Kaleidoscope

May 16-17 - FSA Science (8th grade)

May 18 - Literacy Celebration (BES)

May 19 - Literacy Celebration (BMS)

May 19 - Art Festival (BES)

May 19 - Music Instrument Return Deadline

May 20 - Braille Celebration (BMS)

May 24 - 8th Grade Trip to Alligator Farm

May 25 - Kindergarten Graduation

May 26 - Technology Return Deadline

May 27 - STEAM Camp Registration Due

May 30 - NO SCHOOL

June 1 - 8th Grade Graduation (1:30)

June 3 - LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

Ellen Fertsch, Assistant Principal BEMS

These final weeks of school are flying by, and students are participating in many activities along with their regular class schedule and state testing. Our BEMS kids have been working and playing hard enjoying such events as Battle of the Books, Literacy celebrations, Braille celebrations, Music events, sports, and an Arts Festival—and that is just a sampling of the many wonderful things happening at school.

Many thanks to our dedicated staff for planning and facilitating enriching experiences for our students, and many thanks to you, our families, for allowing your children to grow and learn with us.

How to access student school photos, including events and athletics:

1. Go to fsdb.zenfolio.com
2. Click “Find Your Photos”
3. Enter your child’s Gallery ID number in the box. (Note: Child’s ID number is his/her 5-digit lunch pin number.

If your child does not know the number, please contact administrative assistant Ms. Cheryl Burgess.

Ellen Fertsch, Assistant Principal

Blind Middle School 8th Grade Graduation will take place on Wednesday, June 1st in the Music Building at 1:30. The ceremony is in person, and you may invite family and friends to attend. Please allow time to gain entry through the front gate and to find parking prior to the ceremony. The ceremony will last about one hour, and light refreshments will be served after the event.

If you would like to take your child with you after the ceremony, please alert Administrative Assistant Ms. Cheryl Burgess and sign your student out at the Cary White office.

For both dorm and day students, please have students bring a dressy/more formal outfit to school in the days prior to the ceremony. We will store outfits in a safe place. On the day of the ceremony, students will be able to change into their dress clothes for the ceremony. You may begin sending those in now. If you need any assistance with obtaining any clothing items, please contact me via email or phone at fertsche@fsdbk12.org or (904) 827-2769.

DJ Prater, Assistive Technology Specialist

Below are the deadline dates for school-owned technology to be turned in:

Middle School

Laptops * Due by May 26 * Deliver to Cary White, room 215

All Assistive Technology * Due by May 26 * Deliver to Gibbs, room 210

Elementary School

Laptops * Due by May 26 * Deliver to Cary White, Mr. Fabian's room

All Assistive Technology * Due by May 26 * Deliver to Gibbs, room 210

Leslie Costello, Music Director

Beginning Band students and students grades K-8 must return their school-owned musical instruments by Thursday, May 19 to the Music Building, room 108. *Please note, percussion students may keep their drumsticks, but should return their practice drum pads.

Jim Carpenter, Outta Sight Director

Outta Sight has one session left to finalize their recording session. They have recorded eight selections for their album. Many thanks to Jim Stafford at Eclipse Recording Company.

Ready for a fun week of STEAM Camp in person? We are! From building pinball machines and marshmallow launchers, to coding a video game and creating a superhero robotic arm. We are also going to explore squishy circuits and create moving robots. The students will put on their scientific chef hats and make Baked Alaska, Magnetic Slime, and a couple more exciting recipes. We have a TON of fun activities planned for you!

This FREE Summer Day Camp is for RISING 4th/5th/6th/7th/8th graders and is planned for June 13-17.

This camp is a day camp only. Transportation services will be provided for day students who live in St. Augustine and surrounding areas. Parents can also drop off and pick up students each day.

Camp is scheduled from 8:00-3:30 each day. Students must bring a lunch to school each day.

Please fill out registration completely. Registration closes May 27th.

