Episode Transcript
[00:01:15] Speaker A: That intro is all that.
Good evening everyone. Good evening. How are we doing? I am Denise and to my right or left is who April.
[00:01:29] Speaker B: And we are diversity and equity in education. Hey, hey, hey, hey everybody.
[00:01:37] Speaker A: We are back. It is week three and we had week three in the month of August. And we are also celebrating the first week of school back in Hillsborough County. April, how are we feeling about this first week so far? And especially in a new capacity, in new role. Tell me about it.
[00:01:51] Speaker B: Well, I will say this, fortunately but unfortunately, I did not welcome the students back on the first day like you all did.
I had to continue my CIT certification, training components, so on and so forth, which is the crisis intervention team, which there is a necessity to add the youth component or I won't say add it. There needs to be a hyper focus on the youth component because it just seems to be an overlooked area when it comes to crises that happen when law enforcement engage with people in general and our children are people, I think they forget about that. But anywho. But I will say that when I returned on Friday, I was happy to see all of our youth, at least 90% of them in uniform. It made my heart smile.
[00:02:42] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:02:43] Speaker B: And how about you as you're at your new place of not residence, work events, environment.
[00:02:52] Speaker A: My new environment? Yes, my environment.
And what people don't know is like I said, a two pack is back. Okay.
April and I started off our careers in Hillsborough county at a school called D.W. waters Career Center. That was way, way more than 20 years ago. And we parted ways sometime around what, 2002 or 2003 because we ended up at different schools. Right. And we had just been going from school to school to school. And finally after 20 plus years, we ended up back at the same. At a school. We're working together. So it's just, it's just like a full circle moment. It really is. So it's interesting that, you know, I don't see her all day long, but I do get bonus time to see her, which is great, you know, just because it's good to be around somebody that's also uplifts you and it just gives you the energy you need to keep moving forward. Right. But in terms of what, what I've been doing, like I said earlier, in case you missed my, my Friday rant, I wanted to say I really want to give a shout out to the sixth grade team at the school, which is Jennings Middle School. Jennings Community School. Here's a round of applause. And clearly this, this is the type of Structure I like to work under where if you have laid a foundation, especially you know, that transition from elementary to middle school is very important with those incoming sixth graders. If you have laid a foundation down that is, that is well maintained throughout the year. It is. You could clearly see it coming into the classroom in the seventh grade. And a lot of kids I had, even though not everyone is attended the school the year before, they literally those. Those same structures and those same scaffolds is a word we like to use.
Those same things kicked in so well that those kids were just, this is what we have to do is how we come in. We put our book bags down, we.
[00:04:35] Speaker B: Do this, we do that.
[00:04:36] Speaker A: We, they, they were in there. So I appreciate that.
Big shout out. Let me give a little like that. I really appreciate that. And so I look forward to seeing how the year is going to develop and, you know, our, you know, me reading, reading, reading and focusing on those goals and tackling those goals as we walk in tomorrow. We walk it in. Strong curriculum focus. Let's get it, let's get it. That's what we are.
[00:05:01] Speaker B: And I do want to give an extension of that shout out to the sixth grade team. Y' all know that was the team that I left in October of 2024. And for the duration that I had been at that, I've been at Genesis. I've always been a sixth grade teacher. And I'm here to tell you the culture is rounded in that grade level and our ultimate goal is for that to shift this year into the other two great levels. Administration did a good job with repositioning individual that could help ground that culture.
The sixth grade team is always highly talked about as it relates to developing systems and sticking to the rules and the policies and procedures, because when you do that, like you just said, it's seamless into the next grade level. So kudos to Ms. Graham, which was the team leader, and Mr. Jesus, which was one of the reading teachers, because again, that makes a big difference. What you see in your classrooms make a big difference as it relates to those two individuals. Because our reading coach left at some point. I don't know when, and you know, and it is what it is. All I say is they hit the ground running when it came to making sure that there was no deficits as it relates to the curriculum that the students needed in order to perform the way that they did. So they did really well on their PM3.
We look to have a lot more games. We're definitely going to be focused on our essa group, our swds and our ells. So definitely, we're excited. You could definitely feel the shift in the environment at the school site. And we're excited to have you because we know you bring a plethora of knowledge, resources and assets to the table as it relates to developing our youth at Jennings. So thank you for coming.
[00:06:53] Speaker A: Thank you, thank you, thank you. I appreciate it. Appreciate it. And you know, one thing I want to. To talk about real quick. Before, Even before school started, during the week of pre planning, Jennings went on a community bus tour. And that was just. It was something that I. You know, I had talked about it at previous schools that I worked at, and it was just such a pleasant experience because it was like, really, this is what I was talking about. So, yeah, there's a great pict of all of us there on the bus. And there's our principal on the right. I believe in. In the image. I don't know how it appears on your screen.
