Putnam County SchoolsEngagement, Safety, Performance

MATH SCORES RISE IN STATE RANKINGS

ALGEBRA SCORES SPIKE

SENIORS CELEBRATE

Volume 3.5July 2012

page 2 July 2012

As mild and steady rain fell on Thompson-Baker Stadium, creat-ing conversations in the crowd over whether the weather would push graduation back a night, the first few 2012 Interlachen High School graduates lining up behind a chain link fence were stoic, or smiling, or laughing.No graduate seemed to be think-ing about the weather. “I’m excited, nervous,” said Magna Cum Laude graduate Rebecca Alford. “It didn’t

seem real until right now.” Alford, a star athlete for IHS, heads to St. Johns River State College with an idea of being a nurse.Longtime PCSD employee Jim Martin said smart phone radar bands were green – which he said meant there was a fair chance he’d see the graduation of his daughter, Summa Cum Laude recipient Cassandra Ni-cole Martin, Alford’s fellow Top 50 scholar headed to UNF on a psychol-ogy scholarship.

Nearby, Interlachen Elementary School teacher Sandi Wilber waited. “Waiting for the lightning to strike – for both reasons,” she said. Sandi calls her son, Cum Laude grad Dylan Wilber “quirky” and says it’s a great quality. He heads to Stetson Univer-sity on a bio-chemistry scholarship.MissionsAt nearly the moment graduate Cassaundra Blehm smiled at a friend – waiting behind the chain link fence Grand Marshals Deena Acree and Crystal Eason will wait behind next

June – the rain stopped, and the seniors marched onto the football field.At age 9, Blehm lost her mother in a car accident. Thankfully, she wasn’t at the scene. But on that day she decided to help save lives in trauma, and heads to First Coast Technical College to become an EMT.

Cum Laude Graduate James Richie thanked God for holding the rain just a short while, as he said the town needs it. IHS Principal Thomas Bolling had a prayer to follow Richie’s. “Dear Lord, please let this be the summer saggy pants go out of style,” he told his class to their laughter.“Stand up Eight”Guest speaker, Ram alumnus Jeremy Criscione told the graduates to “let this mark the beginning of a new adventure,” and to rebuke fear.2012 Cum Laude grads Love Carr and Julia Faye Parlette offered words of inspiration. “Get out of your com-fort zone,” Carr said. “Set Goals. Ask questions. Find whatever shields you from the cold thoughts of failure.” Parlette gave a global message.“If you fall seven times, stand up eight,” she said. “Ready or not world; here we come.”Each thanked teachers of the class that includes three graduates who touched their diploma while hav-ing AA degrees at home. Forty-four seniors earned Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude or Summa Cum Laude designation.Townsend honored graduates, saying the school is a family like the community that rises up in sup-port of its Interlachen High School students. “You do not just rise tonight from a town where neighbors love a quiet rural life; they love you; they know you.”

Class of 2012 to World: “Here We Come.”

There is reason to celebrate Algebraic equa-tions in Putnam County.

The Putnam County School District ranks 15th among Florida’s 67 counties in End of Course Algebra 1 Exam student scores, data released June 1 by the Florida Department of Educa-tion show.

In this – the first school year high school freshmen must pass the EOC to receive a diploma – 67 percent of PCSD students achieved a Level 3 or better, the benchmark to obtain an Algebra 1 credit. That is eight points above the current state average of 59 percent.

The number marks a dramatic 23-point up-swing from last year, when 44 percent of all Putnam students earned a Level 3 or greater.

Standards were raised last December for the EOC exams, requiring students to pass the test to graduate regardless of other scores obtained in the course.

Putnam County School District eighth-graders blew expectations out of the water on the exam.

Ninety-five percent of Putnam schools’ eighth-graders passed at a Level 3 or higher as they practiced for next year.

“It is a focus on standards, meaningful as-sessment and great instruction that has us so proud of these scores today,” PCSD Superin-tendent Tom Townsend said. “We all watched

as the teachers took this new challenge and worked to meet it. Now we see the results.”

Rigorous practice tests were developed by PCSD’s Data Driven Instruction Team and given by teachers quarterly, said DDI member Katie Morrison.

