Student Finds His Calling as a Corrections Officer

AVON PARK, Fla. – June 23, 2021 – At age 51, Roger Engle II knows who he is and has lived a life devoted to God. But he recently decided to make a change in life. He graduated with the South Florida State College (SFSC) Basic Corrections Class 21-104 on Thursday, May 27 at the Highlands Campus in Avon Park. In fact, he was recognized for having Top Academics in his class and served as class executive officer.

Engle had previously served as a missionary in Honduras for 25 years. For him, service to God was a calling.

“When I was 14 years old, my family and I lived in North Carolina,” he said. “We attended a Southern Baptist church. One Sunday, the pastor talked about when he received the calling of the Lord into his life. While he was talking about it, the same sensations that he described were happening to me while I listened to him. After school one day, I asked him what I needed to do. He said, ‘You’ve got to go to seminary, son.’ But I didn’t think I would be able to even go to college, financially or grade wise. I was smart, but I was more interested in girls and having fun than I was in getting good grades. I was in ninth grade at the time, but I already knew that I wasn’t cut out for sitting in classrooms. I’m better at studying now as an adult, because I have a few years under my belt and I realize that a lot more in your life hinges on it, and it gives you a sense of priority.”

At that time, Engle got angry because he didn’t want to go to college. “I didn’t think that college was for me,” he said. “So, how could I go to seminary, if I’m not going to college? I decided that I was going to show God that He didn’t want me and did everything I could to prove to God that I was not someone He wanted serving Him.”

Years later, Engle needed a place to sleep and had come upon a street mission in Sebring, Fla. It was the early 1990s. The mission had been given tickets to a performance of a Christian comedian at SFSC’s theater and Engle was offered one of those tickets. In the middle of his performance, the comedian picked up a Bible and quoted from Deuteronomy 28.

“Basically, it says, ‘Look, I’m giving you the way to go.’” Engle said. “It says, ‘Just listen to my voice and do what I’m saying. I’ll guide you out of the trouble. But if you don’t want to listen to me, there’s trouble out there and it’s going to catch up with you.’” The comedian stressed that the passage is a directive to “take action.”

“The comedian said that somewhere in your past, God told you to do something and you didn’t do it,” Engle said. “He said to examine what it was God told you to do and make up your mind that you’re going to do it. So, I did. I knew God wanted me to minister the gospel.”

The street mission, eventually, took Engle on as a volunteer. “But I had a problem with rebellion,” he said. “I was a rebellious young man. Afterall, I had practiced it for the last seven years of my life.”

The pastor at the street mission sponsored Engle for a year in a discipleship program called Teen Challenge that was located in the middle of an orange grove in Winter Haven. “At Teen Challenge, you intensively study the Bible all day, every day, or work with the sweat of your brow, digging holes, cutting underbrush, or washing cars. But you’re always working and studying the Bible.”

While at Teen Challenge, Engle met his future wife, Katrina. She had graduated from Teen Challenge and had returned one day to visit her former counselor. “She said that she could tell from the get go that I had designs on her,” Engle said. But the two didn’t meet again until later.

When Engle returned to the street mission in Sebring as a paid employee, they were informed that their missionary had been in a plane crash in Honduras. That missionary was Katrina. She was in the hospital for six weeks, then returned to Florida. “She was still in a body cast and needed someone to push her wheelchair around places like the grocery store,” Engle said. “And that was me. During that time, we got to know each other.” They, eventually, married.

Engle volunteered to go to Honduras as a missionary and discovered that his purpose was different from what he expected. “When I first went, I thought I was God’s gift to the Hondurans and He’s going to send me there to save all His people,” Engle said. “But we’re not as important to God’s work as God’s work is to us. In sending us to do something for Him, His main concern is how it’s going to mold and shape us. His entire use of us in any work of His is for our sake, not for His sake. No matter how things may seem, no matter how impossible it may seem that you get the items you need, He always comes through.”

After 20 years doing mission work together in Honduras, Katrina was diagnosed with cancer. So, the Engles returned to the United States. In spite of receiving the best medical treatment, Katrina passed away.

