PALM COAST
Observer YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
FREE
VOLUME 6, NO.32
County considers fixed-line bus service
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FPC LOOKS AHEAD SPORTS, 15A
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2015
Put your thumbs up for FLAGLER FLAGSHIPS
The county hopes to begin using the first route in 2017. JONATHAN SIMMONS NEWS EDITOR
Flagler County hopes to have buses running on least three fixed bus routes in coming years, as well as transit zones in neighborhood that will bring people from their homes to the longer fixed routes. “Those routes will go offline, if you will, and go to the people,” said Robb Gregg of the Center for Urban Transportation Research, which helped develop a county transit draft plan. “And so you’re going to have an active almost Uber-like service. ... You’ll be able to use your mobile devices, you’ll be able to call, you’ll be able to get on the Internet, and a route will be developed.” The County Commission approved the draft plan at a meeting Tuesday, Sept. 15, so that the county can send it to the Florida Department of Transportation with grant requests. Flagler County has a public paratransit system — it’s required by law, so that people who are disabled have some way to get around — but it’s limited and without fixed routes that have buses running on a schedule. SEE DOES FLAGLER PAGE 9A
FLAGLER COUNTY REMEMBERS 9/11
Photos by Jacque Estes
Izzy Colindres, Madelynn Oliva, Hope Romaine, and teacher Cathie Zanella have fun during garden cleanup.
T
o inspire students and teachers to focus on the “real world” beyond the classroom,
Flagler Schools has instituted Flagship Programs at each school. Some focus on health, Check out these two classroom experiences
Aeronautical flagship program is one of 50 in the state.
that are keeping students engaged: one from
JACQUE ESTES
others on science, technology, leadership.
Bunnell, and one from FlaglerPalm Coast.
From ground — to table — to tummy Bunnell students grow food using hydroponics. JACQUE ESTES STAFF WRITER
Three events, three solemn moments. PAGE 3A
FPC students ‘landing’ careers
It was just 10 a.m. and the sixthgrade students in Cathie Zanella’s class already had their hands dirty. But that’s to be expected since the students were busy preparing the hydroponic gardens at the school for fall planting. There is a large greenhouse on the school grounds with hydroponic towers lining the outside. This was their first day in what is called a “special area” class, and
the children were cleaning out the remnants of last year’s harvest so this year’s herbs and vegetables can be planted. “This is our Flagship Program for Green Technologies,” Zanella said. “This year we have added cooking and culinary, all part of our focus with agriscience.” Under the supervision of, fourth-grade teacher Danielle Burton and Deborah Hough, Flagler County extension service SEE PREPARING PAGE 4A
STAFF WRITER
The phrase “pull up the throttle,” isn’t an unusual one in Building 7, Room 115, at Flagler Palm Coast High School. Inside this room there are two flight simulators and a wind tunnel that currently make up the hands-on equipment for the aeronautics program. A recent $5,000 donation from The Women’s Initiative of Flagler County, a group organized through the United Way of Volusia-Flagler Counties, and a matching $5,000 grant from the Flagler County Education Foundation means the Aerospace Flagship Lab at FPC will soon be adding more equipment. “The Aeronautics Flagship Program was conceived out of an idea by the economic opportunity council and the need for aeronautics positions in Flagler County,” FPC Principal Dustin Sims said. “Being directly across from the airport, we were the perfect school fit to be able to put together a Flagship Program.
Rylan Piasecki, seated, and Garrett Ferenz, work on a flight simulator at Flagler Palm Coast High School.
There are 50 high schools in the state that have aeronautics flagship programs.” Sims sees the program as a way to have something for students to come home to after college. “The industry needs this, and we don’t want the kids to come to FPC and then leave forever,” SEE PARTNERSHIP PAGE 5A