Teachers And Support Staff Make a Difference Every Day !

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Vietta Smagghe

Vietta is the second grade team leader at Toledo Blade. She has been teaching over 20 years and still loves seeing the sparkle in the children 's eyes when they make the connections. As chairperson of SDMT she is able to take an active role in the future of TB. One of her favorite committees, which she serves on, is the Renaissance Committee which is responsible for planning quarterly celebrations for academic success. After teaching in Michigan, she relocated to Florida with her husband almost 12 years ago. The Florida weather is perfect for boating. She says "a day on the water is like a mini vacation". She also enjoys traveling to places like Alaska, China and most recently the Mediterranean. She has made several trips to Europe to visit her husband's family in Belgium. When at home, she loves to read and work in her garden.

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Bill Sarazen

Bill teaches 3rd grade at Phillippi and was recently voted Teacher of the Year. In addition to his teaching career, Bill is an accomplished actor. He has performed at The Golden Apple, Venice Theatre, The Players and the Manatee Players. His favorite role was that of Neil Tllden from THE 1840's RADIO HOUR. Bill was nominated for a HANDY AWARD for his role of Caleb in The Player's production of SPITFIRE GRILL. Bill has been teaching for 28 years and says that teaching is like acting. He says, " You are on stage all day long."

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MARTA CALABRESE

Marta teaches 1st grade at Phillippi Shores. She is a world traveler and has been on every continent except for Antarctica. She has trinkets and souvenirs from all of her adventures and inspires her students to also be world travelers. Marta has been teaching for 38 years. She has her Masters Degree and is a National Board Certified Teacher. She believes that making a child aware of the world is more important than people realize. It teaches the students life skills.

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SCTA Holiday Gift Party

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The Arts at Laurel Nokomis School

Charles Allen is a music teacher at Laurel Nokomis School. He has a Bachelor of Music from Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. He has presented at the Florida Council on Elementary Education and at the Florida Music Educators Association. His students have performed at State Conferences, the Sarasota County Fair, Selby Gardens, Ringling Museum, ABC 7 Sunrise News, Disney World, Universal Studios, and Sea World. As you can see, Mr. Allen LOVES teaching!

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Donations for Save Our Seabirds

For the past several months, school district staff have been sending in supplies for the Save Our Seabirds organization located at 1708 Ken Thompson Parkway in Sarasota. When SC/TA first put out requests for donations, several schools including Tuttle and Phillippi Shores, began collecting supplies to deliver on their own. We had so many things donated that we had to call in Eric Aeoppli and Rich Ralich from Facilities to help us deliver them to the facility. Click our link to Save Our Seabirds and find out how you can help.

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Summer School at Oak Park

This summer around 250 handicapped children will be attending summer school at Oak Park School. On Oak Parks campus you will find children with vision, hearing, emotional, physical, and intellectual problems. Teachers and staff plan activities to help children be the best they can be and to help them compete in our world today.

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Beth Hartman

Mrs. Hartman teaches upper level English classes at Sarasota High School during the regular school year and returns to Oak Park every summer to work with students with behavior problems. She brings with her many of the techniques she uses at SHS. Mrs. Hartman has a Masters Degree in Language Arts and English and a Masters degree in Counseling and Psychology. Mrs. Hartman was the Sarasota County Teacher of the Year in 1988.

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Jane Closs

Jane works during the regular school year as a Local Assistive Technology Specialist under Pupil Support Services. During the summer she is doing resource Speech and Language therapy with many of the students. This is the job Jane did for many years before moving on to technology. Jane has a Masters Degree from Kent State University and a Professional license from the State of Florida in Speech and Language Pathology.

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Angela Craft

Angie Craft is a teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing at Oak Park during the regular school year. She was the Teacher of the Year for Deaf Education in 1992. Angie studied in Japan 6 times from 1998 to 2005. In Japan she worked at residential Deaf schools in Mito, Sendai, Yamaguchi and Tokyo. She is publishing a series of ASL books this Fall.

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Brenda Mercer

Brenda is working this summer in a classroom with Angie Craft. Brenda is a nationally certified interpreter and is an NRID member. During the regular school year, Brenda works at Riverview High School as an interpreter/aide.

