Mustang Message
October 18, 2015
Message from the Principal
I kicked off the week at Orange Mid Technical Center alongside forty–seven technical college and center administrators meeting with Governor Scott and Education Commissioner Pam Stewart. Both the Governor and the Commissioner stressed the important role which technical education plays in the economy and Governor Scott pledged to putting in his budget $20 million dollars for technical colleges and centers. The funding would allow schools to expand or start-up new programs which meet the emerging needs of the workforce.
As you may recall, this past January, Governor Scott paid a visit to our school as part of his campaign to get support for the funding, unfortunately the State Legislature did not support it and therefore it was not included in the 2015-2016 state budget. The Governor encouraged all of us to reach out to our state legislators and ask that they support the $20 million dollar funding which would be included in the 2016-2017 state budget if it passes. I have already reached out to Representative Kathleen Passidomo and Senator Richter. Representative Kathleen stated, “I absolutely will support the funding. You do great work at Lorenzo Walker.” Senator Richter was out of the office and I have not heard back from him.
Below is their contact information:
Representative Kathleen Passidomo
Email Kathlee.Passidomo@myfloridahouse.org
Phone: (239) 417-6200
Phone: (239) 417-6205
ABC 7 did a follow-up story on the Governor's proposed funding in which Welding, Surgical Technology and Pharmacy Tech were featured.. Thank you to John Mazzarella, Nancy Turmelle and Claudia Rivero for being so accommodating without any notice. When someone asked how I was able to get the media to our school so quick, I could not take credit for it, I think the Governor's office had something to do with it.
In other news, the week came to a close with the Practical Nursing Pinning Ceremony, where 16 nursing students received their nursing caps and pins. The guest speaker for the ceremony was a former graduate of the Lorenzo Walker PN program almost ten years ago and is now completing her masters program to become a Nurse Practitioner. This is evidence yet again, that our students achieve GREAT things with the education they receive here. Thanks to the nursing instructors for another exceptional class of students!
Tech Corner
Did you know….that from the new CCPS Portal page (https://portal.collierschools.com) you can access district, online, and subscription resources (i.e., everything from Data Warehouse to Edmodo to Lynda.com) all from one page? Links to some of your employee information (i.e., benefits) are also there. There is a shortcut on your desktop (CCPS Portal) providing single sign on, but you can also log-in from home. Students and parents have their own version. Check it out to see if your ‘go to’ links are there.
Looking for some guided Professional Learning Time ideas? The Discovery Education site has Interactive Trainings in using the site, Spotlight on Strategies, and Board Builder of course...but they also have Literacy Strategies, Assessment Strategies, ELL Strategies, Universal Design for Learning and more. After logging in, go to Professional Development -> PD Home -> Interactive Training. They are set up for about an hour and you get a certificate upon successful completion.
*Learning events this week*
Tue, Oct 20th, 8am - 3:30pm: Unconference - Professional Learning Day - Please bring your charged iPad
Sat, Oct 24th, 10am - 1pm (drop in any time): Discovery Education Fall VirtCon Fall 2015 with the theme of Digital Literacies
CC Photo credit to BK on Flickr
News from our Wellness Champions - Pam and Khris
- SHAPE UP ! Experience a Taste of Naples Fitness will be held on Saturday, October 17, 8:00 a.m. –noon at Lowdermilk Park and Beach. You will have an opportunity to participate in free fitness activities including yoga, paddle boarding, fitness classes and a 2 mile fun run/walk.
Happenings
- Everyone on staff, both LWTC and LWHTS are invited to attend the School Advisory Luncheon on Monday, 10/19 at 11:30 a.m. Chef Geri, Chef Chris, and the culinary students have prepared a scrumptious buffet.
- The School Advisory Committee (SAC) will meet on Tuesday, 10/20 at 6:00 p.m. in the Conference room. We invite you to attend.
- All LWTC/LWTHS staff will be participating in Instructional Rounds on Wednesday and/or Thursday, October 21 & 22.
- Lorenzo Walker Technical College will be hosting the Fall VIRTCON on Saturday, October 24th from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Join this viewing party for a conversation on Kathy Schrock’s 13 Literacies for the Digital age. To register visit: http://bit.lw/FallVirtConLWTC. For more information, contact Marie Coleman.
