A team of high school students representing Polk County finished in second place in the state high school academic tournament held April 15 to 17 at the Contemporary Convention Center at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista. The title of the tournament is the Commissioner’s Academic Challenge. The event is associated with the commissioner’s office of the Florida Department of Education

Polk was runner-up with 198 points in the finals to state champion Escambia County’s 233 points.  Polk competed in a division of school districts with enrollments more than 40,000 students.  Eighteen school districts competed in the division.  Brevard, Sarasota, Pinellas and Duval finished in third through six places respectively in the finals. Polk was also state runner-up in 2008 and 2004.  Polk won the state championship in 2007. Polk won third places in 2009 and 2005. 2010 marks the sixth consecutive year that Polk finished among the top three.

Polk’s team was composed of five public school students and one private school student. Two other public school students were selected to attend as competition observers.  The eight students were chosen to attend the state event based upon their performances in the countywide academic tournament held in February.  They are listed according to school with their year in school and residence.

All Saints’ Academy (Winter Haven): Kevin Baker, junior, Winter Haven.

Bartow International Baccalaureate: James Karson, senior, Lakeland;  Bianca Mulaney, sophomore, Lakeland; Jill Shah, senior, Lakeland (observer); Asheen Zariat, senior, Lakeland.

Haines City International Baccalaureate: Sanjay Chandrasekar, senior, Winter Haven (observer). Henrique Valim, senior, Winter Haven.

Lakeland High: Kenny Parker, junior, Lakeland.

Polk tested their knowledge against other counties in mathematics, science, language arts, social studies, world languages, technology, fine arts and humanities. The coaches for Commissioner’s Academic Challenge were Caroline King and Cece Sinclair from All Saints.’

In addition to the  runner-up trophy,  the Polk team received medallions from the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) and rings from Herff Jones, Inc.

Sponsors for the Challenge were the Florida Department of Education, the host school districts of the Polk Public Schools and Pinellas Public Schools, Herff Jones, Inc., Aramark Education, The Florida Lottery, the  public school districts of Brevard, DeSoto, Leon and Suwannee counties and the Florida High School Athletic Association.

Nineteen students who attended Lakeland-area schools in 2008-2009 and achieved perfection on the reading and math portions of the 2008-2009 FCAT tests will be among those honored at a school district special event on November 10.

 These 19 students achieved the highest possible scores of 500 on both the reading and mathematics portions of the tests administered in March 2009.  More than 55,000 Polk students in grades three through ten took the tests. A total of 28 students districtwide scored a 500 on both the reading and math portions. These 28 represent approximately .0005 percent of the total number taking the tests. 

 The following list is  19 students from Lakeland-area schools with perfect FCAT reading and math scores from 2008-2009 testing.  They are listed according to school where they took the tests last year.  Any schools listed in parentheses after a student’s name is the school they are attending in 2009-2010.

 Carlton Palmore Elementary- Rachel Gould

Cleveland Court Elementary- Lindsey Kim

Lake Gibson Middle- Caleb Brady

Lakeland Highlands Middle-Hope Grimes, Ashley Valdez

Lincoln Avenue Academy- Alana Jones, Emma Schindler

Lawton Chiles Middle Academy- Sujaya Rajguru, Abhinav Venigalla, Tom Zhang (currently attending Bartow International Baccalaureate)

McKeel Elementary-Kylie Bridges, Andrew Brown

Philip O’Brien Elementary- Mark Stoughton

Scott Lake Elementary- Alexander Manning, Zachary Urillo

Southwest Elementary-Matthew Clere, Hannah Townley

Southwest Middle- Breanna Langley

Valleyview Elementary: Madelyn Graham (currently attending Spessard Holland Elementary-Bartow)

Fourteen Lakeland schools have received the prestigious Five Star School designation from the Florida Department of Education.  The Five Star Award is given to schools for community service and community involvement efforts by including family, volunteers, school advisory councils and business partners.

