Best of
Florida Schools 2003
General Categories—Page
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Best
Homecoming Event
Pests,
Start Your Legs!
In a state where palmetto bugs run rampant, students and faculty at
Palm Beach Atlantic University have found a unique way to use the
creepy crawlers to raise funds for the Science Club. Sponsored by Palm Beach
Exterminating, the 20th Annual Great American Bug Race is a part
of the university’s lineup of homecoming festivities each November.
Typically, 400 spectators turn out for the open-to-the-public event that includes a cookie bug-decorating contest (all edible), specially designed T-shirts for sale, and a prize drawing, with all proceeds benefiting the PBA Science Club. Although the event is free, the club charges $1 to enter a bug in the race. Participants are allowed to bring their own bug or buy one for 50 cents.
All participating bugs must adhere to strict rules, which rule out battery-operated spare legs, spikes, flying, and jumping. Club members frown on the usage of any chemicals and reserve the right to conduct pre-race drug testing. Participants that attack or eat their competitors are immediately disqualified.
The bug tracks consist of two concentric circles with diameters of 6 feet and 8 feet. “Typical racers are cockroaches and palmetto bugs while others include earwigs, rhinoceros beetles, ladybugs, and large ants,” says Peggy VanArman, who has served as the club advisor for 15 years. “The most unusual was a hamster dressed up with an extra set of legs.”
Prizes of $10, $25, and $50 are awarded with a grand prize of $100 for the fastest bug. Champions Fred the Sexy Beast III, Matt Sloan, and Abercrombie II raced across the finish line at lightning bug speed and became the top winners this past year. —AS
Contact VanArman at peggy_vanarman@pba.edu.
Best
Teacher Training
T3: Rise
of the Teaching Machines
They'll be back. This summer, they're coming and they'll be smarter, more
technologically advanced, and even stronger. No, we're not talking about
cyborgs from Terminator 3, but teachers participating in the T3
project (Technology, Teachers, and Training). The project introduces future
and current teachers from Stetson University to the newest technology
used in classrooms.
During summer “boot camps,” Stetson education majors and Volusia County teachers brush up on computer usage and complete web-based course work to become and stay certified in Florida. "If you show a teacher what he or she can do, they’ll take the ball and be successful," says Dr. Patty LeBlanc, T3 project director.
The week-long camp gives teachers three credit hours toward graduate study or toward half of their re-certification requirements. It teaches the teachers about software programs, videoconferencing, PowerPoint, and on-line communications.
Education majors also take virtual field trips into an elementary classroom at Bonner Elementary School in Daytona Beach, using video conferencing to see real-life teaching.
LeBlanc says she plans on spreading the T3 project to other private institutions and into other counties. —LE
Contact LeBlanc at pleblanc@stetson.edu.
Best
College Town
College, L.A.
Style
Not many Florida college students can claim they go to school near L.A. and
Georgia at the same time—L.A. meaning "Lower Alabama," a nickname for
northwest Florida. Tallahassee students attending school are just 14 miles
south of Georgia and a few hours' drive from the white Gulf Coast beaches in
the panhandle.
Tallahassee has four colleges and universities, including two of the state's major public universities: Florida State University, Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University, Keiser College, and Tallahassee Community College. Officially proclaimed Florida’s capital in 1824, city’s name means "old town" or "old fields" in the Creek Indian language
The city’s population of 151,000 includes 60,000 full and part-time students. FSU is one of the largest state universities with 35,500 students and has a consistently top-ranked football team, the Seminoles. With a population of 12,000, FAMU is one of Florida's oldest historically African-American schools and has become nationally recognized for its Marching "100" Band. TCC ranks first out of the 28 Florida community colleges for sending three-fourths of its 12,000 students into the state university system.
Tallahassee’s downtown often is referred to as "the other Florida" because of its rolling hills which are unique to a mostly flat state. "One of the great things about attending college in Tallahassee for South Florida residents is the complete change in terrain and the change in seasons," said Wayne Harris, vice president of technology and development at the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce. "We're just far enough north to have a brilliant fall, a touch of serious winter, and an exhilarating spring, heralded by blossoming azalea, dogwood, redbud, and Japanese magnolia. For Florida residents, it's like attending school in North Carolina without having to pay out-of-state tuition." It also combines small-town southern charm with the distinction of being recognized as one of the nation's 10 most-educated cities, he says.
For students into the live-music scene, Tallahassee offers concerts featuring everything from jazz to pop to country-western in the Civic Center and FSU's Opperman Hall. If smaller venues are more your style, check out Potbelly's for live shows, Atlantis for Latin dancing, and Stetson's for country line-dancing. There are tons more clubs and bars to visit on the popular Tallahassee Strip.
For those who prefer the outdoors, the city is just 20 miles from the Gulf of Mexico—you get rolling hills and Gulf Coast beaches all in one place. FSU houses several swimming pools and a lakeside recreation area, the FSU Reservation. Tallahassee is a great place for sports—the Seminoles play each fall in Doak Campbell Stadium, which seats 82,000 cheering football fans, and the city has several amateur sports leagues as well.
For politically active students, what better place to attend school than in Florida’s capital city? With such a hotbed of political activity in the Capitol Building and the Florida State Supreme Court, students are in a prime location to get their voices heard.
Those interested in politics can get internships with a state representative or senator, take in a legislative meeting, or stage a peaceful protest in front of the Capitol to support their causes.
Tallahassee has numerous other attractions, including an annual Shakespeare festival, the Odyssey Science Museum, FSU's Flying High Circus, and the soon-to-be-completed NASA Challenger Learning Center. —JB
Contact Wayne Harris at the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce at wharris@talchamber.com, or visit www.talchamber.com.
Best
Lecture Series
Brevard’s
Business Tips
What do Chick-Fil-A, Callaway Gardens, and USA Today have in common?
Well, it's not eating a chicken sandwich while reading a national paper
during a hotel resort stay. In reality, they are all owned or founded by
speakers at the B.W. Simpkins Business Entrepreneurial Seminar.
Brevard Community College’s lecture series brings in business entrepreneurs to share their success stories. Al Neuharth, founder of USA Today, spoke in November to 400 students, faculty, and community members.
Bernard W. Simpkins and the local chambers of commerce co-sponsor the series, which lets BCC provide the speakers free. Two other recent speakers were Chick-Fil-A founder Truett Cathy and Callaway Gardens owner Bo Callaway.
The lectures are held twice annually, and each lecture is presented twice, once at the Cocoa campus and once at the Melbourne campus. Since one lecture takes place during the day and the other at night, everyone has an equal opportunity to attend.
"It provides knowledgeable speakers at no charge to students and community members," says Kimberly Prosser, manager of the department of community relations. —LE
Contact Prosser at prosserk@brevardcc.edu.
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