Seventy students enrolled in Middleton High School’s engineering program were given the opportunity to explore the exciting world of modern manufacturing and related careers in January. As part of an annual “Industry Day,” Florida Advanced Technological Education Center (FLATE), housed at Hillsborough Community College’s Brandon Campus, coordinated tours to six local manufacturing companies where students got a first-hand view of real-life applications of their curriculum. Middleton utilizes Project Lead the Way’s (PLTW) curriculum which focuses on activities, project, and problem-based (APPB) learning. Central to this Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) curriculum are hands-on projects that help students understand how the information and skills they are learning in the classroom may be applied in everyday life.


Students toured six sites including Southern Manufacturing Technologies (SMT), a manufacturer of precision components for the aerospace and defense industries. At SMT, students had the opportunity to handle components such as valve bodies for missile defense systems and parachute release system assemblies. At Plasma-Therm, a manufacturer of etch and film deposition equipment for global semiconductor and related specialty markets, students wore “bunny suits”, shoe covers and hair nets before touring the manufacturing clean room facility. Tampa Armature Works (TAW) gave students an in-depth look at their operations starting from incoming supplies to the final product. At TAW students learned about the construction of huge switchgear enclosures for the phosphate industry, wiring complexity for various applications,

and machining equipment, several weighing in at over 50 tons, needed to produce their products. Students also visited TAW’s Motor division, the premier provider of all types of electric motor repair and service. At this facility, students learned about TAW Motor Division’s role in repairing and rebuilding electric motors of all sizes. In addition to the technical presenation, TAW staff treated students to an informative and motivational speech about careers and life.

Staff at Vulcan Machine (a provider of high quality machining since 1978) gave students a tour of the entire shop. They stopped at each equipment station, showed product flow from raw stock to finished item, and explained the operations necessary to consistently produce at top quality levels. At the Mitre Corporation, staff welcomed the students, and conducted a facility tour culminating in a spaghetti-marshmallow tower building contest. The goal was to build the tallest structure! Mitre is a not-for-profit organization chartered to work in the public interest, applying expertise in systems engineering, information technology, operational concepts, and enterprise modernization to address their sponsors’ critical needs. The Mitre Student Program provides summer jobs to high school and college students who are mentored by senior Mitre staff in areas such as software engineering, robotics, and nanotechnology. Some students go on

At the conclusion of the tour Nina Stokes, project for FESC at HCC-Brandon said “industry tours such as these allow students to experience modern manufacturing in action and raises their awareness of the numerous and varied careers available in the field.” Stokes who accompanied the students on the tour said “these efforts support recruitment to STEM areas including HCC’s A.S. and A.A.S degree in Engineering Technology which is designed to prepare the student for initial employment in high technology industry.”

On January 17, 2012, twenty Hillsborough County high school STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) teachers spent a half day at a special FLATE educator workshop at EMS-USA in Tampa. EMS is a leading provider of product design, 3D scanning and rapid prototyping products and services. Their shop is a hub of activity with several engineering and technicians working on a wide array of projects. As the teachers entered an exciting world of 3D technologies, they learned the applications are endless, and crosscut many disciplines ranging from architecture, anthropology art, designer vehicles, to biology, historic restorations, forensics, and medical devices and products. Teachers also got an in-depth overview on a variety of applications, and got a live demonstration of SpaceClaim—a simple 3D design software, that was remotely presented by experts in Boston.

Teachers took away lots of applications of these advanced technologies; great classroom resources to share with their students and most importantly lots of information about exciting STEM careers that they can share with their students. As one social science teacher said, “Wow – everything about this workshop was exciting. It will be great to share the mix of technology with humanities and social sciences with my students.” EMS-USA has a lot of videos and photos of their projects on their website and YouTube channel. Everyone is encouraged to check them out.

A big “thank you” to Mark Kemper, COO, and Eric Wenhem, account & marketing manager, for the presentations and demonstrations. FLATE and EMS–USA will be offering additional workshops for teacher later this year so other teachers can share their fascinating experiences. As Mark Kemper told the group, we need more students to go in to STEM fields and EMS-USA is hiring right now! For more information about the workshop, please contact Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org. For information on EMS-USA visitwww.ems-usa.com.

