Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Foundation Student Initiatives topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
FLVS Foundation expands STEM camps, provides laptops; board hears student accomplishments
Summary
The FLVS Foundation announced new STEM camps, internships and a laptop distribution for students in need; the board also heard several student achievement highlights and a staff recognition story.
The FLVS Foundation reported that it has launched year three of its STEM camps, is expanding internship opportunities and is distributing laptops to students in need, foundation leaders told the Florida Virtual School Board of Trustees.
The foundation’s quarterly report said the STEM camps provide free weeklong experiences at Starbase in Orlando for fourth- and fifth-graders, and two additional June camps are planned (one for fifth and sixth graders and another for seventh and eighth graders). The foundation is pursuing an additional camp at Patrick Space Force Base in Brevard County under a memorandum of understanding with the National Center for Simulation.
Beth Brunner, executive director of the FLVS Foundation, told the board the foundation will provide laptops to approved transitioning Florida Scholars Academy students and said about 90 laptops were being shipped to students in need that week. Brunner said the foundation will again provide approximately $105,000 in matching funds for a consortium grant beginning Sept. 1 and that the foundation funds project-management support for some FLVS programs.
Brunner also said the foundation is expanding industry partnerships: "We hope to be able to support the FLVS Industry Council to expand internships in concert with providing our students with career opportunities." The foundation reported four FLVS student interns will begin at Lockheed Martin in Clearwater on June 1 and that internship opportunities will be expanded to other industries.
The board heard student highlights presented by FLVS staff: a senior who won first place in a U.S. District Court high-school essay contest on ethics and AI, an eighth-grader whose artwork was displayed at the State Capitol, an 11th-grader training for the 2028 Olympics in sailing and a middle-school student scouted by Orlando City Soccer Academy. Staff also related a ‘‘works of heart’’ story describing Lillian Lorenzo, a blended-learning operations manager who organized a drive that delivered school supplies, clothing and other necessities to a school partner’s students.
Brunner said parent concern about student safety remains common; more than 50 percent of surveyed parents identified safety as a primary concern. The foundation will continue to solicit sponsors and track program data to measure outcomes.
The foundation report and the student highlights were provided as informational items to the board; no formal board action was taken on the foundation items during the meeting.
