Hello, UEC parents and families, and Happy New Year!
|
|
Around the School
Our focus at UEC is on academics to ensure every UEC student graduates. To make that goal a reality, we began a tutoring program. Held every Wednesday from 3:00 to 5:00, students can spend the time catching up on missing work, push ahead where they need extra help, or work on college application goals. Teachers volunteer to rotate hosting tutoring.
Want your student to participate in Wednesday? Just reach out to Mr. Verdesca by 3:00 on Wednesdays, and then arrange your student’s transportation for a 5:00 pickup.
We welcomed several guests to our school this past quarter, and several Universal Studios team members joined us for Teach-In.
Additionally, Natalie Stevens from the Universal Orlando Foundation chatted with students about the many volunteer opportunities they can participate in. Natalie challenged our students to become members of Universal Studios Club 52 by volunteering 52 hours in one calendar year.
We hosted two Open Houses in the fall, one for parents and families and the other for our students’ work managers. In both cases, we were thrilled to showcase our beautiful campus and give our guests the opportunity to learn more about the gazillion things happening at UEC.
|
|
Welcome to Our New Students!
The best school in the Universe officially welcomes five new students from Dr. Phillips, Ocoee, and Olympia High Schools. This bring our total enrollment to a record high of 40. We now have student Team Members in 23 sites across both Universal Orlando theme parks.
Which brings us to a frequent question: Are we accepting new enrollees? And the answer is …we will have loads of seats available for summer school and the 2020-21 school year. Direct your enrollment inquiries either through https://alted.ocps.net/ or to Christian.Roquevert@ocps.net. Summer school recruiting begins in March.
|
|
Artists in Residence
Our students are drawn to the arts, and although we don’t have a formal art, drama, or poetry program, several of our students spend loads of time engaging in all three.
|
|
|
Jake, a senior who works in World Expo, loves to skateboard, and his art reflects that passion. The walls of our school feature several of his whimsical pencil drawings, and they cleverly convey positive messages.
|
|
|
|
Robyn, a South Carts senior, has been involved in drama since she was in middle school. Here she plays the evil nanny in a stage production of Mary Poppins.
|
|
|
|
Zach, a junior who joined us in August and works at San Francisco Bakery, loves to write song lyrics and poetry. An excerpt from a recent song reads, “Holding on tight / To the heart that you gave / I cannot let go / I’ll take it to my grave.” He writes voraciously, filling whole notebooks in a just a few weeks because he says writing lets him express himself more freely than other mediums.
|
|
|
|
Nick also joined us in August, he as a senior working in Park Services. Nick creates ink and pencil drawings, often reflecting an on-the-spot situations, such as reminding students to turn in paperwork. Like Jake's art, we proudly display Nick's drawings at our school.
|
|
Meet Mr. Amaury Alcin
Mr. Alcin is one of the unsung heroes for the Universal Education Center as an OCPS bus driver. He is stern and well respected by his daily riders. His day starts around 3:30 a.m. to be up and ready to get to his first student’s pick up location for the day at 4:27. According to his Route Detail Report, Mr. Amaury drops off his last student right where he started his day at 6:51p.m., approximately fourteen and a half hours later.
As most of his students would quickly recognize with his island accent, Mr. Amaury (as our students call him) was born in Haiti. He moved to the United States in 1982. He’s proud that he has been a school bus driver for 30 years, twelve years in New York and eighteen years with OCPS.
Mr. Amaury has been married for 30 years and has five children. Four of those children have gone off to continue their education at the college level. His daughter, who recently turned 28, and a graduate of Cypress Creek High School. is currently serving her residency as a doctor. She attended University of Florida for four years and then continued on to medical school in New York at Rochester where she specialized in pediatrics, obviously picking up the love for children from her father.
We are proud that Mr. Amaury has chosen our school to drive for, as we know that our children are in safe hands each and every day! Thank you for your dedication to our UEC students.
|
|
On the Job
UEC students routinely receive guest compliments and manager recognition for the outstanding work they do. Recently there have been even greater accolades for two of our Team Members. Ellyana Sosa, a senior who works in the Hogsmead retail shop Honeydukes, was October’s Team Member of the month. More recently, senior Chevanique Scott, a QSR at Captain America Café, was observed delivering great guest service. Her name went into a drawing, and she was randomly selected to win a $100 bonus.
