Emanon Brings Live Jazz Demonstration to SFSC Music Appreciation Class

AVON PARK, Fla. – March 31, 2017 – To hear David Naylor say it, music does wonders for those who take time to relish its refreshing effects.

“Music is like a warm bath for the ears,” Naylor, who plays trumpet for the Emanon Jazz band, told South Florida State College students, as he stood on the stage of the SFSC University Center Auditorium on the Highlands Campus in Avon Park.

The five-member band had mounted the auditorium’s stage not for a regular performance. They were on hand to play for two dozen students enrolled in the morning session of SFSC’s music appreciation class. From George Gershwin to Pee Wee Ellis to Pat Metheny, the musicians took the students on a tour of the best of American jazz.

Doug Andrews, who cofounded Emanon Jazz with Naylor six years ago, teaches music appreciation on SFSC’s Highlands Campus. His name will sound familiar to many longtime residents: For years, Andrews headed up SFSC’s Cultural Programs department, booking performing acts and managing its theater productions until his retirement in 2013.

“Today was an opportunity for my music appreciation students to see a top-notch jazz group up close and get to ask them questions,” said Andrews, who returned to teaching last year. “The class text has only one chapter on jazz, so rather than play recordings to supplement the text, the guys agreed to come out to play for the students.”

Andrews, Naylor, and the other band members used the live session to mix in a bit of music history, describe their instruments, and tell how they fell in with love with jazz.

“Now this is the flumpet,” Naylor said, holding up his brass instrument. “It’s not as sharp as this B flat trumpet, but it sounds softer than this flugelhorn over here,” he said, telling the students the flumpet was invented by jazz pioneer Art Farmer, while the flugelhorn served as the inspiration for creation of the saxophone.

Manny Patino, who plays bass, described the versatility of his bass guitar. “With this bass guitar, unlike a standard guitar, I can play cords and bass at the same time,” he told the students. Patino said he picked up the bass guitar when he was 12 years old and hasn’t put it down since.

“Having Manny on stage today was a real treat for the students,” Andrews said. “Here we have an extraordinarily accomplished musician who has toured the world with greats like Arturo Sandoval playing for SFSC students and taking their questions—that’s just great.”

After leading Emanon Jazz in an original composition, “The Last Blues,” Andrews sat at the keyboard, telling the students to watch how the five musicians interacted, sending visual and spoken cues to each other.

“One of the takeaways from today’s lesson is the place improvisation plays in jazz,” Andrews told the students. “Keep an eye trained on how we interact with each other, sending messages back and forth as we adapt to how we’re playing.”

In their next set, playing Ellis’s “The Chicken,” guitarist Martin Rimaldi could be seen pivoting toward Patino and Naylor, with drummer Stan Mulder looking up to watch them exchanging nods.

“Pee Wee is another jazz great and “The Chicken” is a really funky tune,” Naylor told the students, referring to Ellis. “Here’s a bit of trivia: Pee Wee grew up nearby, in Bradenton.”

One of the students asking questions of the band was Jonathan Mondragon, who also serves as secretary of SFSC’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for associate and baccalaureate degree-offering colleges.

“We’ve just started learning about jazz in class, so today’s performance really brings the lesson to life,” said Mondragon, who is from Hardee County. “What makes jazz special is that it’s America’s music, a genre that was, so to speak, born in the United States.”

Andrews, whose first instrument as a high school student was the guitar, said he was the musical “black sheep of the family.” He went on: “How did I come to love Jazz?  I can’t answer that because nobody in my family liked jazz, especially my father—I just fell in love with it on my own.”

After the students shuffled off to their next class, Andrews thanked his fellow musicians for coming out and agreeing to stick around for the afternoon session of music appreciation.

“These guys are not only great to play with but they’re so amazingly talented,” Andrews said, “Sometimes I think I’m the weakest link in the chain when we’re on stage,” said Andrews, who has spent his entire career in music, arranging, composing, teaching, playing, and putting on shows.

AVON PARK, Fla. – March 28, 2017 – South Florida State College is seeking proposals from qualified firms to provide college-wide beverage pouring rights/beverage vending services. The College reserves the right to award this service to a single vendor or not at all, if in the best interests of the College.  Vendors are welcome to partner with other entities to offer an optimum proposal.  In a partnering arrangement, however, the College will only contract with the proposing vendor, not the partner.  Should a partnering arrangement be awarded, only a single contract will be executed.

