A real time Civics lesson for these students.
"It's doing pretty well. We do need to repair it the lake has been pretty high lately," Samuel McDuffie said.
"That it's doing ok, it's been damaged from the storms and that we are trying to fix it," student Brianna Calvo said.
The students attended a news conference with Governor Rick Scott and the Army Corp of Engineers, where they discussed the dike around Lake Okeechobee, the one structure that protects them from flooding. Student Ty Pridgen said,
"If it does break, it could cause very much damage."
The students are rightfully worried. The Army Corp of Engineers says the water level is 17.1 feet and could eventually reach 17.5. Daily inspections of the dike are underway to make sure the structure holds as the water rises to its highest levels in more than a decade.
Governor Rick Scott said, “A lot of people died here before the dike was built… it’s really important that we take care of this."
He says funding repairs to the existing dike is a priority.
"We are going to be in constant contact if the Corp finds a problem we will make a decision at that point. In the meantime my job is do everything I can to make sure the federal government does their job the Corp can't fix something if they don't get money."
Kyler Hyslope a student told NewsChannel 5, "If it breaks, it's going to be a problem, so we need to work towards not letting it break."