Posted on August 21st, 2012 by
Thomas Kennedy
EdCamp Citrus 2012
“The of the best learning events for Educators in all of Florida!”
Only two months away until EdCamp Citrus 2012. ECC will take place this year on October 20, 2012 at Citrus High School in Inverness. This will be ECC’s third annual event and is one fo the largest in the country.
EdCamp again will offer teachers an outstanding opportunity to learn how to incorporate some of the best teaching strategies in their classrooms. While the use of technology to deliver curriculum is a big part of EdCamp it is not exclusively a technology conference.
What is EdCamp?
EdCamp Citrus 2012 is an
unconference, inspired by similar events being organized around the country. The goal of edcamp Citrus is to bring educators together to discuss technology that works. It’s a conference for educators, by educators, and the presenters are the people that show up to the event. If you want to present, you just write your name on the board and you present for an hour. If people get something out of it, that’s great. If not, participants are encouraged to vote with their feet. So the event is as good as the people that show up to participate.
While there will be organizers for this event, we only provide the basic framework. Teachers and educators like you show up and decide what is going to be discussed. No longer are you stuck with sessions that have been determined months ahead of time in which you have no input. If you do not see something that is helpful, create your own session and share what you know best.
Please contact the organizers of EdCamp Citrus at any time with questions or ideas:
Email: edcampcitrus@gmail.com
Twitter: @edcampCitrus
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Filed under: News & Updates
Posted on August 21st, 2012 by
Thomas Kennedy
Four Citrus Schools Get Free Solar Power Generating Systems
Some Bay area schools that also serve as emergency shelters are getting free solar installations and battery backup systems.
The new systems are from a $200,000 grant from Progress Energy Florida (PEF) and is part of a program called SunSense® that has a goal of increasing renewable energy education. The SunSense® schools program helps schools in the PEF service territory to manage energy costs while promoting energy education. The program provides new solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to schools designated as Enhanced Hurricane Protection Area (EHPA) shelters, at no cost to our schools. The program supports renewable energy education, energy efficiency and environmental stewardship by providing teachers and students with interactive learning experiences and training materials.
Our schools were chosen based on their commitment to energy efficiency and renewable energy education, number of students, the shelter’s capacity and the school’s location.
Citrus High and Inverness Primary School are two of the four schools that will receive the new solar technology.
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Filed under: News & Updates
Posted on August 19th, 2012 by
Thomas Kennedy
FROM LEFT: On location in Lecanto, are Curt Clendenney, Citrus Sheriff Fire Rescue’s training coordinator; Denise Willis, the Withlacoochee Technical Institute’s director; and Capt. Phil Royal, director of the Citrus County Public Safety Training Center proudly display the certificate of accreditation awarded by the Council on Occupational Education to the Fire Academy and Citrus County Fire Training Center.
Fire Academy Earns Accreditation
The Citrus County Public Safety Training Center announced that the Fire Training Center and Fire Academy in Lecanto is now accredited by the Council on Occupational Education. The accreditation was made possible through our ongoing partnership with Withlacoochee Technical Institute and the Citrus County School Board.
The Citrus County Public Safety Training Center’s Fire Academy and Fire Training Center joines the Inverness-based Withlacoochee Technical Institute (WTI), plus the Criminal Justice and Corrections academies, as accredited teaching facilities.
In keeping with the longstanding partnership between the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office and School District, WTI director Denise Willis worked closely with the public safety training center’s director, Capt. Phil Royal, and Citrus Sheriff Fire Rescue’s training coordinator Curt Clendenney to provide applicable lesson plans, policies and procedures for review by the visiting assessment team.
“Accreditation clearly demonstrates that the Sheriff’s Office and Citrus County School District are aiming for the highest standards in our policies and operating procedures,” said Capt. Royal. “It makes us accountable to an accrediting authority and should increase the public’s confidence in the way we do business,” he added.
Recognized since 1995 as a national institutional accrediting agency, COE had its start in 1971 as the Commission on Occupational Education Institutions of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Back then, it was a regional accrediting association that provided accreditation services to postsecondary occupational education institutions in an 11-state region.
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Posted on August 19th, 2012 by
Thomas Kennedy
Understanding Dyslexia Event
Central Ridge Library , September 14th 11:00am to 12:00pm
Discover the tools to succeed at the “Understanding Dyslexia” class. The class covers the definition of dyslexia, causes, neurology, early signs, and when/how to get help for your child. Talk will be followed by an open question-and-answer period.
Dyslexia is the most frequently occurring learning disorder in the United States, but it can sometimes be difficult to obtain help on this subject. Join Elaine Fellows, an Orton-Gillingham certified tutor, for this excellent class supported by evidence-based research.
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Filed under: News & Updates
Posted on August 17th, 2012 by
Thomas Kennedy
Rita Stinson, 12, and classmate Sebastian Jones, 12, work together to get familiar with their iPads.
iPads are Deployed!
Today at Citrus Springs Middle School history was made when virtual all students in 7th grade received iPads as part of a district pilot to transition print to digital curriculum.
I feel Eileen Jenkin, CSMS’s Teacher on Special Assignment explain it best when the night before she said, “Ready for a momentous day at CSMS tomorrow. It feels a bit like the night before Christmas…”
I feel honored to have played a small role in this project and over the coming school year I will be regularly updating you to its progress.
Mike Wright, reporter from the Chronicle wrote an outstanding article on the initiative. I encourage you to following this link and read the article: http://www.chronicleonline.com/content/ipads-given-students-citrus-springs-middle-school
In addition to the newspaper, BayNews9 covered the story at: http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2012/8/16/citrus_middle_school.html
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Filed under: News & Updates
Posted on August 16th, 2012 by
Thomas Kennedy
Citrus High Schools’ ADA Drafting School Update
Drafting is not just a class at CHS, it’s the road to a career!
Mr. E. H. Lindsey, the Drafting, AutoCAD & Inventor Pro Educator at CHS is warming up for the 2012-2013 school year and shared a re-cap of CHS certification efforts from last year’s 2011-2012 school year.
CHS certified 32 students during the 2011-2012 school year; 9 at the professional level; 23 at the apprentice level. Since 2008, we have certified 52 students at the apprentice level and 152 students at the professional level, a total of 204 total certifications.
In May of 2012, CHS graduated 44 seniors that had obtained their American Design Drafting Association (ADDA) certification. Looking forward to May 2013, CHS has 37 seniors (scheduled for graduation) that has already obtained their ADDA certifications.
According to the ADDA Citrus High School is still the leading school in Florida and the Southeast in certifying mechanical draftsmen for 4 years in a row. CHS are second in the nation for certifying mechanical draftsmen for the four 4 years in a row. Those figures include high school, tech school, private tech schools, community and 4-year colleges. The only school that surpasses CHA record is a school in NJ that has seven instructors teaching Drafting. And they only beat us out by two or three students a year. Mr. Lindsey says, “Give me time and the resources, I will beat them.”
For more information on CHS Drafting Programs visit their web site at: www.citrus.k12.fl.us/chs/drafting
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