The goal of this RFP is to maintain the highest quality of service for the College’s students, faculty, and staff while maximizing the revenue stream from beverage sales and beverage vending. The College’s intent is to design a mutually beneficial relationship with a beverage vending company that enriches the corporate image of the Contractor(s) as well as the College.

RFP 17-01 Beverage Vending Contract

1- Questions Submitted for RFP 17-01

2-Addendum No. 1 for RFP 17-01

3-Addendum No.2 for RFP 17-01

Notice of Intent to Recommend Award

AVON PARK, Fla. – March 27, 2017 – The usual quiet of Saturday on the Highlands Campus of South Florida State College was broken on March 25, when nearly 100 high school juniors and seniors from DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Glades, and Okeechobee counties descended on the college for a day of intensive learning dubbed STEM Scholars Day.

The students took part in a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) exploration program offered through the Heartland Educational Consortium (HEC) and SFSC.

The students assembled in the SFSC University Center Auditorium for a welcome talk by Dr. Thomas C. Leitzel, SFSC president, and Paul Blackman, Highlands County’s sheriff. 

“This marks the sixth year of our partnership with SFSC offering STEM learning adventures to our students,” said Lisa Shin of HEC and a coordinator of the STEM Scholars program. “For a day, the students immerse themselves in science- and technology-related subjects presented by SFSC faculty in a manner designed to dispel the notion these subjects are dry or dull.”

Students got hands-on training in the science of forensic investigations from deputies of the Highlands County Sheriff’s Crime Scene Unit. Students learned what makes fingerprints unique, how to cast shoe impressions, and saw demonstrations of scientific equipment used in the lab and at a crime scene.

Students shuffled between a series of real-world biology lessons taught by SFSC science faculty. Huddled around microscopes, the high schoolers learned how to view the presence of bacteria on surfaces, examine the biodiversity of surface water, and parse the sequencing of DNA. They also worked through an intense lesson in the dynamics of computer programming. 

In SFSC’s nursing simulation labs, the students got hands-on training from the college’s student nurses in medical equipment used in patient care, practicing on high-tech mannequins that replicate actual patient-caregiver interactions.

The day wasn’t only about STEM education. HEC and SFSC aimed to prod the students into career exploration, hoping the day’s regimen of varied mini-classes would spur them on to STEM degree programs after high school.

“STEM education fosters critical thinking, enhances science literacy, and nurtures the next generation of innovators,” said Lynn MacNeill, the interim dean of SFSC’s Division of Arts and Sciences. “Employers seek out innovators because they drive development of new products, technologies, and services.”

John Varady, another coordinator of HEC’s STEM Scholars program noted, “According to the Department of Commerce, STEM occupations have grown at double the rate of other occupations. The STEM Scholars program offers a variety of experiences that will help students make well-informed decisions about academic preparation for the STEM-related careers of the future.”

Varady pointed out to the students that STEM careers are not restricted to hospitals, labs, and technology companies, they can also be found in education. He noted there is a shortage of K-12 teachers ready to teach STEM courses.

“You can come right to SFSC and complete its Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education (BSEE) program,” Varady said. “We also need folks who are ready to teach the STEM classes of tomorrow.”

HEC is a cooperative organized by the region’s school districts that provides curriculum and training support to member schools and their instructors.

SFSC offers two-year degree programs that prepare students to transfer to four institutions to complete STEM-related bachelor’s degree programs. SFSC also offers a range of certificate programs in technology-related fields that prepare students for employment within one year.

AVON PARK, Fla. – March 22, 2017 – Adam Martin, a professor of business at South Florida State College, teaches marketing to the students enrolled in SFSC’s Bachelor of Applied Science in Supervision and Management degree program.

When he’s not teaching students, the former U.S. Army military police sergeant, uses those same marketing principles to raise the profile of the band he formed three years ago, a group that has become his passion.

Martin is the front man for Blackbird Anthem, whose music is infused with the blues, country, and, said Martin, “American rock ‘n’ roll.” What’s more, the band’s music touches upon themes caught up in the lives of those returning from conflicts in the Middle East.

From sending demos to promoters to a sleek online presence to linking up with other musicians, Martin’s marketing prowess, along with his distinctive blend of music, has gotten Blackbird Anthem notice. The group has just come off a show at the three-day Runaway Country Music Fest in Kissimmee, Fla., an annual event that draws thousands.

