News Slices

Family Day – A Day To Eat Dinner With Your Children
Research by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University consistently finds that children who often eat dinner with their families are less likely to smoke, drink or use drugs. Florida Family Day, a day to eat dinner with your children, will be celebrated on Monday, Sept. 24. Family Day emphasizes the importance of regular family activities and encourages Americans to make family dinners a regular feature of their lives.

CASA created Family Day in 2001 as a national effort to promote family dinners as an effective way to reduce substance abuse among children and teens. Family Day is celebrated annually on the fourth Monday in September.

For more information on Family Day or to find tips on how to talk to your children about drugs, visit www.casafamilyday.org.

State Board of Education Update
The State Board of Education met in Tampa on Tuesday, Sept. 18, and discussed a number of topics, including exclusive authority relating to charter schools, approval of proposed revisions to mathematics Sunshine State Standards, approval of district Assistance Plus Plans for repeating F schools and teacher retention and vacancies. The Board also voted to accept three applicants from a pool of seven as finalists for the Florida Commissioner of Education position - Dr. Joseph Marinelli, Dr. Eric Smith, and Dr. Cheri Yecke. The three finalists were chosen following in-depth interviews on Monday, Sept. 17, which addressed the candidates’ commitment to public education/student-first philosophy, knowledge of standards-based education and successful education reform efforts, experience with diverse populations, leading and managing a complex organization and commitment to stakeholder engagement/partnerships. For the latest updates from the State Board of Education, visit www.fldoe.org/board.

2008 Sunshine State Scholars Program
Each school district is invited to select the District Scholar(s) who will represent them in the Sunshine State Scholars program (SSSP), a competition that provides the opportunity for every district in Florida to showcase excellent student performance in mathematics and science. Scholars must be graduating seniors who are distinguished in math and science. Districts may set up their own procedures to select their scholar(s). District Scholars must be available to participate in the regional competition on Jan. 9, 2008, and if selected as a Regional Scholar, to compete in the state competition in Tallahassee March 8-11, 2008.

On Jan. 9, 2008, the District Scholars in each region of the state will participate in a common mathematics/science assessment, which will identify the 10 Regional Sunshine State Scholars. A team of mathematics and science professors from universities throughout Florida will develop and administer the assessment. Assessment activities will become available through the Sunshine State Scholars Web site at www.unf.edu/dept/sunshine, and will be shared with educators throughout the state. The top scholar from each of the six regions who performs highest in their regional competition will be designated a Regional Scholar. In addition, the highest performing four from the remaining 89 District Scholars participating in the regional competition will also be designated as Regional Scholars. This year, the SSSP is developing an online system for designating District Scholars, and superintendents will be notified of how to use the system as soon as it is available (operational by Nov. 1, 2007). District offices should submit their District Scholars’ information by Nov.16, 2007.

If you have questions or need clarification about this program, please contact Lance King at lance.king@fldoe.org or (850) 245-0667. You may also contact Dr. William Caldwell at wcaldwel@unf.edu or (904) 620-2496.

Holcombe to Assume Interim Community Colleges Chancellor Post in October
Dr. Willis N. Holcombe has been appointed Interim Chancellor for the Division of Community Colleges by the State Board of Education. Holcombe has more than 30 years of experience in educational leadership and administration in Florida’s Community College System.

Holcombe completed his undergraduate studies at Baldwin-Wallace College and earned both his master’s degree in Education and Ph.D. in College Administration from the University of Florida. A former U.S. Marine Corps Captain, Dr. Holcombe began his teaching career at Ford Junior High School in Brook Park, Ohio. Holcombe later joined Florida’s Community College System, serving as an English professor at Santa Fe Community College and Broward Community College, where he eventually became president in 1987. Holcombe has also served as Vice President of Brevard Community College, provost and academic dean for Broward’s Central Campus and assistant to the President for Broward Community College.

National School Lunch Week
National School Lunch Week (NSLW) will be celebrated nationwide Oct. 15-19. To raise public awareness about the nutritional value of the federally-funded lunch program available at schools and to involve students in school lunch during this week, children are invited to vote for their favorite school lunch at www.VoteForSchoolLunch.org. A winner will be selected on October 22.

The Florida Department of Education Food and Nutrition Management section administers and provides financial oversight of the federal Child Nutrition Programs in Florida, including the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, and the Special Milk Program. In Florida, the school lunch program serves an average of 1.28 million lunch meals daily to Florida students.

For more information about food and nutrition in Florida schools, visit www.fldoe.org/FNM.

National School Bus Safety Week
The Department of Education School Transportation Management Section will celebrate National School Bus Safety Week Oct. 22-26, 2007. This year’s School Bus Safety Week theme, “Be Aware-Cross With Care,” will include special events throughout the nation. The Department will kick-off the week with a complimentary bus ride to Bond Elementary in Tallahassee, Fla., to participate in a training program for students that will include Buster the Bus and Bob the Builder.

Buster the Bus, a miniature, robotic school bus equipped with the functions of a real bus, will discuss rules and safety tips with students in kindergarten through third grade.

For more information about National School Bus Safety Week, contact Kay Kanupp at (850) 245-9795.

2007-2008 Career Cruiser
The Florida Department of Education Division of Workforce Education recently distributed the 2007-2008 Career Cruiser, a career and education magazine to all middle schools. The Career Cruiser includes information on occupations, personal assessment activities, and career planning. Students can learn more about themselves and how to match their interests and abilities to career and education options. A Teacher’s Guide is only available on the Workforce Web site at www.fldoe.org/workforce/ced. Additional resources for the career and education planning course include the Educator’s Toolkit at www.fldoe.org/workforce/ced, CHOICES Planner or CHOICES Explorer at www.flchoices.org, and FACTS (www.facts.org).

NBC News Archives Released in Digital Learning Environment
NBC News recently opened its video vault of more than 60-years of historic news archives and supplemental resources. NBC News and HotChalk, a K-12 focused learning management system, have partnered to offer this resource of educational content specifically created for classroom instruction to teachers in every school.

More than 5,000 video resources provided by NBC through HotChalk can be used to supplement instruction in a wide range of courses, including history, science, government, international relations and so much more.

Teachers of all grades can sign up to use the new education resource free of charge at www.HotChalk.com for the fall 2007-2008 semester. Continued use requires a school building subscription through HotChalk for interested users.

For more information about this resource, visit www.hotchalk.com/nbc.html.

CPR Training Seeks to Save Lives
The Florida Department of Education Office of Healthy Schools encourages school districts to provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training to faculty and staff. Recently, the Department worked with the American Heart Association (AHA) to provide CPR training and materials to employees. The training included guidance on providing CPR and choking assistance to adults and children in a safe, timely, and effective manner, and also included instruction on how to use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED). Materials to provide AHA trainings are available by loan at no cost from the Office of Healthy Schools. For more information, contact Kari King at Kari.King@fldoe.org or call (866) 312-6497.