St. Johns’ Hodges wins Clay Electric’s Youth Tour Contest

ORANGE PARK – St. Johns Country Day School junior Sheila Hodges, of Orange Park,
was named one of four winners of the 2019 Youth Tour to Washington Contest.
Sheila was selected for initial participation based on her outstanding character, leadership, academics, school involvement, and verbal expression skills. She then spent two-and-a-half days in Tallahassee last week, where she toured, saw the state government in action. After that, Hodges took a written quiz and delivered speech on the topic of "What moment in history would you like to go back to and why?"
Sheila's choice? Ruby Bridges' first day of school.
In 1960 New Orleans, when she was six years old, Ruby Bridges became the first African-American student to integrate a white school in the South when she began attending the until-then all-white William Frantz Elementary School, a few blocks from their home.
"What people don't know about Ruby Bridges," said Sheila, "is that for the remainder of the school year, she was in a class of one and was the only African American child on campus." In her speech, Sheila said she would like to go back in time to that moment on the steps of William Frantz Elementary. "I would walk her up the school steps and give her a big hug," said Sheila. "I would tell her to stay strong, remember her dreams, and that she is making a difference for generations to come."
A panel of judges determined the four winners based on the combined scores of both the quiz and the speech, and Sheila returned home victorious. She will be one of four winners to attend an all-expenses paid week in Washington, D.C., this summer, where she will meet some of the Congressional delegation, visit museums, experience national landmarks and watch the Marine Sunset Parade.
The annual contest, sponsored by the Clay Electric Cooperative, Inc., is open to students of the 30 high schools within the co-op’s service area.

Ridgeview’s Chen to represent Clay at STEM

ORANGE PARK – Michael Chen was selected to represent the county at the upcoming Florida Department of Education’s Sunshine State Scholars program, a two-day event to compete in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
Chen will be honored by a representative from the Commissioner of Education’s office, as well as representatives from Florida colleges and universities.
Wyatt Hopkins from Keystone Heights Junior/Middle School will be Clay County’s alternative representative.

Survey prove Clay students have better understanding for culture

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Clay County District Schools made significant improvements in seven of the 12 domains tested in the 2018-19 Instructional Culture Insight Survey.
The survey, which gathers teacher feedback on critical aspects of school culture, was conducted over the month of January throughout the District. The intent of the survey is to measure a strong instructional culture, rigor and respect within schools, along with instructional leadership practices.
Teachers answer questions on various aspects of their school’s learning environment, such as professional development, student growth measures, instructional planning, evaluation, workload, career progression, peer culture, retention, hiring process, and observation/feedback.
Clay schools outpaced the national average growth in seven of the 12 domains in areas such as Overall Culture Index Score, Observation, Feedback, Professional Development, Evaluation, Peer Culture, Compensation, and Family and Community Engagement garnered these improvements.
The New Teacher Project established a new national average domain score for the 2018-2019 school year. All domain scores will be normed against Insight results nationally so that a domain score of ‘5’ represents the national average for each domain.
“Overall, I am proud to report that Clay County District Schools demonstrated improvement once again! This is a tremendous celebration to the climate and culture that we are collectively establishing in Clay County District Schools,” superintendent Addison Davis said. “Over the last year, we have focused on providing quality professional learning sessions along with helping leaders provide honest, bite-sized actionable feedback to teachers during the evaluation process. After reviewing the data set, it is evident that we are making great organizational strides.”
This data will be used to plan how to address areas of greatest need in Clay County schools, according to areas of strength and opportunity revealed by the report. It will also be used to execute these action plans, drawing support from examples of best practices locally, district resources, and the Teacher Talent Toolbox provided by TNTP, the organization that makes the survey available to school districts. The district has identified four specific goals to work toward using this data: prepare all students to become college, career, and life-ready; ensure excellent instruction in all classrooms; develop great educators and leaders; and, build positive, learning-focused school communities.