[00:07:28] Speaker B: She's in a cheetah print.
[00:07:29] Speaker A: She's in cheetah print, Ms. Anderson. So. And you know, some case we stole some people from, also from my other school. So in case you didn't know, if you look at a picture, you'll see somebody shout out to. Some of my people are young. Okay, but. But yeah, so the. The Community Boss tour was very good. I mean, this. It's important to know the.
The community that you serve, the population that you serve, and where they're coming from. Because one thing that it does, it pours in empathy. It is the one thing that if you having a rough day and you can't. Or the child is having a rough day in particular, and you just start to dig in, you need to pause for a second and say to yourself, wait a minute.
What have I seen? Where have I experienced? What's going on?
Remember what I saw in the beginning. I mean, some of these areas were just.
And you're gonna say to yourself, you're blessed. I know for myself, I come from a small island, but still I could say to myself, I am blessed that I had not experienced some of the experiences these children are experiencing right now. And then you add on top of that, things like, you know, predators and. And people who want to mess with the kids or kids coming up, missing family that are being torn apart by various social issues or, or divorce or homelessness, things like that. So just take that into consideration. But, April, tell us a little bit about the tour itself and how we were able to go around to the different communities.
[00:08:51] Speaker B: So we were in my robe. As a community resource teacher, it is my responsibility to make sure that our climate and culture is not to a place to where.
Let me back up. It is my responsibility to make sure that not only do the students understand how to be vocal about any barriers that come before them as it relates to them being academically and socially emotionally successful. It's also my responsibility to make sure that the culture amongst the staff is also that. That there's no barriers that are before them that prevents them from making sure that our students are successful and academically and socially emotionally prepared. So this was very important. It had been conversations amongst you, with you, Denise, with Ms. Anderson, also with Earlecia, that, you know, how grand would it be to take our teachers that are at Jennings or our staff that are at Jennings and actually allow them to explore the communities that the students come from. Because unfortunately, our students are not allowed the opportunity to go to their schools in their community, the middle schools, because they're all magnet schools. Every single school, middle school in East Tampa is a magnet school. Not one of them, all of them. So the majority of our students are not capable of attending the schools. And that's neither here nor there.
So it is a misconception or miss There are people that come to sometimes work at Jenny's under the impression that the, you know, the Avalon next door, you know, is that name. No, that's not the name of that two line, keep calling it Avalon next door with the, you know, 3,500,000 and up homes and the new developments that are over there that they assume that the majority of our students come from there. And that is by far not the case. Over 75% of our students come from East Tampa. Over nine, I want to say between 85 and 90% reside in the 33610 area code. So you do, you, you do the research and the story would tell itself.
So we wanted them to see, you know, that a lot of our students live in mobile home parks. Majority of our students live in housing developments that are rent restricted or controlled by their income. So, you know, it was important for them to see that. They saw a lot of homes that are dilapidated and even homes that still have blue tarp from Milton. And what was it, Helene? And here we are getting ready to enter hurricane season again. So it was very important for them to see, see this so that they understand where you may have gotten a great breakfast and drove from your gated community and drove into the beautiful campus at Jennings that not all the time, our students experience just a Good night's sleep. So just be mindful of that. And we're not excusing anything. We're just demonstrating empathy and understanding because again, if we're not meeting those basic needs of sleep, shelter, food, so on and so forth, how can we expect a child to learn? So we just wanted to be very intentional. And I want to give a big shout out for all of those that signed up. I think we had what, wow, 51 that attended.
It was. No, 40.
Yeah. It had to be 51 because we had initially 44 signed up and people added on. So shout out to those that got on the bus. And Denise was there. And again, we're familiar with the youth in that community. We worked with a lot of them over the summer at the East Tampa Brain Booster camp. So you just should have seen their eyes lit up when we strolled in there. And I mean, it's like you're a celebrity for those kids because they understand that this isn't temporary.
We're intentional about what we do for them, with them, about them, and be vocal for them, with them and about them. And we're not just going to leave. We're here, stay as long as God's will. We're here for them in the long haul. Exactly.
[00:12:58] Speaker A: And it's so important for us to know and understand that, you know, if kids, not only just that you have to meet the children's basic physical needs first. Right. So once you know that that portion of it is covered, then also add that added component of just that, empathy, and you'll be amazed at how much. Now this is a child that will. Is willing to learn from you because they know that you care. They know it. They know and deep in your heart that you care. And you could get like grandma needs to say, you. You get. Catch more flies with. With sugar than with. With honey than with salt. Right. You. You won't catch them. You'll catch them. And so that's so important that we need to understand that.
