Money management in a safe and fun setting!! First Florida’s FREE two hour, hands-on workshop gives teenagers a taste of life in the real world.

Teens will be given new identities, careers, bills, and instant families. There will be lots of decisions to make as they move through the different stations to purchase housing, transportation, food, clothing and other necessities.

When: Saturday, September 17th
Time: 10AM to 12NOON
Who: Teens ages 13-17
Where: Florida State University Schools, Inc.
School Cafeteria
Schoolhouse Road

FREE pizza and refreshments will be provided!

Plus…

There will also be drawings for an iPod, gift cards, and other cool prizes. Seating is Limited! No purchase necessary. For more information click here.

RSVP
Call Jan Dicks at (850) 488-2880, ext: 2001 or email jdicks@firstflorida.org to RSVP before September 14. Seating is limited. Drawings for iPods, gift cards, and other prizes.

Any Florida High students feeling artistic? The PTSA is once again sponsoring the Reflections national creative arts project, and the contest will begin full force toward the end of September once the state PTA finalizes the rules. This program allows students grades K through 12 to explore their artistic abilities and compete for awards in various categories by submitting original works under this year’s theme: “Diversity means…” Students may submit works in any or all of six arts areas: literature, photography, musical composition, film production, dance choreography, and visual arts (including drawing, painting, print making and collage). All entries will be due by Friday December 2, 2011.

We have had hundreds of Florida High students participate in this contest over the past few years with several county-wide and state-wide student winners taking home cash awards. We will again work with faculty to incorporate contest entries into their curricula or give extra class credit for submissions. Entry forms and details will be posted to the PTSA website and distributed to faculty and parents later in September-keep a lookout for listserve emails and paper notices sent home with students for further details.

We also will be looking for parents with an artistic or literary background to serve as judges or otherwise help with publicity and coordination of this important program, so if you’re interested contact either Reflections committee co-chair: Danni Vogt (dannivogt@embarqmail.com or 877-5641) or Precious Boatwright (preciousone72@yahoo.com) for more information.

The PTSA Garnet Gold and Green Committee’s mission is to maximize campus recycling and provide shade trees and general campus beautification.

This year the PTSA will again work with staff and faculty to maximize campus recycling. Student recycling teams are in place this year to collect and recycle paper, plastic bottles and aluminum cans from classrooms and offices at the school. Each classroom and office will have a plastic recycling bin and a separate bin for paper. Students will collect the items from each bin on a regular basis and deposit them in the green recycling dumpster behind the cafeteria, where Leon County will pick up the items.

Faculty members who will coordinate the student Green Teams this year are Sal Guastella and the Spanish Club for high school, Dennis Martina and the ESE students for middle school, and 5thgrade teacher Tati Echevarria Calderon for elementary school. Please contact these teachers for any recycling questions.

The PTSA last year also obtained several white recycling barrels and placed them around campus and in the athletic fields area for additional collection points for bottle and can recycling. Please use these for bottle and can recycling only, and not trash.

On the beautification front, your PTSA dues and fundraising money has been put to good use. We bought and planted more than 60 trees around campus over the past six years to gradually transform a former cow pasture into an inviting and forested place of learning. Areas like the elementary school playground where the trees were planted in 2005 are starting to show the results of trees reaching maturity-providing students with shelter from the harmful rays of the sun-and over the next several years the rest of campus hopefully will follow. The GGG committee will continue with tree planting this winter with the addition of another batch of trees as our budget allows.

Anyone having any questions or ideas or wishing to volunteer for GGG projects please contact committee chair Danni Vogt at dannivogt@embarqmail.com or 877-5641.