I had a most fun and educational day today.  I started my morning visiting at Forest Ridge Elementary school where Principal Windham showed me through several classrooms and I had an opportunity to see the many wonderful students of FRE.   As our visit came to an end I had a chance to spend time watching the “Hurricane Tony” (See a related 2003 story by clicking here.) This is an annual event for Mr. Tony Mattingly’s class.  Students and their families build to scale small model homes and businesses that are then laid out like a city and then “Hurricane Tony” along with his helpers use lawn blowers to simulate the wind of a hurricane while a helper has water raining down from above.  Then just when you think it is all over a flood of water and debris which comes from a fully filled truck bed of water from Mr. Mattingly’s truck comes rushing over the city.  What is left is not pretty.  I have seen this before but again the details of the buildings only seems to get better and better.  The students learn a great deal about good and bad engineering, quality of materials, height of buildings, wind damage, path of floods and much more, plus it is loads of fun!

After “Hurricane Tony” I headed over to Lecanto to the Rodger Weaver Educational Complex for a meeting and road trip with Mr. Chuck Dixon, Director of the school district’s Planning & Growth Management.  Mr. Dixon’s department among its many responsibilities is school re-zoning, growth planning, out of zone requests, and much more.  If you are interested you can visit the department’s web site to look up what schools you are currently zoned for.  Mr. Dixon is a wealth of knowledge and his data collection and his growth planning is critical to our district’s successful future planning and fiscally prudent growth.  Mr. Dixon spent time updating me on our district’s capital improvement short and long term plans and then we went on the road.  We spent the better part of the afternoon in Crystal River walking on site of the two current construction projects at Crystal River Primary and Crystal River High School. Both of these projects are well underway and will each have a great positive impact on our Crystal River schools and students.  Both campuses will be dramatically changed and will be a much better place for learning.

There is a School Board meeting next Tuesday, September, 14^th, 2010 at 3:00pm.  If you are interested you can view the agenda by clicking here.

Have a great weekend!

Thomas

Associated Links

www.citrus.k12.fl.us/fre/

www.sptimes.com/2003/10/06/Xpress/Blown_away_by_the_les.shtml

www.citrus.k12.fl.us/pgm/

http://www.citrus.k12.fl.us/crp/

http://www.citrus.k12.fl.us/crh/

http://www.citrus.k12.fl.us/board/agendas_minutes/2010-2011/a0901410adm.pdf

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