Happy New Year! Before we move forward with new year’s resolutions, let’s take a quick trip through last year. Manufacturing in the US was a big story in the U.S. press in 2011. Manufacturing’s strategic role in our economy was highlighted, and brought to national attention. Americans are looking to manufacturing to move the economy forward. The Manufacturing Institute’s website (www.themanufacturinginstitute.org) captured and shares some important facts that put numbers to the issue, and are reprinted in the accompanying box. These 5 concise bullets are a shorthand reminder of why manufacturing is important and why FLATE is focused on building the high skilled, educated workforce that Florida manufacturers need. Additionally, manufacturing was identified as a driver of innovation, invention, and new technologies and processes that keep the U.S. competitive in the global community. From the White House, the President launched several initiatives to support and enhance U.S. manufacturing. These included establishing the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, a consortium of research institutions and universities that will focus cutting-edge and new technologies that support advanced modern manufacturing.

Closer to home, local and regional efforts in support of manufacturing are also underway right here in Florida. Besides our own ongoing comprehensive support of manufacturing education in Florida’s colleges and high schools, the Manufacturers Association of Florida (MAF) has formed the MAF Center for Manufacturing Excellence. This new arm of MAF will support manufacturing education efforts in Florida. Not for profit professional entities in other states leverage their resources with other regional NSF ATE centers and FLATE looks forward to a strong partnership and synergy with this new organization in 2012. On another front, Florida Regional Manufacturing Associations grew in numbers and membership adding a new organization, North Central Florida Manufacturing Association (NCFMA) that will serve the Alachua – north central Florida region. Our own local Bay Area Manufacturers Association (BAMA) has been reinvigorated and had a busy year with some record sized meetings, membership growth, and more tours, educational and policy focused events. Additionally, BAMA reinstalled its scholarship program and other educational activities. MAF, supported by a grant from Workforce Florida, will launch a Florida version of the NAM Dream It! Do It! campaign. This effort will complement and enhance FLATE’s “Made in Florida” recruitment and outreach activities and programs that have been ongoing and growing since 2005.

Now on to 2012, please join FLATE in celebrating manufacturing in Florida in 2012 with FLATE’s own “Year of Manufacturing Awareness” initiatives. We are starting with a workshop with the regional manufacturing associations at Harris Corporation in Melbourne on February 9 to establish ways for individual manufacturers and associations can incorporate activities into their regional events which project a positive perspective of modern manufacturing to their communities, as well as promote manufacturing careers and technical education pathways to students within their high school and career academies. For now, enjoy this abbreviated edition of the FLATE Focus that encourages everyone to explore the world of small scale devices this spring at a number of FLATE supported events; reviews how the National Science Foundation (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program has supported technical education in Florida since the mid 1990’s through various college-focused and regional projects; and don’t forget to start out the year right by solving the first 2012 sTEm-at-work puzzle. Oh yes, our best New Year’s resolution? We are going to provide puzzle answers every other month this year.

Sometimes this approach is used in classrooms as illustrated in many of Florida’s Career Academies, but it is certainly the approach of most of extra curricula competitions. Some schools and school districts take a very formal approach to some of these competitions by offering clubs and other after school opportunities to help students prepare for the whole experience. On the other extreme, some districts and schools require no participation or support. Some question if these should be part of academic curriculum – but wonder where it would fit into the curriculum; who would be credentialed to teach it; and if and how it would support state standardized testing.

At the post-secondary level—the theme continues, but the stakes are higher. High profile engineering challenges and invention competitions sponsored by industry and professional societies ratchet up the competition as well as complexity. Some provide significant prizes for winning teams. Designing, building and racing alternative fuel (including human) powered vehicles; designing and building energy independent homes; concrete canoes and toboggans; medical devices etc bring the same problem-based learning approach, extracurricular activities to most college campuses. Opportunities for students to develop critical and creative thinking, knowledge integration, and team-building skills make these projects very popular among students, faculty and industry partners. There has also been interest these activities into academic credit courses so students can get credit for the time they put in. There are obstacles and disadvantages at the college level, as well as advantages to making these activities part of the formal education system and it will be interesting to follow the trend.

