Page 7 - Demo

Rockledge High sta visit Port Canaveral to experience CTE program highlights.
“Our goal is a far-reaching expansion of college and career opportunities for all of our students,” said Principal Vickie Hickey. “We want to ensure that all of our CTE programs, AVID, and Cambridge programs allow for a space of integration, allowing all of our students to nd a pathway that ts their interests and abilities.
SABAL ELEMENTARY
Sabal Elementary sixth graders recently engaged in a unique, anti-bullying project by using positive and kind language on a large white-board to express their feelings.
Due to a rise of negative speak and hurt feelings amongst students, Sabal sixth grade teachers orchestrated a positivity project called Erasing Meanness, where students confronted
Sabal Elementary students learn about the e ects of negative words.
negative words displayed on a white-board and were asked
to correct the negative with positive messages. The students began the lesson by writing down mean things that either they have heard or have said to others. The classes then watched a video that showed how students at one school revised “mean” notes on lockers and walls and replaced them with positive messages. The next day, sixth grade teacher Patti Robinson, displayed all of the anonymous mean messages
on a large white-board and the students’ response was an emotional one.
“I heard comments like, ‘Wow, someone really said that?’ ‘How can we be so mean?’‘I didn’t realize what I was doing,’” said Robinson. “And nally, ‘Can we please erase all of this?’ solidifying that this process really hit home.”
To conclude the project, the students wiped the negative board clean and the message was replaced with the question: “How do you want to be remembered?”The students wrote down phrases, words, and messages to help spread positivity.
STEAM
The Ash Center
for Democratic
Governance
and Innovation
at the John F.
Kennedy School
of Government,
at Harvard University, has recognized Brevard’s STEAM catalyst magnet schools as part of the 2017 Bright Ideas in Government initiative. Brevard’s STEAM catalyst magnet schools are part of a cohort that includes programs from all levels of government — school districts, county, city, state, federal agencies,
and tribal nations, as well as public-private partnerships
— that represent the next horizon in government work to improve services, solve problems, and work on behalf of citizens. Magnet Schools Assistance Program grant funding was awarded to Brevard Public Schools in October 2013 to create unique STEAM programs at Palm Bay Magnet High, Stone Magnet Middle, McNair Magnet Middle, and Golfview Elementary Magnet School.
STEAM is the integration of science, technology, engineering, arts and math where students have access to unique coursework, equipment, clubs, curriculum and experts to guide them towards careers in these elds. Students from the entire county may submit an application to attend, and over 750 students have taken advantage of the unique opportunities.
“These programs demonstrate that there are no prerequisites for doing the good work of governing” said Stephen Goldsmith, director of the Innovations in American Government program at the Ash Center. “Small towns and massive cities, huge federal agencies and local school districts, large budgets or
no budgets at all — what makes government work best is
the drive to do better, and this group proves that drive can be found anywhere.”
This is the fth cohort recognized through the Bright Ideas program, an initiative of the broader Innovations in American Government Awards program. For consideration as a Bright Idea, programs must currently be in operation or in the process of launching, have su cient operational resources, and must be administered by one or more governmental entities; nonpro t, private sector, and union initiatives are eligible if operating in partnership with a governmental organization. Bright Ideas are showcased on the Ash Center’s Government Innovators Network, an online platform for practitioners and policymakers to share innovative public policy solutions.
STONE MAGNET MIDDLE
Stone Magnet Middle students recently received permission to carry their MacBook Air laptops home with them to foster the one to one digital initiative.
The school utilized federal funds from the 2013 Magnet School Assistance Program grant to purchase the devices and have been working towards the goal of students taking them home for the past three years. While the students did not have to pay for
the device, there is an
activity fee of $36.60,
which provides insurance coverage on the device for the school year. In addition to student use at home for assignments and projects, teachers have had multiple trainings on utilizing this technology in the classroom.
“We believe that the implementation of a 1:1 device initiative will enhance individualized instruction for critical thinking and creativity,” said Principal Mary Bland. “This will maximize student opportunities for self-assessment and deeper understanding of content, resulting in interactive, engaging, collaborative, on-demand instruction, and in nite levels of learning.”
Bland is currently working on options for families who do not have access to the Internet at home. Additionally, there are several students who cannot a ord the activity fee.
If anyone would like to donate to a scholarship fund to help cover the activity fee for students in need, please contact the school directly.
Stone Magnet Middle students utilize laptops at home for engaging, interactive learning.
April 2017
edConnect
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