Understanding that also. Right. Let's talk about. Since we did go around and saw every place, one of the things. April put a great survey out there, and the survey asked us to observe things that you did see and things that you did not see. Right. One of the first things I would say, outside of the fact that there's no parks and, you know, things that. That libraries, sidewalks. Okay, Sidewalks were absent. Sidewalks were almost. If they were blatantly absent. Right. This leads us into transportation. It's so important.
First of all, all these big companies we talk about, we're talking to you, Amazon. You can reach out there and build some sidewalks since you get everybody money every single day. But anyway, that's besides the point. Let's talk about transportation.
Go ahead and talk about that. We're going to put the number on the screen as well for your parents.
[00:14:24] Speaker B: Okay?
So I will say that transportation is what it is every year.
I am currently dealing with transportation issues myself for my child that is a ese student. And they currently do not have a bus assigned to him. They knew he was coming back to school, but they do not have a bus assigned for him.
They do not have a due date for when that would have happened. They just gave me a window of between. It could take up to 10 to 12 business days.
And my question for the individual that answered the phone was, so what would a parent do or a guardian do if they did not have access to a vehicle to get their child to school? And the response was they would simply have to stay home until they have transportation for the child.
And I'm like, oh, okay. So we do know that this is not an isolated situation. It is what it is. But I do ask you to reach out to transportation call center, call them, keep checking in, because again, there's so much to be said about that. But all I know is we can't fix it overnight. It's definitely something that could be prevented from a scale of a child missing possibly 10 to 12 days. I can understand. You know, three to five. I can understand that. Maybe even a five to seven. I'll even go for that. But 10 to 12?
Yeah. No, that's unacceptable. So the number is listed here. Go ahead, Denise.
[00:16:00] Speaker A: No, no, I mean to interrupt you, but I will say this. Let's tie it all back in together, right? Because what was the big thing that Hillsborough county was pushing this year was attendance. Okay? So if attendance matters, that's. That was. That's the catchphrase. That's the big slogan this year, right? Dense matters, right? So somebody need to pass that message along to transportation, because attendance matters. And we can't say attendance matters on one side of the. Of our mouth, and then on the other side of the mouth say, well, I'm gonna get back to you in about 10, 15 days and try to figure out where I'm putting, you know, like, as. As you famously say, make it make sense.
[00:16:35] Speaker B: So we.
[00:16:36] Speaker A: We. It's. It's for us. We got to, you know, again, again, I know we. Budgets are being slashed left and right, and I understand all that, but there's Got to be ways that, you know, this has got to be a little bit of an easier system. There's got to be another way. And I understand we need bus drivers and all that, things like that. But remember, we talk about attendance, we talk about our kids falling behind. We are truly entering hurricane season. We see what happened last year and how many days were lost and. And just, just things like that. We just want to get these kids there. We really want to get them there. And remember, this is the first week of school that has already concluded. And now we're moving into week two where we're going to start tackling our curriculum, start going in from there. And then speaking of the first week, there's another challenge.
Let's talk about the cell phone policy.
[00:17:21] Speaker B: Let's throw that out again. The cell phone policy has already been in place for what this is what, year two or three. At this point, it's not my warehouse, but legislation.
You know, the governor of Florida, you know, he cracked down to put more constraints on restraints on the actual policy.
So now it's right before you parents. I don't want to go into the statute. Denise was quoting it the other day. But if you want to look it up, just put in cell phone policy legislation if you want to know where it came from.
But here's the update for elementary and middle. That's our area of focus. There's no personal wireless devices permitted, and they give you a picture of all the possibilities of what devices could be included. So they should not technically even be leaving home with those items. But we understand that there is belief that these devices create safety in schools. I mean, it could possibility. It just depends on, you know, what that safety measure is. That means the phone systems at school must be completely down. Then, yes, those would create safety. But other than that, in most cases, you know, I just know I wouldn't want to be in the room. And if there's somebody on campus that is coming there to bring harm, and you calling in and telling them where we like, that's more harmful than good. But anyway, no wireless devices permitted. So at our school site, they are not to go in pockets, they're not to be in purses. For us, it is in the backpack. That's it.
We're not going to, you know, you know, deflect from that. We're not going to do any of that. We're going to focus. That's our only focus. It's not going to be any type of what you want to say. It's a non negotiable It's a non negotiation.
