The Fonda Blog

BHS Yearbook Production Now A Popular Class

By Christi Boortz, Curriculum & Professional Development Department
Posted on December 16, 2015

Blind and visually impaired high school students were excited when a new class showed up on the FSDB course schedule for the fall semester, among the usual listings. Technically “Journalism 1,” the class focuses on Yearbook Production, and is taught by English and Language Arts instructor Melissa Fonda. The class has a strong literacy component integrating technology and the visual arts. Students learn writing and listening skills, as well as the aesthetics of photography and layout design. They use email to schedule interviews, fact check, and submit assignments via computer. Also, they use the Memory Book website to upload photos and create copy and layouts. Fonda has many good memories from participating in yearbook production as a student back in her early years—she “enjoyed the technical and creative aspects of making layouts and writing features,” Fonda received state of the art technology and equipment to implement the class, in the form of a giant Apple screen display unit with wireless keyboard and mouse, and two high quality Canon cameras. The class is composed of juniors and seniors, which is just fine by Fonda since “older students have had time to develop their writing skills, they know who people in the high school are, and they have a sense of the extracurricular activities that everyone is engaged in – more maturity overall.” Fonda is also pleased with the cross section of students who signed on, which includes athletes, musicians, artists, and Student Council members. Initially six students signed up, but three more added the class after they heard it was fun. Word travels fast in BHS!

Bryce Cothron plans to be a novelist in adulthood, so he especially enjoys writing snippets for the yearbook. He also expressed appreciation for learning about the various elements of photography, such as composition and positioning. He summed up, “It’s interesting to see how it all comes out. Good stuff.” Jonathan Moran asked himself, “Why not?” and showed up for class. He cites editing as one of his favorite activities. Ditto for student Aaliyah Gisondi, who loves being a copy editor. She admitted with a smile, “I get to tell anyone when they have made errors. It might sound funny but that makes me happy.” Gisondi also took the class so she could work with “Ms. Fonda,” one of her favorite BHS instructors. Roque Moran, brother to Johnathan, took the class partly because it fit his schedule and partly because he felt it would be interesting. The class has met his expectations. Among other things, he has learned “taking good pictures requires accuracy.” And he enthusiastically endorsed the instructor, saying “Ms. Fonda’s teaching is awesome.”

Emmitt Johnson enjoys writing and “running around the school to take photos of events.” He has learned, in terms of formatting, what to do and what not to do. Nick Thompson favors design and layout, but explained that he additionally does “odd jobs, like getting photo permissions.” Vanessa Coleman had a professional take on the “soft skills” she has been learning through the course, stressing that one should “always follow up and stay on task.” She shared her former problems with procrastination and explained “As soon as you get a task to do, you better get on it right away!” Quinn Delong took the course on the advice of Assistant Principal Charlie Crozier. Delong already had some accumulated knowledge from working with Fonda on the yearbook last year. He feels the course has added to his skill set in media, from technical aspects of layout to the softer skills of working in teams effectively, and sharing knowledge with his classmates. He has some advice to offer: “Do what you love, love what you do.” Apple Polonia is the editor of the club section in the yearbook, and through an email interview, shared that she is learning cooperation and interviewing skills. She highly recommends the class as a good learning experience for those who enjoy design and communication. She suggests that her peers should “try as many different things as possible, because knows that thing might turn into an interest and then maybe a passion.”

About FSDB

Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind (FSDB) is a fully accredited state public school and outreach center available tuition-free to eligible pre-K and K-12 deaf/hard of hearing and blind/visually impaired students. Comprehensive educational services at FSDB are individualized, specific to the unique communication and accessibility needs of each student for independence and lifelong success. FSDB gratefully accepts private donations to support vital programs that directly benefit students and are not paid by state general revenue funds. To visit the school or to learn more about eligibility for enrollment, contact 1-800-344-3732. For more information, visit www.fsdb.k12.fl.us.

