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.

 

Lee Ann Mann, Bay Sandra Davis, Bay Frank O'Leary, Brevard Brenda Blackburn, Brevard Daniel Tuchman, Broward Billie Miller, Broward Maria Torres, Collier Oliver Phipps, Collier Marilyn Moser, Collier Traci Dami, Collier LeAnn Pollard, Duval Helen Bennett, Hamilton Nancy Mooy, Hillsborough Kimberley Kraft, Hillsborough Ward Kennedy, Hillsborough Therese Jackson, Hillsborough

Gayle Gallagan, Hillsborough June Dalton, Lake Dennette Foy, Lee Linda Lovins, Leon Karen Moates, Manatee Gina Vigil, Martin Jane Stoecker, Miami Dade Carol Wright, Miami-Dade Michelle Norberto, Miami-Dade Zuleica perdomo Martell, Miami-Dade Lisa Figueredo, Miami-Dade Felix Elardo, Miami-Dade Vicky Zygouris-Coe, Orange Howard Larsen, Orange Vertis Lane, Orange

Debra Knerr, Orange Kevin Kendrick, Orange Maureen Kane, Orange Bonita Glester, Orange Evelyn Cichanowski, Orange Monica McCormack, Orlando Stephen Sills, Palm Beach Butch Mondy Jr., Palm Beach Simone Hebert, Palm Beach Randolph Lightfoot, Pinellas Jesse Crosmer, Pinellas Suzette Burns, Pinellas Helen Obenchain-Clark, Polk Cynthia Koontz, Sarasota Lillian Sigler, Seminole Melissa Brown, Seminole

 

Members in the News

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

 

Learning Symposium

Florida ASCD held a professional development institute on Saturday, May 26, 2007 at NOVA University in Orlando. The participants who attended were entertained and engaged by the speakers who were brought in. Dr. Jaime Castellano started off our day by talking about Differentiating Instruction. He talked about practical strategies on how to differentiate instruction for all learners as well as practical tools to use to differentiate instruction easily in a classroom. The second portion of the day was spent on Influence and Advocacy. Within this session we had  presentations from Commissioner Ings (from the Orlando area), Scott Howatt (Orange County Schools Lobbyist), and Dan Fuller (ASCD Director, Public Policy) on how to lobby effectively at the state and federal level.

 

 

 

Board Meeting

Our next board meeting will take place at 9:00 AM on June 23rd and 24th at TECO/PATHS in Kissimmee, FL. This board meeting is our annual retreat that lasts over two days. At this board meeting we will make plans for our agenda for the following year. Also at this meeting Ralph Barrett, current Florida ASCD president will turn the gavel over to Shelia Windom, President Elect. Please email us at fascd@fascd.org if you are interested in sitting in as a visitor.

 

Annual Conference

Florida ASCD is in the planning stage of our 48th Annual Conference. Make plans now to attend this amazing annual event on November 30, 2007-December 1, 2007 at NOVA Southeastern University in Orlando, Fl. This year's topic is Reinventing Schools: An Extreme School Makeover. We are currently accepting proposals for breakout sessions at the conference. Please see our conference site for more information. Florida ASCD hopes to see you there!

 

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Grants

Richard Riley Award Honoring Excellence in Schools as Centers of Community
KnowledgeWorks Foundation and The American Architectural Foundation, seek submissions for the Richard Riley Award. This award recognizes design and educational excellence in "schools as centers of community" -- schools that serve as centers of community provide an array of social, civic, recreational and artistic opportunities to the broader community and to students, often clustering educational and municipal buildings together. Maximum Award: $10,000.  Eligibility: all existing elementary and secondary public schools. Applications are being accepted now. Deadline: July 9, 2007.
http://www.richardrileyaward.org/en/Index.asp

Helping Latino Students Graduate from High School
Youth Venture and MTV Tr3s Voces Tu Voz My Venture will support the creation of 50 teams of young people who create Ventures that help Latino students graduate from high school and prepare for college or work. The top five teams will also be awarded a team scholarship, and one team will be featured in a news segment on MTV Tr3s. Maximum Award: $5,000. Eligibility: young people ages 13-20. Deadline: June 29, 2007.
http://www.genv.net:80/tuvoz

