Alachua County Recreation Newsletters

 

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1. Editor's Note: Summer Break!
2. Do You Fingerprint Your Coaches?
3. Meet the Russians at the Florida Fencing Academy
4. Gainesville Community Foundation
5. Best Practices Database on After-School Programs
6. Select Soccer Team Tryouts, Congratulations
7. Quality Summer Care
8. New Legislation

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WEBSITES

http://www.gssc.org
http://www.frpa.org Florida Recreation and Park Association
http://www.gainesvillecommunityfoundation.org
http://www.nga.org/elodata After-School Programs Best Practices
http://www.fcforum.org Summer Care Checklist

CALENDAR (at end)

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EDITOR'S NOTE--SUMMER BREAK!

I'll be in Portland, Oregon for the summer, and will not issue the Rec Connection until August. I can be reached via email.

Have a Great Summer!

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DO YOU FINGERPRINT YOUR COACHES?

We are compiling a list of city, county, or leagues that require volunteer coaches to be fingerprinted or to go through a background check prior to coaching. If you know of such cities/counties, please e-mail me back.
--Eleanor Warmack, Florida Recreation and Park Association <eleanor@frpa.org>

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MEET THE RUSSIANS AT THE FLORIDA FENCING ACADEMY

Florida Fencing Academy Open House is Saturday, June 9th, 3-5pm at the
Unified Training Center,
809 W. University Avenue.

Meet Misha Shepshelevic and Sergey Berko, Internationally rated Russian Fencers. Attend special Clinics with the Russians 9-3 pm.
--Brian Harper 373-4816 bharper@compufree.net

 

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GAINESVILLE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

The newly formed Gainesville Community Foundation announces projects in which they have been involved.

42 scholarships to summer programs through the Gainesville's Recreation and Parks Dept will come from a Coach Visscher memorial.

A football coaching fellowship at Gainesville High School in the amount of $100,000 came from one individual.

The Gainesville Community Foundation has acted as the fiduciary agent for the Sports Planning Organization for Recreation and Training (SPORT) for two years, enabling it to receive government grants and other funds to underwrite planning costs.

The Synchronized Swim club used this same mechanism to acquire underwater speakers for their club.

The Foundation is seeking donors and board members to better our community. Stay tuned for more philanthropic endeavors from this fine group of community-minded citizens.

We live in a community, not a crowd. A community is a place where each of its citizens contributes something toward the collective benefit of everyone in it. In a crowd, there are nothing but strangers.

For further information, contact GCF at 367.0060 or http://www.gainesvillecommunityfoundation.org
--"Bill Richards" Paco@ccgnv.net

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BEST PRACTICES DATABASE ON AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS

The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices conducted a national survey to identify state initiatives that provide out-of-school learning opportunities for school-age children. The results are available in their online database. http://www.nga.org/elodata

--Village E-Brief, Tanya Ott Tanya_ott@yahoo.com

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SELECT SOCCER TEAM TRYOUTS, CONGRATS

GSSC announces Competitive Select Team Soccer Tryouts, June 4 & June 6, 5PM - 7:30 call Aimee Womack at 336-0293, AandAMack@aol.com or www.gssc.org

GSSC congratulates 3 of our competitive soccer teams for advancing to the second round of the Florida State Cup competition. The U16 girls, U16 boys and U14 boys all advanced. This is Gainesville Soccer's best ever showing at the Florida FYSA competitive soccer playoffs. Congratulations the players and coaches.
--Warren Curry, President, GSSC whcurry@ufl.edu

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QUALITY SUMMER CARE --A Parent's Choice, A Provider's Responsibility

The Florida Children's Forum Summer Care Workgroup, a collaboration of school age care providers from around the State of Florida, developed a quality checklist for parents. Its focus is the quality components to look for when selecting a summer camp or after-school care programs. Through funding provided by the Department of Children & Families, over 200,000 copies of the checklist were distributed throughout the state in both English and Spanish versions. Log on to www.fcforum.org.

'Survive the Summer' hands-on workshops enhance after-school programs and summer camps. Communication and safety tips, games that educate & motivate, creative crafts and music & movement activities were the focus of the six-hour in-service. Look for fall training dates and locations on the Forum website this summer or contact Jennifer Faber, School Age Coordinator at 941-489-4386 for additional information.

