National Technical Honor Society at WTI

Posted on April 15th, 2014 by

National Technical Honor Society at WTI

NTHS“CTE provides the high level skills necessary for the 21st century workforce and integrates academics as a significant portion of the curriculum.” ~ Paul Galbenski, 2011-2012 Michigan State’s Teacher of the Year and the first Career and Technical Education teacher in Michigan to earn this prestigious award

Last Wednesday, April 9th, 2014 was Withlacoochee Technical Institute’s National Technical Honor Society 2014 Induction Ceremony where I was the guest speaker. NTHS honors the achievements of top Career & Technical Education students, provides scholarships to encourage the pursuit of higher education, and cultivates excellence in today’s highly competitive, skilled workforce. For over 30 years, NTHS has been the acknowledged leader in the recognition of outstanding student achievement in career and technical education.

WTI NTHSOne of the educational areas in Citrus Schools I am so proud of is our Career & Technical Education programs at WTI and at our three high schools.  Programs that teach job skills and often earn career certifications, some of these examples are the Culinary Arts & Food Services, Drafting Academies, and CRHS Health Academy. But it is our flagship technical school WTI that is the center piece of CTE in Citrus Schools.  WTI has a completion or graduation rate of 91%, a licensure exam rate of 94%, a job placement rate of 91%, and last year WTI students earned 415 industry certifications.

Why am I such a strong proponent of CTE? Because I am a third generation Career & Technical Education student whose family members benefited because Career & Technical Education (or what was then referred to as vocational or business classes) were available to them. My father held over 20 certifications and was the Director of Environmental Services for a large metro hospital outside of Boston along with being a successful business owner;  my mother was a licensed practical nurse who became the Director of Risk Management & Quality Assurance at that same hospital; and  my maternal grandmother was an LPN who owned & operated her own convalescent home.  For me CTE training and certifications greatly contributed in my success in real estate, construction, and computer technology.

Thomas HonoredWhy is CTE critical to our community, state and country? In Walter Isaacson’s biography on Steve Jobs he writes that President Barack Obama asked Jobs what it would take to move manufacturing of Apple Products from China to the United States. Jobs explained that it could not be done.  His answer again speaks to the importance our educational system plays in the development of jobs in our country. Jobs went on to urge that a way be found to train more American Engineers. “Apple had 700,000 factory workers employed in China”, he said, “and that was because it needed 30,000 engineers on-site to support those workers. You can’t find that many Factory Engineers in America to hire,” he added. These Factory Engineers in China did not have to be PhDs or geniuses; they simply needed to have basic engineering skills for manufacturing. Tech schools, community colleges, or trade schools could train them. “If you could educate these engineers,” Jobs said, “then we could move more manufacturing plants here.” This is what WTI’s CTE studies are doing each school day and HTHS is honoring.

On this evening I was honored to receive an Honorary Membership into the National Technical Honor Society by WTI Director Denise Willis and WTI’s NTHS Advisor Victoria Sleighter.

I will continue to be an advocate for CTE in our schools and community because job skills, training and certifications have a direct correlation to personal and community economic success.

*******

It’s been said, “The person who’s on the top of the mountain, did not simply fall there by accident.” CTE students choose to learn today so that they may be successful in a job tomorrow!

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Regular Board Meeting Recap for April 8th, 2014

Posted on April 13th, 2014 by

Regular Board Meeting Recap for April 8th, 2014

10151969_10152287671591259_79870341862242428_nDuring the meeting Superintendent Himmel presented the Superintendent’s “Making a Difference Award” to Crystal River High School student Tyler Phillips and to Lecanto Primary School teacher Dianna Bandhauer. Tyler was awarded for his selfless commitment and work in helping the Crystal River High School campus remain the beautiful campus it is. 10151252_10152289281536259_8037167312473512213_nMs. Bandhauer was awarded for her work on the school’s, “Fuel Up To Play 60”.  Ms. Bandhauer  gave a presentation to the  school board about the  Fuel Up To Play 60 program LPS students have been involved in. Fuel Up To Play 60 is a nationwide movement focused on encouraging kids to eat healthy and be active for 60 minutes a day.

