Young drivers learn the dangers of texting and driving

Palm Coast Observer
Neighbors

+Young drivers learn the dangers of texting and driving

While teenagers are texting, they spend about 10% of the time outside the driving lane they’re supposed to be in. To demonstrate that, Rue and Ziffra PA and Gary Yeomans Ford sponsored a texting and driving demonstration Sept. 21, at Flagler Palm Coast High School.

The event, organized by the Student Government Association, gave students the opportunity to buckle up in a virtual texting and driving simulator.

PEER Awareness volunteers were on hand all day to assist student in the simulator and talk to those observing about the dangers of distracted driving.

Students also learned that answering texts takes away attention for about five seconds. That is enough time to travel the length of a football field. Also, that talking on a cell phone while driving can make a young driver’s reaction time as slow as that of a 70-year-old, according to the presentation.

+FPC teams with elections office for digital homecoming court voting

Flagler Palm Coast High School teamed up with the Flagler County Elections office last week for the annual Homecoming Court elections.

Deputy Supervisor Kaiti Lenhart worked with the Student Government Association to set up ballots for each grade level, allowing nearly 800 students to vote during the two hours of student lunches.

“Online voting is an amazing thing; gone are the years of counting ballots by hand,” said SGA Adviser Cheryl Perry. “I had the results at my fingertips 10 minutes after school let out.”

Elections results are as follows: Class of 2016 Prince and Princess, Monte Russell and Danielle Benet; Class of 2015 Prince and Princess, Jimmie Robinson and Emily Palisoc; Class of 2014 Prince and Princess, Rubin James and Allysia Beal; Class of 2013 Homecoming Court, queen candidates, Aquila Davis, Brittany Helm, Destiny Kelly, Jillyan Perrine, Kim Ramirez, Agata Sokolska, Aliyah Smith, Naomie Thomas, Janelle Velazque, Jasmine Washington and Katie Young; Class of 2013 king candidates, Joseph Alter, Matt Cabral, Sammie Cooper, Steven Dack, Willie Gardner, Tyler Hopkins, Eric Mejias, Kadeem Williams, Lorenza Williams and Benjamin Zverko. Final voting for king and queen will take place Oct. 5 and results will be announced at the Oct. 12 football game.

The faculty court includes duchess candidates Heidi Alves, Lynn Bender, Jackie McKeown, Janice Monsanto and Darise Pagello; and duke candidates Dave Halliday, John Kleckner, Kevin McCarthy and James Pignatiello. Faculty court winners will be announced at the Oct. 8 Powder Puff football game.

+ Matanzas joins FHSAA Network School Broadcast Program

The FHSAA Network, in partnership with the Florida High School Athletic Association, announced the addition of 10 schools, including Matanzas High School, to the FHSAA Network School Broadcast Program.

The program allows participating schools in Florida to produce and broadcast TV-like events for live and on-demand viewing via the FHSAA Network video portal at www.FHSAAsports.com.

The FHSAA Network is a partnership between the FHSAA and PlayOn! Sports that features live and on-demand coverage of high school sports in Florida on the Internet. TheFHSAASports.com video portal provides fans access, at no charge, to a wide variety of events, all of which will be archived and available for on-demand viewing.

The program provides students training and live production experience on school-related events and activities. This enables schools to showcase all different types of sporting events and school activities (e.g., graduation, soccer, theater, news shows).

In addition to the educational benefits, the FHSAA Network School Broadcast Program provides participating high schools with new opportunities to generate revenue through advertising and sponsorships.

The Matanzas portal can be viewed at www.fhsaasports.com/matanzas.

+First-graders say ‘happy birthday’ to Clifford

Mary Narin and Annette Thompson's first-grade classes at Bunnell Elementary School celebrated Clifford the Big Red Dog's 50th birthday this week.

They have been practicing counting by 2's, 5's and 10's to 50. The students colored a picture of Clifford by completing addition sentences to determine the color code. They ended the birthday celebration by singing “Happy Birthday” to Clifford and having cake.