Best of Florida Schools 2002
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Best Island Atmosphere
Anybody who has ever been to the Florida Keys knows about the island atmosphere, and that atmosphere extends right onto the Florida Keys Community College campus. How many campuses are half underwater?  Of 114 acres earmarked for the campus, about 100 are underwater, surrounding FKCC on two sides by the Gulf of Mexico. The site also includes the Clark Maxwell Marine Habitat and Observatory, a converted sewage treatment plant now used as a seawater lagoon nestled in the mangroves with an island pavilion and a touch tank for marine life such as sea cucumbers and starfish.

Even the architecture is a style called "Tropical Modernism," reflecting the island look. The ceramics department, under the instruction of master potter Jay Gogin, created the showpiece fountain in the center of campus as well as the torii gate, a Japanese meditation structure that overlooks the dive lagoon, the kind of artistic touches you would expect to find in a five-star resort rather than a school.

The term "kickoff" on another campus may mean an event with hotdogs and a local radio station doing give-aways, but at FKCC, it's a pig roast with three whole porkers baking in the outdoor pits. Students often see performances by the "Steel Your Heart" steel drum band from next door at Gerald Adams Elementary School. But the true marker of the Keys lifestyle is the willingness to drop everything and go watch the sunset. "We have the best place to watch the sunset on Key West, even better than Mallory Square," says Lydia Estenoz, director of marketing and community relations. "In the water are four beautiful huge ceramic buoys made by our ceramics department that get smaller as you look out into the distance towards the sunset, and there are benches there that overlook the horizon and the dive lagoon. It's simply amazing." SRR

Contact FKCC at (305) 296-9081 or visit http://www.firn.edu/fkcc/.

Best Computer Competition
For some high school students, computers aren’t just a way to surf the web and play games. Each year, nearly 50 Florida high school students participate in Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s annual computer programming competition. Students travel to the school’s Daytona Beach campus and use the computer labs to complete six problems using the programming language options of C, C++, or Java. The top four students win Dell laptops and money for their high school science department, and some lucky students may even receive scholarships to Embry-Riddle. “By organizing such events, we increase our partnership with the high schools, and it gives them exposure to our different degree programs,” says Jayathi Raghavan, event organizer.

ERAU also uses the competition as an opportunity to conduct computer workshops for the high school computer teachers and to give tours of the campus. “The students have fun,” Raghavan says. “It gives them a taste of what computer programming competitions are like.” JL

Contact Raghavan at (386) 226-6217.

Best Volunteer Swim
A child is splashing around in the water, without a care in the world. What makes him different than any other kid? This may be the only time this year he gets to be in a pool. Gulf Coast Community College takes a day out of each year around Christmas to take disabled students from a local elementary school out for a swim and pizza party. The GCCC volunteers have this outing to spread disability awareness.

“It’s hard to tell who is having more fun, the students or the volunteers,” says Linda VanDalen, GCCC’s coordinator for disabled student services. “The squeals and screams of joy start with the kids and continue on with the volunteers.” Starting 11 years ago, GCCC started the Adopt-A-School program and got involved with the disabled students at Springfield Elementary. What has blossomed from this union is now a yearly event that has kids looking forward to the one day a year that the college comes to take them swimming.

Judging by the success of the program now, it’s hard to believe VanDalen had problems trying to find volunteers at first. “The first year, it was primarily staff that worked with the kids,” VanDalen says. “Now, I send an e-mail out and I have enough volunteers for when the kids wear out the first round of help.” VanDalen says that everyone from athletes and graduates to EMTs come out for a day of swimming or to help with the kids.

“It’s amazing what they can do in the water as opposed to what they do on land or in their wheelchairs,” VanDalen says. “Just the looks on the kids’ faces as they watch their limbs move in the water is enough to make people come back. They’re like little Christmas angels for us.” RG

Contact VanDalen at (850) 872-3834 or lvandalen@mail.gc.cc.fl.us.

Best New Sports Center
It doesn’t have the tradition of Madison Square Garden in New York or the mystique of Fenway Park in Boston, but the Florida Institute of Technology’s sports facility does share something with these sites—a beginning.

Funded by nearly $7 million in donations, the 60,000 square foot Charles and Ruth Clemente Center for Sports and Recreation became a reality. And in May 2001, just in time for commencement, the center opened to its first crowd of nearly 3,500, says Karen Rhine, assistant director of university communications.

The Clemente Center, home of FIT’s Panthers, also includes a complete fitness center, racquetball court, food service area, meeting and activities rooms, and all of the athletic department offices.  The center will get its first taste of the spotlight in March 2002 when the Sunshine State Conference men’s and women’s basketball tournament comes to town. RG

Contact Rhine at krhine@fit.edu.

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