MAST is presently one of hundreds of schools nationwide who have applied for a $50,000 grant from Clorox to enhance our school’s programs. We are at a stage that requires public voting via the internet to win the grant. Below are instructions on how to cast your vote and support the MAST community in our bid for the grant. Please take a moment of your time and help support MAST. Thank you!
Voting Instructions:
1. Go to http://www.clorox.com/
2. In the middle of the page, click on Cast Your Vote!
3. Click on VOTE NOW!
4. Please enter your email at the top of the page and click log in
5. Complete the registration form.
Once you have completed the registration:
6. Enter MAST and search
7. Vote for MAST Academy!
Finally, please enter three friends’ or family members’ email addresses to generate more support for MAST.
Please remember to that each registered email address can vote once a day until November 1, 2010! Thank you for your help!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
The Ship in Port - Summer Update
If there is one thing this summer has not been, it has not been slow and restful. Right from the first day with the Summer Anchor program we have been off and running. I am finishing up a week at the Superintendent's Summer institute for Principals this morning. It has been a good experience and I have enjoyed learning with and from my colleagues. There are a lot of very good things going on about the district!
It is also hard to believe that the month of July is almost gone. We are ready to unfurl the sails and prepare the deck for the 2010 - 2011 school voyage. The are still some questions to be answered and the last parts of the puzzle will begin to fall into place quickly now as we start the ramp up. It is odd how quiet it is at school but the feeling of awakening is definitely in the air!
The building is looking sharp as Mr. McDonald and the custodial crew have been hard at work preparing for opening. The classrooms look bright and shiny with fresh wax and everything put through summer cleaning. We have just one last shipment of computers left to come in for the engineering lab. We're looking for them sometime next week.
For students and parents, the individual FCAT score reports are in so please be on the lookout for more information as to when and how we will distribute them. On a whole, MAST did very well and once again the work of our students, teachers, and entire MAST family has shone through. Thank you all! School grades will not be published for senior high schools until November as there are now additional grading criteria that the state must collect and analyze. More to come ...
Finally, my summer reading has been going. It would be enjoyable to have had more time to read but I have completed Drive by Daniel Pink, Discussion Based Online Teaching by Tisha Bender, and a title on SMART Goals ( good for IPEGS). I learned from all three and each has lead me to additional learning/reading that I have saved up for future opportunity. Drive's discussion on motivation is eye-opening and I have since found some of the research by E. Deci to review. There are some major implications for motivation in schools and learning. The SMART goals piece will help as we as a faculty plan our upcoming year's IPEGS goals and some of the case studies were interesting. Finally, the book on online teaching was drab and dated. Despite this, it did reinforce the idea that there is something in the idea of online learning. I think that we as the adults have as much to learn as the students. I see this becoming a powerful venue for learning once we get a better handle on how to best use the tools available.
I hope everyone is enjoying the summer and has taken the necessary precautions for the pending tropical storm. Being as it looks like we will be spending a wet weekend indoors, it sounds like a great time to make sure that your summer reading is up to date and you are on course to finish!
It is also hard to believe that the month of July is almost gone. We are ready to unfurl the sails and prepare the deck for the 2010 - 2011 school voyage. The are still some questions to be answered and the last parts of the puzzle will begin to fall into place quickly now as we start the ramp up. It is odd how quiet it is at school but the feeling of awakening is definitely in the air!
The building is looking sharp as Mr. McDonald and the custodial crew have been hard at work preparing for opening. The classrooms look bright and shiny with fresh wax and everything put through summer cleaning. We have just one last shipment of computers left to come in for the engineering lab. We're looking for them sometime next week.
For students and parents, the individual FCAT score reports are in so please be on the lookout for more information as to when and how we will distribute them. On a whole, MAST did very well and once again the work of our students, teachers, and entire MAST family has shone through. Thank you all! School grades will not be published for senior high schools until November as there are now additional grading criteria that the state must collect and analyze. More to come ...
