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Thursday, November 25, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Commencement Challenge
Maritime & Science Technology Senior High School – MAST Academy
Miami, FL
MAST's 100% graduation rate is only one measure of student success. Our school's strong core curriculum, which includes a variety of Advanced Placement and dual enrollment courses, complements the unique electives that truly set MAST apart. In Solar Energy class, we learn about kilowatt-hours, then construct solar ovens and spread environmental awareness by monitoring school energy usage. Cadets in the nation's only Coast Guard JROTC program earn boating licenses on the surface, while underwater, engineering students test their remotely operated vehicles. Culinary classes prepare feasts using produce from our "edible garden," while woodshop students construct everything from dining tables to CO2-powered cars. We express creativity through steel drum band or ceramics class, while required internships provide hands-on experience in fields ranging from marine biology to architecture. As a testament to the dedication that MAST instills, the majority of our diverse student body stays beyond the bell to participate in activities like water polo, ocean conservation, multicultural dance and independent research in our greenhouse and artificial reefs.
MAST's 100% college acceptance rate proves the effectiveness of well-rounded, interactive learning. Here, students, teachers and parents take initiative to build a culture of success that propels us into college and beyond.
Monday, April 26, 2010
VOTE MAST ACADEMY--Bring Obama to 2010 graduation
MAST Academy recently became a finalist in the Race to the Top Commencement Challenge, one of six schools in the running to have President Obama speak at their 2010 graduation. And now we need your help to get the vote out. Please vote for Mast Academy at www.whitehouse.gov/commencement beginning on Monday, April 26, 2010 at 8:00 am. The voting period will end at 11:59 pm EST on Thursday, April 29, 2010. The public can view a video profile for each school on the site. The three schools with the most votes will be presented to the President and he will select the winner. The result will be announced on Tuesday, May 4, 2010, and MAST hopes to be in the Final Three.
Mast has a diverse student body that includes many students of Caribbean descent (several appear in the official video on www.whitehouse.gov/commencement ) and has a 100% graduation rate with over 90% of our graduates attending 4 year universities. We have a full steel band open to all students which is also featured in the video profile.
Mast has a diverse student body that includes many students of Caribbean descent (several appear in the official video on www.whitehouse.gov/commencement ) and has a 100% graduation rate with over 90% of our graduates attending 4 year universities. We have a full steel band open to all students which is also featured in the video profile.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
WSVN-TV - MAST Academy needs votes to host President Obama
WSVN-TV - MAST Academy needs votes to host President Obama
MIAMI (WSVN) -- A South Florida magnet school is one of a select few nationwide that could be welcoming the president on the United States on campus.
Maritime and Science Technology High School, also known as MAST Academy, was picked as a finalist to host President Obama as a graduation speaker, but students need your help to get him there.
The excitement could be felt at MAST Academy, after the school received the word from White House staffers that they are finalists in the national Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge. The prize: a graduation speech by President Obama.
"The White House is calling. Oh, my goodness. You get on the phone, it's almost too much to wrap your mind around. You're like, oh, my goodness," MAST Academy Principal Thomas Fisher said.
MAST students wrote and produced a video, which they submitted in February, and three senior girls pulled a few all-nighters to get the essay portion of the competition ready. "We started literally jumping up and down and screaming because it was really nice to know that all the hard work paid off," said Tosca Lichtenheld.
To be in line for the presidential seal of approval is a thrill for them all. MAST Academy teacher Lynn Paisley said, "Can you imagine what kind of a story to tell your grandchildren or your children, that you put together this application to have the President of the United States to come speak at your graduation."
Videos of all the finalists will soon go up on the White House's website, where the American people will vote for the top three. President Obama will choose the winner.
"If the president wants to come to see the best school in the United States, he'll be here to see us," Fisher said.
(Copyright 2010 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
MIAMI (WSVN) -- A South Florida magnet school is one of a select few nationwide that could be welcoming the president on the United States on campus.
Maritime and Science Technology High School, also known as MAST Academy, was picked as a finalist to host President Obama as a graduation speaker, but students need your help to get him there.
The excitement could be felt at MAST Academy, after the school received the word from White House staffers that they are finalists in the national Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge. The prize: a graduation speech by President Obama.
"The White House is calling. Oh, my goodness. You get on the phone, it's almost too much to wrap your mind around. You're like, oh, my goodness," MAST Academy Principal Thomas Fisher said.
MAST students wrote and produced a video, which they submitted in February, and three senior girls pulled a few all-nighters to get the essay portion of the competition ready. "We started literally jumping up and down and screaming because it was really nice to know that all the hard work paid off," said Tosca Lichtenheld.
To be in line for the presidential seal of approval is a thrill for them all. MAST Academy teacher Lynn Paisley said, "Can you imagine what kind of a story to tell your grandchildren or your children, that you put together this application to have the President of the United States to come speak at your graduation."
Videos of all the finalists will soon go up on the White House's website, where the American people will vote for the top three. President Obama will choose the winner.
