Primary Election Day
Tuesday, August 20, 2024, is Florida’s primary election day. Voters are choosing school board members, judges, and party nominees for county, state and federal offices. We check in with Central Florida Public Media’s Joe Byrnes and Marian Sumerall at primary polling locations throughout the region.
Supporting Child Abuse Victims
It is uncomfortable to talk about, but every community is impacted by child sexual abuse. The Children’s Advocacy Center Osceola responds to such abuse with specialized care that is based on research on the best ways to support families and kids. Kissimmee police spearheaded the effort to create CAC Osceola because they wanted a community-based center that is a safe, family friendly, centralized place where everyone involved in the child abuse investigation, treatment and recovery can be. That model can help get cases prosecuted and hold offenders accountable. A centralized community center can make it a more comfortable process for prosecutors to get the information they need without forcing kids to relive their trauma ad nauseum. Joy Chuba is Director of the Children’s Advocacy Center Osceola. She says child sexual abuse breeds in secrecy and counts on us being uncomfortable, so she joins Engage to shine the light on this issue and talk about prevention methods her organization recommends.
Bank of America Student Leaders
Four local high schoolers were selected as 2024 Central Florida Bank of America Student Leaders for the impact they are making in their communities. This year’s class is Olympia High School’s Evan Fernando, Horizon High senior Taylor Clayton, Aspen Hess a senior at Leesburg High School, and recent Apopka High graduate Colin Poon. The program involves a paid summer internship and a trip to Washington D.C. for a national leadership summit where participants meet with members of Congress. Engage Senior Producer Richard Copeland speaks with Aspen, Colin, and Taylor about their accomplishments. Jodie Hardman, Senior Vice President and Market Executive for Bank of America in Central Florida, also joins Engage to share details of the program.
