Who Is Parks & Police 4kids Foundation?
PP4K is a City of Doral 501 (c)3 organization whose mission aims to facilitate and enable recreation, education, and social programs for our young residents, with a primary focus of preventing juvenile misconduct. PP4K, through its programs and services, will create a positive and safe environment for Doral’s youth, making our community an even better place to Live, Work, Learn, and Play.
At PP4K we care about our children. They are the future. We are restarting the Afterschool Programs at our middle schools. These programs have helped children modify their conduct, improve their academic performance, and attain self-confidence and self-esteem, allowing them to later succeed in life. By helping our youth, we are helping our community today and we are building a better future for all.
Last year, we launched the PP4K Traffic Park, managed by the Doral Police Department. This mobile park teaches our children why it is important to follow traffic rules and it also teaches them about safety while riding their bikes. This year we are working on developing family conferences to be held at our parks. We will be presenting a myriad of subjects that are important to our community today, such as safety, mental health, nutrition, and career development, among others.
Who is PP4K?
Elizabeth Canchola has been actively involved in the City of Doral since 2015. She has been a part of the Doral Police Advisory Board, the Cultural Affairs Advisory Board and the PP4K Foundation, always volunteering in benefit of our city and our children. She has been a member of several PTOs/PTAs in our local schools and has also been involved with her HOAs. She has established programs in two of our local schools where the students collected and personally delivered toys to migrant farmworker communities in South Florida. Mrs. Canchola holds a bachelor’s in actuarial sciences and certifications in Marketing and Quantitative Modeling.
Cheli Cerra Torres is a former award-winning school principal for the Miami-Dade County Public School System, the third largest school system in the nation. During her tenure, she was selected as one of 5 principals to create the first K-8 schools in the district and later one of the first to start a K-8 Preparatory Academy in Coral Gables, FL. Her experience led her to write a book for parents on school choice options and later, create the School Talk! Success Series, which turned into a 6X International Series published by Wiley. She became a professional speaker and guest expert on National News. She left the district in 2018 to open her business and coaching practice, helping others write, publish, and market books based on their knowledge and expertise. She lives in Miami with her husband, loves to play tennis and travel.
Josh Rios is a first-generation American, born and raised in Miami, to Cuban and Nicaraguan immigrants fleeing communism. His passion for public service comes from wanting to give back to the same community that helped his parents achieve the American Dream. He has been part of numerous boards and organizations such as Student Advisor to the Miami-Dade School Board, Miami-Dade County Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, and the Miami Lakes Youth Activities Task Force. Now, on the City of Doral’s Parks and Police 4 Kids Board, Josh’s goal is to create fun and impactful events for the kids and families of our Doral community to build up the next generation of leaders in our community.
Jodi Steinbauer was born and raised in Miami, Florida. She received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in education at the University of Miami, where she also played tennis. She is a member of The UM Sports Hall of Fame for tennis as well as a past President of the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame. Jodi has played professional Tennis and has taught tennis. From 1996 until 2022 Jodi was the Tournament Director for the Jr. Orange Bowl International tennis tournament. She is currently a Substitute Teacher for many schools in the Doral area. Jodi is married to J.R. Steinbauer who was also a past director for the City of Doral PP4K Foundation.
Jose Troitino is a Principal Design Engineer at Sintavia. His professional journey started as a test design engineer at GE, in Greenville, SC, where he played a pivotal role in crafting the next generation of gas turbines that powered residential and commercial utility lines. He is a hands-on engineer. He loves cars, rockets, and electric vehicles. He loves teaching engineering principles and applying them every day while solving the hardest problems. Fail fast, but learn from it! He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Central Florida and a master’s in thermal engineering from North Carolina State University He is from Caracas, Venezuela with Spanish roots.