Heritage High School

Ashley will be attending Heritage High School in Palm Bay next year in one of Florida's Choice programs. Heritage is fairly new, having its first senior class this coming year. Ashley was accepted to Heritage's dual programs - Cambridge AICE and Sports Medicine. No small accomplishment. Her equivalent 5/5 FCAT testing and her 4.0 GPA earned her the privilege. The coming year will be exciting for her and I am sure we will have many posts on this blog regarding Heritage. For now, let me share a bit about Heritage.

These are pictures of this $80 million school that is at least partially funded by the Florida Lottery program and which is built on a 65-acre campus and comprised of 10 buildings. In the Cambridge AICE Program Ashley will be part of a "cohort," a partnership of the students and teachers knitted tightly together  for the core classes in an academy setting with courses that will ultimately apply as college credits.  Many of her teachers will have their Masters' Degrees. Part of her graduation requirements are 75 hours of volunteer service and this also applies to her earning the Bright Futures Scholarship funded by the Lottery.  Since Ashley is considering being a doctor, the school will work with her to find some volunteer work in the medical field if possible.  Nice.  She will also be touring medical schools in Florida on special Sports Medicine field trips.  And she will be certified as a National First Responder if she chooses to do this.   

The school colors are Blue/Black/White with the mascot being a Panther.  This school adjoins Three Forks Marsh and she is likely to find deer, boar, coyote, alligator and possibly a real panther crossing its grounds from time to time!  Patrick and I live on the other side of the school and we have been told many times that we will on occasion find wild animals crossing our neighborhood too. 

It is all very exciting.  Be sure to watch the video at the top.  It is 9 minutes, but shows a lot about the school when it was being built and planned for its first year.

Go, Ashley, Go!

Winds

Caren and I were chatting about the wind here in Melbourne today.  She, through my looking at things in Florida with such newness and wonder, remarked on how often it IS breezy or windy on the Space Coast.  Somehow, for her it had become the norm and somewhat taken for granted or overlooked.  For Caren, Patrick and I it is wonderful.  Gone are the blustery and bitter winds of the winters and early springs  in North Carolina now replaced with Florida breezes.  March is no longer the, too often, cold and extremely windy month.  March is now the pleasantly breezy and gusty month.  How delightful this is. 

                                                                             Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

--Kahlil Gibran

 

 

Picture from
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1978848/posts#comment

 



Strawberry Festival

Last weekend we went to the Strawberry Festival (YUM!) at Wickham Park. Caren and Roger, Pat and me. Nice. Chocolate and White Chocolate-covered Strawberries. Pancakes with Strawberries and Whipped Cream. Funnel Cake. Sodas. Dunkin Donut Coffee...and much more. Music by various groups. A kid's amusement area -complete with a Swamper Stomper!

Fun and tasty.

Erna Nixon Park's Moonlight Stroll



Erna Nixon Nature Room



Last Saturday our whole Space Coast family went to Erna Nixon Park's Moonlight Stroll along the boardwalks in the 52 acre wildlife center.  Musician's played in the concession pavillion and along the boardwalk itself.  Christmas lights lit the way for a while and then it was the stars and moonlight solely along the trail.  Lovely.  One of the musical groups was the Stone Family Band - parents and children who were all singers and played various instruments.  Lovely.  It was cool - 56 degrees, but no wind, so it was refreshing.

A very exciting happening at the Moonlight Stroll was the display of multiple sized telescopes in one area presented by the The Brevard Astronomical Society for stargazing and sky watching.  Everyone could look through any of them and we did!  Fascinating.  We could see nebulas, the dark and the light halves of the moon, and many stars.  The moon was hypnotic in its clarity and size within two of the telescopes.

Magical Evening with Family!