Gadsden County Programs

Children's Legal Services Project

Through a grant from the Florida Bar Foundation, CAC represents children in North Florida with special education and health care access cases. (on-going)   Contact person: College of Law's Children's Advocacy Center (CAC), Paolo Annino, pannino@law.fsu.edu, 644-9930.

College Reach-Out Program   (One-to-One Program)

Florida State University implements the One-to-One Program as a part of the State of Florida's College Reach-Out Program.  It is a motivational program designed to help students prepare for  successful college enrollment.  The program serves students in grades 6 - 12 who meet certain educational and economic guidelines.  Students participate in a variety of structured activities, including:  1) on-going workshops and programs (that address academic advising, SAT/ACT preparation, career planning, college admissions, cultural enrichment, decision-making, self-esteem, study skills, time management etc.); 2) college tours and cultural field trips; 3) SAT practice tests, and 4) a two-week summer on-campus college experience program.  Many of the program activities are supported and facilitated by college students who serve as peer mentors.  The program serves four schools in Gadsden County (Shanks, Havana Northside, Havana Middle and Greensboro High). Contact person: Division of Undergraduate Studies, Angela Richardson, arichard@admin.fsu.edu, 644-9699.

Exchange between Greensboro school and the Republic of Guinea

For the last two years we have hosted, each fall, 25 educators from the Republic of Guinea in west Africa for a 5-week training workshop on comparing practices in the Florida K-12 system with those in Guinea.  One of our key field visits each time has been the Greensboro school, where our African guests have had a chance to learn about the bilingual (and other) programs there and to share similar experiences from Guinea. Contact person: Department of Education Foundations and Policy Studies (Adult Education graduate program in particular) and in the Center for Policy Studies in Education, Peter Easton, easton@coe.fsu.edu, 644-8165.

EXPLORES! (EXPloring and Learning the Operations and Resources of Environmental Satellites)

EXPLORES! (EXPloring and Learning the Operations and Resources of Environmental Satellites) is a program of the Department of Meteorology that began in 1992.  Assistance and funding is provided to K-12 schools wishing to implement the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Direct Readout satellite program.  Schools are outfitted with weather satellite receivers, enabling them to receive weather satellite pictures directly in the classroom.  Each summer the EXPLORES! staff conducts a workshop in Brevard County for new and returning teachers to instruct them in basic meteorology and weather satellite operations.  EXPLORES! equipment has been placed in over 200 K-12 schools and science centers.  Chattahoochee High School has recently joined this group.  The program would welcome more Gadsden County participants. Contact person: Department of Meteorology, Rick Lusher, lusher@met.fsu.edu, 644-3465.

EXSEL (Exceptional Students Empowered through Learning)

EXSEL (Exceptional Students Empowered through Learning) is one of the three outreach programs sponsored by the Program In Medical Sciences at Florida State University. This after-school program is located at Havana Middle School in Gadsden County and currently provides intervention to 10 students in the Exceptional Student Education program. The goal of the program is to assist students in enhancing the academic skills, abilities, and motivation necessary for the development of individual educational and career goals. Specifically, EXSEL provides the following services to all 10 participants:

Mentoring and individualized tutoring in all academic subject areas by FAMU and FSU undergraduates (1-to-1 ratio); Individual Education Plan for each student (specific for reading and mathematics which is being developed and assessed by experts in the Exceptional Education Department at Florida State University); pre-diagnostic and post-diagnostic tests; standardized test preparation for the FCAT and Florida Writes exams (effective August, 2000); community service, educational and cultural enrichment activities;
parent support meetings. Contact person: Program in Medical Science, Thesla Anderson, tberne@mailer.fsu.edu, 644-4607.

Family Practice (Graduate Students)

Nurse Practitioner students (typically 3-4) are providing primary care in the family practice or walk in clinics in Gadsden County including those in Quincy and Blountstown, Chipley and Marianna.  They do this two days per week. Contact person: Deborah Frank, dfrank@mailer.acns.fsu.edu, 644-5974.

FSU/FAMU Regional Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD) Partnership

The statewide Florida CSPD (Comprehensive System of Personnel Development) project comprises a community-based system of eight regional CSPD Partnerships.  Each of these partnerships consists of state universities, school districts, private colleges, provider agencies, and parent organizations.  Their function is to enhance the preparation, recruitment, and retention of qualified educators and related services personnel to meet the needs of students with disabilities in Florida's schools. 

