John Dick, Monroe County School Board Member, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM yesterday morning to talk about our schools.
The next school board meeting will be January 27 at 5 p.m. in Marathon.
Dick said, “Another thing that’s going on that people should be aware of is literacy week, and it’s always the last week of January. All the schools really push reading and literacy to the students. We have a lot of guest readers come in, a lot of volunteers from the community come in and they sit and read with the students. I know the board members all go out and do it. I’ve done it to many schools, up and down the Keys, different days of the week, different schools do are doing it. The superintendent and the district administrators will get out and read to the students and people from the community. So I know they put out the word some schools ask their local politicians and other celebrities around to come in. I know you always see the sheriff reading in the schools and other police officers. So it’s a big time, and it’s very nice sitting there with the students and reading to them and then they wind up asking questions and talking to students.”
Superintendent Ed Tierney is quite visible in the schools.
Dick said, “My brother was a former superintendent of schools, and he was known for always being out amongst the students and personnel and the it seems like Mr. Tierney is a big believer in that, and the students and the teachers and the personnel are out in the buildings, as opposed to in the administrative office. So I know there’s a lot of important things to do at the top, but it’s refreshing also to see that well, they’re following his example.”
The Wounded Warriors Soldier’s Ride also came into the schools.
Dick said, “They interact with them. They stay over at Coral Shores for a couple of hours there, and then the students from PKS and Coral Shores come out and mix with them and really have a nice time discussing things with those warriors and celebrating them. And the same thing when they come through Marathon, they roll through and at one point they’re on their bikes, and then the students come out of out of Stanley Switlik and cheer them on. And it’s always a great time. And then there’s a lot of meeting with the students up down in Key West. So it’s up and down the Keys. It’s a big deal, and it just shows you, our students are well aware of what the military does for them.”
The Boys State Program is currently underway.
Dick said, “I know Marathon will be sending four boys. Coral Shores always sends a few, and they deal with it from the Islamorada post. It goes through the American Legion post and then Key West has a bigger post. I think they usually send six to eight students to Boys State, and that’s a wonderful program. It goes up to Tallahassee. The students spend a week up in Tallahassee. They actually take over the legislature. They’re in the building and they stay on the campus of Florida State University. It’s a big deal. It really is, and I’m very proud to see that up and down the Keys we send students to it every year. It’s also Girls State. They do the same thing for girls.”
The Key West High School band was in Rome for New Year’s Day.
Dick said, “They played in the New Year’s Day Parade in Rome. And then they also, which I saw a video online, they were playing at the Church of St Andrew of the Valley, and it’s a 17th century church. It’s only a couple of blocks away from the Vatican. What a beautiful setting they played in. There was a video online that I saw that was just fantastic. And I’m saying to myself, look at these students here from Key West Florida, and here they are in right near the Vatican in Rome and playing in the 17th century beautiful looking church, unbelievable. And where do you get to do something like that?”
The schools will be closed on the 19th for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Dick said, “As the second semester is going on, students, the seniors, hopefully, are tightening up, finishing up their plans of what they’re going to do, if they’re going to college, that they’ve sent all their applications out, and hopefully be getting ready to make their choice. And if needed, if they need to take another SAT test to try to bring up the score, they got to be on top of that. And if they’re going to a trade school, just make sure they’ve got their spots in there. If they’re going to military, get that going. And if they’re going straight to the job market, which a lot of them do, and can do very well right now, they get into some of the trades. I hope that they’re all getting their final T’s crossed and dotting their I’s and getting everything set and making sure they’re graduating and going to walk across on that stage.”