Best of Florida Schools 2005
Web-Only Categories—Page 8

Best Campus Pet
A Dog Named Kat
Students and faculty feel the burdens of stress every day, from worrying about how bills will be paid to dealing with rush hour traffic to making it through midterms and finals. Sometimes, it’s all so overwhelming that they just need a hug. Luckily, the employees and students at Brevard Community College—Palm Bay receive unconditional love and support from their resident stress-relief expert: Kat the facility dog.

BCC—Palm Bay obtained Kat, a three-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, through Canine Companions for Independence of Orlando. A fully trained facility dog, Kat knows around 30 different commands. She can pick up tests from faculty and return them, open automatic doors, pick up things people have dropped, shake hands, and wave good-bye. But above all, Kat can identify people suffering from stress and knows how to make them feel better.

“Kat runs up to people, wagging her tail and happy to see them, and their days are instantly uplifted,” says Lynn Dallas, disability services specialist. “She is unconditional acceptance and love waiting to be petted.”

Kat lives with Dallas, who brings her to work each day. Though she’s only been interacting with BCC students and staff for eight months, Kat’s already bonded with many of them. “We have our daily walk to get the mail, which is in another building, and Kat has to make the rounds to say hello to the faculty and staff,” Dallas says. “It takes about a half an hour just to pick up the mail because so many people in the halls stop and pet her.”

But Kat does more than just bring smiles to faces she passes in the halls. She gives extra attention to Dallas’ disabled students, even going up to them in a crowd over other people. “I have a bipolar student who was having a manic episode one day, and the student came into the office too agitated to go to class,” Dallas says. “The student sat and petted Kat for about half an hour, and it calmed the student down enough for the student to go to class.”

Kat’s also great at comforting people who need a shoulder to cry on. “I had a faculty member who had a lot of damage due to the hurricanes come into my office, and they just sat and cried on the floor while hugging and petting Kat.”

Because many students and staff members meet with Kat on a regular basis, they’ve grown to love the dog as much as her caretaker does. “Kat is so well loved that if I missed work, people would hunt me down wondering what happened to her,” Dallas says. —AMC

Contact Dallas at dallasl@brevardcc.edu.

Best Season Opener
Dribbling for Donations
Student athletes often feel anxious before their first big game. Although new basketball players at Brevard Community College—Melbourne were a little nervous at this year’s season opener, knowing they had the support of 250 cheering fans helped calm their jitters.

This year, students from Phi Theta Kappa’s Chi Nu chapter, the Student Government Association, and members of BCC Athletics teamed up to make the Titans’ home opener an event to remember. Posting flyers at nearby Sherwood Elementary School and promoting the event on the electronic display board and in their local newspaper, they invited the community to come to BCC’s first men’s basketball game against Florida Community College of Jacksonville. While the Nov. 3 event was free to the public, organizers asked everyone to bring a canned food item. “Those who made a canned food donation received a chance to win door prizes,” says Catherine Beam, student development specialist. “Donated prizes included BCC T-shirts and CD cases, restaurant gift certificates from McDonald’s, Applebee’s, and Pizza Hut, as well as movie coupons from Cinema World and bowling coupons.”

Attendance soared, and the response was so enthusiastic that BCC collected more than 300 pounds of nonperishable items for the South Brevard Sharing Center. Fans cheered on the Titans while chowing down on free popcorn, sipping free soft drinks, and eagerly awaiting the announcements of door-prize winners. Children who attended from Sherwood Elementary enjoyed the door prizes and courtside seats, but they especially liked handing over the canned goods they’d collected. “They knew they were helping the community by donating the food,” Beam says.

Although the Titans lost to FCCJ, players reveled in having so much support from their families, students, and staff at their first game. “Players felt very special, and they made an effort to give the young students high fives as they warmed up,” Beam says. “It was a ‘slam dunk’ all around for the BCC Titans, the elementary school kids, and the local food pantry.” —AMC

Contact Beam at beamc@brevardcc.edu.

Best Water-Sports Program
Exams and Waves
Students’ laughter can be heard in all directions. Some try windsurfing while others spend time scuba diving or sailing. But school is in session, so why are these students spending hours in the water? These students are in school. They’ve enrolled in a Broward Community College class at Tigertail Lake Center, which provides BCC students with the chance to take a windsurfing or a sailing class for phys-ed credit. “We usually have a lot of camaraderie, and people seem to love the programs,” says Jon Groover, water-sports coordinator.

