www.putnamschools.org

VOL 2.3December 2010

page 2 December 2010

When she’s running, Lona Roberts thinks she is just about invincible.And girls she competes with in cross-country races throughout Putnam County might share the opinion.Roberts, a 13-year-old eighth-grader at Crescent City Jr./Sr. High School, is the talk of girl’s cross-country in Putnam County, winning a series of recent races by healthy margins.On a late October morning before running in an all-county 3.1-mile race in Interlachen – the same race she won last year – Roberts relaxes in the front office of her school.“I expect to win,” she said, asked about her prospects for the race.She was prescient. Roberts won the Oct. 28 race with a time of 25.11, the fastest mark for a girl in the Inter-lachen meet since 2003.Roberts started running on a promise from her father it would get her in better basketball shape.She’s a guard on the Raider’s junior varsity basketball team.“She also excels academically,” said CCJSHS Assistant Principal Emily Stroupe. “She is a true role model and a leader in various activities in the school.”Roberts said playing sports does not interfere with getting good grades.“School is pretty easy – pay attention and you do well,” she said. “I can’t really say cross-country affects my school work.”Along with running, competing in track and playing basketball, Rob-erts sings. Minutes after winning the Interlachen run against about 30 area girls from four schools, Roberts raced back to her high school talent show to sing “If I Die Young” by The Band Perry.

“A lot of times I don’t practice and I still show up and do well,” Roberts said of cross-country. “My mom and dad ran track in high school so I think it might come naturally.”Her mother ran for Pompeii Island in the Micronesian Games.Roberts brother Devin, one of the Raiders’ top talents on the boys’ cross-country team, said practice is key to his little sister taking her talent to another level.Devin runs in the low 17-minute range in 3.1-mile races, among a handful of county runners chasing Palatka High School’s Matt Barnes for elite status.Lona’s dad, Shon Roberts, pushes his daughter to practice, including run-ning hills at the local YMCA, said Roberts coach Jennifer Ewbank.“She’s a great runner,” Ewbank said. “She has some things she needs to do better. It is a commitment. But she’s just got that heart of a runner.”When she goes to St. Augustine for meets, Roberts says her winning ways are thwarted.“So far the only races I came in third or fourth is when I go to St. Augus-tine,” she said. “The funny thing is I beat half the guys from Palatka.”Roberts said she can run just about any place or time and rarely feels the effects.“Last year I ran three races back-to-back – no days off,” she said. “I actu-ally got better in the last race.”A few years ago, Shon Roberts coached Lona on a Pop Warner football team, where she played

outside linebacker for the Crescent City Warriors.“I put her in a jersey and pads,” Shon said. “I thought she was going to be like a cheerleader on the sidelines – she was crushing guys. She is a natu-ral athlete. I’m very proud of her.”She was upset when her dad said she needed to stop playing football.“I miss it,” she said. “I was one of only two girls on the team.”Roberts said she wants to add a fourth sport. But it’s not likely to be football.She said running for a college de-pends upon an important develop-ment.“If I get a scholarship – I’ll probably do it,” she said. “If not, I’m going into the service.”Devin said if his little sister keeps running she can achieve great things in cross-country. “She has natural talent,” Devin said after her Interlachen race. “She just goes out there and runs.”

Cross-Country Phenom exudes ConfidenCe13-year-old Lona Roberts burning up area courses

RAIDERSCCJSHS

Data Leader of the YearOn the strength of leading the Putnam County School District in creating the Learning

Gains Index, an assessment tool for teachers and students, PCSD Superintendent Tom

Townsend was named the Data Leader of the Year among all state superintendents by

the Florida Department of Education. FDOE is building an assessment tool of its own

and has reached out to PCSD for input based upon the L.G.I. model.

Putnam County School Superin-tendent Tom Townsend now has a

shining state award to validate success a year in the making. In October, Townsend was named the first District Data Leader of the Year by Florida

Department of Education Commis-sioner Dr. Eric J. Smith for imple-menting a data assessment system of the district’s teachers and students.Townsend won the award on the strength of leading PCSD in creating the Learning Gains Index system. The Index is a tool that assesses student achievement data to find solutions to drive student and teacher progress.The award was created to highlight superintendents who are changing the face of education in their districts with the implementation of data in classrooms. It also recognizes com-municating the relevance of data to students, teachers, administrators and community members.Townsend was among five finalists for the award, including superintendents from Miami-Dade, Hillsbourgh, Bay and St. Lucie County.“Data is one of the most important tools we can use to evaluate ourselves and whether we’re instructing our students effectively,” Smith said in a

FDOE release announc-ing the award. “Super-intendent Townsend has done fantastic work creating a culture where data is valued and teachers are em-powered to give their students the best possible opportuni-ties for success.”In the release, FDOE called Townsend a “strong supporter of financial planning and transparency in the local public school system.”