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NEW LEGISLATION (SB 1162) FOR LICENSED SCHOOL-AGE CARE CENTERS

In early May, Senate Bill 1162 passed with the following language: "Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, minimum child care licensing standards shall be developed to provide reasonable, affordable and safe before-school and after-school care. Standards, at a minimum, shall allow for a credentialed director to supervise multiple before-school and after-school sites." The Department of Children and Families is establishing workgroups and will be scheduling public hearings to receive input on administrative rules that will govern before and after school programs, including the above mentioned credential language. Please share your comments by attending these public hearings. Dates and times can be obtained by contacting Jennifer Faber, Florida Children's Forum School-Age Care Coordinator at jlpfaber@aol.com or (941) 489-4386.

The Florida Department of Children & Families is also addressing the development of a School Age CDA equivalency program to be made available on a statewide basis. This would allow for directors and administrators to obtain coursework relevant to working specifically with school-age children when working toward their Administrator's Credential.

Please be reminded that the Administrator Credential is required for all director/administrators by January 1, 2003 as part of the minimum licensing standard. For more information on the Florida ChildCare & Education Program Administrator Credential, contact the Florida Children's Forum at 1-877-FL-TEACH or visit us at www.fcforum.org.

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GRASSROOTS and SUPPORT:

Middle School Programming: Carl Harness Harnesscs@ci.gainesville.fl.us
Elementary Afterschool Scholarships: Elizabeth Bondy <bondy@edu15.coe.ufl.edu

Cone Park (Gainesville): Tom Hawkins thawkins@atlantic.net
Greentree Park (Gainesville): ACTION, Dave Hill dnbhill@digital.net
Hawthorne:
Jonesville: Debbie Kennedy, 332-5713, and ACGARPA, Tom Trscabinets@aol.com 462-4902
Morningside: Penny Weber, President 334-2170
Newberry Park: Alena K. Buggs (352) 955-5084 <Alena_Buggs@DCF.State.FL.US>
Paynes Prairie:
Squirrel Ridge Park Gretchen Howard Gch@sa.co.alachua.fl.us 337-6174
Waldo: Henry Drake <SagoDr@aol.com (352) 468-2298
Windsor: Juanita Biles jkbracin@bellsouth.net 373-2812, 538-3235

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CALENDAR

Jun 4 &6 GSSC Select Team Soccer Tryouts, 5PM - 7:30 Aimee Womack, 336-0293
Jun 7 - 8 GSOC Sports and Business Seminar, GSOC 338-9300 or hughes@gsoc.com
Jun 7 Team Training YMCA 5201 NW 34th St. 6 p.m.
Jun 9 Fencing Open House 3-5 pm Unified Training Center 809 W University 373-4816
Jun 9 DUNK WALDO POLICE! Waldo Park
Jun 9 Poe Springs Moonlight Canoe Trip
Jun 9 Elements of Style Dance, SFCC Dance 8 pm Phillips Center
Jun 12 Team Training Holiday Inn University Center 1250 W. University Ave. 6 p.m.
Jun 24 End of Fl. Museum Natural History Exhibit on Extinction
Jul 6-7 NSA-B State Fastpitch Tournament
Jul 20-21 Gator Sport Camp for adults with disabilities, Carolyn Hanson chanson@hp.ufl.edu
Jul 21 Wheelchair Basketball, 3 pm Florida Gym
Jul 16-20 Florida Chess Camp Hidden Oak Elementary ages K-12
Aug 3 - 6 USA Cycling Federation National Junior Championships, GSOC
Aug 6-12 Summer Dance Institute, Santa Fe Community College, <tari.kendall@santafe.cc.fl.us>
Oct 18-21 Gainesville Senior Games, GSOC
Oct 6 Santa Fe Century (Gainesville Cycling Festival) Roger Pierce, http://www.afn.org/~bike
Oct 7 Horse Farm Hundred (Gainesville Cycling Festival) Roger Pierce, http://www.afn.org/~bike
Nov TBD GSOC Recognition Banquet, GSOC
Mar 17, 2002, 1-4 Summer Activities Fair

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The intent of the RecConnection e-letter is to unite recreation efforts and information in Alachua County. Your comments, articles, and information are vital to our success. We reach over 1,000 people via email.

http://alachua-recreation.gru.net
http://www.afn.org/~recreate
352 338-0606

Thank You,

Alison

PEOPLE
By Heather Law, Age 10

All people have hearts,
I've seen them before.
All people have love,
I've seen it at work.
All people have feelings,
I've seen them hurt.
All people can use them,
Some people just.

Don't!