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Utilities education program receives honor

Pinellas County Utilities’ South Cross Bayou education program was honored recently as Pinellas County School’s Secondary Business Partner of the Year at the Pinellas Education Foundation’s ChangeMakers Breakfast on Dec. 7.

Nominated by Seminole High School, the South Cross Bayou education program and education coordinator, Shea Dunifon, were honored for assisting Seminole High School in the launch of its new Engineering and Water Resource Sustainability program. The program will help train the next generation of wastewater professionals by offering students an opportunity to test for their D (or C) wastewater operator licenses before graduation. The partnership will help create a pipeline of graduates seeking an environment-related career while filling an urgent and immediate gap in the wastewater profession for trained operators right out of high school.

To assist Seminole High School’s new academy, the South Cross Bayou education program collaborated with the Florida Section of the American Water Works Association to purchase 40 study books for students in preparation for their operator examinations. Additionally, the South Cross Bayou education program has hosted paid student interns from Seminole High School at the facility providing hands-on experience with multiple aspects of the wastewater process, provided supplies for science experiments, and hosted numerous field trips of its water reclamation facility at no cost to the school. The South Cross Bayou education program was the first business partner to join the Seminole High School Engineering and Water Resource Sustainability Program advisory board.

The Pinellas Education Foundation’s ChangeMakers event also recognized two additional business partners of the year:

  • LKQ Pick Your Part as Elementary Business Partner of the Year
  • The Ryan Wells Foundation as District Business Partner of the Year

For more information about the South Cross Bayou education program, please visit

https://pinellas.gov/educational-resources/teachers.htm.