Over time, Engle took a job with a local auto dealership. The pandemic has affected millions of people across the country, and Engle was no different. He was interested in having good benefits going forward. One day, a customer at the car dealership told Engle that her daughter had just graduated from a Corrections program. She also mentioned that she had retired from working for the state and said the state has great retirement benefits. Further, the customer’s daughter was a few years older than Engle, so he thought that if she could do it, so could he.

Engle currently works for the Florida Department of Corrections at the prison in Avon Park. After his recent graduation from SFSC’s Criminal Justice Academy Corrections program, he feels that he has a lot to bring to his job.

“I’m 51 years old,” he said. “I’m not one of these young guys who doesn’t know who I am yet. I spent 25 years in the mission field in Honduras. Between coming to Sebring initially and later returning, I was married, raised four of my own kids, and about 60 or 70 children in Honduras who called me Dad.” In fact, he proudly mentioned that his daughter is an SFSC graduate and currently attends the United States Military Academy at West Point.

In the town where he lived in Honduras, Engle would visit the prison at least three times a week and minister to the inmates there. “A corrections officer should have a compassionate heart and be willing to care for the inmates,” he said. “Those are the three main concerns of our job—the care, custody, and control of inmates. Most correctional officers will have no problem with the custody and control, but there has to be a balance. You can’t let the amount of care for them cause you to overlook the fact that they are in your custody and you need to keep them under control. But, if you can balance out the custody and control with a measured amount of care, their lives will be enhanced. And, possibly and potentially, when they get out of prison, they’ll actually have a desire to contribute to society. Some of them were, actually, contributing citizens before they went in. I feel that with positive guidance, they’re more likely to land on their feet and keep going from there.” 

For Engle, his graduation from the Corrections program is a benchmark. “I didn’t know that I was going to be able to accomplish this,” he said. “I’m 51 years old. Physically, I wasn’t as fit as some of the other students. It’s been 30 years since I studied except for studying the Bible. But while I was in the program, I developed good study habits. I was fastidious. This is the first time I ever graduated from any kind of vocational certificate course.”

Engle attributes some of his success in the program to Mike Austin, Criminal Justice Programs coordinator. “I look up to Mike Austin,” he said. “He’s one of the best instructors that I’ve ever had. He’s very professional and knows how to separate his personal feelings and not let them be known and do what it takes to mold and shape his students. The whole time, I was thinking, ‘He must hate me.’ Because he was so hard on me. I realize what it was. I was the executive officer of the class. He knew how hard it is for someone with a compassionate heart like mine to keep emotions out of it. He was just trying to make sure that I could handle it. He said a couple of times, ‘You got a little emotional there, Engle, but the next day you were right back on top of it. I’m really proud of you for that.’ I said, ‘You pissed me off there a couple times, Mike.’ And he just laughed, ‘It’s my job.’ Mike Austin’s a good guy.”

AVON PARK, Fla. – June 21, 2021 – Dr. John E. McLaughlin, South Florida State College (SFSC) director of Criminal Justice Programs, will receive the 2021 National Latino Peace Officers Association (NLPOA) Alan Alvarez Legacy Lifetime Member Award at a banquet in Houston, Texas in September.

“You have ‘Bridged the Gap between Latinos and Law Enforcement’ and your hard work has not gone unnoticed,” said Greg Gonzalez, NLPOA vice president and awards chair, in a letter to Dr. McLaughlin. “You were selected for your leadership and commitment to serve the mission and goals of the National Latino Peace Officers Association for more than 20 years.”

Dr. McLaughlin has been with SFSC since January 2021. Previously, he honorably retired as lieutenant after serving 26 years with the Miami-Dade Police Department and served as chief of police in Rivesville, W.Va.

McLaughlin first met members of NLPOA while working for the Miami-Dade Police Department. “I worked for five years at the Miami-Dade Police Academy and did the training/coordination for the specialized classes and educational classes,” he said. “NLPOA was having a conference and members of the organization stopped by and indicated that they needed a presentation on racial profiling. So, I did the presentation. Then, they asked me to join the organization. Ever since, I’ve attended most of their conferences on a yearly basis.”

To receive the Legacy Lifetime Member Award, an individual must have been a member for over 20 years. Dr. McLaughlin has been a member of NLPOA for 21 years. He served on the National Board of Directors as parliamentarian for two years and has been the national editor for the organization’s newsletter for past seven years.