"If the president wants to come to see the best school in the United States, he'll be here to see us," Fisher said.
(Copyright 2010 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
MAST Students Behind Effort to Have President Obama as Graduation Speaker - Key Biscayne - MiamiHerald.com
MAST Students Behind Effort to Have President Obama as Graduation Speaker - Key Biscayne - MiamiHerald.com
By H. Groschel
Key Biscayne Times
Everyone affiliated with MAST Academy on Virginia Key is still abuzz: How did they do it? How did MAST become one of six finalists nationwide in the Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge, where President Obama will speak at the winning school's commencement ceremony?
The answer is easy: Because of five seniors who worked day and night to answer the call. Entrants had to submit four essays describing how their school is helping prepare students to meet the President’s 2020 goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. MAST also sent in optional materials: a 2-minute video about their public magnet school and supplemental academic and demographic data. Tosca Lichtenheld, Margaux Herrera and Chelsea Westra wrote the four mandatory essays at home and at MAST before classes, during their jam-packed days and after school. Tali Burger shot the video footage with a video camera checked out from MAST’s Media Center. Michael Ronzetti edited the video footage.
When the Final Six were officially announced on Friday, April 9, 2010, three of the five students were out of town on senior-year college visits and other travel. However, everybody heard the news in a flash because of old and new communications methods: school PA announcements, phone calls, texting and Facebook. This reporter interviewed Tosca Lichtenheld via phone while she was at an airport to return home to Key Biscayne from a college visit.
Tosca, who recruited her classmates to work on the application package, recalled, “Ms. [Jennifer] Fernandez, the MAST Activities Director, found out about the competition after the White House announced it in early March. The senior class officers were asked if they wanted to participate.” Tosca, Senior Class Vice-President, took charge of the effort after several days went by without action, and asked people she knew could do the job to participate. The next step was to get information about the Challenge from Principal Fisher and Lead Teacher Dr. Haun.
The essays were essential. “Margaux and Chelsea are excellent writers, and they have immersed themselves in the MAST experience”, Tosca recalled. Margaux is the Chief Editor of Mako Fuka, the MAST yearbook. Chelsea is Editor-in-Chief of The Beacon, the MAST newspaper. “We did [the essays] in about a week, and pulled all-nighters to finish the application. We reread the essays dozens of times” and were supported by teachers who also reviewed the essays: Ms. Paisley (Yearbook and Spanish), Ms. Sutton (Newspaper and English) and Dr. Scanlon (English).
The three young women did much of the work at home but Tosca recalls that they wrote and edited during “any free school time we could get – if we finished a test early we would meet. I missed many lunch periods. We put the essays online in a Google Document so that multiple people could edit them simultaneously. We highlighted items with a color-coded system to identify what to cut or change. At the same time we sent Instant Messages to each other” within the Google software. In this way they communicated on weekends and after school even though everyone lives in various part of Miami-Dade County.
Tosca’s friend Tali captured the footage for the optional video. The team had 2 minutes to tell the story of their school and its people and to sell it to the application reviewers. “A Day in the Life at MAST” came in at 1:55 minutes after Mike spliced and edited the footage. “Mike is very good with computers and videography and has experience with editing software Final Cut Pro”, Tosca added. Other students played key roles in the movie. Andrew Mead(e), a senior who plays in the unique steel drum school band, performed pieces that were recorded as background music. The video began with a voice over: “Welcome to MAST Academy – Here is a look at a typical day at a non-typical High School”. Student classroom work and activities were featured, followed by participant commentary. Tosca gave examples: “Andrew Wach was building a CO2 powered car in Wood Shop. Another segment showed sophomore girls in Chemistry Lab, and another featured two student government representatives.”
Three data supplements were included in the package. Tosca explained that President Obama said this “was optional, but we thought we could strengthen our application by showing that MAST’s diverse student body is united in academic excellence.” Dr. Haun and Principal Fisher provided the information in areas such as graduation rate, test scores and Advanced Placement test pass rates.
The Commencement Challenge application had to be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. on March 15. The team took a jump drive with all the information to Principal Fisher’s office to submit MAST’s entry only to be denied. The school’s Internet security firewall prevented a direct upload of the video to YouTube. Ms. [Melissa] Fernandez, the school’s IT specialist/English teacher, was able to put the video on the school server and the upload was completed.
What happens next for MAST Academy and the other five finalists? A professional production company will come to each school and, with student input, film a showcase video. When this will happen is unclear. The six videos will be placed on the White House website (www.whitehouse.gov/commencement), and the public will vote to select the top three schools. President Obama will pick the winner.
Students, faculty, alumni, parents and other school supporters will be pulling out all the stops to get votes for MAST via social media and person-to-person appeals. Having the President speak at the June 7 Class of 2010 graduation is an incredible prospect for this high school in the nation’s 5th largest school district. For Tosca, the journey to the Commencement Challenge Final Six was important as well. “Hard work and teamwork pay off. I believe this is what President Obama would want us to show other students.”
