SFSC Cross Country Team Honored at Inaugural Season’s End

AVON PARK, Fla.–Nov. 19, 2015–South Florida State College students and employees honored the Lady Panthers cross country team for its accomplishments at a special ceremony on Nov. 18 after wrapping up its inaugural season at the National Junior College Athletic Association’s (NJCAA) national cross country championships on Nov. 14 in Fort Dodge, Iowa. The championships were hosted by Iowa Central Community College.

“A few fast facts of historical importance:  First of all, Julia Soto, Savannah Walter, Cali Gumpel, Alexis Armstead, and Grace Miller will forever be known historically as the first ever cross country team at SFSC,” said Rick Hitt, SFSC athletic director. “Along the same lines, Coach Krista Schult and Coach Cassandra Marentes will be known historically as the first women’s cross country staff ever. The families and the meets will be remembered as the first ever. The SFSC administration and trustees will historically be remembered for deciding to add women’s cross country as a sport at SFSC for the fall of 2015.”

The SFSC Lady Panthers Cross Country team returned from the National Championships on Nov. 15 as the 25^th ranked team in the country. The Panther ran their way to a 25^th place team finish and each team member finished in the top 170 out of a possible 330 runners.

Grace Miller set the pace for the Panthers finishing 77^th overall with a time of 20:25 for the 3.1 mile run. Alexis Armstead (21:12), and Savannah Walter (21:17) finished 133^rd and 140^th, respectively. Cali Gumpel (21:21) finished 145^th, and Julia Soto (21:37) completed the course in 163^rd position.

“First and foremost, I want to say thank you to the ladies on the team,” said Krista Schult, coach, SFSC Cross Country, during the ceremony. “They have set the bar extremely high for what’s going to be expected in the years to come. There was only one minute, 12 seconds between all five runners at nationals. We had one of the smallest spreads between first place and fifth place, so that’s something to be proud of. We ran well as a team.”

Schult indicated that all five runners on the Lady Panthers cross country team will return for competition next fall, and SFSC will add five more runners, doubling the size of the team.

“There are three or four other colleges in the Florida College System that are in the process of forming women’s cross country teams, so you are pacesetters in all aspects of that word,” said Dr. Thomas C. Leitzel, SFSC president. “Thank you for bringing recognition to SFSC. Thank you for leading with quality. We treasure you as we do all students.”

The Lady Panthers held its first home meet on Oct. 3, 2015.

AVON PARK, Fla.–Nov. 19, 2015–The mystery surrounding the location of Fort Shackelford will be the topic of the next Kissimmee Valley Archaeological and Historical Conservancy lecture at South Florida State College.

Annette Snapp, an archeologist with the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Indian Museum, will be the conservancy’s speaker on Nov. 19, 7 p.m., in Building G, Room 101, on SFSC’s Highlands Campus. The public is invited at no cost.

Snapp will talk about the findings from an archaeological exploration that set out to locate Fort Shackelford, a Third Seminole War-era fort built on the edge of the Big Cypress National Preserve, but whose precise location remains shrouded in doubt. The talk will also cover the Seminole tribe’s efforts over the years to protect important cultural resources.

The U.S. government constructed forts throughout the southern half of Florida in its decades-long war with the Seminoles. Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers endured to grow into cities. But Fort Shackelford’s precise location remains unknown, more than 100 years after its destruction.

Snapp, earned her doctorate in museum ethnography at Oxford University. She also studied applied anthropology and archaeology at the University of South Florida. For the last 20 years, Snapp has worked as a professional archaeologist in Florida and other southeastern states.

In 2013, the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki museum appointed Snapp its operations manager. The museum, located in Clewiston, is home to more than 30,000 artifacts where visitors can learn about the Seminole people and their culture.

The talk is one of a series at SFSC sponsored by the Lake Placid-based conservancy. For more information, call Anne Reynolds at 840-3995.

AVON PARK, Fla.–Nov. 18, 2015–A sign crew recently put the finishing touches on new signage for South Florida State College’s theatre. Removal of previous signage started on Nov. 2. The crew has since hoisted a 10-foot-wide circular sign emblazoned with a cursive-style “W” atop the building’s west-facing façade and added new lettering next to the sign.

On Oct. 1, South Florida State College announced a new name for its performing arts venue. Formerly known as the SFSC Theatre for the Performing Arts, it took on a new name to recognize local businessman, Alan Jay Wildstein, for a major gift to SFSC’s $10 million capital campaign, the Partnership Project. Now known as the Alan Jay Wildstein Center for the Performing Arts at SFSC, the 1,460-seat theater complex needed new signs to match its new name. “The work is complete, and we’re ready for Jay Leno,” said Cindy Garren, director, SFSC Cultural Programs.

To celebrate and honor the donor, the theater will present an inaugural performance—acclaimed television late night show host, admired stand-up comedian, and pioneering car builder and mechanic, Jay Leno. The performance will be held Thursday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m.  Donny Most, best known as Ralph Malph from the television program “Happy Days,” opens the show. Most is currently touring the country with his jazz sextet performing standards from the Great American Songbook.