School district staff presented the bid results for the districts’ before-and after-school programs. The recommended bid was the Citrus YMCA of the Suncoast.   The YMCA won the bid process ; the  Y already has been operating the before-and- after-school program at Homosassa Elementary School. YMCA Executive Director Joanna Castle gave a presentation on the Y’s before-and- after-school and explained that the Y partners with the Early Learning Coalition and is  licensed through the state of Florida and the Department of Children and Families.  The Y will offer financial assistance for the before-and- after-school programs, something that the school district previously could not.  Ms. Castle shared that the Y has been  the nation’s largest before-and- after-school care provider for the past 30 years.  She went on to say that currently the Y offers before-and- after-school programs to about 5,000 youths at 51 child care sites already. After Ms. Castle’s presentation the Board voted unanimously to award the bid to the Y.

1798031_10152289277036259_3650297717728970538_nAlso during the meeting Citrus Springs Middle’s Assistant Principal Jason Koon and AVID English Language Arts teacher Dan Koch gave an excellent presentation to the board about “Flipped Classrooms” and other strategies they learned  while they were at the Florida Educational Technology Conference in Orlando in January.

If you would like to see more of the board meeting  follow this link to the video stream: http://new.livestream.com/citrusschools/events/2901929

Our next board workshop and meeting is April 22nd, 2014.

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DO NOT DELAY!!! Camp Citrus at MSS

Posted on April 11th, 2014 by

Camp Citrus at MSS

DO NOT DELAY!!!

For only $249, a middle or high school student can attend Camp Citrus for 5 days and 4 nights of outstanding aquatic educational activities, delicious meals and overnight lodging at the Marine Science Station in Crystal River! Go to www.citrus.k12.fl.us/mss for more information and to apply for this excellent opportunity! The deadline is May 9th! Thanks to the Southwest Florida Water Management District for their generous grant to help make this camp more affordable for students in Citrus, Marion, and Hernando Counties!

Camp Citrus at MSS

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SB864 & HB921 Textbook Bill Update

Posted on April 11th, 2014 by

SB864 & HB921 Textbook Bill Update

TextbooksToday the Senate passed their version of CS/SB 864 titled, “Instructional Materials for K-12 Public Education”, 21 YES to 19 against.  I want to thank our Senator Charles Dean for standing strong and voting against this bill.  As I have shared I have express great concerns about SB 864. (Follow this link to learn more about SB864 – https://thomastalks.org/?p=5930).

The House’s companion bill version HB 921 was approved by the Educational Committee and sent to the floor for a vote. The House’s version is a much better bill and one if school districts can more easily lives with as it allows us to remain using our current textbook adoption processes without adding any new additional costs or concern.  I want to thank Florida House Rep. Carl Zimmermann (of Pinellas County) who serves on the Edu. Committee voted for HB 921 but expressed concerns to the bill’s sponsor Rep. Matt Gaetz that if HB 921 begins to change and look like SB 864 he would withdraw his support and vote against the bill.

Our hope is that House version still if approved by the whole house could still be adopted by the Senate or if both bills remain so different then they will die this session.

Please contact Florida Legislators and make them aware that House bill HB921 is good for students and schools.

Follow this link for a list of Florida Senators: https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators

Follow this link for a list of Florida House of Representatives: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/representatives.aspx?sui=KJrm/ki0T1w=-

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Steve Jobs on Education (Revisited)

Posted on April 7th, 2014 by

“This blog post I wrote on Feb. 16th, 2014. With all the changes coming to education in Florida and the continual requirement of transition to digital curriculum I thought this post was as relevant now as it was then and thought I would repost it to share with some of our new readers. Since this writing the pilot at CSMS has gone into a district wide innovative. Further in the current state legislative session there is proposed legislation that move up the timeline from print to digital transition.” ~Thomas

Steve Jobs on Education (Revisited)

