Issue #3 – February 1, 2008
1
Office of Mathematics and Science
For news items or information contact:
www.fldoestem.org
cindy.yeager@fldoe.org
Governor’s Essay Contest in Celebration of Black History Month
Governor Charlie Crist is sponsoring a statewide 500-word essay competition open to
all K-12 students in Florida. The theme of the essays submitted should respond to the
question “How have the contributions of African-American scientists or inventors
impacted your life?” and may be e-mailed to essay@myflorida.com by
February 8,
2008
. There will be three winners selected, one each from grade levels K-5, 6-8, and
9-12. Winners will receive a computer and a four-year, full tuition scholarship to any
Florida state college or university of their choice provided by Florida Prepaid College
Foundation. For more details, please visit the following Web site:
http://www.floridablackhistory.com/essay.cfm.
Governor’s Excellence in Education Award in Celebration of Black History
Month
Governor Charlie Crist's Inaugural Black History Month Excellence in Education
Award Contest is open to all African-American, fulltime educators in an elementary,
middle or high school in Florida. Three winners will be selected: one elementary (K-
5) teacher, one middle school (6-8) teacher and one high school (9-12) teacher.
Completed nomination forms must be e-mailed to nominations@myflorida.com by
February 8, 2008
. For nomination forms and additional information, please visit the
following Web site:
http://www.floridablackhistory.com/education.cfm.
OFFICE STAFF
Mary Jane Tappen
Executive Director
Cindy Yeager
Administrative Assistant
Todd Clark
Deputy Director
Lance King
Secondary Science
Specialist
VieVie Baird
Elementary Science
Specialist
Rob Schoen
Mathematics Specialist
Evrim Erbilgin
Mathematics Specialist
New Standards Database Available for Teachers, Parents, Administrators
The Office of Mathematics and Science, in collaboration with the Florida Center for
Research in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (FCR-STEM), is
pleased to announce the availability of a new tool for teachers, administrators, and
parents that will allow easy access to the new Sunshine State Standards. The
standards database will become the central Web site for teachers and other
stakeholders to read and download the new content standards and find resources,
including course descriptions, model lessons, glossaries, online resources vetted by
teachers, and more. The Office of Mathematics and Science is excited about this
new tool and would appreciate your feedback on ways to make the site more useful
and more user-friendly. Be the first person in your school to check out this resource
and share it with your colleagues!
http://www.floridastandards.org
Issue #3 – February 1, 2008
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Regional Winners of the Sunshine State Scholars
Students selected as district nominees for the Sunshine State Scholars program participated in
a written examination on January 9 at regional competitions throughout Florida. Ten finalists
have been selected, and these finalists will be invited to Tallahassee on March 9-13 where
they will be recognized by the Florida Governor and the Cabinet, in addition to making
presentations and taking an additional written examination to determine the state finalist.
Congratulations to these outstanding science and mathematics students!
Here are the ten finalists for the 2008 Sunshine State Scholars Program.
Regional Finalist
District
School
Mason Bogue Palm Beach Suncoast High School
John Colby Hillsborough H.B. Plant High School
Justin Engle Santa Rosa Gulf Breeze High School
Milton Guy Indian River Vero Beach High School
Alexander Li Miami-Dade Miami Palmetto Sr. High School
Andrew Lin Broward
Stoneman Douglas High School
Aman Mittal Pinellas St. Petersburg High School
Chris Perera Duval Stanton College Prep High School
Karan Sagar Pinellas Palm
Harbor University High School
Renfei Tu Marion Vanguard High School
For more information, visit http://www.unf.edu/dept/sunshine/.
FCR-STEM Initiative on Recruiting Females and Minority Students for STEM Careers
and STEM Education
The Florida Center for Research in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
(FCR-STEM), at Florida State University, has launched a Female and Minority Initiative
created to develop a long-term, comprehensive plan to increase the participation and success
of Florida’s female and minority students in STEM education and STEM fields. Since Spring
2007, FCR-STEM has convened an advisory panel to help guide the process and identify K-
20 education, research, and business stakeholders to develop the plan. The center also
prepared initial drafts of two reports to inform the planning process: (1) a summary of trends
in female and minority STEM course-taking, achievement, and degree attainment from K-12
through postsecondary education in Florida, and (2) a summary of research on the
achievement, choice, and persistence of females and minorities in STEM education.