The NLPOA was founded in 1972 to eliminate prejudice and discrimination in the criminal justice system, particularly law enforcement; reduce community juvenile delinquency; and lessen citizen tension in predominantly minority communities. It is the largest Latino law enforcement organization in the United States and has chapters nationwide.

AVON PARK, Fla. – June 16, 2021 – Avigail Avila, a recent graduate of South Florida State College (SFSC), was awarded a scholarship through the William G. and Marie Selby Foundation. 

For more than six decades, the Foundation has supported education through grants and scholarship programs. The Selby Scholarship is available to residents of DeSoto, Sarasota, Manatee, and Charlotte counties and is awarded to graduating high school seniors and graduating associate degree students from any state college in those four counties. All applicants must be planning to pursue a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university on a full-time basis.

Avila graduated from DeSoto County High School on Friday, June 11 and graduated from SFSC with an Associate in Arts on Tuesday, May 11. While in high school, Avila’s plate was full. She participated in the dual enrollment program at SFSC, she was a Take Stock in Children scholar, she worked at DeSoto Memorial Hospital screening visitors for COVID-19 and providing directions to various departments, she drove her sister to work in Port Charlotte, and she cared for her baby sister while her mother was at work.

Avila plans to continue her education at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) in Fort Myers to study for a bachelor’s degree in Nursing.

“The Selby Scholarship is going to assist me by providing financial aid that I truly need to cover my FGCU expenses,” Avila said. “I do not come from a wealthy family, and anything that I receive will help. Not only will it help me reach my goals, but I will be able to change the world as well as make it a better place for future generations and give back to the community.”

Asena Mott, SFSC DeSoto Campus director and Avila’s Take Stock in Children mentor, nominated her for the Selby scholarship. “Given her quick thinking and her intelligence, Avigail has the talent to be an incredible nurse, which has been her plan since I’ve known her for the past few years,” Mott said. “I know she could make life-saving decisions in a high-pressure environment, and I know her compassion for others takes precedence in decisions. She has a natural propensity to lead and to learn.”

According to the William G. & Marie Selby Foundation, the Selbys owned an oil company in West Virginia and came to live in Sarasota, Fla. in the 1920s. In his oil business, William encountered young people with untapped potential who were handicapped by lack of technical education. Prior to his death in 1956, William set up a charitable trust. The Selbys had no children of their own and wanted to use their money to help the youth of future generations.

AVON PARK – June 14, 2021 – As young people, we all dream about how our lives will unfold. We may dream of a career that fulfills our ambitions. Sometimes, when our dreams become reality, they take a turn in a direction we would never have expected. A passion may become something new and equally fulfilling. And so it was for Derrick Roper, a South Florida State College (SFSC) alumnus who graduated from the College in December 2006 with an Associate in Arts.

Roper loved to perform. When he was a student at Avon Park High School, he tried out for cheerleading in his sophomore year and made the junior varsity team. His cheerleading coach suggested he take classes at a dance studio in Avon Park, so he signed up. Although he had never taken dance classes before, his instructor, Amy Sims, was impressed with his abilities. Once he graduated from high school, Sims asked him to teach dance at the studio.   

“I was teaching hip hop dance,” Roper said. “That was my skill. I had never been trained in any other genres of dance. Miss Amy pushed me into to doing Jazz and things like that. Kids and parents had seen me dancing at the studio for the previous three years, so they all knew me. So, when I started teaching, all of the younger kids wanted to sign up. I had about 25 first graders in my first class. It was a lot of fun. I learned a lot from Miss Amy about how to teach. Under her leadership, I learned how to become a choreographer and dance teacher. And I fell in love with it.”

But Roper’s performance skills branched into acting. While he was a student at SFSC, he was cast as one of the leads in a musical produced by Larry Moore called “Yuletide Treasure” at the Restoration Center in Sebring. Moore was a Sebring resident who owned a production company. “Once I did musical theater, I really fell in love with the life,” Roper said. “I knew that this is what I really wanted to go to college for.”

