There will be a “Breakfast with Superintendent Sam Himmel” session at 8:00 – 10:00 am on Tuesday, Dec 7 at Oysters Restaurant in Crystal River.
This is an opportunity for parents/guardians and community members to meet with Superintendent Himmel in a casual setting to share concerns, questions or ideas.
Monthly sessions are being planned in the future for the various communities
around Citrus County if you can’t make this one.
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Filed under: News & Updates
Snubby J performing a medley of recognizable songs on his PVC Pipe Instrument (2.0) inspired by the Blue Man Group at the Del Rey South Talent Show at LMU. Become a fan on Facebook for exclusive videos and pictures of the PVC Instrument and performances!
State officials have approved applications submitted by 62 of Florida’s 67 school districts and three laboratory schools for shares of Florida’s $700 million federal “Race to the Top” education grant. The applications were forwarded Monday to the U.S. Department of Education for approval.
I will be blogging more about “Race to the Top” over the next months and year. I will share what continuing improvements will be coming to our Citrus County Schools as a result of Citrus participating in RttT. THOMAS
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A group of Citrus Springs Middle School students pose for a photo that is part of a music video submitted to a contest to win classroom technology. Pictured are Citrus Springs Middle School students Madison Lambert, Derek Starkweather, Erin Stokes, Jaclyn Wallen, Brittany Gleason, Phil Thomas, Sarah Morgan, Brittany Crowder, Megan Jervis, Sarah Cook, Jamie Kustra, Doug Easom, and teachers Lindsay Novak and Natalie Kozminsky.
ChronicleOnline
Citrus Springs Middle School class competing for $65,000 in technology upgrades
By Cheri Harris
Election season is over, but Citrus Springs Middle School teachers Natalie Kozminsky and Lindsay Novak want your votes.
A video created by Kozminsky, Novak and a group of students has been selected as one of five top finalists in an international contest to win a “technology makeover” valued at $65,000 from eInstruction, a company that sells educational technology to schools.
On Wednesday, November 17th, 2010, I had the opportunity to spend the day at Inverness Middle School participating in the “Great American Teach-In” (GATI) put together by Arnold and Mary-Ann Virgilio of Inverness. Mr. & Mrs. Virgilio have spent years volunteering at our schools and coordinating this wonderful annual event.
Adult community members from every walk of life participated in the GATI: sheriff deputies, attorneys, interior decorators, newspaper publishers, doctors, helicopter pilots, medical technicians, business professionals, all the school board members and many others. Each person spent time sharing what they do, what their background was and how important school was to their success.
I had the pleasure of speaking first in Mr. Craig Jaworski’s Geography class. Then I spent the next several class periods in Ms. Melissa Pfeiffer-Hermann’s American History class. I walked away excited about the great thinkers we have in these students.The students were most engaged and enthusiastic. I shared with the students the structure of a school board and, school system and how it compares to the branches of our federal government. We talked about the duties and responsibilities of the school board and the superintendent and how they differ. I shared about my business background and experiences and how skills I learned in each job played an important part in positions that followed. I was so impressed with the knowledge and out of the box thinking of the students. I encouraged them to continue to learn technology and use their computers as learning tools. I challenged them to learn how to make a word-processing documents, Power Point presentations, and spreadsheet files. I also advised them to make interesting YouTube mini movies and podcasts. I explained that these are the types of tools that they will regularly use in their future careers and they need to begin learning them right now.
Each of us has a responsibility to encourage our students about continually learning. They really are our future and we must not let them down!
On Monday, November 15th, 2010 I attended the Pleasant Grove Elementary (PGE) School Advisory Enhancement Council meeting. This was a well attended meeting with a great mixture of parents, students, staff, educators and school administrators. I always enjoy visiting PGE and seeing what new and exciting things they are doing, this visit was no exception.
That morning the school had an “All Pro Dad” breakfast. It’s a one-hour monthly breakfast held before school where fathers and their children meet with other dads and kids in the school cafeteria. During this time, they discuss a wide range of family topics, spend time together, create fun memories, and are equipped with resources to strengthen their relationship.
The Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA), Ms. Julie Jones shared programs that PGA would be using with the help of two new Teacher Assistants (TA) which the School Board approved funds for at all our Citrus schools from a federal jobs grant. These TAs will be a term position and are only hired for the current school year. Reading strategies are a big mission for these new TAs. Ms. Jones shared that PGA would use among the many tools and programs a Reading Assistance Program (RAP). The RAP will provide some students with extra assistance to boost reading skills. Students are referred for RAP based on individual needs. During RAP time, students will learn a variety of reading strategies using high interest materials. Strategies and skills include phonics, word recognition, sentence structure, vocabulary, and comprehension with the goal of students becoming independent readers within normal reading ranges for their grade level.
PGE Principal, Lynne Kirby, shared some exciting news about many new PGE Blogsthat are being written by administrators and teachers at PGE. These blogs share what the school and teachers are doing in their classrooms and around the school. In addition I was pleased to learn that teachers are taking time to teach and model to students the appropriate way to read, write and interact on the school’s blogs.
Lastly PGE makes history and will be in the record books! PGE will be featured in the 2011 Scholastic Book of World Records for being one of the top 20 elementary schools nationwide (PGE was #19) for having logged the most reading hours ever. OUTSTANDING PGE!!!!
PGE’s next SAEC meeting will be January 24th, 2011!
There will be a “Breakfast with Superintendent Sam Himmel” session at 8:00 – 10:00 am on Tuesday, Dec 7 at Oysters Restaurant in Crystal River.
