Community Partners: Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Northeast Florida The Bridge of Northeast Florida/ EWRS City Year Communities in Schools Educational Directions Gear Up Jaguar Foundation Teach for America UF/ Lastinger Center United Way/ Full-Service Schools
Inside this issue: Tigers in the Honor Rows
2
Full-Service Updates
2
City Year Recharge
2
SWAMP Mission
3
Educational Directions
3
EWRS Bridge
3
CIS and the Workforce
4
AJHS Community Partners V o l u m e
1 ,
I s s u e
1
O c t o b e r
1 9 ,
2 0 1 2
Haskell Lends a Helping Hand Saturday, September 29, was a busy morning for several employees of The Haskell Corporation and many of our very own Jackson Tigers. As a part of the “Green Apple Day of Service,” the Haskell task force and members of the class of 2013 set out to “beautify” the Senior Courtyard to its former glory. Together, they spent several hours preparing the soil to lay new sod, putting down mulch, planting flowers, tearing up shrubs, and any other landscaping task needed to complete the design. Hard work and a lot of fun was had by all! The idea was born out of our existing relationship with The Haskell Corporation through our Beyond School Walls program that is currently in its second year. Students identified mainly through their AVID classes ,have the opportunity to leave our school campus twice a month to visit their mentors on-site at Haskell to see them in a workplace setting and develop mentoring relationships with lasting effects. One of the Haskell mentors, Laurie Haskew, is an Andrew Jackson alum and had suggested returning the courtyard to the way she remembered it.
Members of the Class of 2013 pose for a restful picture after the hard work they put in with the Haskell team
A design team was sent out to meet with our Senior Class President to determine a vision for the project aligned with its current purpose of use and former glory. The courtyard is now used by seniors during lunches and each new graduating class repaints and leaves their own mark. The Class of 2013 is thrilled to have a fresh, new feel to their courtyard. “It is alive now!” added Senior Class President, Destini Walton. The entire senior class would like to thank the Haskell volunteers for all they have done !
Partnership Helps the Tigers “Gear Up” for ACTs The next administration for ACTs is on Saturday, October 27. Thanks to the help of Gear Up, all of our 11th grade students were provided an opportunity to take the test for a student contribution of $10 with the rest being covered by the school partner. Students were encouraged to take advantage of this great opportunity through school-wide initiatives including announcements through the inter-
com and cafeteria, as well as through registration sessions held during the school day. The response from the students resulted in over 150 students registered to test at Jackson on the 27th. Our students understand the importance of being college-ready and answer the call by doing their part to prepare and show up to do their best on this test. Special thanks to Sabrina Stargill for making it happen!
P a g e
2
AJHS Tigers Recognized in Honor Rows The Jaguar Foundation has been an exciting edition to our community partners this school year. We are teaming with them to provide student volunteers for every home game, to provide guest speakers and food for our Open House, school supplies including lanyards and binders for our students, and access to the stadium for special events.
Spanish teacher, Marla Ramirez, volunteered her time to chaperone and pose for a picture with our Tigers!
While there are other projects in the works, our most exciting and latest opportunity was through the Honor Rows Program.
To incentivize attendance and academic performance, as well as, remaining drug/alcohol/ tobacco free, the entire student body of Andrew Jackson was invited to work towards earning a seat in the Honor Rows for the October 7 game against the Chicago Bears. 307 students were invited, along with approximately 50 chaperones, to attend the game after earning their seat over the onemonth period. Those students each read at least one book out-
side of school, had minimal absences and less than four tardies to class. These students also pledged to be drug, alcohol, and tobacco free and displayed their pledges alongside their student IDs on the Jaguar provided lanyards. On game day, we transported 160 participants to enjoy the full game day experience. Our students and chaperones enjoyed the t-shirts, hats, fan giveaways, food and beverages they received, but especially the overall experience! Thank you, Jaguar Foundation!
Full-Service Schools Update “...a collaborative approach to serving the needs of at-risk students and families…”
In partnership with funding from United Way, our Greater Springfield Family Resource Center is the oldest Full-Service School in the county. The center is a collaborative approach to serving the therapeutic, health, and social service needs of at-risk students and families. All services are free and include individual/ family counseling, medical and health services,
parenting help, eyeglasses, etc. Our teachers and staff have a close working relationship with Ms. Felicia Simmons, the liaison between GSFRC and Andrew Jackson and are familiar with the process to refer students who display they have needs that FullServices can meet where a comprehensive school cannot. Another program offered is
initiative consisting of a donated meal of rice, lentils, a blend of 6 dehydrated vegetables, and pink Himalayan salt. The intent of this program is to provide meals to the neediest of students and help improve their ability to perform academically. We thank Ms. Simmons for her diligent work in providing for all the needs of our students.
“Feeding Children Everywhere,” an
City Year Recharges the Tigers Members of the City Year team support Jacksonville Goes to College Week
City Year has joined us this year, along with a team at feeder Matthew Gilbert, as the first site team in Jacksonville. This AmeriCorps group operates as a support to our ninth grade students in both tier one and two interventions.
A J H S
C o m m u n i t y
P a r t n e r s
The corps members are paired with reading, ELA, and social studies teachers to provide whole class support and small group interventions focused on reading comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary skills. There are 63 ninth graders targeted to work with these City Year team members.
In addition to the interventions, the corps members work hard to “recharge” our students each day through their positive attitudes and bi-weekly power chants. Students are greeted by corps members with contagious energy to help our students start each day with a friendly smile and extra charge. to power up for their school days.