Fund For Children's Dental Health Grants Program
The American Dental Association Samuel Harris Fund For Children's Dental Health Grants Program will award grants to oral health promotion programs designed to improve and maintain children’s oral health through community education programs. Maximum Award: $5,000. Eligibility: community-based, not-for-profit, oral health promotion programs in the United States. Deadline: July 17, 2007. http://www.adafoundation.org/ada/prod/adaf/prog_access_harris.asp#eligibility

NASA Motivating Undergraduates in Science and Technology Program
The NASA Motivating Undergraduates in Science and Technology Program (MUST) Program supports undergraduate students with a one-year scholarship of up to one-half of tuition. MUST awards scholarships and internships to undergraduates pursuing degrees in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Maximum Award: $10,000. Eligibility: undergraduate students, with a particular emphasis on underserved and underrepresented groups in STEM fields (Women, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans and persons with disabilities). Deadline: June 15, 2007.
http://scholarships.hispanicfund.org/applications/subsectionID.1,pageID.139/default.asp

Helping Immigrants Learn English
The Ray Solem Foundation is offering one-time grants to non-profit organizations that have found creative ways to help immigrants in the United States further their verbal English language skills -- listening comprehension and oral communications. Maximum Award: $10,000. Eligibility: 501(c)3 organizations. Deadline: July 31, 2007.
http://www.raysolemfund.org/grants.html

 

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Awards

3M Innovative Economic Educator Award
Working on an innovative economics project with your students this year? Invest a few minutes NOW to read over the 3M Innovative Economic Educator Award Guidelines and the returns could be outstanding! Preparations for the award entry can begin today with full entries due July 15, 2007. To access these guidelines, go to http://www.econed- il.org/icee/docs/2006/3m_innov_0607.pdf

Florida ASCD

Florida ASCD gives out three awards at their annual conference. One award is the Innovators in Education Award that awards up to two $500 cash grants to person(s) or school(s) who develop a special project supporting creative or innovative instructional practices designed to improve the educational performance of students. Florida ASCD also gives out the FASCD Excellence Award to recognize someone in the educational profession who has made outstanding contributions to quality educational practices that enhance the growth and development of all educators and students. The last award that Florida ASCD gives out annually is the FASCD Outstanding Legislator Award which recognizes a Florida (state or federal) elected official for the highest meritorious contribution to the improvement, promotion, development, and or progression of legislative programs for education in the state of Florida. If you know someone who is deserving of any of these awards, check out our website for application!

 

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News Briefs

Florida governor signs off on 30-min. daily P.E. for elementary students
Elementary school students must have at least a half-hour of physical education each day under a bill signed Thursday by health-conscious Gov. Charlie Crist. Crist and state lawmakers say the requirement, which takes effect with the new school year in August, can help prevent childhood obesity and related health problems. A state task force found in 2003 that millions of school children were at risk for juvenile diabetes and other ailments because of poor exercise and nutrition habits. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/AP/story/110242.html

Study: Children's brains mostly developed by fifth grade
Can you get smarter than a fifth-grader? Of course, but new research suggests some of the brain's basic building blocks for learning are nearing adult levels by age 11 or 12. It is the first finding from a study of how children's brains grow. The most interesting results are yet to come. While children showed rapid brain development between ages 6 and 10, performance leveled off between 10 and 12 years of age, according to an MRI study of 385 healthy 6- to 18-year-olds released Friday in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. The data may indicate that elementary-school children learn "basic building blocks" and then older "children take these building blocks and use them," said Deborah Waber, a Harvard University Medical School associate professor of psychiatry and the study's lead author. http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/05/18/growing.brains.ap/index.html

GAO report: Schools need more training for emergencies
Eight years after the Columbine High School shootings and nearly six years after Sept. 11, 2001, many of the nation's public schools are short on both the equipment and expertise they'll need in case of a full-scale terrorist attack, natural disaster or biohazard emergency, a government report says. In many cases, schools have never trained alongside local emergency response teams, and in a few districts, school officials won't even be able to use their walkie-talkies to communicate with first responders during an emergency, says the new 50-state study conducted by the Government Accountability Office. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-17-school-preparedness_N.htm

