School Briefs: Feb. 8, 2006

Three Marco-area teachers earn national certification

Three Marco-area teachers earned certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Art teacher Kathy Anderson and fifth-grade teacher Christine Farhat of Tommie Barfield Elementary joined eighth-grade teacher Sharon Murray of Manatee Middle in earning the highest professional teaching credential.

Certification is voluntarily achieved through a rigorous performance-based assessment that takes nearly a year.

Eighteen instructors from Collier County public schools earned the certification. Florida has 7,732 National Board-certified teachers, including 1,382 added to the ranks this year.

Nationwide there are 47,503 certified teachers.

The Collier County School Board recognized Collier's newest certified teachers last week.

For more information about the certification process or the newly certified teachers, e-mail the program coordinator, Tommie Sue Scott, at scottth@collier.k12.fl.us.

Citrus celebration

The Collier County School District's Department of Food Service is celebrating Flavors of Florida Citrus Week through Friday, Feb. 10.

Collier schools are offering special citrus selections on the lunch menu throughout the week, promoting and supporting Florida citrus.

Today, Feb. 8, has been designated as "Everything Orange Day." Food Service staff members have planned an Orange Day menu, encouraging students and school staff to participate by wearing citrus colors to school.

Parents and community members are invited to visit a school for lunch this week.

For more information, contact Lori Johnson in the school district's Food Service office at 377-0286 or johnsoL1@collier.k12.fl.us.

Master Naturalist Program

Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve will offer the Coastal Systems Module of the Florida Master Naturalist Program next month.

Taught by instructors certified through the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Science Extension, the program will promote awareness, understanding and respect for Florida's natural world using science-based information and interpretive techniques.

The 40-hour program will be offered each Tuesday and Thursday from March 7 to 21, with a final project Tuesday, March 28. Instruction will combine classroom learning, field trips and practical experience in interpretation based at the Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center.

Participants must be at least 18. The cost is $200. Space is limited and registration is required by Tuesday, Feb. 21.

For more information or to register, visit the Web site www.masternaturalist.ifas.ufl.edu.

Collier students to speak with orbiting astronaut

Students from Immokalee Middle School and Pine Ridge Middle School are scheduled today, Feb. 8, to speak "live" via ham radio to Cmdr. Bill MacArthur aboard the International Space Station as he orbits about 300 miles above Naples.

The schools were selected to participate as part of NASA's Rover Program.

The logistics for the event are being provided by the Amateur Radio Association of Southwest Florida. Students, teachers and parents are invited to attend.

The contact will be broadcast over the schools' closed-circuit TV system so all students and teachers can listen in.

For more information, contact Sharon Lea at 377-5078 or leash@collier.k12.fl.us. For more information on logistics, call Peter Gaddy at 353-7330.