Finally, my summer reading has been going. It would be enjoyable to have had more time to read but I have completed Drive by Daniel Pink, Discussion Based Online Teaching by Tisha Bender, and a title on SMART Goals ( good for IPEGS). I learned from all three and each has lead me to additional learning/reading that I have saved up for future opportunity. Drive's discussion on motivation is eye-opening and I have since found some of the research by E. Deci to review. There are some major implications for motivation in schools and learning. The SMART goals piece will help as we as a faculty plan our upcoming year's IPEGS goals and some of the case studies were interesting. Finally, the book on online teaching was drab and dated. Despite this, it did reinforce the idea that there is something in the idea of online learning. I think that we as the adults have as much to learn as the students. I see this becoming a powerful venue for learning once we get a better handle on how to best use the tools available.
I hope everyone is enjoying the summer and has taken the necessary precautions for the pending tropical storm. Being as it looks like we will be spending a wet weekend indoors, it sounds like a great time to make sure that your summer reading is up to date and you are on course to finish!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Summer Anchor Sails into Week 2!
This morning we open our second week of the 2010 MAST Summer Anchor. So far our sailing has encountered fair weather and calm seas. Boat building is underway, math is in full operation, and science is analyzing data collected during last week's day at the beach. We have just finished our final plenary session where we discussed Plato and Stephen J. Gould and worked some more on Excel.
Coming up later in the week, we have our famous boat races, the seniors will come in to talk about involvement at MAST, and we will end our summer voyage with cotillion. It is a full week so come prepared and be ready to head out each day under full sail!
Coming up later in the week, we have our famous boat races, the seniors will come in to talk about involvement at MAST, and we will end our summer voyage with cotillion. It is a full week so come prepared and be ready to head out each day under full sail!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Summer Anchor Heads to Sea
Day one of the 2010 MAST Summer Anchor has come and gone. Congratulations to the Class of 2014 and the other students who have joined us for the adventure. This year looks to be stronger than ever with an instructional crew that is second to none. As I spoke to all about yesterday as we got underway, now it is time for each student to begin to explore what their individual passion or passions might be and to begin to plot a course to fulfill those dreams. This will take more than just a plan. Once plotted, action on a course must be undertaken! Action and correction and modification for what doesn't work as a student has planned - persistence! A journey of a lifetime, such as you have set sail upon with the opening of the Summer Anchor, will not be without its rough seas and stormy weather. What will you need to do to persist in the face of adversity to ensure that you achieve your goals, to ensure that your passion comes to fruition? The final element is effort. Education, knowledge, and the subsequent wisdom are results of concerted effort. They come from the drive to learn. To learn, make mistakes, reflect upon your last steps, make connections, and grow in the knowledge of how information and experience will combine inside you and manifest itself in new actions that you show to the world as you learn. Remember, MAST is about learning and over the course of the next four years the voyage will require passion, persistence, and effort!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Reflections on the 2009-2010 Year at Sea
Another year, MAST's 19th, has just come back to port in final celebration of much learning and particularly for the accomplishments of faculty, staff, parents, and the Class of 2010. Far from being free of the stresses that have been in the news and all over our world, MAST has weathered all that we have encountered. As a community, we have made progress in many directions and continued a tradition of excellence in the sea of change that churns about us. The credit for this voyage and those before lies with the passion and persistence of committed individuals that seek the lighthouse of learning through any and all conditions. To the faculty, staff, parents, and students of MAST, thank you for your drive.
This year MAST will prepare for another voyage without three figures who have been large contributors to our school. Mrs. Van Smith, Dr. Alvarez-Detrell, and Mr. Cruz, thank you for your years of service. we will definitely miss you as we prepare and begin future voyages. Best of luck and know that MAST will always be here as an open port of call if ever you venture near. To the MAST Crew members who continue to sail on with us, thank you for making learning your top priority and for an unrelenting focus on student performance. The success of each voyage is firmly in your steady, capable hands. Our community appreciates you more than we could ever possibly show.
Class of 2010 - thank you for a fantastic four years that include some amazing highs and tremendous accomplishments. As I spoke about at graduation, these four years have passed very quickly and your presence will be missed as we set sail once again. Just as your peers in the past, remember your time and honor all that you have received in your time at MAST.