“We’re getting busy this summer with performances lined up in May for veterans-themed shows in South Carolina and Texas,” Martin said, from an office with walls dotted with posters from his favorite band, Counting Crows. “What’s cool is we’ll close out May with an appearance at the legendary Firehouse Saloon in Houston, a hotspot for talent where we’ll be looking to make connections.”

To see how the bearded college professor came to music, one has to trace his journey from a career patrolling the streets of Sebring to fending off Iraqi insurgents on the highways of Iraq.

Martin, a self-described Army brat, grew up in cities across the country and overseas. His family landed in Highlands County. After graduating from Avon Park High School, Martin earned his associate degree at SFSC in 1995.

“After graduation, I started out as a corrections officer for the state of Florida,” Martin recalled. “I had just gotten married, and with a kid on the way, corrections was a career that offered good benefits and a steady paycheck.”

Martin parlayed his corrections experience into a spot on Sebring’s police department. “I did everything with Sebring, from road patrol to K-9 to investigations,” he said. “But I always had a yearning to try my hand as a military police officer, so I signed up for the Army Reserves.”

Martin’s enlistment came only months before the 9/11 attacks. When the United Stated-led invasion kicked off in March 2003, Martin’s 810th M.P. Company was in Kuwait ready to deploy north into Iraq.

“We were assigned to escort convoys that at times comprised 75 semitrailers with supplies for our troops,” Martin said. “We were constantly under attack from snipers, mortar fire, or roadside bombs.”

After his tour of duty had been extended three times, Martin was happy to be out of harm’s way in Highlands County. He landed a job at SFSC coordinating the college’s correctional officers training program.  Still, life hadn’t resumed its pre-deployment rhythm for Martin.

“Spending 24/7 trying to survive in a war zone changes you,” he noted. “A specialist at the Veterans Affairs hospital egged me on to find a creative outlet, so I decided to self-learn the guitar.”

Martin said music always occupied an outsize place in his life, but he had never learned to read notes, play an instrument, or sing.

“The only thing I could play was a radio,” Martin said. “When I first started practicing, it sounded as if I were torturing a herd of cats.”

In time, Martin said something “clicked” within him. With persistent practice, he gained confidence and skill. “Like many artists, I found an outlet performing in church,” he added. He said he honed his singing, eventually finding his vocal range.

When a local eatery sponsored an evening of music benefiting veterans’ organizations, Martin jumped at the opportunity. “I said, ‘How can I help?’”  He came away from his first gig telling himself, “I like this live performing thing.”

Martin found an eager musical companion in Dave Hale, himself a veteran, fellow SFSC employee, and multi-instrumentalist and published songwriter. Together, they launched Blackbird Anthem.

“We take Blackbird from one of my musical heroes, Johnny Cash, who was known as the dark bird of country music,” Martin said. “Anthem conjures up a rallying cry, which is something that runs throughout our songs.”

In 2016, they released their first EP “Stories I’ve Never Told.” An EP, or extended play album, has four to six tracks, about half that of an LP.

In “Drinkin’ with Me,” from their debut album, Martin sings of the heartache of a returning veteran: “No Dear John letter taped to the door/ Just a bottle of bourbon and a glass on the floor.”

“Our songs tell stories of love, heartache, one night stands, tattoos, alcohol, and war,” Martin said. “These are all the things that make American rock music so great.”

They are songs written by veterans with veterans in mind. Blackbird Anthem’s music also directly benefits the veterans who serve as the inspiration for the music. The band frequently plays shows with the proceeds going to veterans organizations.

Martin says Blackbird Anthem’s recent single, “22,” is now available at Amazon, iTunes, and Spotify. “I wrote the song as a dedication to the 22 veterans each day who die by suicide,” he said.

All proceeds from the song go to the Lone Survivor Foundation, a nonprofit helping wounded service members and their families adjust to post-deployment life, according to Martin.

The band recently celebrated the release of a second album, “Battle Cry: Songs of America’s Heroes,” featuring one of their songs among those from several artists. Martin said it ranked as high as 21st place on the iTunes rock charts during the fourth week in March. He said all proceeds from that record will benefit The Valkyrie Initiative, an organization serving veterans readjusting to civilian life.

