SFSC Receives Military Friendly College Designation

Feb. 18, 2021 – South Florida State College (SFSC) has again been designated as a Military Friendly® School by VIQTORY, a service-disabled, veteran-owned business that issues the longest-running, most comprehensive review of college and university services provided to military and veteran students.

Each year, VIQTORY establishes the list of Military Friendly® Schools from the results of public research and the data-driven survey that is submitted by each institution. This year, over 1,200 schools completed the survey and 747 were chosen for the designation.

“Military Friendly® is committed to transparency and providing consistent data-driven standards in our designation process,” said Kayla Lopez, national director of Military Partnerships for Military Friendly®. “This creates a competitive atmosphere that encourages colleges to consistently evolve and invest in their programs. Schools who achieve designation show true commitment and dedication in their efforts. Our standards assist schools by providing a benchmark that promotes positive educational outcomes, resources, and support services that better the educational landscape and provide opportunity for the Military Community.”

SFSC provides veterans with academic advising and counseling for all programs and degrees. Veterans are able to sign up for courses the first day of registration regardless of how many hours they have earned. The Cashier’s Office offers veterans and/or their dependents who use VA benefits a 60-day deferment from the time classes start to pay their tuition and fees. This allows veterans to enroll in courses without the need to pay up front.   

“Being prior military and now the director of the Career Development Center, I understand the importance of knowing a veteran or dependent using VA educational benefits will get a quality education,” said Robert Hampton, veteran school certifying official and director of the Career Development Center at SFSC. “By pursuing their education, it helps with their transition from military to civilian. Their benefits were earned through enduring sacrifice, so it is only right for an institution to provide the best educational experience possible. The designation of Military Friendly® does just that.”

As part of the College’s outreach to veterans, SFSC accepts a variety of educational benefits provided by the Department of Veteran Affairs. Those benefits range from the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which provides financial support for education to individuals who have at least 90 days of aggregate service after Sept. 10, 2001, to Veteran Readiness and Employment Program, Chapter 31 for veterans who suffered a service-connected disability that limits their ability to work or prevents them from working. 

The SFSC Testing Center is recognized as an “open” military friendly testing center by the United States Department of Defense which regulates most military educational assistance programs. The College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) lets students earn college credit for what they already know by earning qualifying scores on any of 33 introductory-level college subject examinations.

The exams are funded by the United States government through the Defense Activity for Non Traditional Education Support (DANTES). Through this program, eligible DANTES-funded test takers attempting a test title for the first time will not only have their exam fee funded by DANTES, but the SFSC Testing Center will also waive their administrative fee for veterans and active military, with proper ID.

Along with providing educational opportunities, the College also offers interactive tools to assist them with career planning, counseling, and job placement efforts at the Career Development Center.

The College is committed to helping military-affiliated students feel welcome on campus by ensuring they have access to the educational benefits to which they are entitled. To assist with any deployment and training issues, any military student called to active service can interrupt education and return without penalty.

The 2021-2022 Military Friendly® Schools list will be published in the May issue of G.I. Jobs magazine and can be found at militaryfriendly.com.

For more information about SFSC’s veteran services, contact Rob Hampton at 863-784-7128 or email robert.hampton@southflorida.edu.

ABOUT MILITARY FRIENDLY®

The Military Friendly® Schools list is created each year based on extensive research using public data sources for more than 8,800 schools nationwide, input from student veterans, and responses to the proprietary, data-driven Military Friendly® Schools survey from participating institutions. The survey questions, methodology, criteria and weighting were developed with the assistance of an independent research firm and an advisory council of educators and employers. The survey is administered for free and is open to all postsecondary schools that wish to participate. Criteria for consideration can be found at militaryfriendly.com.

AVON PARK, Fla. — Feb. 22, 2021 — South Florida State College (SFSC) student, Gabriel Dezzeo, has been selected as a semifinalist for the prestigious Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. He is one of 406 semifinalists chosen from over 1,500 applicants attending 398 community colleges in 44 states and the District of Columbia. Dezzeo graduates from SFSC in May 2021 and has set his sights on attending medical school.

