Saving Children’s Lives with help of CCEF

Water safety program is vital

As a School Board from a rural community with a student population of approximately 70% coming from economically disadvantaged households we are often asked about some of our programs, “why is the school system to ‘that’? or that isn’t something the public school system should do”. In Citrus the majority of our students often come from homes that can’t provide the extra positive opportunities and as a School District we have learned that those experiences are vital in providing the opportunities for our students to be successful in the classroom and in their future.

One example of that is the Marine Science Station (MSS) in Crystal River where students in, 4th, 7th, and 10th grades get hands on real world experience learning about our water and marine environments. We regularly have students tell us that going out on a boat at the MSS is the first time they have ever been on a boat. Might seem small but the MSS impact one 7th grader so much that years later he became a Marine Scientist and now is the Administrator at the MSS.

Another such program which interestingly is also connected to water, is the Water Safety program in our elementary schools. Someone once asked us to justify this program and said, “So how many kids has this program saved”? My response, “every child that we don’t have to call 911 for about a drowning”. The Florida Department of Health states that, “Florida loses more children under age five to drowning than any other state. Annually in Florida, enough children to fill three to four preschool classrooms drown and do not live to see their fifth birthday. In 2013, Florida had the highest unintentional drowning rate in the nation for the 1–4 year old age group with a drowning rate of 7.54 per 100,000 population. Florida had the second highest drowning rate in the nation for the 1–14 year old age group with a drowning rate of 2.54 per 100,000 population.”

During the educational budget challenges over the last many years there were times when due to funding, the Water Safety program was listed as a possible cut. I have been happy that the School Board, Superintendent Himmel and Assistant Superintendent Mullen did not support cutting the program, but the challenge has been how to fund it. The State of Florida does not provide funding for programs like the MSS or the Water Safety as they are not “required”, so when the local School Board and Leadership team desires these programs we have to either find the funds in the ever stretched general fund or we have to find a person, group or organization that is just as committed to our students as the school system— enter the Citrus County Education Foundation.

This past month, once again, the CCEF stepped forward to assist in funding the Water Safety program with the school district. As a USA Swimming certified swim coach, I wholeheartedly support the Water Safety program and I am grateful for the continual devotion CCEF has to our students’ education, safety and future.

This week the CCEF will be giving teacher’s mini grants for the classroom totaling over $100,000. The CCEF is steadfast in its commitment to our students. We are indebted to the CCEF and its partners such as the Suncoast Credit Union. If you find yourself in a position to contribute to this find organization do not hesitate to do so, doing so is directly contributing to our students and their classrooms.

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