Students from the advanced robotics class and the Whirly Girl drone team visited Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland to discuss college preparation and to tour the state’s only completely STEM-based university last Wednesday. "I'm always looking for opportunities that I can give to my robotics students in order for them to see how the STEM classes they are taking at school relate to the real world," robotics teacher Jill Whitacre said. "My hope is that students might be inspired to continue pursuing their studies in STEM." The students can now apply their new knowledge in classes. "We...

History teacher Chloe Radd has taken over sponsoring the middle school portion of the Dungeons and Dragons club, which meets during Power Hour on Mondays in Portable 8. “I’m just supervising, but it’s really fun to listen to them, and fun to watch them interact with each other and use their imagination,” Radd said. Deciding to sponsor the club was easy, according to Radd. “I love D&D, I’ve been playing it for a long time,” she said. “One of my friends, her husband was a Dungeon Master, and they invited me in. I was like ‘hey, I have an imagination. I can do that’...

The school choir has decided to mix in a fall chorus concert in replace of their usual annual winter concert. Chorus teacher Amy Davis announced plans to audition for the upcoming All-County choir event for high school and middle school, in which participants prepare their own music. Similarly, auditions have already been sent in for the All-State choir event. Davis is also preparing students for an audition on Monday to perform at Disney Springs, likely to take place in January, where the choir would sing music of  its own choice. To tie it all up, Davis anticipates the fall concert, which...

"Look at the phone, not the drone!" Jill Whitacre, team coach and sponsor of the Whirly Girls, jokingly deemed as her new motto as the varsity members' new drones whizzed past. The Whirly Girls have recently obtained a brand new set of drones. The U818A HD drones are significantly larger than the drones the varsity members have used in the past.  "These are very exciting because we have only had pretty small drones, maybe like six inches," team member Abigail Watson said. "We have never had experience with these larger ones. It's hard to adapt to them, but it's cool to see how they work." Additionally,...

The Whirly Girls robotics team have recently formed a JV and varsity team from the several new additions to the team who have joined. The previously exclusive team has expanded "tremendously", according to team coach and sponsor, Jill Whitacre. Before this year, the all-girls drone team consisted of around seven girls. These girls are now ninth-graders and make up the varsity team. This year, however, they have adopted around a dozen eighth-grade girls. "We don't want it to just die with [varsity Whirly Girls]," Whitacre said. "And the younger girls want to do it." The JV members join...

The school choir has decided to forego participation the annual Candlelight Processional held at Disney's Epcot Theme Park because the only open spot falls on Christmas day. Every year, members of chorus learn holiday-themed songs and audition for Candlelight. If they make the cut, the class takes a one-day trip to Epcot, usually in December, and perform a Christmas-based storyline through song with experienced Disney singers called the Voices of Liberty, a well-known narrator, and a 50-piece orchestra. After the performance, students can spend the rest of the day walking around Epcot. This...