Mustang Message
May 8, 2016
Business Competition
A Message from Jeff and Yolanda
A question Jeff and I get asked from staff is whether it is worth having so many groups, such as 5th graders, business groups or civic organizations tour our school and our answer is always a resounding, "Yes!" When we first took on the leadership responsibilities of the schools four years ago, we kept hearing how “LWIT/LWTHS was the best kept secret in Collier County". The interesting thing is that Denise had shared an article from the 1980’s which in its' headline referred to the school as the “best kept secret”. We pledged that we would take steps to bring in as many people to witness the great work that our teachers and staff do in preparing students for high wage/high tech careers, further post-secondary studies or business ownership. Hosting groups on campus helps us recruit students, educate the community about the value of CTE and sometimes, it even leads to scholarships for our students. Such is the case of the story below which was shared this week by Heidi Duff:
The PEO (Philanthropic Education Organization) has a mission to assist women with their educational goals. They initially contacted LWTC about a year ago to learn more and explore opportunities to collaborate. A small group visited in June 2015 and toured the school. They were blown away by all we had to offer. They conducted their first interviews in the fall and selected Theldina “Dina” Yazzie from Dental Assisting as their candidate to put forward to the national organization for scholarship consideration. Dina was awarded $1600.
The initial group was so passionate about all they saw in their first tour and the stories of the students they met in interviews that they arranged for the whole chapter to come for a lunch and tour in October 2015. After the first of the year, they conducted another round of interviews and selected Gianna Kawicki from PN II as their chapter’s candidate for the national scholarship. (They also selected a PN to put forward for the Fall 2016 semester but that is just being submitted now) We found out this week that Gianna was awarded $1400 for her final semester! The chapter is also working with Abby Lambley, LWTHS counselor, to identify HS students for a different PEO scholarship to attend Cottey College in Nevada, Missouri. Senior, Oprah Bennett is the recipient of this scholarship in the amount of $15,500 per year for a total of $62,000.
Every time I speak to my contact she is just so passionate and enthused about LWTC. They plan to attend graduation to show their support for their LWTHS and LWTC scholarship recipients!
Another group of frequent visitors are the Entrepreneurship mentors and supporters. On Friday, we had a group judging the Entrepreneurship Competition organized by guest teacher, Belvy Dalton. The teams who placed 1st and 2nd will represent LWTC/LWTHS at the District Business competition on May 20th at Hodges.
Congratulations to:
Game(r)s Tank - 1st place
Medi-QC - 2nd place
WeTech - 3rd place
239 Prime made such an impression on a judge that the team was awarded the first ever Incubator Innovation Award which is a $250 scholarship. Thanks to Belvy and all his students for their creativity and hard work!
Tech Corner
Web on Wednesday is scheduled for Wed, May 11th at either 2:00 or 2:35pm in 2-233. This session concludes the topic of Podcasting with the final step of uploading your GarageBand recording to SoundCloud and creating a cover via Canva.
REMINDER: Discovery Education is providing 1 hour webinars for CCPS teachers! Mark your calendars! Click here for general instructions on using WebEx.
SOS Strategies - Thu, May 12 1:00pm - Join WebEx meeting Meeting number: 635 067 660 Meeting password: discovery
Assignment/Assessment Builder Tools - Thu, May 12 2:00pm Join WebEx meeting Meeting number: 630 728 782 Meeting password: discovery
Happenings
- Algebra 2 EOC exams are on 5/9 and 5/10 and AP Spanish Literature exam is on 5/10.
- On 5/10, Nancy Turmelle will be honored at the School Board meeting at the District at 4pm.
On 5/11, Ann Fredette is hosting the 2016 Project Explore Celebration and Awards Dinner at Moorings Park. The theme this year is "Unique as a Snowflake".
On 5/11 at Hodges University, the Champions for Learning round table discussions are occurring for the second time this year. Rita Kentros is taking the 9th grade student council members to represent our school.
On 5/12, the 10th grade students will do their second round of shadowing of the technical programs in order to make their selections for next year!
5/12, the 9th grade students are participating in the Spelling Bee Championship at 8:30 a.m. in the cafeteria.
On 5/13, Avalon Elementary 5th graders will be touring the school.
- 5/13, 6:00-9:00 p.m. the Karoake Dance Party in the cafeteria.
- On 5/13, we will begin celebrating Denise Duzick's retirement with a cruise on the Naples Princess, tickets are still available through the school store.