Through this award, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation supports exceptionally talented community college students seeking to complete their bachelor’s degrees. Cooke Transfer scholars are selected based on their exceptional academic ability and achievement, financial need, persistence, service, and leadership. Students must be currently enrolled in community college and residing in the United States.

“It is extremely significant that an excellent student at a small community college has the chance to win an undergraduate transfer scholarship to aid in his studies toward his baccalaureate degree,” said James Hawker, Ph.D., SFSC dean of arts and sciences. “They don’t get as many opportunities. So, we do all we can to help deserving students with great potential realize their dream of university transfer and a postgraduate degree (in medicine in this case) if that is their goal.”

Research commissioned by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation found that community college students who transfer to selective institutions have equal to or higher graduation rates as students who enrolled directly from high school or transferred from four-year institutions. Yet, at the nation’s top colleges, only 5% have transferred from a community college. The Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship seeks to increase the number of community college students completing their education at top four-year institutions. 

“We are excited to recognize this group of semifinalists for their academic achievements,” said Seppy Basili, executive director of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. “We are especially impressed by the incredible perseverance and drive these students have exhibited during such an unprecedented year.” 

The Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship recipients will be announced in April. In addition to financial support, selected Cooke Transfer Scholars will receive comprehensive educational advising from the Foundation to guide them through the process of transitioning to a four-year college or university and preparing for their careers. Undergraduate Transfer Scholars will also receive opportunities for internships, study abroad, and graduate school funding, as well as connection to a network of over 2,800 fellow Cooke scholars and alumni.

AVON PARK, Fla. – Feb. 19, 2021 – The South Florida State College (SFSC) Foundation, Inc. recently created The Randy Allwood Memorial Automotive Scholarship as a tribute to Randy Allwood, a lifelong auto mechanic who resided in Sebring.

Funds from the $50,000 endowed scholarship will be used to provide tuition and fees for students currently enrolled in the SFSC Automotive Service Technology Program or the SFSC Auto Body Repair and Refinishing Program. The first scholarship of approximately $500 will be available beginning spring 2021, with preference given to applicants demonstrating financial need and a strong commitment to completing their respective program. An applicant must be a resident of DeSoto, Hardee, or Highlands County.

Allwood worked for Annett Bus Lines as director of maintenance from October 1986 until his death from lung cancer last March. According to David Annett, vice president of Annett Bus Lines, “Randy stood for the safe operation of more than 50 buses which traveled nearly 2.5 million miles per year during his 34 years with the company.”

“My husband kept saying, ‘I want to do something for kids,’” said Allwood’s wife, Janet. After speaking with Brian Annett, president of Annett Bus Lines, about establishing a scholarship for future auto mechanics, Janet went to Randy’s room in hospice and got his OK.

“At 1:40 the next morning, Randy passed away,” she said. “So, it was literally the last thing he wanted to do.” With the assistance of Brian and David Annett, Janet approached the SFSC Foundation to establish a scholarship.

“Randy always loved auto mechanics,” Janet said. “He was a fabulous mechanic, and he wanted to help other people get established in that career. When he was able to work, he mentored mechanics working under him. That way, he helped to further their education and get them trained.”

Originally from Wauseon, Ohio, Allwood’s family purchased the A&M Union 76 gas station in Sebring in 1966. “He was about 16 years old when he started working on motor vehicles,” Janet said. “He loved learning what made them work and, if they didn’t work, why not.” Allwood graduated from Sebring High School in 1972 and was the mechanic at Union 76 for five years until his parents sold the business.

According to Janet, Allwood knew little about maintaining motor coaches when he went to work for Annett Bus Lines. “He taught himself by reading their 8-inch thick manuals and dissecting things.” Soon, he was teaching other mechanics. In fact, two of his mentees were Brian and David Annett.