STEAM Day Camp Registration 2022

Mary Hanson, Speech Language Pathologist

Sixth graders Shawn Long and Ja'Mikel Reese presented their book about Peter Mark Roget to the librarian, Joy Carriger, this week. They wrote a book about the man who invented the thesaurus. Peter loved lists of words and the boys created their own lists of words and put them in a "treasure house". The boys explained that thesaurus is not a dinosaur even though it rhymes with brontosaurus. The Greek word thesaurus means "treasure house".

Check out the book in the Cary White Library to learn more interesting facts about Peter Mark Roget and his thesaurus.

Michelle Garay, 3rd Grade Reading Teacher

Our BES third graders recently practiced reading along with the Pledge of Allegiance on the loud speaker. They were provided with tactile flags this week by some generous donors. All flags have the words to the pledge in braille.

Hillary Norman, Technology Teacher and Leslie Costello, Editor

After FSA testing was complete, students wound down by playing chess. The boards you see are specifically designed to be accessible with high contrast colors and tactile playing pieces, with rows and columns labeled in Braille. Cooperative play meets the ECC standard of Recreation and Leisure.

In Technology class last week students were encouraged to select a teacher of choice to send an appreciation letter to or make a card. Students practiced formatting and editing skills. Students were also encouraged to create a special letter, card, or Braille art for that special someone for last weekend. Recognizing others in this way builds Social Interaction skills which is another of the ECC standards.

The term expanded core curriculum (ECC) is used to define concepts and skills that often require specialized instruction with students who are blind or visually impaired in order to compensate for decreased opportunities to learn incidentally by observing others. The ECC is used as a framework for assessing students, planning individual goals and providing instruction. At the middle school level, there are 46 state standards that teachers who work with Blind Department students at FSDB are responsible for meeting in addition to their regular course standards as part of the specially-designed instruction for the visually impaired inherent in every Blind Department student's individual education plan.

Leslie Costello, Assistant Coach

The Illusion Color Guard gave their final performance of the school year, opening the Athletic Awards ceremony. The full group performed to "Sunday Best" by Surfaces and "Levitating" by Dua Lipa. Captain Giunna Slade then performed a flag routine solo to Michael Buble's "Feeling Good."

The Illusion Color Guard is under the leadership of Joy Carriger, Keesha Patterson, Brenda Brown, and Leslie Costello, with choreography by adaptive dance specialist Brittany Helwig. The group grew significantly from their first day of practice, changing from shy teenagers with closed spatial relationships, weakened core strength, and difficulty with orientation to ones with endurance to be physically active for an hour at practice, ability to use a larger space with body awareness, and orientation skills to consistently perform a 360 degree turn. They did it with a tremendously improved confidence, power, and joy.

Please watch the beginning of the video below to see the 3 routines, and then stick around for the Sports Awards presentation that followed!

Donna Johnson, Athletic Director

The annual Sports Awards presentation took place on May 12, 2022 in Kirk Auditorium and on livestream platforms. Congratulations to 8th grader Addison Allen for winning the Track "Most Improved" award!

Donna Johnson, Athletic Director

On May 4th, Keith Young visited the White House to meet President Biden as the USA Goalball Team Leader for the 2022 Team USA Week. This event was from May 1st to May 4th where the US Olympic and Paralympics (Summer and Winter Games) got to enjoy a red carpet gala, visit Capitol Hill, and finally go the White House.

At FSDB, Coach Young is a physical education teacher and the Boys Goalball Team head coach. He is also the USA Men’s National Team Head Coach where the team just missed getting a medal by placing fourth at last year’s Tokyo Paralympic Games.

In today's edition we spotlight a group of our eighth grade graduates who have not yet been spotlighted. The rest of the group will be featured in our next newsletter.

Janna has been at FSDB for 11 years! Her favorite subjects are English and Math. Her biggest hobby is listening to music. She most enjoys hanging out with her friends while at school. Attending the Senior Carnival was her favorite memory. If a student was considering attending FSDB, Janna would sum it all up by telling them that "this school is great!"