While Martin has immersed himself in promoting Blackbird Anthem, he still follows a rigorous schedule at SFSC that keeps him in the classroom not only teaching marketing but management and leadership. He also serves as an adviser to the college’s chapter of Phi Beta Lambda, the premier postsecondary student business organization in the United States.

“We’d love to get a record contract or get signed on for a full summer tour,” Martin said of Blackbird Anthem. “That may not happen, but it’s still fun playing the music.”

AVON PARK, Fla. – March 20, 2017 – While many South Florida State College students used spring break to relax, seven SFSC students traveled to Orlando to compete in the 2017 Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) State Leadership Conference.

The SFSC students were members of the college’s chapter of PBL, the premier postsecondary student business organization in the United States.

During the course of three days, the SFSC students joined hundreds of students from colleges and universities from around the state vying to place in business studies-related competitions. Membership in SFSC’s PBL chapter is open to students in its Bachelor of Applied Science in Supervision and Management (BAS-SM) program.

Of the seven SFSC students who attended the conference, these six placed among the top five in the following events:

Dalal Zaban, first place in impromptu speaking; the team of Amanda Carnahan, Ashley Stanton, and Amber Pacheco, third place in marketing analysis and decision making; the team of Stephen Wynn and Joseph Mangrum, fourth place in management analysis and decision making; Stephen Wynn, fourth place in management concepts.

Dalal Zaban has also qualified to represent Florida at the PBL National Leadership Conference in June, where she will compete in impromptu speaking.

“This is the fifth year in a row our students have placed so well among their peers, thus qualifying for the national competition,” said Adam Martin, professor of Business Administration, who advises SFSC’s PBL chapter. “This year’s results are a testament to the hard work and dedication of our students and to our amazing faculty.”

AVON PARK, Fla. – March 10, 2017 – South Florida State College has opened registration for its fall academic term. The first day of classes of the fall term is August 18.

Fall term registration for all students begins April 3. But returning students with more than 40 credit hours can register for classes beginning March 20. Returning students with more than 20 credit hours can register for classes on March 27.

Current students can register and pay for classes through the college portal, Panther Central.

Classes for the summer term begin May 5 and students can register for summer term classes through May 8. The summer term ends July 31.

New students can apply for admission to the college by clicking the “Apply Now” button on the top of SFSC’s home page at: www.southflorida.edu. Students should apply for admission before the beginning of the term so that they’re ready to start classes on time.

Students can register in person for the fall term on the SFSC Highlands Campus in Avon Park by visiting the Advising and Counseling Center in Building B., 8 a.m.- 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 8 a.m.- 5 p.m., Fridays. Students can also register at these SFSC locations: Hardee Campus in Bowling Green, the Lake Placid Center, or the DeSoto Campus in Arcadia.

Financial aid is available to those who are qualified. The priority deadline for SFSC Foundation scholarships is June 15 for the fall term.

Students who plan to apply for financial aid should complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as soon as possible. The application is online at: fafsa.ed.gov. For more information about financial assistance and scholarships, contact the SFSC Financial Aid Office at 863-784-7134.

For further information about registration, call 863-453-6661 (Highlands Campus), 773-3081 (Hardee Campus), 993-1757 (DeSoto Campus), or 465-3003 (Lake Placid Center). For information about SFSC and its programs, visit www.southflorida.edu.

AVON PARK, Fla. – March 10, 2017 – The Museum of Florida Art and Culture at South Florida State College will host a talk by artist, poet, and scholar Melanie Hubbard, Thursday, March. 30, 1:30 – 2:30 p.m., on the SFSC Highlands Campus, Avon Park.

Titled “Texts and Textures: Erasure Poetry by Melanie Hubbard,” the free event will feature Melanie Hubbard, whose work is on display at MOFAC. The talk will be held in the MOFAC gallery.

MOFAC is exhibiting a collection of Hubbard’s art based on a 1924 book dealing with child rearing. Using watercolors, Hubbard paints atop enlarged images replicating pages from the book to effect what she says is an “erasure” of the antiquated advice given to mothers.

Hubbard won the 2011 Book Award in Poetry from Subito Press for her collection of poems “We Have with Us Your Sky.” Her reviews, scholarly articles, and essays have appeared in a variety of periodicals. She has taught at New College of Florida, Eckerd College, and University of Tampa. She received a doctorate in literature from Columbia University and is writing a book on Emily Dickinson’s poetics.

