A Flagler student's Community Problem Solving project is helping middle-schoolers make more informed decisions about their high school goals.
PALM COAST — At the beginning of the school year, eighth-grader Nicholas Blumengarten was looking ahead at the next step in his education and realized he didn’t know what course of study he wanted to pursue in high school.
Then it occurred to him that many of his peers at Buddy Taylor Middle School would be facing similar uncertainty. And Project INFO was born.
With Project INFO, which stands for Informing New Freshmen on Opportunities, Nicholas has found a way to get that critical information to students who most need it.
“I started researching, and then I figured the best way to get it across would be to create a website,” he said.
He reached out to Superintendent James Tager, who gave him permission to put together a special page on the district’s website. Nicholas met with principals and gathered information on each of the district’s high schools.
Then, with the assistance of district web developer Ray Russo, he created an easy-to-use site.
“It’s one place where there’s all the information,” he said. “It’s accurate and up to date.”
To visit the Project INFO site, go to flaglerschools.com and roll the mouse over the “Students” tab. A drop-down menu will appear. Select “High School Planning,” which is the second item down. This will take the visitor to the main page, which offers a brief overview and a link to a short survey Nicholas has created.
By clicking on the logo for either Flagler Palm Coast or Matanzas high school, the visitor will be taken to a page specific to the school.
“They both have different flagships and things they like to focus on,” Nicholas said. “Flagler Palm Coast has the fire academy, International Baccalaureate, the i3 Academy and then the aeronautics with Embry-Riddle,” he said. “Matanzas has the agriculture, construction, culinary and the VyStar programs.”
Scrolling down, the visitor will see a list of colleges with which the school has dual enrollment, flagship programs at each school, languages and core classes taught there, information on graduation requirements, and links to clubs and athletics.
Images within those categories also serve as links so that visitors can drill deeper and learn even more.
Nicholas didn’t stop there. He approached his principal, John Fanelli, about creating a space at the school where students and parents could get information.
Fanelli turned over a small meeting room called the Eagles’ Nest and Nicholas went to work. He divided one wall in half and painted each side in the dominant color of one of the high schools. With lettering and logos made from vinyl donated by U Name It, he created information stations for prospective Bulldogs or Pirates.
Each station contains baskets of printed material about the school and some free promotional items bearing school names and colors.
“I thought it would be a great place to have information, where if they didn’t know what to do, they could come out and they could use it themselves,” said Nicholas.
There is also a computer set to the Project INFO web page, should anyone like to access it there.
The room is located near the front entrance and is open during school hours.
“This is a great project that he’s put together here,” said Fanelli. “It really helps students focus and decide what they’re interested in and where they want to go in the future.”
The project builds on efforts at the school to get incoming seventh-graders to select a pathway granting them the prerequisite learning they will need to succeed at the high school level.
In fact, Nicholas unveiled his dedicated room during the school’s Curriculum Carnival, which was staged Thursday for incoming students.
Project INFO is Nicholas’ Community Problem Solving entry this year. Community Problem Solving is a component of the Future Problem Solving program. Participating students identify needs in their schools or communities and then seek out and implement solutions.
At the recent state competition in Orlando, Project INFO won first place in its category and Nicholas was invited to take it to the international competition in June at the University of Wisconsin.
Of course, Project INFO also has helped Nicholas clarify his personal goals.
“I’m going to Flagler Palm Coast for the International Baccalaureate program,” he said.