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Program flies for high scores

Math problems and essays are now on the Saturday agenda for Citrus Springs Middle School students hoping to boost FCAT scores.

By EDDY RAMIREZ
Published January 30, 2006

	[Times photo: Will Vragovic]
	Sgt. Don Lestinsky, center, who brought superintendent Sandra "Sam" Himmel, left, via helicopter for a visit to a new Saturday school session, is given a shirt for the new program by Citrus Springs Middle School principal David Stephens in the school's courtyard.

CITRUS SPRINGS - On any other Saturday, seventh-grader Steve Higgins would be home playing video games on his computer or PlayStation. He says he usually does this all day long.

But this past Saturday, Higgins and 100 classmates were at Citrus Springs Middle School solving math problems with building blocks, writing essays using computer software graphics and watching a helicopter carry superintendent Sandra "Sam" Himmel safely into the school's courtyard.

This is Flight School at Citrus Springs Middle School.

Citrus Springs Middle, whose mascot is the Falcons, runs Flight School to bring together students with low scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test and teachers throughout the district. The teachers blend reading, writing and math with creative teaching methods to help students prepare for the high-stakes exam in March.

But administrators say the program goes beyond preparing students for the FCAT.

"We have kids who are disgruntled at school," said program coordinator Janis Slattery. "At Flight School, these kids are really digging learning."

Teachers are known as squad leaders. They wear T-shirts with nicknames like "Lexicon," "Azimuth" and "the Joker," which they use in greeting each other. "Good Morning, Radar," principal Dave "Wildcat" Stephens said as he walked into the classroom of Forest Ridge Elementary teacher Marla Gangler.

The students arrive in school buses and are treated to a breakfast buffet of corn dogs, pizza and sausage biscuits. By 9 a.m., they are in classrooms with no more than 10 students per teacher.

The work is mostly hands-on and as high-energy as a lesson in reading fluency can get. The use of stopwatches in one classroom kicks students into a reading frenzy, plus it helps build endurance for the FCAT.

Near the end of the day, which is usually around noon, the students are pooled together inside the gymnasium or the lunchroom and participate in team competitions. The winners take home prizes.

On this past Saturday, the students stood beneath a covered walkway. The sheriff's helicopter carrying Himmel circled overhead. As Deputy Don Lestinsky landed the craft, the students roared approval. Himmel stuck out a hand and waved. Once the helicopter landed, Himmel, who is nursing an injured foot, climbed out to greet the students. In a few minutes, she would be in the gymnasium serving as a judge in a paper plane flying contest.

"That's really pretty cool," seventh-grader Tara McLain said. "I have never seen a helicopter land before."

Tara said she doesn't mind being in school on a Saturday.

"This is better than cleaning dishes and scrubbing the bathroom," she said.

Citrus Springs Middle is the only Citrus school that offers FCAT preparation to its students on Saturday. Other schools, like Inverness Middle, offer remediation programs on weekdays after school.

Last semester, Citrus Springs Middle sent 400 invitations home with children who had failed the reading, writing or math section of the FCAT. Within a week, 100 families had signed up their children. The program, which runs until the Saturday before the FCAT, has a $14,000 budget.

Slattery said the program has almost 90 percent student attendance.

District administrators will keep a close watch on the program. If test scores and student attendance and participation in the regular classrooms improve, they said, other schools might adopt the program.

Steve Higgins, the student who likes playing video games, said he enjoys the informal setting of Flight School. He has made friends and enjoys the team competitions.

"At first, I thought it would be pretty boring," he said "I was trying to talk my parents out of it. But my mom said, "I signed you up. You're going."'

Now, he thinks learning is fun.

Slattery recalls that initially students were not all enthusiastic about having school on Saturday. They would step off the school bus with their heads low. "This stinks,"' she remembers them saying. "Why is my mom is making me come to school on Saturday?"'

Since then, Slattery and principal Dave Stephens say they have noticed a real change in attitude. Students who felt disengaged in a classroom with 30 students have developed a bond with teachers in small classrooms, they said.

"We're hoping that motivation will carry over into a regular school," Slattery said."Our goal is to help these students be successful as citizens, and the FCAT is only a piece of that."

--Eddy Ramirez can be reached at eramirez@sptimes.com or 860-7305.

[Last modified January 30, 2006, 00:32:10]