Damon Weaver to report from the NFL Pro Bowl

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It’s been a busy month for star youth TV reporter Damon Weaver of Pahokee. The sixth grader who interviewed President Barack Obama in August will be covering the NFL Pro Bowl at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens.
Damon and classmate Anthony Bowie have been granted press credentials for Sunday’s game and will try to interview some of the all-star players, said Brian Zimmerman, teacher and TV program director at K.E. Cunningham/Canal Point Elementary.
This week Damon appeared on MSNBC to talk about Obama’s State of the Union address. A clip is available on YouTube.
And, Damon is fresh off appearances in the magazines Essence and Ebony. He was chosen as one of the most influential young African-Americans of 2009 in the December issue of Essence, while February’s edition of Ebony declared that Damon has “Super Kid Syndrome -How one motivated youngster made his way to the White House.”

Source: South Florida Education Blog

Hughes leaving Lynn University

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One of the most familiar faces at Lynn University is saying goodbye.
Jason Hughes, the school’s spokesman and public relations director, has accepted a job at Beloit College, a small liberal arts college in Wisconsin. His last day at Lynn will be Feb. 12.

Hughes has been the Lynn employee most often quoted by the media since he took the job in 2006. But nothing compares to the last two-and-a-half weeks, when a tragedy in Haiti thrust the small, 2,100-student university in Boca Raton into the international spotlight. Four students and two faculty members have been missing since the Jan. 12 earthquake and are believed dead. They were part of a 12-member group doing mission work and staying in the Hotel Montana, which collapsed.

Journalists from all over the country flocked to Boca Raton to cover the story, and Hughes became a fixture on the nightly news. He frequently worked 20-hour days, keeping [...]

Source: South Florida Education Blog

Pompano Beach assistant principal headed to Haiti

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Marie-Dominique Price-Dumervil is a first-generation Haitian-American who has made multiple trips to Haiti. On Saturday, she’ll make perhaps her most important trip, flying into the Dominican Republic to buy medical supplies and other much-needed items that she’ll bring into Haiti with a team from Doctors Without Borders.
Dumervil, the assistant principal at Pompano Beach Elementary School, will spend five days there, returning to the United States on Feb. 4. She’ll be back in school the next day.
“The grace is on me to do this trip,” said Price-Dumervil, who also is vice president of Children of Tomorrow Foundation International.
The journey is also intensely personal for Price-Dumervil – her father is there, trying to help with rebuilding efforts on the island. Most of Price-Dumervil’s family in Haiti has been in touch with her, though many of her husband’s relatives there are still missing.
“I want to go in order to bring [...]

Source: South Florida Education Blog

Haitian earthquake victims won’t have to take FCAT, state says

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Young Haitian earthquake victims newly enrolled in Florida’s public schools won’t have to take the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
“[Education Commissioner Eric Smith] understands that these children have experienced profound trauma, may arrive with no documentation or educational records, and have received no instruction in our schools,” public schools Chancellor Frances Haithcock wrote in a memo sent Tuesday to the state’s school superintendents.
The FCAT starts with the writing test on Feb. 9 for students in fourth, eighth and tenth grades, and continue with the reading, math and science tests starting March 9. Students in grades three through 10 take the math and reading tests, while students in fifth, eighth and 11th grades take the science test.
The exemption only applies to Haitian students who enrolled in Florida schools after the Jan. 12 earthquake.
Had the students been required to take the annual assessment tests, their scores wouldn’t count toward a [...]

