Montana Beckham, Shark Correspondent
School Event Calendar 9-10 (MS) Home Volleyball Game 4:00 p.m.
9-11 PTO Meeting 3:30 p.m.
9-12 Early Release
9-13 Family Reading Night 6:30-8:00
9-19 Progress Report
9-20 Family Reading Night 6:30-8:00
9-24 Picture Day and SAC Meeting 2:45
9-25 PLAN Test 10th Grade
9-26 Early Release
9-27 Family Reading Night 6:30-8:00 Lauren Bartholemy, Shark Correspondent
FFA : Food For All through a Participant`s Eye Impact is what Cedar Key FFA is making on the community food pantry here in town. FFA members were graced with a 2,500 dollar grant (provided by the Howard G Buffet Foundation and Living to Serve), back in September of 2011. They were given the grant to do their part to decrease food insecurity in our community. I, Lauren Bartholemy, was one of the 7 students blessed with taking on this project. I was one of the first students to hear about the project, due to being president of the senior chapter, and always being eager to start a new project. While discussing the pros and the cons of the project, Mr. Dennis Voyles, Cedar key FFA advisor and I decided that with or without the grant we would do this project. Fortunately we received the grant and set to work, building a closed loop recirculating aquaculture system with a floating raft system. The system is an example of Sustainable Agriculture - a way of raising food that is healthy for consumers and animals, good for the environment, and supports and enhances rural communities. . The system, built by Cedar Key FFA has two 400 gallon tanks, a one hundred gallon bio filter and two trays. In each of the tanks we have tilapia. Using gravity and some plumbing a recirculating system was created. The water and excrement from the fish filter throughout the bio filter, which we filled with materials such as hair curlers, other random objects, and the trays with the produce. The fish excrement provides all the nutrients for the plants and the water then filters back into the tanks clean. Since our system is closed loop there is no need to add fertilizer, or any other outside product, other than fish food. This also means that when our community was impacted by salt water intrusion, our system continued to run without being affected. Our project was made on a large scale, but students have made the project at home with 5 gallon buckets. The ultimate goal, or mission of the Food For All Program is to implement sustainable agriculture into our community. By teaching people to produce their own food, they are able to depend less on the community food pantry, and food insecurity decreases. One of the things I automatically had to do was look up what food insecurity was. Food insecurity is when you depend on the government, for food stamps or a grant, to receive money to get groceries. The groceries must last the whole month, but families usually run out by the 25th of the month, and then struggle to find where there next meal is coming from. Food insecurity is also a health issue. It has been proven that children have difficulty physically developing in these households. The reason being is the type of nutrition the child is being given. When you`re shopping for your food, and you have the choice between a large bag of chips for $3.00 or a steak for $13.00, the chips look like the better option. Did you know that fresh produce and meat is the one thing that the Food Pantry has the least of? This program has made me really look at my own life and what I have. There are families, people we know, that have trouble feeding themselves, while we are able to be picky over which type of steak we want. All my life I have been extremely blessed with being food secure, and because of that blessing I know that it is part of my job to put a stop to food insecurity. Through this program a renewed fire to live to serve has been lit inside of me as well as the other FFA members. We plan to hold a workshop to teach the people in the community to provide for themselves and eventually spread this program to other communities. We hope that one day, on the 25th of the month, instead of when that parent or citizen goes to open up the pantry and find nothing, they will be able to go to the front porch and gather fresh beans, and ready to harvest meat. Rebecca Russo, Shark Correspondent
We are saying hello to our new, 2012-2013 Cedar Key Safety Patrols; florescent green belts and silver badges are all around us! Cedar Key Safety Patrols are selected from our upper elementary grades. Students are selected by teachers. Students must have a 70% or above in all academic classes. In order to be selected to serve on the safety patrol, students must exhibit responsibility, academic achievement, and maintain good citizenship. Cedar Key Safety Patrols are chosen before school ends the prior year. Patrols are given specific instructions on how to assist students and other pedestrians. Students are assigned positions where they are to encourage and remind students to exhibit good safety habits at all times. All patrol members should be in place at their designated position at least 5 minutes before students will be arriving Our students are most certainly committed! Duties include: · Putting up the American flag and taking it down
· Morning announcements
· Teacher`s assistant
· Morning duty (watching kids on the playground)
· Computer tech
· Horticulturist
· Lunchroom duty
· Courier
· Parent pick-up
· Recycling
· Media assistant
· Classroom maintenance When asking Cedar Key Safety Patrol Sponsor, Mrs. Janeice Smith, how often jobs change, she replied, "All jobs change out every 4-6 weeks." When asked what the duties of the captain, lieutenant and sergeant are she said, "The captain`s job is to oversee all posts and report to the lieutenant; he or she fills in the absent post or designates a sub." The duties for the lieutenants include keeping records of fundraising, job duties, and posts. The sergeants` duties are to help run fundraisers and set up and take down tents. Also, they make sure all classroom supplies are in place. The names of the 2012-2013 safety patrol members are: Dillan Allen, Jayden Cannon, Grace Cowart, Wade Gore, Cierra Hembree, Sam Parks, Macy Ryan, Joan Smart, Trey Stanfield, Riley Topping, Tia Wein and Nick Wilson. Co-Captains: Michael Smith and Amanda Robinson
Co-Lieutenants: Casey Williams and Alyssa Anderson
Co-Sergeants: Gibbs Yearty and Nija Jones Molly Gordon, Shark Correspondent
Volleyball Middle School:
Last Thursday night, the Cedar Key middle school volleyball players set their "first game butterflies" free and left the gym with a victory against Bronson! Head coach for the sharks, Cheryl Allen, says, "they showed up to play hard and win." The most experienced players started, and battled in the first set, which ended with a score of 25 to 19. The second round was more difficult; the girls said. But, they walked away from the game with a close score of 27 to 25. Although Bronson put up a fight, the middle school sharks fought back and showed everyone in the stands what they`re made of. Although it was a team effort the highest scorer of Thursday`s game was Ashlyn Allen with 11 earned points, and 8 aces. Following in her footsteps with 8 earned points was Savannah Howard. Congratulations ladies and good luck in your upcoming season!