Competitions and expos have grown into fun and educational community events. There are a lot of ways to participate in the K-12 level competitions and expos. Teams and individual students need mentors, all of these events only exist with large numbers of volunteers and volunteer hours, and the competitions need judges and sponsors. Volunteering is a great way to help students get excited about STEM and have some fun. Here are a list of state level competitions and websites to check for more details. Some of these sites have links to local/regional competitions that occur before the state events and national events that generally occur in early summer. There are many other student competitions that extend beyond what is listed here, but are generally supported and hosted by

As is often the case, the best of friends just want you to succeed and work quietly in the background to make that happen. The National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education program (NSF ATE) is exactly that type of friend to Florida technician education. Since NSF ATE began working with two year technician education programs in 1991, the beginning of 2012 is an appropriate time to look back over the last 20 years to see why NSF-ATE is such a good friend to Florida technician education.

NSF-ATE grant activities began slowly at first with their 25th award going to Robert Aitken at Brevard Community College in 1994. This award supported a planning grant for an ATE National Center of Excellence with the mission to link two year colleges through their involvement with, and long-term specialized instructional support for nine NASA field centers. The grant funds were aimed at establishing a national clearinghouse for curricular and faculty development programs, as well as educational media supporting these programs to infuse science and mathematics into technological education programs.

Alexander Dickison at Seminole State College, formerly Seminole Community College, was one of the 61 nationwide NSF-ATE grant awardees 1995. This $470,000 NSF-supported project developed new curriculum, and incorporated what is now known through studies in cognitive science, teaching strategies that will improve student learning. These modules are designed to motivate and help technical students see the connections between physics and their chosen technical fields.

In 1996, NSF-ATE provided $250,000 to Broward Community College for a project proposed by Louis Friedman that allowed BCC to lead a consortium composed of the University of Miami, Broward County Schools, N. Broward Hospital District, Hewlett Packard, Advantage Medical Electronics, Motorola, ABC Computers, Asea Brown Boveri Corp., and the Biomedical Engineering Technology (BMET) Advisory Board in developing a program in BMET. The goal of the project was to produce qualified Biomedical Engineering technicians who provide a critical link between the clinical application and the electronic technology of modern medical equipment. Laboratories and laboratory practices were developed to give the students state-of-the-art experiences with a wide range of biomedical equipment.

In 1997 Bob Williams at Daytona State College, formerly Daytona Beach Community College, received a $550,000 grant from NSF ATE to create a new instructional environment for introductory classes in electronics, computer aided design, civil engineering and computer programming. This new environment addressed the various learning modalities, diverse schedules and lifestyles of the non-traditional students found in ever increasing numbers at institutions nationwide. The virtual classroom permitted students to access computer technology and electronics courses at any time and from any place through the resources and capabilities of the internet and the World Wide Web.

At this point in this review, the trend should be clear. Faculty members in Florida’s technician preparation programs have great ideas and NSF-ATE is prepared to back those ideas with the funds to turn good ideas into best education practices for Florida and the nation. However, this is only the beginning. From 1997 through 2001 NSF-ATE accelerates its support of A.S. technical education in Florida. In 1998 William Falls at Hillsborough Community College was awarded a $300,000 grant to create a practical, hands-on applied learning experience for students enrolled in courses of aquaculture, environmental science technology (EST), economics/business and humanities programs of the College, and in 1999 Valencia College, formerly Valencia Community College, was awarded a 1.1 million dollar grant by NSF-ATE to coordinate the development with a major semiconductor manufacturer and five other community colleges in Florida an education-business alliance known as the Tech-4 High-Technology Industrial Education Consortium. Tech-4 designed and delivered a collaborative, replicable electronics workforce development system that maximized learning for secondary and lower-division students through coordinated sharing of industry and educational resources.

As the first decade of NSF-ATE came to a close, the turn of the century saw another grant for Valencia State College with NSF ATE providing $580,000 in support of Colin Archibald’s idea to create a comprehensive information technology workforce development system aimed at increasing the number of skilled computer programming technicians with maximized advanced education and career options. Daytona State College received another NSF ATE grant that provided $550,000 to support Bob Williams’ idea to create the Southeast Center for Networking and Information Technology Education. The Center develops curricula, processes, and infrastructure to improve programs, and creates a statewide delivery system to educate and train technicians to meet workforce shortages in computer networking and information technology. Finally, in 2001 Brevard Community College received two additional grants totaling $610,000 to develop a curriculum on Distributed Energy Systems and create a collaboration to increase the number and diversity of prospective K-12 teachers at BCC by providing opportunities to improve technological literacy, strengthen science and mathematics preparation, transfer seamlessly to a four-year program, and connect with business and industry.

