Starting the school year on a positive note
Pasco High School, 36850 State Road 52 in Dade City, opened its doors the first day of the school year with positivity. The school club TAD, together with members of the Student Council, wrote positive messages all over campus to greet students. Sticky notes of positivity and welcome were placed on nearly every locker in the school.
PHSC College Nights
Pasco-Hernando State College will host these upcoming College Nights for prospective students in the Pasco County area.
• Sept. 16 at the New Port Richey campus, 10230 Ridge Road, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Sept. 17 at Nature Coast Technical High School in Brooksville, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Representatives from the state college, and other public colleges, private colleges, universities, educational institutions and the military, will participate.
Admission is free. For information, call (855) 669-7472.
Constitutional essay contest
Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller Paula O’ Neil’s office is seeking entries for its annual Constitutional Essay Contest.
All Pasco County fifth-graders are eligible. Students may be enrolled in a public or private school. Homeschoolers also are invited to participate.
Each essay should be no longer than 300 words, responding to the question “Why is the United State Constitution important?”
Submissions will be judged on the understanding of the issue, clarity, presentation, grammar and spelling.
Submissions must include the writer’s name, age, grade, school, school address, contact telephone, and parent email address. The winner will be notified by telephone.
Each essay should be the sole product of the student’s work. Only one entry per student.
Students should submit the essay to . MS-Word and PDF documents will be accepted.
The deadline for submissions is Sept. 25. The winner will be announced on Oct. 16.
Educational autism conference
The Autism Foundation of Tampa Bay will host its annual Autism Conference on Sept. 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at Shriners Hospital for Children Tampa, 12502 USF Pine Drive in Tampa. The theme is “Empowerment Through Education.”
Guest speakers will cover current trends in autism, including treatment, education, transition, guardianship, special needs trust and more.
Foundation members are free. The cost for non-members is $25.
For information and to RSVP, email .
Local student accepted to music festival
Glenda Barr Lopez of Land O’ Lakes was accepted into the Eastern Music Festival summer study program at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, a five-week competitive high school and college training program in orchestral, piano, conducting, guitar and choral performance.
Lopez was selected out of more than 550 applicants to receive one out of 181 positions in the EMF Young Artists Orchestras.
The program allows students to study under the guidance of private teachers and internationally recognized conductors Gerard Schwarz, Grant Cooper and Eric Garcia.
For information about the Young Artists Orchestras, visit EasternMusicFestival.org/study/orchestra.
Youth art contest
The Medical Center of Trinity is hosting its annual “Expression of Thanks” youth art contest for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The contest runs through Sept. 30.
Students are invited to celebrate the service of all U.S. military veterans through artwork, poetry or an essay.
Each participant will receive a certificate of recognition. First place winners in each grade level will receive a $25 gift card. The grand prize winner will get a choice of either a bicycle or an iPod Nano.
All work can either be submitted in person or via mail.
For complete rules and information, call (727) 834-4868, or email .
Nursing scholarship launched
Rasmussen College recently launched a Future Nurses of Florida scholarship in an effort to help address the shortage of nurses across the nation.
The scholarship is immediately available for new students enrolling in the Practical Nursing Diploma program at Rasmussen College. To receive the full award, students must enroll full-time at the Land O’ Lakes/East Pasco, Tampa/Brandon, Ocala or Fort Myers campus.
To learn more about the scholarship, visit Rasmussen.edu and click on the Tuition link for scholarship opportunities.
Manufacturing Day Oct. 2
Join CareerSource Pasco Hernando and Pasco-Hernando State College for National Manufacturing Day on Oct. 2 by touring local manufacturers.
For tour locations and times being offered, call CareerSource at (352) 200-3020, or contact PHSC at (727) 816-3227 or .
English language class
Tampa Bay Presbyterian Church, 19911 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., in Tampa, will host an English as a Second Language (ESL) class on Tuesday mornings from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
The class uses several ESL and Bible study resources. The only fee is $40 for books.
Participants can practice conversational English in a fun and relaxed environment.
For information, call Heather Tomasello at (813) 753-8567.