Janet said that the Annetts were like adopted sons to Allwood. They worked with Allwood when they were teenagers, and they learned the bus business through him. “When he was ill, David and Brian would come by every week and talk with Randy for several hours,” she said. “Randy was not very responsive much of the time, but as soon as the boys came to visit him, he would perk up. He would talk all about the buses. He was still very much involved with the business up until two weeks before he passed. It gave him something to look forward to.”

David Annett best explained Allwood’s passion for passing along his know-how to auto mechanics. “Randy was most comfortable and most satisfied around young learners of the trade, particularly those he knew he could start off right,” Annett said. “He spoke often about the younger generation and seemed genuinely interested in passing along knowledge. Though it seems like a losing proposition to those who knew Randy, he had an incredible drive and desire to see others know what he knew—particularly, young mechanically inclined and curious future mechanics.”

AVON PARK, Fla. – Feb. 5, 2021 – South Florida State College (SFSC) welcomes Dr. John E. McLaughlin as the new director of Criminal Justice Programs. He joined SFSC on Monday, Jan.  11, 2021, following the retirement of Curtis Ivy in September 2020. Major Tim Lethbridge from the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office served as interim director.

Dr. McLaughlin was awarded his doctoral degree in Global Leadership with a specialization in Educational Leadership from Lynn University. He earned his Master of Science in Criminal Justice from Florida International University, his Bachelor of Science in Criminology from Florida State University, and his Associate of Arts from the University of Florida.

Most recently, Dr. McLaughlin was an associate professor in Criminal Justice at Fairmont State University in W.V., while serving as chief of police in Rivesville, W.V. In 2013, he retired as lieutenant from the Miami-Dade County Police Department after serving the community for 26 years.

Although Dr. McLaughlin was born in Boston, Mass., he and his family lived in various parts of the United States during his early years. “My father was in the Air Force,” he said. “When I was one month old, we moved to Bartow, Fla. We lived in Bartow for about a year while my father was training, then we went to Texas for a year, then to Kansas for a year, then to New Hampshire for five years, and then to Maine for three years.”

When he left the Air Force, Dr. McLaughlin’s father took a job in Miami with National Airlines and, eventually, United Airlines. “I really grew up in Miami,” he said. “When people ask me where I grew up, I consider Miami my home, because that’s where I went to middle school and high school.”

Throughout Dr. McLaughlin’s career, law enforcement and education went hand in hand. “Coming from a military family, I knew I was either going into the military or policing,” he said. “I was ready to go into the military right out of high school, but my father said, ‘No, you need to go to college first, then you can do whatever you want.”

After earning his bachelor’s degree, he was offered a job with the Miami-Dade County Police Department. The Department provided financial incentive for officers who earned bachelor’s and advanced degrees, along with tuition reimbursement. At the suggestion of a coworker, Dr. McLaughlin began taking master’s level courses. “I didn’t plan to get my master’s degree, but I took a few classes that would help me to get promoted. So I took a few and just got into the habit of going to college. The next thing I knew, I graduated with my master’s degree. I started taking some classes in the doctoral program and then I kept going and was awarded my doctorate in 2009.”

During the years Dr. McLaughlin was working in West Virginia, he wanted to carry forward the educational opportunities he was given in Miami. “They don’t have tuition reimbursement for police officers who want to continue their education, so I started a police scholarship up there for the police officers who were working. When I asked some of the officers why they didn’t take college courses, they said it was all about the money, so I started the scholarship for them.”

Another of Dr. McLaughlin’s career accomplishments came when he was awarded a commendation in 2016, three years after his retirement from the Miami-Dade County Police Department. “When I retired from the Miami-Dade Police Department, I was a lieutenant in charge of the economic crime bureau. About two years before I retired, I started an investigation with two officers. I had read an article in the newspaper about a homestead exemption fraud that was going on. The City of Hollywood, Fla. had done an investigation and had been able to recover $2 million.”

