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Announcer: Welcome to Mondays with Maria, presented by ADDITION Financial Credit Union. Here's OCPS superintendent Dr. Maria Vazquez.
Dr. Vazquez: Hi everyone. Bri MacNaught is back with us. I cannot believe I'm saying this, but we are in the last nine weeks of the school year.
Bri MacNaught: It's crazy. It has gone so fast, but I believe you have a very important message you want to share with our staff and students, and families.
Dr. Vazquez: Oh my gosh, yes, absolutely. I'm just so thankful that we have made it this far, and I cannot stress enough how important it is for us to finish strong. That means that we want you in school, we want you paying attention, and we want you to be focused so that your last nine weeks are positive. If you need help, we want you to ask for that because we want you to end on a positive note
Bri MacNaught: With the final nine weeks. So comes a lot of different testing, right? You have the end-of-year exams and the state-mandated test. What, what, what's your advice there?
Dr. Vazquez: Yeah, so I know it brings a lot of stress to our students, our teachers, administrators, and even our parents. And my message is that you've got this, right? You have been learning all year. You, our teachers, have been teaching you the standards. I want you to just think about this as just one small piece in the pie of what is the school year of learning. And you're, you're, you're going to be fine. You're
Bri MacNaught: Almost there, just yes. And you start getting restless, right? I remember getting antsy. You're ready for summer, it's getting hotter outside, you want to go to the beach. What would you say to those students?
Dr. Vazquez: Yeah. Well, it's not always just the students, right? <Laugh>, like, you know, I, I'm excluding myself from this, but I'm sure we have adults that are also like antsy. But what I what I want them to remember is that you need to make good choices. And every year I have either a phone call or an email, or a letter from a family because their child made a just a bad choice. And they are pleading, please. We have family that's flying in for their graduation. We've been just waiting for this important moment, and their child can't walk because they just made a poor choice. So we need for you to stay focused, but make good choices. And if you're not sure, reach out to an adult at your school, reach out to your parents. We want these last nine weeks to be smooth and that you will be ready for a great summer.
Bri MacNaught: Not only are they smooth, but they're fun. Yes. They come with the, you know, the seniors have prom, they have graduation. There's those end-of-the-year celebrations and award ceremonies. So what's your take on those?
Dr. Vazquez: Yeah, it's, it's great, right? So we're, we do have, you know, the stresses that, as you mentioned with the testing, but intermingled is what you said. We have all these celebrations, award ceremonies, banquets, schools have fun days where they just get to relax and enjoy, you know their, their time. One of my favorite things that happens outside of graduation are the letter campaign that our seniors do every year, and they write a letter to a teacher that has made an impact on them. And then those letters are delivered to our teachers. And every year, those are events where our teachers are crying, they're so moved, and it's just a great opportunity for us not only to say thank you, but to remember how we do impact our children each and every day. And so it's just a great time of year.
Bri MacNaught: Yeah. It's like a full circle, circle moment, if you would.
Dr. Vazquez: Yeah, it really is. And it reminds us that even though we may not see it right away, we are impacting the students that we inter interact, interact with.
Bri MacNaught: Definitely.
Dr. Vazquez: So speaking of graduations, right? Special time for all of our graduates and their families, dates are posted on our website, and we look forward to those happy moments during graduation. But I also want to remind our families about the importance of saving for college, right? Graduation. And we know that students have multiple pathways. Sometimes college is something that students either have to defer or think is not an option because of the cost, right? So right now, our partner, Florida Prepaid, has open enrollment until April 30th. College savings plans are available at a reduced monthly price for newborns and infants. The prepaid plans allow families to lock in the cost of college with a fixed monthly payment. There are so many benefits you can transfer to another student, or you can cancel any time, and your earnings grow tax-free. Every child deserves a higher education. Florida Prepaids' goal is to make it possible for every Florida family to save. Right?
Bri MacNaught: That's very important.
Dr. Vazquez: It is. It's a great program. We used it with our children. It was, it was great. And it you don't realize what a benefit is until it's time. Yeah, it's time, right? So, thank you so much for being with us today. Thanks for having me. It's been a great, great show. So excited about these last nine weeks. Thank you all for watching. Don't forget to like, follow, and subscribe. We will have more of our conversation on our podcast. Just go to wherever you get your podcasts and search for Mondays with Maria. Have a great day, and I'll see you next week
Announcer: For an extended conversation on today's topic. Listen to the Mondays with Maria podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts. Mondays with Maria is presented by Addition Financial Credit Union. Count us in for every step of your financial journey. Learn more at Additionfi.com. For more OCPs news and information, visit TheSlice.ocps.net. I'm your announcer. Kaleb Priester, a senior at Jones High School. Thanks for watching and have a great week.