Sunlake business leaders shine at districts
All 62 members of Sunlake High School’s Academy of Finance and Future Business Leaders of America competed at a competition that drew 535 students from Pasco and Hernando county high schools. Thirty-five Sunlake students qualified and will attend the conference to compete at states. District winners were: Megan Maggi, Staci Johnson, Sara Sturgess, Jeremy Devlin, Jesse Crawford-Lang, Ryan Talbert, Cullen Quamina, Jacob Silence, Derek Noble, Gabriella Rivera, Garrett Mogab, Hui Hui Guo, Devon Mays, Rachel Weber, Zachary Valentine, Dylan Mixon, Justin Jungbauer, Austin Vogt, Tyler Bainbridge, Nick Bush, Timothy Finn, Darren Bainbridge, Mariah Berberich, Mackenzie Jones, Brooke Wood, Josh Wilford, Letisha Ingram, Aaron Aucoin, Allison Haff, Meagyn Speer, Anthony Fuentes, Elissa Noblitt and Deidre Yocum.
Give a book, get a kid’s meal
LongHorn Steakhouse is inviting families to participate in the restaurant’s Give a Book, Get a Free Steakhouse Kid’s Meal offer to celebrate International Children’s Book Day on April 2.
To participate, all families have to do is donate a children’s book, suitable for ages 5 to 12, on April 2 at any local LongHorn. In return, participating guests will receive one free kid’s meal from LongHorn’s kid’s menu with the purchase of one adult entrée.
Robotics competition winners
Two teams from The Laker/Lutz News’ coverage areas took home awards from the Florida First Tech Challenge Florida Championship.
The winners were:
—Brick Buddies, a team from Land O’ Lakes, received the Winning Alliance and PTC Design Award
—Team Duct Tape, a team with members from Land O’ Lakes, Lutz, Oldsmar and Northdale, received the Finalist Alliance and Judges Award
Lee to compete in Orlando pageant
Isabel Lee, a student at Wiregrass Ranch High, has been selected as a state finalist in the National American Miss Florida Pageant in Orlando this July. The pageant is a competition for girls between the ages of 13 through 15.
Liberty Middle FBLA grabs awards
The Future Business Leaders of America at Liberty Middle received 36 awards at a recent competition and was named the chapter of the year for Hillsborough County. The 96-member team will be traveling to Orlando in April.
Poetry contest seeking submissions
The Pasco Arts Council is sponsoring its seventh annual Jacaranda Poetry Festival and is inviting poets to enter. All poems must be original and not previously published. The entry fee is $3 per poem, with no limit on the number of entries. Those entering must submit three copies of each poem. One should include the name, address, telephone number and email address of the poet. The other two should not contain any identifying information.
Entries may be mailed, with a postmark by April 3, or hand-delivered to: Pasco Arts Council, 5744 Moog Road, Holiday, Fla. 34690-2354, Attention: Jacaranda Poetry.
A panel of professional judges, led by published author Alicyn Lopez, will choose the winners. Awards, including cash prizes, will be announced at the Jacaranda Poetry Reading at 1 p.m. on April 20 at the Pasco Arts Council’s art center, at 5744 Moog Road in Holiday, next to Centennial Park Library. There will be poetry readers at this free event, which is open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
Tampa Theatre film camps
Young filmmakers can learn about making films, from generating ideas to creating storyboards, writing scripts, filming scenes, lighting, sound and editing.
The camps last a week and are open to students in third through 12th grades.
Each production team of three to five young filmmakers will work together with a camp counselor to create a short live action or stop-motion animation film.
Four one-week sessions will be offered from June 17 through June 21, June 24 through June 28, July 15 through July 19 and July 22 through July 26. The cost is $175 per student.
All equipment, including cameras, lighting, sound-recording equipment and computers with editing software, is provided. All experience levels are welcome in all sessions, and at the end of the summer, the films will be screened at the Tampa Theatre Film Camp Festival.
The film camp is presented in collaboration with the Florida Center for Instructional Technology at the USF College of Education, with assistance from Learning Gate Community School.
For more information, visit tampatheatre.org/education/summer-camp/.
PHCC Foundation gets $25,000 in support
The Pasco-Hernando Community College (PHCC) Foundation recently received an additional $25,000 from the Thomas A. Plein Foundation (TAP) to fund the Thomas A. Plein Memorial Scholarship endowment.
The endowment was established in 2011 with a donation of $20,000 plus an additional $2,000 for annual scholarships for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic years.
Plein, of Oshkosh, Wis., established TAP in the 1980s to advance his family’s philanthropic interests. The family owned 7-Up bottling plants in Oshkosh and other Midwest cities.
His nephew, Steve Plein of New Port Richey and TAP board member, was instrumental in facilitating the gift to support students of PHCC.
The foundation accepts scholarships through the college’s online application at scholarships.phcc.edu. For more information or to make a contribution, call (727) 816-3410 or visit www.phcc.edu/foundation.
Magnet schools receive national recognition
Magnet Schools of America (MSA) will recognize Hillsborough County public magnet schools and programs as Magnet Schools of Excellence or Magnet Schools of Distinction at the annual conference May 5 through May 8 in Tulsa, Okla.
Magnet Schools of Excellence will go to: Lee, Lincoln, MacFarlane Park and Philip Shore Elementary magnet schools; Boys Preparatory Academy Franklin, Progress Village, Williams and Young middle magnet schools; and Middleton and Tampa Bay Technical.
Magnet Schools of Distinction will go to: Cahoon, Lomax, and Muller elementary magnet schools; Dowdell, Girls Preparatory Academy Ferrell, Orange Grove, Sligh, Stewart and Walker middle magnet schools; Rampello Downtown Partnership K-8 and Roland Park K-8; and Robinson High.