On November 13-14, 2007, a diverse workgroup of 50 members met in Orlando to begin
examining policies, programs and strategies that hold promise for increasing Florida’s female
and minority representation in STEM courses and STEM fields. Members included
representatives of Florida’s school districts, community colleges, universities, businesses,
Department of Education and similar initiatives outside Florida. FCR-STEM is currently
preparing a report of the workgroup’s discussion and recommendations, which will be
reviewed by the advisory panel at its second meeting on February 8, 2008.
Issue #3 – February 1, 2008
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The workgroup will convene again in April to provide more input on the plan and
identify potential measures of its success.
Questions about the FCR-STEM Female and Minority Initiative should be addressed to
Faye Jones, Program Manager, at fjones@admin.fsu.edu. Additional information, in-
cluding a list of advisory panel and workgroup participants, is available at this Web site:
http://www.fcrstem.org/page180.aspx.
Faye Jones, a graduate student at Florida State University, contributed this article.
Science Standards Update
The writers and framers of the science content standards for Florida public schools had a
very productive meeting in Tallahassee on January 9-11. During this meeting, the group
had the opportunity to review input from expert reviewers, public meetings, and online
evaluations and to make changes and revisions based on this input data. The draft of the
work accomplished by the writers will be submitted to the State Board of Education at
their meeting in Tallahassee on February 19, 2008. Draft copies of the recommended
science standards are posted online at this Web site:
http://www.fldoestem.org/FLDOE_STEM/Review_FL_Science_Standards.aspx.
Florida Math Day
The Florida Council of Teachers of Mathematics (FCTM) and Florida Association of
Mathematics Supervisors (FAMS), in support of the initiative for Florida Math Day and
inclusion of the financial literacy standards into core mathematics curriculum, are
offering an award to the writers of each of the four selected lessons for implementation
on the first annual Florida Math Day on May 1, 2008.
One award per lesson will be granted. The award includes a one-year membership to
FCTM and complimentary registration at the FCTM Annual Meeting on October 16-18,
2008, in Jacksonville, Florida. Additionally, $500 will be awarded by FCTM for support
to attend the annual meeting, and $250 will be awarded by FAMS.
The Office of Mathematics and Science would like to thank FCTM and FAMS for their
generous support of Florida Math Day. For more information about which benchmarks
to address and how to submit your best lesson plan, please visit this Web site:
http://www.fldoestem.org/FLDOE_STEM/State_Math_Day.aspx.
Issue #3 – February 1, 2008
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League of Environmental Educators in Florida Annual Conference
Join park naturalists, outdoor educators, and K-12 teachers at the 28th League of
Environmental Educators in Florida (LEEF) Annual Conference, held at Camp Crystal
Lake in North Central Florida. Various speakers and breakout sessions will provide
attendees with a greater understanding of environmental education. Dates for this year’s
conference are March 27-30, 2008. For registration and additional conference
information, please visit this Web site:
www.leef-florida.org/net/content/default.aspx?s=0.0.110.37432.
Nominate a K-6 Teacher for the 2008 Presidential Award for Excellence in
Mathematics and Science Teaching
Each year, the President of the United States recognizes outstanding kindergarten through
sixth grade or seventh through twelfth grade mathematics and science teachers by
bestowing upon them the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science
Teaching (PAEMST). The PAEMST program is administered by the National Science
Foundation (NSF) on behalf of the White House. In 2008, the PAEMST program will
receive applications from kindergarten through sixth grade mathematics and science
teachers. PAEMST winners are honored the year following receipt of the application.
Each awardee will receive a $10,000 award from NSF and gifts from a broad range of
donors. Awardees and their guests are honored during events that take place in
Washington, DC, over the course of a week-long celebration. Since this is the first year
that the nomination and application will be completed online, the nomination deadline
has been extended to March 1, 2008. Applications are due May 1, 2008. To view the
online application, please visit this Web site:
http://www.paemst.org/controllers/app.cfc?method=view.