Jayden is in his fifth year at FSDB. His favorite subjects are PE and Math. When asked to share something about his family and hobbies, he says that he is funny and nice, and that his mom is an accountant at a hospital. Jayden likes many things about FSDB, particularly the dorms, his friends, and the many activities he gets to participate in, especially under-the-net volleyball, basketball, and goalball. His favorite memory so far is playing video games with his friends in the dorm. He wants to let someone considering FSDB to know that there are a lot of fun things to do in the dorm and you will meet many new friends.

Leland has been attending FSDB for six years. His favorite class is Math, but his favorite thing about FSDB is this year's PE class. He has lots of pets: 7 dogs, 5 cats, and 1 fish! His favorite memory from FSDB is participating in the elementary musical play. His advice to someone considering attending FSDB is to "just do it. It's fun" being a student at FSDB!

Khayree has been at FSDB for five years. His favorite subjects are Math and Technology. He has 9 brothers and sisters. What Khayree likes most about FSDB is the dorm, sports, and how nice the teachers are. His favorite memory was making it to Districts in Wrestling this year. When asked what he would tell someone considering attending FSDB, he replied, "You should come to FSDB because there are a lot of good things about FSDB. Some examples are sports and learning how to become independent." He adds that he is so glad that he came to FSDB and is looking forward to the years to come.

Marvette Butler, Cary White Dorm Supervisor

Hello, my name is Marvette Butler, I'm the new supervisor of Cary White. I was a Residential Instructor in Gregg Hall 1st floor deaf girls. When I accepted the supervisor position in the Blind Department, it was truly an honor. The students at Cary White are amazing, talented, and gifted.

I'm very grateful to be part of this team. The staff at the Cary White Dorm are Brittany Eagle, Jenny Hubbard, Gabby Le, Elise Lawrence, Debra Coghill, Laronda Jenkins, Inez Strysick, Katrina Miles, Garrett Oliver, Cynthia Terry, and Sharon Nicewonger; all of them are wonderful and appreciated.

Staff works with students on daily living skills, personal hygiene, grooming, interpersonal skills, maintaining healthy friendships, table mannerism, and how to be confident with themselves. The students and staff welcomed me with open arms and I'm very excited to be the supervisor at Cary White.

Spending quality time with family and loved ones can improve social skills, boost children’s confidence and increase feelings of happiness.

16. Listen to the Stars - During this hectic time of year with many changes, pick a night to sit outside under the stars and sit peacefully. Tell each other what you hear (this develops listening skills), ask if they think it is a loud or quiet sound, choose adjectives that describe the type of sound, or create a story based around what they think is happening wherever that sound is coming from.

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BEMS Office

PH: 904-827-2739

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Health Care Center

PH: 904-827-2410

VP: 904-201-3910

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Transportation

PH: 800-992-8747

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Kramer Hall (Elementary Dorm)

PH: 904-827-2736

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Cary White Complex (Middle School Dorm)

PH: 904-827-2851

Parent Services

PH: 904-827-2212

VP: 904-201-4527

Campus Police

PH: 904-827-2315

Email: fertsche@fsdbk12.org
Website: www.fsdbk12.org/blind-elementary-middle-school
Location: 207 San Marco Avenue, St. Augustine, FL, USA
Facebook: facebook.com/groups/fsdbblindelementarymiddleschool

The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind (FSDB) does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, sex, religion, national origin, political opinion, affiliation, marital status, genetic information, disability, veteran status or any other basis as mandated by federal and state law in its educational programs, services or activities, or in its hiring or employment practices. FSDB also provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups as required by law.

Contacts for questions, complaints, or requests for additional information are as follows:

Student Discrimination/Harassment

FSDB Boarding Program Administrator

PH: 904-827-2603

Requests in writing can be sent to:

Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind

207 San Marco Avenue

St. Augustine, FL 32084