written by admin \\ tags: Achievements, Education, SouthEast

The Fonda Family of Chattanooga, Tennessee

Obituary from Chattanooga Times, 10 Jun 1922 – Jeremiah D. Fonda, 89, died yesterday morning at 8:10 o’clock at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Sue Fonda Scholze, at 1017 St. Elmo Ave, St. Elmo. Mr. Fonda leaves two daughters, Mrs. Sue Fonda Scholze, and Mrs. Lottie I. Boyce, both of Chattanooga, and one son, Henry J. Fonda.  Mrs. Vernie Spencer, of Chattanooga, and Leonard T. Boyce, of Macon GA and other grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.  Mr. Fonda was born in Fonda, NY (correction: Beakmontown, NY), but moved with his parents to Burlington, VT in his boyhood days, and spent his young manhood there. He was of a hardy, rugged disposition, and in the early fifties went to the Cripple Creek gold mining regions, where he spent two years.  About the year 1875, Mr. Fonda, together with his family, moved to Chattanooga and entered the contracting and building business, which he followed up to the time his strength failed, and was well known to the contractors and builders of the early days of the city.  Mr. Fonda was a loving husband and father, a splendid citizen, and won the love and respect of a large circle of friends.  Funeral services will be held at the funeral parlors of the Jack O’Donohue company, Monday morning at 10:30 o’clock, Dr. J. W. Bachman officiating.  The following are requested to act as pallbearers: Ernest Spencer, Herbert Spencer, Rov Blevins, Richard Fry, David Jones, and Edward Birdsell. (Note – Sandra Stuart wrote, on 3/3/2010: I will attach a copy of Jeremiah D’s obit. There are some questionable items in it. I think the family had moved to Chattanooga by 1873, instead of 1876, because the youngest child is listed in the 1880 census as being born in 1873 in TN. Also the Cripple Creek gold rush didn’t happen until the 1890s! Perhaps fifties is a typo. I find it strange that Charlotte is not mentioned but, since she died in 1888, I guess not many people would have remembered her.)

Henry J. Fonda - Chattanooga, TN - 1888

Family of Henry J. Fonda - Chattanooga, TN - 1897

The pictures: The single of Henry J. was around the time of his marriage to Suzie Mae, 1888. The one of all the Fondas is 1897, or early 1898. Maude is the baby being held by Suzie Mae in front. Ruth is on her left and Henry is on the edge two rows back. So many women in this family! I wish I knew who the others are. (Sandra Stuart)

written by admin \\ tags: History, Migrations, Portrait, SouthEast

Queen of the workout video Jane Fonda gets back in the old routine

Trim: Jane Fonda launches World Fitness Day at the weekend looking as fit as ever

It takes more than hip and knee replacement surgeries to stop the queen of the workout video.  Jane Fonda defied her 72 years at the weekend, sliding into her 1980s leotard to host the first annual World Fitness Day in Atlanta, Georgia.  The Oscar-winning actress looked as trim as ever as she demonstrated her trademark exercise moves in the tightly-fitted yellow and black number.

‘I’m part of a demographic that’s kind of ignored,’ She said. ‘We have to go into it with guns blazing and be as healthy as possible.’  The appearance comes just a year after she was photographed being pushed round New York’s JFK Airport in a wheelchair.  Fonda had knee replacement surgery last year after wearing of the cartilage in her left knee left bone rubbing on bone.  The surgery followed a hip replacement five years ago and years of painful back problems.  In the past she has succumbed to plastic surgery, going under the knife for breast implants and cosmetic surgery to remove the bags under her eyes.  But more recently she has insisted she is determined to grow old gracefully and naturally and has spoken out about cosmetic surgery.

Fonda became a Hollywood star after her appearance in Barbarella in 1968.  But she is arguably more renowned for her vast exercise empire, making millions in the Eighties and Nineties from her gyms, keep fit books and videos.  She famously encouraged her viewers to ‘go for the burn’ – which they did, by the millions.  Her first exercise video, ‘Jane Fonda’s Workout’ released in 1982, remains one of the highest selling fitness videos of all time.

written by admin \\ tags: Celebrity, Entertainment, Events, SouthEast

Attorney Honored with Community Service Award

Fayette County resident and attorney Angela Hinton Fonda was recently awarded the Justice Robert Benham Award for Community Service, presented by the State Bar of Georgia and the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism. She was the 6th Judicial District recipient at the 11th annual award presentation Feb. 16 at the State Bar Center in Atlanta.