The Florida State University/ Florida A & M University Regional Partnership includes two major universities, 15 local school districts (including three schools from Gadsden County), 4 community colleges, the state government, and three Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resource System  (FDLRS) centers.  Activities in the partnership have included a mentoring program for beginning teachers, Reading Research Into Practice, certification and re-certification courses for teachers, and assisting with the coordination of the distance learning program in speech-language pathology.  Additionally, planned activities include increased involvement with the OT/PT
(Occupational Therapy/Physical Therapy) program at FAMU, a "Grow Your Own" outreach program, and a mini-grant distribution for collaboratively planned local projects. Contact person: Department of Communication Disorders, Linda Gessner, lgessner@garnet.acns.fsu.edu, 644-9141.

Full Service School Program (Undergraduate Students)

The School of Nursing provides the following services through the Full Service School Program: nursing services, health care, social services, and parent services.  These are available to all students and parents in Gadsden County. Contact person: School of Nursing, Tonya Harris, tharris@garnet.acns.fsu.edu, 644-5345.

Gadsden ESL

Gadsden ESL--a student outreach program of the Center for Civic Education and Service that assists the school personnel in teaching English to primarily Hispanic teens and young adults. Contact person: Center for Civic Education, Tamara Bertrand, tbertrand@admin.fsu.edu, 644-3359.

Gadsden County Adult Education

For several years Peter Easton served on the School Improvement Council for Gadsden County Adult Education and we also assisted then-Principal, Ray Blitch, in performing needs assessment among target populations. Contact person: Department of Education Foundations and Policy Studies (Adult Education graduate program in particular) and in the Center for Policy Studies in Education, Amy Hubbard, hubbard@coe.fsu.edu644-8170.

Governor’s and Commissioner of Education's joint task force

The Florida State University School (FSUS) secondary principal has been an active member of the Governor’s and Commissioner of Education's joint task force recommending support for Gadsden County Schools. He has been asked to provide continuing consultation through the implementation of many of his recommendations. Contact person: Florida State University School (FSUS), Jesse Jackson, jlj7515@garnet.acns.fsu.edu, 644-5833.

Learn and Serve Program

In a first-of-its-kind partnership, Florida’s K-12 component of the National Service Program, Learn and Serve America, is administered from a state university.  FSU hosts Florida Learn and Serve K-12, which awards nearly $1 million annually to schools for student service learning, or service that applies and is a means of learning.  Approximately 85 schools (including schools in Gadsden County) receive funding each year, and over 25,000 students are involved.  FSU/Florida Learn and Serve K-12 also administers Florida’s community-based Serve America program, awarding another $250,000 each year for community-based organizations to involve youth in service-learning activities in their communities. Contact person: Center for Civic Education and Service, Joe Follman, jfollman@admin.fsu.edu, 644-0260.

Nursing Students work at the Gadsden County Health Department (Undergraduate Students)

Our department works with and through the Gadsden County Health Department for the purpose of students meeting community/public health course objectives in the undergraduate program. There is one clinical instructor and eight students.  Clinicals are on Wednesdays from 8:00-5:00 for 15 weeks each semester.  Experiences designed to meet these course objectives are:  School Health Nursing, Family Nursing, Clinic Nursing, Environmental Health and Communicable Disease and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Contact person: School of Nursing, Tonya Harris, tharris@garnet.acns.fsu.edu, 644-5345.

Nursing Students work at the Gadsden County Health Department (Graduate Students)

Each semester we place two Nurse Practitioner students at the Gadsden County Health Department where they provide primary care nursing as well as family nursing services for two days per week.  The family nursing consists of providing specialized care to three families with complex problems.  Each summer at least one student leads a support group for specialized populations from the health department.  This may include pregnant teens, single mothers, diabetes education or whatever the need is at that time.

Six Registered Nurses-Masters in Science Nursing students implemented a health fair in the spring of 1999 at the Gadsden County Health Department for pregnant teenagers.  This fair was in addition to their providing community health nursing to the health department one day a week for the semester. Contact person: Deborah Frank, dfrank@mailer.acns.fsu.edu, 644-5974.

Nutrition Education Initiative

This program, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is designed to deliver nutrition education to food stamp-eligible clientele.  The overall purposes of the Nutrition Education Initiative are to promote the message of good nutrition and to establish the general awareness within the food stamp population that services are available to help them with their food and nutrition needs.  Currently, faculty, students and community professionals are providing nutrition education to a four county area:  Leon, Gadsden, Wakulla and Franklin.  Targeted audiences in these counties include students in elementary and middle schools and clients associated with agencies such as senior centers, homeless shelters, Healthy Start, WAGES and Head Start. Contact person: College of Human Sciences, Janice Bell, jlb9154@garnet.acns.fsu.edu, 644-2835.