So McLaughlin suggested the Miami-Dade County Police Department investigate home exemption fraud as well. “I said, ‘If they got $2 million, we can probably double that.’ So that investigation started with two officers and myself and by the time I retired, we had recovered $40 million. It continued even after I retired, and it went from two officers to an entire squad of officers, which was about six officers and a sergeant, and that continues to this day. I received the commendation after being retired. By that time, the department had gotten up to $100 million. So that was probably the biggest thing that I did in policing.”

McLaughlin, of course, is a strong advocate for those who are interested in pursuing law enforcement as a career. “As you know, and everybody in the country knows, these are difficult times for police officers,” he said. “But we need good officers, and I believe that the best officers are the best educated ones. We should encourage officers to go into the field—it’s an honorable profession. I think we need them more than ever now, but we need good ones. We need people who go into the career to help the community.”

Dr. McLaughlin is married to his wife Marielena. They have a daughter named Katrina.

AVON PARK, Fla. – Feb. 2, 2021 – Songwriter Bertie Higgins mastered combining island sounds with country style and, in 1981, his single “Key Largo” quickly hit number one and spent 17 weeks in the Top 40. Higgins will appear at the Alan Jay Wildstein Center for the Performing Arts at South Florida State College in Avon Park on Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $22 – $26 – $36 and are available online at sfscarts.org.

“Key Largo” was heavily inspired by the 1948 Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall film and became a “yacht rock” classic. His romantic, platinum selling album “Just Another Day in Paradise,” which featured “Key Largo,” also had another hit, “Casablanca.” “Casablanca” became song of the year in all of the Pacific Rim and Higgins became an international star, especially in mainland China and Japan. Other hits include “Pirates and Poets,” “Jamaica Me Crazy,” and “Son of a Beach.”

Born in Tarpon Springs, Florida, Higgins once supported himself as a sponge diver and he began his career in show business at the age of 12 as a ventriloquist. He won top prizes in local talent contests and became a favorite at school assemblies around Tampa Bay. Two years later, a battered set of drums forced a career change and he set off to follow the backbeat heard around the world—rock and roll.

After graduating from Tarpon Springs High School, Higgins enrolled at St. Petersburg College to study journalism and fine art, but the music continued to sing in his heart. He eventually left college and became drummer for the Tommy Roe band, The Roemans, who recorded “Dizzy” and “Sheila.” During this period, the band toured the world, starring alongside the Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Tom Jones, Roy Orbison, Manfred Mann, Peter and Gordon, The Dave Clark Five, and many more. At the height of Beatlemania, Higgins was playing with and learning from the best.

In 1980, Higgins moved to Atlanta and met record producer, Sonny Limbo. Limbo had played a role in developing the group Alabama and had been instrumental in the careers of several others. He arranged that fateful meeting between Higgins and music publisher, Bill Lowery, whom Higgins had known through Tommy Roe. The meeting of these three was destiny waiting to happen.

Higgins had been working on a song about a personal romance and that song was “Key Largo.” Higgins recorded the master and presented it to Kat Family Records, a newly formed record label distributed by CBS/Sony. At first, they rejected it. But after persistent requests from Higgins, Kat Family Records finally agreed to release the single in 1981 and pop music history was made.

At the Alan Jay Wildstein Center for the Performing Arts, following CDC guidelines and recommendations from the Event Safety Alliance, there are new protocols for health and safety. Face masks are required, including during the performance. All performances run 75–90 minutes without an intermission. Concessions are not available and patrons may bring a plastic bottle of water into the theater. All areas of the Performing Arts Center are sanitized and disinfected before every show. 

The Alan Jay Wildstein Center for the Performing Arts is located at 600 West College Drive in Avon Park.  Parking is free. To contact the SFSC Box Office, call 863-784-7178.

