Dr. Sue Woltanski, Monroe County School Board member for District 5, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s happening in the district.
The Marathon Girls’ weight lifting team took five girls to the state championships.
Woltanski said, “It’s the tiny school that does good. They took five girls to the state championships, and four of them were in the top six, and the team itself got second place overall. I don’t think we’ve gotten anywhere near that. So that is super impressive. Many of the other teams have 10 or more weight lifters scoring, and to go up there with just five and get second place is unbelievable. Hard work pays off.”
How is the search for a new superintendent going?
Woltanski said, “We urge everyone in the community to come out and talk about what they would like to see in a superintendent moving forward. We’re doing a nationwide search, so we need input. You can do that through the keys Schools website. There’s a page dedicated to the superintendent search, and if you look on there, you can see the schedule of how we’ll be doing the search. But also, there’s a button to push to participate in a brief survey, and I encourage everyone to do so.”
Career fairs are coming up as well.
Woltanski said, “We’re asking businesses who want to come in and show what jobs and careers are available in the community to again, you can go on the website, and we’ll set you up with a table, and you’ll have access to all the juniors and the seniors in the high school to talk about your business, which kids may not know about and try to find kids who would fit your needs. That is going to be 9 to 11 a.m., it starts on February 25 at Coral Shores High School, then on the 26th at Marathon High School, and the 27th at Key West High and so we’re looking for local employers who were interested in hiring kids, as well as being able to let kids know what kind of careers are out in the in the local community. Because I think we’ve all learned with the housing shortage and how difficult it is to live here, finding kids who already live here and kind of understand it, they’re more likely to stay.
The World Day of Bullying Prevention was commemorated by Marathon High School Champions for Change recently.
Woltanski said, “The Champions for Change do a lot of good work there in Marathon High.”
Key West High School also celebrated 100 years of consecutive accreditation.
Woltanski said, “The whole community can be proud of that. The accreditation process is very rigorous, and to be uninterrupted for 100 years, it’s pretty impressive. A hundred years ago, Key West High School was over where City Hall is now, and so there’s a lot of history in that 100 years.”
The second semester is well under way.
Woltanski said, “We just had the nine week marking period. The last half last half of the year seems longer than the first half of the year, I think because of all the testing and events and all of that. But it’s been such a good school year. It’s really flown by. I always look forward to graduation.”
The district is also very active in IT industry certifications.
Woltanski said, “I think we can all thank mister John Padget and his late partner, who really spearheaded that and pushed the district and the kids into getting more computer skills. They’ve been doing that for maybe 10 years now, and really have expanded the program. So what the kids are coming out with now, it’s more just than just being able to use a word processor. These kids can make websites and write computer language and create apps. It’s really impressive what they’ve achieved.”
February is Black History Month.
Woltanski said, “I have been going around in the schools and reading a book about Carter Woodson. He is the only descendant of slaves to have gotten a PhD in history, and he is the founder of Black History Month, and I’ve been going to fourth and fifth grade classes, and it is very impressive how engaged and excited these kids are and how much they participate in someone reading a book to them. You try to get your own kids to pay attention, I’m almost going to say it’s much easier for me to go into these schools. I’ve just been really impressed. So I think that’s a credit to the teachers and the families, those kids seem like they’re there and ready to learn. I’m really proud of what’s happening in our schools.”
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