The last grant to a Florida community college in NSF-ATE’s first 10 years of operation went to the same college and faculty member that received Florida’s second NSF-ATE grant. That $300,000 award went to Alexander Dickison at Seminole State College. The funds were used to expand on his very popular and widely used physics curriculum.

So that’s a brief summary of the first 10 years of NSF ATE’s support of Florida technical education. A quick glance through the grants and grant amounts clearly backs the original premise. You can find out more about the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program of the National Science Foundation at www.nsf.gov/ate, where you can download their call for proposals. Full proposals are annually due in October. You can contact any of the listed program officers. or contact Marilyn Barger at FLATE (barger@fl-ate.org) if you have an idea for a proposal you want to discuss. NSF ATE is a quiet, continuous supporter and has invested millions of dollars to help Florida’s technical education system reach its potential. That was only the first 10 years, next month we will, to borrow a phrase from Paul Harvey, bring you “the rest of the story.”

Nano-Spring is occupying Florida! Yep, you are reading it right here in the FLATE Focus before it is even being considered by the mainstream media. This spring FLATE is promoting several small scale device and Nano related technology events. The first, as is the case with all exciting breaking news, has just been completed. FLATE partnered with the SCME, the NSF Southwest Center for Microsystems Education, and the University of South Florida’s Nanotechnology Research and Education Center (NREC) to present a workshop on microsystems (MEMS) technology devices as an example of small scale device fabrication. However, the next two events on the schedule are an Etch Workshop (Friday, Jan. 20) conducted by Plasma-Therm Inc. at the NREC clean room and a focus group on nanotechnologies and medical devices tentatively scheduled for Feb. 16 at the EPI Center at St. Petersburg College.

The beginning of March brings motor cyclists to Daytona Beach, FL, as well as the NANOSMAT Conference to the University of South Florida at the end of March end. NANOSMAT has rapidly established itself as a premier conference in the field of materials science, engineering, technology, nanoscience and nanotechnology. Since 2005, it has been very successfully organized in several European countries, including Portugal, Spain, Italy and France. The conference fosters the gathering of talented and truly international people to exchange ideas, share new knowledge and technical know-how in the relevant fields.

On March 27, the day before NANOSMAT, the University of South Florida’s nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology Laboratory is hosting a Technology & Innovation Forum. The purpose of the Forum is to provide a broader coverage of the selected topic than is generally possible in a technical scientific conference. The Forum will be of particular interest to educators and Florida teachers and students who can’t attend in person, but can do so via web cast.

On April 13, Indian River State College, NanoLink, Inc. and FLATE will support a workshop on the Nanoprofessor hands-on nanotechnology education system. The NanoProfessor is a comprehensive nanoscience education program combining cutting-edge desktop nanofabrication instruments with a stimulating curriculum. The workshop will demonstrate how students can be immersed into the rapidly growing field of nanotechnology through real hands-on experience in building custom-engineered nanoscale structures.

Well that’s our Nano-Spring! We hope you can join us and get involved in small scale device technology by attending some, or all of these events. Need details? Visit www.nnrc.usf.edu for information on the Etch Workshop conducted by Plasma-Therm Inc., and https://nano.cas.usf.edu for information on Technoology & Innovation Forum,. You can also send an e-mail to Dr. Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org. See you there!!

Dr. Marilyn Barger congratulates FLATE Awardees at the 2011 MAF Summit.

Whoever can believe that it is December already. As we all scurry around sharing holiday festivities and fun, ‘tis the season to also squeeze in some time to review the year that is almost over and our plans/dreams for the one starting in just a couple of weeks.

FLATE spent some of this past year critically evaluating our accomplishments and analyzing stakeholder feedback as we focused time and energy on our proposal to NSF for renewed funding. We received great feedback from our stakeholder survey, and several focus groups during the year. Through this input, we have distilled two important stakeholder needs that we are addressing. First, FLATE’s help was requested by our industry partners in developing strategies for engaging with students and the education system . Second, we had significant requests for more professional development opportunities for teachers and educators.