Fayette resident and Atlanta Assistant City Attorney Angela Hinton Fonda (far left) recently received the Justice Robert Benham Award for Community Service presented by the State Bar of Georgia and the Chief Justice’s Commission of Professionalism. Joining Hinton Fonda at the ceremony were (from left) Fayette County DFCS board member Pete Nelms, Fayette County Commission Chairman Jack Smith, therapeutic counselor Connie Thomas and Carol Nelms.

“Although I am deeply humbled for being selected for the Justice Benham Award for Community Service, I regard it as an affirmation of the values of Fayette County,” Hinton Fonda said. “I was, and am, honored to have been chosen to serve with the wonderful members of the Fayette County DFCS (Dept. of Family & Children’s Services) Board. Fayette residents are kind and generous in times of trouble. I am glad to have the opportunity to contribute to our community in such meaningful ways and I am proud to call Fayette County my home.”

Hinton Fonda last week commented on her service with Fayette County DFCS and on some of the aspects of of that service that put an undeniable human face on those receiving services.

“In the course of my service on the Board, I discovered that children who were aging out of foster care were sent off to college, trade schools or independent life with their belongings in trash bags. What a humiliating message for those children. I thought about what it must be like to arrive at school alone, with no one to fret over whether your room will be comfortable or whether you have enough study snacks. The absence of a parent can be explained, but the indignity of bringing everything you own in trash bags has no easy explanation,” Hinton Fonda said. “Community leaders and churches donate backpacks and school supplies for grade school and high school students but there is, generally, no collection for students aging out of care. After getting an assessment of needs from Fayette DFCS, I got community members to buy brand new suitcases for the college students. We put a set of towels and an alarm clock with a battery backup in the bags and gave them to DFCS to pass along. The point was to give the newly-independent young people the appearance of normalcy, and a few ‘life tools,’ for this new phase of their lives. I anticipate an expanded effort in the coming months.”

Hinton Fonda was nominated by therapeutic counselor Connie Biemiller Thomas for her work on the Fayette DFCS Board and on behalf of families and children in crisis and based on a career-long history of community service and involvement in Fayette County and in Chatham County, her previous home.

In addition to her work with the Fayette DFCS board, Hinton Fonda led a Leadership Fayette project with the assistance of the Southside Chapter of the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers to collect career-appropriate clothing for women at the Promise Place domestic violence program.
“We received donations from as far away as Alpharetta and the donations included shoes, purses, and scarves, all of the ‘uniform’ elements of a successful interview candidate. It is my hope that the clothing will be a confidence booster to the recipients as they build independent lives,” Hinton Fonda said.

Since 1998, the Justice Robert Benham Awards for Community Service have been presented to honor lawyers and judges in Georgia who have made significant contributions to their communities and demonstrate the positive contributions of members of the State Bar of Georgia beyond their legal or official work.

Bar members have served a wide range of community organizations, government-sponsored activities, and humanitarian efforts. Their fields of service include: youth athletics and mentoring programs, literacy programs, social and support services, church and religious activities, politics, conservation and the environment, promotion and support for legal aid programs, community development, health, education, sports, recreation, and the arts.
The awards recognize the commitment of Georgia lawyers to volunteerism, encourage all lawyers to become involved in community service, improve the quality of lawyers’ lives through the satisfaction they derive from helping others and raise the public image of lawyers.

Hinton Fonda serves as Atlanta senior assistant city attorney and holds a J.D. from Duke University and a B.A. cum laude State University of New York at Albany.

Among her many accomplishments with the Georgia Bar Association and the American Bar Association, Hinton Fonda also affiliated with the Promise Place Women’s Shelter, the Arts Leadership League of Georgia, the Georgia Association of Woman Lawyers and the State Bar Fee Arbitration Panel.

New vehicles granted to county departments

Fayette County resident and Atlanta attorney Angela Hinton Fonda was also applauded for her commitment to public service. Fayette Commission Chairman Jack Smith recognized her for receiving the Justice Robert Benham Award for Community Service. The State Bar of Georgia selected Fonda for the prestigious award, which Smith said she was very deserving of. He also noted Fonda’s diligence as a board member of the Fayette County Department of Children and Family Services.

written by admin \\ tags: Achievements, Business, Legal, SouthEast

Three from Harvard receive American Rhodes Scholarships

The Harvard University Gazette, November 23, 2008

Two Harvard College students and a Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) doctoral student have received Rhodes Scholarships. Thirty-two Americans were chosen from among 800 applicants for the scholarships to the University of Oxford in England.