The center originally opened in the mid-1970s when BCC bought a couple of boats. Since then, it’s grown into a huge program that not only offers classes for credit but also classes in Red Cross training and continuing education. In February 2004, the center opened a brand-new facility on Tigertail Lake in Dania Beach. The center runs programs like Saturday sailing, snorkeling trips to Key Largo, canoeing trips, and a summer camp for children. The lake’s facilities are free for students and faculty. BCC hires the best sailors from its summer classes to work part-time to help teachers in their water sports classes.

“The most popular program out of everything we do is the Keys trip,” Groover says. “Some of the foreign students have never been to the Keys. They’re living away from home, and for $100, we’ll take them and feed them, put them up in the Keys, and take them sailing.”

The center hopes to add scuba classes for credit to its program in the near future. —JLT

Contact Groover at jgroover@broward.edu.

Best Awards Theme
Ohana-fied BCC
The cartoon Lilo & Stitch is about a friendless Hawaiian girl who meets a miniature monster from the planet Turo. She adopts the monster as her pet and names him Stitch. The duo goes through a lot during the movie, but Lilo ends up learning that family can either be something you’re born into or something you make along the way. “Ohana means family,” Lilo explains.

Students from Broward Community College feel the same way. After a year together doing conferences, bake sales, retreats, cookouts, meetings, and leadership workshops, the students felt they were closer than just friends—they thought of themselves as a big, extended family. “They thought they were more of family than just students because they’re all in activities together, and they’ve organized a lot of different events together throughout the year,” says Mareta Sizemore, director of student life. “We’re very into Lilo & Stitch. The students really loved the theme of ‘Ohana means family.’”

At noon on Friday, May 7, 150 members of BCC’s clubs and 30 faculty and staff members met at the Polynesian restaurant The Mai Kai for BCC’s annual student-awards program. But this year was different than any other. Student Life staff dressed up in Hawaiian shirts for the luau, and some students came wearing sarongs or flower-printed clothes. The participants were served mushroom beef, teriyaki chicken, egg rolls, and fried rice. “It was very elegant because of the mood and the ambiance of the actual restaurant. It’s very dim lighting with torches lit around,” Sizemore says. “Having the atmosphere be so tropical and so different than your average ballroom really added to everyone’s enjoyment.”

When the program got underway, awards for academic excellence, student leadership, and excellence in student life were announced and handed out. During an intermission, new club members were called up so they could be recognized. The new members didn’t know it, but they were being called up for an initiation as well. “We told them that before you actually become a club member, this year’s initiation is you have to show your best hula,” Sizemore says. An even-steadied hula song was played and the members each did their best hula dances.

This year’s theme will be the red carpet. “I think they’ve gotten the award bug from everything happening now with the Golden Globes, the Oscars, and the American Music Awards,” Sizemore says. “We’re looking to do it with the velvet rope, the red carpet, and the photographer.” –JLT

Contact Sizemore at sizemor@broward.edu.

Best Mind-Expanding Experience
Brain Teaser
Many students look at their list of required classes and ask, "Why?" Why does a business major have to take science classes? Why does a journalism major need to take math classes? However, students in the honors program at Indian River Community College understand the links between these seemingly unrelated areas of knowledge.

They learn it all in a class called “The Pursuit of Knowledge,” a mandatory orientation course for the honors program. The course is designed to help students understand the interconnectedness of knowledge in all areas of academia. “The course introduces the concept that all knowledge is connected and awakens their curiosity about these relationships,” says Michelle Abaldo, director of institutional advancement.

The class is divided into four quarters. The course first examines the common standards of reasoning and analysis that underlie all academic disciplines, and the remaining three quarters provide substantive illustrations in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. “Science, the arts and the humanities, and the social sciences are all related. For example, a discovery in science can impact history, be reflected in art and music, and influence how people think about the world,” Abaldo says.

Students say they enjoyed the course so much that they would’ve taken it even if it wasn’t required.

“It was one of the best courses that I’ve taken at IRCC,” says James Birmingham. “I enjoyed both the philosophy and social sciences portion of the class. I now have a greater appreciation for the interconnectedness of knowledge.” —MM

For more information, contact info@ircc.edu.

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