LTC 089-2020 City Funded Afterschool Enrichment 2019-20 at Miami Beach Fienberg Fisher K-8, Biscayne Beach Elementary and Miami Beach Senior High School MIAMIBEACF '
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC # 089-2020 LETTER TO COMMISSION
To: Mayor Dan Gelber and Members of the, CCommission
From: Jimmy L. Morales, City Mana•- ity Vg
Date: February 14, 2020
Subject: City Funded Afterschool Enrichment 2019-20 at Miami Beach Fienberg Fisher K-8,
Biscayne Beach Elementary and Miami Beach Senior High School
Key Metrics:
• 2019-20 Afterschool youth enrollment: 758
• Enrollment compared to 2018-19: 65.9% increase
• Miami Beach Fienberg Fisher K-8: 439 youth participants
• Biscayne Beach Elementary: 301 youth participants
• Miami Beach Senior High School: 18 youth participants (Rock Ensemble)
I am pleased to provide the status of the City's Afterschool Enrichment Program for 2019-20 at
Miami Beach Fienberg Fisher K-8, Biscayne Beach Elementary and Miami Beach Senior High
School. Youth enrollment in our school site afterschool enrichment programs exceeds
expectations with 758 registered youth in the 2019-20 school year: 439 Miami Beach Fienberg
Fisher youth, 301 Biscayne Beach Elementary youth and 18 Miami Beach Senior High youth.
This is a 65.9% increase from last year where enrollment in 2018-19 was 457 overall. Classes
began the week of January 13th, 2020 and will end May 1st, 2020 for the Spring.
At the April 11, 2018 Commission meeting, administration received direction to develop and
implement an afterschool enrichment program at public schools in Miami Beach with limited
access to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) activities. Dr. Leslie
Rosenfeld, Chief Learning Development Officer, engaged Florida International University's
College of Engineering and Computing School of Computing and Information Sciences to
develop an enrichment program for Miami Beach youth at the selected schools.
Afterschool enrichment classes offered at Miami Beach Fienberg-Fisher K-8, Biscayne Beach
Elementary and Miami Beach Senior High School include the following:
• 3D Printing: Youth will use 3D printing as a means to develop their spatial visualization
ability. Three types of printing to which youth will be exposed are: printing from a file,
printing a robotics part, and printing a solid by revolving a 2D shape about an axis.
Design thinking will be explored to expose youth to how engineers define a problem,
come up with solutions, and create and test prototypes. During the printing of objects,
the youth learn about measurement and scale.
• Unplugged Logic/Mathematics Games: Youth will use playing cards, board games
and floor games for the development of computational and algebraic thinking. The youth
will learn playing card tricks based on mathematics and will use playing cards to learn
efficient sorting algorithms. Some classic toys that will be used to also study algorithms
are: Tower of Hanoi, Rubik's Cube, Master Mind and Triangle Peg Solitaire. Other
puzzles, problems and games such as the Scramble Squares Puzzle, the Syracuse
Problem and the Broken Squares Game will be used.
• MIT Scratch: Youth will be introduced to Scratch programming language by creating an
online Scratch account in which they will save games and projects. They will learn to
create games individually and follow project requirements in a group format. Several
higher-level programming commands beyond variables, loops, conditionals and arrays
will be learned. Group projects will be based on a theme common to all class
participants. Gifs will be downloaded and converted into frames to animate characters
that interact with each other.
• Robotics: Youth learn about the confluence of mechanics, electronics and
programming. The youth learn to program user-controlled code and autonomous code in
two different manners, one of which stresses the importance of design thinking and
another that stresses task functionality. The youth learn to design and order parts that
are 3D printed to complement the robotics equipment parts. Emphasis is given to youth
learning to tell a story about the task their robots perform.
• Virtual Reality: Youth use cardboard headsets and instructors' cell phones to
experience educational virtual worlds to learn about different STEM disciplines such as
molecular biology, nanotechnology and neuroscience. At the end of the semester, there
will be a fieldtrip scheduled to visit FIU's I-CAVE, which provides a completely immersive
experience of a virtual space, and the capacity to explore new ideas, places or objects in
a dynamic and interactive visual environment. Youth also learn about architecture and
will use augmented reality apps for mobile devices to visualize 3D renderings of 2D floor
plans.
• Chemistry Fun: Youth will learn the difference between acids and bases, explore pH
and its importance in water quality testing, experiment with chemical reactions and more.
Activities include testing the pH of various substances to rate acidity and basicity levels,
using electricity to decompose water, making non-Newtonian fluids, investigating the
effects of water quality on aquatic ecosystems, examining oxidation reactions using steel
wool and much more.
• Physics Play: Youth will start off with thrilling lessons exploring gravity, magnetism,
forces and energy. They will start off with mechanical fundamentals in simple machines
and increase momentum by investigating the laws of motion an electricity before
venturing into the application of physics to cosmology and astronomy. Activities include
assembling and testing a projectile launcher, improving rollercoaster designs to
understand motion, analyzing the properties of light through diffraction, simulating the
gravitational pull of a blackhole, generating the flow of electricity by connecting circuits
and much more.
• Book Club (Fienberg only): Youth will read a new novel every month, and
share/discuss what they have read, as well as complete activities related to the novel.
• Jazz Dance (Fienberg only): Youth will focus on learning proper dance technique such
as isolation of the body (torso and hips) improving performance quality and developing
complex rhythms and patterns. Youth will be exposed to various styles of jazz such as
broadway, hip-hop and contemporary to help develop a well-rounded dancer. Class
curriculum is based on ballet technique layered with jazz movements. The class will
include a proper warm-up, stretches, isolation, cross the floor progressions and
combinations. As youth progress through each level curriculum the movements will
become more complex and intricate.
• Healthy Me (Fienberg only): Activities will include sports rotations (football, soccer,
kickball, and basketball), a garden rotation, and discussions on healthy choices
including, but not limited to food and beverage choices, exercise, and health lifestyle
choices.
• Cheerleading (Fienberg only): Youth participating in cheerleading will perform and
participate in the following activities: running, calisthenics, basic jump learning, basic
pyramid, basic dance moves, motivational cheers, and community service helping with
school events.
• Volleyball (Feinberg only): Youth will play volleyball to help them develop eye-hand
coordination, reflexes, and balance. Youth will also develop social skills, teamwork, and
sportsmanship.
• Flag Football (Fienberg only): Youth will learn eye hand coordination skills such as
passing, catching and throwing. They will learn teamwork and sportsmanship. In
addition, they will learn the rules of flag football as they will be playing against each
other.
• Rock Ensemble (Miami Beach Senior High only): Youth led musical group that is a
culmination of musicians, stage crew, and a sound engineering team. The Rock
Ensemble Youth will come together to play classic and modern rock and lends
vocational experience to its students through engaging them in professional
environments at a young age.
We will continue to support our vision of being a prosperous city with a special flavor of arts,
culture, education, and business with management objectives of being known for (K-12)
education.I -xcellence. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Dr. Leslie
Rosenfo •/
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