Schools compiled and submitted portfolios documenting and quantifying community service work and activities from the 2008-2009 school year as a requirement for the Five Star Award.

Three Lakeland schools– Lake Gibson Middle,  Lawton Chiles Middle and North Lakeland Elementary– have been named Five Star for 13 consecutive years since the inception of the state’s Five Star recognition program.  Churchwell Elementary and Crystal Lake Elementary were named  Five Star Schools for the first time.

Lakeland’s Five Star Schools are listed with the number of years they have achieved Five Star status listed in parentheses.

Blake Academy (8), Churchwell Elementary (1),  Crystal Lake Elementary (1), Dixieland Elementary (5), George Jenkins High (9), Lake Gibson Middle (13), Jesse Keen Elementary (2), Lawton Chiles Middle (13), Lincoln Avenue Academy (8), North Lakeland Elementary (13), Padgett Elementary (8), Rochelle School of the Arts (12), Sikes Elementary (2), Wendell Watson Elementary (8).

• In the last five years, Polk had 215 students recognized in various levels of the National Merit Scholar program.
• Three Polk teachers in the past six years were Florida Teacher of the Year finalists, one winning the state title.
• 28 students were honored for prefect FCAT scores in reading and math in 2009.
• Polk County Schools is ranked 19^th in the nation for the number of National Board Certified Teachers.
• 169 seniors attained Superintendent’s Scholars status with at least a 3.74 GPA and high scores on the SAT or ACT in 2009.
• The Polk County School District’s Florida Department of Education grade was a “B” for both 2008 and 2009.
• More than two-thirds of Polk County Schools received an A or B grade from the state in 2009.
• 32,000 volunteers provided more than 1.7 million volunteer hours and 12,000 students performed 130,000 hours of community service.
• NASA has awarded Polk County Public Schools a $1.4 million grant to enhance the Central Florida Aerospace Academy, an aviation-oriented career academy for high school students.
• 27 Polk schools received the prestigious Five Star School designation for outstanding community service and community involvement.
• The Polk County School District has applied for and received over $315 million in grants over the past five years to benefit students.
• The Polk County School District was named a Top Employer for African Americans by Black Collegian Magazine.
• The Polk County School Board was named School Board of the Year by the Florida Alliance for the Arts.
• The Polk County School Board received the Kennedy Center’s Award for excellence in arts and education.
• Superintendent Gail F. McKinzie, Ph.D. was named Administrator of the Year by the Florida Music Educators Association.
• Over the last three years, the Community Relations Department’s efforts to inform and engage the community have resulted in 16 awards from state and local professional PR organizations.
• More than 2,049 classrooms throughout Polk County Public Schools were upgraded with state-of-the-art digital, wireless and audio technology to enhance the learning process.
• For five consecutive years, the school district has received a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association for satisfying nationally recognized criteria and guidelines.
• Polk County Schools recently received the Top Performer Award from the EPA and US Department of Energy for energy conservation.
• State reports show that Polk has the best energy conservation program among Florida school districts. Polk’s energy consumption is the lowest of any Florida school district.
• For safety and security, digital cameras were installed on all busses that were purchased after 2006.

Florida is currently ranked 50th out of 50 states in per capita funding for K-12 public education and 39th in per pupil funding. U.S. Census Bureau, Education Week “Quality Counts 2009″.

Since 2007, Florida’s legislature has cut the K-12 education budget by $1,384,803,118. In 2006, we spent $7,400 per pupil and today we spend a shocking $6,400 per pupil. (The national average is over $10,000.) NEA Rankings of the States 2008

In 1970, the United States had 30% of the world’s college graduates, now has only 15%. National Governors Association

A 10% increase in high school graduation rates would reduce murder rates by 20%. National Bureau of Economic Research

On average, a high school graduate earns $600,000 more during his/her lifetime than a dropout. Current Population Survey, U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics

Polk County has lost $61.17 million of state funding over the last two years. Polk County School Board

The following statistics and more can be found by logging onto www.fundeducationnow.org.