Clay County District Schools has a proud tradition of excellence. We have established our school system as one of the best in the state, if not in the country.
Clay County District Schools has truly become an educational environment for which everyone can be proud. We have embraced a culture of learning and growth for ourselves as educators so that our students will ultimately benefit. Our laser-like focus on innovation and technology reflects the values of our community and keeps an eye to the future for what it means to be a student of the 21st Century: creative, informed, technologically literate, and flexible, but most of all a critical thinker.
Clay County District Schools plans to continue to increase our students’ access to technology with the 1:OneClay online platform of carefully cultivated online resources and tools, as well as to provide access to academies, electives, resource classes, teams, and clubs that expose our students to STEAM concepts, including our OneClay Robotics program. Our collaboration around STEAM initiatives is key to ensuring that we are providing the best possible educational experience for our most valuable assets–our students.
OneClay Robotics
Clay County District Schools believes that by providing the opportunity for our students to interact with learning around robotics and the principles of computer science that we are preparing our students to be competitive in the world they will enter upon graduating. “Technology empowers our students to use compassion, curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration to achieve their academic and personal goals,” said Superintendent Addison Davis. By programming robots, collaborating with teammates and coaches, and developing solutions to real-world problems, our students are developing the skills necessary to compete in current and future job markets. Currently, Clay County District Schools offers District-Supported Robotics Programs to all 42 schools.
FIRST® Teams
All elementary and secondary schools have the opportunity to compete in FIRST® Competitions. Our students and coaches go above and beyond in their learning, growth, and proficiency each year with these FIRST® Team Competitions. We have had very successful teams from both the Elementary and Secondary levels that have moved beyond District competition to compete at the Regional and State levels. Last year, we were incredibly proud of our District FIRST® Robotics Competition Team for winning the Imagery Award at our Regional International Competition.
OneClay Robot Rumble
After the Fall FIRST® Competition Season ends, each school opens its Robotics After School Program to additional students. This is considered a Robotics Club. We wanted all students to have the thrill and learning opportunities brought through competition, so the OneClay Robot Rumble gives students a Competition Type Environment, which allows more students access to a full Robotics Experience. All schools are invited to the OneClay Robot Rumble, and each club can bring more than one “team” or robot to compete. Since our inaugural event four years ago, they OneClay Robot Rumble has continued to expand and we had over 500 students compete at last Spring’s event! We are so excited to continue to see this event grow, as we believe that the critical thinking skills that students acquire through the fun and engagement of building and coding a robot will benefit them in all aspects of their learning.
Innovation in Leadership
Best practices confirm that engaging learning experiences help create problem solvers capable of competing in an ever-changing global society that prepares our students for careers of the future. Clay County District Schools values building the capacity of leaders to lead innovation throughout the district. Principals and senior leadership participated in Lego professional development as an introduction to leading and learning in the Digital Age focused on coding. As a result, all schools participated in Hour of Code, in which nearly 35,000 students participated in activities promoting technology innovation.
STEAM Choice Program at Lake Asbury Junior High School
2019-20 marked the inaugural year of the STEAM program at Lake Asbury Junior High School (LAJH). Leading up to the beginning of the year, the STEAM Team of teachers trained around problem-based learning (PBL) instruction, visited existing programs in the area and prepared cross-curricular projects for students. Eligible 6th graders from across the county were invited to apply to become the first 7th grade STEAM cohort of students. This cohort will advance next year, 2020-21, to become the 8th grade STEAM students, and LAJH will add a new group of 7th graders to the program. The school’s goal is to go school wide by year three, 2021-22
Students in this program will:
- Experience problem-based learning in Science, Technology, Engineering, the
Arts, and Mathematics - Work on quarterly PBL projects and presentations for the community;
- Work with local businesses, farmers, and organizations to learn about careers. They will also look at the challenges they face and work with them to create viable solutions;
- Take field trips and host guest speakers that will expose them to STEAM opportunities, careers of tomorrow, and the Arts;
- Use cutting edge technology to research, create, and present;
- Connect with people across the USA;
- Host Family Engagement events;
- Create and do hands-on lessons with the students in the elementary schools
that feed into Lake Asbury Junior High.
Addison Davis, Superintendent
