New career exploration series kicks off at SPC

SPC hosted the first in its new series of Career Exploration fairs on Tuesday, May 14, at the Seminole Campus.

More than 120 participants attended the event to learn about the occupations and opportunities in the field of Public Utilities.

During the general assembly, Lisa Rhea, the City of Oldsmar Director of Public Works, gave the keynote speech focusing on her career journey into public utilities. A panel of public utility directors from Pinellas County was facilitated by Dr. Jason Krupp, Director of Workforce Services. The panel detailed the process of certification, the importance of internships, and the availability and salaries of occupations in the industry.

Following the panel discussion, guests mingled one on one with representatives from local cities, municipalities and training providers. Participating vendors included:

• American Water Works Association
• Florida Water Environment Association
• Pinellas County Department of Environment and Infrastructure
• City of Clearwater
• City of Dunedin
• City of Largo
• City of St. Petersburg
• City of Safety Harbor
• City of Tarpon Springs
• City of Oldsmar
• City of Pinellas Park
• Town of Bellair
• PTEC Public Works Academy
• University of Florida
• Barry University
• St. Petersburg College

See more photos from the event on Facebook.

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SPC to host job fair for public works careers

As part of its Career Exploration Series, St. Petersburg College is hosting a job fair for those interested in professions in public utilities. The fair will be from 6 to 8 p.m. May 14 in the Digitorium at SPC’s Seminole Campus.

The event will include a panel discussion and opportunity to network with representatives of local municipalities (including from the City of Clearwater and Clearwater Public Utilities), educators and members of public works related professional organizations. Information about career opportunities, training requirements, salaries and scholarships will be available.

Participants include Barry University; the Public Works Academy at Pinellas Technical Education Centers (PTEC); SPC; American Water Works Association; Florida Water and Pollution Control Operators Association; the town of Belleair; the cities of Clearwater, Dunedin, Largo, Oldsmar, Pinellas Park, Safety Harbor, St. Petersburg and Tarpon Springs; and Pinellas County.

For more information, contact Dwight Wilson, assistant director, St. Petersburg Water Resources Department, (727) 892-5095 or Dwight.wilson@stpete.org.

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Forum on guns, gun culture at Seminole Campus May 22

The Village Square, an initiative of the Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions at St. Petersburg College, launches into its second season with Shooting Straight: Unmasking America’s Love Affair with Guns. The dinner forum will be from 6 – 8:15 p.m. Wednesday, May 22, at the Seminole Campus Conference Center.

Two distinguished authors and the Pinellas County sheriff will discuss the issues that often are ignored in the current debate about guns and gun ownership. Not another debate about assault rifles, magazine sizes and background checks, panelists will discuss the questions that are seldom asked in the wake of the Newtown, Aurora and Tucson shootings.

The discussion panel will be moderated by Joni James, Deputy Editor of Editorials for the Tampa Bay Times. Panelists include:

• Dan Baum, author of Gun Guys: A Road Trip, Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans, Smoke and Mirrors: The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure, and Citizen Coors: An American Dynasty
• Bob Gualtieri, Sheriff, Pinellas County
• Al Tompkins, Senior Faculty for Broadcast and Online, The Poynter Institute

Seating is limited and online registration is required for this event. The program will include dinner and is $30 for Village Square members and $40 for guests.

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Earth Day events at SPC

Earth Day volunteers work to clean up Habitat Park at the Seminole Campus.

Volunteers remove Brazilian pepper trees on the Tarpon Springs campus.

Various SPC campuses recognized Earth Day this month with events ranging from cleanups to a tree planting.

The Tarpon Springs Campus celebrated Earth Day on Saturday, April 20. About 30 students participated. Part of the group picked up trash in a natural Sandhill Crane site on the campus and along U.S. 19.

Another group from Tarpon Springs cut down Brazilian pepper trees on campus. The trees are an invasive, exotic species detrimental to Florida’s ecosystems. The Earth Day celebration was led by Assistant Professor Kelli Stickrath. Pizza lunch was provided by the campus’ Student Government Association.

At the Seminole Campus, a tree planting ceremony was held on Monday, April 22. A group also gathered on April 20 for a Natural Habitat Park cleanup.

Earlier in the month, SPC Downtown held an Earth Day seminar to teach people about recycling. Those who pledged not to waste the Earth’s resources, received a SPC Downtown aluminum bottle.

The Clearwater and St. Petersburg/Gibbs campuses held quad events this week. Clearwater was host to Dr. R.E. Cycler. With initials that stand for “Robotic Environmentalist,” the robot greeted people and crushed and recycled cans. It was the first time the robot, sponsored by the Engineering and Science and Adventure clubs, was on display in the Tampa Bay area.

See more photos on the college’s Facebook page.