[00:19:13] Speaker A: That's exactly what it is, a non negotiable. And teachers also need to understand that. I mean, you cannot. This is how you create. Create problems. If you are not following the procedure yourself clearly. This is from Hillsbrook. And these people are cutting your check. Let's just say it like that. The people are cutting your checkup, telling you that there are no wireless devices. It shouldn't be. Well, maybe the child could charge it. Maybe the child should do this. Maybe it ain't none of that. This is literally what it is. No wireless devices. I saw a child walk in with the headphones over there. I said, baby, you got to put in the bag, but you got to put it up. We can't have it here. Child walking around. No. The answer is no. And we're going to go back. Let me. Because if you've been following us all this, these years, you should know that one thing that we always say about middle schoolers. First of all, your name is not an emergency card. You. You are not an emergency contact. You are not a parent of a child. You ain't got to pick up nobody. You're the type of child, you are so young that someone has to sign you out. So when. What do you need a phone for? If. When the parent calls your. The child, it creates more problems than anything. The kid is stressed out, he can't leave campus anyway. And now you just have a child that literally will destroy the learning environment.
This is what we're trying to avoid. You'll be amazed just in. I, I believe that by the end of this month, once these routines and procedures are kicked in, they're gonna be so ingrained in their mind that we don't need a phone for nothing. They're gonna start doing much, much better. You know the other, other thing that I, I picked up on a study that was done years ago. There was a study done in, In a school in Georgia. And remember, remember April? And I know April, I've been working so long.
Remember that whole thing about the water? It was a. It was a. Oh my God, I forgot the name of it. But they took the soda machines and all the snack machines out of the school and all the kids had was water. And those kids perform so well because they. All the salt and all the sugar was removed from campus completely. If they had it, they brought it in. But I mean, in a campus with 800 kids, say 10 kids bringing some snacks, that's not going to skew your numbers that much. But the Whole school performance went up. So it's amazing. I, I could see this. If they, if we stick to it, I could see that this is going to be something that's going to be successful. Our children need to realize, need to understand that they can have critical thinking. They can, they can be more imaginative. You know, they can start to, to really think and, and not sit there and say, I got to go to Google for everything. I got to go to Google for it. I go to Siri. No, you can't. You engage the brain. And this is where parents were asking your help too, because, you know, you know, putting all that sugar and stuff in the brain, you know, we need some help. But we get it.
[00:21:41] Speaker B: We get it. And that goes back to. If we really want to make sure that our children can think beyond just someone giving them instructions to do everything step by step, we must be intentional about developing those critical thinking skills. And the way to do that is for them to learn and make, you know, and during that learning process make errors and then correct themselves. Self corrections with those errors.
And keep in mind, in majority of the Hillsborough county public schools, we are one to one, meaning that most classrooms have a complete laptop set in their room, a class set. So there's no need for any type of additional devices. They have laptops and headphones and key. What I said was most, I didn't say all, but most schools.
So yeah, and if not, I'm pretty sure they're rolling them out because I know for us, we went through two cycles of laptop carts, I should say, meaning that we got one set of carts and then that was split between two teachers and then we got another set of carts and then we had it down to where one teacher in the hallway may not have had a cart. And now we have every classroom on that campus have a laptop, cartoon or have access to get a laptop card. So it's just like I believe that again, if we revert back to some old school way of doing things, which meaning students are expected to read and learn and apply and implement, we might be able to save some of these jobs that AR are taking over fast track.
They're taking over very quickly. So just something to think about. Yes.
[00:23:26] Speaker A: Because remember, I think one of the things that we need to understand is that you have to let the kids struggle. You have to let them struggle. You can't give them everything.
And every time they struggle through something and they struggle through that process, that's adding another little wrinkle in the brain. It's like, okay, okay, I can figure it. I can make that one to one connection. You got to allow them to do that. Because a lot of times, I mean, this, this is a generation of kids who, you know, you need to tell me everything, tell me how to do everything or, or what's, what do you call it? A health, a helplessness type of, of, of student where I don't, I don't know how to do this. I don't know how to do this. Well, listen, you're gonna struggle through. It's okay. It growing pains, it hurts a little bit, but it's gonna be perfectly fine if you struggle. And, and then the remarkable thing is when they, they actually get it through that struggle now, it's like you just see that, that look on their face, like, oh man, I, I figured it out. And that's, that's, that's the joy of it right there. That's the joy of it when they could do that. So, so just because their device is being removed from or their cell phone at that attachment thing, trust me, it is going to be better in the long run. I, I truly believe that it's be better in the long run. So allow them to struggle a little bit. It's going to be okay. It hurts a little bit, but you know, that's, that's how it is. That's really how it is. Right. And you know what? We want to. Go ahead, April, go ahead.
