Outstanding alumna
Ania McNamara, of Odessa, received the Outstanding Young Alumna Award from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, during the school’s Reunion Weekend.
The award honors a young alum for outstanding accomplishments within the first 10 years of graduation whose professional accomplishments, service to the alma mater, or selfless and caring work to benefit society are distinctive.
McNamara has found success in her career and in her personal passion by providing gifts to orphans throughout Poland. A senior marketing professional, specializing in digital marketing, McNamara has broad perspective on the marketing needs of small companies, as well as the complex world of modern marketing and technology.
In 2016, she found McNamara Marketing, a flexible marketing resource firm providing full-service marketing to businesses worldwide.
In her spare time, McNamara organizes the CCF4Orphans Project, a 10-year initiative sending Christmas gifts overseas to children in Polish orphanages. The cause is particularly close to her heart as she and her sisters were adopted as young children from an orphanage in Poland.
For more information, visit CCF4Orphans Project on Facebook.
Recycle with Crayola
Crayola ColorCycle was launched as a way to help kids understand the importance of their role in protecting the environment.
Through the initiative, students in kindergarten through 12th grade in schools across the United States and parts of Canada can collect and repurpose used Crayola markers.
Teachers and students have the opportunity to explore eco-friendly practices through specially developed standards-based lesson plans to enrich instruction and promote lively class discussion.
There are four steps to becoming an Eco-Cool School.
- Inform the school administrators or parent-teacher organization about participating in the ColorCycle program.
- Set up a collection station in the school for used markers. Count up all the markers.
- Pack markers in a cardboard box (with minimal outer markings). Print out a shipping label.
- FedEx Ground will pick up the markers – Crayola pays all the shipping charges.
For information and to get started, visit Crayola.com.
Patel Conservatory classes
Registration is now open for 2018 fall classes that start Sept. 4, in dance, theater and music at the Patel Conservatory at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts.
More than 100 classes are offered in age-specific categories, ranging from prekindergarten to adult. Sequential curricula are designed to accommodate students of all skill levels, from novice to professional.
Patel offers master classes with performers, field trips to professional performances, and celebrity question-and-answer sessions, as well as other activities. Auditions are required for some classes.
Registration is available online, by calling (813) 222-1040, or in person at the Patel Conservatory.
Open houses for the school year will be Aug. 23 at 6 p.m., and Aug. 25 at 10 a.m.
For information, and a full list of classes, descriptions and schedules, visit PatelConservatory.org.
Wiregrass open house
Wiregrass Ranch High School will host an open house Aug. 27 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., for all students.
Participants can learn about the academic and athletic programs available, as well as clubs and booster programs.
Teachers will be in their classrooms to meet with families and answer any questions.
For information, call (813) 346-6000.
AFIRE of Pasco
All Pasco County Tax Collector offices will be accepting donations for AFIRE of Pasco during the month of August.
AFIRE of Pasco is a day-training program for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities. It is geared specifically for people 22 years of age and older who have completed all school district programs for individuals with disabilities. AFIRE provides service five days per week to enrolled adults.
Services include basic academics, one-on-one computer instruction, training in daily living skills, and recreation and social outings/activities.
For information on donating, visit PascoTaxes.com, or call Greg Giordano, assistant tax collector, at (727) 847-8179.
For information on the organization, visit AfirePasco.com, or call Denise Haystrand at (727) 849-8982.
Insurance company steps up
American Income Life, a provider of life, accident and supplemental health insurance, made a $25,000 contribution to Step Up For Students, helping lower-income children attend the kindergarten through 12th grade school that best fits their learning needs. The donation will fund three scholarships for the 2018-2019 school year.
This is the first time American Income has partnered with Step Up For Students, a nonprofit organization that helps manage the income-based Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program.
The tax credit program is for financially disadvantaged schoolchildren, and allows parents and schoolchildren to choose between a kindergarten through 12th grade scholarship that helps with private school tuition and fees, or one that assists with transportation costs to out-of-county public schools.
Student attends summer orientation
Zane Tarrance, of Odessa, attended Newberry College’s Wolf Pack Welcome, the college’s summer orientation.
The welcome is a one-day program designed to help first-year students transition smoothly from high school to Newberry College (South Carolina).
Activities included a team-building session, an academic session, a technology session, and an advisement session with an academic advisor.
Dean’s List honorees
- Connor O’ Keefe, of Lutz, made the Dean’s List at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, for the spring semester.
- Em Ovalle, of Lutz, was named to the Dean’s List at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. Ovalle is a graduate of Freedom High School.
- Jordan Wheeler, of Land O’ Lakes, made the Dean’s List at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Wheeler is enrolled in the university’s School of Engineering and Applied Science.
