Students focus on community service
Saint Leo University students package meals for Feeding Children Everywhere, to help eradicate hunger and poverty, in memory of Martin Luther King Jr. King’s legacy of accepting others’ differences, raising people up, and helping the less fortunate, which was recognized during the school’s A Day On, Not Off. The school’s goal was to package 70,000 meals for the Tampa area.
Saint Leo honors hometown heroes
Saint Leo University will host a Hometown Heroes Night Feb. 24, welcoming veterans and first responders from the community and Saint Leo student-veterans, military students, and faculty and staff members who served in the military to the evening’s basketball games.
Saint Leo will honor the heroes during the games.
The women’s basketball game against Rollins College starts at 5:30 p.m.
The men’s game will be at 7:30 p.m., taking on the Tars.
Both will be played at the Marion Bowman Activities Center, 33701 State Road 52 in St. Leo.
Admission is free for veterans, active duty military, and first responders, including law enforcement, emergency medical, and fire personnel.
For information or special accommodations, email Franck Bayebanen at .
Mentor Appreciation Month
Each January, Take Stock in Children celebrates Mentor Appreciation Month, a month devoted to the dedicated men and women in the Pasco County community who volunteer time while playing a vital role in their mentee’s success.
Take Stock in Children, which provides scholarships, mentors and hope, has more than 10,000 mentors contributing more than 2 million volunteer hours across the state since 1995.
There are currently 130 individuals within Pasco County who volunteer and provide motivation, encouragement and friendship to scholars.
The statewide program gives Pasco County students, whose families meet income eligibility guidelines, an opportunity to receive up to a four-year college scholarship in partnership with the Florida Prepaid College Foundation.
For information, visit TakeStockPasco.org.
Scholarships available
Saint Leo University is looking for college-bound high school seniors who want to study computer science or mathematics for a special four-year scholarship and academic program the school has underway.
Saint Leo plans to admit eight high-achieving students as Emerging Math and Computer Science Scholars in the fall at University Campus in east Pasco County.
Recurring scholarships of up to $10,000 will be available to each admitted scholar, as long as academic standards are met.
The EMACS program scholarships were made possible through a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Applications for fall acceptance are due March 1.
For information, email Vyas Krishnan at .
Lottery celebrates education contributions
The Florida Lottery celebrates its 30th year in operation, marking three decades of achievement and contributions to education.
Since 1988, the Lottery has contributed more than $32 billion to education, including more than $1 billion annually for each of the past 15 consecutive fiscal years.
The Lottery is also the primary funding source for the Bright Futures Scholarship Program.
Students experience opera
Hillel Academy students experienced opera on stage at the Opera Tampa dress rehearsal of Gioachino Rossini’s comic opera, “The Barber of Seville,” at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts.
Students also had the chance to participate in a workshop by Opera Tampa members, where they learned the operatic art form, opera etiquette, and various operatic voices.
Select academy students will be interviewed for a video to be presented at the Opera Tampa Gala in April at the Straz Center.
Hillel Academy is Tampa’s only accredited Jewish day school.
For information, call (813) 963-2242.
Cotee River celebrates literacy
Cotee River Elementary School’s students and staff celebrated Literacy Week in January with “Drop Everything and Read!”
Teachers and students moved from their classrooms to the outdoors for reading activities. Staff members were encouraged to bring their favorite books to read, while their students read their own favorite books.
