A little magnet school in Tampa Heights is getting big props for its technology and global studies programs.
By MELANIE AVE, Times Staff Writer
Published November 18, 2005
TAMPA HEIGHTS - "I just saw an ostrich zoom by!" 8-year-old Mikey Aguiar said.
He spoke with great delight as he watched a computer screen showing a live view from a pond in Botswana in southern Africa. A Web camera zooms in on dozens of animals as they drink and wade in the water.
A brown deerlike animal wandered into the picture, via nationalgeographic.com. Mikey perked up again.
"What's that?" he asked a classmate, 8-year-old Dominic Coleman. "Oh, that's another impala. There was a whole herd of them that just went by."
Mikey and his classmates at Lee Elementary School in Tampa Heights recently showed off the technology available at the magnet school, including the computers that allow them to watch the African animals from their classrooms.
Last week, the Hillsborough County School Board praised the school, which has received an unusual amount of attention, honor and cash lately. Lee was recently named one of 20 schools of distinction by Intel Corp. and Scholastic out of 3,000 applicants nationwide. The school, honored for its technology excellence, received a $10,000 check and $500,000 worth of material, equipment and training.
Already the school has interactive white boards and computerized science, music and video labs.
Soon, every grade level will have hand-held remote controls for answering questions. The teacher can look at a key pad to automatically know how many children answered correctly.
"We will be the envy of Hillsborough County," said Linda Williams, Lee's lead technology teacher. "The technology is so integrated into everything, you don't even notice it."
Lee, one of Hillsborough County's oldest schools, became the district's first magnet elementary school in 1993, drawing children across Hillsborough who were interested in its technology focus. As one of the district's 24 magnet schools, it will celebrate its 100th birthday next year.
Now the school has revamped its magnet program to highlight not only technology but every corner of the globe. This fall, educators renamed the school the Lee Academy of World Studies and Technology.
The school will use a three-year, $1.3-million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to buy equipment and fund teacher training to update the school's magnet program.
"We immerse ourselves in other countries," assistant principal Denyse Riveiro said.
Indeed, walking through the brick building is like taking a trip through a tiny United Nations. The walls are decorated with South American Incan masks made from paper plates and homemade maps of Asia and Africa.
Children in every grade learn about values and traditions of other cultures and countries. Every year, each grade level is assigned a country or continent to study.
Jordan Mentkow's fourth-grade class studied China the first nine weeks of school, learning about lucky symbols, the Great Wall, pandas and how people use bicycles to get around.
In addition to the traditional enrichment classes of art, music and physical education found in other schools, Lee students also study foreign languages. All grades learn Spanish, and Latin is used to teach vocabulary in third through fifth grades.
The students plan a video conference with a sister school in Spain. During the Christmas season, they will study holidays around the world.
Fourth-grade teacher Rachel Olmo said that as the children learn about how people in other countries live, they understand more about life in the United States.
"They get a better feel about why we do what we do," Olmo said. "They can see the similarities and the differences."
PTA president and Carrollwood resident Hilary Mentkow said Lee's focus on other cultures and technology is a bonus.
Initially, she enrolled her son at Lee in first grade to get him into a smaller school.
Unlike many suburban schools with 1,000 children or more, Lee has fewer than 400. Administrators and teachers know all the children by name.
Mentkow said she can't explain Lee's recent good fortune, but she's thrilled for the children and the school.
"It's gotten a lot and it needed it," she said. "I call it private education without the bill."
WHAT: Lee Academy of World Studies and Technology, a newly revamped magnet elementary school focusing on other cultures and countries.
WHERE: 305 E Columbus Drive in Tampa Heights.
ENROLLMENT: 390. About 73 percent of students receive free lunches because of high family poverty.
HONORS: Recently named by Intel Corp. and Scholastic as one of 20 schools of distinction out of 3,000 applicants.
HISTORY: Opened in 1906. Became the county's first elementary magnet school in 1993.
TECHNOLOGY: Computerized science lab, music and video production labs, interactive white boards, digital projectors, hand-held student answering devices, and desktop and laptop computers in every classroom. Many teachers have their own Web pages to share classroom activities, homework and policies with students and parents.