Correcting a large budget deficit us-ing methods in the sunshine was a key platform in Townsend’s successful 2008 campaign for PCSD Superin-tendent of Schools.Townsend said that learning of his nomination validated many of the initiatives his team has worked hard to implement.

“It really validated what a strong team we put together,” Townsend said. “Winning affirms that we have made an honest assessment of what is required and are committed to tak-ing the needed steps to securing the future of our kids.”FDOE said in its statement that the Learning Gains Index can lead the students of Putnam County to sig-nificant progress. “The data system that Mr. Townsend spearheaded is a great step forward for the teachers and administrators that call Putnam County home,” FDOE Chancellor of Public Schools Dr. Francis Haithcock said in the release. “I’m tremendously proud of his efforts to build these tools for his educators and I’m confident that they will lead to greater student perfor-mance in the years to come.”

page 2 December 2010 December 2010 page 3

“Superintendent Townsend

has done fantastic work

creating a culture where

data is valued and

teachers are empowered

to give their students the

best possible opportunities

for success.”

– Dr. Eric J. SmithCommissioner of Education

continued on page 5page 4 December 2010

Beat the Streets

In a humid warehouse at Crescent City Jr./Sr. High School, kids might be fighting for their lives.Four days a week, student boxers gather in the school’s old agricultural building to spar, hit the heavy bag and bond. It’s part of the local Police Athletic League’s Beat the Streets Boxing Program operated through the school district’s 21st Century After-School Program.According to Barry Stewart, the Brooklyn born former cop and U.S. Marine Corps boxer running the program, boxing is leading many of the kids off a path to ruin.“These are the kids who did drugs, who were in gangs,” Stewart said. “These were the kids who just couldn’t get out of their own way. This room has changed things in them.”Stewart said one of his best boxers is a 16-year-old former member of the Aryan Nation. Before the program started this summer, racism stained his nascent world view.Recently, Stewart said the boy sat in the school lunchroom beside an African-American classmate. “I walked up to him and I said ‘No more racist?’” Stewart said. “And he said ‘I guess I never was racist.’ It was just what he was told to believe and what he knew.”

Kids in the boxing program said it has changed their lives.“It’s a really fun experience and we’re learning to be disciplined,” said 11th grader Austin Ortiz, one of the kids fighting three 2-minute rounds in the room during a public exhibition. “Coach has taught us the things that are important in life. You get to know a little bit about other guys and now we’re all friends. It’s like having a second family. ”Fellow junior Steven Carrillo said he boxes for multiple reasons. “You can’t get in trouble in here,” Carrillo said. “To be honest, I’m in it to win.”Lemar Neely, a CCJSHS 9th grader, said the pro-gram fosters a family atmosphere that extends into the school day.“We’re all like family,” Neely said. “It gets us away from the streets; it’s fun and it’s an alternative to other things that are out here.”Stewart said what might appear to some as a violent sport is promoting togetherness and respect among kids whose lives were, and sometimes re-main – in danger on Crescent City’s streets.“I’m from Brooklyn and I went into Long Station and my hair stood up,” Stewart said of a section of the city notorious for crime. “The kids tell me ‘I’d rather be in here and not have to worry about who’s shooting at me.’”The Crescent City program is one of three 21st Cen-tury boxing programs, each run by P.A.L. There are programs at the C.H. Price Middle School and the Beasley Middle School sites.The district school board approved the boxing pro-gram last year. Stewart said among the three sites, he hopes to have as many as 150 student boxers. He also wants to include other sports.Stewart said the school district, the Putnam County Anti-Drug Coalition and the Putnam County Sher-iff’s Office have been generous, but the program needs a little help from a lot of people.“I’ve got kids ready for competition,” he said. “But they don’t have shoes. They don’t have uniforms. We have a great community. We just have lim-

21st Century After-School

Boxing Program

continued from page 4

ited resources. If everybody just gives a little, we’ll have what we need.”Stewart recently took 20 of his boxers to an amateur tourna-ment in Leesburg where they saw other kids they’ll be boxing in competition soon.The drug coalition paid for the bus the group took. The sheriff paid for everyone to eat lunch.“There is something in here I hope is contagious throughout the county,” Stewart said. “It’s a ministry to me.”Stewart said seeing change in the kids gratifies him.“They take pride in this room,” Stewart said. “They organize the chairs. They wipe the bags

down. These are kids who didn’t clean their rooms. Now they want to know if they can wipe the bags down.”Moving through the boxers with stern, encouraging words of ad-vice, kids say Stewart is a father figure some of them lack.Not all will be champions or even skilled boxers, but Stewart said each student will benifit from the experience gained in the program after his or her high-school days are gone.“I believe in these kids,” Stewart said. “I don’t need any other compensation than for them to know that I love them and I care about them.”