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/12/1575436/mast-students-behind-effort-to.html#ixzz0l8ki8jJF
By H. Groschel
Key Biscayne Times
Everyone affiliated with MAST Academy on Virginia Key is still abuzz: How did they do it? How did MAST become one of six finalists nationwide in the Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge, where President Obama will speak at the winning school's commencement ceremony?
The answer is easy: Because of five seniors who worked day and night to answer the call. Entrants had to submit four essays describing how their school is helping prepare students to meet the President’s 2020 goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. MAST also sent in optional materials: a 2-minute video about their public magnet school and supplemental academic and demographic data. Tosca Lichtenheld, Margaux Herrera and Chelsea Westra wrote the four mandatory essays at home and at MAST before classes, during their jam-packed days and after school. Tali Burger shot the video footage with a video camera checked out from MAST’s Media Center. Michael Ronzetti edited the video footage.
When the Final Six were officially announced on Friday, April 9, 2010, three of the five students were out of town on senior-year college visits and other travel. However, everybody heard the news in a flash because of old and new communications methods: school PA announcements, phone calls, texting and Facebook. This reporter interviewed Tosca Lichtenheld via phone while she was at an airport to return home to Key Biscayne from a college visit.
Tosca, who recruited her classmates to work on the application package, recalled, “Ms. [Jennifer] Fernandez, the MAST Activities Director, found out about the competition after the White House announced it in early March. The senior class officers were asked if they wanted to participate.” Tosca, Senior Class Vice-President, took charge of the effort after several days went by without action, and asked people she knew could do the job to participate. The next step was to get information about the Challenge from Principal Fisher and Lead Teacher Dr. Haun.
The essays were essential. “Margaux and Chelsea are excellent writers, and they have immersed themselves in the MAST experience”, Tosca recalled. Margaux is the Chief Editor of Mako Fuka, the MAST yearbook. Chelsea is Editor-in-Chief of The Beacon, the MAST newspaper. “We did [the essays] in about a week, and pulled all-nighters to finish the application. We reread the essays dozens of times” and were supported by teachers who also reviewed the essays: Ms. Paisley (Yearbook and Spanish), Ms. Sutton (Newspaper and English) and Dr. Scanlon (English).
The three young women did much of the work at home but Tosca recalls that they wrote and edited during “any free school time we could get – if we finished a test early we would meet. I missed many lunch periods. We put the essays online in a Google Document so that multiple people could edit them simultaneously. We highlighted items with a color-coded system to identify what to cut or change. At the same time we sent Instant Messages to each other” within the Google software. In this way they communicated on weekends and after school even though everyone lives in various part of Miami-Dade County.
Tosca’s friend Tali captured the footage for the optional video. The team had 2 minutes to tell the story of their school and its people and to sell it to the application reviewers. “A Day in the Life at MAST” came in at 1:55 minutes after Mike spliced and edited the footage. “Mike is very good with computers and videography and has experience with editing software Final Cut Pro”, Tosca added. Other students played key roles in the movie. Andrew Mead(e), a senior who plays in the unique steel drum school band, performed pieces that were recorded as background music. The video began with a voice over: “Welcome to MAST Academy – Here is a look at a typical day at a non-typical High School”. Student classroom work and activities were featured, followed by participant commentary. Tosca gave examples: “Andrew Wach was building a CO2 powered car in Wood Shop. Another segment showed sophomore girls in Chemistry Lab, and another featured two student government representatives.”
Three data supplements were included in the package. Tosca explained that President Obama said this “was optional, but we thought we could strengthen our application by showing that MAST’s diverse student body is united in academic excellence.” Dr. Haun and Principal Fisher provided the information in areas such as graduation rate, test scores and Advanced Placement test pass rates.
The Commencement Challenge application had to be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. on March 15. The team took a jump drive with all the information to Principal Fisher’s office to submit MAST’s entry only to be denied. The school’s Internet security firewall prevented a direct upload of the video to YouTube. Ms. [Melissa] Fernandez, the school’s IT specialist/English teacher, was able to put the video on the school server and the upload was completed.
What happens next for MAST Academy and the other five finalists? A professional production company will come to each school and, with student input, film a showcase video. When this will happen is unclear. The six videos will be placed on the White House website (www.whitehouse.gov/commencement), and the public will vote to select the top three schools. President Obama will pick the winner.
Students, faculty, alumni, parents and other school supporters will be pulling out all the stops to get votes for MAST via social media and person-to-person appeals. Having the President speak at the June 7 Class of 2010 graduation is an incredible prospect for this high school in the nation’s 5th largest school district. For Tosca, the journey to the Commencement Challenge Final Six was important as well. “Hard work and teamwork pay off. I believe this is what President Obama would want us to show other students.”
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/12/1575436/mast-students-behind-effort-to.html#ixzz0l8ki8jJF
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