On Tuesday, September 17, 2019, a video produced by Sandy Hook Promise was distributed through the internet and has been quickly going viral. The producers attached a special warning to the video which says, “this PSA contains graphic content related to school shootings that may be upsetting to some viewers. If you feel that this subject matter may be too difficult for you, you may choose not to watch this video.”
Sandy Hook Promise states that their mission is, “to create a culture engaged in preventing shootings, violence, and other harmful acts in schools.”
While this video is hard to watch, it gives to those not in our schools and classrooms a glimpse of what our students, teachers, and staff are dealing with every day in our schools. These trainings and conversations are happening in nearly all schools whether the schools are public, charter or private. School safety is not limited to the type of school.
If you are willing, I believe this video is worth watching. It will undoubtedly stimulate conversation. It will be controversial and will be criticized by some and praised by others, but I implore you to understand that this video does show the type of drills, conversation, thoughts, worries and fears that students and schools deal with every day, while also having meeting the academic needs, and in public and charter schools having to meet the ever-growing state mandates placed on local school districts, schools, and classrooms.
Bishop wrote in her column that while Citrus 2020 Vision Check did not address career and technical education the Citrus 2030 Vision Check will. She shares, “The mere emergence of the topic as part of Citrus 2030 Vision Check is indicative of how things have changed in regard to options available to students (the theme Destiny by Choice being apropos, there being more choice in post-secondary education now).
Bishop a former middle school principal talks about the role of career education in our schools, she says, “Middle school should be more exploratory for students to learn about career options. High school should then take a more applied approach to exploration. The next step becomes the high schools working closely with post-secondary educators for seamless transition”. We are seeing this in Citrus County Schools where we have 140 separate CTE courses, covering approx. 75 industry certifications, that connect to 28 different Program of Study Pathways are available to our high school students.
Bishop believes we have great opportunities in career and workforce and that we can accomplish so much by, “expanding partnerships between business and education”.
Belle of the Ball Project is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, which provides Prom and Homecoming dresses to high school girls in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Polk, Hernando, Citrus and surrounding counties for their high school dances. Our mission statement is “No girl should be denied the opportunity to attend her high school dance because of financial difficulties”. We are a 100% volunteer organization and rely solely on donations and sponsors. For information on how you can volunteer and/or make a donation, please visit our website at: www.BelleOfTheBallProject.com
Belle of the Ball’s beautifully decorated 5,000 sq.ft boutique is located at 1210 Holt Avenue in Clearwater. The Boutique is ONLY open on designated dress distribution shopping days. High school girls can choose from over 3,000 gorgeous donated dresses that are organized by color and size (many still have the tags on them) for their high school dances and military ball dance.
To qualify for a dress the high school girl must appear in person. No documentation or referral letter is necessary for we operate on the honor system. Our goal is to provide an enjoyable atmosphere creating a memorable experience for the girls! The girls are allowed one person on the boutique floor to help them select their dress, however please note that men and children are not allowed on the floor. The Belle of the Ball volunteers will be available to help you select dresses and assist you in the dressing room as needed.
All shopping distribution days are held on Saturdays between the hours of 9am- 2pm. No appointments are necessary, nor do we make them.
Homecoming 2019 Shopping dates are: Saturday, September 7th 9am – 2pm Saturday, September 21st 9am – 2pm Saturday, October 5th 9am – 2pm Saturday, October 12th 9am – 2pm
These are the ONLY days to receive a dress for Homecoming season
For more information please visit:
Our Website: Belleoftheballproject.com
Facebook: Tampa Bay Area Belle of the Ball
Twitter: BelleOfTheBall @TBayBelleofBall
To contact us:
Office phone: 1-877-77BELLE (1-877-772-3553)
To volunteer: volunteerbelle.info@gmail.com
To donate: donationsbelle.info@gmail.com
Director of Operations: Barbara McCarthy
barbara@suncountrycleaners.com
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Filed under: News & Updates
School Improvement Planning Days at Citrus Schools
Today was one of those days as a school board member that I so enjoy. I attended the School Advisory Council (SAC) School Improvement Planning days at Central Ridge Elementary and Citrus Springs Middle School.
At these vital planning meetings, they bring together stakeholders including the school administrators, teachers, parents and school board members to review performance data, current strategies, curriculum and much more. During these meetings, critical, frank and open conversations lead to the development of a school improvement plan to positively impact our students and their classrooms. I have the pleasure to be a part of these meetings for nearly 15 years, first as a parent, then the SAC chairman, and now as a school board member. I am always impressed with the process and the bring together of these stakeholders.
During the afternoon each schools’ teams from every school in the district came back together at Citrus High School, with district education leaders to further collaborate and finalize their respective School Improvement Plans.
I look forward to reading through the adopted plans when they are complete. Thank you to all the many staff, parents, community members, district personnel and school administrators for your productive and important work.
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FSBA Legislative Platform Saw Progress During Session
Thank you to the Legislature and Governor DeSantis for their work in supporting these important needs for our students and schools.
This past year I had the honor of working with Florida School Board Association leaders and its members on FSBA’s 2019 Legislative priorities on the FSBA Legislative Committee and as FSBA’s Advocacy sub-committee Chairman. As you can see from this report FSBA saw many of its priorities make notable progress by the passage of several bills and Governor DeSantis’s executive orders. Thank you to the Legislature and Governor DeSantis for their work in supporting these important needs for our students and schools.
We look forward to continuing to work together in the upcoming 2020 Florida legislative session.
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Filed under: News & Updates
On Tuesday, September 17, 2019, a video produced by Sandy Hook Promise was distributed through the internet and has been quickly going viral. The producers attached a special warning to the video which says, “this PSA contains graphic content related to school shootings that may be upsetting to some viewers. If you feel that this subject matter may be too difficult for you, you may choose not to watch this video.”