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SPC SEmmys showcase best in digital arts

The annual SEmmy awards this week honored the work of the best and brightest Digital Arts students at the college and in area high schools.

Participants competed in the event, held at SPC’s Seminole Campus Digitorium on April 23, in categories ranging from direction and video to song and video game creation. Judges including community members and SPC instructors selected winners from among 80 entries.

The program’s highlight was previewing a SPC’s Advanced Video class’s Emmy award-winning video “Away: A Story of Trash.” The event’s guest speaker was Regina McCombs, a faculty member of the Poynter Institute teaching multimedia, mobile news, social media and leading data journal seminars.

SPC Seminole Campus student Charlie Parker received the “Best of Show” award and a $500 check from WETA Public Television & Radio for his video “The Warehouse.”

Watch the award-winning video:

First place award winners were:

• Best Direction – Charlie Parker for “Picture This”
• Best Videography – Charlie Parker for “The Warehouse”
• Best Editing – Daniel Reyes for “Running”
• Best Digital Graphics – Jennifer Kilburn for “Antique Evaluation Saturdays”
• Best Digital Imaging – Alden Thomas for “Little Red”
• Best High School Digital Graphics – Arizona Spencer (Dixie M. Hollins High School) for “Words are Powerful”
• Best High School Internet Media – Annie Tonnu (Dixie M. Hollins High School) for “Rubik’s Cube”
• Best High School Video Production – Ben Ingham, J.T. Hockin and Ben Daubert (Osceola High School) for “Rise”
• Best Website Design – Christopher Hicks for “Interactive Media Developer”
• Best Video Game Creation – Christopher Hicks for “Star Wars: The X-Wing Wars”
• Best Interactive Music or Sound Design – Doug Leto for “Acoustically Grown Video Project”
• Best Song – Paul Kokesh for “King of the Moon”
• Best Thematic Composition for Film or Game – Jason Stevens for “No Pressure”

See more photos from the event on the college’s Facebook page.

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Fashion idea takes grand prize at SPC business plan competition

The winners of the entrepreneurship competition at SPC’s Seminole Campus, from left, Chelsea Gibson, Marie Rogers, Yvette Collins and Stephanie Addis with her daughter, Emilie Hartley. (Photo from TBNweekly.com)

St. Petersburg College hosted its 3rd Annual Business Plan and Elevator Pitch Competition on April 18.

The event was a special moment that showcased SPC students with wonderful ideas and the passion to pursue them. Through partnership with and the generosity of local entrepreneurs, the college had the opportunity to award budding entrepreneurs with $10,000 in prizes in an effort to support them in building a business.

The competition and winners were featured on TBNweekly.com.

Business Plan Winners

• Yvette Collins (Clearwater Campus) – 1^st Place (Grand Prize) Winner – $5,000
• Bachelor’s student pursuing her degree in Public Policy & Administration
• Showcased her idea Boujee – Foot Candy – an innovative fashion idea with simple, yet elegant designs and a target market for larger sizes. Her flexible footwear concept is going through the patent process. She described the signature sandals as shoe art, not simply footwear.

• Chlesea Gibson (Clearwater Campus) – 2^nd Place Winner – $2,500
• A transfer student from Ohio who is completing the Entrepreneurship Certificate and her associate degree in Business Administration
• Concept was The Kind Choice – a company that will offer access to an emerging alternative in medicine

Elevator Pitch Winners

• Marie Rogers (Seminole Campus) – 1^st Place Winner – $1,000
• She was among the first students to successfully complete the Entrepreneurship Certificate program at Seminole and is now continuing her education and pursuing a bachelor’s in Management & Organizational Leadership. She was also a competitor in the college’s first Business Plan & Elevator Pitch competition in 2011 and won second place in the Elevator Pitch level in 2011.
• She returned to the competition with her idea Peace of Hair. It offers a new solution to an old, pesky problem – lice. The solution is based on prevention treatment.

• Stephanie Addis (St. Petersburg/Gibbs Campus) – 2nd Place Winner – $500
• She is pursuing her bachelor’s in Management & Leadership while working in commercial real estate as a busy single mother.
• Her idea FitSnap was borne from her desire to eat healthy and conscientiously while managing the busy lifestyle of a single mom. The innovative app is a concept to help stay on track with health goals.

Special Recognition Awards – Each won $250 awards

• Matthew Allan – Awarded for Service Concept
• Associate degree student in General Studies for his concept Go Delivery
• Offers a cost-effective solution to handle the logistics of restaurant delivery and promotes increased revenue to establishments along with increased satisfaction to customers

• Lisa Manners – Awarded for Social/Community Entrepreneurship
• Associate degree student in General Studies for her concept The Manners Housing Foundation
• Strives to support and assist homeless college students and transition them into viable housing and employment.