[00:24:50] Speaker B: And as it relates to high schoolers, they do have a little bit more opportunity to be able to have access to their phones and understandably. So, so again, we posted the information. Y' all could go back and view it at a later time. And it should be on all of you, all of Yalls children's schools webpages, because there should be some uniformity as it relates to that along with the link to the student code of conduct. So again, there are no misunderstandings this year. We are going to put our focus on being educated on what the school expects from our children. And then we can then place expectations back upon what we expect from the school district. So that's our ultimate goal.
[00:25:35] Speaker A: Exactly. And you know what, speaking of which, okay, just to go step back just a minute. When the kids were again, the critical thinking skills, right? When the kids were asking, well, how come elementary and middle school has no phone but high school has a phone? And I let them sit there and really struggle through with that. I said, I want to really think, think about why. And then some of them really did. Well, they were like, well, some people are already 18 and in high school, so they're technically adults. I said, okay, that's one. Some might actually leave campus. I know. I, I worked. I mean, I, I did 9th through 11th grade, racked up my credits, and by 12th grade, I was like, I'm out. So it's. It. Some of them, there's a, there's a, There's.
They were saying it's mature. I said, I. And I guarantee it ain't maturity. But. But it is the fact that you, that you are going to be in high school with actually going to be 18 already, so that they're technically adult. They can have their phone. So, and, and you know those prosthetics. And they thought that through. I said, look at how you did that without a phone. You didn't go to Google. You sat there and you really thought that process through. So again, they can do it. Don't think that they can't. They can absolutely do it. All right.
[00:26:36] Speaker B: They.
[00:26:37] Speaker A: They really can't. And guess what, parents, we have tools that we would love to share with you. And April's going to talk. Can we put up our, Our parent code?
We're going to do through the Sunshine Education Coalition. We are going to talk about the parent code, and we want you all to join us. There is a QR code that is available on our pages. We should have that information up. And this is called the Parent Code Workshop. And let's talk about week one. What's going to happen during week one?
[00:27:05] Speaker B: So let's go back to our reasoning behind the Parent Code Workshops. So with Sunshine Education Coalition, in most cases, we get the phone calls or the emails or the text messages is saying, my child is being disciplined and their parents feel that it's unfairly being done, and so on and so forth. And unfortunately, in a lot in the vast majority of those cases is true.
The way in which their child was being handled and even them was just not being done in alignment with the current student Code of Conduct handbook.
So this year we took a different approach. We're going to be more focused on providing workshops or educational series and efforts for parents to be capable of being knowledgeable about.
Again, what's expected from the district for them, their children while they're in school, and vice versa, what we expect from the district when they have our children in school.
So we had a big.
I won't say big. I will say that there were some necessary changes to the student Code of conduct. And I was a part of that committee that was spearheaded by Mike Rowan, which is the director of School. I'm just gonna give him a title. Cause I can't remember it right now, but it is over. Student discipline and conduct and policy. Whatever it is, that's what it is. I don't get too caught up in titles. I just wanna know who it is over and what they doing. So with that being said, he is going to be on with us on August 27th to talk about discipline policies one on one.
I will serve as the moderator for it. We're inviting parents, if you want to come on and be a part of the conversation, please do so. Because again, we cannot have.
There's no longer a space for us to say we didn't know.
We can't look at the current climate that we're living in. And we do know. And the results are what they are.
They're not very good for us. So it is what it is.
Am I disconnected?
[00:29:13] Speaker A: No, no, I can see you and hear you clearly.
[00:29:15] Speaker B: Oh, that's interesting. It said reconnected. So with that being said, please take the opportunity to join us. And then we have September 2, Ieps504, Septa and Aba. We want to make sure that we have conversations around, you know, a lot of people hear us talk about IEPs 504s and so on and so forth, and they have no idea what it is because our district is known being the Alphabet soup. So we use a lot of acronyms and numbers and letters for things. And a lot of parents don't understand what they mean unless they become a part of that new way of work for their child or advocate for their child because of a new diagnosis or whatever it may be.
And then on September 10th, navigating school meetings, parents, a lot of them are intimidated by coming in to meet with administrators. And we gotta shift that narrative. Parents should be capable of, you know, should feel as though that's their, I don't wanna say an ally, but that's their go to person as it relates to anything that's going on with their child at the school. And administrators, you gotta figure out the time. I don't know where it's coming from. I know y' all busy, but you gotta edge out some time to be able to say these are the days and times or whatever it may be that I'm going to edge out to be able to say, I gotta be able to speak with parents that are calling in that need to speak to me. And then that's at the beginning of that conversation. Starting it out by being, thank you for extending me the opportunity to have this conversation with you. Unfortunately I'm only able to designate 15 minutes of time for this conversation and we can extend it at a later time. But because I have planned it's ways to do it to where it can still be done with equity and not seem as though it's rushed. But if you start out the conversation with that the parent know what to expect and it most likely will take more time but at least you will have connected to have started the conversation.
