New Members

Florida ASCD would like to recognize and welcome all of the new members who have recently joined or renewed their membership with our organization.

 

Helen Abernathy Kelly Aeppli Campbell Tom Albano Bernadette Alonso Joy Baldree Carol Borders Claudia Bostwick Wendy Bryan Claudia Buck Sandi Busta Cari Canino Karyn Carlson Lois Christensen John Clark Karen D'Avignon James DePiro Jason Driver

Laurie Flynn Joanne Gartner David Gilmore Angela Howard Roy Johnson Carlene Judge Kathy Kaiser Maureen Kane Gwendolyn King Rae Konjoian James Lawless Jan Lessard Thomas Maher Jodi Marshall Erika McLaren Barbara McLean-Smith

Idali Medina Johnny Nash Twila Patten Julie Pearl Kaethe Perez Jon Peterson Judy Poppell Carol Pressey Kathy Rossi Joyce Skaff Pamela Smith Myra Stafford Chris Steinwachs Cynara Suarez Beth Thompson Jeffrey Whittaker

 

Members in the News

Dr. Shelia Windom, a Florida ASCD board member, is the proud principal of a B school.  Richmond Heights Elementary staff, students, and the entire community took the school from an F grade to a B grade being only 7 points from an A.  Their hard work has paid off and now they will continue to Bridge the Gap from Good to Great, as we Aim for an A.  Go Tigers!

 

Have you had a recent event to share with others in Florida ASCD (like a job change, promotion, retirement, award or recognition received, unique travel experience, etc.)?  We would like to include your information in the next Electronic Dimensions. Send it to us: fascd@fascd.org

 

 

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Florida ASCD Events

 

Annual Conference

Our 49th Annual Conference will be held December 5-6, 2008 at NOVA Southeastern University in Orlando. The call for presenters is ready and posted on our website. Consider being a speaker at our conference. We have already booked nationally acclaimed speaker: Dr. Steven Layne. Mark the dates on your calendar and plan to attend! Visit the conference site for more information!

 

Professional Development Institute-Exercising the Brain

Florida ASCD will be sponsoring a PDI in Orlando on Exercising the Brain. The PDI will take place on September 20, 2008.

You will receive an implementation manual for SMILE Lab, as well as the opportunity to work together with other participants to create a sample lab. You will be amazed at how easy it is to do with equipment already in your school! You will also be able to view some very powerful videos of students with various disabilities that have been able to make remarkable gains -- both physically and mentally -- from participating in the SMILE Lab. You will learn a scientifically-based, research driven method to implement 30 minutes of daily physical education, which will not only help kids lose weight, but will help student FCAT scores go up as well! When you leave, you will have the knowledge to implement a specific system to handle the 30 minute PE mandate for elementary schools. For more information, please go to http://fascd.org/08_PDI_Orlando_RB.htm.

 

Board Meeting News

At the June retreat the board developed a strategic plan to guide its actions for the coming year and beyond. Before tackling the specifics of the strategic plan, the board reviewed our belief statements and made minor changes in the wording and reaffirmed them to provide direction for the future. In other business the board revised travel reimbursement to be more fair to those who have to travel a distance to attend board meetings. A tentative budget of for the coming fiscal year was presented and the board approved a contract with Kim Pearson as Executive Director. Shelia Windom was thanked and presented with a handsome plaque for her work as president in the last fiscal year. Paul Terry was then installed as president for 2008-2009. Out next Board Meeting is September 27, 2008 at NOVA Southeastern University.

 

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Grants & Awards

School Counselor of the Year Award
The American School Counselor Association's School Counselor of the Year program honors "the best of the best" school counselors. The award is granted to school counselors who are running a top-notch, comprehensive school-counseling program at either the elementary, middle, or high school level. Maximum award includes expenses for award ceremony. Those eligible for the award include U.S.based practicing school counselors as of February 2008. The nominations deadline is September 5, 2008. For more information visit http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content2.asp?contentid=544.

Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy
The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy's grant making program for 2009 seeks to develop or expand projects supporting development of literacy skills for adult primary caregivers and their children. Maximum award: $65,000. Eligibility: organizations with current nonprofit or public status that have been in existence for at least two years on the date of the application. Deadline for submission is September 5, 2008. For more information please click on http://www.barbarabushfoundation.com/nga.html.

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News Briefs

Promoting High Achievement for African-American Students
After reading "Young, Gifted, and Black: Promoting High Achievement Among African-American Students" (2003), three essays by leading thinkers in African- American education, Mary Tedrow writes in Teacher Magazine, she realized that "the ideas and potential solutions embedded in this book have gone on largely unacknowledged." Tedrow, a white high school teacher in Virginia, acknowledges that her "own experience with arguments for an inherent bias in the system of schooling have been filtered through the popular media, where issues like Ebonics, test and IQ bias, the stigmatization of stereotyping, 'acting white,' and urban schooling are treated superficially." She says the book by Theresa Perry, Claude Steele, and the late Asa Hilliard III brought her to considerations like the fact that, historically, education for black Americans has had no predictable tie to economic advancement, no matter what level of schooling a student achieves. "In order to succeed," she maintains, "black Americans must answer for themselves: Why sacrifice yourself to the pursuit of an education when the color of your skin is likely to close as many doors as your studies promise to open?" She recommends that "Young, Gifted, and Black" be included in the professional libraries of teachers and schools, and in the pre-service education of all teaching professionals. Read more at http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2008/0 7/16/41tln_tedrow.h19.html.

Study Calls for Increasing Learning Time
Upon concluding a study of 300 Expanded Learning Time (ELT) initiatives, the Center for American Progress is recommending that high-poverty schools nationwide undertake a 30 percent increase in learning time - about two hours per day or 360 hours per year - in order to bolster student achievement. In line with this recommendation, Senator Kennedy introduced the Time for Innovation Matters in Education Act for extended learning time, S. 3431 last week. It calls for extending the school year according to the Center's recommendation, but allows districts the flexibility to meet the goal through extending the school year, week and/or day. With this extra time, students would receive both academic help, as well as be exposed to an array of extra-curricular activities to enhance their learning. It is during this additional time that school and community partnerships become integral in improving student outcomes. For more information go to, http://www.communityschools.org/CCSDocuments/ext ended_learning_time.pdf.

America 's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2008
The 2008 edition of "America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being," compiled by the 22-member Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, presents indicators in seven sections: family and social environment, economic circumstances, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education, and health. This range of indicators stresses the importance of partnerships that schools must establish across these sectors in order to improve all of these student outcomes. For more details go to http://childstats.gov/americaschildren/.

Florida's Online Advising System Retooled
FACTS.org, Florida’s online advising system for students, has recently been retooled and re-released. The site features straightforward navigation, new content, simplified language, updated graphics, and enhanced tools. For more information visit www.facts.org.

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ASCD Connections

 

Annual Conference

Make plans now to attend  ASCD's annual conference in Orlando, March 14-16, 2009. The conference theme is "Learning Beyond Boundaries."

 

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Contact Us

 

Florida ASCD Electronic Dimensions is published as the newsletter of Florida ASCD, publishing announcements, coming events, awards, short articles and items of interest for and about Florida ASCD members.  Items for publication should be sent to Florida ASCD headquarters at the address below. Views expressed are not necessarily the official position of Florida ASCD. Any product announcements appearing in Florida ASCD Electronic Dimensions are paid advertisements. They do not reflect an endorsement by Florida ASCD.

 

Please send comments, articles, announcements, and suggestions for future topics to the Editor:

 

Kim Pearson, Executive Director, Florida ASCD

11225 Kapok Grand Circle

Madeira Beach, FL 33708

727-871-1112

fascd@fascd.org

www.fascd.org

 

 

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