Polk County Public Schools
Orientation sessions for students who will be ninth-graders in the 2008-2009 school year and their parents will be held Tuesday, February 12 at Lakeland high schools. The sessions are for incoming freshmen and their parents at George Jenkins High, Kathleen High, Lake Gibson High and Lakeland High. Current eighth graders zoned for these schools and their parents are encouraged to attend the orientations from 6:30 to 8 p.m. to learn about registration, graduation requirements, academics, elective courses and expectations.
The orientations will be held in the auditoriums of George Jenkins High, Kathleen High and Lake Gibson High. Lakeland High will hold their orientation in the cafeteria. Call the individual schools for further information.
Guidance counselors, teachers, school administrators and staff will attend to answer questions.
The public is invited to the Mathcounts competition to be held Saturday, February 16, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Polk Community College, 999 Avenue H NE, Winter Haven. Mathcounts is a national mathematics competition for middle school students. It promotes student interest in math by making math as challenging, exciting and prestigious as a school sport. There is no charge to attend. Information: Steven Elias, (863) 324-1112 or John Miller, (863) 534-0630.
Two organizations will hold a free workshop for parents and guardians of special needs individuals that will address the topic of visual strategies.
The workshop will be held Tuesday, February 19, 9 to 11 a.m. at the Polk Public Schools building located at the Bartow Municipal Airport. The building is on 2nd Street in the airport, off of U.S. Highway 17.
The workshop is being coordinated by the Florida Diagnostic Learning Resources System (FDLRS) and the Polk Public Schools Exceptional Student Education Department.
The workshop introduces numerous, easy to use strategies to help individuals understand and express themselves. Techniques introduced are meant to help individuals participate in school and home activities.
Call (863) 647-4258 for workshop registration details or for further information on the workshop.
The public is invited to the 25th Annual Polk County High School Academic Tournament Semifinals and Finals to be held on Wednesday, February 20 and Thursday, February 21.
The semifinals are February 20 from 3 to 6 p.m. and the finals are February 21 also from 3 to 6 p.m. Both the semifinals and finals will be held at Lake Region High, 1995 Thunder Road, Eagle Lake. There is no charge to attend.
High school teams will test their knowledge in mathematics, science, language arts, social studies, world languages, technology, fine arts and humanities. A high school team championship will be awarded to the first place school after the finals are completed. Members of the high school championship team win a $500 scholarship from the Polk Education Foundation.
Tournament All-Stars from the various high schools will be announced after the finals and will represent Polk at the Education Commissioner’s Academic Challenge to be held in Orlando in April.
Information: Peggy Harrod, (863) 968-5168.