Morrison said teachers mined the test results for their students’ strengths and weaknesses then concentrated on implementing targeted instruction.

At Jenkins Middle School, Principal Dr. Rick Surrency credited the school’s two Algebra teachers, Cynthia Leary and Tonya Miles, with all Jenkins eighth-graders scoring a Level 3 or better.

One Jenkins student, Kaniz Priyanka, an-swered every test question correctly, achiev-ing a perfect score in earning Level 5 status.

PCSD Assistant Superintendent Mary Beth Hedstrom said a coordinated effort among community, teachers and students has Putnam moving more quickly in certain areas of cur-riculum than even some optimistic goals.

“The parents focusing on making sure their children were ready, the district getting that message out, the DDI team – all contributed to implementing the superintendent’s plan,” Hedstrom said. “The greatest credit, as al-ways, belongs with the teachers. They en-abled this to happen by never giving up on their students, and the students made it hap-pen by virtue of their hard work.”

Students Rank in Top 15Algebra 1 End of Course (EOC) Student Scores up 23 points

page 4 July 2012

Gerard Robinson, Florida Department of Education Commissioner, held a town hall meeting this Memorial Day at the invitation of PCSD Superintendent Tom Townsend.St. Johns River State College hosted the event, which included more than an hour of Robinson answering questions from the crowd.Robinson said with new standards, the number of “A” schools will drop and the number of “F” schools will increase throughout Florida this year and perhaps beyond.“It’s likely to impact every district in the state,” Robinson said.But, Robinson said, each time standards are raised an initial drop in scores is followed within a few years by data revealing student progress. Robinson said Florida is in now the “valley” before the climb, urging public understanding that year-over-year test scores haven’t necessarily declined – standards have been raised.The former teacher and Virginia Education Commis-sioner spoke for nearly two hours to residents including PCSD staff and administrators.

Vietnam Vet Gets Diploma

Education Commissioner Visits

Commissioner Robinson had a perhaps more important duty to perform at the town hall – presenting a diploma to a local man who left high school to serve America in Vietnam. The new graduate, Mike Deel is the husband of PCSD Home School Director Darlene Deel, who with her daughter Danielle researched the law allowing veterans who left school for the military to receive high school diplomas.Mr. Deel was unaware he was to receive the diploma until Robinson was more than halfway through his speech. “I didn’t know what to say, looking back she was very insistent I come to the college with her,” Deel said holding his diploma.Mr. Deel said he tried going back to school after his service. “I was ashamed to go back to school because I got so far behind,” he said.

Handing it to Mr. Deel, Robinson had to assure him it was an actual, not an honorary, degree. “I thank you very much,” he said. “I don’t feel worthy, but I will prize it.”Mr. Deel said he might follow his wife’s advice to attend college. “I always wanted to work with computers,” the local landscaping business owner said. She’s trying to talk me into it.” Danielle Deel said it was a special day for her dad. “I’m so proud of him,” she said. “He doesn’t say much but I can see he’s happy.”

FDOE Commissioner Gerard Robinson stops in Putnam to discuss FCAT scores and the state’s change in testing criteria that will affect student scores. Though difficult at first, the Commissioner said students will benefit in the long run.Putnam schools will be examining the “growth” measure for students – the goal being one year’s worth of growth, regardless of the level at which the student started.

Donald Barber said school work comes easily to his son D.J.D.J. Barber, a student at C.H. Price Middle School, was among more than 60 students recognized at the April 7 annual Georgia-Pacific 8th Grade Honors Program.“It just comes natural to him,” his dad said. “He also plays baseball and he’s the only eighth-grader on the IHS soccer team.”Every child honored at the event sounded like a multi-tasker in biographies from their teachers read by the emcee, PCSD Assistant Superintendent Mary Beth Hedstrom.Fellow Price eighth-grader Geneva Harsey sings, and wants to pursue a career as a pediatric plastic sur-geon.Jenkins Middle School’s Em-ily McKinney is a gifted writer and speaker. Her schoolmate Michelle McCann wants a career in technology.Gary Frost, Vice President of Operations at the GP Palatka Plant, told kids to be vigilant in keep-ing up with the world speeding around them.

