholders. Below are a few of the initiatives
that are a priority focus and will impact our district:
NGSSS Professional Development/Textbook Adoption/
Curriculum Maps/Progress Monitoring
The State of Florida is in transition with the state curriculum
and assessments. For our teachers and students to be prepared for the changes it was necessary to develop a plan for
training on the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards
(NGSSS). The math and science NGSSS have changed significantly and professional development provided to the teachers
on the new standards is critical. This past year we have utilized Bobbie Dilocker to deliver the math Promise modules as
an introduction on the NGSSS for all of our teachers K-12. We
anticipate building on this training in the future by providing
more in-depth content specific training on the benchmarks for
our math teachers. The cadre of master teachers that was
trained on the math NGSSS was utilized to participate in the
math textbook adoption process and then the design of the
2010-2011 curriculum maps.
Since the reading NGSSS were being implemented during
provided training on the reading NGSSS for
our teachers (K-12). At the culmination of the training, the
teams begin working on the curriculum maps utilizing the
same curriculum mapping model as the math teams.
The process of providing our teachers training on the
NGSSS, participating in textbook adoption, and developing
curriculum maps will be replicated next year with science K12.
2009 – 2010
• Training on Math NGSSS
(Promise Modules)
• Math Textbook Adoption
• Math Curriculum Maps
• High School Math Course
Sequence Developed
• Training on Reading
NGSSS
• Reading Curriculum Maps
2010 - 2011
• Training on Science
NGSSS (Promise
• Modules)
• Science Textbook
Adoption
• Science Curriculum Maps
• Math – adopted text professional development
• Develop math and reading
interim and mini assessments
• Social Studies Curriculum
Maps
Instructional Improvement System
An instructional improvement system provides teachers,
principals, and administrators with the information and resources they need to inform and improve their instructional
practices, decision-making, and overall effectiveness. It is
important for educators to learn how to access data, understand what the data mean, and learn how to adjust instructional or operational activities based on their analyses of the
data.
A priority for the district instructional team was to identify
and contract with a vendor that would provide all instructional and administrative staff with an instructional improvement system that was robust and allowed access to real-time
data with a single user sign-on. Performance Matters was selected for Levy County Schools. Currently, the administration,
reading coaches, RTI, and guidance counselors have been introduced to the program. The implementation plan for the
2010-2011 school years will be to train teachers on how to
access their students’ data and develop relevant reports.
Curriculum Instructional Monitoring System
the 2010-2011 school year along with the math NGSSS, it was
necessary to provide our teachers with an understanding of
how the standards have changed. Therefore, the reading
coaches developed professional development modules and
The FDOE requires that LCSB develop a comprehensive
instructional monitoring process for schools in Differentiated
Accountability. To comply with this requirement, LCSB implemented a comprehensive Instructional Review Process
comprised of school visitations with the lead team to identify
curriculum and professional development trends in the
schools. This opportunity to meet with the individual schools
and their lead teams has provided the district instructional
(Continued on page 4)
May 2010
3
DISTRICT INSTRUCTIONAL TEAM UPDATE - continued
with principals and reading coaches to identify areas of cur(Continued from page 3)
team with valuable information as to the key initiatives for our riculum and instruction that would improve the readiness level
district.
of our students for advanced course work. The team has begun
the process of implementing Springboard Language Arts for
Professional Principal Learning Community
grades 6-10, which is a rigorous Pre-AP College Board curricuDuring this school year, Professional Principal Learning
lum. The master schedules have been revised for the upcoming
Communities were developed to bring the principals together
school year to incorporate a language arts course for all of our
by level to focus on essential issues such as master scheduling,
students. Students that are level 1 and 2 will receive intensive
promotion and retention practices, secondary math and scireading in addition to the language arts course. Secondary
ence sequences and course offering, credit retrieval programs,
schools are exploring the option of incorporating an advanced
etc. By working collectively on addressing the priority issues in
reading course for students to maintain and accelerate their
our school system, we have begun to define avenues to increase
reading achievement. Too often we focus on the level 1 and 2
student performance and post-secondary readiness of our stustudents, believing that the students that have shown profidents.
ciency are ―doing fine.‖ In fact, these students, at times, enCollege and Career Readiness
counter what we call ―slippage‖ and end up with a level 2 or
level 1 on FCAT.
The new Florida High School Accountability System has
State Assessment and Accountability Plan
caused us to examine our curriculum and instructional practices and offerings at our high schools. For the first time this
Many changes are occurring in our state in the area of assessyear, our high schools will be graded on multiple factors in
ment and accountability. More specifically, the legislation in
addition to FCAT, which focus on college readiness indicators.
Senate Bill 1908 and Senate Bill 4 will continue to create the
They will be measured on the performance and participation of
most significant impact in the high schools. The high schools
students in advanced placement, dual enrollment, and industry
are slowly transitioning over to end of course exams (except
certification courses. The postsecondary readiness of students
for reading) and will be including a requirement for all stuwill be measured by their performance on SAT, ACT or CPT,
dents to have a credit in Algebra II, Geometry and Chemistry
and the graduation rate of the school and the graduation rate
or physics by the end of year 2017.
of the at-risk students will be included in this algorithm. In the
The table below shows the implementation plan for FCAT
future, the end-of-course exams that will be starting next year
2.0 and End-Of-Course Exams. The last year of the FCAT Sunwith Algebra 1 will be included in this formula.
shine State Standards administration is 2010-2011 (except for
Based on the increased accountability, the high school princiretakes). Next year, the FCAT mathematics 10th grade and
pals have been addressing these issues during their PPLC. The
FCAT Science 5,8,11 will be administered. Writing will not be
high schools have increased advanced placement, dual enrollchanging for the foreseeable future. As far as DOE can predict,
ment and career and technical offerings/programs this school
the next change in Writing will be when we move to the comyear and intend to increase them more significantly during the
mon assessments of the common core standards, but no earlier
2010-2011 school
than 2014-2015.
year. High school
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
The graduation
teachers have been
requirements for
actively participatMathematics 3-8
students will be
ing in summer ad- Mathematics 3-8 (B) (SS)
transitioned in
vanced placement
slowly over sevReading 3-10 (SS)
workshops to pre- Reading 3-10 (B)
eral years which
pare for the next
means for each
Science
5,
8
(FT)
Science
5,
8
(B)
Science
5,
8
(SS)
school year. Credit
cohort of 9th gradretrieval programs
Algebra 1 (B)
Algebra 1 (SS)
ers entering high
have been impleschool the remented to assist
Geometry (FT)
Geometry (B)
Geometry (SS)
quirements will
students that are
be different. It is
not on track with
Biology 1 (FT)
Biology 1 (B)
Biology 1 (SS)
going to be extheir graduation
tremely challengcohort. Secondary
US History (FT)
US History (B)
US History (SS)
ing for our high
principals and disschool faculty,
Middle School Civ- Middle School
trict administrastudents and parics (FT)
Civics (B)
tors have been reents to discrimiFT =field test , B=baseline, SS=standards set
searching alternative programs
nate between the changes
to implement for credit recovfor each school year. Effective communication between the
ery.
district, school and home will be essential. Tracking systems
Our district instructional team, has worked closely this year
will need to be implemented at the school to log each cohort
Continued on page 5
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May 2010
DISTRICT INSTRUCTIONAL TEAM UPDATE - continued
(Continued from page 4)
and the students’ progress towards meeting the graduation requirements. The table below shows the ―new‖ requirements
that will be added to the existing requirements outlined in the pupil progression plan over the summer months.
High School Graduation Requirement by 9th Grade Year of Entry
9th Grade Students
Entering in…
• Graduation Requirements
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
• Gr. 10 FCAT 2.0
• Gr. 10 FCAT 2.0
• Gr. 10 FCAT 2.0
Reading: Level 3
• Algebra 1 EOC 30%
of Course Grade
• Geometry Credit
Reading: Level 3
• Algebra 1 EOC: Level
3
• Geometry EOC 30%
of Course Grade
• Biology 1 EOC 30%
of Course Grade
Reading: Level 3
• Algebra 1 EOC:
Level 3
• Geometry EOC:
Level 3
• Biology 1 EOC:
Level 3
• Algebra II Credit
A priority for our district is to prepare
our students for the more rigorous math
and science courses required in the near
future. Professional development (PD)
is essential for our teachers to understand the scope of the course require-
• Gr. 10 FCAT 2.0 Reading:
Level 3
• Algebra 1 EOC: Level 3
• Geometry EOC: Level 3
• Biology EOC: Level 3
• Chemistry or Physics and
an equally rigorous course
ments and to learn effective instrucour secondary schools. The changes in
tional strategies that provide students legislation and focus in our educational
with conceptual understanding. Provid- system will continue to create chaling students with multiple and varied
lenges for our district in the upcoming
opportunities for credit recovery will be year.
integral in planning programs in
Submitted by Dr. Gina Tovine, Assistant Superintendent
TITLE PROGRAMS UPDATES
sponsibility including required meaningful parental involvement, highly
qualified teachers, notification to parents when students are taught by a non highly qualified teacher for more than 4
weeks, and notification of failure to
achieve AYP status. Twenty percent of
the total allocation must be used to provide ―Choice Options and SES‖. Choice
Options provides all students who attend Title I school the option to transfer
to a higher achieving school. SES or
supplemental educational services provides students who qualify for free and
reduced price lunch with addition tutoring through a private company. (Kathy
Lawrence and Lori Lott coordinate these
2 services). In addition, Title I funds pay
Title I Serving the
for teachers to become highly qualified.
Disadvantaged Student
The latest terminology refers to
Any school with a student enrollment
―highly effective‖ teachers. Highly effecwith a poverty rate of 75% or greater
tive is looking at the student growth
must provide additional services
produced over three years. The expectathrough Title I OR the district must
tion is that highly effective teachers will
provide the school with additional funds
have a 3 year average of students making
to provide ―Title I‖ like services. Title I
a year’s growth at 65%. Title I funds
is currently one of the larger Federal
must be used to provide high quality
grants and supports 12 schools including
professional development. Funds are
2 charters and 1 private school. Addiused to reimburse teachers who take
tional funds come with additional recourse work to achieve highly qualified
Title Grants
As stated by Dr. Tovine the instructional team works diligently to stay
abreast of ―best practices‖ and state
mandates. In addition, the instructional
team works to assist schools with the
requirements of the Federal Government
through No Child Left Behind. Title programs are basically an outline of the requirements of NCLB. Each of the grants
that we are eligible to receive comes
with specific federal requirements that
must be met. Title Allocations are
awarded by the federal government
through a sub grant to the state and the
state provides sub grants to the district
and district to the school.
May 2010
status. A portion of all Title I school
funds are set aside to help pay for a reading coach. The goal of the reading coach
is to provide high quality, job embedded
professional development. Title I funds
are awarded to schools based on the
number of free and reduced students
enrolled during the prior February FTE.
School allocations cannot be used in
place of state and local funds. Federal
funds must be in addition to state and
local funds. A portion of School allocations must be used for professional development and meaningful parental involvement. Funds must be set aside to
provide Title I like services to homeless
students who do not attend Title I
schools in the district. The district
maintains the resource lab for Title I
schools.
