GRAD RATESSPIKE TO7-YEAR HIGH

SCHOOL GRADES

UP!Students Prepare Students Prepare

FOR CRITICALALGEBRA 1 EXAM

www.putnamschools.org

Volume 3.3March 2012

Graduation rates in the Putnam County School District are at a seven-year high. For the first time, the district has two high schools with a “B” on their state report card simultaneously.Melrose Elementary School and Interlachen Elementary School are in the top 15 percent of elementary schools in Florida.But among progress in our schools looms a serious challenge – a change this school year in state requirements to graduate high school.

Previously, high school students in Algebra 1 could balance their end-of-course exam score with their class grade. If they passed the class – and made it through the next few years – it was on to graduation night. This year, things changed.

The Florida Department of Education now requires students to pass the Algebra 1 end-of-course exam to graduate. Students failing the exam can still move to the next grade. But until credit is earned for the end-of-course exam, a student can’t graduate,

however sterling his or her GPA might be.“Without an Algebra 1 credit you will not get a diploma in the state of Florida,” said Michelle Tucker, a former PHS math teacher now mentoring our teachers as a member of the district’s Data Driven Instruction Team. “It is the one math course the state requires.”The end-of-course exam is scheduled for May in Putnam County.Tucker created a District Interim Assessment test ninth graders throughout the county took in January, modeling it on problems heavily weighted on the end-of- course exam and material taught since the start of school.She said students are in crunch time studying for the exam, and teachers are reviewing with them their strengths and weaknesses.“They need to know what standards they are struggling with so they can re-address those skills,” Tucker said of current freshmen. “Teachers can see where their students are low and work with them on those skills.”PCSD Assistant Superintendent Mary Beth Hedstrom said with the number of state curriculum requirements increasing, an old

page 2 March 2012

Graduation requirements – end-of-Course exam for alGebra 1

Is Your Child Ready for the Algebra 1 EOC?

March 2012 page 3

standard of education has heightened influence.“With the scope of standards needing to be addressed, homework becomes more important,” Hedstrom said.Hedstrom said the district has money dedicated to fund after-school tutoring in high school, and plans are in the

works to initiate a program helping students who do not pass the end-of-course exam. This year, good resources are after-school tutoring programs and interactive websites.Hedstrom said khanacademy.org is a particularly effective website

for working students through Algebra problems.Khan Academy’s website offers scores of educational material and practice problems in nearly every subject. The homepage states the company’s goal “to provide a world-class education to anyone anywhere.” “If I were stuck on a problem, or were a parent stuck on a problem, that would be a place I’d go,” Hedstrom said.Students not passing the end-of-course exam can retake the exam at different intervals as they move through high school.But Tucker said the time to get it right is now. “The problem with retakes is they’re not in the class anymore,” Tucker said. “They don’t have the teacher in front of them going over the material they need.” PCSD Superintendent Tom Townsend said the current class of freshmen should use every resource available to pass the end-of-course exam.“From the recent improvements our students are at the heart of, we know they can make this happen,” Townsend said. “What I believe will be the greatest factor in success is informing parents of how important a focus it is.”

a new state law requires all 9th graders to pass the algebra 1

end-of-course exam to Graduate.

Freshmen, the time is now to con-centrate on the algebra 1 compo-

nents with which you struggle.

• Work with your teachers. • Get after-school tutoring. • Go to websites like khan

academy.org to work through problems on your time.

Make homework a top priority. Study hard and good luck!

Two Putnam Schools Rank in State’s Top 15 PercentCongratulations to Melrose Elementary School and Interlachen Elementary School (IES), who rank in the top 15 percent of Florida’s elementary schools based on data released by the Florida Department of Education.

Melrose holds the top spot among Putnam County elementary schools – ranking 212 out of Florida’s 1,795 public and charter elementary schools.

IES finished with a ranking of 274.

Schools were scored on FCAT results. Contributing factors included 12.5 percent for learning gains for the lowest-scoring 25 percent of a school’s students, and 6.25 percent for at-risk student grades.

Both Melrose and IES are “A” schools.