And then we have ELL resources.
And keep in mind that all of these workshops that are being held we identified district leadership that will be on with us. We have the chief of schools, Rick Graves is going to be on with us for I think it's navigating school means I can't remember all of them. And then we have, I think it's Ms. Parotta which is district leadership also for ELL resources. But that information will be up on the page to provide you all with the details of who will be there from the district leadership. Because again we need the information to come from the source in which have control over those particular departments, the policy that aligns with those departments and could clearly explain what it is that they do as it relates to that particular department. The expectation from the child, the parent and then again we can have expectation from them based upon what they share. So all workshops begin at 6:30 and they'll be via Zoom and yeah, please join us.
[00:32:14] Speaker A: Yes, and that is so important. And I meant to say that also earlier was that you know, I think a lot of times as parents, you know you're reflecting on your, your experience in school as well and so sometimes that that experience was just rather intimidating and you just never felt comfortable. So now as an adult you're bringing your child into the, into these meetings with administrator administration, things like that. So we want you to feel comfortable. We want you to be able to say hey you know what there I, I don't feel intimidated or this is not a place, a space of intimidation. This is a space where you can really learn about how to navigate through the system. And especially if you have more than one child now, you know, you can learn, look at it from different aspects. Ok, have may have one in elementary, one in, in middle school, one in high school. How do I get through all these processes? How do I get through these different things? Especially when you're dealing with when kids may have additional needs or, or need additional resources. How can you even get that that information? This is what we're going to share with you all so we're, we're excited about bringing that to you. And again, they're all on zoom, so we just look forward to. And then our, our, our QR code is on there as well. Okay, now, anything else you want to add about that before I jump onto the. Okay, parents, parents. Guess what's happening right now in the world.
It is officially hurricane season.
I am always hypersensitive of hurricane season. I've experienced several of them in my life. Okay. But it is hurricane season, so we want you to be prepared.
We see one that's way out there is making that turn to the northeast. So we're grateful that it's not headed toward the United States, but passed over there a little bit north about 200 miles north of the Virgin Islands and is moving out to sea. But of course, we're still in the season, right? So we just want to be aware if there's things that you need, try to reach out, you know, make sure that you're get, you're getting supplies. You have all your documents in a safe place. Your documents, documents for the children. You know, you prepare for the seasons just like, you know, like take for example, winter time. Okay, we know winter is coming. Make sure you have blank, not blankets, jackets and things like that for the kids. Same thing for hurricane season. Try to pack as many, you know, non perishable items as possible. Make sure you have your batteries, make sure you have just everything you need. We, I think we do have some information on there about it if that. We will post it later on about hurricanes season. But just try to be really, really aware of what's happening and just be as prepared as possible. Okay, there it is.
[00:34:43] Speaker B: I do see that Bianca posted it in the chat for both from the city of Tampa and Hillsborough county. Because remember, we have kids come from both areas. And it just dawned on me, we also have kids that come from Temple Terrace. So I will go back and share that information as well. Again, even if we know money is tight right now, we all know it, we all feel it. Because Tico not playing.
Tico is not playing.
But I promise you I will go without something.
I don't know what the something would be, but it would be something if needed. If I have to deal with turning down my thermostat up one point. Because this type of heat we living in.
My God. My God. So I will say this. When you have like at some places like Walmart, even CVS and Walgreens, they sometimes have their waters for 2.99.
For a case of like 24 pack.
So again, even I was at the Sitco right there in nuclear area and they also have, and, and the dollar tree, they also had them for 2.99. So grab a couple of packs when you see it so that you're not rushing to get water at a later time. Right.
[00:36:01] Speaker A: Because again, and you're avoiding the price gouges too because remember.
[00:36:04] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:36:05] Speaker A: So get it now because you know, later on during the hurricane and the next thing you know a case of water is 7.99 and you're like, how is that possible? So just, you know, just be mindful, think about the things you need. Batteries. I mean anything that you need to have charged. You know, a lot of people don't think about charging stuff early. I mean you could just charge a lot of your, your, your, your things that you need to charge. Right. Charge them up early, put them away. I mean just, just, just, just things that you need to do because it's, it's so important to do that. I mean just be prepared.
[00:36:34] Speaker B: Yeah. And just put it in the rooms. You know, we got them kids that like to go in everything. Just put in the room, lock the door. We know how it is. Old school. Put it in the room. Lock the dough.