“I guarantee in a few years we’ll be thanking you for what you do for us,” Frost said, calling the students before him the leaders of tomorrow.

Putnam Schools Superintendent Tom Townsend told the students the District will open every door of opportunity for them through their next four years of high school.“The opportunity before you now,

to stay focused on whatever it is you want to do . . . is greater than ever,” Townsend said.Hedstrom thanked the classroom teachers who helped get the students to their seats of honor Monday night.

“Please know you are appreciated for all the work you do with our students,” Hedstrom said.

HonoringExcellenceHonoringExcellenceGEORGIA-PACIFIC Honors Eighth Graders at Annual Event

July 2012 page 5

page 6 July 2012

Latisha Pitt saw three of her chil-dren graduate June 7, with another, 8-year-old Katlyn Lawyer on her lap as Crescent City Jr./Sr. High’ School’s gym substituted for a soggy Al Wisnoski Field at Wiltcher Sta-dium on graduation night for the Raider’s 2012 senior class.

2012 grad Donald King is Pitt’s only biological child. She took in four more, including Austin Ortiz and Christian Lawyer whose sister Katlyn smiled at her brothers as they turned the corner of the bas-ketball court, diplomas in hand.As she waited in the cafeteria to enter the gym to “Pomp and Cir-cumstance”, Magna Cum Laude graduate Taylor Thomas talked about post-graduation plans. “Go get pizza,” she said. She heads to St. Johns River State

College then plans to pursue a de-gree in Microbiology. “I’ll miss the memories,” she said of high school.Soccer star Ellio Robles left a school he’d known a third of his life. “I’ve been here for six years,” he said. “But we’ve got to move on.”Iris Hernandez and Alexandrea Lewis chatted nearby. Hernandez will work about four

months in college around having a child.Lewis, who will attend the Univer-sity of Florida set on being a nurs-ing assistant, said she’ll miss her friends and teachers.Trenton Long’s parents Dorothy and Edward Mitchner said their son is a comedian. “He dresses to impress,” his mom said. Long leaves for the Army Aug. 28. “I was in 26 years; it made me a man, I know that,” Mr. Mitchner told Superintendent Tom Townsend before the ceremony.21st Century Boxing head Barry Stewart had 11 young men and women come through his boxing program graduate Thursday.“Five are going to college. three to the military,” Stewart said. “They’re doing the right thing. I’m just so proud of them getting here.”Townsend lauded Stewart in his address, which urged graduates to build upon the strong roots of Crescent City. “Make tonight not just a celebration but a promise to your family, your friends and yourselves that you will build in this life,” Townsend spoke. “Watching you, listening to you, I promise it will bring rise not only to your happiness but that of your fellow man.”

Crescent City Jr./Sr. High School Principal Randy Hedstrom shakes hands with his 2012 graduate Da’Wight Demps at a packed gym on the high school’s Class of 2012 grad night. Hedstrom has led the South Putnam school to consecutive “B” state grades while consistently crediting his teachers and staff with the success.

Go raider Grads

Left: Seniors Kristen Stone-Erdman and Tia Currie are hugged by Palatka High teacher Beverly Baird as they are honored at Palatka High School during the school’s senior awards.

Right: Britney Howard and Jared MacGibbon smile after accepting President Volunteer Service awards at Palatka High’s senior awards ceremony.

Students Shine at PHS and CCJSHSLeft: Palatka High School senior Luke Parrish, who has received a multitude of service awards at PHS, walks to the front of the commons to receive a scholarship award at an event honor-ing graduating seniors and featuring numerous community members and organizations distributing college scholarships.

Right: PHS musicians en-tertain during intermission.

July 2012 page 7

A trio of Crescent City Jr./Sr. High School are set to help build America.Lazaro Ortiz, Shatzie Szczygiel and Corrie Carter are active in PCSD’s welding program that acts as a feeder for area jobs in the industry.