Putnam County School District graduation rates hit a seven-year high as they increased for the third consecutive year, data released Dec. 12 by the Florida Department of Education show.PCSD’s graduation rate as measured by the National Governor’s Association (NGA) is 75.5 percent for the 2010-11 school year, up from 74.6 percent in the 2009-10 school year.FDOE uses the NGA formula to calculate graduation rates for Florida’s 67 school districts, employing a model that includes standard and special diplomas and excludes all General Education Development.The 75.5 percentage marks the highest graduation rate in Putnam County in the seven years NGA has been used by Florida to calculate the rates.A new state law effective for this year’s high school freshmen puts new requirements on graduation. Students must pass the end-of-course Algebra 1 test in their freshman year to graduate.Mary Beth Hedstrom, Assistant Superintendent of the Putnam County School District, said the new criteria make it critical freshmen use after-school tutoring, educational websites and concentrate on homework.“Our graduation rates are a symptom of the progress we are making as a district,” Hedstrom said. “But

rather than complacency, this is a time for continued focus – focus in the classroom, at home and the focus it takes for a student to block distractions and study in the moment.”PCSD Super-intendent Tom Townsend credited teachers throughout the district for the record-setting numbers.“Teachers have had to adapt to changing curriculum locally and from the state, more accountability, along with classroom challenges they have known and overcome for years,” Townsend said. “The change in our high school students enthusiasm for their schools and their work is clear. I believe that behind the progress are teachers, pushing students to believe in their talents and themselves.”

page 4 March 2012

PCSD Growing Strong

Graduation Rates Hit 7-year High!

March 2012 page 5

Do Not Miss Out on ACTApril 24, 2012 8am sharp!

ALL 11th Graders FREE At Your High School

* Students who enroll in Math for College Success and Reading for College Success may not earn core academic credit to satisfy graduation requirements. These courses will satisfy elective credit for State University Admission purposes and Bright Futures 4-year Gold Seal Scholarship requirements.

** Core Mathematics & English graduation requirements Bright Futures Scholarship Program eligibility requirements State University System admission requirements.

SchoolS that uSe act ScoreS include:

2 or 4 year collegestrade SchoolScareer/technical Programs

use Scores for Graduation rePlacement for FcatACT scores of 15 in math and 18 in reading will qualify you for graduation.

Why do i need to take the act? Florida law requires a college readiness test for students who score:

Reading Level 2 or Level 3 on the 10th grade FCAT Math Level 2, Level 3, or Level 4 on the 10th grade FCAT

ACT defined colleGe and career readineSS as the acquisition of the knowledge and skills a student needs to enroll and Succeed in credit-bearing, first-year courses at a postsecondary institution.

NN

NN

Subject courSe title Sat act credit

Math Math for College Success < 440 < 19 0.5*

Math for College Readiness 440-520 19-22 1.0**

Reading Reading for College Success < 440 < 18 0.5*

english 4 College Prep ≥ 440 ≥ 18 1.0**

WRiting Writing for College Success <440 <17 0.5*

english 4 College Prep ≥ 440 ≥ 17 1.0**

how will my scores be used? To determine Your Senior Year Course placement N Bright Futures awards

N Technical School & College admissions

N Scholarships & loans

N Dual Enrollment

What happens if i do not take the act?

N Will be placed in college prep classes your senior year

N PAY money to take it on your own

N May NOT Qualify for Scholarships

Debby Decubellis and her administrative team have climbed one step up the state’s grade ladder each year since she became Palatka High School principal in 2009.The ascension found PHS earning its first ever grade of “B” when the Florida Department of Education released high school grades in January.But Decubellis said the Panthers aren’t stopping at second place.“We’re going to get an ‘A’,” she said in her office on a late January morning as students settled into their first period classes. “We have

students as talented and capable as any – and they believe that.”PHS Assistant Principal Jerome Wilkerson said the kids were “very excited” when they learned of the “B” they earned.And Decubellis said enthusiasm among students about academic performance is renewed at the

high school.“In that first year when we told them ‘You don’t want to be a ‘D’ school’ they would shrug and say ‘I don’t care.’ Now, that has completely changed,” Decubellis said.

PHS junior Macy Westbury said the school has improved in academics and attitude since her freshman year.“Teachers have been working hard to get their students prepared,” Westbury said. “I see a big improvement in this school.”Assistant Principal Mechele Higginbotham said concentration on post-secondary education, including students earning dual enrollment points has helped them focus on more than just standardized tests.Another change – PCSD bringing in the Southern Regional Education

