Posted on May 14th, 2022 by
Thomas E Kennedy
CCEF’s 9th Annual Citrus Kids Triathlon
Nothing much better than to spend your morning cheering, volunteering, and supporting our Citrus kids! Well, that is just what dozens and dozens of community partners, parents, educators, and local volunteers did this morning supporting the every popular and ever-growing Citrus County Education Foundation’s 9th Annual Citrus Kids Triathlon! Congratulations to all our kids’ successes today!
Special thanks to prime sponsors PedIM and Publix and to all the amazing sponsors! Please check them out at https://www.trisignup.com/Race/Sponsors/FL/Inverness/CitrusKidsTri
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Filed under: News & Updates
Posted on May 13th, 2022 by
Thomas E Kennedy
Consortium of Florida Education Foundations SAC Panelist
What an honor it was to be a panelist for the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations at their Strategic Advisory Council. These are an impressive group of professionals and stakeholders from throughout Florida and the nation helping to assist in supporting our schools through our Education Foundations. We shared and collaborated about meeting the needs of our students, schools, and community
ies. I spent time bragging about our own local Citrus County Education Foundation and our community partners and the work we do together for our Citrus County students and schools. It was clear Citrus is a positive model around the state and nation.
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Filed under: News & Updates
Posted on May 11th, 2022 by
Thomas E Kennedy
2022 4H Public Speaking Regional School Contest Winners present at CCSB
Nothing better than a school board meeting packed with student presentations with lots of students and families attending. Thank you to Megan Furniss and Becky Harris for their coordinating the competition for the Citrus County School District and special thanks to 4H for sponsoring the event!
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Filed under: News & Updates
Posted on April 28th, 2022 by
Thomas E Kennedy
Kennedy speaks at Kennedy Space Center AMF new STEM curriculum launch
What a great honor it was today to represent Citrus County School District and the Florida School Board Association (FSBA) and speak at the launch of a new no-cost innovative “STEAM” (Science-Technology-Engineering-Arts-Math) initiative and curriculum. NASA Astronaut Captain Winston Scott, former Florida Senator Bill Montford, and Florida Representative & The Astronauts Memorial Foundation Executive Director Thad Altman announced the Mission One STEAM initiative and curriculum.
Mission One STEAM initiative is being developed in collaboration with many Aerospace and Community Partners. It will be made available in the future to public, private, and home schools. In addition, the Mission One STEAM project will offer onsite special activities, events, and competitions at the AMF Center for Space Education in the Kennedy Space Center.
Inspiring space exploration, aerospace engineering, and STEAM is not new for Citrus County Schools. Citrus has helped produce a number of former Citrus Schools students that work in the air-space industry including NASA Engineer Dr. Eric Stewart. (Read more about Dr. Stewart at https://thomastalks.org/citrus-students-conference-with-nasa-engineer-and-former-alumni/.)
Thank you to The Astronaut Memorial Foundation, Mark III, Rotary International, The Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay, and NASA Hunch for their support of the Mission One STEAM Initiative and this event. Special thanks to The Astronauts Memorial Foundation, Florida Representative Thad Altman, and Matt Susin, Brevard County School Board Member for making this event possible.
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Filed under: Blog Posts, News & Updates
Posted on April 26th, 2022 by
Thomas E Kennedy
Scuba coming (back) to CRHS NJROTC, shared at SAC
Some exciting news coming out of yesterday’s Crystal River High School’s School Advisory Council (SAC) meeting that I attended. CRHS’s Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) looks to begin this coming fall a certified divers option for cadets. CRHS NJROTC Senior Chief Maurice Perine and Tom Gotterup a local Rotarian, AES Board Member, and scuba instructor presented the program which will be modeled off of the Academy of Environmental Science program. Cadets would participate in an eight-week program and if they pass will be Naui certified as an Open Water Scuba Diver.
Cadets will have to qualify to be eligible to enter the program with both academic and behavioral requirements in order to participate. It will be a greatly reduced fee-based program, and scholarship options are being looked at to accommodate all students that qualify.
This actually is not the first time CRHS has had such a program in their NJROTC. The school’s NJROTC previously had one of the county’s first school based scuba program a number of years ago. In addition, funds will be raised to address scuba equipment needs for the program.
Underwater exploration fits right in line with the objectives of the CRHS NJROTC Naval science program. CRHS NJROTC is a nationally recognized as a Distinguished Unit.
Parents, community members, school staff, and administration were very excited about the presentation and supported it.
There are still many details to work out but this was exciting news and just another example of the valuable work for students that comes out of the school advisory council‘s.
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Posted on April 25th, 2022 by
Thomas E Kennedy
Upward Bound Wraps for the school year
Today was the last Upward Bound for Elementary Awards for the 2021-2022 school year. Today’s ceremony marks over 30 years of the Citrus County Rotary Ray Darling Upward Bound Awards and Ceremonies. Nearly 20,000 students have been recognized as Upward Bound recipients for individual successes.
Today’s inspirational guest speaker for our students was James “Boe” Anderson a personal friend of the late Ray Darling founder of the Upward Bound’s Award Ceremonies and who the Award is now named for. Mr. Anderson is a fourth-generation Floridian who at age 15 attended Tampa Bay Tech High School where he learned the printing trade. He later began his commercial experience in printing and in 1980 Gemini Graphics Printing, Inc., which remains in operations today. In 1995 the company moved from Tampa to Homosassa where Mr. Anderson started the Olde Mill House Gallery and Printing Museum. Mr. Anderson inspired the students to continue to persevere.
Ray Darlings’s vision that every student is worthy and can be successful and should be acknowledged for that continues because of the support from each of the Citrus County Rotary Clubs in Citrus County. Upward Bound students have gone on to become successful and our community continues to benefit because of the work of the Citrus County Rotary Ray Darling Upward Bound Awards and Ceremony.
While this school year’s Upward Bound ceremonies are over, the work of our students, their families, our schools, our educators, our community, our Rotaries, and Rotarians continue.
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Nothing much better than to spend your morning cheering, volunteering, and supporting our Citrus kids! Well, that is just what dozens and dozens of community partners, parents, educators, and local volunteers did this morning supporting the every popular and ever-growing Citrus County Education Foundation’s 9th Annual Citrus Kids Triathlon! Congratulations to all our kids’ successes today!
