The Florida Scrub Jay is now the official bird of Seminole County

Kris Cole has been a longtime teacher at Seminole High and his classes have been attempting to designate the Florida Scrub-jay as Florida's state bird since 1998. In 1998, the students from Winter Springs High School testified before a Florida House of Representatives Committee and got the bill passed through the committee with a vote of 7 - 0. 

In 1999, the students from WSHS testified before a Florida Senate Committee and got the bill passed through the committee 9-3.

Both years, the bill died in the committees that followed.

Thousands of students were involved to some degree in 1998 & 1999.

In subsequent years, the students discussed the idea, but we were never able to get any traction with a legislator willing to file the bills.

Last year it came to our attention that another attempt was being made to designate the Florida Scrub-jay as state bird. A young lady in South Florida named Anya Cane was able to get Senator Tina Polsky and Representative Sam Killebrew to sponsor the bill. It had bipartisan sponsors. I brought this to the attention of my students. I asked if they had interest in participating in the legislative process. Initially, I asked if they wanted to write a few letters in support of the legislation. 

What happened next was simply amazing. The students founded the Seminole High School Wildlife Conservation Club. They created a social media marketing campaign using Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. They created a video, stickers, buttons, and other marketing materials. They gathered together during lunch time to conduct teleconference calls with State Representative David Smith, FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto, Executive Director of Audubon Florida - Julie Brashears Wraithmell, Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor DeSantis - Anna DeCerchio, and numerous other decision makers. They gave up a Saturday morning to lead State Senator Jason Brodeur, on a two-hour hike to view Florida Scrub Jays firsthand. They traveled to Tampa to testify before the FWC Commission in an attempt to earn their endorsement for the legislation. They hosted a booth at Lyonia Preserve's Wildlife Festival to promote their campaign. They secured endorsements from:
Seminole Soil & Water Conservation District
Seminole High School Student Government Association
Hagerty High School Student Government Association
Lake Brantley High School Student Government Association
Lake Howell High School Student Government Association
Oviedo High School Student Government Association
Winter Springs High School Student Government Association
Crooms Academy of Technology
Peace River Audubon Society
Duval Audubon Society
Venice Audubon Society
Space Coast Audubon Society
Alachua Audubon Society
Seminole Audubon Society
West Volusia Audubon Society
West Pasco Audubon Society
Eagle Audubon Society
The Environmental Conservancy of North Port
Mangrove Chapter of the Florida Plant Society
Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center
Green Horizon Land Trust
Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife
The City of North Port
The City of Sanford
The Izaak Walton League of America
Bear Warriors United
Sustainability Leaders Initiative
The Environmental Learning Center
The Center for Biological Diversity
Delta Water Fowl - Central Florida Chapter

This year, they traveled to St. Petersburg to present their thoughts about designating the Florida Scrub-jay as state bird at an event held by the Center for Biological Diversity. They met with state Senator Jason Brodeur and his Legislative Assistant Victoria Mohebpour in the classroom. They invited Seminole County Commissioner Amy Lockhart to the classroom to discuss the issue. The students' goal was to get the Board of Seminole County Commissioners to endorse the Florida Scrub-jay for state bird. The students convinced Commissioner Lockhart to let them share their opinions about the issue with the Board at a Seminole County Board of Commissioners Meeting. When the students presented to the Board, they asked if Seminole County might be willing to not only endorse the Florida Scrub-jay as state bird, but also name it Seminole County's "official bird". The Commission passed the idea unanimously - pending the verbiage of the resolution was acceptable to everyone. The students spent Winter Break working out the verbiage. Today, pen was put to paper and the students accomplished something historic!

Here is a link to the SHS Facebook Media page
(This page has a very detailed account of our project to date.)
It has a lot of pictures as well
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1568203350176374
The SHS Twitter handle is:
@SHSscrubjays
The SHS Instagram Account is:
@seminole.scrubjays
There are currently approximately 35-40 members in the SHS Wildlife Conservation Club (not including all the Seniors who graduated last year that were involved).