Board to assess secondary schools – has helped, Decubellis said.“The relationship that has been established by SREB has been a real benefit to us,” she said. “It has helped the school stay focused on getting our students ready for post-secondary education.”The three administrators agreed that under previous assessments, 10th graders, for instance, tended to somewhat tune school out after FCAT.“It’s holding everyone accountable now,” Higginbotham said of the new measure.Decubellis thanked her administrators, the school’s 22-member leadership committee, teachers, and especially students, whose hard work and enthusiasm she said are primarily responsible for the “B.”Response to Intervention, a behavioral program part of PCSD curriculum, has provided a bridge for PHS students, Decubellis said. RTI works with students having problems, holding one-on-one counseling, family conferences and more.“It’s really been a lifeline,” Decubellis said. “If they’re struggling, they have that extra person here to help them see the light at the end of the tunnel.”Wilkerson said school fights are down and behavior is better at PHS.“Our expectations have stayed the same, we’ve stayed that course

page 6 March 2012

Palatka High Improves to “B” School

A PutnAm First: Two “B” High Schools

and included rewards for good behavior,” he said. “They’re looking for those rewards now.”At PHS, consequences for referrals are serious. This year, a single second semester referral for a senior means the student cannot attend Prom or the Grad Bash. And Decubellis said the school is considering tying the issue of attendance – which she said trails progress in other areas – to participating in extracurricular activities.Moving from a “C” last year to a “B” this year took an overall increase of 23 points. To reach an “A” next year, students need to move up another 25 points.“There is no reason Palatka High School can’t be an “A,” and no reason we can’t maintain an “A,” Decubellis said. “Our students are as talented as students anywhere.”

When Palatka High School earned its “B” from the state this year, the Panthers rose to join their neighbor to the south.Crescent City Jr./Sr. High School students learned Jan. 4 they scored the Raiders’ second straight “B” when the Florida Department of Education released annual school grades for the 2010-2011 year.When the news hit, Mary Beth Hedstrom – the Putnam County School District Assistant Superintendent – texted her husband. Attending a workshop, CCJSHS Principal Randy Hedstrom made no time for celebration. “He asked me to e-mail him the data so he could see where they fell short,” Mrs. Hedstrom said. It is the second “B” in Mr. Hedstrom’s first two years leading the school. As a “combination” school serving students in grades 7 to 12, criteria that went into its “B” are weighed differently by the Florida Department of Education.At combination schools, 70 percent of the state grade is from FCAT scores.For traditional, freshman-to-senior high schools, 50 percent of the grade comes from FCAT scores and 50 percent from criteria including graduation rate and college readiness.If graded separately in 2010-2011, Raider students in grades 9 to 12 would have scored the school an “A,” according to FDOE data.“The credit goes to our teachers, staff and students,” Mr. Hedstrom said. “Parents are in the school every day supporting a lot of what we do. It’s been a collaborative effort to prepare our students for success and for life after graduation; and we have a lot more to do.” PCSD Superintendent Tom Townsend agreed Raider progress is driven by coordinated effort. His Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council grew fastest first at the South Putnam school. The Students Working Against Tobacco movement has its roots in the bass capital, and SWAT is nearly solely responsible for lobbying the Putnam County School Board last year to make every inch of school district property tobacco free.“Mr. Hedstrom’s leadership skills, students working hard and contributing ideas to make their school better – all of it has Crescent City High on the move,” Townsend said. “Running a combination school has notable challenges. And every time I’m in Crescent City, I talk with someone who makes it clear an entire community is grateful to the teachers at that school. And that school is grateful to the community.”

March 2012 page 7

Raiders Maintain Their “B”

Two in a Row

page 8 March 2012

Through cooperation spanning generations, a young man in Haiti walks. Palatka resident Webster Marlowe has flown to The America’s most impoverished nation three times a year for 16 years, measuring amputees for legs then returning to Palatka and his backyard workshop.Marlowe has made about 300 legs for Haitians in his backyard. The process includes fitting a mold with tight plastic and pouring into it resin from a funnel Marlowe created by cutting a Mountain Dew bottle and inverting it. A Shop Vac provides suction, spreading the resin throughout the mold behind the plastic.When Jenkins Middle School sixth-grader Austin Keel heard

about Marlowe’s mission, he asked to help. So 11-year-old Austin and 80-year-old Marlowe set to work on a left leg that would enable

14-year-old Tony to walk.“He’s 14 and he never took a single step in his life,” Austin said of Tony. Austin is a civic-minded student, volunteering at soup kitchens, tutoring younger kids in reading while finding time to play Pop Warner football.“I came back and we filled the molds made down there with foam or plaster of Paris – showing Austin how to make it,” Marlowe said. “He did very well. He’s a very sharp young man.”Austin said Marlowe is an example of how to lead a Christian life.“He’s not rich,” Austin said. “But when they offer him money he always says ‘No.’”Marlowe’s business card reads:

Webster Marlowe Servant of Jesus Christ

When Marlowe returned to Haiti with the leg for Tony, who Austin

said was born without a knee joint, it was a happy scene.“When Tony

got the leg he smiled and just said, ‘I love this!’” Marlowe said. “He’s 14 and he’s full of the enthusiasm that comes with that age.”Austin has corresponded with Tony, sending him a pair of tennis shoes and keeping a picture Marlowe took the first day the young man walked on the leg he helped make.Marlowe said the 2010 earthquake that rocked Haiti increased the number of the nation’s amputees, but there was always plenty of need.“There have been a lot of amputations from the earthquake,” Marlowe said. “But in all the 16 years I’ve been going to Haiti there are always amputees in need of legs.”Marlowe made five legs for one girl as she grew into a teenager. “The smiles I get out of her and her daddy and mama – how could someone pay me what that’s worth?” Marlowe said. “Warren Buffet doesn’t have enough money. I want to keep going down there for the next 10 years so I can go to her wedding.”

Austin Keel

Jenkins Student Helps Lame Walk

March 2012 page 9

A 75-year-old woman he has equipped with legs greets him with a hug each visit.He had to make a new leg for another young man who broke the first one playing soccer, and several for Fred, who he calls his “problem child” for his small scrapes with local police.In Haiti, Marlowe said hospitals are without electricity as much as half the time. Compound fractures, where a bone breaks and penetrates the skin, typically lead to amputation. “Can you imagine being a doctor and having to operate without anesthesia?” Marlowe said. “Nothing sounds normal there. But it is normal to them.”

A Grandfather’s PrideAustin’s grandfather Kelly Nash, a longtime local educator, is active in Austin’s life, supporting him playing football and in community service work. “Austin heard about what Mr. Marlowe was doing and said ‘I’d love to help build a leg,’” Nash said. “That’s his personality; and he couldn’t learn from a better man than Mr. Marlowe.”When Marlowe travels to Haiti he mostly stays with local nuns – sometimes at a mountainside retreat -- and pays $25 a day for a room and three meals a day. The Sisters ask him to stay for free, but he insists on paying.“It costs money to feed me,” he said.He said one year he bought a ledger to record his travel expenses, but threw it away a month later to calm his nerves. Marlowe heads again in April to Haiti, where he will measure other Haitians for new prosthesis. He said he recently sat down to write some of his history in the Caribbean nation.“When I started writing it up, I realized just how important these Haitians are to me.”Austin wants to accompany Marlowe on a mission trip. As they worked in the backyard making a leg after school on Jan. 26, he said he hopes to take Austin this summer.Nash said the family is in the process of getting Austin a passport. “As soon as I can, I think it would be really cool to go down there and meet Tony,” Austin said. “It would be great to see him walk.”

Brandon Wilkerson got good grades and paid attention in high school. But test taking was not among his strengths.

So when the 2011 Palatka High School senior missed passing the ACT last year by one point, his parents Alfred and Pamela were determined to get a diploma in their son’s hands. And they enlisted the help of the Putnam County School District.

PCSD Superintendent Tom Townsend was able to help get Wilkerson enrolled in a virtual high school accredited by the state. After six months, he had his degree.

“Don’t let anyone ever tell you can’t be something,” Townsend told Brandon in his office as he handed the graduate his diploma. “You were determined to find a way to make this happen, you worked hard and you succeeded.” Townsend and PCSD Title I Resource Teacher, Verlene Bennett said parent involvement throughout helped find Brandon the program.

“We explored options; I had parents willing to work to make it happen,” Townsend said of Brandon’s parents. “And Brandon got it done.”

Brandon said his virtual education was far from a free pass. “It was a lot harder because you don’t have a teacher,” Brandon said. “You had to do it on your own.”

By the 2010 ACT standards, Brandon would have passed. But the state moving the bar up had him fall just short.

“We knew he could do it,” his mother Pamela said. “He did well in school, got good grades. He’s just not the best test taker.”

Brandon is working on test-taking skills and said his career goal remains. “I’m going to go to college for computer animation,” Brandon said. “It’s what I really want to do.”

