CES is always happy to work as partners with those who help our youth and our communities to thrive and prosper.
This month we are even more thankful than usual, with Thanksgiving being the overall theme.
Educators:
Children need so much caring and true guidance along their journeys. There are many amazing teachers, aides and school volunteers who are there to selflessly contribute in this mission.
And what a mission it is! Some would even call it “God’s work,” as successfully raising kids today is likened to the most difficult jobs there are!
Each year CES participates in the Great American Teach In. We arrive and become the Educators for the Day! This year we were involved in both our county of Pinellas on November 15th and Hillsborough County on November 16th.
We visited 4 different schools and delivered Drug Prevention Education classes to Middle-Schoolers from 5th-8th grade classes to a total of approximately 175 kids! Using the effective Truth about Drugs materials from the Foundation for a Drug-Free World, we really got the Drug-Free Life message to all of these teens.
At an elementary school, over eighty 3rd graders had a great time with my fun lesson in how to be happier by living in an industrious way versus a lazy way!
Using the precept “BE INDUSTRIOUS” from the little common sense guide to happy living called The Way to Happiness by L. Ron Hubbard, we acted out a skit with the children which had them really get the idea that when you are active and doing something you are much happier than being lazy and not doing productive things.
It couldn’t have been more rewarding to reach these students and educators in this way. We were so appreciated and welcomed and we look forward to next year!
Current Scene of Drugs in our Country:
CES and our non-profit called Concerned Businessmen’s Association of Tampa Bay (CBA) joined forces with our friends in San Diego, California to attend a Marijuana Summit and an Opioid Summit in San Diego at the beautiful Catamaran Resort and Spa.
Our friend, Mr. John Redman from Community Alliances for Drug Free Youth (www.cadfy.org) and the San Diego High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area put these Summits together and invited us to attend. We spend a lot of time helping youth with drug education and prevention. Attending a Summit like this gives one a difficult to face perspective of the current drug scene from the viewpoint of health care professionals, law enforcement and other educators. The good news is we met hundreds of people and many members of drug prevention coalitions who care and are helping to improve the situation.
We came away inspired to do even more. And we made new friends who we will be working together with in the future. Joining forces with like-minded individuals and groups is a very powerful action. Drugs and their purveyors have a significantly lower chance for their destructive intentions due to such people.
We are grateful we were able to go to San Diego in November. It’s a beautiful place to visit and we support keeping this beauty out of the hands of drug dealers of all kinds. And there’s nothing quite like the beautiful sunsets in San Diego!
Law Enforcement:
We are so thankful for living and working in a safe environment. Our Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) provides amazing services to our entire county. PCSO is the 15th largest sheriff’s office in the entire country! They provide amazing services to many cities and have been featured on the show Cops and its courts have been selected as venues in major trials of notoriety.
I wanted to really understand our PCSO so to appreciate them and be the best citizen I could. So, I joined up to be a member of Class #53 of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Citizen Academy. Each week I attend classes along with approximately 25 others on Thursday nights.
We have a different class each week to cover the entirety of this huge agency. This month’s highlight for me was the Judicial Operations class and visiting the Pinellas County Justice Center. Touring the courts and seeing the breadth and depth of this HUGE facility was amazing!
I even got to play judge!
Another thrill was driving the squad cars at their Driving Training Facility! Learning police driving techniques was a blast! We also had a full on enactment of a “High Risk Traffic Stop” with tons of flashing lights and sirens and high speed chase action with the bad guy losing and the good guys winning, for certain.
Find out more about our amazing Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and their amazing services that keep our county safe and sound, always! There are many programs for you to get involved in, programs for teens and for everyone! Visit https://www.pcsoweb.com/.
Gardening:
Gardening in the fall is pretty sweet!
With the exception of mastering tomatoes, our CES garden is doing really well! This Jersey Girl knew how to do it in New Jersey, but just not in Florida yet! Arrggh! We’ll figure it out soon, because I don’t quit!
From arugula to zucchini, our organic garden is thriving! Located just across the street from our CES headquarters at Clearwater Community Gardens, we enjoy year round gardening with our neighbors.
Being part of the community and meeting and working with others to grow both in friendship and community makes us pretty happy! We hope you join us too!
Visit: Clearwater Community Gardens on Facebook to keep up with us.