AVON PARK, Fla. – Feb. 1, 2021 – During the South Florida State College (SFSC) Foundation’s fourth annual Million Dollar Hole-in-One Golf Shootout in January, two of the three finalists were from Indiana—top scorer, Steve Sortore, and third ranked, Tom Kestler. In fact, they are members of a group who golf together in southern Indiana and have participated in the Foundation’s Golf Shootout every year since its inception in 2018.

“In the first and second years of the Golf Shootout, Tom Kestler, Jeff Burnett, and I participated,” Jeff Taylor said. This year, Kestler, Burnett, and Taylor were joined by Sortore and Jeff Polen.

Kestler, Burnett, Taylor, Sortore, and Polen regularly golf with 20 to 30 others at a golf course close to their homes in Indiana. “We go on a golf trip to Orlando in March and we go to Tennessee in October,” Taylor said.

The first year that members of the group participated in the Golf Shootout, Burnett and Taylor were planning a trip to Orlando to golf over a long weekend. Kestler, who lives in Avon Park six months out of the year, posted on Facebook that the SFSC Foundation was holding the Million Dollar Hole-in-One Golf Shootout and invited Burnett and Taylor to stay at his house.

“So, that’s where it started,” Taylor said. “We look forward to it every year now—getting away from the cold, having fun playing golf, and having fun at the Shootout. Those of us from Indiana have a little competition between us, and everybody at the Shootout is so friendly and nice. It makes it worth getting down here every year.”

During his six months in Highlands County, Kestler has become an avid fan of the SFSC Panther baseball team and, frequently, attends games on the College’s Highlands Campus. In fact, he played baseball in his youth and had a tryout with the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. Last year, Kestler asked Jamie Bateman, SFSC’s executive director of institutional advancement who oversees the SFSC Foundation, if she could get him a Panther baseball jersey. Although the jerseys are only available to Panther baseball players, Bateman secured other College apparel for Kestler. As a thank you to Bateman and to SFSC, Kestler made a donation to the SFSC Foundation.

The rest of the year, Kestler lives near the Indianapolis Speedway in Indianapolis. “His house is nicknamed ‘The Race House,’” Taylor said. “They’re right next to the track and they have lots of race memorabilia. Tom, actually, works at the golf course at the track as well.”

The group of Indiana players intend to participate in future Golf Shootouts, and Taylor looks forward to winning the $1 million at some point. “Sooner or later,” he said. “I’m hoping sooner, because I’m ready for it. But the bigger thing is that we all love the Shootout. It’s a good cause—it benefits SFSC’s athletes and the College. Plus, it’s warm weather. You get away, you get some sunshine and a break from the Indiana winter. You get to enjoy good people and have a good time. We get in as much golf as we can in the meantime.”

Taylor and the other four golfers are members of the Crown’s Golf Group in Indiana. The organization has 200 members, each pay $40 annual dues, and they play scrambles once a month. Taylor is, currently, on the board of the Crown’s Golf Group. “The organization started with a bunch of friends who got together to play golf but wanted to make a difference and make some money to give to charity,” he said.

Every year, members of the Crown’s Golf Group take 12 to 15 families in need or have children with special needs Christmas shopping. “During the year, we raise money and find sponsors to donate as well,” Taylor said. “Normally, we have $6,000 to $8,000 by Christmastime. We love to play golf, but we also do things to help other people. It’s a great feeling. All the guys are involved in that, and it’s a way we can do something like this—helping the College and helping someone else by doing something we love to do.”

“Our Indiana golf friends, who started as a group of three, have participated in this event from year one,” Bateman said. “It is becoming quite the tradition to have them with us as contestants on Shootout Sunday every year! We are blown away that they coordinate their Florida golf vacation around our event each year, and we are so grateful for their continued support of the SFSC Foundation and our Panther Athletics program.  We look forward to seeing these guys and the growing support of our Indiana friends coming down to participate in the Million Dollar Hole-in-One Golf Shootout each year.”