CTE and alternantive grad pathways bill heads to Gov

Posted on May 2nd, 2019 by

CTE and alternantive grad pathways bill heads to Gov

This is a great day for Career/vocational education and alternative graduation pathways!! Career/vocational education and alternative graduation pathways bill (HB7071/HB7055/SB770) passes Florida Legislator and heads to Gov. DeSantis for his signature!! This bipartisan supported bill I feel is one of the best educational legislation this 2019 session. I am so appreciative to all the legislators who worked to support this bill. I am most appreciative of Rep. Ralph Massullo who has tirelessly supported career/vocational education since being elected to office! Thank you Rep. Massullo and your outstanding team!

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Florida House to make vaping and tobacco use age 21

Posted on April 23rd, 2019 by

Florida House to make vaping and tobacco use age 21

Excellent improvement!

Today the Florida House of Representatives members overwhelmingly approved HB 7119 which raises the tobacco use age to 21 years of age. This includes products like vaping and others. I am so appreciative of this proposed law and I urge the Senate to follow suit. I always want to thank our Rep. Ralph Massullo for his support of this bill both in committee and on the House floor vote.

The House Staff analysis shared that a 2015 study sanctioned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded that raising the age for tobacco use from 18 to 21 nationally would result in 223,000 fewer early deaths, 50,000 fewer deaths from lung cancer and 4.2 million fewer years of life lost. Florida recent statistics show nearly 25 percent of high schoolers currently vape, in some areas even higher. WTXL in Tallahassee reports; “Laura Corbin with Tobacco Free Florida, the state-funded anti-smoking campaign, says e-cigarettes are especially appealing to young people. ‘Youth are especially attracted to the flavors that these products come in. We also know that these products typically contain nicotine. In fact, one Juul pod contains as much nicotine as 20 cigarettes,’ said Corbin.”

While I never like the idea of limiting personal liberties, we have a real crisis taking place. Citrus School Students sadly have also seen an increase in tobacco, nicotine and vaping products in recent years and this law is much welcomed.

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Salsa Arts Camps!

Posted on April 7th, 2019 by

Salsa Arts Camps!

Visual Arts, Music Theater & Drum Camps

COOL Summer Arts for HOT Summer Days

*SALSA WILL BE AT LECANTO HIGH SCHOOL THIS YEAR*

SALSA Visual Arts Camp is designed to provide students (Grades K-9) with a high-quality Visual Arts experience. This intensive one-week camp is scheduled for June 10th – 14th, 2019: 8:30 a.m.— 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The theme this year is: “INTERNATIONAL RHYTHMS”. Grades k-4 will see 4 or 5 instructors a day. They will work with clay, paint, weave, fuse glass, tie dye t-shirts, mosaics, print on silk and many other projects. Their instructors design new and fun projects each year.
Grades 5-9 will work with: clay, try throwing on a potter’s wheel, cook in the culinary lab, make bread, and many other “doable” fun recipes. They will make a wire sculpture, fuse glass, dye shirts, make paper and create other exciting projects.
The classes will be limited in size to maximize the experience.
The cost of the camp is $130.00 and must be received with a completed registration form by May 15, 2019.

*The district will be providing a free lunch to all students who wish to participate. The option will be available on the application.
STUDENTS WILL BE PARTICIPATING IN ART ACTIVITIES THAT WILL STAIN THEIR CLOTHES. They will need to be wearing appropriate clothing.

Click here for more information and application

SALSA Music Theater Camp: Will be from 2:00 PM until 6:00 PM.
They will perform “Jungle Book” on Friday. Musical Theater Camp participants will have a chorus class, a theater class, a technical theater class (props, sets and costume building) and dance instruction.
On Friday, the studentswill perform “The Jungle Book”for their parents and guests.
Cost will be $90.00

Click here for more information and application

New this year!
SALSA Drum Camp: Open to rising 5th, 6th &7th graders only, Drum Camp,will be from 2:00 PM until 6:00 PM after Visual Arts Camp. They will perform on Friday Before the “Jungle Book.” Drum Camp participants will be introduced to all aspects of percussion performance.
Cost will be $90.00

Click here for more information and application

Funds raised from this camp will be used to enhance the Lecanto School of the Arts, art students and other Fine Arts Department needs.

