What a wonderful time of the year...I hope you are enjoying the beauty and joyfulness of the holiday season. It is especially meaningful when we are able to be with family and friends.

In that spirit, I hope you will be join us for our LWV Seminole Holiday Party, Catered by Edibles, Etc., that will be held on Sunday, December 10 from 2 – 4 pm at the home of Deana and Fred Schott in Lake Mary. Additional information and the RSVP link (Use your member sign in to access the page!) are included in this newsletter.

Please note that their home is wheelchair accessible and the driveway is being reserved for those who need to park close.

As a community project this year we are collecting items for the Victim Services Center at the Department of Health. When a rape victim makes her report, her clothing becomes evidence. Our collection of new clothes, underwear and shoes will help ease the additional trauma that this causes. See the full list in the flyer in this newsletter.

If the law establishing the 15-week ban is upheld in the Florida Supreme Court, then in 30 days the more restrictive 6-week ban will go into effect. This has the potential to devastate not only reproductive care, but all women’s healthcare in our state.

If you haven’t yet signed the petition, do so today…and get your family and friends to do so as well. All the information you need can be found here:

Floridians Protecting Freedom

November’s Hot Topic was presented by Dr. Michelle Pisani and Tiffany Spradling from the Teaching and Learning department for Seminole County Public Schools.  Dr. Pisani spoke about ELA, Reading and Social Studies and Ms. Spradling spoke on Math and Science.  Attendees heard about the B.E.S.T. Standards, new standards rolled out to school districts in 2021 and 2022.  The roll out included intensive training for teachers, as the new standards required the adoption of new instructional materials and required state assessments. Dr. Pisani and Ms. Spradling explained that the new standards required a shift in content and instructional goals and expectations.  Both the new ELA and Math standards include common expectations from K-12 that focus on ever increasing depth and complexity of concepts and critical thinking skills.

Dr. Pisani and Ms. Spradling shared information about the newly adopted instructional materials. The subject of book challenges and book removals was discussed, and it was explained that the district’s focus remains on providing all students access to books that include a wide range of students’ interests and reading levels. The discussion concluded with the core mission to promote excellence and equity, which is a key component of the SCPS Strategic Plan.

Our League provided 160 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to the Idyllwilde Elementary School Food Pantry almost overnight last month!

Well, the sandwiches weren’t made already, but fixins’ were provided along with a box of protein bars.

How did it happen? Well, at the end of the Gun Violence Prevention Action team meeting the evening before the November Hot Topics, conversation turned to the issue of providing food over the holidays to children who depend on school lunches as their main meal.  Along with the well-known Blessings in a Backpack Project, public schools in Seminole maintain a Pantry of easy-to-fix child favorites – like the ever-popular PB&J.   The GVP team put together its request for donations overnight!

At LWV Seminole…we make things happen! What idea do you have?

One of our LWVSC Voter Registration teams -Thank you Zelda Ladan, Mary Ann Coffey and Judy Pizzo!! - spent the morning of November 8 at a Lake Mary High School career fair.  Many students were under 18 years of age so, although the focus of the day was to encourage eligible students to register, it was also a great opportunity to engage with younger students and introduce them to Florida’s 16 and older pre-registration program.

At least 60 students took the time to speak to our registration team. Some older students were already registered but we were still able to help by having them pull up information from the Supervisor of Elections’ web site through our QR code. We were pleased that some students were interested in learning about League history and activities. Additionally, several teachers stopped by to inquire about someone from the League coming to present to their students.

The new rules regarding collecting voter registrations make it more difficult to count all our successes. However, each time League shows up, our education mission succeeds!

SCPS DIVIDEND