Roper continued his education at Florida A&M University (FAMU), majored in theater performance, and graduated in the summer of 2009. At FAMU, some of the productions he performed in were August Wilson’s play, “Jitney,” and a children’s production of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” At the Boys and Girls Club in Tallahassee he taught hip hop dance. He also performed at Tallahassee Little Theater as part of the dance ensemble in “Chicago” and played Papa Ge in Lynn Ahrens’ one-act musical, “Once on This Island.”

“While at FAMU, one of the biggest productions I was in was called FAMU Connection,” Roper said. “It’s the university’s recruitment tool. During football season, college fairs are held at high schools. Wherever the football team is playing, they hold a college fair. The FAMU Connection travels with the team and goes to the high schools. It’s a 25-minute show—live singing and dancing. That was one of the biggest things that I enjoyed about FAMU.”

During his last semester at FAMU, Roper’s professor said, “You should go to Disney in Orlando and audition. So, once you graduate, they’ve already seen your face and you can get yourself out there and maybe have a future opportunity.”

Roper drove to Orlando and auditioned for “High School Musical II, the Live Show.” “I was just going in for an audition for the experience and to see how I do in that environment,” he said. “I auditioned and got a call back. During the call back, they were making cuts left and right. It went from 50 of us down to four. I was one of the four, so I was like, ‘This is real.’ Then they asked questions such as, ‘Are you willing to relocate if you’re offered a contract?’”

Disney called back and offered Roper a full-time contract for a principal role. “But I was still in school,” he said. “I didn’t think my professors would want me to take a semester off. I was about to graduate.”

Roper approached his professor and told him about the contract offer. His professor said, “It’s your last semester, so you can use your experience to write a thesis paper.”

Roper wrote his thesis on performing in an equity show. By working in the Disney production, he received his Equity card for the union, Actors’ Equity Association. “You need your Equity card when you go to New York and audition for Equity-only productions,” Roper said. “I wrote my thesis on my nine-month contract with Disney and six outdoor shows a day in the blazing heat, from January through September. It sounds grueling, but it truly was a learning experience. It was so much fun.”

Eventually, a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) was in Roper’s future and he was accepted into the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). He was awarded his MFA from SCAD in 2012. “At SCAD, I had a lead role in a musical called, ‘Zombie Prom,’ and we performed the musical, ‘Hair.’ I was part of the ensemble, and my character’s name was Hud.”

“After SCAD, I wanted to move to New York,” Roper said. “When I was in high school, when I was at FAMU, even at SCAD, roles were coming to me left and right. I thought that when I got to New York, I would audition for Equity shows. After I moved to New York, I started auditioning. I mean audition, audition, audition. And you hear a million ‘No’s.’ When you’re hearing, ‘No, no, no,’ it makes you rethink your talent. I would get a call back but not make it any further. But, I still had to work. So, I applied for a job teaching hip hop dance at Harlem Children’s Zone in New York. I could still audition for theater roles because I was teaching after school hours for them. But the more I taught, the more I grew professionally in my job. Then, I auditioned less. At my job, I was promoted from dance instructor to the middle school program coordinator at the Harlem Children’s Zone.

“I had staff working under me. I was in leadership. From there, I got another promotion to assistant director for middle school and high school. By this time, I had stopped auditioning altogether. I had been teaching kids for so long and liked teaching kids that it became second nature.”

Eventually, Roper was offered a teaching position with Achievement First, a charter school in New York. He applied and interviewed just before the pandemic hit. “I had never taught in a classroom. But that’s what I’m doing currently. It’s my first year as a full-time theater teacher.” 

During the pandemic, Roper’s classes were taught by remote. “There are a lot of theater resources online and books to teach theater online,” he said. “And a lot of at-home exercises that you can do. The students love to do partner scenes, so I found different scripts for them. I taught them about characterization, vocal expression, and how to use different movements. Because they were limited in in-person interaction, we had to rely on our voices. We made sure we were connecting our voices to our characters and paying attention to enunciation. We’ve done things like that in the virtual space.”

“I love that I’m teaching the arts and that I’m teaching theater,” Roper said. “The school is predominately African American, so I’m teaching little boys that look like me. When I was in elementary and middle school and high school, I didn’t have a ME as a teacher. And I didn’t have anyone to expose me to theater at a young age. Although I loved to perform, I didn’t know what it was.”