Tickets for the performance start at $55 and are available online at sfscarts.org or by visiting the SFSC Box Office in front of the theatre. The Box Office is open Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

AVON PARK, Fla.–Nov. 12, 2015–Residents 50 years old and older are eligible to participate in the 2016 Heartland Games for Active Adults through the South Florida State College’s (SFSC) Community Education Department. The Heartland Games for Active Adults runs Jan. 28 through the end of March and is held at various venues throughout Highlands County. The cost is $25 and entitles the entrant to participate in as many events as desired. A Dri-fit shirt and medals is included.  

Events will be held throughout Highlands County in cycling, swimming, shuffleboard, bowling, bridge, euchre, pickleball, golf, tennis, table tennis, volleyball, and track and field. Medals are awarded for first, second, and third place, male and female, in each sport and age category.  

For 20 years, SFSC has hosted the Heartland Games for Active Adults. The games promote an active lifestyle in an atmosphere of fun, fellowship and friendly competition with other who share common recreational and leisure interest.

Register in Building B, on the SFSC Highlands Campus, or at any SFSC campus or center. For more information, contact Neil Simpson, games ambassador, at 863-382-8349 or email nsimp76@gmail.com or Lorrie Key, Community Education, at 863-784-7033 or email CommunityEducation@southflorida.edu, or visit http://www.southflorida.edu/community/community-education/heartland-games-active-adults.

AVON PARK, Fla.–Nov. 12, 2015–On Wednesday morning, nearly 200 students, employees, and area residents crowded around the flagpoles at South Florida State College’s Highlands Campus to honor the veterans who have served their country in war and peace.

Clad in his white uniform, Eric Christensen, a retired commander in the U.S. Navy and professor of physics, served as the master of ceremonies for the hour-long procession of speeches, songs, and prayer that marked SFSC’s annual Veterans Day ceremony.

On hand were veterans who fought in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sporting a red, white, and blue outfit, Barry Vincent Smith took part in the ceremony from her wheelchair. During World War II, Smith joined the effort to defeat the Axis powers by enlisting as a WASP, or Women Airforce Service Pilot. She was one of more than a thousand women who flew non-combat missions in the U.S., freeing men to fly fighters and bombers on the frontlines.

She and all the WASPs were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2009 for their service to the war effort that saw the defeat of the Nazis and Japanese.

“This is a wonderful, splendid day,” said Smith, shielded from the sun with umbrella. “I’ve put out dozens of flags around my house, so many I lost count.”

SFSC student Shawn Owens, a U.S. Army sergeant who completed tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, mounted the podium in his dress blues to share his thoughts on what it means to be a veteran.

“When I was asked to talk about what it means to be a veteran, I didn’t realize how hard it would be to put it into words,” said Owens. “Once I started to think about my own family who served, my brothers in arms, I realized being a vet means answering the call of your country, being courageous, being brave, and enduring whatever you must for the love of your country.”

Owens will accept his associate degree in December. He plans to finish his undergraduate degree in psychology at Florida State University and pursue graduate studies in social work.

“I want to serve my fellow vets who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and earning a degree in social work is one way of do just that,” Owens said, with his wife, Annette, by his side. She runs a weekly support group for families with a husband, wife, or child serving far from home.

Dr. Cary Pigman, a member of the Florida House of Representatives, delivered the keynote speech. Pigman is an emergency room physician at Florida Hospital Heartland Medical Center who served in the U.S. Army and the Navy. He recounted the Battle of Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War, a harrowing engagement that pitted U.S. troops and allied soldiers against a larger contingent of Chinese forces. The battle, which resulted in 17,843 American casualties, was a turning point in the war.

Pigman’s message: America’s veterans endured cold, hunger, and death then as they do today. If needed, they will do so again.

A measure of levity fell to Laura Wade, an adjunct instructor in adult education. In a musical tribute to the four branches of the military, she sang the Marines’ Hymn, “Anchors Away,” and the Air Force and Army songs.

The ceremony ended on a prayerful note. Ben Carter, SFSC’s director of outreach and academic support, read Psalm 91, known to many as the warrior psalm. Afterward, the color guards of the Knights of Columbus and the Avon Park High School Air Force Junior ROTC led a remembrance walk from the circle to the Learning Resource Center and back.

With the ceremony over, students huddled around many of the veterans, peppering them with questions about their service.

Milton Krom, teasingly coaxed the students into guessing his age. The World War II veteran, who served in the First Infantry Division, had no qualms about admitting that he is 96. Many of the students took selfies with the ageing veterans, who clearly enjoyed the attention.

A few instructors had assigned their students to engage the veterans in structured interviews as part of a class assignment. Yvonne Rosario, in her first semester, asked Owens a list of questions she had fixed to her clipboard. Even though several students had already cornered the sergeant before Rosario had her turn, Owens, dripping with sweat, gladly took her questions.

By noon’s arrival, nearly everyone had returned to their routines, except for a few stragglers who had retreated to the shade.

AVON PARK, Fla.–Nov. 9, 2015–South Florida State College will hold an educational workshop on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This free seminar is being offered to anyone interested in learning more about Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations regarding UAVs.

The workshop will be held Thursday, Dec. 3, 1 – 3 p.m., Criminal Justice Academy on SFSC’s Highlands Campus in Avon Park. Robert Jex of the FAA will present the current regulations regarding UAVs. He will also be available for questions and answers from attendees. Space is limited, so register early. To register, or for more information contact, the academy at 863-784-7280 or email publicservice@southflorida.edu.