Title I ARRA Funds
Federal Stimulus funds were awarded
this year. Levy County uses ARRA
funds to provide an RTI , (response to
intervention teacher) and additional
RTI resources for two school years.
Title I School Improvement 1003A
Title I School Improvement 1003A
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Jeff Edison - Director of Administration
First and foremost I would like to thank each
of you for your dedication to the children, families, and communities of Levy County.
Each year the race to the finish line seems to
get a little longer; yet, before we know it, another school year is over. We have accomplished much this year and I encourage each of
you to finish strong.
By the time this article reaches you, we should have concluded security audits for the year and a facility walk through.
Each year, every school practices a response
to an emergency situation. Situations that we
hope are never a reality in Levy County. We,
along with the Levy County Sherriff’s Department, are in the process of reviewing our procedures and updating them with your feedback and the most current information about
best practices.
A facility walkthrough is a process that we have initiated
this year. Ted Alexander and I walk through each school with
the principal. We want to see all the items that you have
identified as in need of repair or replacement.
There are several goals that we hope to achieve.
First, we want to identify and prioritize items
that need to be fixed this summer and beyond.
Some of these issues may need to be contracted
out and we need time to go through the process
that is used to select outside contractors. We
realize that our facility needs exceed our assets. It is our hope
to devise a plan that will address our issues in an expedient
and equitable manner.
Along with these immediate needs we are
also looking towards the future. We hope
to use this information to guide the district
in developing our 5-year and 10-year facility
-use plans for Levy County.
If you have any questions, concerns, or
input you would like to give please give me a call. Thanks for
all that you do.
In closing, “On your worst day on the job, YOU are some
child’s best hope.” Larry Bell
Jeff Edison, Director of Administration
TITLE PROGRAMS UPDATES - continued
the public school system. The state outTitle II Principal and Teacher
lined four turn around models, one of
recruitment and retention,
which must be implemented if you reclass size reduction
ceive the SIG funds. The leadership of
Title II funds are designated for teacher
Williston High School, district instruc- and principal recruitment and retention,
tional staff members, and the Region II
and class size reduction. Title II funds
director made the determination, based currently provide additional teachers for
on the huge community involvement and WES, CES, BES, and WHS. Based on
the climate of Williston, to implement projections, the use of these funds will be
the transformation model. Many hours changing. Title II funds pay for Chiefland
of meetings and presentations have been and Williston High school to provide
required to prepare for this grant. A
professional development in scoring
DRAFT plan is in the development proc- writing prompts. Title II funds pay for
ess to assist Williston High School meet DEE FRI, SUMS, and highly qualified
the requirements of Differentiated Acreimbursement.
countability. The additional funds will
Title III Second Language
be provided for WHS for the next three
Spoken in the home
years regardless of improvements made
Title
III is a small grant that
this year. Among other assistance, WHS
assists
with meeting the needs
will be provided with additional coaches
of
our
ESOL students.
for math and science. A district turn
The
majority
of
Title III funds are used
around office will be developed to assist
to
pay
an
interpreter.
Currently we must
all correct II schools comply with the
provide
as
many
documents
and parent
requirements of differentiated accountTitle I School Improvement 1003G
communication
as
feasible
in
English,
ability and increase student achievement.
1003G funds are designated specifically
Spanish
and
Chinese
text.
These
funds
Additional technology is also included
for the identified lowest performing 5%
also
provide
additional
supplemental
in the draft. We anticipate that the apof schools state wide. These additional
text for students whose first language is
plication will be released by the end of
funds of up to $700,000.00 provide an
May and hope to have funds available by not English.
opportunity to prove that we have the
late June.
ability to provide quality education in
Submitted by Linda Durrance, Coordinator of Title Programs
funds are specifically designated to improve correct II schools and or district
wide improvements. Levy County currently has 4 correct II differentiated accountability (DA) schools. ―A‖ funds
provided additional tutoring hours for 3
of those schools. In addition, Title I
funds were used to map or inventory
intervention resources. Training and
equipment were purchased to develop at
least one Model Math Classroom at each
Title I school. A contract was developed
with Bobby Dilocker and Debra Massey
to assist with district wide curriculum
mapping for math and reading. This project brought teachers from all levels from
every school together to develop districtwide curriculum maps. Additional intervention programs and professional development such as Compass, SpringBoard,
and PLATO were supported by these
funds.
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May 2010
Patrick Wnek - Director of Curriculum
Moving Forward Through “Innovation “
John Kotter, the author of the international bestseller Leading Change, said,
"The rate of change is not going to slow
down anytime soon. If anything, competition in most industries will probably
speed up even more in the next few decades." There are more educational opportunities available to our students
today than ever before. For example, the
Florida Virtual School has developed a
course which utilizes video game technology. The Conspiracy Code, an American History course, will debut this upcoming school year. Legislation has also
been proposed to make it mandatory for
students to
complete at
least one
online course
before graduation. The virtual charter
school bill (SB
2262) was also recently passed by the
state legislature.
As a district, we have kept abreast of
the changes in legislation and in the
technologies that are transforming education. For example, since legislation
requires us to offer online virtual school
classes, we have made provisions to
offer online courses via our Levy County
Virtual Franchise. This allows us to
retain current FTE funding, while providing our students with opportunities
to take online courses with a Levy
County teacher; the same courses that
are available to them now via the FLVS
and other providers. We are also seeking additional ways to infuse interactive
technologies into all our classrooms.
Current district-wide instructional
programming and innovations may influence a variety of student decisions
as they consider completing educational
opportunities.
The district instructional team, in
collaboration with the MIS department
and school leadership teams, is seeking
ways to offer our students diversified
educational opportunities with an emphasis on technology and innovation.
We have excellent teachers and outstanding students in Levy County. Our
May 2010
teachers and students have demonstrated that when technology is available, they are willing to utilize it.
There is a growing awareness that today’s students are multimedia-driven,
multi-taskers who thrive on connectivity and immediate and open access
(Wagner, 2008). Access to technology
could influence district-wide digital
literacy and the abilities of our teachers
and students to develop twenty-first
century knowledge and skills.
Recently, Rob Ice and the MIS department conducted a comprehensive
evaluation of the technology resources
available in all our schools. Bobbie
Dilocker, the district mathematics
coach, also conducted a thorough inventory of materials and resources available
in our science and mathematics classrooms. All schools had adequate access
to the internet; however, the results
revealed that there were some stark
differences in the availability of technologies and classroom resources between school types. The majority of our
elementary schools were equipped with
diverse resources such as interactive
white boards, LCD projectors, document cameras, and computers. Our middle schools’ resources were emerging
with some access to student response
systems, document cameras, promethium boards, and lap top
computers. The
findings revealed that our
high schools
were generally
lacking in
technology
resources and
software applications. In
summary, elementary schools were
much better equipped than our middle
and high schools.
In an effort to shore up the technology
divide, we collaborated with Tracey
Wilkerson from NEFEC to apply for the
Enhancing Education Through Technology (E2T2) grant. Bobbie Dilocker
provided specific recommendations
based on classroom inventories and
identified best practices and resources
commonly found in model classrooms.
A grant award would
bring up to $750,000 in
technology upgrades to
our middle and high
schools. In addition to
seeking grant funding,
the district is seeking
ways to allocate funds to all schools to
meet prioritized needs. Although the
E2T2 focuses on Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM),
there are specific features of the grant
that will have a positive impact on all
K-12 academic programs. Four specific
goals that directly align with the Florida
Technology Plan have been adopted by the
district instructional team. The priorities include the following:
1. Prepare Levy’s school leadership
teams to use technology to make instructional changes that are aligned
with challenging Next Generation Sunshine
State Standards (NGSSS). The school leaders will develop basic computer literacy
skills. They will utilize multi-media
technology and district curriculum
websites to communicate a clear understanding of the Next Generation of Sunshine State Standards. They will also be
trained to utilize Performance Matters, a
data management system that will support data-driven decision making.
2. Create a Technology Teacher Cadre
that will provide effective professional
development through the train-thetrainer model. Teacher leaders will be
provided with the skills and resources
to integrate technology into their instruction. Mentoring of peers and modeling of research-based best practices
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Moving Forward Through “Innovation “ - continued
will support affordable and sustainable
teaching and learning and promote
school-wide change and innovation.
3. Transform teaching and learning
experiences by empowering teachers
with the skills necessary to integrate
technology to improve student achievement and student success. All teachers
will receive ongoing training in the
NGSSS. Teachers will be trained in the
integrated instructional tool Performance
Matters, and will be given the tools for
data-driven decision making and effective technology integration. Teachers
will collaborate on lessons integrating
technology which will be made available
via a district website. Mathematics and
Science teachers will collaborate on cur-
riculum mapping and lesson plan modules that incorporate technology and the
5 E’s (Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Extension, and Evaluation).
4. Transform the classroom into learning within and
outside the
walls of the
school building by expanding access to innovative digital
technologies
for teachers
and students. Teachers will have
access to new
devices to
empower them
to use technology as a tool for instructional delivery, management and assessment. Some examples of digital technologies that have been proposed include
mobile labs, personal response systems,
flip cameras, digital microscopes, Geometer’s Sketchpad, Vanier Lab Quest with
Levy County teachers have
recently completed an indepth instructional material
selection process for mathematics in grades K-12. The process involved
professional development in the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards and mathematics process standards, development of selection criteria, review of materials, publisher presentations, and collegial dialogue.
Teacher representatives from each grade level and each school participated in this work. Committee members shared their insights with teachers at their schools. Textbook samples were sent to schools and all teachers of mathematics voted for their choice. Teachers are now involved in the
development of curriculum maps.
The book publishers that were selected were as follows:
K-5: Macmillan McGraw-Hill, Math Connects
6-8: Big Idea Learning, Big Ideas
Algebra and Geometry: Pearson Prentice-Hall
interactive sensors, graphing calculators,
and interactive white boards. We are
also pursuing offering additional online
classes via the Levy Franchise to accommodate a growing population of students interested in virtual classes.
In closing, I look forward to seeing
how our district responds to the myriad
of changes in education. The instructional team, in collaboration with the
MIS department, envisions forming
school partnerships that will accelerate
school-wide utilization of technology
which will expand learning opportunities for all students. We believe that
teacher-led innovations and district
wide collaboration will help transform
teaching and learning in all of our
schools.