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Beat the Streets

PCSD Welcomes Two New School Board MembersNikki Cummings and Kathy Jorgensen were sworn in Nov. 16 as members of the Putnam County School Board by Circuit Court Judge Arthur Nichols. The event, held at the Putnam County Commission Chambers, included swearing in ceremonies with the new school board mem-bers and their families.The new board then held its first meeting – to re-organize – at the Campbell Administration Building. C.L. Over-turf Jr. was nominated and unanimously voted board chairman. Terry Wright was unanimously voted vice chairman and named Florida School Board Association Legislative Liaison.Cummings accepted a position to represent the board on the Small School District Council and Jorgensen accepted a position representing the Interlachen Planning Com-mission.“I’m really honored to serve again,” said Jorgensen, who previously served as a board member.Cummings said she anticipates learning aspects of the new job as she serves the people.“This is a great privilege to be able to serve our communi-ty,” Cummings said. “I look forward to gaining knowledge and wisdom.”

Overturf pointed out she has the additional responsibility – given her position at the dais – of controlling the ther-mostat behind her.The board changed its regular meeting times from 4:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Board Member Lisa Parsons said she heard from many people that the earlier time will make it easier for students and staff at schools to attend the board meetings.“The amount of work this board is about to face is second to none,” said PCSD Superintendent Tom Townsend.

Seventeen years ago, Billy Joe Shinn and Clifford Holloway were born in the same Jacksonville military hospital.Now the two are top senior scholars at Palatka High School. Shinn is a semi-finalist for the 2011 National Merit Scholarship Program, among approxi-mately 16,000 upperclassmen in the nation.Holloway has been named a Com-mended Student in the program, one of about 34,000 nationally.PHS guidance counselor Becci Motes said the Merit recognition opens nu-merous scholarship opportunities for the two students.The program selects students based upon junior year PSAT scores, then considers factors including GPA and community service in choosing winners of three types of scholarships. About 1.5 million juniors in 22,000 high schools entered the 2011 Merit Program com-petition.Shinn will learn if he is among the scholarship recipients in February. “It’s

a big deal to have one student from a school chosen,” Motes said. “To have two is remarkable. It hasn’t happened in the seven years I’ve been here.”Shinn and Holloway also have a chosen college in common – the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-nology.Holloway, a devotee of video games who wants to create them after earn-ing his degree, got the idea of attending M.I.T. from the biography of a char-acter in the video game Half-Life. “It’s supposed to be a very creative place,” Holloway said of M.I.T.Shinn, who like Holloway is also mull-ing Harvard and Yale, said M.I.T. seems a great match for his abilities. “It seems like a good fit,” Shinn said. “I’ve always been a scientifically inclined person.”Shinn’s weighted GPA is 4.7 – Hol-loway’s is 4.3. Both say they are perfec-tionists – in different disciplines.Holloway is an artist who will re-trace a work until, he said, he sometimes

ruins it. Shinn is a member of High Q – the competitive high school brain team – who obsesses over having correct answers. He said his skills in art are limited to poor stick figures.Motes said the two scholars are among a PHS graduating class of 2011 with a penchant for high achievement and community service. “They are just a great group of kids,” she said.Holloway, a cat lover, said he will make a Herculean attempt to bring his cat, Max, to whatever college he attends. He has already scouted M.I.T. dorms and is disappointed a student claimed the room with a front door that opens via an iPhone app.

PANTHERSPANTHERS

LinkCrew Upperclassmen and fresh-men picnicked at the PHS baseball field as the school’s Link Crew project continues to strengthen bonds among students. Students threw footballs through tires, ate hot dogs grilled by PHS Assistant Principal Jerome Wilkerson and relaxed before marching with the school band and an alumni faction, some dressed in 80’s attire, to the high school for a game against Orange Park.“Link Crew’s not only benefiting the freshmen, but it’s helping us become leaders,” said upperclassmen Britney Howard. PHS junior Michael Dallas said because of the program, he has made more friends than in the past.Link Crew is also a family affair.Junior Olyvia English is a Link Crew fellow with her sister, freshman Marisa English. Freshman Amanda Alvarez and

older sister Alexandra Alvarez, a junior, also share Link Crew.“I had a rough time as a fresh-man,” Olyvia said. “The upper-classmen were like gods. But these freshmen are much more relaxed. They were really loud at the first pep rally.”Alexandra said she has “adopted a lot of Amanda’s little friends as sisters.” She said Link Crew is on a roll at PHS. “We’ve kind of adjusted and come together,” Alexandra said. PHS Dean Jana Wilhite said the picnic was held to foster the program’s progress. “We wanted to add to the school spirit,” she said. “We are thrilled with the results and relationships we see building with Link Crew.”