We try to make this camp a unique and fun learning experience. Students get to try new and exciting arts challenges.
Any feedback, questions, suggestions and comments can be directed to Dave Brown (brownd2@citrus.k12.fl.us) or Lee Partin (fredpartin52@gmail.com).

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Florida House Messengers Page and Messenger Program Experience

Posted on April 1st, 2019 by

Florida House Messengers Page and Messenger Program Experience

Being a Florida House of Representatives Page or Messenger is a long-standing tradition in Florida. The program dates back to 1865. This past week my wife and I had the honor to accompany our daughter, a sophomore at Crystal River High School, to serve as one of the messengers for the 2019 Florida House Pages & Messengers Program. She was sponsored by our local Florida State Representative Dr. Ralph Massullo.

The program gives young people a front row seat into the state legislative process.  Pages and Messengers have different responsibilities while working at our State’s Capital. Pages have the special opportunity to work on the floor of the Florida House of Representatives right alongside legislators, running errands for them. Messengers get the responsibility of delivering mail and packages throughout the Capitol and surrounding buildings. In addition to their individual duties have Pages and Messengers have the opportunity to meet lawmakers, lobbyists, state staff, and constituents working together in the legislative process. Sometimes they may have the opportunity to attend committee meetings and perhaps even catch a press conference. When not on duty Pages and Messengers may have the opportunity to tour the Capitol, Governor’s Mansion, the Florida Supreme Court, the Museum of Florida History, and the Historic Capitol. One of the best experiences for Pages and Messengers is participating in the mock committee meetings and general session in the House Chamber. Students have the opportunity to develop mock bills for consideration and to debate and vote on their and other students’ bills. This helps to put their newfound knowledge of Florida government and governing to use.

During this week Pages and Messengers got to meet with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried, Florida Speaker of the House Jose R. Oliva and many legislators from all around Florida.

We want to take this opportunity to thank Representative Dr. Massullo for his support of the Page and Messenger Program and for his passion for young people and civic programs like this. We also want to give a special thanks to State Representative Massullo’s outstanding Legislative Aides, Adele Hembree and Dorothy Dilworth, for all their hard work helping the Representative’s sponsored Pages and Messengers, and for all the work they do helping promote the Florida House of Representatives Pages & Messengers program.

These hands-on learning experiences are important opportunities that we should encourage and help our young people take advantage of.  Next Fall consider applying to be a Florida House Page or Messenger. Each House Representative can typically sponsor one Page and one Messenger each session. Applications typically open up in late summer to early Fall. You can also get more information on the program and download an application at the HOUSE PAGE & MESSENGER PROGRAM webpage. In addition, the Florida Senate also has a Page program for high school and young college students.You can learn more by visiting: https://www.flsenate.gov/About/PageProgram

See slideshow of photos below

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Pathway to high school graduation gets big help with Massullo’s bill

Posted on March 7th, 2019 by

Vocational pathway to high school graduation gets big help with Massullo’s bill

Dr. Massullo champion for Career Technical/Vocational alternative graduation pathways

Florida State Rep. Ralph E. Massullo, MD, Chairman PreK-12 Innovation Subcommittee, Wednesday, March 6, 2019, during the presentation of HB7055/PCB PKI 19-01 – Career Education, that received unanimous bipartisan approval and was reported out of committee favorably. Photo courtesy of The Florida Channel-www.thefloridachannel.org

On Wednesday, March 6th, 2019, on just day two of the 2019 Florida legislative session, after just 15 minutes in Florida House’s PreK-12 Innovation Subcommittee, our State Representative Dr. Ralph Massullo’s HB7055/PCB PKI 19-01 – Career Education, received unanimous bipartisan approval and was reported out of committee favorably.