PEER Project (Partnership for Enhancing Educational Resources)

The Center for the Study of Teaching and Learning School Improvement Project provides technical assistance to Florida's Critically Low Performing schools.  The PEER Project (Partnership for Enhancing Educational Resources) is a collaborative effort between FSU and Gadsden County Schools for providing assistance and technical support to low achieving students, as well as low achieving schools.  The PEER Project, funded through a grant from the Florida Dept. of Education, will provide assistance to these schools and others in the Gadsden County district. Contact person: Center for the Study of Teaching and Learning, Bob Rider, rrider@mailer.fsu.edu, 644-3419.

Planetarium * Shows   (possible area for intervention)

There has been a large decrease in Gadsden County schools coming to planetarium shows put on for them in the past two years.  We used to average abut 300 elementary students every year but last year we had only about 50.  The teachers tell us that the school system cannot afford to provide the busses to come over for these programs. Contact person: Physics Department, Gerry Hart, hart@phy.fsu.edu, 644-1194.

Project Friendship

Project Friendship--a student outreach program of the Center for Civic Education that fosters a positive living and learning climate by providing tutoring and recreational support for elementary and middle school students. Contact person: Center for Civic Education, Tamara Bertrand, tbertrand@admin.fsu.edu, 644-3359.

The Saturday-at-the-Sea Programs: Sea-to-See, Saturday-at-the-Sea, and Saturday-at-the-Sea Summer Camp

SU offers three marine science programs to students from the Big Bend region of north Florida:  Sea-to-Sea for elementary-school students, Saturday-at-the-Sea (SATS) for middle-school students, and the SATS Summer Camp for high-school students. 

The series of Saturday-at-the-Sea programs has been specifically designed to demonstrate the excitement that scientific endeavor generates, and they are staffed by FSU professors and graduate and undergraduate students who serve as positive, appropriate role models for scientists.  Our research indicates that the student participants in the SATS program develop more positive attitudes along scales that measure attitudes concerning the normality of scientists, their enjoyment of science lessons, their career interests in science, and the social implications of science.  Contact person: College of Arts and Sciences - Office of Science Teaching Activities, Barbara Shoplock, bshop@bio.fsu.edu, 644-9828.

The Sea-to-See Program takes marine organisms into elementary schools allowing classes of students an hour to explore the diversity of organisms found along the Florida coast.  This program, now in its third year, can reach 6000 students per year. 
In the fall semester of 1999, Havana Elementary and George W. Munroe schools participated in this program.  The total number of elementary-aged students participating from these two schools was 333.  In addition, two visits to Stewart and one more to Havana Elementary schools are scheduled for the spring semester of 2000  (app. 400 more elementary-school students). Contact person: College of Arts and Sciences - Office of Science Teaching Activities, Barbara Shoplock, bshop@bio.fsu.edu, 644-9828.

The SATS Program takes groups of middle school students and their teachers to the FSU Marine Lab for a day of exploring along the coast with scientists.  The educational value of the program has been enhanced through the development of curriculum packages that can be used by teachers in their classrooms during the month that surrounds their program day.  This program, now in its twelfth year, can reach 900 students per year. 

In the fall semester of 1999, Tallavanna Christian School located in Gadsden county brought one class of middle-school students (11 students, 5 chaperones/teachers) to participate in this program.  This is an unusually small group; most groups participating in SATS bring 20-24 students per day.  Both Chatahoochee and George W. Munroe schools from Gadsden county are scheduled to have classes of middle-school students participate in SATS in the Spring 2000 semester (app. 40-48 more middle-school students). Contact person: College of Arts and Sciences - Office of Science Teaching Activities, Barbara Shoplock, bshop@bio.fsu.edu, 644-9828.

The SATS Summer Camp Program allows high-school students to participate in the many aspects of science--from developing a research question about the marine environment and devising a project to answer their question to collecting and analyzing data and preparing oral and written reports of their findings.  This program, now in its fourth year, can reach 60 students per year.  Contact person: College of Arts and Sciences - Office of Science Teaching Activities, Barbara Shoplock, bshop@bio.fsu.edu, 644-9828.

