Lee County Mosquito Control crews kill off pests in the area while educating residents

LEE COUNTY, Fla.– If the Mosquito Control District did not work year round to control the mosquito population, Southwest Florida could have more mosquitoes than anywhere else on the planet.

Lee County Mosquito Control crews are out in the community every day killing off the disease-carrying insects.

They also have one of the largest education programs in the country.

“One of our goals is to reach even our youngest citizens and start to teach them science and make sure they have that science literacy and that they understand what we do, why we do it and why it’s so important,” said Andrea Miller Lee County Mosquito Control’s Education Coordinator.

Their education program includes students from elementary school to college level.

Lee County’s Mosquito Control District is the only one in the country to partner with a local school board and employ school district teachers.

“Bring those outside, real world, hands on experiences into the classroom for kids that may not have access to those experiences otherwise to help make those connections,” said Miller.

Through in person and virtual learning, Lee County Mosquito Control’s education program reached more than 20,000 students this school year.

“Some people think they’re bad but they’re kind of good for the environment because if we didn’t have mosquitoes the whole environment would mess up,” said Xavier Vernon, a 5th grader at St. Michael.

The goal of the program is to educate students about the mosquitoes role in our environment and how they can stay protected from the disease carrying insect.

“We can give them those tools to take home to help prevent or reduce the mosquito population around where they live,” explained Miller.

The post Lee County Mosquito Control crews kill off pests in the area while educating residents appeared first on NBC2 News.

NBC2 Cape Coral