Roper said that the most satisfying thing about his career has been his transition to teaching the arts. “There’s no better thing for me than to be on the stage,” he said. “But to teach it and give feedback to little ones, I’m certain that I’m giving them knowledge and confidence that they’ll be able to use for the rest of their lives. Just to know that they have to deal with the injustice in the world with being a little black or brown kid — to make sure that they have support, that they have someone to go to, that Mr. Roper is always there. If I see something in them, I’m going to try to bring that passion out of them. I love working with kids and watching them blossom and help them rise to their full potential.”

Roper followed his dreams and found a new passion. As someone who’s been there, he has a message for young people: “Find your passion and make sure that it’s something that you love to do. No matter the obstacle or no matter what anyone says, go after that passion and do it and live life to the fullest with no regrets. No matter where you’re from, no matter how small the town is, you can dream big and see what you need to do to follow your dream. Don’t let where you’re from or your surroundings stop you.”

AVON PARK, Fla. – June 9, 2021 – South Florida State College’s (SFSC) Basic Law Enforcement (BLE) Academy graduated eight cadets from BLE Class 265, and three cadets from the Crossover BLE Academy Class 362 during a ceremony on Wednesday, June 9, outside the Criminal Justice Academy on the Highlands Campus in Avon Park.

BLE Class 265 graduates who received career certificates were Christopher Conn, Victor Gonzalez Vargas, Alexander Hill, Michael O’Malley, Kenneth Palmerton, Jonathan Perez, Brady Rhodes, and Realene Torres.

Crossover BLE Class 362 graduates receiving their career certificates were Anthony Hull, David Rogers Jr., and Andrew Wolgamott.

During the ceremony, special awards were presented to the cadets: Alexander Hill of BLE Class 265 for top academics and as class leader and Michael O’Malley of BLE Class 265 for top firearms scores.

As class leader, Hill addressed his fellow graduates: “Today is a day that should bring us great pride, because we’ve earned it. We deserve these job titles and these certificates. Now that we have them, each of us has the opportunity to go to our agencies and go into the communities with the goal to change lives, protect the innocent, and maintain law and order. That’s been my dream for as long as I can remember. And I know that each of us here is more than capable, and we should be more than ready to do just that. When the struggles come in the next six months and even beyond that, when we are faced with tough choices, I hope we will all be men and women of integrity, who are willing to treat those we encounter with respect and dignity. Choose to make the best of every situation you find yourself in and work to improve yourself every day. All of us made it here today despite the struggles we faced, and I don’t expect any future struggles to prevent us from reaching our goals.”

SFSC’s Basic Law Enforcement career certificate program trains students to become law enforcement officers in Florida. By successfully completing the program, they are eligible to take the state certification examination to become certified law enforcement officers. The program runs 770 contact hours or approximately five months full time or approximately 10 months part time.

The Correction to Law Enforcement (Crossover) career certificate program trains currently employed corrections officers to become law enforcement officers in Florida. Upon successful completion of the program, graduates are eligible to take the state certification examination to become certified law enforcement officers. The program runs 515 contact hours or approximately 10 months part time.

For more information about either of these programs, visit southflorida.edu or call SFSC’s Criminal Justice Academy at 863-784-7285.

AVON PARK, Fla. – June 3, 2021 – Take Stock in Children student scholars and their mentors celebrated their graduation from the program at a Senior Recognition Breakfast held on Thursday, June 3, at the Hotel Jacaranda in Avon Park.

“You’re taking that next step into adulthood,” said Danielle Ochoa, coordinator of Take Stock in Children Student Services, to the student scholars. “This school year was non-traditional. But we are so proud of you for making your way through it.”

The South Florida State College (SFSC) Foundation serves as the lead agency for Take Stock in its service area of DeSoto, Hardee, and Highlands counties. Take Stock in Children is a statewide program that provides children with a mentor and a two-year state college tuition scholarship. The Take Stock staff also help the student obtain financial assistance for housing, transportation, and other expenses. In return, the student signs a contract to earn at least a grade of C in every class, graduate from high school with good attendance records, maintain good behavior in school, and stay crime and drug free.

Take Stock mentors typically meet with their assigned students each week during the school year, offering encouragement and advice. A Take Stock college success coach provides support and guidance to the mentor and the mentee.