V o l u m e
1 ,
I s s u e
1
P a g e
SWAMP Students are on a Mission! velop natural leadership qualities that they were identified by their teachers last school year to have. The students completed a two day workshop earlier this summer and have quickly put to work some of their instruction.
SWAMP students complete a Trust Walk activity in teambuilding
As a part of the work that UF/ Lastinger Center is doing on our campus, a student leadership team was born, now known as the SWAMP kids—Students With A Mission and Purpose. This group of 31 students grades 10-12 meet bi-weekly to de-
Earlier this month, the group traveled to a workshop at Ribault Senior High School entitled Destined for Excellence where they heard from members of the community in leadership
positions about traits of excellent leaders and positive choices. This group has also created two task forces within the group to provide service based on student-identified needs from focus group data collection at the close of last school year. They are putting plans together to address those needs in the areas of cleanliness and school spirit. The students, along with our partner representatives Lauren Gibbs and Chris White, are so excited to embrace these opportunities and put their leadership skills to work.
“Jackson has the best teachers and administrators in Duval County.
Educational Directions Update
I would put them up against
Educational Directions is joining us for their second year, and Steve Hite, Jackson’s lead “coach” has started this year right where we left off at the end of last school year. Mr. Hite, along with other Educational Directions personnel Dr. Robert Knight and Dr. Donna Gooden, have been observing classes particularly our reading, ELA, and math classes and providing feedback to our admin-
istrative and coaching teams. They have also played an active role in some of our school Professional Learning Communities meetings to provide tips and guidance for our teachers.
He knows our daily work in an Intervene school is especially challenging, but he believes we have the “best teachers and administrators in Duval County” and would “put them up against anyone.”
Mr. Hite has taken on a special role at our school through his naturally warm and Southern demeanor. He charges himself with the task of working to keep the morale of our teachers high.
The ongoing observations and morale building that are supported through Educational Directions help add to the culture we have built for teaching excellence.
anyone.” Steve Hite
EWRS Helps “Bridge” the Gaps for 10th Grade Students Thanks to funding by United Way and partnership with the Bridge of Northeast Florida, the EWRS team works diligently with students in our 10th grade population around attendance, behavior, academic progress, and social/emotional support in a case management program. The majority of these students were a part of the cohort created last school
year when the students were in the ninth grade, so the team of advocates has been able to continue to expand the growth made with these students since little time was lost in transition from one year to the next. The focus on relationship building and mentorship serves as an additional layer of support for these students. The advocates check in with their
caseload of students at least once per week, but they are using lunch time as an opportunity for almost daily checkin. They make parent contact monthly and perform home visits as needed. These advocates are working hard to make sure that the students are successful by almost any means necessary. We thank Mr. Monagan and his Advocate, Jucoby Lee, team—Jucoby Lee, Eric Razor, and works with a 10th grade Reginald Mitchell for their hard work! student
3
The AJHS Community Partnerships work in three tiers.
Andrew Jackson High School Duval County Public Schools
3816 N. Main St. Jacksonville, FL 32206 Phone: 904-630-6950 Fax: 904-630-6955
AJHS Tigers are G.R.E.A.T. - Generating a Reputation for Excellence As a Tiger!
There are the school-based partners who work in our building daily as direct support for students and school initiatives . This first tier meets weekly on Tuesdays to discuss progress and data monitoring. Most of the community partners are represented on this level as daily “boots on the ground.” The next tier is made up of representatives from each organization that our first tier reports to. This group meets monthly on the last Thursday of the month to discuss updates and brainstorm additional areas of support. The third tier is also made up of representatives of most of the partnerships and meets quarterly with support from the district level through the Office of School Improvement to discuss current progress and identify additional needs to support the students of Andrew Jackson. If you would like more information on the Community Partnerships, please contact Jennifer Crady, Assistant Principal for Special Programs at Andrew Jackson High School at (904) 630-6950 ext. 1013 or via email at cradyj@duvalschools.org.
CIS Helps Students Get Ready for the Workforce Communities in Schools have been helping our Tigers get ready for all of their next steps. Ms. Theresa Tippins, AJHS Site Coordinator for CIS, has been working to rebuild her caseload for the 210122013 school year. Her previous cohort graduated last Spring. Currently she has 30 senior students and 18 juniors that she will be working with this year as a case manager monitoring attendance and behavior, as well as, providing numerous forms of support to get the students college and career ready. On Thursday, October 18, Ms. Tippins took our first group of seniors for a student tour of WorkSource. This provided an opportunity for our students to get helpful tips on preparing resumes as well as for participating in interviews with future employers.
When asked about the trip, Senior Steve Jolly called the experience “very helpful. We learned about the correct formats and information to include in a resume and what to say and not to say in an interview/.” He joked that he now knows that telling a prospective employer that he has “no weaknesses” is not a wise idea.
to being college and career ready. She, along with our Gear Up Coordinator, Sabrina Stargill, will be meeting with parents during our November PTSA meeting to share the many opportunities with parents to provide support for their Tigers!
Senior, Ronika Kaphers, also found the trip to be helpful in preparing for future employment. She added, “It was great information for me to know when I start looking for a job. We talked about how to dress and present ourselves which is very important.” This is just the first of several trips scheduled for interested students. The work Ms. Tippins does with our students provides an additional intervention for our students on their paths
Seniors Steve Jolly, Cornisha Smith, and Ronika Kaphers are college and career bound