- Join the Community Conversation on Monday, November 9 at Hodges University for the 2015 Champions Challenge that will bring educators, students,parents, business people and community members together for a conversation around what it would look like for our community to identify and work together toward shared goals in early learning and college and career readiness. Staff and students are invited to attend and register on the Champions for Learning website. Last year there were several staff and high school students who attended and enlightened community members on all that we have offer on our campus.
Reminders
- There is no LWTC Department Leadership meeting on Tuesday, 10/20 due to the Professional Learning Day.
- LWTC teachers remind your students interested in business entrepreneurship or business to apply for the SCORE Naples Scholarship. The deadline to apply is October 28th. Heidi Duff sent the email with details on 10/14.
- PLT Reflection forms due October 30th.
Don't forget to nominate a staff member for the month of October by clicking on the Padlet link . Type the name of the nominated staff member in the "Title" portion of the Padlet post and your reasoning in the body of the post. Also you can nominate by grade level a student for the month for October by clicking the link appropriate link below. Follow the same protocol of putting the student name as the title and reason for nominating in the body of the post.
Don't forget to vote daily for the LWTC newspaper rack at www.NaplesNews.com/Contests . There is a limit of one vote per person and per email address, per day through October 25th. You can see the rack below.
Spotlight on LWTHS Staff Member
Jeff Rexford has always had education in his blood. His family has been involved in the educational system since he was young. Jeff's father was and still is on the school board in Cadillac, Michigan and his mother was a secretary in the school system as well. Growing up as an athlete, he considers himself very competitive, and lettered in soccer, basketball and tennis. Jeff holds his high school record for tennis seeing as he only lost one match during his four years of varsity tennis. As a high school student, he helped out at local sports camps and found that he really enjoyed teaching others, leading him to Central Michigan University to pursue education as his career. He moved to Naples to teach second and fifth grade at Osceola Elementary and met his wife Jill there. From elementary, he taught and became the Dean at Manatee Middle School before settling at Lorenzo Walker Technical High School. The best part of his job are the interactions with the current students and when he gets to go out and recruit at middle schools around Collier County. He enjoys spreading the word about the amazing opportunities that Lorenzo Walker Technical High School and Lorenzo Walker Technical College offer students. He counts his blessings that he gets to come to work at a place that he loves and with people who all share the same passion for educating our students.
Spotlight on LWTC Staff Member
Diane Long’s dream of becoming a teacher started as a child. She’s lived in Naples, FL for 35 years, and has been teaching for 25. She finds pleasure in seeing her students’ progress and experience the joys of success. When she’s not helping students succeed in life, she’s out there in the world enjoying what she loves; canoeing and kayaking. Diane also loves to work with animals. If she were not in the field she is in now, she would probably be in animal rescue work. One day she would love to live in a small town, surrounded by lots of animals to add to the one dog and cat she has now.
Kudos
- Fay Warfield, Jorge Suarez and Victor Velazquez for arranging the Practical Nursing Pinning Ceremony and to our nursing instructors Mary Crowley, Jill Peterson and Pam Wilkin for celebrating their students accomplishments
- A special Thank you to the Advisory Committee Planning Team that made it happen! Amanda Vazquez, Shauna Kelly, Lesa Veitia Perez, Fay Warfield, Carolyn Casserly, Emily Bordner, Jack Izbicki, and Jean Cardarelli
- Laurie Lattarulo for getting all of the Powder Puff insurance forms updated and back to the coaches so the students can participate
- Karly Campbell, Dan Miller, Lindsey Simmons, Anne Genovese, Bruce Rutila, Dave Gabriel, Juan Romero for doing a great job of PSAT testing for the 10th graders.
- Katherine Cummings, Lisa Perez, Pat Metcalf, Abby Lambley, Margot Dagher, Dawn Peck, Marsha Bergquist, Joann Cassio, Tara Barr and Susan James for covering for PSAT testing
- Lynne Bruce for her organization of QB1/QB2 and Post-Testing that all went on in 1 week. We are the only school in the district that has all of that testing at the same time.
Happy Birthday
22 - Chris Abdo
23 - Armando Padilla
Upcoming Staff Meetings and Trainings
- See the lwcampus.wikispaces.com for the LWTC/LWTHS meeting calendar.