Category: Education

Adeena Teres, a teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Coral Springs, is going on the trip of a lifetime. She will be traveling with “PolarTREC” to explore the polar ice caps in Greenland. PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) is a company devoted to providing polar research-based travel opportunities to educators in grades K-12.

NASA will fund Teres as part of “Operation Ice Bridge,” a scientific exploration in its ninth straight year to measure changes in the elevation of the ice sheet and sea ice extent.

Teres is grateful for this incredible opportunity. She is looking forward to braving extreme weather and conducting real scientific research in the Arctic. A Philadelphia native, she knows the snow and what she has seen is nothing compared to what lies ahead. She will explore and share this experience with her students via the Internet.

Teres applied for the trip a couple of times before she was finally accepted. She was persistent because as she explained, “It’s just something I’ve never done before.”

Teres is going on a “Survey Mission,” where she will record the amount of ice in the Arctic, conduct basic research, and collect data. Her curiosity and passion for the subject will power her forward as she shares newfound knowledge with her students from this life-changing journey.

Teres already has plans for how she will incorporate the trip into her curriculum, and she knows that it will benefit her students. “They’re going to learn what it’s like to be a real scientist,” she said.

Teres will be collaborating with other teachers and posting about her experiences in an online journal, so everyone will be able to follow her on her mission. According to Teres, the journal will be interactive, allowing her students to ask questions, and her to answer them directly.

Teres is most excited to see what it’s like to do real field research. She anticipates recording personal memories based on these adventures. She hopes to gain “a fresh outlook on science” and bring her newfound enthusiasm to the classroom. “I would like to learn more about polar science, learn more about what NASA is doing, and what other projects are out there for different scientists and teachers,” Teres said.

She is eager to learn and grow as a person, a teacher, and as a student, herself. “This is a one-of-a-kind chance to have a cultural immersion and gain valuable life skills,” she said. “I definitely want to see a polar bear, a crevice, ice calving, (the breaking of ice chunks from the edge of a glacier), snow-covered mountains, an expanse of white…which in my mind is almost unfathomable,” she added.

 

For Teres, this mission of stepping out of her comfort zone and the Florida sunshine into the chilly Arctic air will be unforgettable. Her students are lucky to have a teacher who is devoted to her craft, passionate about delving into uncharted territory and sharing her knowledge with them.

EARTH DAY 1970

A national “teach-in” put a spotlight on environmental issues

“Go green, be environmentally conscious, think eco-friendly.” These catch phrases are now firmly established in the popular lexicon. So it may seem strange that at one time most Americans were largely unaware of the need to clean up the planet and preserve its precious resources.

Flash back to the end of the tumultuous 60s with massive civil disobedience protests against the Vietnam War, and in support of civil rights. Urban sprawl and pollution are starting to make people think twice about the cost of “progress.”

Enter U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin. A large oil spill in 1969 motivated him to make Americans more aware of the importance of environmental issues so that legislation will become a political action priority.

 

Senator Nelson chooses Harvard University graduate student Denis Hayes and a small army of college volunteers to coordinate the activities of “a national teach-in on the environment.” Thousands of communities and schools across America took part. So, on April 22, 1970, Earth Day is celebrated by an estimated 20 million people. It’s a huge, unprecedented, and historic U.S. event.

Lesser known is the fact that nearly simultaneously an international version of Earth Day was conceived by San Francisco newspaper publisher and peace activist John McConnell and actually celebrated first — a mere month prior to Gaylord Nelson’s national Earth Day.

McConnell first proposed the idea of a global holiday to honor Earth and Peace in October 1969 at a UNESCO Conference, followed by a San Francisco Earth Day proclamation and worldwide celebration on March 21, 1970. The United Nations continues to mark Earth Day on that day every year by ringing its Peace Bell at U.N. headquarters in New York City.

An enduring legacy of Nelson’s Earth Day was the subsequent passage of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Water Drinking Act, and the Endangered Species Act, among other laws. Only three years later, the Environmental Protection Agency was established to protect the environmental health of all Americans.

“Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values,” states The Earth Day Network.

