Around the District

Broward School District teachers and other employees work with community members during United Way’s annual Day of Caring.

District Employees Take Part in Day of Caring
Dozens of Broward teachers and other District employees rolled up their sleeves and picked up paintbrushes and shovels as part of the United Way's 11th Annual Day of Caring on October 31, 2003. The result? Stranahan High School now has a fresh coat of paint and new landscaping thanks to the efforts of more than 1,800 community volunteers who participated in the renovation project.

Community members, teachers, administrators, students, several board members and Dr. Frank Till were all on hand to lend their support to the project. Stranahan High School Principal Egle Gallagher said, "Coordination with United Way of Broward County and the community was essential to helping get the work done quickly. We appreciate everyone's hard work."

Eddie Jones, CEO of the Miami Dolphins reads to students while serving as Principal for a Day at Sunshine Elementary School.

CEOs, Senior Execs Run Broward Schools (for a Day!) Chief executive officers and senior executives found out what it takes to run Broward's schools during the 11th annual "Principal for a Day" event, which took place on November 19, 2003. This event was established to help local business and community leaders gain a greater understanding of the challenges facing education. The event drew CEOs from a wide-range of backgrounds and experiences. Among this year's 68 participants were: Steve Wassermann, Partner, Colliers International; Eddie Jones, President, Miami Dolphins; Mitch Caesar, Esq. PA, Attorney and Chair of The Broward Democratic Party; Ayman Sabi, CEO, Roadhouse Grill, Inc.; Judge Robert Diaz, 17th Judicial Circuit Court; and Michael Jackson, Director, South Florida Water Management District. Executives spent the day "shadowing" school principals. "Principal for a Day" is a joint effort between the Broward County Public Schools and Partners in Education, Inc.

NetTV Sports Game of the Week a Winner
The American School Board Journal recently announced the District's NetTV Sports Game of the Week is its Magna Awards 2004 grand prize winner. Producers Damian Huttenhoff of Student Support and Alan Hurwitz and Jarret Streiner from Community Relations will receive the award and a $5,000 contribution on behalf of the District during the National School Boards Association Annual Conference in Orlando, March 27-30, 2004.

District Earns Seven Public Relations Awards
Each year, the Sunshine State School Public Relations Association (SUNSPRA) honors schools by presenting Sunshine Medallion Awards. These awards are given to schools and districts that demonstrate innovation, creativity and effectiveness in communicating both internally and externally. This year, Broward took home seven awards from the association's joint conference held December 5, 2003, in Tampa.

Winning schools included:
• Challenger Elementary School - First Place, Handbook-Student/Parent/Staff category: calendar and handbook
• Rock Island Elementary - First Place, Parent Community Involvement category: September 11th commemorative activity

Winning departments included:
• Customer Staff Development Department - First Place, Handbook-Student/Parent/Staff category: The Digital Education Teacher Academy (DETA)
• Student Assessment Department, Second Place - Parent/Community Involvement category: Understanding FCAT Reports 2003
• Community Relations Department - Second Place, Newsletter category: The 411 News You Can Use About Broward Schools employee newsletter
• Community Relations Department - Second Place, Web site category: Broward County Schools Web site
• Community Relations Department - Second Place, "Other" category: Media Relations Made Easy

Pictured are Sunset School's middle school students with the roller coaster they constructed for their science class.

Sunset Middle School's Rolling, Not Coasting
Middle school students at Sunset School wanted to visualize the scientific principles of speed, mass, gravity, friction, momentum, velocity, weight, potential and kinetic energy. Under the direction of their science teacher, Michael Bell, they studied the interactions of each principle on an Internet roller coaster model. The students at the school - which is dedicated to educating severely emotionally disturbed students - found by adjusting different parameters, they could complete the course at a faster speed. Soon students started to compete to see who could achieve the fastest time and speed. Needless to say, they truly enjoyed the assignment.

The class then wanted to take this assignment to a higher level, but the question was "how?" After discussing possible models, the class agreed to build a model roller coaster. Without any assistance from their teacher, the class built a five-foot working model. They divided themselves into two groups and worked over three weeks to assemble the model. Since there were extra parts, one of the groups decided to build a smaller roller coaster inside the larger one. The larger model has two hills, one larger than the other, and one loop.

The students learned other important concepts, including the importance of teamwork, how to follow directions and how to work out differences of opinion regarding the shape of the track. Through trial and error, they modified and solved structural problems that arose. These 7th and 8th graders were very proud of their accomplishments and Sunset is very proud of them.