4-H Council’s ‘Boots vs. Badges’ Presents $3,500 To Gulf Coast Kid’s House
August 24, 2018
The Escambia County 4-H Council’s “Boots vs. Badges Challenge” last May raised $3,500 for the Gulf Coast Kid’s House.
The event pitted the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office vs the U.S. Navy in an obstacle course challenge. The ECSO’s eight-main team defeated the Navy’s team.
The competition was held at the Escambia County 4-H property in Molino along with individual obstacle course competitions, a car show, bounce houses, and petting zoo.
Escambia County 4-H Council President Taylor Nelson (pictured above left in green jacket) presented a $3,500 check to the Gulf Coast Kids House a few days ago.
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West Florida Libraries Receive $25,000 Donation From Friends
August 24, 2018
Friends of West Florida Public Library donated $25,000 to West Florida Public Libraries for youth programs such as Summer Reading Club supplies and educational performers, and STEAM activities such as WFPL’s robotics, science, art, and engineering programs.
Friends of West Florida Public Library is a nonprofit organization founded in 1973. Over the past 40-plus years, the Friends have raised more than $2 million to enhance the programs and services at West Florida Public Libraries such as developing library programs, building new library locations and many other activities.
The Friends raise money through their book stores located inside Pensacola Library located at 239 N. Spring St. and Tryon Branch Library located at 1200 Langley Ave. The Friends also host book sale events throughout the year.
IP Donates For School Supplies At Jim Allen Elementary
August 22, 2018
International Paper employees that work in the administration building in Cantonment raised $260 to use for school supplies for Jim Allen Elementary. Pictured: Jim Allen Principal Rachel Watts accepts a $260 gift card donation for school supplies from Brian Till and Mark Kyle of IP. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Even The Sidewalks Help Kids Learn At Cantonment Park
August 19, 2018
Even the sidewalks help children learn at Carver Park in Cantonment.
Decals placed on sidewalks in the park offer children a chance to play and learn. The decals reinforce concepts that will be important for children when they start school. Skills like counting, letter naming, shape and color identification are built into the nine decal designs.
Partners in the project included the Cantonment Rotary Club and the Studer Community Institute.
Cantonment Rotary President Bobby King said the project was a great match for Rotary’s commitment to community, education and improving the lives of children.
“Carver Park has been recently renovated through the efforts of Cantonment Improvement Community (CIC),” King said. “Their organization is dedicated to helping the children by improving this community. Their efforts and dedication has inspired us. For us at Cantonment Rotary, this was an easy and clear decision to utilize our Rotarian grant for this project. It is a piece of the puzzle in making a difference. Seeing the smile on a child’s face while learning and interacting with the decals is special.”
Carver Park is located at 208 Webb Street. The play and picnic areas at the park are located under the largest natural oak canopy of any Escambia County park.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
United Way Recruits Volunteers, Projects For Day Of Caring
August 18, 2018
United Way of Escambia County is now recruiting volunteers and organizations in need of support for its 26th Annual Day of Caring on October 5.
Day of Caring is the largest single day of volunteerism in Northwest Florida. Each year, individuals and groups are matched with local nonprofit agencies and schools to spend the day working on various service projects. Day of Caring volunteers have the opportunity to see firsthand the needs of our community while working together to combat those issues through volunteerism.
Last year, more than 1,300 volunteers rolled up their sleeves across our community to spend time with seniors, read to students, paint, build, landscape, and more. Together, Day of Caring volunteers completed 97 projects at 68 local nonprofit agencies and schools, and donated 4,463 hours of their time for an estimated $107,748 impact on our community.
Volunteers or organizations looking to participate in 2018’s Day of Caring should register online at http://www.unitedwayescambia.org/dayofcaring by August 31.
Once all volunteer applications and project requests are received, a committee of United Way staff and volunteers carefully review them to match groups with preferred projects or those most appropriate based on a group’s skills or size.
For more information on how to get involved, contact United Way’s Volunteer Center at 850-434-3157 or by emailing volunteer@unitedwayescambia.org.
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Tate Graduate Forecasts Career In Television Weather
August 16, 2018
Cantonment native Alexandra Kent is forecasting a career as a television meteorologist.
Kent was the featured weather personality Wednesday afternoon on WTVA TV in Tupelo, MS. She has interned at the station this summer as she works toward her meteorology degree at Mississippi State.