Flash forward to Earth Day last year when 175 countries came together and signed the historic Paris Climate Agreement to cut carbon emissions to address the disastrous consequences of climate change to all species inhabiting our planet.

Global warming will be the overarching issue as the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day in 2020 approaches. Meanwhile, it serves as an annual reminder that each person can do his or her part, in their own communities to keep the environment healthy for all.

 

 

 

 

 

Please put in a box or something fancy

IF YOU GO

 

EARTH DAY 2017 ACTIVITIES

 

Coral Springs

What: EarthFest

When: April 22, 9am to 1pm

Where: Sawgrass Nature Center. 3000 Sportsplex Drive, Coral Springs

Features: Wildlife exhibits, guided tours, plant giveaways for Coral Springs residents, and children’s activities.

Parking: Dr. Paul’s Dog Park and Sawgrass Springs Middle School.
Information: Visit CoralSprings.org, or call Casey Lee, Coral Springs Environmental Coordinator, at 954-344-1117.

 

Parkland

What: Parkland’s Farmers Market Earth Day and Arbor Day activities

When: April 23, 9am to 1pm

Where: 8350 Ranch Road, Parkland

Activities: Annual Releaf Tree Giveaway (for Parkland residents only). Informational displays on environmental subjects, as well as earth stewardship representatives on hand to speak about native plants in the home and city landscape, national wildlife certification, and more. The Farmer’s Market is dog-friendly.

Information: Visit Cityofparkland.org, or contact Suzanne Newman, Parkland Environmental Coordinator, at 954-757-4115.

Much has been written about the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy in the Civil Rights Movement. But one aspect of that legacy that has been largely ignored is his philosophy based on the Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian heritage, much of which inspired his work.

The March on Washington and King’s “I Have A Dream “ speech has rightfully drawn much attention, which most Americans are aware of. However, in the spring of 1963, Dr. King led massive, peaceful demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama against the city’s white racist practices, only to be confronted by unyielding segregationists. Dr. King was criticized by white religious leaders for a being an outsider and a troublemaker. For defying the local laws, he was jailed and while there, composed the “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” justifying his reasons for demanding justice and for practicing civil disobedience. He based his arguments on traditional values of western civilization.

In this letter he stated that he was in Birmingham because injustice prevailed, emphasizing the interrelatedness of all communities, and pointing out that just as the “prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages” and “just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ” to the ancient world, he was compelled to carry the “gospel of freedom.” He stressed the need for constructive non-violence and for understanding its underlying causes. He referred to Socrates who practiced creative tension in the mind so that people would rise above prejudice and achieve true brotherhood. Dr. King said blacks have waited 340 years for their constitutional and God-given rights” For years he was told to wait. But wait always meant never. Citing philosopher Reinhold Niebuhr, he stated privileged groups seldom relinquish power voluntarily.

Further, Dr. King responded to the Birmingham religious leaders who claimed he was breaking the law with sit-ins and other demonstrations. He urged them and others to obey the Supreme Court’s 1954 decision outlawing segregation in public schools. He insisted a just law must be obeyed because it is in harmony with the law of God. He agreed with St. Augustine that an “unjust law is no law at all.” He cited St. Thomas Aquinas who believed an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Thus, all segregation laws are unjust.

Dr. King pointed out that civil disobedience was nothing new, having been practiced by the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to obey the immoral laws of Nebuchadnezzar. Similarly, the early Christians faced hungry lions and other persecutions for not obeying the Roman Empire’s unjust laws. In modern times, what Hitler did in Nazi Germany was legal, while Communist countries also suppressed the Christian faith.

Dr. King warned that if white moderates did not fight to achieve civil rights for blacks, then various black-nationalist groups, such as Elijah Muhammad’s Muslim movement, would fill the void. He predicted continued racial discrimination will produce more violent extremists who lose faith in Christianity and America.

“Letter From Birmingham City Jail” summed up the true meaning in the universal search for freedom and equality as it applied to African Americans, as well as to all people of good will. It espoused principles that rested on traditional democratic values of western civilization. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. understood the relevance of the past and applied it to injustices that were challenging to the fulfillment of the American Dream.

