Second Annual Celebration Showcase 

A Day of Learning Together

Ok, we knew that our Second Annual Celebration Showcase was on a Saturday, and yet administrators brought their staff by the bus load and yes, we knew it was the day before Mother's Day, and yet many "teacher moms" presented their success stories, and yes, we know that it is the end of the school year, and yet the rooms were filled with laughter and no one seemed tired and yes we knew it is a long drive from Jacksonville to Orlando, and yet all who made the trek gave us an enthusiastic "thumbs up, well worth the trip" evaluation! The Celebration Showcase was indeed a success!

May 10th turned out to be a remarkable day of sharing and learning at Downey Christian School in Orlando where the Second Annual Step Up  For Students Celebration Showcase was held. The annual event showcased educators who shared innovative approaches for engaging parents.  Schools from Jacksonville to Miami traveled to the Showcase to share their parent-partnership plan activities and learn from their colleagues about each other's  "successes" with engaging parents. 

The event kicked off with a moving keynote address entitled My Parents Live For Me, from Andrea Sherman, a teacher at Dunedin Academy, who shared the school's enthusiastic embracing of the critical role that parents play in the lives of their children.  Almost 80 individual presentations were delivered by teachers, administrators and OSL staff. It was a demonstration of the commitment that Step Up schools have to professional development and to the importance of engaging parents in the learning of their children. 

The day was filled with countless examples of our fellow educators' dedication to learning and to becoming more effective.  Several educators who stood out included:

• Scott Beck, the principal of Stetson Baptist Christian School, who loaded his staff into the school bus and drove it to Orlando! 
• Gracelyn Farquharson, principal from Gateway Christian School in Ft. Lauderdale, who despite major oral surgery the day before presented not one but two sessions!
• Rafeena Kahn, an administrator from American Youth Academy, who brought a colleague from Universal Academy of Florida to the Celebration in the hopes of convincing that school to become a member of Success Partners!
• Dr. Connie Smith, principal of Downey Christian School, who was a most gracious hostess and was also a presenter!
• Ailynn Hernandez, principal of La Progresiva Presbyterian School, who traveled from Miami for the Celebration on her daughter's 5th birthday!
• Andrea Sherman, a teacher from Dunedin Academy, who "Stepped Up" and presented the keynote, in place of her principal who was home with the flu! 
• Sister Maria Babatunde, principal at St. Peter Claver, who left a school event in process back at Tampa to support her teachers who presented several sessions.
• Beverly Smith, Teresa Neiswanger, Jerry Frimmel, Scott Beck, Harold Butler and Rachel Bork, who participated in a panel discussion and collectively sent a passionate message to their audience urging schools to continue to do whatever it takes to partner with each and every family.

The entire staff of Bible Truth Ministries School submitted presentations but had last minute child care issues and almost couldn't come. But rather than miss the Celebration, they piled their children into the vans and arrived in time to share each of their presentations.
PS: And the kids had fun too!   

Many times throughout the day we heard teachers lamenting that they wished they could have attended more of the presentations. The presentations during the breakout sessions included a wide range of activities, events, and strategies to bring the family into partnership with the school. 

A sampling of the Celebration Showcase sessions:

A Family-School Garden

School-wide Monthly Blessing of a Featured Book

The DOJO Classroom: Free Software for Classroom Management 

Improving School Newsletters

Making the Most of Khan Academy

SLC and Summer Learning Plans

SEM- Using the Assets of Your Parents

Student-Led Conferences

The Parents' Role in the SAT 10

Parent Appreciation Week

The Gold Brick Wall

Building Bridges with the Hispanic Community

Success Academy for Parents

Parents DO Read Emails

Success Partners Modules- Changing School Culture

Communication is a Two- Way Street

What Students are Telling their Parents

Learning Compact- Try it, You'll Like It

Parents Bring Literature Alive

Knachos for Knowledge

Making Open House a Fun Night

For those who missed the action packed day, summaries of all sessions can be viewed in the Program Book.

This event is both a culmination of this year's work in our schools as well as a "kick off and motivation" for schools to gear up to implement their comprehensive partnership plans and the implementation of the Teaching and Learning Exchange for the 2014-2015 school year. 

A heartfelt thank you to all who attended! 

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a free-market think tank based in Washington, D.C., is conducting a survey of private school choice in three states - Florida, Louisiana and Indiana - that hit the field sometime last week. AEI is working directly with the University of Arkansas' Department of Education Reform (led by Jay Greene), which is doing the field work, and the online survey was sent to all private schools in all three states - whether they have scholarship students or not.

This organization wants to find out why schools chose to participate in a tax credit scholarship program and what would cause them to either leave the choice arena altogether or to expand the number of scholarship slots they serve. AEI is reacting in part to a recent Fordham Institute study that looked at the impact of regulation on the decision by schools to participate in tax credit scholarship or voucher programs. Fordham found that testing and other types of regulatory requirements are not as strong a disincentive to the schools as previously thought. It appears that AEI might not trust that finding and has included questions along those lines in this survey.

AEI plans to keep the survey in the field through June, with the hopes of issuing a report by the fall. Schools with questions about the survey can contact AEI through [email protected].

The summer is a perfect time not only to rest and refresh for the upcoming school year, but also to think about when you will teach the standards for the following year. By using the Standards Profile page in the Student Learning Compact (SLC), you can scope and sequence, or map, when you plan to address each of the standards from August through May. By placing an "I" indicator for "Introduce", you and your students' parents will know "what" is being taught, and "when" it will be taught. 

This will help to ensure increased communication with parents by keeping them up-to-date with ongoing classroom instruction. So when you are enjoying your much deserved time off this summer, login to the SLC to document when you plan to teach each of the standards!