Kyle Q. Haddad-Fonda

Kyle Q. Haddad-Fonda, Issaquah, Wash., is a senior at Harvard College where he majors in history and near-Eastern languages and civilizations. Well-versed in Mandarin and Arabic, the Pforzheimer House resident conducted research in China and Egypt for his senior thesis on Sino-Arab relations. Haddad-Fonda was captain of the Harvard 2008 National College Bowl Championship team and plays the harp in the Mozart Society Orchestra. He plans to do a doctorate in Oriental studies at Oxford.

“I’m absolutely thrilled at the prospect of studying at Oxford next year,” he said, “and humbled by the caliber of the other students who went through the process as well.”

Haddad-Fonda said an early interest in geography and “the world and understanding other places” led him to his concentration. Current events, like the recent deal between Iraq and China in excess of $3 billion that will allow China to develop an oil field southeast of Baghdad, he noted, point to the increasing importance of Sino-Arab connections.

While at Oxford, he plans to continue his research and explore how this and other connections have developed in recent times.

“It’s a topic that is very current and very important. And it’s something that I want to understand and to understand in a historic perspective as well.” (…)

Elliot F. Gerson, American secretary of the Rhodes Trust, in a press release called the Rhodes Scholarships “the oldest and best-known award for international study, and arguably the most famous academic award available to American college graduates.” The scholarships were created in 1902 by the will of Cecil Rhodes, British philanthropist and African colonial pioneer. The first class of American Rhodes Scholars entered Oxford in 1904; those chosen this weekend will enter Oxford in October 2009.

Gerson said 3,164 Americans have won Rhodes Scholarships, representing 309 colleges and universities. The number of Harvard College students who have won American Rhodes Scholarships is now 323, more than from any other college. That number does not include Rhodes Scholars who were Harvard students who were citizens of other countries, and also does not include scholars who were selected while attending Harvard’s graduate schools.

In addition to the 32 Americans, Rhodes Scholars will also be selected from Australia, Bermuda, Canada, the nations of the Commonwealth Caribbean, Germany, India, Jamaica, Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan, Southern Africa (South Africa, plus Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, and Swaziland), Zambia, and Zimbabwe. About 80 Rhodes Scholars are selected worldwide each year. Some countries have not yet announced their Rhodes Scholars.

The value of the Rhodes Scholarships varies depending on the academic field and the degree (B.A., master’s, doctoral) chosen. The Rhodes Trust pays all college and university fees, provides a stipend to cover necessary expenses while in residence in Oxford as well as during vacations, and transportation to and from England. Gerson estimates that the total value of the scholarship averages approximately $50,000 per year.

2 from region named Rhodes scholars

The Associated Press, by Dan Robrish, Monday, November 24, 2008

An Issaquah man who is studying history and Chinese and Arabic languages at Harvard University is among this year’s winners of the Rhodes Scholarship.

Kyle Q. Haddad-Fonda joins Mallory A. Dwinal, of Gig Harbor, and 30 other men and women from across the United States in winning the prestigious scholarships for study at England’s Oxford University.

The winners – announced publicly on Sunday – were picked from 769 applicants endorsed by 207 colleges and universities nationwide. The scholarships are the oldest of the international-study awards available to American students. They provide two or three years of study at Oxford University in England, commencing in October.

Haddad-Fonda, 22, grew up in Bellevue and graduated from Lakeside School in Seattle, where he studied Chinese and learned to play the harp. He plays in Harvard’s student orchestra and served as captain of the school’s College Bowl team, for the academic-oriented quiz competition along the lines of “Jeopardy!”

His senior thesis at Harvard focused on China-Arab relations in the 1950s. He plans to pursue the British equivalent of a doctorate in Asian studies. (…)

written by admin \\ tags: America, Education, Events, History, International, News, Schools, SouthEast