Polk County Public Schools
Dr. Jim Winegar, a teacher at Lakeland’s Lawton Chiles Middle, has obtained $16,300 in grant funds from the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) and the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD).
Winegar earned $10,000 from the FDOE’s Collaborative Curriculum Challenge Grant program for gifted students and $6,300 from the SWFWMD.
Winegar and 18 other Lawton Chiles teachers are utilizing the grants for professional development and curriculum writing. The school is developing new lessons using various technologies to apply math and science concepts.
In projects, students are doing research for community partners who will utilize the results. Lawton Chiles is collaborating with the City of Lakeland, Polk County government, the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the Lakes Education/Action Drive. Students are comparing local lakes by using probing instruments to study water quality. Their research includes looking at seasonal variations, evaluating zones in the lakes and studying aquatic plant life.
Third, fourth and fifth graders at Fort Meade’s Lewis Anna Woodbury Elementary competed in an event titled “VmathLive™ Math Mania: The Florida Challenge.” This competition was an online math program where students practiced math skills and then competed against other schools in real-time. Students logged on before school, during school, after school and from home in the competition. Of competing schools, Lewis Anna Woodbury Elementary students finished seventh in the state. A VmathLive representative visited the school and presented them with a $500.00 check to recognize this achievement.
Last semester, the school has held its first-ever Families Building Better Readers workshops. The night workshops were held in Spanish and English. The school got 100 percent participation from teachers and many local Fort Meade businesses donated door prizes.
Lynn Fite, an English teacher at Lakeland High, was of 23 teachers named a National Teacher of Excellence at the 2008 conference of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) held in San Antonio, Texas. Lynn is a former English Teacher of the Year from the Florida Council of Teachers of English. She is certified by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards and has been involved with organizing and facilitating the Polk County Student Poetry Contest. She has led trainings and workshops for English teachers and worked in the areas of curriculum and English teacher certification.