Szczygiel said being part of the welding program at CCJSHS made them closer.“We all knew each other, but it just brought us together more,” he said.All three students say they want to work in the field to make a good salary, and to not be stuck at a desk five days a week.Carter wants to work laying natural gas lines. She said her family is behind her effort.“They say go for it,” said Carter, who said she is proud to be one of the program’s few girls.Ortiz said he tells peers lacking specific direction to consider learning the skill.

“I would encourage more people to get into it,” he said. “It’s something you can go right into a job with and it’s always a good trade to fall back on.”

page 8 July 2012

A group of Middleton-Burney El-ementary School students celebrating being the first in Florida to get their Gold Certificate from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture May 11 honored the life of Melissa Johnson, the late Middleton-Burney Elementary School cafeteria worker whose name now graces the school’s cafeteria.Representatives from the Florida Department of Agriculture, First Coast Technical College and others were on hand to celebrate at the event.Middleton-Burney was the first school in Florida to reach the distinction, which includes meeting myriad criteria including getting more green vegeta-bles and beans on children’s plates and introducing new, healthy food choices.“ You are the best of what represents Putnam County and we are proud of you,” Putnam County Schools Superintendent Tom Townsend said. “Too often we talk about what we

don’t have and forget about who we are. This is the first gold award of distinction not only in Putnam Coun-ty, but in the state.”Out of the approxi-mately 100,000 Florida schools, just 3,100 won the Gold distinction, putting Middleton-Burney in the top three percent of the state – once the other schools joined the club.PCSD Food Services Director Karen Swartout, who has led the local effort to get healthier foods grown nearby to the tables of children, spoke to her staff on the achievement.“I want to congratulate you, because this is not an achievement accomplished by just one person – it’s a team effort,” Swartout said.As part of the school’s master gardener program, students grow sunflowers and other plants flowering outside the new

Melissa Johnson Cafeteria.Middleton-Burney Principal Tim Adams and Swartout found emotion

impossible to hold back when each spoke of John-son as her family sat in a group a few feet away.“She did a lot of work here,” Adams said, paus-ing to gather his emotions.

“She did mean so much to us, not just to our kids in the cafeteria but in church and in sports.”Johnson and her two sons were killed in a Lake Como traffic accident two years ago. “She meant so much to us,” Swartout said. Her absence is still felt strongly at the South Putnam school.“We went to the state conference to-gether in Las Vegas,” Middleton-Bur-ney cafeteria worker Debbie Siegrist said. “We only went to conference that one time. Now I go and I take her with me in my heart.”

U.S. Dept. of Agriculture honors Middleton-Burney Elementary School for being first in the state to earn its Gold certificate.

Bees Rejoice!

July 2012 page 9

The 22nd Annual Putnam County School District Math Superstars Competi-tion packed Ravine Gardens with elementary school students and their families May 11.Courtney Carter, a Title 1 resource teacher for Federal Programs, facilitated the event that included competition in Computation, Relay and a Math Bowl.The event featured more than 100 students com-peting in three grades.PCSD Superintendent Tom Townsend handed out awards to students.

MATH super stars$+√=x@#%+=

Teachers and students

prepare students at

Intelachen Elementary

School for a song

performed at its annual

Mother’s Day celebration.

Overall Math Superstar Winners: Grade 3: Children’s Reading Center Grade 4: Interlachen Elementary

Grade 5: Miller Intermediate

Teamwork School Winners: Grade 3: Moseley Elementary Grade 4: James A. Long Elementary

Grade 5: Mellon Elementary

Cassie Kast smiled with her arm around Putnam School District Superintendent Tom Townsend at the graduating ceremony for the Palatka High School Class of 2012. Her mother snapped the moment’s photo, smiling too. But, Judy Hurst said, she is conflicted about her daughter leaving high school.“It’s bitter-sweet,” Hurst said. “You want them to grow up yet it’s so hard to let go.”Kast heads down the road to St. Johns River State College to finish her AA, then plans to leave for another college and become a pharmacist.Palatka High graduated about 300 of Kast’s classmates as Townsend praised the graduates and predict-ed they will look back and realize their positive impact on Palatka and its high school, which earned its first “B” from the state this year. I’m excited,” Kast said. “I’m ner-vous, but excited.”Cum Laude graduate Choyce Bryant’s aunt Candice Carter wore his face on her T-shirt. “He’s ready to leave and go off to college,” Carter said.Bryant, a member of the 2011 state finals Panther basketball team, heads to Stetson University to study Biology. “It has been difficult, inter-esting and hard work,” he said of high school.Classmate Ira Robertson heads to