Science Van (New Initiative)

The Science Van program is a new program designed in response to the need to outfit K-12 classrooms with the ever-changing technology required to teach science in the face of the reality of very restricted school district budgets.  Without exposure to technology, students are often ill-prepared to be productive, scientifically literate citizens when they leave schools.  The science van will provide equipment and supplies for check-out by middle and high-school teachers in the ten-county region surrounding Florida State and allow them to engage their students in up-to-date, inquiry-based laboratory exercises.  The program's coordinator will provide teacher inservice training in equipment usage as needed, aid in its use in classroom, and resupply and repair of the equipment after usage.  Van service will increase usage by teachers in more remote regions, where even greater equipment needs exist.  Initial outcome measures will include teacher usage and student performance on pre and post-laboratory assessment measures.

The goals of the Science Van Program during the '99-'00 budget year are to hire and train a coordinator, purchase and equip the van, and begin initial contact with schools in the late spring. Contact person: College of Arts and Sciences: Physics Department and Office of Science Teaching Activities, Lance King, lking@bio.fsu.edu, 644-6747.

Service learning with Hispanic migrants in Gadsden County

An undergraduate course, ADE 4930 Learning in the Community, to interest students not otherwise involved in specific "service learning" courses, in getting involved in community service and in thinking together about what they learn from the process.  Gadsden County is one of the sites for community service, generally programs to assist migrant workers.  In some semesters, the bulk of students have been involved there - in others, fewer. Contact person: Department of Education Foundations and Policy Studies (Adult Education graduate program in particular) and in the Center for Policy Studies in Education, Amy Hubbard, hubbard@coe.fsu.edu, 644-8170.

Summer Music Camps

The Summer Music Camps enrolled six students with Gadsden County zip codes in 1999, and one of those students attended two different programs.  The six students attended four different programs. Contact person: School of Music, George Riordan, griordan@mailer.fsu.edu, 644-2508.

Through a grant from Florida Legal Services, CAC represents children in North Florida with special education and health care access cases. (on-going) Contact person: College of Law's Children's Advocacy Center (CAC), Paolo Annino, pannino@law.fsu.edu, 644-9930.

Technology Grant with Madison, Gadsden, Leon and FAMU-DRS Districts

FSUS (Florida State University School) and the College of Education were awarded a collaborative $485,000 Technology Grant with Madison, Gadsden, Leon and FAMU-DRS (Developmental Research School) districts this year. The grant focused on the improvement of student learning in pre-algebra and Algebra via teacher training in the instructional use of technology and development of a teacher training-related web site.  Throughout the year, training and computer equipment was given to Richards High School, Nims Middle School and Belle Vue School (and other partnered schools) to be extended in 1999-2000 to other teachers and schools through local "train the trainer" models.  A Website will be available to support training and lesson plan ideas.  FSUS students and teachers using content and exemplars from the College of Education and other district faculty teams are producing the site. Contact person: FSUS (Florida State University School) and the College of Education, Jesse Jackson, jlj7515@garnet.acns.fsu.edu, 644-5833.

We have intensive partnerships with schools across the state through the Florida Institute for Art Education.  Projects include "Transforming Education through the Arts" which is funded by the Getty and Annenberg foundations, and is designed to bring art into the center of the curriculum and of school reform efforts.  Workshops and summer institutes for teachers in these areas offer opportunities for professional development for Gadsden County teachers and administrators. Contact person: Florida Institute for Art Education - School of Visual Arts and Dance, Charlotte Minnick, csminnic@mailer.fsu.edu, 644-2322.

Tutoring

The Askew School has an informal but continuing tutoring relationship with Havana Middle School.  Professor Brian Williams is the faculty advisor for the Public Administrative Graduate Association (PAGA) which started in the spring of 1999.  Some of their students participate as volunteer tutors. Contact person: The Askew School of Public Administration and Policy, Brian Williams, williams@mailer.fsu.edu, 644-7397.

Upward Bound Program

The Upward Bound Program is one of the oldest TRIO Programs funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC.  FSU conducts the Upward Bound Program at the James A. Shanks High School, Quincy, Florida through the Multicultural Student Support Center, Division of Student Affairs.  The FSU Upward Bound Program was funded in 1989 to support 65 high school students in ninth through twelfth grades.  The after school program provides academic instruction, tutoring, counseling and cultural enrichment activities designed to increase numbers of college bound students from this economically depressed area of the Florida Panhandle region.  Students also receive a monthly stipend of $40 during the academic year and $60 during the summer. Contact person: Charles McGarrah, cmcgarra@admin.fsu.edu, 644-5478.