Patrick Wnek, Director of Curriculum
Textbook Adoption
Teachers participating in Textbook Adoption
Patrick Wnek, Director of Curriculum
and Bobbie Dilocker, Educational Consultant
SUMMER 2010 TRAINING AND CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
TRAINING
8
WHEN
WHERE
SCHEDULED TO PARTICIPATE:
Deep-FRI
3 days Various dates
Participating schools will BES, BHS, CES, CMS, CHS, CKS, JBES, WES,
host their own workshops WMS, WHS, YTS
Differentiated Accountability
(NGSSS, RtI, FCIM, Lesson Study, PLC’s)
June 16-17
Two additional days
TBD
Bronson TBD
All Schools (Lead Teams)
Florida SUMS, Year 1, 2 , 3
June 22-25
Columbia County HS
Lake City
BES, JBES, WES, CKS, YTS
Florida PROMISE
July 12-23
PK Yonge, Gainesville
BHS, CMS, YTS, CKS, WMS
Just Read!, Florida
July 13 – 15
July 27 – 29
August 3-5
Tampa
Jacksonville
Orlando
Reading Coaches
CATER (Career and Technical Education
Reading)
June 29-July 1
Citrus County
BMHS, CHS
PKY Teachers Scholar Reading Academy
July 5 - 16
PK Yonge, Gainesville
BES
May 2010
CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION
Career and Technical Education Reading Pilot Program (CATER)
between the Just Read, Florida! Office
claim of success. Levy County is looking
and the Division of Career and Adult
forward to the implementation of the
Education to enhance literacy. The pro- new program.
gram is designed to be a reading interven- The training will be held June 29- July
tion program for middle and high school 1, 2010, in Citrus County at Withlacareer and technical educators to provide coochee Technical Institute. The CTE inreading intervention for fluent Level 1
structors will be joined by their school
and Level 2 students using their course reading coaches, the district School Imcontent. The initial pilot began in the
provement Coordinator, and the district
This summer two of our CTE instruc- 2008-2009 school year with Citrus, Polk, CTE Coordinator. For more information
tors, Jennifer Bray and Dallas Locke, will and Volusia Counties. The pilot counties about CATER go to http://
be participating in CATER. CATER is a have indicated that the program was very www.justreadflorida.com/cater.asp.
pilot program formed from a partnership successful and the data supports the
Carol Jones, Coordinator, Career and Technical Education
Career and Technical Education News
Another amazing year is quickly coming to an end and although I have shared
several articles regarding ―the latest‖ in
Career Education, I will begin with a
quick review. First and foremost, Career
Education is the ―new‖ Vocational Education. According to legislation, the
term is ―Career Education‖ NOT
―Vocational‖ Education. I feel the need
to say this because many think that Vocational education no longer exists.
However, just like all other courses
there are new requirements for rigor.
Today Career Education requires students to learn high level technical and
academic skills. Students participate in
Career Education courses that are articulated with the community college
and lead to college credit and National
Industry Certifications. Students that
complete a Career & Technical Education Program leave high school ready for
BOTH postsecondary education and the
work environment. The emphasis on
postsecondary ranges from short
certificate level programs all
the way to University degree
programs.
Students enrolled in the
Health Academy, the After
School CNA program, Digital
Design, Administrative Assistant, Building Construction or
Horticulture will have the opportunity
to sit for Industry Certification before
the end of the school year. Fifteen students earned their CNA licenses in De-
May 2010
cember and another 24 are in line to earn
their state license in May. Over 50 students have earned their Adobe Photoshop Certification and more will be expected to pass the certification by the
end of the school year. Industry Certifications listed on the Department of Education Approved Industry Certification
Funding List will also generate points
towards each high school’s ―School
Grade‖.
The district currently has three Career
and Professional Education Academies
(CAPE) and we are working to convert
other CTE Programs over to CAPE
Academies. For more information about
CAPE Academies please visit http://
www.fldoe.org/workforce/fcpea/
default.asp
CTE instructors, guidance counselors,
and administrators participated in
CAPE Academy Workshops in January
and April of this year. The focus was to
provide time for academic integration,
common teacher planning time, and cohort scheduling. This will not be an easy
task but the district and high school
principals are committed to making it
happen!
So what’s new for Levy County in the
CTE arena? The School Board worked
with Central Florida Community College (Now the College of Central Florida) to begin a PSAV (Post Secondary
Adult Vocational) Welding Program for
the 2009-2010 school year. It was a
rough start, but now that the program is
up and running we are looking at expanding the program next year. The
goal will be to have a program during the
school day for high school and then a
separate program at night for dual enrollment. ***Stay tuned for more details.***
Unfortunately, we will see an end to
the Culinary Program at Williston
High School.
With the retirement of Earleen
Williams and the
demands of
Workforce, an Advisory Committee decided to open an Academy of Medical
Sciences and Firefighting at WHS beginning with the 2010-2011 school year. We
are very excited about the new opportunity for our students and about developing a new Academy that will be a very
unique Program sequence that will include First Responder, CNA, and Firefighting. Opening an Academy with
different exit options will provide a
broad appeal for students in Career
fields listed on the state Targeted Occupation List.
In closing, I would like to say,
―Congratulations to all of our FBLA and
HOSA students for their accomplishments at the district and state level and
Good Luck to all of our FFA students
that will be attending their State ConCarol Jones, Coordinator
Career and Technical Education
9
RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION (RtI)
Response to Intervention (RtI) is in a
new stage this year in Levy County. This
year was the first year of implementation of RtI in all the Levy County
Schools. Last year, a few of the elementary schools served as pilot schools. This
year, it not only included the elementary, but the middle and high schools, as
well.
Last year, the District RtI team built
the foundation for RtI implementation
by creating a blue print and the process
for documentation. The District created
a District RtI Coordinator Position and
a RtI teacher Position at each school to
assist with implementation and provide
interventions. The District RtI Coordinator worked with the school site RtI
teachers in August to assist with the
first steps of implementation; including
documentation of interventions, scheduling interventions, and looking at student data with members of their school
problem solving teams to make decisions to design interventions to address
areas of concern in student learning and
behavior.
The RtI teacher also serves as an interventionist at their school. They serve in
a variety of settings, depending on the
student schedule and the school schedule. They may go into a classroom and
work with students, serve a small group
in a separate classroom, or they may
work with students in a blend of the
two previously mentioned settings.
This past spring, the District moved
forward with purchasing and training
district and school leadership teams in
the use of a data management system
called Performance Matters. This system
allows the opportunity to access different data reports. Administrators and
teachers will be able to access student
data such as state and benchmark assessments, to interpret student growth.
This will help in the design of instruction and intervention for students.
The 2010-2011 School year will be a
continuation of fine tuning of the implementation of RtI in Levy County. Below
is a brief description of each Tier of Response to Intervention for academic and
behavior.
What are the 3 Tiers of Intervention
for RtI
Tier 1: Universal instruction or core
instruction
Provides a high quality curriculum and instruction to all the students.
Has Universal Screening such as
Thinklink.
Differentiated instruction based
on skill or group needs.
Same amount of time, but possibly
a different use of time.
Tier 2: Strategic Interventions
Students not making adequate
progress in the regular classroom
in Tier 1 are provided with a more
intensive services and interventions. These services are provided
in addition to the Tier 1 instruction.
Students’ progress monitored
every 10 days of instruction to see
how student is responding to intervention.
Characteristics:
• Available in the general educaCurrently, with the help of the departtion setting and linked to the
ment of Exceptional Student Education
core instruction.
services there is a pilot in place at the
• Increase exposure to curricuelementary level. It includes using a conlum - Time.
tracted psychologist a couple a days
• Narrow the focus of the cureach month at each elementary school to
riculum- essential knowledge
help with intervention design for stuor skills.
dents that are struggling in the Tier 3
• Sufficient time for intervenintervention.
tions to have an effect .
10
Tier 3: Intensive Interventions:
Student receives intensive interventions that target the student’s
skill deficits.
Available outside the core curriculum in a small group setting.
Progress is monitored every 5 instructional days to see how student is responding to intervention
and making adjustments to intervention accordingly.
Parents are informed at the earliest
stages of RtI by explaining the process
in face-to-face meetings with the problem solving team as intervention plans
are written and implemented.
RtI also has a behavior component
that has 3 tiers as well. Levy County
Schools are Positive Behavior Support
(PBS) schools.
Tier 1: Universal School wide behavior
plan
School wide rules posted.
Expectations taught and reinforced.
Tier 2: Strategic Interventions:
Classroom intervention with focus on specific areas of behavior
concerns.
Increase focus on expectations.
Frequent monitoring of students
making growth toward behavior
goals.
Tier 3: Intensive Interventions:
Works in a small group to work
intensely on behavior issues.
Intervention tracking sheet, to
inform staff of child’s progress
towards behavior goals.
Barb Rivers, Coordinator,
Response to Intervention, RtI
May 2010
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS
New Supplemental Materials: Students in grades 6-10
will use a supplemental text in their core English/Language
Arts classes next year: SpringBoard English/Language Arts
from the College Board. This text provides informational
and literary text to teachers with an approach that increases
the level of rigor in the classroom and accelerates student
learning. All teachers using SpringBoard materials will receive a four-day training in late May.
New Approach: Kindergarten and other early childhood
teachers have received LiPS training (Lindamood Phoneme
Sequencing Program for Reading, Spelling and Speech), a
Reading News
With the help of administrators and reading coaches, the
district has written and submitted the Levy District K-12
Reading Plan for 2010-2011 to the Florida Department of
Education. The plan calls for renewed efforts in literacy
across the district and for the creation of new secondary
reading courses with new materials.
New Reading Courses: Secondary schools will provide
core English/Language Arts classes for all students and Intensive and Advanced Reading courses to identified students needing critical reading and thinking skills to reach or
maintain grade-level reading skills. The Intensive Reading
courses will accelerate the reading skills of below-level
learners, and the Advanced Reading courses will benefit
those students who are just below or just on grade-level
achievement in reading to strengthen their reading abilities
and critical thinking skills.
(NGSSS)
method of providing early readers with phonological supports. This intensive strategy will accelerate the orthographic principles of reading and spelling in the primary
grades.
We are excited about these opportunities for students
next year in reading. We anticipate higher and higher levels
of reading achievement through these efforts in addition to
everyone’s continued focus on reading.
Kathy Lawrence, Coordinator,
School Improvement Programs
Next Generation Sunshine State Standards Training
Levy County teachers have been involved this spring in
training on the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS), standards that
will be tested for the first time on
the 2011 FCAT. Reading coaches
have led the training for representative teachers in grades K-12, and
Bobbie Dilocker, our math consultant, has led the training in the
standards and in the new PROMiSE modules for math teachers of
grades K-12. At the training,
teachers enjoyed learning more
about their grade-level standards, the vertical alignment
May 2010
of the standards from grade to grade, and the design of
the new FCAT. Soon, all teachers throughout the district
will receive training on the standards and on the FCAT-2, our
new state test.
These same groups of teachers
are busy creating district-wide
curriculum maps in reading, language arts, and math that will be
available on our district website
next year for teacher use.
Kathy Lawrence, Coordinator, School Improvement Programs
11
EXCEPTIONAL STUDENT EDUCATION
“Spring is in the Air!”
Greetings from the Exceptional
Education and Student
Services Department
Williston Elementary and Williston Middle School receives the
PBS Model School Silver Award
It is with great pride that Mr. Hastings, the School Board, and I announce
that WES and WMS have earned the
"Silver" award!
