Don’t panic

The IB What’s Happenings page has been updated, but there appears to have been an unfortunate mixup with the Extended Essay Timeline document posted there. At least I don’t think the last few EE deadlines were moved forward by 6 weeks. Even IB is not that cruel 🙂 The correct timeline, as far as I know, is on page 2 of this (PDF) and in this prior post. So administer some oxygen to your IB senior and have a nice day.

Hometown News touts Edline

Hometown News:

This school year, many parents will have the opportunity to monitor their children’s grades via the Internet.

Edline, a web hosting portal and software program, allows teachers at participating schools to input students’ grades for Internet viewing.

November SAT deadline approaching

The regular registration deadline for the November 3, 2007 SAT is Tuesday, October 2. You can register until October 11, but the cost will be higher after Tuesday. To register, go to collegeboard.com. This is also a chance for seniors to take SAT II subject tests if they need to and have not done so. If you have no idea what SAT subject tests are click here.

Update: This is not an optimum test date because of homecoming (game Friday night, dance Saturday night) so you might want to pick another test date if possible. Most schools will still accept test scores taken through December.

Robotics team tours USF on Bulls big day

They have a saying on the robotics team that “it’s not about the robots.” I suspect that a lot of it has to do with the travel. Well, some of our robotics team members left yesterday for Tampa and had a tour of the University of South Florida on what was no doubt the most electrifying day that campus has ever seen. (Newly ranked USF Bulls sell out  Tampa Bucs football stadium and upset 5th ranked West Virginia in prime time.) The robotics team spent the night in the USF basketball arena in advance of an off season competition there today. You can watch the action live Saturday. Link no longer active

Coverage of Space Coast football game

from floridatoday.com

Photo Gallery

Florida Today reports on new theater

from floridatoday.com:
COCOA BEACH – The small black box theater served its purpose at Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High.
But a new performing arts theater will soon offer aspiring artists, drama students, chorus and band, a larger, more-rounded venue to showcase their talents.
And the anticipation is building as the $10.5 million, 24,000-square-foot, 650-seat performing arts theater at Cocoa Beach High moves closer toward completion, possibly before year’s end.
“I can’t wait,” said student Elizabeth Zombo, president of drama Troop 5476. “We had some good experiences cooped up in a little black box. This is going to be much better.”

Be There (not here)

Brevard signs on to the slick Be There program that encourages parents to be involved  in their kids’ education, just not at school.

News Release
VIERA—Brevard Public Schools is launching a parent involvement campaign this school year called “Be There,” which is designed to inspire parents to become involved in their child’s education. The campaign is part of coordinated effort that is gaining momentum across the nation.

“Be There” is a multimedia research-based campaign designed to encourage parents to make ordinary moments extraordinary by connecting with their children during the daily routines of life.

Major student loan changes signed into law

 The details of this bill are still being sifted through but early analysis seems to indicate that this is very good news for low income families but for middle income families, several steps backwards.

from washingtonpost.com

President Bush signed into law yesterday a student loan bill that will provide more than $20 billion in federal aid to college students and is being likened to the G.I. Bill, which helped millions of World War II veterans attend college.The law, which received overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress, will slash federal subsidies to private loan companies and increase grants for students. It will gradually reduce interest rates on federally subsidized loans for low-income students to 3.4 percent over five years. The law will also offer loan forgiveness for those who have held public service jobs for 10 years and will cap payments on federal loans at a certain percentage of a college graduate’s income.

Girls golf ends regular season unbeaten

Congratulations, girls. We look forward to following your march to the State Tourney!

from floridatoday.com :
Rockledge had been looking forward to this match and the chance to knock off the only team in Brevard County it hasn’t been able to beat for four years. The Minutemen didn’t let that happen and stayed unbeaten at 9-0 in dual matches, with a 168-181 win.

Goths effort backfires

The word “Gothic” was indeed stricken from the language of the dress code, but simply because it was inconsistent with the rest of the code which does not single out other groups such as “rappers,” “surfers” or “preps.” Board members specified that the code itself or its interpretation or implementation was not being changed in any way by the removal of the word. In addition, because at least one of the Goth speakers pointed out that extreme makeup was not prohibited in the current code, board members decided to add that restriction. You won’t find that in the Florida Today articles, but you will see it if you watch the school board meeting videos for yourself, as I always recommend. They are usually quite boring, but thanks to the Goths, not anymore.  School board video

from floridatoday.com:

The Brevard County School Board voted Tuesday to drop the word “Gothic” from its list of banned clothing and accessories, but much Gothic attire will remain prohibited such as piercings and “extreme makeup.”

The board unanimously agreed to the changes during its first round of policy revisions, a lengthy process that will extend through April.

The changes came after a group of high school students petitioned the board to relax restrictions against heavy makeup and facial piercings.

Another Florida Today article