Cross Country is a popular sport in Parkland and Coral Springs. High school teams are performing well in local and regional competitions. The coaches and student-athletes agree that dedication, discipline, and the right attitude is what propels these teams to winning meets.

The Stoneman Douglas Cross Country program has been very successful over the years. Team members are expected to put in long hours of training and be dedicated to the sport. This year the girl’s team has performed well in all its regular meets and invitational meets.

Emilia Thom, a senior and team captain, recently finished first in a large meet featuring Coral Springs schools. “It takes a lot of dedication and discipline to be a good cross-country runner. I train six days a week. It is something I like to do. It is therapy for the brain,” she said. “The feeling of winning is awesome,” Emilia said. Her goal is to make it to the state championship. Emilia is also in the top 10 percent of her class academically.

Angela Chambers, a coach for the team, believes that dedication is important to winning. “A runner needs to be motivated. We do speed workouts and we train on hills. We also do long distance runs of as much as ten miles. You need to have a good attitude to be a good cross country runner,” she said.

Amanda Taylor, one of the top runners on the Stoneman Douglas team, believes the right mindset is what helps her achieve her goals. “It takes discipline and hard work. We do a lot of speed workouts,” she said.

Karel Klos, a senior and team captain for the Stoneman Douglas boy’s team agrees. “It takes a lot of mental strength and discipline to do well in cross country,” he said.

Each day, the athletes participate in demanding running workouts to improve their time over a 3.1-mile course. They may run ten miles in a single workout, or complete shorter runs at a higher speed.

“It takes mental toughness and a lot of commitment. We do cross fit training and long distance runs,” said Kate Hearn, the coach of the Coral Springs Charter Cross Country team.

Austin Shook, a top runner on the Coral Springs Charter boy’s team said, “We run a lot of miles every day. I do a lot of training on my own. It relaxes me and relieves stress.”

Jodi Medina, the captain of the Coral Springs Charter Girls team, sees a dual side to training. “This is a good way to stay in shape. I have been running all four years of high school. I like being a part of the team,” she said. Medina also plays on the school’s soccer team.

Irwin Goldberg has been a cross-country coach at J.P. Taravella for many years. He is nearly 90 years old and has been coaching cross country for about 65 years. He enjoys being with young people who have an interest in distance running. Goldberg has found that distance runners tend to be high-quality students and are well behaved.

“I love the kids who come out and run cross-country. They are very nice and they are committed to doing better every day. Distance runners don’t fail in school. They are very dedicated to doing well in every area of life. They will go all out to achieve a goal,” Goldberg said.

Michel Normal, the top runner on the J.P. Taravella Boy’s Cross Country team knows the value of hard work., “It takes discipline and hard work to be successful in the cross country. You have to work hard to be successful,” he said.

“It takes commitment and dedication to do well in cross country. These are athletes who want to have better times and accomplish all they can,” Goldberg said.

Brantley Barr has been coaching cross-country for 37 years at Coral Springs High School. He believes it is important to encourage the sport. “I try to develop a lot of young athletes. After a few years of dedicated work, some of the runners will become very successful,” he said.

Tyler Brunton, the captain of the Coral Springs High School Cross Country team, was among teammates who participated in the Coral Springs Championship meet. “Running and being on the team is fun. I have been on the team since my freshman year,” he said.

 

by Glenn R. Swift

Ponce de Leon was the first European to set foot on the modern-day United States. He discovered La Florida in April 1513 while on an expedition consisting of three ships and 200 men. De Leon’s objective was to look for gold, and the “fountain of youth,” although evidence for the latter does not appear until well after his death. Precisely where de Leon first came ashore is widely disputed, but the most widely accepted location by historians is Melbourne Beach (about 100 miles north of North Palm Beach). De Leon named the peninsula La Florida in recognition of the land’s verdant landscape, and because it was the Easter season, which the Spaniards called Pascua Florida or Festival of Flowers.