Minnesota’s Bethel University to study business management.Townsend Harris will miss PHS, he said.“It was great,” he said of high school, where

Harris played football and ran track for three years.Palatka Assistant Principal Jana Wilhite said 2012 featured a special class of students. “They were my first group of Link Leaders,” the head of the mentor program Link Crew said. “They’ve been a wonderful class and

now they’re ready for the post-sec-ondary world.”PHS Principal Debby Decubellis said of the school year, “This has been one wild and crazy adventure. Your trans-formation has been amazing.”Class Secretary Alnora Watts, who led the Pledge of Allegiance, agreed. “It was so crazy,” she said. “There will never be another year like this one. Our class is just the best class ever.”From the stands, generations of families watched grads walk.“She’s a wonderful granddaughter,” Estelle McLaughlin said from the stands about her daughter’s young-est child, PHS Cum Laude graduate Emma Townsend. “I don’t want her

to go this summer. I’ll be lost without her; she’s a good kid.” Superintendent Townsend spoke of his daughter in a speech that included praise of mul-tiple graduates, saying “At the core of what is good in Palat-ka, I believe, is faith.” It is his faith he thanked his daughter for strengthen-ing. “It is you, Emma, who embold-ens so much of my faith; so, thank you,” Townsend said, fighting tears.Townsend spoke of the school achiev-ing a state “B” grade for the first time, and said seeing Palatka High named

FOX 30’s Cool School one week this year made for a great experience.“Mimi Ho lifting half the gym, all of you so poised, so bright,” Townsend said; “it is one of the prouder mo-ments I’ve had in three privileged years serving you.”Summa Cum Laude grad Hill Pickens spoke

to the class. “This is just a temporary rest,” Pickens said of graduating. “These next few months are the calm before the storm.”Panther alumnus Jekita Williams returned from Palm Coast to PHS as her 30-year high school reunion approaches this year. Williams saw two nephews, Anthony Seymour and Cum Laude grad Dorianta Beauford, along with her niece Jasmine Jackson, graduate.“It’s a good feeling to see young people graduate,” she said. “I came up through Palatka High School and it’s a wonderful feeling to see my nieces and nephews come up the same way.”

Panthers Celebrate!

The Diaries of

the Chicken The Diaries of the

Chicken & Egg

Mellon Elementary students learned more than just the process of egg-to-chicken in their late spring study of the incubation, birth, and – sometimes – the death of baby chicks in their care.In her classroom, Mellon first grade teacher Alice Ad-ams showed off “chicken and egg diaries” her students kept through the hands-on project. One child writes she learned that while in the shell, unborn chicks eat yolk and develop feathers.Another child writes that to open its shell it takes about a thousand pecks from a beak the chicks soon discard after achieving freedom.“You want to tell me they’re not learning?” Adams beams as chicks living their first day in the world peep in a warmer nearby.The kids made charts, literature and more on the soup-to-nuts journey of a new chick. Interactive posters were displayed throughout the classrooms.“You love the egg because you know the chicken is coming out,” said first-grader Bre’anna Vreen.Summer Tillman of 4H donated incubators and helped teachers and staff facilitate the project. There’s also an occupied chicken coop on the grass outside the row of first-grade classrooms.Adams holds an unfertilized egg her class soaked in vinegar, which acts as a catalyst dissolving the shell and revealing what feels and looks like an opaque, rubber toy egg. “But it’s real,” Adams said turning the egg that smells like Easter in her hands like an hour glass. “See! You can see the yolk inside. Every day we look and see what’s happening inside.”