Florida’s Positive Behavior Support:
Response to Intervention for Behavior
Project at USF have been recognizing
PBS Model schools since 2005; examining the implementation fidelity. A PBS
Model School is one that has met specific criteria and has demonstrated effective and innovative ways of supporting
PBS in their school. Specific characteristics of PBS Model Schools are their consistent methods of: (1) utilizing their
data to better serve the students and
staff, (2) teaching PBS to new students
throughout the school year, (3) creative
and engaging reward systems, (4) extending PBS throughout the campus and
partnering with the community, and (5)
including PBS into daily activities across
all available teaching opportunities.
A school can earn 1 of 3 levels: Bronze,
Silver, or Gold status.
Each school was recognized at a recent
School Board meeting and received their
official banner and a check for $300.00
Pictured: Dana Huggins, SEDNET, Pam
Connoly, FDLRS Springs, Carol Jones,
Coordinator, Vocational School to Work, and
Robert O. Hastings, Superintendent. Dana,
Pam and Carol were presented with an apple
desk award and gift bag full of goodies for their
unwavering support to our PBS Schools.
to be used to support the implementation of PBS. A special thank you to USF
Project, FDOE- BEESS, SEDNET,
FDLRS Springs and Safe & Drug- Free
Schools for your unwavering support!
Dr. Rosalind Hall, Director
of ESE and Student Services
“Summary of Performance” Required for Graduates
Since the re-authorization of Individuals with Disabilities Act (2004), a
Summary of Performance (SOP) has been required for students whose eligibility under special education terminates, due to graduation with a regular
diploma, or due to exceeding the age of eligibility for a free and appropriate
education (FAPE) at age 22, or at the end of the school year the student
reaches age 22.
Please be sure to remember to complete a "Summary of Performance" form
on Graduating Students with Disabilities who are obtaining a "Standard
Diploma" or who are exiting the school system due to reaching the age of 22. Also remember to complete a
"Change of Placement" form.
Dr. Rosalind Hall, Director of ESE and Student Services
Survey for Parents of Students with an IEP in Exceptional Student Education
The Florida Department of Education is conducting a survey designed to provide the state with information on
how well schools are supporting parents' involvement in their child's education. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), states must report this information to the federal government on an annual basis.
Please encourage our parents of Students with Disabilities (Pre-K to 12th grade) to complete the on-line survey at
www.ESEsurvey.com. The deadline is July 1, 2010.
12
May 2010
EXCEPTIONAL STUDENT EDUCATION
*** PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT ***
In order to ensure provision of full educational services to students with disabilities, the
School Board of Levy County, through its Exceptional Student Education department, is in
the process of reviewing and surveying needs for such services within the school
district for the upcoming 2010-2011 school year.
The public is invited to provide input in this process by participating
at a meeting to be held Tuesday, June 1, 2010, from 3:00 pm to 4:00
p.m., in the ESE Conference Room at the School Board’s district ESE
office, 350 School Street, Bronson, Florida 32621.
Discussion at the meeting will include planning for the expenditure of anticipated Federal
grant dollars for students with disabilities under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities
Act (IDEA).
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dr. Rosalind A. Hall, Director of Exceptional Student Education & Student Services
or Mary P. O’Leary, Secretary to the Director
School Board of Levy County - Telephone: 486-5240 FAX 486-5242
Dr. Rosalind Hall, Director ESE and Student Services
Social Skills Program at Williston Middle is making a Positive Difference !
Levy County has had a partnership
with CARD for the past 4 years in which
they have provided support and training
for the professionals in our district who
serve students in the Autism Spectrum
Disorder (ASD) program.
Over the years, our focus has
moved from more global training and observations of students
to becoming more focused for
specific teachers and paraprofessionals. This current year,
our district and CARD decided
to focus on observations of specific students, followed by specific training for teachers and
paraprofessionals, based on the
specific student needs. The majority of our students at the
Middle and High School level
are in the General Education
setting, in their community
school. Social Skills were an area that is
very problematic for these students and
during the 2nd semester of the 2008-2009
school year, CARD began a training program for this area, with WMS being the
pilot for this group of students.
The anticipated outcome was to build
capacity within a team of professionals
already serving in the Levy County
May 2010
Schools to assess/teach/and monitor
social skill development in a variety of
settings and age groups. The team initially consisted of a language teacher, a
school social worker, a school guidance
2010 school year, the group still used the
same format but as the year evolved, the
format needed to be revised to better
meet the needs of the students. This has
been done and appears to be meeting the
needs of those particular students at
this time. The basic outcome has
been that is can be successful and
in order for this to occur you need
at least two adults to role play, and
you need to be flexible with the
format. WMS has found that there
have been positive changes for the
students, over time, but that there
must be consistent reinforcement. All of the teachers who serve
these students, in addition to the
building administrators, provide
input to the professionals serving
these groups as to behaviors that
are impacting and success of the
follow-up. You need to be able to
counselor, and a school behavior anahave fun and make it fun for the students
lyst. The current group is consistently: and to continually monitor and revise
the language teacher and the school so- when needed. The goal of the district is
cial worker, with an ESE teacher and the to implement the "Social Skills" program
Guidance Counselor providing supat another middle school, and at a high
port. Initially, the team followed the
school in the near future.
format developed by CARD, using
sources from Bellini, Baker, and
Myles. At the beginning of the 2009and Karen Hallinan, Coordinator of ESE / Section 504
13
FINANCE HAS GONE “SKYWARD”
Have you ever gazed into the night sky TERMS system which we have been
on a clear evening and wondered about using since about 1980. This new system is an interactive data base that will
things? In your search for answers,
you may find far more questions than house all our employee, student, and
vendor information and will be much
answers! This article is designed to
more transparent and accessible to the
answer some of your basic questions
end users. In addition to the mundane
about SKYWARD, but many of the
other answers will have to wait until the things like running payroll and accounts
payable, we can accept applications
future, as we explorer the vastness of
online and review student data with the
this system together.
click of a mouse. We also plan to impleSkyward is a software company
ment Employee access where employees
specializing in K–12 administrative
can review their paycheck history and
software packages used in schools to
track changes in pay and leave. We also
manage and store information perplan to have student grades and infortaining to Student Management, Humation available so parents can access
and help us monitor their individual
man Resources, Financial Managestudent’s progress through a Parent
ment, Food Service and Special EduPortal.
cation. They are a provider of this
What did SKYWARD cost? The entype of software to over 1,300 K-12
tire package cost over $3.9 million dolschool districts worldwide. Skyward
lars, but the Levy County School Board
applications are currently used for
is only going to have to cover $525,686
select school districts in 17 US States
of that cost over the next three years.
(with very high concentrations in
We are a member of the North East
Washington and Wisconsin)[1], as
Florida Educational Consortium
well as customers in Venezuela,
(NEFEC) in Palatka, Florida which
Greece, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and
[2]
represents fourteen districts in North
India .
Florida. Ten (10) of the districts are
dividing the cost and implementing
SKYWARD is the new web-based
SKYWARD, which represents over
data platform that the Levy School
40,000 students and thousands of emBoard is adopting this year. The Business and Human Resource part of SKY- ployees.
There have been hundreds of people
WARD ―went live‖ (Were we dead before?) January 2010 and the Student part involved in this galatical shift from what
has been known and comfortable, to this
of SKYWARD is scheduled to ―be live‖
July 1, 2010. We are migrating from the pursuit of the SKYWARD mission.
The Levy
County School
District is currently underway in shifting
from NEFEC’s
staff and student
database TERMS to a new and more
versatile system
called Skyward.
Once installed
and all personnel
are trained, users
will find the new
system easier to
access and locate
information. Additionally, the
Thousands of
hours have
been logged
and many
more will
come before
we discover
the full measure of the
new system.
Perhaps astronaut Neal Armstrong
said it best as he stepped down the ladder of Apollo 11 toward the moons surface, ―This is one small step for man and
one giant leap for mankind.‖ I think his
comment perfectly captures the essence
of that moment and of our own.
We ask for you patience and understanding as we move forward and ever
SKYWARD.
Robert Clemons, Director of Finance
school-related data
-driven activities
into one program;
therefore, resulting
in a cost savings
Skyward program allows the user to
from using separate systems for various
produce a multitude of reports, by
purposes, such as: Teacher GradeBook;
choosing pre-made reports or userDisciplinary; Attendance, Special Educreated reports.
cation by alerting of new IEP deadlines;
Although NEFEC’s TERMs has proAthletic Eligibility; Health Records;
vided reliable staff and student database Family Access (future); Food Services
information since the 1980s, the in(future); Fee Management (optional);
creased and ever changing demands
and Textbook Tracking (optional).
placed from the State of Florida has reChange is always a learning process,
quired a new and more efficient student but we will succeed.
database. One of Skyward’s notable
attributes is the ability to integrate all
Blake Davis, Coordinator, MIS/Technology
NEW “SKYWARD” SYSTEM FOR STUDENT DATABASE
14
May 2010
AN EVENING OF EXCELLENCE - Congratulations to All Recipients !!!
Sherry Beauchamp, CES - District Teacher of the Year
Kathleen Walker, Hilltop Alternative - District ESP of the Year
Robyn Lee, WES - District Volunteer of the Year
2010-2011 Teachers of the Year
Carolyn Lewis, BES
Raymond Powers, BHS
April Fleetwood, CKS
Sherry Beauchamp, CES
Stephanie Parks, CMS
Suann Dupont, CHS
Alexis Gordon, JBES
Amber Barnes, Hilltop
Kathy Brewington, WES
Joshua Slemp, WMS
Alan Bontya, WHS
Paula YawsYTS
2010-2011 ESPs of the Year
2010-2011 Volunteers of the Year
Judy Franz, BES
Donna Leggett, BHS
Lisa Smith, CKS
David Sweet, CES
Pat Lewis, CMS
Cindy Freeman, CHS
Yessenia Alfonso, Hilltop/Summit
Janice Osteen, JBES
Sandy Langford, WES
Renee Redwine, WMS
Kenyarda Feathers, WHS
Wanda Castell, YTS
Angela Hogan, District
Mary Bowers, TransportatioN
Peggy Rowe, BES
Wally Lake, BMHS
Patty Jett, CKS
Jan Bennett, CES
Tim Gilliam, CMS
Rachel Griffin, CHS
Carol Heller, JBES
Robyn Lee, WES
Jack Halibrin, WMS
Molly White, WHS
Jayne Dillon, YTS
*** SCHOOL NEWS ***
Bronson Elementary School UF “CHAMPIONS OF CHARACTER”
The University of Florida
has been kind
enough to
honor Bronson
Elementary
School students at a few
of their athletic events.
We had 12
students honored center
court during a home basketball game. The students
who were selected were ―Champions of Character‖.
These students exhibit proper behaviors and
follow school rules. They set an example for the
other students on campus to look up to. It was
such an honor to see these students honored at
such a prestigious event. At one of the gymnastics
meets, the University of Florida welcomed several BES stu-
May 2010
dents and parents to celebrate their success in the various assessments that our
students endure throughout the year.
These opportunities are once
in a lifetime for
some of our students. Being exposed to the various athletics
is rewarding, but to also see where their success in school
can land them at a university such as the University of Florida, gives our students motivation to
continue doing well in school. We are truly
thankful for the incredible partnership that the
UF has established with us at BES.
