SPACE COAST PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE FIRST THURSDAY EVENT: FAMILIES FOR SAFE SCHOOLS
“Families for Safe Schools”
Thursday Feb. 3rd, 6:30 – 8:30 PM
Hosted by The Space Coast Progressive Alliance
Free and Open to the public
Join us on Facebook Live
https://www.facebook.com/SCPAFlorida/
or Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89091950550
ID: 89091950550
Panelists include Families For Safe Schools Board members:
*Jabari Hosey, President
*Kim Hough, Vice President
*Michelle Barrineau, Vice President
*Dr. Cheryl Wojciechowski, Secretary
Families for Safe Schools, or FFSS, is a grassroots, non-profit organization in Brevard County, Florida. First concerned with mask mandates, this small group of parents quickly realized that there were other important causes that also desperately needed protection from politically motivated attacks.
Since then, the group has grown into a massive community of professionals, parents, teachers, community stakeholders, advocacy groups and an army of volunteers who aren’t afraid to get into a little ‘good trouble’ to keep public education in Brevard moving forward to a brighter tomorrow.
Panelists will discuss the organization’s six pillars: protecting public education against politically motivated attacks, supporting COVID mitigation in schools, advocating for the rights of LGBTQ+ students, supporting inclusive, accurate history education, and supporting gun safety.
Tune in to find out more about this organization and how you can get involved.
Panelist Bios:
*Jabari Hosey
Jabari Hosey serves as President of Families For Safe Schools. Born in San Jose, California, but raised outside of Detroit Michigan, he received his Bachelor’s of Science in Applied Mathematics from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After moving to Melbourne, Florida he furthered his education and earned a Masters of Public Administration from Kaplan University in Miami, FL. Mr. Hosey currently manages software engineering for a global satellite communications company and has been in the field of software engineering spanning the last 10 years. He is a husband to an amazing wife and a father to three wonderful children. Mr. Hosey is an analytical problem solver and he believes issues in our community must be solved the same way. Mr. Hosey recognizes we must ensure that all children are able to be educated adequately in an ever evolving world, because it’s essential for the future of our society and planet. Mr. Hosey is prepared to be on the frontlines to protect and improve our public education infrastructure with equity and safety at the forefront.
*Kim Hough
Kim Hough is originally from Waukesha, Wisconsin. She received a Bachelors and a Masters of Architecture from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She married her husband, who was in the United States Navy, and they have lived on every coast of the country. They started their family in 2010 when she then left her career to be a mom. In 2017 she and her family moved to Brevard when her husband retired after 24 years of service in the Navy. Her children, 11 and 8 have attended Brevard Public School since 2017. Kim has always enjoyed volunteering in every school her children have attended. It has given her the opportunity to help teachers, staff and kids and given her a great appreciation for the great public school system her children attend. She has been active in churches with volunteering and teaching in children’s ministry as well. She is passionate about staying involved to assist teachers, staff and the school board to create equity and equality in the education of every student.
*Michelle Lipson-Barrineau
Michelle Barrineau serves as a Vice President for Families for Safe Schools in Brevard County, Florida. Born in Colorado she grew up on army bases around the country and overseas, settling in the Southeast. She graduated from the University of Georgia and spend her early career in consumer product sales throughout the Southeast. She expanded her role into sales and data analysis and conducted Category Management reviews for national Fortune 500 companies. Her primary role for 10 years was to analyze sales data, interpret the findings, and create and make presentations to retailers, sales teams and industry leaders. She is currently in Account Sales in the Southeast and has lived in Brevard since the beginning of 2020. She is the mother of a 6th grade student in the Brevard County school system, and has been an active member of Parent Teacher organizations and heavily involved with all of her daughter’s elementary schools. She has been politically active since age 18, and enjoys reading, sailing, and tennis. She joined Families for Safe Schools to combine efforts with other like-minded parents to help be a force for good in the public school system, and to help fight for equality and safety in Brevard’s Public Schools.
*Dr. Cheryl Wojciechowski
Dr. Cheryl Wojciechowski is the Chief Science & Technology Officer for J.E. Austin, Associates Inc. where she serves as the Chief of Party to of USAID’s Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC) Program technical services contract. The MERC Program funds peer-reviewed research grants from joint Arab-Israeli teams of scientists working on regional problems such as agricultural viruses, water scarcity and health threats. The goal of the program is to support developmentally related research and bring people together across political divides. One of her major roles on this program is to conduct peer review panels to assess proposed research. Prior to her work in Washington DC, Cheryl held simultaneous positions at the Museum of Science, Boston, and Harvard University Extension School. At the Museum she was responsible for explaining scientific advances to the public through exhibits, presentations, and television appearances. At Harvard she taught the Biochemistry I and II courses. Cheryl started her career with research on small molecules produced by plants for communication and other physiological processes for undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Boston College in 2002 working on antibiotic resistance and enzymology. Her post-doctoral research at Harvard Medical School’s Dana Farber Cancer Institute involved natural products and their effect on cancer cells. Cheryl continues her interest in plant derived, naturally produced compounds. Cheryl is a mom to two kids in the Brevard School System, and an avid cyclist, boxer, and yoga practitioner.
Links:
Families For Safe Schools
https://www.familiesforsafeschools.com/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/familiesforsafeschools
Florida Today Newspaper Articles:
Brevard County parents form new group to counter Moms for Liberty as school divide deepens
https://www.floridatoday.com/…/brevard…/6494685001/…
Omicron spread draws concerns as Brevard students head back to school
https://www.floridatoday.com/…/brevard…/9054777002/…
Gov. DeSantis talks of freedom while Florida’s schools and children suffer
https://www.floridatoday.com/…/desantis…/9188126002/…
Please attend this relevant conversation using the Zoom or Facebook Live links below.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89091950550
ID: 89091950550
Join Facebook Live
https://www.facebook.com/SCPAFlorid