[00:36:43] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:36:44] Speaker B: And threaten their life if they go and let them waters. Don't let them see them. Put them in the trunk, whatever. But again, preparedness is key. And I know if, when you visit both the city of Tampa and Hillsborough county, you'll see a lot of more details about how to be prepared. So again, be prepared.
[00:37:02] Speaker A: Exactly, exactly. We also had, I think we had a little bit information about the. Oh, you know, we should have talked about, we were talking about transportation, but it's okay. We on here still parents be aware school bus safety. There is now every. In fact I'm going to just read it straight from the page so that there's not even a question. I'm glad the graphic is up on the page. First of all, focus in. I want you parents to look at that number on the bottom that's highlighted in red.
That's the fine. Okay. Citation fine. 225 to 465. Now let's talk about what it is say Tampa police say that beginning with the 20, 25, 26 school year, cameras will be used in school zones within city limits that are determined to be high risk. Location. There is a list of schools. It's a long list, so I won't go into the list itself, but we can repost. We'll get you the information.
It is a long list of schools and you know, it's mostly elementary, middle school, a few high schools on there.
Please be, please be, be mindful of that. I mean just if you have, if you feel you need to pass cars, you should be leaving a little bit early for work. Don't do it. These are children on the road, okay? These are children are buses. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people flying past. I mean, the bus barely start to come to a stop. The little stop signs pop out on the side. They didn't even pop out all the way yet. And people still trying to pass it. Listen their children on the bus, their lies as their parents are sending their, their very best from their household. And they want their children to get there safely. Please be advised of how it is. Look at what it's telling you on the flyer. Two lanes, vehicles traveling in both directions. You got to stop. Multi lane, pave across. Vehicles traveling both directions gotta stop. Divided highways, right. Vehicles behind the school bus must stop traveling the opposite direction. Must proceed with caution. You got bottom line, stop. When you see that bug. Stop. You don't know.
[00:39:00] Speaker B: You don't know.
[00:39:02] Speaker A: Just stop, okay? Because you don't know where that child. Because you ever see these kids running from the bus?
[00:39:07] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:39:09] Speaker A: Stop. Two things my parents taught me when I was a little girl. If you see a ball or some kind of toy flying across the street, stop your car. Because a child come in behind that. Whether you see that child one minute later or 10 seconds later, that child coming because something came across the street. Clearly children are playing.
Just pay attention and stuff, you know, because again, how expensive food is, how expensive housing is, how expensive everything is. The last thing you want is to get a ticket too. On top of that with groceries cost anyhow. Go ahead, April.
[00:39:39] Speaker B: I'm sorry. I will say that now all of the buses too have cameras on them. So please note if you pass that bus, you will be getting a citation. It's not a question. They're going to have the camera footage to go along with it along with the new cameras that have been installed around the Tampa Bay area as it relates to the speed zones. So for the 2025, 2026 new installation of the speed traffic zones, it's Alexander, BT Washington, Farrell, Orange Grove, Potter, Shaw, Supper Springs, Tampa Bay Boulevard, Young Middle, Magnet and Lomax. Now there has been some once again misunderstandings. Just because the post don't always share, you know, what individuals may be thinking. No one is saying that we don't want children to be safe. No, no one is saying that. No one is saying anyone should be speeding in those areas.
What we're saying is, is that the community needs to be educated on the new way that these speed cameras are there. Because some don't flash. Some of the time frames that you see in there look different.
Some of them, it just depends with a lot of things. So the traditional flashing light, the yellow light and the zone, the time zones that are there, it's different for every school. And we understand that because schools start different times. But there used to be a range of consistency there and it just doesn't appear that that's the case. And also there's some discrepancy in the language for the city of Tampa, is that it says that it was for the cameras would capture speeding in those areas 10 miles over during the duration of the time frame that's listed there. But then a couple of sentence overs, it says that. But it also would capture speeding anytime that you're over the 10 miles. So I don't know, it doesn't make sense. It's like, is it capturing it during only those times or is it gonna just capture all throughout the time? And either way, we're seeking safety. We understand that. But the community needs to know what the expectation is. They need to know that and they need to know that the cameras won't always flash. This might be a non flashing one. Things that they should know.
And Jennings is one of the schools that's at. Those were city schools and Jennings was one of the many that's lit it for the county. I won't read all of those. So again, just take the time to look at what was posted and again, do your due diligence and make sure that children are safe. And that safety starts with, if you're a driver, making sure that you're adhering to the speeding zones that are listed there and keeping an extra eye out, you know, just, you know that eye in the middle, right? That. The one that's right there. Keep that out, you know, to make sure that you're looking out for children that may, like Denise said, dart out in the streets.