We have begun to address the first need by developing an Outreach Kit for manufacturers. Starter “Made in Florida” outreach kits were distributed personally to many Regional Manufacturing Associations (RMA) at the recent Manufacturers Association of Florida (MAF) Summit and Global Marketplace in Orlando. (Kits which were not delivered personally will be arriving by Santa’s sleigh sometime next week with help from the USPS.) Since one size does not fit all, please remember that FLATE would be most happy to help individual RMAs and/or specific manufacturers customize their own materials.

Enclosed in each kit you will find:

• a “Made in Florida” DVD (video also available online: www.madeinflorida.org/why-manufacturing/

• stacks of Made in Florida postcards and our new “Hire an ET Grad” postcards to handout, or use however you see fit ( more available upon request)

• printed copies of our 2 FLATE Best Practice booklets:

• 1-“Robotics Camp Survival Guide”
• 2-“Middle & High School Field Trips to Florida High Technology Manufacturing Facilities”

• links to career and tech education directors and career academies on the Florida Department of Education website

• sample handouts we regularly use when presenting career options to students, or when taking student on tours of manufacturing facilities

• a FLATE flash drive that contains a copy of the outreach kit letter with embedded links plus two versions of a PowerPoint Presentation “Made in Florida – great careers are waiting for you!”

• FLATE MadeInFlorida PPT 11-2011.pdf: Slide show for presentation, directions for use are on the first slide.
• FLATE MadeInFlorida PPT Notes 11-2011.pdf: A notes version of the same presentation with each slide accompanied by some talking points on a page together to help you develop your own ideas about what to say to the students.

The industry outreach kit letter with embedded links is now the very first link on the “Made in Florida” industry portal/link: www.madeinflorida.org/industry. This “page” has been reorganized to host outreach materials for our stakeholders’ use and includes additional resources not specifically listed in the outreach kit letter that you might be interested in. As always, we are interested in your feedback, so please let us know if there are other tools you might be interested in, or if you would like to develop some customized materials, or if you would just like us to help you get started. Our goal is to lower the barriers between industry and education so we can provide our Florida students with first hand information about the great jobs, careers, and educational opportunities available for them in manufacturing in Florida.

Enjoy this last newsletter of 2011. This edition captures a story about the Technical Student Association at Lakewood Ranch High School, and how it has spurred students’ interest in STEM. This edition also highlights Gulf Coast State College’s mobile laboratory training kit as a cost-effect alternative to standard training methods, and discusses the FIRST robotics program in Florida, and underlines the role of national conferences, like the National Career Pathways Network conference, in serving as a platform for students to showcase local Career & Technical programs. The whole FLATE team wishes everyone a peaceful, restful and fun holiday. May all your days be bright!

A technician working for a semiconductor manufacturing facility removes residual molecules that have been adsorbed to the inside surface of a below atmospheric pressure chemical deposition chamber by heating the chamber for several hours. The heat from this “bake-out” process drives the adhered molecules back into the gas state so they can be pumped from the chamber. To perform this procedure, the tech closes the chamber, turns on the vacuum pump, applies heat to the walls of the chamber and records the pressure inside the chamber as a function of time. Two identical chemical deposition chambers are to go through this process one at a time. One chamber was “baked-out” just before a shift change and a new shift tech had to complete the work started before he reported for work. After examining pressure data for the two identical chemical deposition chambers, the technician knows which chamber had already been “baked-out”.

Chamber CVD T4 has not been through the “baked-out” process. (yes or no). Submit your answers at www.fl-ate.org, or right below this posting here on the blog.

Career and technical student associations (TSA) through their respective missions play a prominent role in creating an environment where students can aspire to be the best in advanced technology careers. FLATE recognizes the importance of these organizations and has established partnerships with various career and technical student organizations throughout Florida. The Engineering Club at Lakewood Ranch High School (LRHS) is one such organization FLATE works with, and is part of TSA—an international association focused on different areas of engineering and technology.


LRHS TSA Students with Quinton Jones, at NCPN Conference in Orlando.