Source: South Florida Education Blog

Benefit planned for Caregiving Youth organization

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A reception to benefit the American Association of Caregiving Youth will be held Feb. 4 at Broken Sound Club in Boca Raton, organizers say.
The event, for 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., costs $35 per person and includes wine and Hors d’oeuvres.
There will also be a silent auction, live auction and raffle. To purchase tickets, call 561-391-7401 or visit the website www.aacy.org for more information.
Formerly called Volunteers for the Homebound & Family Caregivers, the Boca Raton nonprofit took on a new name and expanded mission on Jan. 1, said Connie Siskowski, founder and president.
The organization intends to lead efforts nationwide concerning youth caregivers, she said. These are students who have significant responsibilities helping adult relatives who may be disabled, elderly, and physically or mentally ill.
For the past few years, Siskowski has led the Caregiving Youth Project, affiliated with five Palm Beach County middle schools.

Source: South Florida Education Blog

South Florida charter schools raise thousands for Haiti

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South Florida charter school students—with some help from peers in Texas—raised more than $54,000 to help the victim’s of Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake.

The 7.0 quake shook the Caribbean nation to its core on Jan. 12, crumbling churches, businesses, hospitals and schools.
Students at charter schools throughout Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, as well as some schools in Texas, started raising money days later. Academica, a local charter school operator, donated $20,000 to the students’ fundraising efforts.
Students, faculty and staff brought in $54,942 by Monday.
“Our students are incredibly sensitive to the needs of our community, and the world,” said Bernie Montero, principal of Somerset Academy in Pembroke Pines. The kindergarten through 12th grade school raised more than $10,000, Montero said.
State Rep. Erik Fresen (R-Miami), who is headed to headed, will give the money to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund on behalf of the charter schools.

Source: South Florida Education Blog

Event helps college-bound students apply for funds

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From Staff Writer Anna Beach
It’s free money for college. There’s no application fee and no essay to write.
So why does so much federal student aid go unclaimed? Partly because the form for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid looks pretty daunting.
That’s a shame because that one form can help students access not only federal student aid including Pell grants, work-study aid and loans, but also state and private funds.
To help limited-income college-bound students fill out the FAFSA online, several organizations are hosting College Goal Sunday, 2-5 p.m. Sunday Jan. 31.
There’s no charge to attend and all students who complete the form at a College Goal Sunday location will be eligible for incentives, including gift cards and scholarships.
College Goal locations in Broward and Palm Beach counties are: Ana G. Mendez University System, 3520 Enterprise Way, Miramar; Parkway Academy, 7451 Riviera Blvd., Miramar; American Intercontinental University-South Florida Campus, 2250 N. [...]

Source: South Florida Education Blog

Barry University to have Biggest Winner Challenge

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From Staff Writer Anna Beach
Some Barry University students are not only going to make staff and faculty members sweat it out – they’re going to get college credits for doing so.
Fourth-year exercise science students will earn their practicum requirement by participating as trainers and putting contestants through their paces in The Biggest Winner Challenge.
The competition, put on by Barry’s Campus Recreation and Wellness and Wellness Initiative Network, starts Feb. 2.
Four teams of five staff and faculty members will compete in 12 weeks of lifestyle modification, physical activity, weekly workouts and fitness challenges.
Winners (team and individual) will be determined by the percentage of weight they lose, and points earned by attending educational workshops and classes.

Source: South Florida Education Blog

LA area school district banning dictionaries

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Dictionary entries are kicking up controversy on the West Coast. Well, one entry is: oral sex.

The LA Times is reporting on a school district in Riverside County that is pulling dictionaries from bookshelves because Merriam-Webster’s 10th edition includes this entry:
“Main Entry: oral sex Function: noun Date: 1973 : oral stimulation of the genital.”
I’m sure this post will have you running to the nearest dictionary to find out how it defines oral sex. Several of us in the newsroom sure did. Mine is absent an entry.

Source: South Florida Education Blog

BA is talking diversity

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Broward School Board chairwoman Jennifer Gottlieb and Marsha Ellison, head of the Fort Lauderdale NAACP chapter, are speaking at Boyd Anderson High School this afternoon.
The school’s Gay, Straight Alliance is hosting the event, the topics of which are diversity, the district’s anti-bullying policy and ways for people to feel safe.

Source: South Florida Education Blog