School Zone
Points of Pride
San Jose Elementary Kindergarteners Receive History Lesson on Change and Continuity"
 Recently, kindergarten students in
San Jose Elementary School's Dual Language program were treated to a special history lesson when 103-year-old community member Martha Horton visited their class.
Assisted by her daughter, Mrs. Horton talked to the students about her life and the many changes she has witnessed in her 103 years of living. Her accounts provided the students with a vivid picture of her childhood and surroundings during the early 1900s.
She explained that while some things were different when she was growing up, several things are the same – just modernized.
During her presentation, Mrs. Horton informed the students that growing up she ate cereal for breakfast just like many of them, but her cereal had to be cooked, while their cereal is boxed and ready to eat.
Playtime was also different during her childhood. There were no Xbox games or iPods to keep children entertained, instead Mrs. Horton and her siblings played in sand pits where they made sand castles, and went swimming in a canal versus the swimming pools used today.
"It is important that students learn about change and continuity in order to make sense of history and how it affects their lives," said Janice Williams, San Jose Elementary dual language kindergarten teacher. "Mrs. Horton’s visit shows the students that the children of her time had a lot more responsibility and exposure to real life experiences versus the students of today."
Mrs. Horton's visit was part of the school’s new dual language unit, "Long Ago and Today." Here children are introduced to the concept of change and continuity over time. They learn that many years ago life was different than it is today and although life may have looked different for children back then, children today still need and have many things similar to children of the past. Douglas Anderson
FCAT Around the Clock at J.E.B. Stuart Middle
J.E.B. Stuart Middle School recently hosted an FCAT Around the Clock Parent Workshop, providing parents with hands-on activities, strategies and information they could use at home to help their students in the areas of reading, science and math as they moved "around the clock" for workshop sessions.
Participation in an interactive science experiment and a delicious lunch, catered by Sonny's Bar-B-Q, were also a part of the parental activities. Drawings for prizes were offered at the end of each session and one parent was the winner of a new laptop computer.
 Shirley Williams, the Title I contact for the school and coordinator of the event, thanked all the teachers and staff who made FCAT Around the Clock an exciting, educational experience for the parents.
T-3: Teaming up for Technology and Taxes
Parents also had the opportunity to participate in another learning experience - this one about finances and technology.
"T-3: Teaming up for Technology and Taxes" provided parents with helpful tax information from a financial professional, as well as a tutorial about student software that is available for their children both in school and at home.
Douglas Anderson Student Wins GRADY-RAYAM PRIZE
 Kayla Cummings, a senior at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, recently claimed second-place in the 2010 GRADY-RAYAM PRIZE in Sacred Music Competition.
Sponsored by Bright House Networks, the final round of judging for this year’s competition took place in the Anne MacGregor Jenkins Recital Hall on the campus of Florida Southern College in Lakeland. The winning singers impressed a three-person jury panel composed of Dianna Campbell (Seminole State College), Marcia Dawson and Kern Cox (Bethune-Cookman University).
Kayla performed two Negro spirituals, one assigned and one selected. As the second-place winner, Kayla received a $2,000 scholarship assistance grant and a $200 cash prize.
Named for deceased Roman Catholic Bishop, Thomas J. Grady and for Curtis Rayam Jr., voice teacher and renowned opera singer, the GRADY-RAYAM PRIZE has rapidly gained coveted status for music educators hoping to restore classical solo singing to the high school curriculum.
The “Negro Spiritual” Scholarship Foundation sponsors the vocal competition for sacred music. Organized in 1996 as a Florida nonprofit and certified 501(c) (3), the mission of the Foundation is to preserve and promote Negro spiritual songs and give scholarship help to college-bound minority youth.
To learn more about this scholarship, visit
http://www.negrospiritual.org/.
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