page 6 December 2010

PHS Student Achievement2011 Merit PrograM coMPetition

For a short while, Esme Coward wondered if her 30th year teaching might be her last.

upage 6 December 2010 December 2010 page 7

Esme Coward’s Artists

s

gCalling this year’s group of students as good as any during her tenure – which has run through five U.S. presidents – going out on top seemed to make sense.But Coward doesn’t want to miss Cres-cent City Jr./Sr. High School’s talented crop of up and coming kids.“I have a couple of kids coming up who are so talented,” Coward said. “I don’t know where they’re coming from, but there’s a lot of talent. I’ll be back next year. I don’t know about after that.”There’s also years of stuff Coward has to clean out of her classroom before leav-ing the school. She said that will take a couple of years.

Among the talent leaving her at the end of this school year is Steffanie Sheffield, a senior hoping for a scholarship to play volleyball next season at St. Johns River State College. On a mid-November day in Coward’s classroom, Steffanie puts the last touches on a big oil and pastel fish emerging from water.“I love the arts,” Steffanie said. “I sur-prise myself every time I sit down to

do something. I’m never sure I can do it until I sit down. When I first started this, I wasn’t sure about the fish, but it turned out to be a good focal point.”Steffanie’s classmate and fellow senior Patrick Salinas might be obsessed with creating art.“I usually mix in everything I see,” Pat-rick said. “Sometimes I put dirt in my artwork.” Patrick has no vision in his left eye. It’s a disability that barely slows his production as he churns out a piece of art every couple of days.“The truth is it’s hard for me to see depth,” Patrick said. “Sometimes I have to stand for hours to see if I got the depth right.” Much of his artwork – most of it surrounding concepts of mortality – goes unsigned.“You have to hit me with a sledgeham-mer to get me to sign my artwork,” he said.Patrick said his work leans to the dark-side for a reason.“I love the darkside,” he said. “The dark-side is romance, love, passion.”Much of his work is also not titled. An exception is “The Reverse of the Human,” featuring a fetus in a spider cocoon. A Patrick piece depicting the Statue of Liberty holding a gun and a bloody sickle hangs near the front door of the class. An anime figure shreds crows in mid-flight. The grim reaper drinks deadly poison.“Patrick is a very good artist – the top artist at the school,” said his classmate Sade Rainford, a senior.Coward calls Patrick’s art “introspective” and says it’s his way of expressing what is inside of him.Patrick took a sewing class for six years in his native Philippines, from where he moved straight to the Bass Capital. He said the skill helps the quality of his

work. “He came in good and he’s leaving even better,” Coward said of Patrick. “He’s self-confident in his art. He’s well liked and he accepts people as they are. They’re going to be talking about Patrick two or three years from now.”Patrick wants to design video games, continue playing the violin, maybe even become a ninja master – but creating art will be a mainstay of whatever he chooses. “I want to be the best,” he said. “But there’s always this little guy coming along to suppress my greatness.”Senior Steven Ayers returned to Cow-ard’s class after last taking it as a fresh-man.“I just missed it – honestly,” he said.Coward said she has more students tak-ing art a second time this year than any previous.David Haire wants to be an art major. He’s taken Coward’s class all four years of high school. Senior Danielle Singleton wants to go into the music business. “This is one of my classes I actually look forward to during the day,” Danielle said.Despite sometimes working 16-hour days to keep up with grading and ac-countability requirements, Coward said she won’t be able to stay away next year.“This is a great class,” Coward said of this year’s contingent. “I can’t imagine having a class like this again. But the kids are why I keep coming back. They really enjoy it. It’s a good place to be.”

Data Leader of the Year!Tom Townsend was named the Data Leader of the Year among all state superintendents by the Florida Department of Education.

Putnam County SChoolS200 South 7th StreetPalatka, FL 32177386-329-0510

• Cross-country Running Lona Roberts

• Data Leader of the Year Awarded to Superintendent Townsend

• Beat the Streets Police Athletic League’s Boxing Program

• PHS Scholars Billy Joe Shinn and Clifford Holloway

insight

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Have a HaPPy and Safe HolidayPutnam County SChoolS www.putnamschools.org

Steffanie Sheffield is a senior hoping for a scholarship to play volleyball next season at

St. Johns river State college.

on a mid-november day in esme coward’s classroom, Steffanie draws a big oil and pastel

fish emerging from a body of water.

“i love the arts,” Steffanie said. “i surprise my-self every time i sit down to do something. i’m

never sure i can do it until i sit down.”

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