Submitted by Caryl M. Carlisle, BES
15
SCHOOL NEWS
BES’s PEP RALLY WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
Bronson Elementary hosted a pep rally
at the end of each nine weeks to con-
Country Artists Tom Jackson and
Mark Burke with the Bronson Eagle
office to commend them for going above
and beyond. In order to receive a Golden
Eagle Egg, students are nominated by an
adult who sees them going above and
beyond. Students have been recognized
for things such as helping a fellow classmate who has dropped their books, another student was acknowledged for
turning in a lost wallet that was found in
the health room.
In addition to the nine week pep rallies,
on February 26th, Bronson Elementary
Eagles enjoyed a special FCAT Pep Rally
to motivate the 3rd-5th grade students to
do their best on FCAT. At the FCAT pep
rally, Bronson Elementary Eagles had a
special visit from the Bronson Eagle. The
Eagle came with autographed shirts to
throw out to students whose names were
gratulate students on all of their hard
work throughout the grading period. At
these pep rallies, students were honored
for their academic success, as well as for
having Perfect Attendance for the entire
9 weeks. Additionally, students are recognized for going above and beyond the
call of duty as a Golden Eagle Egg winner. These students received a special
certificate and recognition in the front
drawn out of a hat. Prior to the FCAT
pep rally, the entire school enjoyed a con-
Students receiving an autograph from
Country Artist Tom Jackson
cert from Nashville Recording Artist,
Tom Jackson. Tom Jackson came last
year to celebrate with Bronson Elementary School Eagles, and he decided to
return this year because the students
were so well behaved last year. This year
he brought another country artist with
him, Mark Burke. The students enjoyed
such an incredible treat and hope to have
both artists return soon.
Submitted by Caryl M. Carlisle, BES
Bronson Eagles…
It’s All About Our Eagle Pride!
Bronson Middle High School
Year in Review
The students, parents, faculty, and
staff at Bronson High School have had a
busy 2009-2010 school year with many
events, activities, initiatives, and
achievements. We began the 2009-2010
school year with preparation for the
visit of our SACS CASI Accreditation
Team. Preparation included the development of a Standards Assessment Report depicting all of the curriculum and
instructional practices that are currently
in place at BMHS. Documentation had
to be gathered and organized to support
all of the information in our report.
Teachers, staff, administration, parents, students, and community members
16
collaborated to prepare for the team
visit and participated in interviews. It
was a very powerful and rewarding experience. We are celebrating the fact
that we received our official notification
letter on March 1, 2010, stating that
BMHS has been awarded accreditation
by the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools, Council on Accreditation
and School Improvement (SACS CASI).
We are very excited to announce that
BMHS is an “accredited” school!
This year has
been an implementation year
for the Response to Intervention or
RtI process. This process re-
quires our teachers to meet in grade
level problem solving teams to discuss
student progress and student needs and
to develop plans to assist these students
in achieving academic success. The RtI
process provides for three tiers of instruction for our students: Tier I includes the curriculum and instruction
that is provided to all students specific
to their grade level; Tier II provides for
additional intensive skills instruction
for students needing additional assistance; and Tier III provides more intensive skills instruction and more individualized instruction to struggling students with additional instructional time
for these students provided by our RtI
teacher. We are also working on Tier II
May 2010
SCHOOL NEWS
Bronson Middle High School Year in Review - continued
and Tier III interventions to assist our
students who struggle with behavioral
issues.
We have implemented Study Island, a
new computer-based curriculum resource that is available to our teachers
and students to enhance and extend
instruction: curriculum resources are
available for both middle and high
school content areas and include Science, Math, and Reading support for
students needing additional skills instruction. Our focus this year continues
to be academics with an emphasis on
rigorous classroom instruction and project-based learning.
BMHS has completed our fourth year
of implementation for PBS or Positive
Behavior Support. We held several successful PBS activities including: the
school store; smoothie days; the talent
show; T-shirt give away; lunch with
the Principal; game day; and IPOD give
away. We will continue to implement
all of the PBS components to continue
with full implementation and interventions to support student behavior for
next year. Parents have had many opportunities to participate in workshops/meetings this year including:
Sixth and Ninth Grade Orientation;
Open House; Family Literacy Night;
School Improvement and SAC; Science
Fair, Academic Fair; College Night; and
Guidance workshops.
Some of the other highlights of our year include the following:
Our annual Veterans Day Celebration
May 2010
was held on Thursday, November 12,
2009 with special guest speakers from
the AMVETS Post 444 and AMVETS
Bandmaster Association Music Performance Assessments both in Marching and Concert Band. The marching
band received an overall Superior Rating at FBA. The concert band received a
Superior Rating and qualified to participate in FBA State Assessment in April.
Individually, several students were selected to participate in Solo and Ensemble and All-State. Finally, the band participated in the University of Florida
Homecoming parade for the first time
Post 88. Our band did a terrific job of
and is planning to participate again
playing traditional and patriotic music next year. It has been an exciting year
to conclude the event. We also recogfor the BMHS Marching Band!
nized our own veterans on staff: Ron
Our Student Government Association
Russ, Neal Wollenberger, and Al Cook- has accomplished many great projects.
sey.
In September, they supported Literacy
The School for the Deaf and Blind,
Month and collected over 500 books
from St. Augustine, Florida visited our
campus and provided an action-packed
performance for our entire school. We
truly enjoy their annual performances.
The students in Mrs. Collins’ and Mrs.
Cox’s classes visited the Magic Kingdom for a once-in-a-lifetime trip. The
community was very generous in helping to fund this special event on March
31, 2010.
The Bronson Marchduring their book drive for Cappuccino
ing Band has had a pheCorner. They sponsored this year’s
nomenal year competHomecoming events ramping up our
ing in 2 preliminary
school spirit. Their major focus for the
competitions that
year was the campus-wide ―Go-Green‖
qualified them for
project which encouraged recycling,
FMBC State Semifinals
and carpooling.
in Tampa. At Tri-State Invitational on
With the assistance of our wellness
October 10, 2009 the Marching Eagles
coordinator and school nurse, Angie
placed 3rd overall out of 12 participating Phillips, we sponsored our first annual
bands. On October 31, 2009 the March- ―Wellness and Nuing Eagles placed 2nd in the 1A class and trition Day‖ at
received Best in Class for Music at
BMHS. Teachers
Southern Showcase of Champions. This taught nutrition
performance qualified the band for
lessons throughState Semi-finals for the first time in
out the day, there
Bronson history with an overall score of was entertain70.80. At State Semi-finals
ment, fun activities, prizes, and special
the band performed and
guests from around the district who
received 19th place out of
supported our nutrition efforts on May
22 bands that qualified
14, 2010.
for state wide class 1A.
Our Middle School SWAT Team has
The band also participarticipated in the ―Great American
pated in the Florida
17
SCHOOL NEWS
Bronson Middle High School Year in Review - continued
Smoke-Out‖. They have provided antitobacco information to middle school
students, and encouraged them to sign a
tobacco-free pledge. Delegates from the
team also attended the SWAT field day
at Camp McConnell. Students have
gained valuable leadership and fellowship through the activities of SWAT.
The students in the ―Construction
Technology Academy‖ have had a terrific
year. In addition to learning the basics of
building construction, the students have
gone into the community to show what
they have learned.
They attended a
trip to CHS to lay
nearly 300 blocks on
top of the football
field wall; they set
up and worked on
scaffolding while laying blocks with a
level and to the line. Construction
classes went to University Oaks to assist
the county maintenance crew in the
building of a new facility to house a huge
generator. This job included approximately 280 block using inspection holes,
rebar, dowels, and working on scaffolding. Classes are currently busy building
picnic tables and storage sheds to fund
raise for future projects.
Our Bronson FFA Junior Chapter has
competed and placed in many state
events this year. On March 20, 2010 they
placed 2nd in the state during the Poultry
Judging CDE event! This competition
included judging ready to cook birds, egg
quality, interior egg quality, past production hens, and parts identification. Congratulations to Austin Dubois who received 2nd place overall middle school
competitor. The middle school FFA team
also place third in the state in the Floriculture Career Development event in St.
Petersburg. This team will be recognized
on stage at the State Convention in June.
Finally, the Livestock Evaluation team
placed 2nd in the state 2010 Middle
School State Livestock Evaluation Career
Development Event (CDE). Middle
school FFA has had a very successful year
18
of competition.
One new and exciting event that occurred at BMHS this year was a poetry
competition known as ―Poetry Out
Loud.‖ On Saturday, March 13, 2010 Almexis Marrero represented Bronson Middle High School at the State Championship of Poetry Out Loud in Tallahassee,
Florida where she made it into the semifinal round for Nationals. Before the
state competition she won first place in
the school-wide contest to earn her spot
at State. Bronson High School was proud
of Almexis who rehearsed diligently to
learn and recite three poems and rendered an outstanding and moving performance to compete against students
from around the state. She was supported and accompanied by her poetry
coaches Jessica Combest and Sue Butler
and her teammates Knight Gonczarow
and Frank Gay.
The fourth annual BMHS ―Career Day‖
was held on Thursday, March 25, 2010.
Over 40 business and community partners spent the day at BMHS sharing information about their career areas. It
was a very powerful learning experience
for our students.
One important event that supported
our academic focus was our annual
―Science Fair‖ designed and implemented
by our Science Department. There were
over 250 student projects on display in
our Cafetorium demonstrating our students’ understanding of research, experimentation, documentation, and scientific
thinking. Numerous parents and students passed through to see this wonderful display of projects.
We enjoyed the annual ―Cinco de
Mayo‖ celebration day, organized by Ms.
Noble and her Spanish classes. This is
always quite a cultural event for our
school with a display of student projects,
music, laughter, and a wonderful buffet
of authentic Hispanic foods.
Last, but not least, we are looking forward to our annual ―Academic Fair‖
scheduled for May 28, 2010. This special
event includes a display of wonderful
classroom projects and other samples of
student work and academic projects,
from all grade levels and content areas,
which have been completed throughout
the year.
“The Fall of the House of Usher”
By Edgar Allan Poe
These are just a few of the highlights of
our year at BMHS.
Congratulations to: our teacher of the
year Raymond Powers; our ESP of the
year Donna Leggett; and our volunteer of
the year Wally Lake. We appreciate all
that you do! It certainly has been an action-packed year…
All BMHS Articles Submitted by
Valerie Boughanem, Principal, BMHS
May 2010
SCHOOL NEWS
Storybook Character Day at CKS
Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Amelia
Bedelia, Junie B. Jones and a host of other
characters came to Cedar Key School on
January 29, 2010 to help celebrate the love
of reading and Literacy Week. Students in
grades Pre-K through fifth grade, along
with their teachers, came dressed as a character from a book of their choice. Each
class marched on to the stage and shared
the name of their character and the title of
their book. After enjoying an array of costumes, the entire elementary then paraded
around the field past an audience of middle
and high school students, parents and visitors.
Mr. Bob Hastings, superintendent of
schools, read his favorite book ―Mr. Peabody’s Apples‖ to the elementary students
before their character parade.