Fellow teacher Ginny Moss doesn’t have much of a stomach for the kind of ooze that comes with a chick’s birth, but holding in her palms who would reveal him-self as Chicken Little minutes later stole her squeamish ways.“I don’t care,” Moss said, as fellow first-grade teacher Whitney McCoy pointed out matter from the un-hatched Chicken Little flowing into the ridges of her palms. “It’s a miracle.”First-grader Makenna Ancheta explained part of the process as Moss held Little, as the chick was surround-ed by children in a school hallway.“It’s called an egg tooth,” Ancheta said of the beak the enclosed chicks use to methodically extricate themselves from their shells. “They lose it after a little while.”The first graders experienced sadness when some of the chicks, including Chicken Little, died shortly after birth.Teachers said they used the deaths as part of the project’s educational process, and the kids took it in stride, giving a presentation to the PCSD School Board on the project af-ter they buried the chicks who perished.

July 2012 page 11

Surrounded by family and friends before the May 14 ceremony hon-oring the top 51 scholars in Putnam high schools, recent surgery remov-ing her wisdom teeth had Kristen Hund reluctant to be captured on film.By the end of the ceremony, she had little choice.Hund, the Palatka High School senior who earned eight varsity letters, volunteered at football games and painted the Panther mural in the school gym, is PCSD’s top scholar, winning the Robert W. Webb Award of Excellence at the event.She heads to college with her 4.58 GPA to become a physical therapist, a pharmacist, or – judges, friends and family say – whatever her community most needs.Because of a tie in GPAs, an elite group of 51 seniors (rather than the traditional 50) helped fill the PHS commons for the ceremony.UncompromisingJust before Christmas 2008, Inter-lachen High School’s Cassie Martin was in a car accident. Air-lifted to a trauma center with grave and numerous injuries to her brain and body, doctors told her parents she

would never again excel in school.Today, the Top 51 scholar has 37 college credits, works 30 hours a week and heads to the University of North Florida on her way to being a doctor specializing in traumatic brain injury.Martin’s classmate Donald Johnson Jr. changed an entire school culture, IHS teacher Liz Middleton said.Renewing a LGBT group at the school and inspiring peers to grow and mature, Middleton said John-son is an inspiration to a school and community. He will study music, playing his favorite instrument – the trumpet – at one of two col-leges, he said at the event.Crescent City Jr./Sr. High School’s

Kayshia Brady, star volleyball player, Career Superstar and tutor to younger Raider students, will work in the health field.Interlachen senior scholar Tyler Peterson heads for two years of mission work before a career in computer programming.Classmate Kaylyn Bruce, the Ram’s slugging first baseman, heads to the University of Central Florida, AA degree from SJRSC in hand, to study psychology.Alexandra Alvarez raises money to fight polio, is a Bible Bowl coach and will graduate with 46 college credits. She wants to be a teacher.Panther classmates Tyler Hill Pickens and Taylor Aldrich plan to

top 51 sCHolars28th Annual Top 50 Scholars Ceremony

page 12 July 2012

be lawyers. Kristen Stone-Erdman, with her 4.71 GPA, will finish her last year at St. Johns River State College, then head to the Univer-sity of Florida to study elemen-

tary education. She said her sister, former top scholar Jessica Stone-Erdman, inspired her to achieve in high school.Robert W. WebbThe Palatka Daily News sponsored the event. Webb, the longtime Put-nam County businessman and civic leader was represented by his son Doug Webb.PCSD Assistant Superintendent Mary Beth Hedstrom was the event’s emcee and honored the parents, teachers and community surrounding the scholars.Superintendent Tom Townsend asked the students to reflect on the teachers who helped them occupy their seats of honor Monday, and told them more than one generation awaits their leadership.

“You need to know that you are our inspiration,” Townsend told the students.PCSD Associate Superintendent Sam Foerster, once PCSD’s top scholar, encouraged the students to be true to their dreams and find their life’s work.Palatka’s Hena Patel plans a career in microbiology and cell science.“I’ll miss the high school because I feel like I’ve grown up with every-body here,” Patel said before the ceremony. “It’s going to be so sad.”

