So are you ready to go back to school? Class #19 was! And not only did we go back to school, we participated in the F-Cat test. Test? No one said there would be a test! I did not even study! Well, more on the F-Cat test later.

Class #19‘s objective for the day was to have an increased and more comprehensive understanding of the education offered in Seminole County from the grade levels of  Pre-K through college education. Class #19 also learned about how we will learn in the future – and let me tell you, the future learning concepts and approaches are strong in Seminole County public schools and this is because of folks like Diane Lewis, Director of Instructional Technology. Diane showed us a virtual school program called “second life”, and in this world we saw a computer animated college in 3-D with virtual reality and a conversation with another class mate from Colorado live. Diane also shared with Class #19 the advantages of “second life” through global debates, virtual word chat rooms and interaction computer programs through the computer into the students’ environment through a program called M.I.L.O. Well, beam me up Scotty. We were all impressed with Diane’s presentation on future learning concepts. Needless to say, M.I.L.O made a X-Box 360 look like a game of T.V. Pong.

The news from the top was delivered by our State’s foremost educators, Dr. Bill Vogel of the Seminole County School Board; Dr. John Hitt, President of the University of Central Florida; and Dr. Henningsen from the new Seminole State College in Sanford.

The three educational leaders brought a plethora of knowledge to our class and we all formulated a better understanding of the future direction of the school board, U.C.F. and Seminole State College, Class #19 the Direct Connect program between Seminole State College and U.C.F. and the importance of continuing formal education in our county through the 214 degree programs at U.C.F.

No day at school would be complete without a Field Trip – yeaJ! So we boarded big yellow school buses (remember those?) and took a trip to Seminole High School and Sanford Middle School for a tour of the school facilities. The class was entertained by some wonderfully talented students in Seminole High from the Jazz Band and the Dazzlers as well as the Gospel Choir. The students offered A-#1 entertainment with a smile and its easy to see where our next generation of gospel, jazz players and dancers will be coming from – right here in Seminole County.

A fine lunch was served to Class #19 by U.C.F.’s Direct Connect and Journeys Principal. Mike Icardi updated our group on the student alternative programs within Seminole County. 

The visit to Sanford Middle School was most enjoyable and professional, thanks to the Middle School honor students who directed Class #19 throughout the middle school facility. Sanford Middle School’s ladies chorus singers entertained us in the school’s library and the exceptional honor students showed us a first rate and rather impressive facility which included a space lab and flight simulator facility where students actually learn how to fly an airplane through a flight simulator machine. Boy, I wish they had that when I went to school!

The Altamonte Springs campus of Seminole State College hosted the morning and afternoon portions of our education day, and Class #19 learned first hand how nursing students learn with interactive computer manikins. The manikins pose as patients and the nursing students evaluate the manikin’s respirations, heart rate and pain stimulus reaction.

The F-Cat test showed us that Class #19 is not as deficient as we had thought we were in the morning prior to taking the F-Cat test for reading comprehension, math and English. In fact, we were over the 50 percentile in reading comprehension. Good job, Class #19! How did we do in the other subjects? Well …ask our teacherJ.