In the first semester, UEC students focused on smiling and interacting with guests—and could earn an “I Caught You Smiling” trip to Starbucks. Not all of our students’ work focuses on direct one-to-one guest interaction, though. Some of our students prep restaurants long before guests arrive. Others, such as our parking attendants, must focus more on safety and efficiency than conversation.
So for the second semester, one student a week will be recognized for “Knocking it Out of the Park.” More details to come on this fun new opportunity!
|
|
Life After Graduation
ACT/SAT waivers, FAFSA applications, Bright Futures eligibility, college applications… All this and so much more has been the focus of our seniors as they prepare for life after high school. Mr. Verdesca and Mr. Papoula have been hard at work assisting students through these many and sometimes confusing processes. They also recently took our seniors to Valencia College for a full day of college and career exploration. While there, our students toured the campus, learned about college and vocational opportunities, visited classrooms, and even ran into UEC graduate Diedra Jackson, who is enrolled in Valencia’s EMT program.
Graduation commencement itself—mark your calendars for May 7 at 1:00. The UEC Class of 2020 Commencement will be held at Valencia College West. More details will follow.
Before we leave this topic, a few things to note:
- Seniors are visiting Orange Technical College on January 30 to learn about the hundreds of vocational education opportunities there. We’d love to have parents or mentors join us as chaperones on this field trip. Contact John.Verdesca@ocps.net for details.
- We are working with Universal to explore options for our students in apprenticeships. Administered though Seminole State College, apprenticeships focus on education, training, and high-paying work in UO facilities, food, and ride/show areas. We are speaking with every senior about their interest and eligibility for one of these programs.
|
|
Parties, Parties, Parties!
When it comes to having a good time, we don’t mess around. In October, our students attended a Mardis-Gras themed Homecoming at Project Compass, along with the three other Alternative Education Graduating Sites, and our own Chevanique Scott and RJ Jacobs were crowned queen and king.
Then, in November, Universal hosted a mentor/student Thanksgiving luncheon at Blue Man Group. As if the turkey carving station, traditional side dishes, and fabulous dessert tables—including ice cream cobbler—weren’t enough, a live deejay led an energetic dance party involving everyone.
|
|
|
And in December, our students made small gifts for their mentors and then met them at Rising Star, a CityWalk karaoke club for a holiday luncheon. Senior Nick Lopez gave us chills with his rendition of “Fly Me to the Moon,” and mentor Kevin Kalbfelb blew the roof off the place singing Aerosmith’s “Dream On”—just to name a few. Afterwards, we trooped back to school for a faculty/staff/student Secret Santa gift exchange.
|
|
Our Support Staff
Our support staff members are intimately involved in your student’s education. Our program specialist, Ms. Blake, takes care of attendance, bussing, class coverage for absent teachers, plus a host of other duties. Her favorite place to wake up is in a tent where there is no cell phone coverage. Ms. Blake is always happy to help you with any school questions. You can reach her at carol.blake@ocps.net.
Your student was registered to our school by Ms. Lee, who is also the face of UEC in our reception area. She loves the outdoors and is a "big reader," which sure makes her fit in well at UEC! If you have Skyward or academic scheduling questions, drop her an email at jamala.lee@ocps.net.
|
|
A few reminders ...
Students must wear their full uniform at school, with no hoodies, every day other than dress down days. Students are welcome to check out sweaters or jackets that match their uniform from the wardrobe department if they feel chilly at school.
On Fridays, students can participate in dress-down days by contributing $2 to SGA. The dress-down day dress code is the same as the OCPS dress code, except that leggings/yoga pants and pants with tears in them are not permitted.
If your student will not be riding the bus on the occasional afternoon, be sure to let Mr. Verdesca know by 3:00. That way, we won’t unnecessarily delay the bus.
SGA dues for the second semester—$20 per student—are due now. Students can pay with cash or check. These dues pay for activities such as our Halloween party, supplies for making mentor gifts, and so on. Reach out to Alexa.Castro@ocps.net with any questions.
|
|
|
|