Palatka High School

Getting It Done

Robin Hernandez is an inspiration at any weight.Hernandez, an instructional assistant at Middleton-Burney Elementary School, lost 36 pounds in the Putnam County School District’s Biggest Loser competition last year.The program started by the PCSD Wellness Committee to encourage employee weight loss through competition gave Hernandez a needed push. When she started losing weight in May 2009, Hernandez weighed 366 pounds. She was 35 years old.“It was exhausting just for me to wash my hair,” Hernandez said. “It was all I could do to come to work.”She started on Weight Watchers, at first unable to walk a quarter mile or descend a flight of stairs without getting winded. Then a village chipped in. A friend played on Hernandez’ giving nature, saying she needed Hernandez to be her weight loss partner.Randy Hedstrom, principal at Crescent City Jr./Sr. High School, gave Hernandez the key to the high school’s track. Things started to change. “I could jog two miles and jog the bleachers,” said Hernandez, who’s worked at Middleton-Burney for seven years.Hernandez was at first unsure whether to enter last year’s Biggest Loser. She’d already lost more than 70 pounds with her regimen. But co-workers convinced her. “It gave me something to look forward to,” she said. The contest was based on percentage of total weight lost, not the number of pounds. “I literally went into the competition last year knowing I was going to have to lose more than anyone else, and I did it,” she said. This year’s Biggest Loser competition at Middleton-Burney began the first week of January with about 30

people, said the school’s Physical Education teacher and Wellness Coordinator, Jeff Lease. “Last year those who stayed in it lost weight,” he said. “This year it seems everyone is more focused and going down to

get weighed each time.”All schools plan to hold the contest to promote better health through maintaining a proper weight, said Gail Dahlgren, Executive Secretary with PCSD Food Services. Weigh-ins are once a week. Lease said the attitude of Hernandez inspires her colleagues.“She’s so nice and always energetic,” he said. “She’s inspirational.” With the help of friends, Weight Watchers and The Biggest Loser, Hernandez now weighs 258 pounds. “Now I’m fit enough that I can play with my kids; I can jog again,” she said. “My big ambition right now is to become a jogger.”

For more than two years, Hernandez has kept an everyday journal in which she writes all she eats in Miss Piggy notebooks. Over Christmas 2010, Hernandez gained 14 pounds. This Christmas, she gained four pounds. At home, her weigh-ins are each Saturday. She keeps a chart of her progress in her guest bathroom for everyone to see. “Food addiction is real,” she said. “And I will always have an addiction to it.” Hernandez wants to share what helped her get nearly halfway to her goal weight of 111 pounds. Her hope is to form a support group for those in the school district struggling with their weight and diet.“If I had one piece of advice to give to those needing to lose weight it would be ‘Stop lying to yourself,’” Hernandez said. This year, she hopes to better her performance in the district competition. “I’m proud of it,” Hernandez said of her weight loss. “I would like to get down to 220 pounds before the end of this contest. If I did 36 pounds last year; I know I can do 38 this year.”

page 10 March 2012

Middleton-Burney’s Robin Hernandez

Weight Loss Champ Still Shedding Pounds

March 2012 page 11

When his brother Nick won the High Individual Award – making him the top student in nine area districts at this fall’s State Forestry Career Development – Luke Plumley reacted like a competitor.“I was a little upset,” Luke said. “I kind of wanted to win.”The brothers joined two other teammates in competing against nine area districts at the November event with challenges including matching about 70 diseases to offending insects, judging the value of a large area by a few trees and implementing GPS technology. Biltmore sticks measured the diameter of trees. Topographic maps were used for data location, and the kids handled it all efficiently, said PHS Ag Teacher David Brown.The final nine district squads were narrowed from a field of more than 300 teams. And under Brown’s leadership, the Panthers came home champions.“You’ve got to put in a lot of time, a lot of studying,” Nick said. Leading up to the November contest, Nick said the team practiced every day.

“I didn’t feel too much nervousness because I thought we prepared enough,” Nick said. “Of course, there’s always some of that in that back of your mind. But we did it.”Other competing PHS team members in the Perry, Fl. faceoff were Cody Lee and Cody Randolph.The Plumley brothers said earning the championship plaque that now rests on their classroom wall was a team effort.“All four scores counted,” Luke said.

Nick said if one of the four had let up, the results would have been different.“It was the whole team,” Nick said. “If one person didn’t do well we would’ve lost.”

PHS Future Farmers of America

FFA Forestry Champs

Dungey Wins Spelling BeeQ.I. Roberts Middle School eighth-grader Alix Dungey, pictured with the school’s Curriculum Resource Teacher Pam Bass, is this year’s Putnam County Spelling Bee champion. The win advanced Alix to February regionals in Jacksonville.

Thank You! Melrose and Interlachen Elementary Principals, Teachers, Staff, Students, Parents and Community for working so hard to improve your schools.

Both elementary schools now rank in

state’s Top 15 Percent!

MELROSEELEMENTARY

INTERLACHENELEMENTARY

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

www.putnamschools.org

Latest District News Blogswww.putnamschools.org

Volume 3.3March 2012

Panthers climb . . . joining raiders on state report Card

Friendly race to “a” ensues for school Grades.