5/14, the Green Club will do a canal clean-up at Sports Authority from 8:00-10:00 a.m.
Reminders
- The Advanced Ed student and staff survey needs to be completed by the end of 5/12.
- 5/12 is early release day and the Professional Development Schedule will be uploaded to the Wiki by the end of the day on Monday.
- If you haven't already done so please finalize your evaluations in iObservation by the end of the day on Monday, 5/9.
- PLT Reflections are due 5/31.
- Don't forget to nominate a staff member for the month of May 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 of April by clicking the appropriate link below. Follow the same protocol of putting the student name as the title and reason for nominating in the body of the posting.
9th grade Link:
10th grade Link:
11th grade Link:
12th grade Link:
Spotlight on LWTHS Staff Member
After growing up in California but moving to Florida from Montana, Ms. Dawn Peck, has made herself at home in this beachside community. She loves going mudding and the Florida State Seminoles. She always knew she was going to be a teacher; because when she was young and completed her own school work early, she would help the other students. Furthermore, Dawn still enjoys teaching students and attends their events to show her support. She describes herself as dedicated. Dawn has two girls, a dog, and a cat. If Dawn were not a teacher, she would be a detective. Lastly, she would love to visit Italy, because she has ancestral ties to the country.
Spotlight on LWTHS Staff Member
Growing up on a Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota, Lisa Perez had a unique childhood. Her father was the dentist at the Indian Reservation, and then moved the family to Chicago, Illinois. Lisa studied music therapy while in college and can play the piano and tenor sax. In her spare time, she enjoys walking, the beach, and exercise. She first began her career working with adults who have disabilities in mental health, and later moved to K-12 to have the same schedule as her children. She has two step-children and a set of twin girls with her husband. She has met famous people such as David Copperfield. Her favorite place she has traveled is Oya, Greece, and just ask her to show you the beautiful pictures on her desk. Lisa is a fun loving person who enjoys spending time with her friends and family.
Kudos to . . .
- A special thank you to Susan Resatar, Chef Geri, and Chef Abdo and their students for all their help with teacher appreciation week!
- Guest teacher Belvy Dalton for organizing the LWTC Business competition.
- Denise Duzick and Angie Imbriale for organizing Teacher Appreciation Week activities.
- Joann Cassio for organizing Random Acts of Kindness Week.
- Neil Fehr for his flexibility and helpfulness during the busy testing season. He volunteers to go wherever he is needed!
- Lindsey Simmons for organizing the annual Mustang Talent show.
- Bruce Peters, Kris Betten-Jutasi, and Evan Uram who were judges and Pat Metcalf for selling tickets at the Talent Show. Also to Laurie Lattarulo for supporting our students at the event.
- Kris Betten-Jutasi for organizing the student vs. staff volleyball game on Friday and to Neil Fehr, Sabrina Medal, Carly Campbell, Juan Romero, Lindsey Simmons and Kris Betten-Jutasi who represented the staff. The students won, 25-21.
- Lindsey Simmons for completing her M.Ed in Educational Leadership from Florida GulfCoast University.
- Student services and all of the LWTC teachers who toured and opened up their classrooms for the 5th grade tours on Wednesday (Avalon) and Thursday (Parkside). You made a wonderful impression!
Happy Birthday
11 - Pam Wilkin
15 - Gerald Soffin
Upcoming Staff Meetings and Trainings
- See the lwcampus.wikispaces.com for the LWTC/LWTHS meeting calendar.
- See iBriefing 9663 if you are interested in partaking in an online gifted book study. 20 Master Inservice Points (MIPs) are awarded upon successful completion of the course. The book "Differentiation for Gifted Learners: Going Beyond the Basics" by Diane Heacox and Richard Cash will be provided to all participants. This book study will begin with a mandatory online orientation on April 20, 2016 at 5PM. Please contact Sharon Windey at windes@collierschools.com if you are interested in participating or have questions.
- 5/10 Support Staff Meeting at 1:30pm in the computer lab 2-233
- 5/12 is an ERD and the Professional Development schedule will be placed on the Wiki by the end of the day on Monday.
Upcoming Student Events
- 5/11 Champions for Learning Roundtable, Hodges University, 4 pm - 8 pm - Rita Kentros
- 5/12 Early Release
- 5/13 Karoake Dance Party, LWTC Dining Halls 6 pm - 9 pm - Joann Cassio
- 5/14 Canal Cleanup, Sports Authority, Airport Rd. 8 am - 10 am - Tara Barr