Patel said Hund was a great choice as the school district’s top scholar.“She’s so deserving,” Patel said. “She’s kind and giving. They couldn’t have picked a better person.”Kristen’s father Robert Hund said he knew at one point when the winner’s biography was being read, it must have been his daughter.Every year, the winner’s biography is read slowly, revealing detail by detail small clues of the winner, a method that produces anticipa-tion even among 51 of some of the state’s most accomplished scholars, many of whom have a multitude of accomplishments in common.“When they said her GPA was 4.58, I figured, how many kids have that exact GPA?” he said.Putnam’s top scholar wasn’t as quick to the realization.“I was doubting it,” Kristen said. “But more than halfway through the biography, it kind of clicked.”

MILLER LEADSFCAT SCORES HIGHERThe Putnam County School District shot up the state rankings with the release of June math scores. Compared to scores from 2010, PCSD has the state’s second highest Growth Rate in the subject.

George C. Miller Intermediate School ranked first among Putnam County Schools with several teach-ers achieving more than two years of growth from the students.

Under the direction of Dr. Melissa Coleman, several math initiatives took place this year including math standards portfolios with stu-dent self-reflections by standard, a formative assessment “One Ques-tion Assessment” initiative, site-based professional development on conceptual math, and strategic data-driven PLC collaboration.

Teachers with notable gains in-clude Tina Gilyard and Janis Wahl. Gilyard worked with students in a Fastrack Program, assigning them extra problems daily for practice. All of her students in the program scored a 4 or 5 on the FCAT.

Wahl advanced her students via the Accelerated Math program and an intense focus on standards portfolios.

Since 2010, in sixth grade math, PCSD has moved from 63rd to a tie for 44th in Florida school rank-ings. In the same period, Putnam schools went from a rank of 39th to a rank of 15th in fourth grade math, including districts tied in the rankings. We are so proud of Putnam County students.

July 2012 page 13

C. H. Price Reading STARS!

page 14 July 2012

Price Honors Top Readers C.H. Price Middle School students recognized May 30 for reading at least one million Accelerated Reader words this school year draw a lot of inspira-tion for their love of books.Kristy Pipes, a C.H. Price sixth grader, likes the series Eragon, and pouring over non-fiction science.Fellow sixth grader Priscilla Stout loves The Mortal In-struments book series. Tessa Garrett is inspired by modern writers, and Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, classics outside Accel-erated Reader she reads on her own time.But the person most often inspiring the love of read-ing in the middle school’s kids is Media Specialist Faith Church, who honored a room full of students who have read more than 1 million words (about 20 books) since the start of the school year. For the event, Church cooked the food, made the sparkling punch and invited the community to honor the school’s prolific readers at C.H. Price’s inau-gural Millionaire’s Luncheon. “She can put a book in any kid’s hand and make that kid love to read,” C.H. Price Principal Leah Lundy said of Church, as Lundy served food to student readers at the event. “She’s read so much has such a deep knowledge, she can say ‘What do you like?’ and find a book that will fit that child’s taste.”

Price teacher Tammie Williams said Church brings life to the spirit of reading at the middle school. “Her goal every year is to get those non-readers to love reading,” Williams said as she handed out sweets made by teachers and parents at the luncheon. “She has a passion for it and loves it.”Before the event, Church paced at the cafeteria doorway. “It’s my first year and I’m a little nervous,” Church said.Church placed beads around the neck of each hon-oree. “I like reading because it occupies me,” said Price seventh grader Melanie Connelly.Classmate Holly Pliska said she loves reading because she gets immersed in the activity and sixth

grader Hanna Hutchin-son said, “It’s educational and I’ve always liked to read.”Two Price teachers, Nel-lie Vallecillos and Nancy Turner, were also recog-nized for reading more than 1 million Acceler-ated Reader words.Price seventh-grade student Will Parson attended the luncheon

with his father Nels Parson. The elder Parson said Putnam County not being a print-rich environment is not an excuse for a community not to push chil-dren to read. “I don’t think that matters,” Mr. Parson said of lo-cal poverty’s effect on reading. “It’s a decision; and if you don’t have reading as a foundation the rest of your learning is going to be difficult at best.”

Price eighth-grader Drew Wilburn said people should read, “so that you can expand your mind.” Pipe’s mom Cynthia Striker, who lunched at the event with her daughter, said Kristy’s disparate read-ing tastes developed early in her life.