At the time of the discovery, there were three Native American tribes living along the coast of southeast Florida: the Ais; the Jaega; and the Tequesta. All three tribes were exclusively hunter-gatherers, relying largely upon fishing, the hunting of manatees and sea turtles, and the gathering of wild berries. Most scholars in the field assert that the three tribes are genetically and linguistically related to the Muskogee group of Native Americans, who dominated the southeastern United States, and were descended from the Native Americans of present-day Mexico. This is in contrast to the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean who are classified as belonging to the Arawak group, and descended from the Native Americans of South America.

Most of what we know about the Ais and the Jaega comes to us from the writings of Jonathan Dickinson, an English Quaker on his way from Jamaica to Philadelphia who was shipwrecked in 1696, along with his family and the other passengers and crew members of the ship. The party was held captive by the Jaega for several days before being handed over to the Ais chief (cacique). Because one of the members of Dickinson’s group spoke Spanish, the group was able to persuade the Jaega and the Ais that they were Spanish and not English. As a result of this good fortune, the group was allowed to travel by small boat and on foot the 230 miles up the coast to Spanish-held St. Augustine. During the journey, the party was subjected to constant harassment and physical abuse with five members of the group succumbing to exposure and starvation.

The Spanish authorities in St. Augustine treated the surviving members of the party well and sent them by canoe to Charles Town (now Charleston, South Carolina), where they were able to find passage to their original destination, Philadelphia.

Ais

The Ais lived along the 156-mile banks of the Indian River Lagoon from present-day Cape Canaveral to Stuart. They were primarily fishermen “who boiled their fish, and ate them from ‘platters’ of palmetto leaf,” according to Dickinson. The Ais cacique, who wielded power over both the Ais and the neighboring Jaega to the south, resided in the tribe’s main settlement of Jece (present-day Vero Beach). The Ais enjoyed friendly relations with the Spanish, but were sworn enemies of the English who Dickinson said they referred to as “Nickaleers.” Estimates vary widely, but most historians place the population of the Ais at the time of European discovery at about 20,000, with 2,000 residing in their main settlement of Jece.

Jaega

The Jaega lived between the St. Lucie and Hillsboro inlets with their main settlement being Jobe, which was located along the banks of the Jupiter Inlet. Like the Ais, their origins are believed by many to date back some 2,000 years. Politically subordinate to the Ais, the Jaega consisted of about 2,000 people at the time of European discovery, and maintained friendly relations with the Spanish. Then again, not every Spaniard at that time fared so well in this neck of the woods. Much of what we know about the Jaega comes from the writings of Hernando de Escalante (1536-1575), who was enslaved and held captive in the region for 17 years before being rescued. (Actually, de Escalante was the “lucky one,” the others in his shipwrecked party were sacrificed.)

Tequesta

The Tequesta lived between what is today Boca Raton and the southern tip of the Florida peninsula, with their main settlement along the banks of Biscayne Bay and the mouth of the Miami River. At times, they also occupied the Florida Keys. Archaeological studies confirm that these first residents of Florida’s Gold Coast date back to the third century BCE during the so-called Formative Stage (“Neo-Indian” Period) of the continent when Florida’s climate had reached current conditions and the sea had risen close to its present-day level. The Tequesta were more or less dominated by the more numerous Calusa of the southwest coast of Florida, but they were closely allied to their immediate neighbors to the north, the Jaega. Estimates as to the number of Tequesta at the time of initial European contact range from 800 to more than 10,000.

Epilogue

Tragically, contact with Europeans had lethal consequences for the “first Floridians.” In fact, by 1760 all had perished, having succumbed to the small pox pandemic that decimated the Native American population of the Americas to a mere one-tenth of its pre-Columbian level.

LOOK WHAT’S AT THE LIBRARY!

by Cynthia MacGregor

Once upon a time—and not that long ago—the library was where you went if you wanted to borrow books or consult reference books. Period. End of statement. But, as the saying goes, that was then and this is now. The library systems in the Tri-country area is a trove of information, materials, educational, and cultural opportunities, and more…and, oh yes, you can still borrow books.