“All books, learning materials, and assessments should be digital and interactive, tailored to each student and providing feedback in real time.” ~Steve Jobs

I just finished reading (or rather listening to the audiobook) Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. As an early computer user my second personal computer was a Macintosh 512Ke. Over the years in addition to Windows PC computers we have had Mac PowerBook 150, iPods and now an iPad 2. While I have always been interested in Jobs I have also always been an admirer of Jobs original Apple partner Steve “Woz” Wozniak who was the creator of the Apple I and the Apple II. I enjoyed reliving much of my “geeky” upbringing with computers. In chapter forty-one Isaacson shares Steve Jobs observation of the educational system. “Jobs also criticized America’s Education System, saying that it was hopelessly antiquated… It was absurd, he added, that American classrooms were still based on teachers standing at a board and using textbooks. All books, learning materials, and assessments should be digital and interactive, tailored to each student and providing feedback in real time.” Steve Jobs major competitor and colleague was Bill Gates. Gates also has been working to make changes in education through the use of his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. During Gates last meeting prior to Jobs death, Jobs and Gates spoke about the educational system together. “They agreed that computers had, so far, made surprisingly little impact on schools—far less than on other realms of society such as media and medicine and law. For that to change, Gates said, computers and mobile devices would have to focus on delivering more personalized lessons and providing motivational feedback.” In his book, Isaacson shared how Steve Jobs was asked by President Barack Obama what it would take to move manufacturing of Apple Products from China to the United States. Jobs explained that it cannot be done. His answer again speaks to the importance our educational system plays in the development of jobs in our country. “Jobs went on to urge that a way be found to train more American Engineers. Apple had 700,000 factory workers employed in China, he said, and that was because it needed 30,000 engineers on-site to support those workers. You can’t find that many ‘Factory Engineers’ in America to hire,” he added. These Factory Engineers in China did not have to be PhDs or geniuses; they simply needed to have basic engineering skills for manufacturing. Tech schools, community colleges, or trade schools could train them. “If you could educate these engineers,” Jobs said, “then we could move more manufacturing plants here.” For those of us in education, Jobs opinions and observations are not new, but they are important for us to be reminded of. We might not all agree with all of Steve Jobs or Bill Gates philosophies on the American Education System but these are two men that clearly have a perspective we cannot ignore. To give you an idea of the perspective Steve Jobs and Apple have, Apple, Inc. has cash on hand today $76 billion. The United States Treasury has $74 billion or $2 billion less than Apple has of cash on hand. What excites me is that Citrus County Schools has been planning and moving in much of the direction that Jobs and Gates are suggesting. Our district last year went to a computer leasing program which updated nearly every computer system in the district and schools and will update them again every three years all at a cost near or less than what it cost to purchase computers. This means that students now have access to the latest industry software and hardware. Now what I am most excited about it our district is getting ready to initiate a pilot “One to One” mobile technology for students which will put a mobile device in the hands of every student in the pilot program. This means students will use these devices as their textbook readers and mobile learning centers. It will allow for both individual remediation and/or individual advancement for students.

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IMPORTANT LEGISLATIVE CALL TO ACTION: Textbook Bill

Posted on April 3rd, 2014 by

Textbook Bill

Call-to-action-with-words[IMPORTANT LEGISLATIVE CALL TO ACTION: The Senate today, (Thursday, 4/3/2014) will be debating this Senate Bill CS/SB 864 and then on Friday (4/4/2014) they will vote on the bill.  Please read below on this complex issue and then contact not only your Florida Senator but in particular Senator Rob Bradley, Senator John Legg, Senator Bill Montford, Senator Jeremy Ring, Senator Alan Hays and other Florida Senators and asked them to NOT support Senate’s bill but to support the House’s HB 921 “strike-all” Amended version. Follow this link for a list of Senators: https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators]

textbooks

Choosing new textbooks for our students is often a challenging undertaking. Having experienced the process as both a parent and as a school board member I am pleased with the process Citrus Schools uses to select textbooks.  Our textbook selection process includes involving the very educators that will be delivering the content to our students. Textbooks are funded on a subject area rotation and are typically expected to be used for at least five years. To view Citrus Schools’ rotation of subject area textbook selections visit our textbook page at: http://www.citrus.k12.fl.us/edserv/klauderm/instructional_materials.htm

