As a new board member and as an experienced board member these professional development trainings are essential to help us be not just highly effective in our roles, but also meet the current and future needs of our students, parents, staff, and schools. The high quality and in-depth training and information offered at these events are why Florida local education policymakers are recognized around the country as some of the most knowledgeable and well trained. I am so honored to be a part of this organization and grateful for the training and support they provide.
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Superman (Christopher Reeve) once said, “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” Now more than ever it is clear who some of the Superheros are… our teachers and educators!
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This morning Harold Walker and I planned to have coffee at Fresh Start Donuts in Beverly Hills. As I drove up to Fresh Start’s parking lot I got a big smile on my face as parked in the lot was a school bus. As I got out of my car I said to Harold, “you brought it!” See earlier in the morning I was watching Facebook Videos and unexpectedly came across a video of Mr. Walker teaching a shop class to a group of young people on building a cell phone holder and speaker for Mother’s Day. Watching the video, it was so evident what a natural teacher Mr. Walker is with the young people. The teaching was being done on the very bus that was in front of me in the parking lot. It is a specialty converted former school bus now turned mobile construction shop class. It is equipped with power saws, jigs, tools, workbenches, and more, all laid out like a small workshop. It has a generator but has also been wired to just plug into an outlet at any location. I wanted to share with you some of the photos (see below) I took of the bus and the work done by Mr. Harold and the Citrus Construction Academy. (Follow this link to watch the video on Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/stellar.fellar.9/videos/752111822117818) Thank you to Josh “Handy” Hicks for his support and sponsoring of this video and the other great teaching he is doing.
Mr. Walker is President of the Citrus Construction Academy a 501c3 foundation that raises awareness, support, and funds for any and all construction-related training for secondary and post-secondary students in Citrus County. They plan to bring the bus to events, schools, and other places teaching and exposing young people to the construction and engineering trades.
Mr. Walker and I were together this morning talking about the many projects he has been working on in Citrus County including a special project that we are working on at one of our high schools that we look forward to sharing more about it in the near future.
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Honored to receive the Phil Royal Legacy 2021 Heart of Gold Award
“The Phil Royal EMT Program is one of the greatest programs I have had the privilege to be a part of!”
This evening I was so honored to be awarded, along with Lindsay Tozer, the Phil Royal Legacy 2021 Heart of Gold Award.
Two weeks ago I received a message from April Royal asking me to be interviewed about the Phil Royal EMT Program at the Crystal River High School Academy of Health Careers, in partnership with the College of Central Florida. I love sharing about this amazing program and those that are a part of it so I jumped at the chance. Royal had me meet her at Cornerstone Church in Inverness to shoot the video. Where I arrived I saw Becky Beattie and Lindsay Tozer were there which wasn’t out of the ordinary for anything connected with the Phil Royal Legacy organization. As I walked in April came up and hugged me and I was so excited to share with her a personal photo that I knew she’d appreciate. I was so involved in talking about the photo that I didn’t realize until April started the interview that she was wearing an evening gown. As April started to talk it started to become clear I was there for more than an interview. I heard April say something about my work on the school board and with the Phil Royal EMT program and I began to tear up and then April started to tear up. About then Becky put her hand on my shoulder and at that moment I began to understand what was happening but I still did not fully accept that I could be there to receive this great honor. As April asked me to come up, I must admit that my tears became stronger. You see, the Phil Royal EMT Program is one of the greatest programs I have had the privilege to be a part of! (Follow this link to read more about naming the program for Phil Royal: https://thomastalks.org/phil-royal-emt-program/)
I am so truly honored to receive this special award and I thank April Royal and the Phil Royal Legacy Board of Directors. Let us continue Phil’s work! Visit www.PhilRoyalLegacy.com and learn how you can help! “ONE TEAM, ONE MISSION, ONE COMMUNITY”
This week was graduation week for our three largest high schools, Citrus High School, Lecanto High School, and Crystal River High School. Over and over in speeches this year by school leaders and students the theme was “thanks” and “gratefulness” for having in-person graduations, and for all that their teachers and school staff did this school year to provide face-to-face instruction during a global pandemic.
For the past four months, district and school staff have been preparing for these special traditional graduations. The enormous and monumental tasks of these graduations are more complex than most people know. They are challenging enough during a typical year but add COVID and the extra planning and efforts have more than double the work preparing for this year’s graduations.
I have always been impressed by the planning and execution of setting up these graduation events, from the chairs, main stage, sound systems, and much more, take strategic planning by our leaders and school maintenance teams. And if you think the preparation is a lot the breakdown is equally impressive. The very moment graduation ends the school and district maintenance and custodian teams swoop in and break it all down, moving it to the next school for the next day’s graduation. They then repeat this over and over until all three schools have had their graduation. (I still think “magic” or elves must be involved.)
I want to thank our Superintendent Himmel, school administrators, graduation coordinators, guidance counselors, school facility staff, district maintenance staff, and student setup volunteers (JROTC, athletics teams, and others). I want to also specially thank one person who always keeps a low profile, but this year especially lead the efforts behind the scenes to ensure our graduates had a safe and traditional in-person graduation, Assistant Superintendent Jonny Bishop.
We are so grateful for all these dedicated persons. Just look at some of these photos of their work for our graduates. (click on photos to enlarge)
Thank you to each and every one of them!
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Last night I had the great pleasure of attending the second annual Nature Coast Investment Practicum (NCIP) event for high school students. NCIP is a great public/private partnership in our schools for high school students real world investing experience by having students in their high school accounting class manage actual investment portfolios. The students or given parameters for purchasing and selling of stocks but must choose the right stocks by evaluating them and reevaluating them throughout the school year. The process is overseen by local financial planners who also help teach them along with their teacher sound investment practices and accounting principles. This program is currently at Citrus High School, but efforts are being made to expand it to all our high schools. As a result of the enormous success of the students’ portfolios, the money goes back into the initial account which currently has more than quadrupled. Profits from these investments are used to provide scholarships to students. Last night from the current class almost $5000 in scholarships were given out. This program would not take place if not for the Citrus County Educational Foundation and its directors. A special thanks to Scott Lee and CHS accounting teacher Mrs. Cooke.
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One of my roles as President-Elect of the Florida School Boards Association is to assist in the planning and development of leadership development and training. Today I was in Tallahassee for the Planning Committee meeting for the FSBA, FADSS, FSBAA, FERMA, SUNSPRA, FELL 76th Annual Joint Conference, and Professional Training taking place later this year. It was a most productive and exciting day working with other leaders from the Florida School Boards Association (FSBA), Florida Association of District School Superintendents (FADSS), Sunshine State School Public Relations Association (SUNSPRA), Florida Educational Risk Managers Association (FERMA), Florida School Board Attorneys Association (FSBAA) and Florida Educational Legislative Liaisons (FELL), planning the different professional development subjects and training session we will be providing at the event.