To further encourage the love of reading
and literature, the classrooms were visited
by Celebrity Readers from the community
including, Heath Davis, Brenda Coulter, and
author, Terri DuLong.
If you wandered around campus, you
would notice that the doors to some of the
classrooms in the high school, middle
school and elementary as well as the Media
Center and cafeteria looked like the cover of
a book. As part of the week of celebrating,
each classroom was asked to decorate a
door. The range of titles was interesting
and the implementation creative.
Thank you to everyone who participated
by dressing as a character decorated a door,
Superintendent Robert O. Hastings
read a story and/ or just came to help us celereads has favorite book, “Mr. Peabody’s brate READING.
Apples” to the children of Cedar Key
Elementary during Literacy Week.
Submitted by Sue Ice, Principal, CKS
Cedar Key School is Accredited On October 5th & 6th, 2009 Cedar Key
School was visited by a Southern Association of Colleges and Schools review
team to determine their status as an
accredited school. Prior to the visit the
faculty underwent a self-review process
and submitted a report. During the visit
classrooms were visited and faculty,
parents, and students were interviewed.
The purpose of the visit is to determine the extent of implementation of
seven standards that are considered crucial to a school’s success. The standards
include vision and purpose, governance
and leadership, teaching and learning,
documenting and using results, resource
and support systems, stakeholder communications and relationships, and commitment to continuous improvement.
The feedback from the team was extremely positive and it was determined
that Cedar Key School was accredited.
Commendations included strong leadership, clear vision and mission, safety and
cleanliness, and high student engagement.
We are fortunate to have faculty, staff,
and a community that work together to
provide our students with an extremely
positive educational experience and we
are very proud to be accredited for the
first time in the school’s history!
Submitted by Sue Ice, Principal, CKS
CKS Teen Trend Setters Mentor Program
The Teen Trend Setters Mentor Program was very successful again this school year. In case you are unfamiliar with
Teen Trend Setters, it’s a program where one high
school student is paired up with one 2nd or 3rd grade
student to read after school one day a week for about
one hour. Ms. DeAnne Watson, third grade teacher,
is the advisor of Teen Trendsetters and Sara Miller,
senior, is the Lead Teen Trendsetter. This is the
fourth year that CKS has offered the program and
20 High School students have signed up to be mentors.
The purpose of Teen Trend Setters is to help elementary
students improve their reading skills, while building a relationship with someone they normally wouldn’t get to know.
One advantage for the teenagers that participate in the pro-
May 2010
gram is that they received community service hours for the
time spent with their mentees. A certain number of community service hours are required to be eligible for certain
scholarships.
Each time a mentor meets with his/her mentee they
will start by reading an educational article out of a
magazine, provided by the program. They will either
read together or the mentee will read to his/her mentor aloud. After reading the article, they answer
questions together about the article they read. They
spend the rest of the hour reading books that the
mentee will get to take home for his/her home library,
once the book has been read. Some of the books are AR tests
and can be tested on for points at school.
Submitted by Claire Brown Sharks
19
SCHOOL NEWS
SGA LEADS CKS CLUBS IN BEAUTIFYING THE CAMPUS
Thursday, (week of April 19th-23rd ),
Student Government members celebrated Earth Day by cleaning their
newly adopted stretch of road- the
yardage from the school’s property to
the Island Jiffy on Highway 24.
As for SGA’s beautification project, FFA, Jr. Beta, Sr. Beta, Marine Science, FFEA, and FBLA also did their
part to assist. Each club picked an area
of the campus to beautify. They took
pictures and wrote a summary that was
inserted into SGA’s Medallion Book, a
book meant to keep record of this project. The clubs chose their projects and
have been actively completing them this
spring.
SGA chose to clean up the gravesite
behind the gym. The area has been ignored for quite some time and was in
desperate need of clean up. SGA removed the weeds and placed colored
rocks around the grave and the headstones. They also planted a type of
lated the
small flower bush that will prosper well
average number of cars parked on the
in the area without needing a lot of
school’s property for the whole week,
maintenance.
then the following week was the actual
FFA, one of the larger clubs on cam―Carpool Week‖, when students, facpus, took advantage of its size to tackle
ulty, and staff were all asked to Carpool a larger project. The chapter beautified
for the full week to save gas. That
the area between the high school and
In August, Cedar Key School’s Student Government members
chose recycling as their ongoing project
for the present school year. So far this
year, they've completed many of
their projects and goals with help from
their peers, as well as the school board
and community. For the month of April,
the members chose to hold a Carpool
Week, as well as celebrate Earth Day by
asking all CKS clubs to choose an area
of the school to "beautify." By the week
of April 12th-16th, which SGA has
dubbed ―Earth Week‖, each club will
have tackled their section of the school
and transformed it. Also in celebration
of Earth Week, SGA members calcu-
middle school buildings that is often
for-
gotten. Mr.
Voyles and his
FFA chapter replaced the rickety
wooden benches that have sat through
years of summer thunder storms and
hurricanes and planted flowers.
As for the other clubs, Sr. Beta and
Marine Science have teamed up together and made signs for the parent
pick-up area and also weeded the area
around the tennis courts. FFEA potted
plants and placed them in front of gym,
as FBLA potted plants and placed them
in the Middle and High School classrooms, as well as Mrs. Ice’s office and
the library.
The entire community and school
have been very active in aiding SGA
with their year long recycling project,
and hope they keep up the good work.
Submitted by Jessie Robinson and Claire Brown
Exciting Events that Occurred at Chiefland Elementary
CES celebrates Literacy Week by inviting
in guest speakers to share with students.
Officer Max Long came in and read a story
to students. Bill Roberson, from Manatee
Springs State Park, shared stories and
Florida history using music.
Submitted by Rebecca Pitts
20
May 2010
SCHOOL NEWS
CES - More Exciting News !!!
The Chiefland Rotary Club
came to CES and gave a
presentation to our 3rd
graders. The students were
presented with brand new
Webster's Dictionaries and
challenged with the task of
being the first to locate a
given word. Winners were
given a reward from
Superintendent Hastings.
The Fourth grade class created a vegetable and flower garden, with the thanks to a Nice Grant and John Meyer, a master
gardener, with the Levy County Extension office n Bronson. Mr.
Meyer planned and tilled our garden and installed an irrigation
system designed by John Mainwaring of Big John's Supply. Students prepared the soil and planted the seeds. We are anxiously
awaiting the growth of our flowers and vegetables.
Submitted by Celeste Aracena, 4th Grade Teacher
CONGRATULATIONS to
MS. SHERRY BEAUCHAMP, THE
LEVY COUNTY DISTRICT
TEACHER OF THE YEAR
children. Students were able to read to
their parent(s), then take the AR test to
earn points towards the Principal’s
Reading Award. The Family Literacy
Chiefland Elementary School teachers conducted monthly Family Literacy
Nights to promote reading among family
members, primarily parents with their
Nights
were a big
hit, as
many students attended to
show off
their good
reading
skills. You
can see the
excitement and thrills in their expressions, as they shared this valuable time
with their parent(s).
May 2010
21
SCHOOL NEWS
CES - Fire Prevention Week
Kindergarteners learned
about fire safety
and fire prevention during Fire
Prevention
Week. Students received a
special visit
from the Chiefland Fire Department where they were
able to explore the fire truck, aim the fire
hose, try on a fireman's gear, and received a goody bag with treats and pamphlets encouraging fire safety.
CES 5th graders went on a Good
Behavior walking field trip to the
Yum Yum Shop. Those students
were treated to ice cream delights of
their choice as a reward. Every nine
weeks 5th grade students are encouraged to do their best, both academically and behaviorally, and earn
the chance to participate in the
Good Behavior reward.
CHIEFLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL WINNER’S CIRCLE
CMS athletic teams had
a year to remember securing SMAC Championships in football, volleyball, girls’ basketball,
and baseball.
22
CMS dominated the Levy County speech competition with a first place winner in the 7th/8th grade
competition (Savannah Plummer) and a first place
winner in the 6th grade competition (Kinsey Ward).
May 2010
SCHOOL NEWS
CMS Winners’ Circle - continued
CMS 6th grade student, Joseph
Wolfe, earned a trip to the regional
spelling bee in Tallahassee, FL when
he out spelled 6th, 7th, and 8th graders
from around the county in the annual Levy County Spelling Bee.
The CMS FFA has been very successful this year!
The livestock judging team won
3rd place in the state.
CMS students secured a 3rd place
state finish in the food science
competition.
5th place in the state went to CMS
for an ornamental horticulture
marketing demonstration.
The CMS FFA land judging team
won first place in the county,
where Tristan Allen was named
high individual. They went on to
win 5th place in the state competi-
tion.
At the Suwannee River Fair and
Livestock Show, CMS students
did very well. 8th grader, Emily
Smith, showed the Grand Champion pig, while Harold Tillis won
the Junior Feeder Steer Showmanship Competition.
Harold Tillis was named a State
Star Discovery Award Finalist.
Sarah Edison recently earned 1st
in state high individual for vegetable judging.
Submitted by Darby Allen, Principal, CMS
CMS and PBS (Positive Behavior Support)
Chiefland Middle School is in a second
year PBS school. Although Ms. Beverly
Smith (our PBS Coach) and PBS
brought many innovative ideas and motivational activities to our students, just
a few will be highlighted.
CMS initiated its ―Positive Behavior
Tickets‖ and ―Wall of Fame‖ this school
year. Students are randomly given
―Positive Behavior Tickets‖ for engaging
in positive behaviors. The ticket allows
the student a free trip to the office to
celebrate, a chance to win a prize, and
the opportunity to sign the ―Wall of
Fame‖ in the front office. We conduct
―Pay Day Drawings‖ approximately
every two weeks. Students have won
prizes such as balls, CDs, game tickets,
dance tickets, smoothies, etc. Students
are always excited to receive ―Positive
Behavior Tickets,‖ and we’ve seen a tremendous increase in appropriate, positive behaviors.
Under the leadership of our
guidance counselor, Lois Solly,
CMS also began ―Project Wisdom‖ this school year. Project
Wisdom is a school-wide character education program consisting of a morning reading
that helps students relate a
positive behavior characteristic
or value to themselves and/or their lives.
They are offered an illustrative story and
how to apply the characteristic in real
life. Project Wisdom always gives students and staff members ―something to
think about.‖
CMS was privileged to participate in
University of Florida’s ―Champions of
Character‖ program. Twelve CMS students were nominated to be recognized
on the floor of the O’Connell Center
during a women’s basketball game. The
students were nominated based on their
ex-
emplary character.
Finally, Mr. Webber invited Mr. Almon Gunter, a two-time US Olympic
Trial Qualifier in track/field and motivational speaker, to address CMS students. During the first semester, he addressed students (in large and small
groups) on bullying and sexual harassment. Mr. Gunter also addressed the
faculty and staff on reaching hard to
reach students. Along with his handouts, Mr. Gunter provided motivational
posters for students and staff. During
the second semester, Mr. Gunter returned to CMS to motivate students as
they prepared to take the FCAT. His
practical steps for prepping students for
testing were outstanding. Mr. Gunter
provided much needed information
about hard to talk about topics!