There are bills that will go to a floor vote in the coming days which would have a costly and negative effect on our students and schools: Senate Bill CS/SB 864 titled, “Instructional Materials for K-12 Public Education” if approved would eliminate the state level instructional materials review and add new unfunded mandates are just the beginnings of concerns we have. [NOTE: The House companion – HB 921 – this week has been substantially amended to retain the current state level adoption process and provide guidelines for districts that choose to follow an optional local adoption process.]

The textbook selection process in Citrus School District begins by choosing potential textbook selections from the Florida Department of Education’s Catalog of State Adopted Instructional Materials. These catalog choices are provided to districts by FL-DOE to ensure that the textbook choices districts choose meet the Florida educational standards.  During the 2013 state legislative session the Legislature passed a change provided school board with the option to allow school districts to not limit themselves to only choosing textbooks off of the FL-DOE Catalog of State Adopted Instructional Materials.  After passing that legislation last year none of the 67 districts chose a textbook not vetted by FL-DOE.  In Citrus County the Educational Services Department oversees the selection process.  For each year’s adoption a textbook committee is formed that includes representatives from various schools, subject area trainers, and school curriculum administrators.  The potential textbooks are then reviewed and deliberated. A blind scoring process is used to determine strengths and weakness of selections. The committee then recommends to the Superintendent who then has final approval of what textbook is recommended to the school board for approval. School Boards then have to approve or not approve the recommended textbook(s).

If Senate Bill CS/SB 864 passes then the legislature will drastically change our process and mandate how and what districts do in choosing textbooks and it will be done by forcing districts to accomplish it without the necessary assistance of the Florida Department of Education.  Why is that so important? Because it is the State of Florida through both the Legislature and State Educational Board that determines the state curriculum standards and testing assessments. This is why it has been in law for school districts to have the assistance of State Adopted Instructional Material so that textbook choices match the standards the state is mandating.  To not do so is simply inappropriate and wrong.

What will happen if this bill passes?  It will eliminating a uniform and consistent update of materials for all Florida students and force each district to negotiate on its own rather than through a state competitive cost process. It will add significant new workloads to districts by placing districts now in the position of certify that the recommended textbook(s) meet state standards. It removes district’s freedom to determine the make-up of their adoption review committees and would conflict with current statute that requires that the Superintendent of schools manages the textbook selection committee and then places school board members in the role of choosing committee members and determining if they have curriculum experience. The bill creates unfunded mandates in that it will now require districts to fund advertise, create bids, provide electronic public comments, and hold public meetings and school board hearings in the selection of instructional materials.  It would significantly increases district purchasing departments workload and necessary approvals of purchase orders for multiple individual publishers rather than to a single state depository. It virtually eliminates the requirement for publishers to write to Florida standards and, instead, substitute generic content as they do for non-adoption states.  It would also remove vendor incentives to provide test item banks that can assist with development of student testing including end-of-course exams.

Proponents will say that this bill provides school boards with “local control” but that is false.  This bill forces school superintendents and school boards to use a specific process instead of their own.  These forced processes are costly and force school boards to select members of the general public to make textbook recommendations for students. That is not representative governing.  This bill at best is selective local control. We don’t see proposed legislation or policies by either the state legislature and/or the Florida Board of Education giving school boards local control of students’ academic standards (Florida State Standards/Common Core) and allowing districts to develop their our own assessments.

For these reasons I am against Senate Bill CS/SB 864, “Instructional Materials for K-12 Public Education”.  This is simply another bill that if passed will have negative effects for students at a high cost to tax payers.  This bill is not yet approved. While there is still time I ask you to contact Florida representatives and encourage them not to support this legislation.

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