• Kyle McCormick – Innovative Educational Concept and Approach
• Bachelor’s degree student majoring in Management & Organizational Leadership
• Violish – offers a teaching method that incorporates music to promote learning a language

• Carl Thorne – Awarded for Innovative Consumer Product
• Hospitality Certificate Program student with his idea for Thirsty Pet
• An innovative app that helps busy families manage their pet’s needs from a distance

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In the news: Changes to Florida’s juvenile justice system

The forum “Kids are Different: Youth in the Justice System,” held in March at St. Petersburg College’s Seminole Campus, was mentioned in an article in The Daily Record about change in Florida’s juvenile justice system.

The panel discussion is part of an ongoing series on criminal justice reform presented by the SPC Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions and the Florida State University Project on Accountable Justice.

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In the news: The Zen of doodling

The Tampa Tribune covered a Zendoodle demonstration held at St. Petersburg College’s Seminole Campus. Students were able to see a demonstration of Zendoodle by local artist and SPC art instructor Barbara Hubbard.

“When you doodle in the margins of the pages during a meeting, it relaxes you,” said religious studies professor and exhibit co-coordinator Brandy Stark in the article. “You actually get into a Zen moment.”

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Another successful spring membership drive for Golden Key chapter

Golden Key advisors and officers, (from left) Dr. Deborah Cerminaro Eldridge, advisor; John LiVoti, treasurer; Shauntel Smith, president; Randy Cuevas, vice president; Dr. Cynthia Grey, advisor

The Golden Key International Honour Society inducted 59 new members at the Seminole Campus Digitorium on March 28.

Golden Key’s SPC chapter was established in 2011. With the 2013 membership drive, it now has more than 200 members.

March ceremony

Last month ceremony saw the induction of honorary members and the awarding of Golden Key scholarships. Seminole Campus Provost Jim Olliver welcomed everyone to the ceremony while Shauntel Smith, the chapter’s president, opened the event.

The chapter inducted the following honorary members:

• Dr. Jesse Coraggio
• Dr. Greg Nenstiel
• Dr. Kevin Gordon
• Vicki Westergard
• Frances Neu

GKS President Shauntel Smith opening the ceremony.

Coraggio, the college’s Associate Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness, Research and Grants, gave the ceremony’s keynote speech. He discussed the differences between leadership and managership and challenged the organization’s members to be leaders who are focused on being value driven and doing the right thing.

Golden Key scholarships were announced for outstanding achievement and contributions to SPC’s chapter. Scholarship recipients are Smith, John LiVoti and Randy Cuerva.

About Golden Key

The society was founded in 1977. Its three core pillars are academics, leadership and service.

Juniors and seniors in the top 15 percent of their class collegewide are invited into the society. There they are given the opportunity to become involved with students worldwide at both regional and international summits. Chapter meetings are streamed online for ease of attendance and certain service events are created in a manner that allows remote student participation, such as the Lids for Life Drive.

SPC faculty advisors for Golden Key are Dr. Deborah Cerminaro Eldridge and Dr. Cynthia Grey. Please contact them for questions about the organization.

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SPC’s Business Plan & Elevator Pitch Competition finalists

Finalists have been named in the college’s 3rd Annual Business Plan and Elevator Pitch Competition, which will be held later this month.

The competition awards $10,000 in prizes to budding student entrepreneurs. It offers an opportunity for students to showcase their talents and sharpen their skills as they participate and present in a live competition. The competition started at the Seminole Campus but has since become a collegewide program.

3rd Annual Business Plan & Elevator Pitch Competition DATE: April 18 TIME: 6:30 p.m. PLACE: Seminole Campus Digitorium ADMISSION: Free and open to the public

The event takes place on April 18 at the Seminole Campus Digitorium.

The finalists, students from throughout the college, are:

Business Plan:

• Yvette Collins – Foot Candy (Clearwater)
• Chelsea Gibson – The Kinder Choice (Clearwater)
• Rick Lombano – The Place To Ask (Tarpon Springs)

Elevator Pitch:

• Stephanie Addis – FitSnap (St. Petersburg/Gibbs)
• Dustin Fecera & Max Jordon – AeroSpace Apps (Seminole)
• Marie Rogers – Peace of Hair (Seminole)

Several students also have been recognized in specific areas of the competition.

Special recognition award winners are:

• Lisa Manners – Social/Community Entrepreneurship Award
• Matthew Allan – Service Concept Award
• Kyle McCormick – Educational Concept Award
• Carl Thorne – Innovative Consumer Product Award

The six finalists will vie for the top four prizes: $5,000 and $2,500 in the Business Plan Competition and $1,000 and $500 in the Elevator Pitch Competition. Each of the special recognition award winners also receive a $250 prize.

Join us to cheer on the students. Find out what “Foot Candy” and the other plans and pitches are all about. The event is free and open to the public.

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