[00:42:38] Speaker A: Yeah. And just, just remember, just be cognizant of the speed limit. I mean, if you know the speed limit, just drive the speed limit and slow down when you see the little flashing light to say school, you know, there. Before that, before you even get to that point, the camera part, there's usually something that said, hey, school, school, little yellow light is flashing. So just be a Be aware, because again, like it might, you might not have a child that's a school age, but somebody out there does and they're bus loads of them riding around in Hillsborough County. So that little reprieve that we had during the summertime, a little two and a half months, that led us that where everybody felt, oh, I can fly through the, the. The roads, not what buses aren't on the road. The buses are back for the next ten and a half months. Be aware of that. At ten and a half months, the buses are back. Take your time and really just do the best that you can. April, we lost your camera, but, oh, there, there you are, back again.
So, so that's like I say, I'm not sure. Let's see, let me see real quick. I'm going through my little list here real quick. All right, good. I think that we hit. We hit pretty much everything that we wanted to talk about today prior to us going back into school again. Like I said, parents, if you are old, if you are attending a school that has uniforms, that's one thing we want to make sure. Be aware of. Yes, there's a uniform policy. Every school I've worked at is. They've been in uniform policy. So just please be. Be cognizant of that.
Crocs, you know, don't.
I know you want your child. Love Croc. I love Crocs, I ain't gonna lie. I don't. But I know there's a time and place for Crocs, okay? Crocs don't belong in school. And remember, it's a safety issue. The whole thing is. It's a safety issue. That's what we want. Closed toes too. This is the time they want to sport them nice little J's they got or whatever like that. Whatever. Whatever they got. But it needs to be closed to. Sue, please. It's very important because anything happens, you don't want things falling on their feet. You know, they got to go to PE classes, things like that. It's important that they, they have that. And then just to follow the uniform policy, okay? And there's always everywhere, there's always people who are willing to donate things or different places where you can get help. Just ask for, for the resources at your school. I'm quite sure if you just ask. Remember, closed mouth, don't get fed if you ask, guarantee we can give you the things that you need. We'll get you the things that you need. And if not, we're gonna find somebody to get you the things that you need so that you're. That you have the right uniform for your child.
Anything else, April?
[00:45:02] Speaker B: Well, it's not so much as about what it is about that. So currently, you know, when you go to uniforms and there's a lot of times that there are a need for belts for our boys. So we're going to be kicking off a belt drive really, really soon where I will take gently used or new belts for boys. And again, gently used means that they don't have visible cracks, tears, rips, you know, to where the children won't want to wear them. But again, we definitely will be needing belts. And yeah, our district currently doesn't have the. They don't provide us with white like they used to when Covid was going on. Covid is still a thing. Flu is still a thing. Icky kids are still a thing. So therefore we also want to do a wipe drive. So again, if you are interested in providing any of those things to Jennings, all of us know how to send things through good old Amazoni. So therefore just ship it straight to the school to my attention. And again, we're also getting ready to kick off for our garden. Our garden needs a little bit of love and care with our weeds.
Our principal planted for our kids to have access to pumpkins in October. So we planted a pumpkin patch. So we're excited. We're excited to get the kids back out and going with it. And again, sponsors, donors always, always, always are needed at all schools. But as a community school, even more so. So again, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or want to connect with Jennings Middle School, please reach out to me. Enning.
[00:46:35] Speaker A: Yes, sir.
And I think that's wonderful. Well, we do want to give a shout out to our wonderful, fantastic producer Bianca Goolsby from teaching for the culture license brand, by the way. All right.
Yes, we are.
Don't. Okay, so. Well, we. Oh, oh, I felt that one. Oh, yes. So God is good. Anyway, so we are covered. Okay, so I want to give a great big shout out and we want to thank you all for joining us.
[00:47:09] Speaker B: We.
[00:47:09] Speaker A: We be right back here in September, third week of September, in case there's no hurricane, Lord. Just in case.
[00:47:17] Speaker B: Out the way.
[00:47:18] Speaker A: Oh yeah, I know, right?
[00:47:20] Speaker B: Why she even mention it? Pray it out the way.
[00:47:23] Speaker A: Love it.
Keep it away at the oh, hurricane suffocation day in first now just. Okay, Lord. All right, so but you'll catch us again three weeks from now, God willing. And we are just happy to be here with you. And remember, look out for us. Check in with us on August 27th for our parent code. And you all have a wonderful evening.
[00:47:45] Speaker B: Bye.
[00:47:47] Speaker A: Bye.
[00:47:54] Speaker B: Sam.