She will graduate in 2019, and plans to apply for a masters degree program at the University of Oklahoma.
Kent graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2014 from Tate High School where she was a member of the Multimedia Academy. She also attended Ransom Middle School and Pine Meadow Elementary, and volunteered at Escambia Westgate.
Courtesy image for NothEscambia.com ,click to enlarge.
Tate And Northview FFA Chapters Named Among The Best In The Nation
August 13, 2018
Both the Northview High and Tate High FFA chapters have been named two of the very best in the nation as Three-Star Chapters by the National FFA Organization.
The National Chapter Award Program is designed to recognize FFA chapters that actively implement the mission and strategies of the organization. These chapters improve chapter operations using the National Quality Chapter Standards and a Program of Activities that emphasize growing leaders, building communities and strengthening agriculture. Chapters are rewarded for providing educational experiences for the entire membership.
Pictured: The Tate High School FFA Chapter (above) and the Northview High School FFA Chapter (below) at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN, last fall. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Fall Veggies Are Cool To Grow
August 11, 2018
by UF/IFAS Extension Service
In Northwest Florida, vegetable lovers can enjoy harvests from their backyard gardens throughout the year. However, to ensure a productive and enjoyable vegetable garden, you must understand and abide by planting times.
In general, vegetable crops can be grouped into warm-season and cool-season varieties. Warm-season crops do not grow well at temperatures below 50 degrees F and are killed by frost. Cool-season crops are those that grow at lower temperatures, are not injured by light frost, but can’t take the heat.
In late summer and early fall, North Florida gardeners experience a unique opportunity. You can still plant another round of warm-season crops and/or start your cool-season vegetables.
Planting of warm-season vegetables gets to be more critical with the fall garden because we have an end point—frost and freezes. When planted too late, plants will grow, but may not provide enough of a harvest to make the effort worthwhile. Examples are peppers, eggplants and tomatoes. These vegetables can easily take up to two months from transplanting to producing the first fruit. All the time, the fall is getting shorter in day length and cooler in temperatures. That’s really tough on “warm-loving,” full-sun plants.
Since timing is so important with the fall crop, choose warm-season crops that will produce well within a short time. Look for fast-maturing and determinant or bush-type cultivars to ensure a good yield before frost.
Crops to plant outdoors in August include bush and lima beans, cauliflower, collards, cucumbers, onions, southern peas, peppers, squash, tomato and turnips.
In September, you can set out beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, endive, kale, kohlrabi, mustard and radish.
The cooler temperatures of October are better for planting Chinese cabbage, lettuce and spinach.
To find specific recommendations on when to plant vegetables in Florida, read the UF/IFAS “Vegetable Gardening Guide”. It’s online at edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vh021
The leafy crops excel in the fall. Some of the more popular leafy crops are Swiss chard, collards, spinach, mustard, turnip greens and lettuce. Endive, escarole, kale, arugula and the greens of mesclun mix also do very well during the cooler months.
Garden lettuces can be divided into three classes based on habit of growth – leaf or loose-leaf types, semi-heading types (such as butterhead and romaine) and heading or crisp-head types.
Crisp-head lettuces, such as the iceberg types available in supermarkets, are more of a challenge to grow here, so its recommend you stay with the leaf and semi-heading varieties. Other than generally avoiding the heading types, feel free to try just about any variety that strikes your fancy.
Leaf lettuces are the most decorative and least-demanding. They also are among the most heat-tolerant lettuces. This type of lettuce grows in a loose rosette of foliage, and the leaves can be smooth or crinkled, pointed, lobed, curled or ruffled. Foliage color runs from deep ruby red to dark green to pale greenish yellow, with just about every combination in between.
Collards will withstand wide ranges of temperatures if properly conditioned. They may be direct seeded and or plants can be transplanted. Collards may be harvested by cutting the whole plant or by “cropping” individual leaves.
Onions are generally grown from sets or plants. Sets and plants will require about six to eight weeks to reach eating size. Bulbing onions will not be ready to harvest until spring.
Radishes are fast growers and fun for the kids. Many are ready to harvest 25 to 30 days after planting.
So take the leap and “fall” into vegetable gardening.
Total Cuteness Alert: Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office Names New K-9 Pups
August 11, 2018
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office has named their two newest K-9 pups — meet Copper and Zinc.
