March - April - May 2003


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The 411 - News You Can Use About Broward Schools
Broward County Public Schools




Around the District

Rickards Students Create Human Bar Graph
Bar Graph
Kristi Connally, a National Certified Mathematics Educator at Rickards Middle School, with help from her fellow team teachers and several people from the District, combined all of her classes for a lesson called, “When You Were Born.” The students collected data about when they were born; recorded and combined the data and used it to create a human circle/pie graph with more than 100 students. The students discussed why their original hypothesis (more people are born in August) was incorrect. In addition to a pie graph, the students created a very large human bar graph. After creating the bar graph, they put colored construction paper down where they stood and – from the bleachers of Rickard’s gym – were able to see the result of their efforts. Connally then had the students move the bar graph together to create a histogram. You can be sure these students understand the concepts of graphing!

Driftwood Middle Magnet Teacher Honored for Environmentalism
Joyce Vickers
Driftwood Middle School magnet teacher Joyce Vickers was named Middle School Environmental Educator of the Year at a ceremony held recently at the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum. Vickers has been an educator for 34 years, having spent the last 23 years at Driftwood. She has developed a curriculum that is taught five periods a day to 6th-and 7th-graders as they plant and harvest vegetables and flowers in an outdoor garden. Last year, through a grant she wrote, her classes were also able to plant a hydroponics lab next to the outdoor garden. Florida Agriculture in the Classroom renewed that grant for this school year. Vickers was recognized by her peers at Driftwood by being named 2006/07 Driftwood Middle School Teacher of the Year. She was also one of the 10 finalists for Broward County Teacher of the Year.

Parkway Magnet Students Have Permanent Art Exhibit
Artists usually spend many years honing their craft and paying their dues before their work is selected for a permanent exhibit. Fortunately, the magnet students in the visual arts program at Parkway Middle School of the Arts haven’t had to wait that long. Parkway now has a permanent gallery of more than 100 pieces of student work at the Children’s Services building, located off Cypress Creek Road in Pompano Beach. The third floor of the building looks like a professional gallery. Artwork fills the hallways and offices in colorful groupings. Plans are already underway to expand the exhibit to the remainder of the building.
MOSAIC Grant for Refugee Families
The Multicultural & ESOL Program Services Education Department recently received grant funding from the Florida Department of Education for a project called MOSAIC (Multicultural Opportunities for Social, Academic and Intergenerational Competence). Through MOSAIC, the department collaborates with the Broward County Library and community organizations to provide after-school academic, literacy, life skills and technology outreach programs to K-12th grade refugee students and their families. Department staff provides training to library staff and community partners on accessing online academic and student services resources through the District Web site and teaching academic content areas to refugee children and youth. The grant partnership creates a seamless learning environment by extending academic opportunities and parental involvement beyond the school day.

Bar Graph
Refugee parents participate by attending workshops to become informed and involved decision-makers in their students’ academic achievement and personal growth. Department staff demonstrates how to access online District resources, such as the Broward Enterprise Education Portal (B.E.E.P.) and the “for Parents” Web site (www.browardesolparents.com). Parents also learn about library, District and community programs that focus upon refugee families’ needs.

District Debuts Reality Avenue Television Show
Broward County Public Schools, in conjunction with BECON-TV and the Office of Prevention Programs, recently debuted its newest television production, Reality Avenue. Reality Avenue is a series of 12 half-hour violence and substance abuse prevention programs created from the visions of student focus groups and assembled by the District’s Office of Prevention Programs. The goal of the series is prevention, which is accomplished by presenting facts and skills in a dynamic, entertaining format using fast-paced, up-beat, energetic and modern themes.

The format of Reality Avenue includes street interviews, up close and personal one-on-one interviews, reality group discussions and expert analysis. Family counselors Patrick Chalmers and Aimee Wood from the District’s Office of Prevention Programs host the show and Broward students conduct group discussions.New Reality Avenue shows will air through May, addressing the topics of addiction, Internet, teen stress and self-injury. Shows aired during the 2006/07 school year will be rebroadcast during the summer months; seven new shows are slotted to begin airing in September. Reality Avenue airs in schools on Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. and Fridays at 1 p.m. It’s broadcast into homes on BECON-TV on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 5 p.m.

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