“Through the five years that I have known Dalila and her family, she has grown to be more special to me than just someone I meet with every couple of weeks to talk about school, career, and grades,” said Bettye Hart, teacher at Avon Park Middle School and mentor to Take Stock scholar Dalila Eugenio-Badillo. “I think of her as one of my own grandchildren. As I leave this mentorship with her, I believe that she will accomplish anything she sets her mind to.”

Each graduating student was presented with a Take Stock in Children medallion. They were:

From Avon Park High School:

Dalila Eugenio-Badillo, who plans to attend SFSC; Adriana Ramirez-Marcelo, who plans to attend SFSC; and Jocelyn Hernandez, who plans to attend the University of Central Florida (UCF).

From DeSoto County High School:

Avigail Avila, who plans to attend Florida Gulf Coast University and Yeni Flores-Velazquez, who plans to attend Suncoast Technical College.

From Hardee Senior High School:

Brittany Lopez-Perez, who plans to attend SFSC; Esmeralda Morales, who plans to attend SFSC; and Kayla Flash, who plans to attend Georgia Technical College.

From Lake Placid High School:
Sole Knorr-Levatte, who plans to attend the University of Florida and Kevin Lopez, who plans to attend SFSC.

From Sebring High School:

Anthony Adhin, who plans to attend the University of South Florida Honors College; Aidan Beasley, who plans to attend the UCF; Genesis Shannon, who plans to attend SFSC; Isaac Simmons, who plans to attend Florida State University; and Colby Whit, who plans to pursue a certificate in Welding or Law Enforcement.

Linda Roman, Take Stock in Children college success coach, was also recognized with the “Just Hear Me Out” Award for always introducing new ideas into the Take Stock in Children program.

During the Senior Recognition Breakfast, Ochoa mentioned the need for more Take Stock mentors. “As the pandemic set us back in our recruiting for the end of the 2019-20 school year and the entirety of the 2020-21 school year, the Take Stock in Children program needs nearly 40 volunteer mentors across DeSoto, Hardee, and Highlands counties,” she said. “At TSIC, the motto is ‘every student deserves a mentor.’”

For every student that Take Stock enrolls, there is a promise of a two-year tuition scholarship, as well as the promise of a volunteer mentor. Become part of a community of caring, compassionate adults who choose to devote their time to students by offering support, guidance, and encouragement. A mentor can change a life in as little as 30 minutes a week in a variety of mentoring opportunities: meeting in person at local high schools or SFSC campuses, texting and/or video through the Take Stock Mentor app, meeting virtually, or any combination of these.  To learn more about becoming a mentor, contact Take Stock by calling ext. 7343 or emailing TSIC@southflorida.edu.

AVON PARK, Fla. – June 1, 2021 – South Florida State College (SFSC) graduated 19 new correctional officers from Basic Corrections Class 21-104 on Thursday, May 27, at the Highlands Campus in Avon Park.

Michael Austin, coordinator of SFSC’s Criminal Justice Academy, called the cadets to the stage and handed each new corrections officer their Career Certificate.

Graduates who received certificates were Joseph Benjamin, Daniel C. Cox, Roger D. Engle II, Alexandra M. Figueroa Nater, Leah S. Gaines, Desha Y. Galimore, Kevin C. Harlow Jr., Alvin A. Hinson, Paige E. Jaskolski, Alexander J. Lobozzo, Yolonda N. Martin, Abdul-Hafiz Muhammad, Khoy D. Rezarie, Gabriel J. Roper, Russell W. Rowe, John L. Schneider III, Orlando S. Smith, Samuel D. Smith Jr., and Antonio Vega-Hernandez.

During the ceremony, special awards were presented to Russell Rowe for Top Firearms scores and Roger Engle for Top Academics. Class 104’s two officers were recognized for their leadership: Desha Galimore as class leader and Roger Engle as executive officer.  

Upon successful completion of the SFSC 420 contact-hour Correctional Officer Career Certificate Program, students earn a Career Certificate and are eligible to take the state certification examination to become a certified officer. For more information about this program or any other program offered through the SFSC Criminal Justice Academy, call Austin at 863-784-7282 or email Michael.Austin@southflorida.edu.