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School briefs

Girl, 10, speaks at MacDill Air Force Base

By ELISABETH DYER
Published January 20, 2006

MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE - Ten-year-old Jasmine Gued could barely contain her excitement last Friday as she prepared to speak to about 40 service members at MacDill Air Force Base.

Jasmine, a Lockhart Magnet School student, was asked to speak at MacDill after she won first place among fourth-graders in her area during the district's 4-H Tropicana Public Speaking Program on Jan. 10.

"I have a dream that one day little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers," she began her winning motivational speech. "I have a dream today."

Jasmine and five other students will advance to the district's final contest, held at Armwood High School on Feb. 28.

About 12,000 students participated this year in the annual competition, which started in 1969 to encourage writing and public speaking. This year 72 schools registered for the competition, up from 50 last year.

Before the competition, Jasmine competed with classmates and then schoolwide. It comes naturally, she says.

"My third-grade teacher always had me in plays. "Enunciate the words,' she used to tell me," Jasmine said.

PARKVIEW - Mitchell Elementary School, 205 S Bungalow Park Ave., will open doors for next year's prospective prekindergarten and kindergarten students and their parents from 8:45 to 10:15 a.m. Jan. 27.

Faculty and administrators will describe school programs and lead tours of the building.

Mitchell will start accepting applications for its prekindergarten program "Ready, Set, Go!" on Feb. 13. Children must be 4 years old by Sept. 1 to be considered for one of the 40 spots. Students who live in the Mitchell attendance area will receive priority.

Registration for kindergarteners, who must turn 5 by Sept. 1, also begins Feb. 13. For information, call 872-5216.

CULBREATH HEIGHTS - Parents of next year's kindergarteners are invited to check out Dale Mabry Elementary, 4201 W Estrella St., from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. Parents will view a slide show of a typical kindergartener's day and take a school tour. Their children will be invited to visit May 4. Call 872-5364.

CULBREATH HEIGHTS - St. Mary's Episcopal Day School, 2101 S Hubert Ave., will hold an information session for parents of prospective middle school students at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the school gymnasium. Applications are due Feb. 1. For information, go to www.smeds.org or call 258-5508.

DOWNTOWN - Visual arts students jazzed up Blake High School recently with two stained-glass windows, mounted over the ticket booth of the Don Thompson Theatre.

They depict dancers and musicians on stage, an orchestra pit and audience with a banner that proclaims Where Performance Counts.

The windows honor several students of the old Blake High School (now Stewart Middle School), which closed because of integration in 1969. Those honored have taught or worked at Blake High School.

Honorees include former media specialist Denise Valdez; former dropout prevention specialist Wanda Seigler; coach Winston Davis; assistant teacher Valerie Shellman Pearce; English teacher Deborah Holmes McFarland; cafeteria workers Lula Givens, Nellie Foster West and Bernice Cambridge Butler; and former principal Lewis Brinson, who is assistant superintendent for administration.

A ceremony was planned for earlier this week to unveil the windows and present a plaque listing the honorees.

[Last modified January 19, 2006, 08:43:07]