During his presentation, Rep. Massullo shared, “We haven’t emphasized the career part as much as we should. We’re making an effort to do that (with HB7055/PCB PKI 19-0)”.  The bill was praised by both Republican and Democratic leaders.  Personally, I believe this may be the most positive bipartisan education legislation that passes this 2019 Florida Legislative session.

Rep. Massullo explained that Florida’s growing labor market will need to fill an additional 1.7 million vacancies by 2030. He echoed that Florida is already struggling to meet that demand. That was further detailed in the committee’s analysis report of the bill which stated, “Between 2018 and 2025, 64 percent of the jobs created will require a postsecondary degree or certificate. Currently, 48.3 percent of working-age Floridians have a postsecondary degree or certificate, and without growth, the state will remain below the number necessary to fully meet the workforce demand. Florida ranks 21st in the nation for the percentage of adults with education and high-quality workforce credentials.” (Click here to read the full analysis report.)

The passage of this bill is the foundation for developing true alternative pathways through Career Technical/Vocational/Workforce education that leads to high school graduation.  My deep hope is that in future legislative sessions more will be done to provide needed alternatives to state required tests for graduation and provide for options like the use of individual student portfolios to demonstrate mastery of knowledge like we have available to students in 3rd grade.

There’s a long way to go before this bill becomes law but it’s a huge step forward, and this bill will be an excellent footing to build upon.

I am so grateful to Rep. Massullo, for his tireless commitment to our students, for his great understanding on these issues, and for diligently working to lead his peers to make formative change that will positively impact students’ lives and our future Florida economy.

If this bill passes both chambers and is signed into law by Governor DeSantis it will;

    • Revises the school grades formula to recognize career certificate clock hour dual enrollment and establishes formal career dual enrollment agreements between high schools and career centers;
    • Allows students with an industry certification to earn two mathematics credits for Algebra I;
    • Allows a computer science credit to substitute for a mathematics or science credit and requires a biennial review of career education courses for alignment with high school graduation requirements;
    • Requires the Department of Education to provide assistance in increasing public awareness of apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship opportunities;
    • Requires the elimination of industry certifications that are not aligned to industry needs;
    • Establishes a “College and Career Decision Day” to recognize high school seniors for their postsecondary education and career plans;
    • Doubles the cap on career and professional education (CAPE) Digital Tool certificates the State Board of Education may identify for weighted FTE funding; and
    • Reestablishes a middle grades career planning course requirement.

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5,000 Happy 50th Birthday gifts for CCEF and Blessings

Posted on March 5th, 2019 by

5,000 Happy 50th Birthday gifts for CCEF and Blessings

On February 26, 2019, I got a message from Citrus County Education Foundation Executive Director Shaunda Burdett saying, “My heart is overflowing with your birthday (donation) posts!!!! You past your goal!” That was our second goal of $750, the first was $500. This birthday I happen to be in a School Board meeting, at the break I heard from a dear friend who said they wanted to make a donation but as a challenge. They challenge me and those in social media if we could raise a total of $1,000, they would round up to $5,000. I posted the challenge and with in about two hours we exceeded the challenge, thereby securing the moneys and collectively raising over $5,000 for Citrus County Education Foundation and Citrus Blessings.

CCEF and Blessings informed me they received the $4,000 check and Facebook will issue the remainder, in addition to some individual checks I received.  In the end we raised a total of $5,110.00!!

Thank you to all the many people that donated, shared, and supported this endeavor.

Thomas

Learn more about CCEF & Blessings

Citrus Blessings – http://citruscountyblessings.org/
Our “Blessings” program is dedicated to silencing the weekend hunger of local children in need. Each week during the school year participants in the program receive a bag of food to take home for the weekend. Every Friday 1,650 local students go home with a backpack full of “Blessings” food to fill the gap over the weekend and school breaks.

Citrus County Education Foundation – https://www.citruseducation.org/
The mission of the Citrus County Education Foundation is to provide resources to support Citrus County Schools to enhance the quality for present and future generations. “Funding Our Future” is hardly just our newest tagline. Diminishing budgets and the times we live in have called for greater grassroots support and more extensive community involvement. We must advocate, and provide, for children in our public schools!

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