Industry leaders converge to Clay Connect Tech Con

ORANGE PARK – The Clay County Chamber of Commerce played host to the first Clay Connect Tech Con which brought together a diverse group of industry leaders in business solutions at the Thrasher-Horne Center on Feb. 19.
The technology conference was focused on opening dialogue between local small business and technology vendors. At the heart of the conversation was the need for small business in Clay to stay abreast of the latest technology resources in their industry.
The conference opened with remarks by Nathaniel E. Ford Sr., CEO of Jacksonville Transportation Authority. The event brought together global companies such as: Oracle Netsuite, Myers-Holum, Inc., RF Smart, Sovos, FieldAware, Pacejet, Compass MSP and many more that specialize in a variety of cloud-based services that cater to everything from finance and accounting to inventory management.
Along with the morning presenters the Chamber also hosted afternoon sessions called Tech Talks, focused on biotechnology and artificial intelligence. The Tech Talks brought together both adults and school children from Clay and Duval County and opened a lively discussion between presenters and the inquisitive children.
Other highlights of the event included an Exhibition Hall were visitors could meet members of the presenting companies. Outside the convention center, guests were able to visit our Fun Zone which included JTA’s Autonomous Vehicle, food trucks, exotic cars, and members of the Jumbo Shrimp and Jacksonville Icemen.
The Clay County Chamber of Commerce staff is looking forward to next year’s Clay Connect Tech Con with several companies returning in 2020. Keep visiting the Clay County Chamber of Commerce website for the 2020 date of the Clay Connect Tech Con.

Lake Asbury’s Rogers headed to Florida Supreme Court seminar

LAKE ASBURY – Michael Q. Rogers, social science educator at Lake Asbury Junior High was one of 25 teachers selected from throughout Florida to participate this month in the Florida Supreme Court Teacher Institute held annually at the Florida Supreme Court.
The institute, successfully implemented for over two decades, provides a unique opportunity for Florida middle and high school teachers to experience the state courts and the administration of justice using a case study approach.
Teachers began in the institute on opening night by participating in a simulated Supreme Court oral argument activity serving as attorneys and Justices. They also experienced the appellate process using a variety of constitutional issues and strategies.
Teachers learned throughout the week about the structure, function, and jurisdiction of the state courts; the role of judges in our constitutional structure; judicial decision making and the appellate process; and many other topics related to the judicial branch. Teachers explored the trial and appellate courts throughout the program spending time with judges, attorneys, and mentor teachers.
Faculty for the institute included all several Florida Supreme Court Justices throughout the week.
In addition to participating in presentations with the Justices, teachers learn to incorporate a variety of critical thinking and constitutional application strategies in the classroom.
Teachers explored the Florida Constitution through a scavenger hunt activity and quiz show, learned about the differences between state and federal courts, and examined the selection processes for trial and appellate court judges. Teachers also observed a mock motion to suppress hearing in the circuit courts as well as a real oral argument in the Florida Supreme Court. They explored the jurisdiction of the various levels of the courts and the role of the courts in interpreting and applying the law.
Throughout the institute, teachers were divided into groups and assigned roles as part of a culminating appellate exercise. Rogers accepted an invitation during the program’s reception dinner to deliver remarks showcasing Lake Asbury Junior High and Clay County schools.
Upon graduation from the institute, teachers received certificates signed by the Justices and have been designated as Florida Supreme Court Teaching Institute Fellows. The Institute is a hands-on model professional development program implemented since 1997.

Feds collected $38 million in criminal, civil fines in Middle District

The Middle District of Florida, which includes Clay County, collected $38,073,605.20 in criminal and civil actions in the fiscal year ending Sept., 30, 2018, U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez said.
Of this amount, $27,941,783.60 was collected in local civil actions and $10,131,821.60 was collected in criminal actions. The MDFL’s Civil Division, led by Civil Chief Randy Harwell, recovered a total of $96,663,640 on behalf of federal agencies and programs in affirmative civil enforcement cases during the last fiscal year. This amount has two components. In addition to its efforts in local civil cases noted above, the district’s Civil Division also joins forces with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and with the Department of Justice Civil Frauds Section to address fraud schemes and illegal practices extending beyond district boundaries. The Middle District of Florida’s Civil Division recovered an additional $69,371,912.69 in these jointly handled cases.
Additionally, the Office’s Asset Forfeiture Division, led by Anita Cream, recovered $35,367,506 in asset forfeiture actions last fiscal year. Forfeited assets deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund are used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes. For instance, in FY 2018, more than $1 million forfeited in the MDFL in prior years was returned to victims of the criminal offenses upon which the forfeitures were based (with more than $150 million pending distribution to additional crime victims), and more than $2.8 million was shared with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue working with its partners to investigate and prosecute fraud at every level,” said U.S. Attorney Chapa Lopez. “Our coordinated efforts aim to ensure that criminals are held accountable for their illegal actions and that victims are able to recover from their losses, wherever possible.”