July 2012 page 15

ASBESTOS  NOTICE  There  are  asbestos-­‐containing  building  materials  located  in  a  number  of  facilities  throughout  the  Putnam  County  School  District.  The  type  and  location  of  those  materials  are  identified  in  each  facility’s  Project  Manual  located  in  the  front  office.  For  further  information  please  contact  Scott  Gattshall  at  386-­‐329-­‐0501.    Hay  materials  de  construcción  de  asbesto  localizados    en  unas  instalaciones    en  todo  el  Distrito  Estudiantil  del  Condado  de  Putnam.    El  tipo  y  ubicación  de  dichos  materials  son  identificados  en  cada  Manual  de  Esquemas  de  la  instalación,    el  cual  se  encuentra  en  la  Oficina  Principal.    Para  más  información  por  favor  ponerse  en  contacto  con  Scott  Gattshall  al  teléfono  386-­‐329-­‐0501.        Putnam

 Scott  Gattshall  

386-­‐329-­‐0501.    

When Robert Lemley awaits the starter’s gun before a race, he has one main thing on his mind.“I tell everybody before we start running – do your best,” said Lemley, the Special Olympian who brought home to E.H. Miller two ribbons from this year’s Or-lando games.“My mom passed away May 6 of last year,” he said. “I think of her. And I tell everyone to pick a thought and stick with that thought. I say ‘Stay strong and do good.’ That’s my entire goal for everyone who runs.”Last month marked the fourth Special Olympics for the 19-year-old Lemley. “I felt very good about myself,” he said, showing off photos he took of the team hotel with its entrance shaped as a football helmet.Lemley’s teacher Cathy Campbell said he is one of the school’s student leaders. “He is one of the most help-

ful students in my classroom,” she said. “He always helps the other kids. He sees himself as a mentor, and he really is.”Longtime Information Services employee Gary Nilsson said he trusts Lemley with some of the most important stuff entrusted

to him.“He helps me with my equipment,” Nilsson said of the video cameras and accessories that chronicle achievements of students across Putnam County. “I don’t trust too many people to do that, but I do trust Robert.”

Lemley’s Reading teammate Jacob Yount said he and Robert have a good time before Reading each day. “We just sit back and talk, Yount said. “We talk about football and baseball. It’s really nice to have him in my group.”

E.H. Miller’s speCial olympianCongratulations Robert Lemley

Church took the three students who read more words this year than any student at each grade level to a Gainesville bookstore the day after the luncheon, spend-ing $50 on each. The three top finishers made the trip with their reading teacher and mentor, seeking out books some of them say have waited to read all year.“I’m going to get the last books to a few series I’m reading,” Stout said. At Stout’s table, classmate and fellow honoree Tessa Garrett beamed. “I’m proud of my friends,” the classics’ fan Garrett said. “They are so smart and deserving.”

Growing Together In Putnam

Algebra Scores Rank in Top 15Math Growth: two straight years$20 million in competitive grants for new jobs and servicesTeacher’s jobs secure from cutting costs in other areas

PUTNAM COUNTY SCHOOLS200 South 7th StreetPalatka, FL 32177386-329-0510www.putnamschools.org

Sam Foerster, Putnam County School Associate Superintendent, stands with School Board Chairman C.L. Overturf Jr. at the June 5 School Board meeting honoring his service with Putnam schools.

In Putnam, Foerster led an effort that rocketed PCSD to the top of Florida school districts in energy efficiency, formed an index to assess student and teacher growth and became chairman of the Florida Race to the Top Value Added Committee.

He has accepted a job as Deputy Chancellor for School Improvement and Student Achievement for the Florida Department of Education.Foerster read to the board from his letter of resignation, addressing PCSD Superintendent Tom Townsend:

“Mr Townsend, you are the one who chose to think big, act systematically and move quickly. You are the one who acted while so many others talked.”Foerster, a Crescent City Jr./Sr. High School graduate who was Putnam County’s top scholar as a senior, is an engineer and a graduate of Cornell University.

School Board Chairman C.L. Overturf Jr. called

Foerster’s departure a loss to the district but a proud moment

as Florida recognizes the work being accomplished in

Putnam County schools.

Foerster named dePuty ChanCellor For Fdoe