CMS is looking forward to another
busy year with PBS!
May 2010
23
SCHOOL NEWS
Teacher Cadets at CHS Thanks CMS
The Teacher
Cadet program at CHS,
led by Mrs. Holly
Keene, has been a success this year, thanks to teachers and students at Chiefland Middle School. Each week,
cadets have walked to CMS to mentor younger students. These high school students
include: Kaylee Ecker, Lacee Lane, Lacy Chadwick, Brittany Smith, Sharnese Rome, Rose
Tomlinson, Krysten Johnson, and Shanen Bryan. These students, along with Mrs. Keene,
would like to thank CMS and all the participating teachers for their help this year.
they raised over $500 in
loose change.
Ms. Henderson and
her 7th grade social studies classes
raised almost $100 for the National
Multiple Sclerosis Society through
a silent auction.
CMS Youth Crime Watch students
and their sponsor, Mrs. Sementelli,
cleaned up the campus for Earth
Day 2010, while the agricultural
wheel classes (led by Mrs. Jones
and Mr. Dettloff) planted trees on
campus.
Chiefland Middle School Giving Back
The CMS Beta Club, sponsored by
Julie Gerhard, conducted community blood drives every eight weeks
this school year helping local blood
banks secure much needed donations. Students recruited blood
donors and experienced the feeling
of giving back to their community!
The CMS Beta Club also conducted
a loose change drive for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in which
Ms. Davis and the Student Government joined the Beta Club to conduct a canned food drive providing
needy families in the area food baskets for the holidays.
Mary Phillips and SWAT (Students
Working Against Tobacco) worked
diligently to educate students and
the community about the dangers
of tobacco use and publicity used
by the tobacco industry utilizing
various activities and guest speakers.
Chiefland High School CTE Program
CHS Career & Technical Education students are busy this
year with Adobe and Microsoft Certification Exams and Florida Ready to Work certifications.
Students in the Business Academy are working on Microsoft
MCAS Bundle Certifications. Students must pass four of the
six exams to earn the MCAS Certification. The plan is for
students to earn the certifications through-out their four year
enrollment in the Administrative Office Program. However,
since this is our first year of MCAS Certification, some students did manage to pass four test (Word, PowerPoint, Excel,
and Outlook) and complete the bundle certification.
This is the third year that CHS has participated in Florida
Ready to Work and this year 66 seniors enrolled in a career
Students pictured above are in Digital Design 2, 3 and 4 and
have earned two industry certifications this year. They have
earned Adobe Photoshop and Flash industry certifications.
and technical program will be graduating with their Florida
Ready to Work certification.
Certifications have become a very important measure of
success in many career fields and students enrolled in Chiefland High School career academies have accomplished this
success. This success is possible with the support of our local
academy advisory board and our dedicated CTE teachers Mrs.
Alice Graham, Mr. Dallas Locke, Mrs. Rebecca Mack, Mrs.
Christina Smith, and Mr. Beasley.
Students pictured above are in Digital Design 1 and have
earned one industry certification this year in Adobe Flash.
24
Submitted by Christina Smith and Carol Jones
May 2010
SCHOOL NEWS
CHS Holocaust Trip for History
World History and American History classes from Chiefland High School went to the Florida Holocaust Museum in
St. Petersburg, Florida
on April 14, 2010. The
trip was organized by
teachers Chris Wilson
and Valerie Smith.
Students enjoyed a
two hour tour of the
museum, including
artwork from Samuel
Bak's Icons of Loss
which centers around
two icons: The Warsaw Boy and Melancolia I. Mr. Bak was a
survivor of the Holocaust in the Vilna Ghetto in Poland. Also
on display was a current example of genocide, Darfur, Darfur
in which photographs were on canvas screen depicting the
tragedies currently taking place.
The bottom floor of the museum holds information on the
History of the Jewish nation and Hitler's rise to
power. It also displays a
model of Auschwitz concentration camp, pictures
of families that were lost
in the Holocaust, and pictures of those who risked
their lives to help those
persecuted to escape. The
feature that impacted the
students the most was a train car that was used to transport
victims of the Holocaust. Thank you to our chaperones that
went with us and Target Field
Trip Grant for funding.
Submitted by Valerie Smith
CHS - More Positive News !!
The Future Farmers of America and
the Health Occupation Students of
America have state winning teams
and individuals that will be advancing on to National Competition. We
are very proud of their accomplishments.
This year CHS offered four Advance
Placement Classes and will be expecting positive results following AP
testing in May. The AP classes include World History, Biology, Calculus, and Language and Composition.
Next year the plan is to expand the
AP course offerings.
The FBLA district competition was held in
February at Marion Technical Institute in
Ocala, FL. Chiefland High School had four
first place winners and one second place winner during this competition. Also, for the first
time in several years one of our members was
elected vice-president for our Levy County
District two years in a row. Sara Mitchell represented Levy County as FBLA Vice-President
in 2009-2010 and she will represent Levy
County in 2010-2011. Congratulations to Sara.
Future Business Leaders of America district
winners are:
Submitted by Rebecca Mack
Leanna Griffin - Freshman-Voting Delegate
Ansley Pentz - Freshman - 2nd Place-Introduction to Business Communications
Miriam Robinson - Sophomore - 1st Place - Word Processing I
Sara Mitchell - Junior - Levy County's FBLA Vice-President
Hailey Bason - Freshman - 1st Place - Business Math
Kali Bowen - Senior - 1st Place- Public Speaking II
Summer Toler - 1st Place - Introduction to Business Communications
In addition, Chiefland's FBLA and Drama Clubs presented their annual March of Dimes Dinner Theater on March 25th at
the Pineland-Usher Center. The Drama Club's presentation was entitled "Inspector Clueless." FBLA provided the "dinner"
portion of the dinner theater. We would like to thank the local businesses and individuals who contributed to this worthwhile cause for this deserving charity. The students who make up these two organizations did a tremendous job, and are to
be congratulated on a "job well done!"
Submitted by Rebecca Mack
May 2010
25
SCHOOL NEWS
Williston Elementary School Receives More Bikes!
It’s become a
―tradition‖! The Ornan
Masonic Lodge of Williston purchased brand
new bicycles, one per
grade level. All of
the Williston Elementary School students
who had perfect attendance during the FCAT
testing in March, qualified for the drawing to
win a bicycle.
On March 19th, students’ names
were selected and the bikes were
presented to the 3rd grade winner,
Jaden Malveaux, shown with her
grandparents Rosaria and Manuel
Garcia. The 4th grade winner is J. R.
Culbreth with his mother Mary Ann.
[Fifth grade winner Caleb Ramos was
absent on the day of the drawing.]
Behind these fortunate [and grateful!]
students are brothers from the Ornan
Masonic Lodge: Charles Kunkle, Don
Frazer, Joe Crane, Dwight Fields and
James Batts. WES Principal Cynthia
Lewis is at the right.
Submitted by Lisa Posteraro
WES Celebrates “Agriculture Literacy Day”
Brad Etheridge took time to stop by
Ricky Vanasco. ―One of the reasons is
―And farmers used recycled oranges in
Williston Elementary on March 23rd to that the plastic holds in the moisture.‖
cow feed,‖ interjected Emily Lowrimore.
help the Wildcats honor ―Agriculture
Drew Holcomb added that the product ―Don’t forget about the no till farming,‖
Literacy Day,‖ now an annual state-wide was earth-friendly so would crumble
included Noah Cason.
event promoted by the Florida Farm
and not harm the soil. ―So it’s biodegrad―This saves gas and saves the topsoil,‖
Bureau. Mr. Etheridge is on its board of able‖ confirmed their teacher with a lit- piped in Drew Holcomb.
directors. The event is a partnership
tle wink.
―We also learned about contour farmbetween Florida Agriculture in
ing and hydroponics, which
the Classroom, Inc. and the
goes back to the Aztecs,‖ said
Florida Department of AgriculRobbie Sistrunk. ―Also Mr.
ture and Consumer Services.
Brad told us about Chiefland
Daughter Baylee, is in one of
farmers having to plant trees
the classes to whom he read
around their fields to block
the unusually strong winds in
this year’s book selection, Green
that area.‖
Florida Farms by Gary Seamans
―A pre- and posttest were
and illustrated by Mike
administered,
and the stuWright.
dents’ scores showed they had
―I thought it was important
learned a lot about Florida
to have a person who is actuagriculture,‖ said Ms. Lovally involved in agriculture, as
vorn. ―This event creates a
an occupation, read to the stugreater awareness among our
dents,‖ said media specialist
students about how hard
Donna Lovvorn. Mr. Etheridge
Local cattle broker Brad Etheridge reads from Green Florida Farms to
farmers work and how eduowns Thomas Cattle Company,
students in Jeanne DuBois’s 5th grade class at Williston Elementary
cated they have to be. They are
a cattle brokerage business. His
School on March 23, the date of this year’s Florida Agriculture Literacy a big part of conservation and
wife Shannon keeps the books, Day. The book was projected via the Elmo as he read it. Mr. Etheridge is
saving the earth.‖ Following
so agriculture is a ―family afon the board of directors for Florida Farm Bureau, and he owns Thomas
the reading, students comfair.‖
Cattle Company, a cattle brokerage business. His grandfather, Elliot
pleted a word search and a
When asked what they’d
Whitehurst, ran the agriculture part of Whitehurst and Sons.
crossword puzzle.
learned, students in Jeanne
―The book also told about the trickle
DuBois’s class had plenty to share. ―We
and drip system of irrigation,‖ said Conlearned why they [farmers] put plastic
nor McCoy.
on the ground before they plant,‖ said
26
May 2010
SCHOOL NEWS
WES Celebrates “ARBOR DAY”
On Friday, April 30th, students in Lita Halchak’s 4th grade class at Williston Elementary School invited their fellow 4th graders to attend the tree
planting ceremony in honor of Arbor Day 2010. As his classmates look on,
Greyson Moore shovels a load of soil into the hole as Mrs. Halchak and
her husband Bill hold the donated magnolia tree which was being planted.
The donor also threw in some yellow lantana for ground cover around the
bottom. Following the
planting, Mrs. Halchak
read a poem about a tree,
followed by students such
as Rebecca Rodgers who
wanted to read the poems
they had written about
the tree planting or Arbor Day.
Several days later, parent Michelle Harrison brought decorative landscape
stones which Mrs. Halchak’s students will paint. These will be placed around
the mulched magnolia, a lovely addition to the grassy square in front of Mrs.
Halchak’s classroom as well as the school clinic.
WES SCIENCE FAIR WAS EDUCATIONAL
Science! Science! Bow-tied Bill Nye has shared that word with young listeners for years, encouraging them to get excited
about ―science.‖ And the 4th and 5th graders at Williston Elementary School still get excited about science via their annual
science fair projects.
Fourth graders in Lita Halchak’s and Tina Roberts’s classes tackled this lengthy process earlier
in the year. A perennial favorite is testing several
brands of popcorn to determine which pops the
fastest or which brand leaves the fewest kernels.