The TSA chapter at Lakewood Ranch High School started approximately nine years ago, and has been a dominant national team for the past six years. There are currently 34 different projects, TSA students are currently working on, that focus on developing various skills set that range from public speaking, to building robots, animatronics, to computerized woodworking. Of these projects, students enrolled in the engineering club are involved in at least three projects/events throughout the year. Some of these include computer web design, video gaming, designing and creating architectural designs and models.

Given its involvement in various projects the TSA at LRHS enjoys a robust reputation. They recently ranked first in the nation for video game design, and hold third place in the nation for designing and creating architectural models. The award winning architectural model was on display at the 2011 National Career Pathways Network Conference in Orlando, FL., which served as a platform for students to showcase local career & tech programs in Florida.(You can read about the Florida Student Showcase in the November edition of NCPN Connections). Additionally, they ranked second in the nation last year for creating a carbon dioxide powered dragster that could race through a 90 ft track in less than a second. The TSA team has also been invited by Universal Technologies Company to participate at various FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) events, and to visit its site so students can get insider know-how about UTC engineers, and interact with industry professionals who have insider knowledge. It is such opportunities that get students like Jamie Marchini excited about TSA. Marchini, a senior at LRHS who is currently a TSA member says the projects have reinforced her passion for STEM. The experience has given her the ability to participate in regional/national competitions, gain fresh perspective/ideas on some of the projects she’s working on, and made her “a better learner overall.”

The root of excellence clearly lies in hands-on projects that are targeted to enhance students understanding of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Teachers design projects that are not strictly textual based, but offer new ideas to students every semester, and are fun to learn. “We’re not just making mail boxes, or bird houses, we’re designing fun things like go carts and hovercrafts—something that kids can really care about.” Jones takes a subliminal approach to teaching STEM whereby students don’t realize they have to think about mathematics, or science, rather they take on these subjects by showcasing practical applications of it in everyday life. “A lot of courses you can’t really be creative, but STEM related subjects allow students to exercise their creativity and sharpen hands-on knowledge” Jones said.


Award winning architectual model, designed by LRHS TSA students, on display at NCPN Conference

Another component that has added to LRHS’s TSA team success is the curriculum itself. Classes/curriculum are designed to follow the nine step design process that starts with researching, planning, designing their product, working through the engineering portion using tools/machinery to accomplish the assigned task. For example, a large portion of the drafting program at LRHS is aligned with the SolidWorks Administrative Certification. In 2010, LRHS was the only school in Manatee County to get students tested on the SolidWorks Certification. Eighteen students passed the test, out which three students scored 100%. “It is a great opportunity for my students and my school, and that is the sole reason why I am pushing for students to take the next level certification” Jones said. In addition to the SolidWorks Administrative Certification, students are also encouraged to take the MSSC certification. “MSSC especially is great as it offers vast transferability of skills across industries” Jones said.

The Florida Technology Student Association (FLTSA), SkillsUSA and FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) are some of the organizations FLATE is closely involved with and actively supports. FLTSA fosters personal growth, leadership, and opportunities in technology, innovation, design, and engineering through co-curricular activities, competitive events and related programs. SkillsUSA is a partnership between students, teachers and industry representatives providing resources for teachers, high school and college students pursuing technical education/occupations. The South Florida Robotics invitational functions as a pathway for local students to participate at the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics competition which is a national robotics competition.

As part of the partnership, FLATE invests time and resources to design challenges, serves as judges in regional competitions, helps gather necessary equipment for the participants, and assists in securing a location to host some of these competitions. FLATE also helps set-up the arena, provides financial support through event sponsorship and team registrations. The initiative is part of FLATE’s effort to enhance technology education programs, and to provide extra-curricular and leadership skills for middle/high school students. In addition to FLATE’s involvement with career & technical organizations, FLATE recently named Greg McGrew, engineering instructor at LRHS 2011 Manufacturing Secondary Educator-of-the-Year. You can find out more about the awards and these organizations at www.fl-ate.org, or by contacting Marilyn Barger, executive director of FLATE at barger@fl-ate.org, and Dave Gula at gula@fl-ate.org. For more information about Lakewood Ranch High School and its engineering program contact Quintin Jones at jonesq@manateeschools.net.