Megan Stepe, MOFAC’s curator, noted Hubbard’s talk falls on the last day her works are on display. Stepe said museum visitors can also take in the current exhibition, “The 20th Century Seminole Experience: Paintings from the Florida Indian Tribes Series,” that closes on March 30.

The talk is one of a series of MOFAC’s “ThirdThursday,” public discussions that shine a spotlight on current exhibitions and works from the museum’s collection.

MOFAC is located in the Wildstein Center at SFSC, 600 W. College Dr., Avon Park. The museum is open to the public on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, 12:30 – 4:30 p.m., or by appointment for group tours. Patrons of the Wildstein Center may visit the museum one hour prior to matinee and evening performances.

For more information about MOFAC and its programs or to request a museum tour, contact Stepe at 863-784-7240, or email stepem@southflorida.edu. Visit the MOFAC website at mofac.org. 

AVON PARK, Fla. – March 10, 2017 – On March 9, visitors in search of a pygmy fringe tree in bloom at South Florida State College’s Pygmy Fringe-Tree Wildflower Festival got their wish.

The rare plant was in full bloom, showing off its flowers to dozens who turned out for the annual festival put on by the SFSC Museum of Florida Art and Culture (MOFAC) on the college’s Highlands Campus in Avon Park.

“Here is one of the few places on the planet where you can see the pygmy fringe tree,” said Dustin Angell, an education coordinator with Archbold Biological Station. He was standing in front of the rare shrub just a few feet back from a winding path of white sand known as SFSC’s Wildflower Wayside Shrine Trail, which runs parallel to College Drive.

“There’s another pygmy fringe tree near Bok Tower Gardens in Polk County, and one more in Highlands, but that’s about it,” Angell told a group of 15 people he led on a walk through the trail. The group was just one of several who came out for the festival, now in its fourth year.

Known also as Chionanthus pygmaeus, the now rare flowering shrub grows between three and six feet tall. The shrub garnered the affection of wildflower enthusiasts for its stunning flowers that appear in early spring. The federal government declared it endangered in 1987.

The festival kicked off with music by Florida Seminole songwriter Rita Youngman, who sang songs telling the lore of her tribe. Keeping the wildflower hunters entertained during musical interludes, Florida folklorist Carol Mahler, recounted oral traditions explaining, for example, how possums have such little hair on their tails.

Members of the Audubon Society and the Ridge Rangers were be on hand to answer questions from the public about the region’s natural habitat. Visitors walking along the path found artists from the Lake Placid Art League capturing the flowers in their plein air, or open air, painting.

 “Our Wayside Shrine Trail is one of the few venues where the public can encounter this rare and extraordinary shrub,” said Megan Stepe, MOFAC’s curator, who organized this year’s festival. She noted the timing was perfect this year, with the pygmy fringe tree in full bloom for the visitors. Last year, only one tree, which was inaccessible to the public, flowered during the festival.

The trail was the brainchild of MOFAC’s former curator, Mollie Doctrow, noted for her award-winning woodcuts of natural habitats. She conceived the trail based on her own exploration of nature. The trail opened in 2011.

In addition to the pygmy fringe tree, visitors can glimpse a range of native plants flowering along the trail: the big flag pawpaw, sky-blue lupine, and another endangered species, the scrub St. John’s Wort.

Visitors to the trail can leave behind their impressions of the views in notebooks found in wooden shrine boxes sitting atop poles along the path. The boxes, designed by Doctrow, contain information that showcases the shrubs and wildflowers. Relief images of the trail’s wildflowers adorn the side of each box, allowing visitors to make a rubbing on paper as a memento of their visit.

A walk through the trail gives visitors a chance to see the land, known as the Lake Wales Ridge, as it existed for centuries. The ridge, an ancient beach and sand dune system formed 1-3 million years ago, has been home to flora that has struggled to survive against development.

The trail is open to the public during regular college hours. Visitors should look for Entrance 5 along College Drive. A sign across the roadway marks the point where the trail begins.

For more information on the Wayside Shrine Trail, contact Stepe at 863-784-7240 or stepem@southflorida.edu, or visit the website at mofac.org/wayside.

AVON PARK, Fla. – March 7, 2017 – With the start of March, students at South Florida State College have access to additional campus-based career services that aim to boost their chances of landing a job.