Varsity:
The Lady Sharks Varsity Volleyball team kicked off their season on Tuesday night at Meadowbrook. The girls didn`t return with a win, but they fought to the finish and left with a smile on their faces. When asked how she felt about the first game, Mrs. Cheryl Allen stated, "While we weren`t able to claim a set in the 3-set match, the girls played incredibly well, and did so with just four practices under their belts." agreeing with her, Haley Simpson, a veteran of the Varsity team said, "Considering we don`t have as much to work with as other teams I think we did a great job. It was definitely an eye opener to what our team is going to look like this year and we will continue working at getting better." In the first set, the Sharks managed to score 14 points while Meadowbrook finished the set with 25 points. The girls fought for the second match, and were beaten, 10-25. In the last match, the girls were closed out by the Mustangs, ending the game with a score of 8-25.
The high school team also went to the net with Bronson with hopes to win their second game of the season. Mrs. Cheryl says, "We stepped on the court ready to compete against the more experienced Eagles` team and even had some great volleys." The Sharks were quickly out-matched by Bronson with scores of 13-25, 8-25, and 10-25. "We lost quite a few rallies behind the serving line, that is something we will certainly work on in the upcoming practices.", said Mrs. Cheryl. High scorer for Thursdays match was Taryn Epperson with 6 earned points and 2 aces.
On the previous Thursday the Sharks claimed their first two victories of the season in a double header against Hawthorne High School. The Sharks showed up to the gym with their game faces on, ready to win. The girls showed outstanding perseverance even in Hawthorne`s attempt to rally their scores and defeat the sharks. In the first game of the double header, the scores of the sets were: 12-25; 19-25; and in the 3rd set, the Hawthorne Hornets pulled ahead and won the set 25-22; but in the end, the sharks battled and won the match 16-25. In the second game, the scores were: 14-25; 21-25; and 23-25. Congratulations on your first win of the season, and keep up the hard work! Mikayla Pope, Shark Correspondent
Cross Country Team Gets A Running Start The Cedar Key Cross Country team is starting a new season of running and didn`t waste any time and got right to practice at the end of summer vacation. Coach Brad Penny had the team begin practicing the last week before school started, to start getting into shape for the first meet. Early morning practices start at 6:00 A.M., running in multiple locations around the island throughout the week. The team also does a series of drills and weightlifting to build and maintain muscle. "As a team we try to motivate each other as much as possible which I know can be kind of hard to do at 6 am; most of the time we keep a smile on our faces and encourage one another to be the best that they can be," says senior, Chloe Reynolds. Girls Team:
Lauren Bartholemy
Sarah Bartholemy
Chloe Reynolds
Jessica Mitchell
Brooke Allen
MacKenzie Kirkbride Boys team:
Keith Eberhardt
Ben Wilson
Austin Pope
Cody Beckham
Bobby Trammell
Kevin Carrswel
Wyatt Carrswel
Kent Sloan
Come and show your Shark Pride at the first cross country meet on Thursday September 20th, in Williston. Both middle and high school runners will begin running at 4:30. The Cross Country team is excited for another successful and positive season of running. Sarah Bartholemy, Shark Correspondent
Cedar Key FFA- Back In Action The new school year is off to a great start, and the Cedar FFA Chapter is back in action. With officer elections, the Forestry contest, National Convention, and COLT right around the corner the members are very busy. The members of both chapters will be running for the 6 constitutional offices to lead the Jr. and Sr. Chapters into a great year. 2011-2012 President, Lauren Bartholemy said, "Officer elections are a very important part of the year. Who our officers are is the deciding factor of what direction we will head in during the year." After elections, officers will go to C.O.L.T, Chapter Officer Leadership Training, to better their skills as leaders. 2011-2012 Treasurer, Mikayla Pope said, "I`m so pumped for this year! We have many things to look forward to, and I can`t wait to get started on them." Eli Glaze, Shark Correspondent
Splash Grant at Cedar Key Cedar Key Science department received a $2,000 "Splash Grant" for a Water conservation aquaponics project. The project is able to be used for years to come, by increasing students understanding of the benefits of water conservation on recirculating aquaculture and aquaponics methods. Mr. Raymond Powers stated in the proposal grant, "Students will build and operate the system to demonstrate freshwater conservation". The system uses recirculated water to grow giant freshwater prawns with edible plants. Their goal is to "demonstrate an ecosystem approach to aquaculture and farming which will allow different components of the system to support each other, while reusing almost all of the water in the system". The grant money bought the supplies needed to make this project a success. This is something that anyone can do. The project is not exclusive to school students. It will be open to the public later in the year; though the project is not fully operational a date will be set for the near future. |
