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Return to September 2006 Newsletter Home
Welcome back! Hopefully this message will find all of you having a smooth and exciting start to the school year. I always greet each year with a lot of anticipation about what the year will hold and am excited by the potential that each new class of students brings with them. The challenge that many educators face each fall is how to hold onto these feelings of excitement throughout the year and not become discouraged or disheartened.
The Florida Council for the Social Studies offers its membership many opportunities that assist teachers in maintaining a positive attitude. Most prominently is the Annual Conference, to be held this year October 12-15 at the Miami Airport Hilton. The annual conference offers many sessions that will enrich your knowledge of your content area, inspire you with great ideas, interesting keynote speakers, and (YES!) even strategies for improving reading and writing through the social studies. Miami also provides an exotic flavor to the setting of the conference with all of its cultural venues to sample. Additionally, dozens of exhibitors will grace the conference allowing you access to all of the latest instructional materials and coolest trends in social studies education. And, best of all, you have the opportunity to network with other teachers from around the state, making new friends and reconnecting with old acquaintances. I hope to see all of you in Miami; the conference is definitely worth the trip. A huge thank you goes out to all of the social studies educators in Miami-Dade Schools and surrounding areas who are working diligently on our behalf to bring us a wonderful conference.
FCSS offers further support through its Endowment Committee. Few things are more discouraging to a classroom teacher than having a great idea but not the money to carry the idea to fruition. The sole function of this committee is to provide the funds that you, the teacher, need to implement great ideas in the classroom. There are guidelines and rules to follow, but the grant application is pretty simple and straightforward. Applications can be found on the web at www.fcss.org; look under Endowment for the information.
Our organization also recognizes the truly outstanding social studies teachers around the state, from the “newbies” to the veteran experts among us. The awards are presented as part of the annual conference at an awards dinner and are always a highlight of the conference. We encourage you to attend the dinner as well as apply for the awards in the spring when nominations are accepted. Once again for more information please visit the website at www.fcss.org and choose the button for Awards.
The final service I will highlight in this message is the work of the FCSS Legislative Committee. This committee works tirelessly under the leadership of Jack Bovee to keep our membership informed of all state and national legislation that may affect social studies education. FCSS works on your behalf to maintain the integrity of the subjects under the discipline of social science education, to educate our legislators of the impact of mandates in districts and classrooms across the state. Please support their efforts by inviting legislators and other government officials to your classroom and maintaining communications with their office. Let officials hear your voice and no that teachers vote too!
However, FCSS cannot offer these services without you. There is strength in numbers and our membership must grow to keep our voice strong within the educational community. Please renew your membership this year AND encourage your fellow social studies teachers to join FCSS. Membership information can be found at the FCSS website. FCSS is run by fellow social studies teachers and we need people just like you to lead and govern the council. Please email us on our website to let us know your needs or to make suggestions at www.fcss.org.
My continued best wishes for a wonderful and fulfilling school year.
Jane Palmer, President
Hagerty High School
Oviedo, FL
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