Broward County

The main phone number is 954-357-7444, and the website is broward.org/library. There are 37 library locations throughout the county and a wealth of information, activities, and materials. They offer free special events at the various branches. To find out what’s coming up that might interest you, go to the website and, under “News,” look for the newsletter link. There is also a paper copy of the newsletter available at each of the branches.

If the reason you prefer a paper copy is that you are not too familiar with the computer, you may want to know that their computer classes are popular and they are free. Besides borrowing books, you can borrow CDs and DVDs, and e-books for all popular platforms including Kindle, Nook, and electronic devices—computer, tablet, or smartphone. You can stream movies to your home electronic device, or download music to keep—all for free.

The Creation Station at the main library, 100 South Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, offers state-of-the-art technology including 3D printers and robotics.

Rosetta Stone is a program through which you can learn a Tower of Babel’s worth of languages including Spanish (Latin American or Castillian), English (American or British), French, German, Italian, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Dari (Persian as spoken in Afghanistan), Dutch, Filipino Tagalog, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Irish, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Pashto, Persian Farsi, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish, Urdu, and Vietnamese.

If it’s learning you’re after but not languages, the Universal Class offers more than 500 areas of study in six-month online courses in such subjects as diverse as accounting, parenting, math, web development, or psychology. You’ll interact one-on-one online with a real teacher.

Also in the area of learning, the library’s e-tutor program can help with homework or studies from kindergarten through pre-college, with a live tutor online…but it’s not just for students. The program also helps with résumé crafting and job searches.

Besides the magazines available to read in the library, you can download the Zinio app and read magazines at home on the electronic device of your choice, through the library.

To learn more, go to the website and/or subscribe to the weekly newsletter, which also lists upcoming special events. To subscribe, send an e-mail to librarymarketing@broward.org

Miami/Dade

Their phone number is 305-375-2665, and their website is mdpls.org. They have 49 branches as of this writing, with a 50th scheduled to open around the time this issue gets published. Two bookmobiles travel throughout the county. To find out when one will be at a stop near you, go to the website, look under “Find a Branch,” and on the left click on “Mobile Library.”

Their offerings are similar to those listed above for Broward: CDs, DVDs, e-books, music, movies, magazines available in print in the branches or digitally online with the Zinio reader, and a very extensive research database.

The educational courses are offered via lynda.com with a wide variety of subjects you can study and train in. They, too, have online tutoring via tutor.com. There is an online encyclopedia, and newspapers galore.

Worth noting in particular, they offer information on available foundation grants and how to apply for them. Another highlight: They have a huge genealogy department through which you can trace your family tree. It is not only Florida based; this service can help you regardless of where your ancestors lived. And of particular note: Unlike most of the services offered here (and in the other tri-county libraries), you do not need a library card to use the genealogy department.

Also on offer at the Miami-Dade libraries: a permanent art collection and rotating art exhibits; and a Florida room that houses documents, books, photos, and periodicals concerning Florida’s history, available for research purposes. Also story times, yoga classes, language classes, and musical performances.

If you wish to borrow books or other circulating materials but are homebound and cannot come to the library, the library will mail your desired materials to you. You can request them by phone or online.

Palm Beach County

The phone number is 561-649-5476, and the website is pbclibrary.org. There are 17 branch libraries and one bookmobile, whose schedule is posted on the web or available on paper at all of the branches.

In common with the other two South Florida library systems there are CDs, DVDs, and e-books, and downloadable music to add to your collection. You can stream TV shows and movies to your electronic device at home or watch on the library’s computers. There are magazines to read in the library or on your electronic device at home, and also newspapers you can read at the library.

If the book you want to borrow isn’t in the PBC library system, you can request an interlibrary loan. Participating libraries stretch all across the country, magnifying your chance of finding what you want.

The library’s monthly calendar of events, called “Happenings,” lists all activities for the month by branch and can be accessed through the website, or you can pick up a paper copy at any branch. There are activities for children, teens, and adults.

Like the two library systems above, the Palm Beach County library also offers computer classes.

What’s available at the library these days? Plenty!