Students seeking employment assistance from the college’s Career Development Center on the SFSC Highlands Campus can now tap into the expertise of career specialists from CareerSource Heartland, the region’s workforce development provider.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, a career specialist from CareerSource Heartland works out of the SFSC Career Development Center where they meet one-on-one with students offering them resume writing assistance, tips for job interviewing, and referrals to jobs listed with their expansive database.

The new service came about thanks to a partnership created by SFSC Career Development Center director Colleen Rafatti and CareerSource Heartland’s chief executive officer Donna Doubleday.

“CareerSource’s career specialists are well-equipped to offer the right mix of services our students need to get employed,” Rafatti said. “Having them on campus two days each week is a great convenience for SFSC’s students who can access their expertise without having to leave campus.”

A recent Wednesday saw CareerSource’s Karen Stringfield at the SFSC Career Development Center meeting with Kevin Price, a first-year student. Stringfield, who has 17 years of experience working with Heartland job seekers, immediately ushered Price to a computer to register him in CareerSource’s job seekers database.

Stringfield will work with Price on formatting his resume, with the employment-related content, to best suit his career objective.

“One of the key services we offer is helping students get their resume in good shape and have them upload the document into our Web-based system,” Stringfield said. “Employers can then do keyword searches when they’re on the hunt for the qualified applicant.”

Stringfield said one of the toughest obstacles students are likely to experience in their job searches is lack of experience. But she noted, while many students may not have the precise experience an employer requests, they have transferrable skills or similar experience their resumes may not show.

“Since resumes are so critical to a job search, we offer a resume writing workshop in addition to our one-on-one resume reviews with students,” Stringfield said. “In today’s job market, students may need to tailor their resumes to different scenarios, so the workshop covers the full range of resume preparation.”

SFSC’s Rafatti said she wants to see more students make use of the Career Development Center. “Some of our graduates think picking up their degrees is an instant ticket to a job,” she said. “Often they embark on a job search lacking some key skills, like how to best handle a job interview, that’s holding them back from scoring the job they want.”

Stringfield said SFSC students often have one advantage when entering the job market: They have the training employers want.

“Many employers want applicants who are already trained and job ready,” Stringfield said. SFSC graduates students from a number of programs with occupational certificates or who have professional certifications employers seek in applicants, she said.

Students without an occupational certificate or certification shouldn’t feel discouraged, Stringfield said.

“I tell folks we do have lots of job seekers,” Stringfield said. “But I also say there are lots of job posted with us too.”

AVON PARK, Fla. – March 7, 2017 – South Florida State College celebrates National Poetry Month with a series of poetry workshops and an open mic night in April.

 The free workshops are intended for people of all ages and experience, from beginners to seasoned writers. Each workshop will offer quick writing prompts, exercises, and friendly feedback.  

Participants can attend one or more workshops in April. The workshops will be held in the SFSC Library, which located in the SFSC Tutoring and Learning Center (Building Y) on the SFSC Highlands Campus, Avon Park. Take Entrance 3 or 4 off of College Drive. The workshops start at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 3; Thursday, April 6; Monday, April 10; and Thursday, April 13.

“People often tell me how hard it is to make time to write,” said Claire A. Miller, SFSC librarian and facilitator of the workshops. “These workshops will give people time to write, a group of like-minded people to write with, and play with some fun prompts and techniques.” 

The open mic night at the library, set for Monday, April 17, at 6 p.m., will offer a venue for writers to read their poetry to a receptive audience. “I love how supportive our audiences always are,” Miller said. “Getting up and reading any poem takes courage, and reading your own work is even harder. But over the last few years we’ve offered this program, our audiences and readers have been enthusiastic.”  

Miller said anyone may read on open mic night. She encourages the reading of short poems so that everyone has a chance to participate, and readers should keep language family-friendly.

April also features National Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 27. Promoted by the American Academy of Poets, this event encourages people to carry a poem in their pocket and share it with friends, neighbors, or passersby. The SFSC library offers an assortment of poems in a handy portable form. Pick up a poem from the library on the SFSC Highlands Campus starting April 1 to participate.  

Miller is an active poet, who has led poetry workshops for groups of special needs children at the SFSC Museum of Florida Arts and Culture (MOFAC). She is also a featured reader for the Barbaric Yawp open mic and at Bookstore One in Sarasota. Her poem, “Mask,” was published in “Flying Higher: An Anthology of Superhero Poetry.” 

For more information, contact Miller at 863-784-3325 or millerc@southflorida.edu.