MAST parents - It has been a year for the record books. Never have I seen such dedication and support from so many parents whose only goal is the growth and betterment of a school community. Working with all the groups have been a joy and, in looking forward to next year, please know that we are eternally grateful for all that you do and the investment of time and energy that you provide. MAST could not be all it is without you.
As we prepare to welcome the Class of 2014 and begin our 20th year, MAST holds more potential than ever. Now is the time to charge our batteries, lay the ground work, and forge ahead with the plans that will make the 2010-2011 school year the best of all!
Have a happy and restful summer in port!
This year MAST will prepare for another voyage without three figures who have been large contributors to our school. Mrs. Van Smith, Dr. Alvarez-Detrell, and Mr. Cruz, thank you for your years of service. we will definitely miss you as we prepare and begin future voyages. Best of luck and know that MAST will always be here as an open port of call if ever you venture near. To the MAST Crew members who continue to sail on with us, thank you for making learning your top priority and for an unrelenting focus on student performance. The success of each voyage is firmly in your steady, capable hands. Our community appreciates you more than we could ever possibly show.
Class of 2010 - thank you for a fantastic four years that include some amazing highs and tremendous accomplishments. As I spoke about at graduation, these four years have passed very quickly and your presence will be missed as we set sail once again. Just as your peers in the past, remember your time and honor all that you have received in your time at MAST.
MAST parents - It has been a year for the record books. Never have I seen such dedication and support from so many parents whose only goal is the growth and betterment of a school community. Working with all the groups have been a joy and, in looking forward to next year, please know that we are eternally grateful for all that you do and the investment of time and energy that you provide. MAST could not be all it is without you.
As we prepare to welcome the Class of 2014 and begin our 20th year, MAST holds more potential than ever. Now is the time to charge our batteries, lay the ground work, and forge ahead with the plans that will make the 2010-2011 school year the best of all!
Have a happy and restful summer in port!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Summer Anchor - Class of 2014 Sets Sail!
This Monday, June 14, 2010, the MAST Summer Anchor Program sets sail with the Class of 2014! The program will last until June 25th. The students' daily schedule runs from 8:00am until 2:05pm. Breakfast and lunch will be provided all students free of charge. Breakfast will be served from 7:30am until 7:55am each day. Class will begin promptly at 8:00am! Transportation arrangements have been made such that each student will have access to a pass to ride the Metrorail to the Viscaya station. Parents are responsible for getting their child to the closest metrorail station. Once at the Viscaya station, MAST will provide a shuttle from Viscaya to MAST Academy. The morning shuttles will begin at 7:15 and the last shuttle will leave Viscaya at 7:40am. MAST will have a security monitor at Viscaya to help students in transition. In the afternoon, students will ride shuttles from MAST to Viscaya then take the Metrorail back to their home stop. Parents are responsible for making arrangements from their home stop to home. If you have any questions, please contact MAST directly.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Final Regular Day at Sea
I find it amazingly difficult to fathom that another year has just about finished. Today we completed our last regular length day for the 2009-2010 voyage. Monday we finish the last of our final exams and then we graduate the Class of 2010 at 7pm at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts. Incredible and nearly unbelievable!
As most well know by know, Director Jackson of the EPA has been called away to the Gulf with the oil disaster and we will have the pleasure of having Ms. Melody Barnes as our commencement speaker. We have made the final arrangements for the change and excitement is high! The Class of 2010 will definitely leave it's mark on the history of our amazing school.
It is time to head down to the PTSA Family Dinner. From what I hear we should have a lot of people here celebrating the end of our year! Hope to see many of you there!
As most well know by know, Director Jackson of the EPA has been called away to the Gulf with the oil disaster and we will have the pleasure of having Ms. Melody Barnes as our commencement speaker. We have made the final arrangements for the change and excitement is high! The Class of 2010 will definitely leave it's mark on the history of our amazing school.
It is time to head down to the PTSA Family Dinner. From what I hear we should have a lot of people here celebrating the end of our year! Hope to see many of you there!
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