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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Happy 50th Birthday to me for CCEF and Blessings

Posted on February 18th, 2019 by

Happy 50th Birthday to me for CCEF and Blessings

On February 26, 2019, I will celebrate my 50th Birthday. I would like to use this day to celebrate and support two special organizations for our students in Citrus County— the Citrus County Education Foundation and Citrus Blessings.

These two organizations represent a big part of my passion in my work life— students!

All donations will go through CCEF and will be distributed evenly to both CCEF and Blessings. Feel free to give on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/donate/314584339193513/) or by visiting their respective websites and adding Thomas Kennedy’s Birthday in the notes. ANY amount makes a difference in kids’ lives!

Thank you in advance for your gift to our kids! God bless our Citrus County kids!

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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New Citrus college scholarships webpage

Posted on February 15th, 2019 by

New Citrus college scholarships webpage

The Citrus County Coalition for College and Careers, along with Citrus County School District director of Research and Accountability, Amy Crowell; school counselors, Janet Selman; and Lindsay Blair, created a new webpage that high school seniors and parents can visit to access all local scholarships offered to seniors throughout our county. Students will be able to see what is offered at each school, eligibility requirements, deadlines, downloadable applications, and other information regarding our many local scholarships.

Follow this direct link to the local scholarship webpage: https://www.citrusschools.org/departments/research_and_accountability/scholarships

Here is a quick link on the main district HOME page. Simply click “Scholarships” under the Students Tab to automatically link to the local scholarship site (see snip-it below).

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Kennedy receives Consortium of Florida Education Foundation STAR Award

Posted on February 14th, 2019 by

Kennedy receives Consortium of Florida Education Foundation STAR Award

In November 2018 at the Florida School Board Association’s 73rd Annual Joint conference I was honored to learn I had been nominated by our Citrus County Education Foundation, and overwhelmed to have been chosen as the 2018 Consortium of Florida Education Foundation’s STAR School Board Member of the Year award.  While I am thrilled to be selected this award is truly one about our public education community, the awesome work of the Citrus County Education Foundation, and the outstanding community partners in Citrus County.  Thank you to the Consortium of Florida Education Foundation for this award and honoring School Board Members!

This is one of the only statewide awards for School Board Members and I was so humbled to receive this.  Thank you to the Florida School Board Association, and President Jerry Taylor for his very kind words following the receiving of this award.

I cannot thank enough the numerous people I learned where involved in the nomination application submitted so that I might be considered.  Thank you, Citrus County Education Foundation, Executive Director, Shaunda Burdette, the entire CCEF Board of Directors; the nominating letter author Citrus Blessings, Executive Director, Grace Hengesbach; CCSB Director of Research and Accountability, Amy Crowell; CCSB Education Chief, Dr. Scott Hebert, and Superintendent of Schools, Sandra “Sam” Himmel.

I want to also give a personal thank you, to my dear amazing wife Thomasine, my son Ethan and daughter Genevieve and the support, encouragement and all they do and sacrifice so that we may do this work.

Lastly, thank you to our great community of Citrus County.  Our family is so blessed to live in Citrus!

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