In the news: testing the science of gooey art

Testing the science of gooey art (From the Tampa Bay Times)

In a series of photos, the Tampa Bay Times recently featured St. Petersburg College’s Science, Art and Math (SAM) Camp at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art. “The camp teaches students the art and science of pigmentation, weights and balances, patterns and symmetry with the intention of bringing the concepts of art to life and to turn abstractions into reality in hands-on studios,” the photos’ captions stated.

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Another successful summer of Operation Graduate

July graduation ceremony for participants in the Operation Graduate program

For the third year in a row, St. Petersburg College partnered with United Way and the Clearwater Police Department to help local high school students have a successful introduction to college at the Clearwater Campus.

High school students took the SLS 1101 The College Experience course. This scholarship program is completely free for these students. It includes lunch daily and weekly field trips to local businesses where students get an opportunity to increase their career knowledge.

This summer program is a part of the overall Operation Graduate program. It seeks to help local high school students successfully reach graduation through credit recovery, summer dual enrollment, job placement and career awareness. A 2011 report from ABC Action News talks about the program.

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Local reality TV star encourages Summer of Success students

From left: Tarpon Springs Campus Associate Provost Rod Davis, Summer of Success students, Nick Albini and Tarpon Springs Campus Provost Conferlete Carney

The fourth annual Summer of Success program held at the college’s Tarpon Springs Campus began its second week with SPC grad and Discovery Channel reality TV star Nick Albini.

Albini, who graduated from Tarpon Springs High School and later the University of Florida, spoke to recent high school grads on June 17 about life, networking, leadership and finding your way post-high school at SPC.

Some may recognize Albini from the Discovery Channel. He was one of the stars of the series “Out of the Wild: Venezuela,” when it premiered in 2011.

Albini began his career search at the Tarpon Springs Campus. He said he wasn’t a very good student until he made contact with an English professor who encouraged him, and it turned his thinking and life around. He went on to graduate from SPC and transferred to UF. He graduated in 2005 with a Criminal Justice degree and plans to become a lawyer. He joined the U.S. Army Rangers, serving two tours in Iraq. He now is a U.S. National Guard captain and in his third year of law school in St. Augustine.

Albini, whose roots are in the Tarpon Springs community, said he enjoyed the opportunity to return for the third summer to speak with the new Summer of Success students.

The event’s organizer said Albini is a great example of a local individual who can relate to the First Time in College students. He can give them advice, share a little of his experiences and encourage them to achieve their goals.

Summer of Success at Tarpon Springs

SPC is hosting Summer of Success students at the Tarpon Springs Campus for six weeks through July 19. There are 19 young adults, ages 17 to 19, who are recent high school graduates and the first-generation in their family attending college. The group represents 11 area high schools. Jackie Addis, Summer of Success administrator at the campus, oversees the curriculum, field trips and leadership activities.

For students who qualify, the college’s application fee is waived. They also receive free tuition for three college credits and free textbooks for college classes. Career exploration, along with weekly field trips, round out this exciting opportunity.

Upon successful completion of the summer program, students will be able to continue in the fall with an established SPC transcript and a GPA. This ensures students will have a smooth transition into the fall college routine with the assistance of an academic advisor.

This is the fourth time that north county students from Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough have had this opportunity to learn about college firsthand in a way that will contribute to their future success.

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Students learn networking, virtualization skills at SPC Virtualization Summer Camp

St. Petersburg College’s Virtualization Summer Camp, held at the EpiCenter this month, offered networking and virtualization concepts to students.

The camp, made possible due to a National Science Foundation (NSF) , was held in partnership with Florida State College of Jacksonville (FSCJ) and was one of three piloted in the summer of 2013. Twelve students from St. Petersburg Gibbs, Countryside, and Osceola high schools participated in activities designed to impart computer networking and virtualization skills.

Virtualization refers creating a virtual machine , which acts like a real computer with an operating system.

Through this five-day course, students learned networking and virtualization concepts that included CITRIX VDI-IN-A-BOX, a new generation of software that allows creating virtual desktops for users that can be accessed from any location, wireless networking and router configurations. Students were assisted by Instructors Michael Gordon, Dr. Holly Hoopes, and Vera Goodacre, all from SPC.

Also present were Technical Support Specialists Jamaal White and Michael Selva, both from SPC. High School faculty included Dan Smith from Countryside High School and Sheryll Norwood from St. Petersburg Gibbs High School.

Learn more about the camp in the CCIT Bulletin.

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Career Pathways Academy hosts more than 120 students

More than 120 10th and 11th grade Pinellas County high school students attended the Career Pathways Academy held at St. Petersburg College’s Health Education Center last week.

At the event, formerly called Choices, speakers from various careers presented about their professions including:

• Business • Careers in the Military • Chiropractic • ConMed Linvatec (manufacturing) • CCIT • EMT/Paramedic • Dental Hygiene • Digital Arts

• Dual Enrollment • Engineering • Environmental Science • the FBI • Funeral Services • Hospitality and Tourism • Law Enforcement • National Aviation Academy

• Orthotics and Prosthetics • Paralegal • Photography • Physical Therapy • Radiography • Sign Language Interpreting • Sports

 

Students also participated in fun activities related to motivation, team building, life choices, values, life skills, interview training, interest and personality inventories and resume preparation. Each team of students also took a field trip based on their career area of interest:

• Green Team — Toured the Magnuson Hotel Marina Cove / Field Trip Career Focus: Hospitality and Tourism
• Red Team — Toured the St. Pete/Clearwater Airport and the National Aviation Academy hangar / Field Trip Career Focus: Transportation
• Blue Team — Toured SPC’s Allstate Center / Field Trip Career Focus: Criminal Justice
• Orange Team — Toured SPC’s Veterinary Technology Center / Field Trip Career Focus: Veterinary Technology

Be sure to view photos from the week posted to SPC’s Career Pathways Facebook page. Thank you to everyone at SPC who made a difference by leaving a positive impact on these students’ future career choices. What an exciting week of career exploration!

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Summer camp guide features College for Kids

Patch.com has published its sampling of summer camp options for St. Petersburg and Pinellas County that includes St. Petersburg College for Kids.

The camp runs from June through August at nine locations throughout Pinellas County. More information about summer programs offered by SPC and community partners is available in the college’s news blog.

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SPC, community partners host K-12 summer programs

 

Looking for summer programs that are educational, motivational and fun? St. Petersburg College and community partners are hosting more than a dozen affordable summer camps and programs for elementary, middle and high school students.

Preparing for the future

Programs for middle and high school students focus on college, career and life skills preparation. Students can explore:

• Crime scene investigation and public safety
• Economics and finance
• Firefighting
• Pre-law and investigation
• Technical aspects of musical theater

Earn college credit

Help your teen get a head start by earning college credit through Operation Graduate, Summer of Success and Youth Development Program. Eligible students also can earn college credits by registering for summer dual enrollment classes.

College for Kids

College for Kids has been providing an affordable, fun, educational summer experience for more than 30 years. Credentialed teachers at nine convenient locations in Pinellas County served more than 600 students last year. They expanded their SAM (Science, Art and Math) Camp locations this year to include both north and south county museum locations:

• Museum of Fine Arts (Downtown St. Petersburg)
• Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art (SPC Tarpon Springs Campus)

Visit www.spcollege.edu/summerprograms and browse by age group for program descriptions, dates, costs and application details.

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