U.S. spends average $8,701 per pupil on education

The United States spent an average of $8,701 per pupil to educate its children in 2005, the Census Bureau said on Thursday, with some states paying more than twice as much per student as others. New York was the biggest spender on education, at $14,119 per student, with New Jersey second at $13,800 and Washington, D.C., third at $12,979, the Census Bureau said. Seven of the top 10 education spenders were Northeastern states. The states with the lowest spending were Utah, at $5,257 per pupil, Arizona $6,261, Idaho $6,283, Mississippi $6,575 and Oklahoma $6,613. The 10 states with the lowest education spending were in the West or South. Overall the United States spent an average of $8,701 per student on elementary and secondary education in 2005, up 5 percent from $8,287 the previous year, the bureau said. http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2438214220070524?feedType=RSS&rpc=22

Everyone gets a front row seat at commencement with online "Gradcasts"
A growing number of school districts are allowing friends and family to watch graduation ceremonies from the comfort of their own homes. "Gradcasts," as some techies call them, allow viewers to watch live streaming video of the ceremonies without the nightmares of parking, uncomfortable stadium seats and long restroom lines. The web-based technology is catching on among some school districts who say it costs next to nothing to offer the extra service to students' families, reports Jennifer Radcliffe in the Houston Chronicle. Some districts have even started webcasting sporting events and pre-kindergarten graduations. School plays and open houses aren't far behind. "We haven't even tapped into the possibilities of the Internet yet," said Mimi Morrison, director of technology for the Huffman, Tex., school district, which will stream its graduation ceremonies online for the first time this weekend. Rice University and the University of Houston have offered live video streaming of commencements for years. The gradcasts are especially popular among family members who are elderly, living out of town or are in the military, officials said. More school events should be broadcast on the Internet, said parent Jose Marquez. "Nowadays, parents, we work outside the home. We have to travel. If kids know we're watching them somehow, it's awesome for them." http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4828105.html

Clinton pushes pre-kindergarten proposal
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton is proposing a $10 billion federal program aimed at providing voluntary pre-kindergarten for all 4-year-old children in America. "Our educational system needs to be strengthened from start to finish, but we have to start where it all begins," Clinton told an audience of children, teachers and parents on Monday. Clinton said she would pay for the program by closing tax loopholes and eliminating Bush administration programs she disagrees with. http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2007/05/21/clinton_wants_pre_k_for_all_4_year_olds/

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ASCD Connections

 

School Readiness and Early Development of the Whole Child

ASCD supports high-quality pre-kindergarten education programs for all children, with the highest priority given to those that serve the students who are most at risk. Early intervention is the most cost-effective approach to closing the achievement gap. Although one focus of such programs is kindergarten readiness, ASCD advocates attention to and development of, the whole child. The current educational climate often emphasizes academic achievement and excludes a more holistic approach to educating the whole child. Early childhood initiatives must recognize the relationship between health and learning. We encourage the creation of programs that provide developmentally appropriate learning opportunities and that emphasize emotional and physical well-being, motivation and engagement, and experience in the arts.

 

ASCD calls for:

·         Early Childhood Education to provide resources and support for developmentally appropriate learning opportunities emphasizing emotional and physical well being that are aligned with local school districts.

·         Professional Development Opportunities to ensure that early childhood specialists are effective educators.

·         School Readiness Programs that involve parents, communities, schools, businesses and policymakers; all of whom have a stake in the development of the whole child.

 

For more information please visit: http://ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/menuitem.6f662ce249e8980edeb3ffdb62108a0c/template.article?articleMgmtId=acaa79edd8d41110VgnVCM1000003d01a8c0RCRD

 

Annual Conference

Make plans now to attend  ASCD's annual conference in New Orleans, March 15-17, 2008. The conference theme is "Reinventing Schools: Courageous Leadership for Positive Change."

 

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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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