The department held a naming contest on social media that ended Friday that receive about 2,000 entries.
The two bloodhounds were donated to the department SRSO Capt. Jim Cotton and Maj. Randy Tifft. Once Copper and Zinc are trained, the new deputies will be used for tracking.
Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia County Program Puts Youth To Work
August 10, 2018
As 17-year-old Raina Brown quickly made her way through a stack of emergency medical bills on a bustling Thursday morning at Escambia County Public Safety, you’d never know she’d only been doing her job for a couple of months – or that she just graduated high school in May.
Rather than just enjoying a break before starting her college education, Brown – who plans to be a nurse – spent her summer working for Public Safety through the Escambia County Youth Employment Program. She learned the ins and outs of Emergency Medical Services billing, insurance, customer service and related skills, also becoming CPR certified.
Brown was one of 76 local youth who participated in the Youth Employment Program this summer, which gave 16 to 24-year-olds the opportunity to get paid work experience in various county departments, including Public Works, Public Safety, Escambia County Area Transit, West Florida Public Libraries and more.
Through the program, youth worked up to 30 hours a week at minimum wage, gaining valuable experience all summer while learning workforce etiquette such as professional dress, timeliness and respect.
Brown said she was excited to work with computer programs and learn terminology often used in hospitals, which she said will help her in the future as she studies to become a registered nurse.
“Just knowing that I am getting an opportunity to do something like this, and the fact that I know it’s going to help me in the future makes it a lot better for me, and a lot more fun because I know I’m going to take something out of this,” she said. “It’s not just a job, it’s not just fast food – it’s something that I can keep with me forever.”
Brown’s supervisors were so impressed with her that they hired her after the program ended to work part-time while she attends Pensacola State College to get her associate degree.
“Raina is the type of person who’s a go-to,” EMS Billing Manager Shandra Jenkins said. “She takes the initiative, and she thinks outside the box. She would be an asset to any company that would employ her…Raina takes every challenge as an opportunity for growth.”
Several youth employees got to see what it’s like to work at one of the county’s seven public library branches, which was especially exciting for 17-year-old Sarah Hammer, who plans to be a librarian and author.
Hammer, who is starting her junior year at Pensacola High School, said the Youth Employment program gave her a great first job experience that helped build a solid foundation for when she begins her career as a librarian.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Hammer said. “A lot of learning opportunities, a few challenges, but mostly it’s been a good time…I’ve enjoyed getting the basics now so that when I try to get a real job in a library or I try to become an actual librarian, I already have the basic knowledge of what goes on in a library from day to day.”
Ben Areola, 17, also had his first job experience through the Youth Employment Program, spending his summer working with the Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Office as they prepared for the Aug. 28 primary. He worked on everything from preventative maintenance on the voting machines to making ballot decks to test the machines before election day.
Although the tasks were outside of Areola’s projected study field of architecture or engineering, he said he enjoyed the variety of the work and appreciated learning about timeliness, responsibility and how to work well with his supervisor.
“I’m always excited to get up in the morning and see what I’m doing, because it’s not like you do the same thing every day,” he said. “Because once you’ve done one thing, you have to do something different to get ready for the election. So I just enjoyed the work environment.”
Doug Browne, a warehouse specialist with the Supervisor of Elections Office, supervised Areola over the summer and had nothing but positive feedback about working with him.
“I wish I had more of Ben,” Browne said. “He’s a very, very good employee. When I give him a task, he does it well. There are some things I gave him to do that he found an easier way to do it, so he was quicker at it – he’s always thinking about stuff like that.”
For one youth employee, working with the county over the summer helped solidify his plans to pursue studies in video and digital production. James Hill, a 19-year-old sophomore at Florida State University, worked in the county’s Community and Media Relations Division. His tasks included filming and editing videos for the county’s TV station, ECTV, working in the studio during the live broadcast of county commission meetings and making online documents compatible with Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines.
“My experience has been pretty interesting,” Hill said. “It’s been a learning experience, and it kind of helped me reevaluate what I like about videos and photos and editing. And it was also a learning experience because I had more of a sense of responsibility having to do certain things on my own.”
Youth Employment Program participants also received job readiness training and post-employment briefings, which provided them feedback about their job performance. The youth workers were recognized by District 3 Commissioner Lumon May and Neighborhood & Human Services staff at a ceremony Thursday.
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