The employees of the Miami Student Educational Center (SEC) lit up the eyes of children at Redondo Elementary School this past Christmas. On December 15, staff members visited the school and played Santa to the second grade students, handing out toys that the staff had collected in a toy drive for the class.
This class at Redondo is a part of the national business and elementary school partnership program called Kids and the Power of Work (KAPOW). The National Child Labor Committee instituted this program through the Public School system to begin to build career awareness at the elementary level. This is done by having business volunteers teach specially prepared lessons at selected schools at least once a month. The children are also taken into a workplace to get an up close view of business operations and to participate in specially prepared hands-on work activities.
Miami SEC Director Ricardo Belmar and assistant directors Kimberly Russell, Cristina Duran and James Jackson are volunteers in this program and teach monthly at elementary schools across Miami Dade County. This Christmas, Redondo Elementary was selected for a Christmas treat put on by SEC Santa and his elves to bring joy to their students for the season. The Miami SEC feels it is important to give back to the community and to help train the new leaders of tomorrow.