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Renewal of the 1 mill referendum tax

SC/TA teachers and staff celebrate the renewal of the 1 mill referendum tax on March 16, 2010. Thank you to the community members that voted YES. Sarasotas citizens care about education.

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Food Donations

Many worksites have sent food to the office. Keep it coming! The first load will go out to a high school next week. Thanks!

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SCTA members donate over 400 toys

In December SCTA helped Irene Nicola and Chris Mayer collect toys for children in one parent families. SCTA members donated over 400 toys that Irene made sure got to needy children and parents. Parents got to shop for their children after being served dinner by a large number of volunteers. SCTA also contributed $500 to help pay for food at the dinner.

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Fran Squires, Pine View School

Currently a sixth-grade language arts teacher, this former third-grade teacher made economics an integral part of her curriculum by setting up her classroom to function as a business, with CEOs (Chief Education Officers) of the week who were responsible for the performance of their classmates in daily work habits. Students developed an original product and produced it for profit at the annual Bizarre Bazaar. They learned how to design a logo for their business, write a plan for applying for a bank loan and facilitate advertising of their products through various mediums. The also learned to write checks and market their products, which included Mother of Pearl picture frames and the Blow and Stow, a tissue-box cover made of recycled materials. The profits from these enterprises allowed the students to assemble packages of needed items for soldiers serving in Iraq; the Heifer Project International, which provides animals to impoverished families in countries around the world; the Adopt an Animal program at Sarasota Jungle Gardens (to care for a baby flamingo); and the Sarasota Day Nursery; among other charitable projects.

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Lorri Phillips-Alba, Southside Elementary

Ms. Phillips-Alba has an open and informative approach with the parents. She maintains a communications line through weekly newsletters, a Web site and e-mail. Through her newsletter, parents are informed about the students weekly curriculum and receive a note about the week in review and important issues and dates pertaining to the school. Ms. Phillips-Albas Web site is packed with information such as the class schedule, calendar, spelling/vocabulary lists and educational links. The site also features photos of students participating in school activities, including the Jog-a-Thon, Authors Tea and Cultural Literacy Day, so parents can see their children in action!

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Stanley Judd, McIntosh Middle School

Stanley Judd, the 2009-2010 Middle School Teacher of the Year for Sarasota County, has been recognized for the creation and ongoing support of the McIntosh Wrestling Federation, which he launched in 1997. His tireless passion to guide the welfare of students in this competitive arena has made a significant contribution to the growth and development of the pre-adolescent learner. The trophy case in the Eagle Gym on campus is a tribute to the success of the program. Mr. Judds resume also includes critical work in the development and staging of the schools annual Veterans Day celebration, a signature event for McIntosh. He also has the only dog therapy program at the middle school level in the district. His therapy dog Isabelle is a unique addition to the classroom, where she is considered a mascot for motivation and comfort to his students.

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SCTA 2009 Food Drive

Some students are going home to no food and are too embarrassed to tell anyone!
Teachers are making sure their students and, in some cases, families are receiving food.  The Sarasota Classified/Teachers Association is collecting food such as peanut butter, jelly, mac and cheese, soup, etc., that can easily be prepared by students and will fit into a backpack.

You can help too by dropping off food donations at SCTA, 4675 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota!
For additional information call 941-922-9022

Thank you for helping teachers help their students. 

Patricia A. Gardner
President

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Cinderellas Closet Helps Give Girls Their Dream Prom

When Chris Mayer, a first grade teacher at Ashton Elementary School, first started Cinderellas Closet, she had no idea how impressive the response would be.

A community outreach project, focused on helping girls acquire items needed for their prom has become an instant success! Mayer put out a call for gowns to be donated, and the Closet received more than 500 dresses, a plethora of shoes, hand bags, make-up, jewelry, and more. The response by the people who donated items and the girls who received them, demonstrates just how much this program is needed.

Formal gowns in a wide variety of styles, sizes and colors, all cleaned and pressed by Dry Cleaning To Go, are freely available at Cinderellas Closet. Additionally, there have been donations of hair styles and boutonnieres for a handful of girls from Booker High School.

With a slow economy, and unemployment rates at a 25 year high, this program has given many girls the opportunity to have their dream prom.

For more information about Cinderellas Closet, please contact SCTA.

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