Jaquelin Gorostieta tested speed, and said ―I
found out that Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn
popped the fastest.‖
Each project requires the student to formulate
a question, do some research then propose a hypothesis. Miranda Monteagudo’s question was
―Does a ball roll farther on grass or on dirt?‖ After she conducted her research, she wrote
her hypothesis. ―My hypothesis was wrong because it [the ball] rolled farther on dirt.‖
When asked why she thought that was so, she speculated that ―The dirt doesn’t have as
much stuff to slow it down.‖
The projects were as varied as the students’ interests. Steven Ervin investigated what
juice cleans pennies best while Delaney Anderson questioned what dissolves more thoroughly in water—salt and sugar or salt and pepper.
―I love it that science fair projects really challenge my students to
think, and I’m amazed at how well they can deductively think, based on
their research and the results of their experiments,‖ said Ms. Halchak.
―Hands-on activities are always my students’ number one favorite
activity. And we think science fair projects continue building the solid
science base our 4th graders need to prepare them for the 5th grade
FCAT Science,‖ said Ms. Roberts.
May 2010
27
SCHOOL NEWS
Williston High School 2009-2010 Teacher and ESP of the Year
Williston High School’s Teacher of
the Year for 2009 - 2010 is Mr. Alan Bontya. Mr. Bontya, who has been with
WHS for the past three years, currently
teaches Environmental and Physical
Science.
In addition to his duties within the
classroom, Mr. Bontya is also a member
of the
school’s RtI
(Response
to Intervention) team,
and serves
as the
school’s
Varsity Golf
and JV/
Varsity
Baseball
coach.
His re-
sponse to the Teacher of the Year award:
―It is a pleasure to hold such a great
honor. I enjoy working here at WHS
with such supporting faculty and administration.‖
The Educational Staff Professional of
the Year for 2009 - 2010 is Mr. Kenyarda
Feathers. Mr. Feathers has been with
WHS for the past four years. He has
worked as a Media Clerk and is now
currently in charge of the school’s ―In
School Suspension Program‖.
In addition to being involved in most
of the sports programs on campus,
Mr. Feathers is also the advisor for the
school’s SWAT club, is involved in the
21st Century summer programs, is an
organizer for Community Family Day,
and is a local minister.
There is no doubt that the faculty and
students of WHS would agree, Mr.
Feathers is an ―all around can-do type of
person with a definite can-do attitude!‖
Congratulations to both Mr. Bontya
and Mr. Feathers for all their hard work
and dedication. Williston High School
is lucky to have professionals such as
Mr. Bontya and Mr. Feathers, as members of the school community!
Submitted by John Lott, Principal, WHS
WHS SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS - BASEBALL
If you were to ask Coach Jim Smith
what he believes was the key to a successful season this year, he would respond by saying, ―We needed to be process oriented, not result oriented.‖
Facing one of the
toughest non-district
schedules the coach
has ever seen in his 14
years at WHS, the
team came to the table with a remarkable
record which included 3 straight district championships,
6 straight regional
playoff appearances,
and an overall team
GPA of 3.5.
With the help of
assistant coaches Justin Hardy, Trent
Viau, Cecil Benton, and Alan Bontya,
Coach Smith provided his players with
the physical and mental tools to be suc-
28
cessful both on and off the field.
plan into place: pitchers throw strikes,
The team’s motto for the 2010 season
play consistent defense, and put the ball
was to work hard at getting better not at into place.
getting by, and to enjoy the overall
When asked about the players’ preparations for the spring
season, Coach Smith
said, ―I felt like we
had a real good summer and offseason
with a record of 14-2,
winning our tournament and finishing
second in the other
two. We made tremendous gains in the
weight room, we
played games from
Miami to Marietta,
Georgia during the
summer and fall, and
we concluded sumjourney.
mer at UF’s team camp.‖ WHS baseball
The season motto was no doubt reteam had a wonderful 2009-2010 and we
flected in the coaches’ and players’ efforts look forward to another fantastic season
to put Coach Smith’s three-step winning for the 2010-2011 school year.
May 2010
SCHOOL NEWS
FOOTBALL
VARSITY CHEERLEADING
September 11th was the first time in 10 years that the
WHS Red Devils defeated Dixie County on the football
field.
Working together as a true team, the Red Devils displayed both skill and spirit as they defeated the Bears 14 13 in overtime bringing pride back to the Devil’s Den.
On September 18th,WHS hosted a pep rally to get students
and staff riled up for the big game against Keystone Heights.
The pep rally was a great success as the Junior class took the
award for the loudest spirit scream and each member of the Varsity football and Cheerleading teams were introduced to the
crowd. Later that night the school spirit continued as the varsity
players brought home another victory. Way to go Red Devils!
WHS JROTC SHOOTS TO THE TOP
A team of four WHS JROTC Cadets traveled to Camp Perry, Ohio, this
past school year where they competed in the Three Position Air Rifle competition at the Junior Olympic national Finals.
The team, which was comprised of Devin Colson, Matthew converse, Ali
Mohs, and Savannah Rios, placed second in the state competition and 17th
out of the 100 participating teams at the Junior Olympic Finals.
YTS Treasured Tickets
No, it’s not the latest version of the
Willy Wonka story with the significant
ticket, but did you know that 3rd and 4th
graders at YTS have had an opportunity
twice a grading period to earn a golden
ticket for impeccable behavior?
These exclusive tickets provided admission to the following activities: a
movie in
the auditorium
with
choice of
seating,
popcorn,
and soda;
a fabulous
May 2010
mini fall festival complete with games,
prizes, and a cupcake walk; a chance to
decorate and devour a scrumptious,
quaint gingerbread house; design and
build a snowman along with ice skating
(Florida style) at the winter wonderland; create a stain glass-like window
art project and finally, but not least participate in a scavenger egg hunt with a
prized golden egg containing real dollars.
As part of PBS this school year, students have been awarded Sandgnat dollars for being responsible, thinking
safety, and showing respect. If they didn’t have excessive discipline marks they
purchased items at the weekly Sandgnat
Store or saved for the PBS Sandgnat
Celebration. Students that demonstrated extraordinary behavior
were rewarded a
prized ticket the
day of the PBS
event to attend at
no charge; the
others that were
eligible purchased an admission ticket.
We believe this entire process has
taught students valuable lessons about
their personal choices. Our last event
was held May 7th and provided a
SPLASH!
Submitted by Denise Dillon
29
SCHOOL NEWS
YANKEETOWN SCHOOL CELEBRATES BLACK HISTORY MONTH
past that made a positive
difference on our world today. Many students used
their technology skills to
To celebrate February's Black History Month and March's
Women's History Month, the fourth graders created research type and add graphics to
their presentations.
papers on famous black Americans and Famous women who
One student said, "I did not
helped mold the world we
realize
how many people
live in. The students commade
our
world good for
pleted 2 page research paus."
The
teachers
love hearpers and posters for the pering
the
conversations
among
son they chose to rethe
students
comparing
and
search. The culminating
contrasting
the
famous
peoactivity was to present the
research to their classmates. ple. It is always a great
Scientist, teachers, noble learning activity when we
prize winners, suffrage pro- can include real life experitesters....the list goes on. The ences into the curriculum. The project was a great success!
4th graders enjoyed learning
Submitted by Melody S. Carson
about people from America's
YTS 4th Graders Celebrate Black History
and Women's History Months
SAFETY FIRST, LAST AND ALWAYS
Trips You Don’t Want to Take!
No matter where you work — in the
classroom, the warehouse, office or cafeteria kitchen – accidents can happen.
However, many accidents can be prevented through active awareness and
plain old common sense.
Slips and trips, though they sound
minor, can lead to falls and broken
bones.
The first line of defense is to be aware
of your surroundings, and on the lookout
for hazards like those listed below,
which are common in and around
schools, and can cause injury to you or a
RAIN CAUTION
Wet shoes on a dry
floor can be just as
hazardous as dry
shoes on a wet floor.
student. Eliminate such danger
spots, or report them to someone
who can.
TRIPPER UPPERSWALKWAY
OBSTRUCTIONS
• School bus steps
• Electrical cords, phone and computer
cables
• Unmarked curbs and changes in walking surface elevations
• Holes in the ground
• Loose gravel on walkways and parking lots
• Sand on floors and steps
• Poor lighting
• Clutter
• Student book bags and personal belongings
• Musical equipment and empty cases
• Poorly positioned furniture or equipment
• Brooms, mops, and pails
• Carpet that doesn’t lay flat
SLIPPERY WHEN WET!
Slips occur whenever there is too little
friction or traction between your feet
and the surface on which you are walking. Three common causes of slips include:
• Constantly wet surfaces
• Occasional spills
• Weather hazards
Slip tips : slow down, shorten your
stride, walk with your feet pointed
slightly outward, broadening your base,
and make wide turns. Wear slipresistant footwear appropriate for your
job. Use abrasive strips to increase trac-
This safety information comes from the North East Florida Educational Consortium’s safety publications, which include the following disclaimer:
The information contained in these articles was obtained from sources that to the best of the writer’s knowledge are authentic and reliable. Neither The North East Florida Educational Consortium nor
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. guarantees results, and neither assumes liability in connection with either the information herein contained, or the safety suggestions herein made. Moreover, it cannot be
assumed that every acceptable safety procedure is contained herein, or that abnormal or unusual circumstances may not warrant or require further or additional procedures.
30
May 2010
2010-2011 SCHOOL CALENDAR
May 2010
31
CAN WE HELP?
Superintendent Robert O. Hastings
Assistant Superintendent
Dr. Gina Tovine
DIRECTORS
Larry Martin ...................................................... Maintenance
Kathy Lawrence ................................................. SES/NCLB
Bob Bilden ........................................................ Finance Officer
Steve Tyson....................................................... Transportation
Gerald Ward ...................................................... Purchasing/Inventory
Jeff Edison .............................................................. Administration
Patrick Wnek .......................................................... Curriculum/ESOL
Rosalind Hall........................................................... ESE/Student Services
Robert Clemons ....................................................... Finance
Candy Dean ............................................................. Personnel
Rob Ice ................................................................... MIS
Ted Alexander ......................................................... Maintenance
ASSISTANT DIRECTORS/COORDINATORS
Linda Durrance........................................................
Candy Barber...........................................................
Karen Hallinan ........................................................
Sharron Cuthbertson................................................
Blake Davis .............................................................
Carol Jones .............................................................
Title Programs
Food Service
ESE
Attendance/Truancy
Technology
Vocational Education
To contact above staff members, call:
District Office:
486-5231
ESE Department:
486-5240
Maintenance Department:
486-5250
Transportation Department: 486-5252
Purchasing Department:
486-5297
SCHOOL BOARD E-MAIL ADDRESSES
Cameron
CameronAsbell
Asbell
[email protected]
[email protected]
Beth
BethDavis
Davis
[email protected]
[email protected]
Frank Etheridge
[email protected]
[email protected]
Paige Brookins
[email protected]
[email protected]
Rick Turner
[email protected]
See The Notebook in color at: www.levy.k12.fl.us
32
THE NOTEBOOK
May 2010

CHIEFLAND HIGH SCHOOL COMMENCEMENT CEDAR KEY HIGH

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