Class Notes 05.14.15

+ WOHS senior wins volunteer award

West Orange High School senior Andrew Rogan was honored as an Outstanding Youth Volunteer at an Orange County Public Schools event held recently at SeaWorld.

Rogan is president of Peer Mediation, serves as disciplinarian for National Honor Society, serves on the Inter Club Council Board and is a member of the debate team and Interact Club. In addition, he has volunteered at Health Central and SunRidge Elementary this year, all while maintaining a 4.0 unweighted GPA.

After graduation this year he will attend American University in Washington, D.C.

+ Students go on virtual field trip

Kindergartners at Holy Family Catholic School were able to speak with the folks at SeaWorld through the miracle of modern technology.

Students got to Skype with Shamu’s trainer, Joe Sanchez, to learn about the killer whale and other sea animals. They also were able to ask some questions.

The students learned SeaWorld has seven killer whales, each weighing up to 15,000 pounds. Trainers use positive reinforcement to teach their whales tricks, some of which can take from several months up to several years to learn. The children also had the opportunity to become trainers-in-training. Through Skype, they were able to direct Shamu to spin and wave.

“I liked it because the whales copied us and I learned a lot of new things!” said student Zoe Arguello.

Jackson Suarez added: “My favorite part was training Shamu.”

+ Ocoee class receives grant

Karen Castle’s second-grade class at Ocoee Elementary recently received a Primary Classroom Libraries Grant sponsored by License4Learning. With this funding, Castle was able to purchase several sets of non-fiction books for use in her classroom. Janay Jackson and Kyle Tulloch already are enjoying some of the new reading material.