National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola Establishes a Distance Learning
Program
The National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, with funding from the Florida
Legislature, has established an Interactive Technology Center that will permit students
and teachers statewide to learn about aeronautics and the physics of flight.
The Interactive Technology Center (ITC) is a prototype, distance-learning classroom that
includes state of the art technology. The ITC will enhance learning throughout the state
via video and teleconferencing capabilities, as well as provide a learning environment in
which students can participate without physically being at the museum. For more
information and to schedule an “online fieldtrip” to the aviation museum for your class,
please visit this Web site:
http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/Education/Interactive-Technology-Center.aspx.
Issue #3 – February 1, 2008
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Space Florida Summer Programs for Students and Teachers
Space Florida offers students and teachers a range of innovative, education programs and
workshops specially intended for middle and high school students and teachers. The
emphasis of these programs is inquiry-based, with many hands-on activities, enabling
participants to experience real-world science problems and solve them. Sign up now to
reserve your space for these summer workshops. For more information, please visit this
Web site:
http://www.spaceflorida.gov/education2.php.
2008 Motorola Innovation Generation Request for Proposals
In 2008, the Motorola Foundation will provide
$4 million in Innovation Generation
Grants
to organizations that engage U.S. K-12 students and teachers in innovation,
science, technology, engineering and math. Applicants should consider the following
criteria:
Funding priority will be placed on pioneering programs that:
•
Engage students and teachers in innovative, hands-on ways
•
Teach innovation and creative problem-solving skills
•
Focus on girls and under-represented minorities
•
Engage Motorola employees as volunteers
•
Take place in communities where Motorola has an employee presence, including
Florida
•
Demonstrate measurable outcomes
•
Are less than two years old
Grant applicants may request up to $100,000. Grants will be awarded for one year of
project work, starting in June 2008. Schools and school districts are eligible to apply.
Application deadline is
March 1, 2008
. For more information, please visit this Web site:
http://www.motorola.com/content.jsp?globalObjectId=8153.
Palm Beach County SECME Program
(For its first 22 years, SECME was an acronym for Southeastern Consortium for
Minorities in Engineering. In 1997, the name was changed to SECME, Inc.)
The goal of the SECME program is to increase the pool of historically under-represented,
geographically under-served, and differently-abled students who will be prepared to enter
and complete post-secondary STEM studies, creating a diverse and globally competitive
workforce. SECME was established in 1975 by the Deans of Engineering at seven
Southeastern universities: Alabama, Florida, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Tennessee,
Tennessee State, and Tuskegee. Today that alliance extends to schools, universities,
science- and technology-based business and industry, and public and private agencies in
17 states (from New York to Arizona), the District of Columbia, and Grand Bahamas.
Issue #3 – February 1, 2008
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Terrell Goldwire is an eighth grade
student in the Pre-International
Baccalaureate Magnet Program at John
F. Kennedy Middle School in Palm
Beach County. He has participated in the
SECME program since 2000 as an
elementary student. Terrell has grown to
love SECME and the benefits this
program offers him in the science and
engineering fields. In 2004, Terrell’s
SECME poster placed first at the district
level and fourth at the national
competition at North Carolina A&T
University. He was also chosen to
participate in the SECME Summer
Institute Aerospace Program, a five day
residential education program. In 2005,
Terrell’s SECME poster, essay, and
mousetrap car team placed first at the
district level and proceeded to the
national competition at the University of
South Florida. He again was chosen to participate in the SECME Summer Institute
Aerospace Program. This past year in SECME, Terrell’s poster placed second at the
district level, and his mousetrap car team placed first and continued to the national
competition at Embry Riddle University. During his time at Embry Riddle, he decided to
pursue an aviation and engineering degree and plans to attend Embry Riddle in the future.
Terrell has a passion for science, and it shows in his science fair projects that have
advanced to the district science fair since he was in the fifth grade. This year, Terrell’s
love for science has evolved into an every minute conversation because of his eighth
grade advanced science teacher Mr. Pecoraro. About the SECME program, Terrell says
“SECME has given me opportunities to become a future pilot. Words cannot express the
gratitude I have for this program and its teachers. Science, Mathematics & Engineering
are the pathway to my future.” For more information about the national SECME
program, please visit this Web site: http://www.secme.org/home/index.html.
