Winter Park High sports kick off season

Practice (and fundraising) is under way

Athletic Director Gary Preisser joined Winter Park High School players on the field Thursday, Aug. 9, to check out athletic trainers on the job. Preisser uses money from the Athletic Preservation Fund to pay for athletic trainers to assist coaches. In the past, without the fund, athletic trainers volunteered for the first week of training.

Advertising for the school district continues to be a hot topic as school districts across the country look for alternative ways to bring in revenue. Orange County Public Schools is regarded as the first public school district in the country to launch a sales and marketing department. Since fall 2009 it has brought in an estimated $700,000 in new revenue for the district and schools.

Obama is third sitting president to visit Rollins

On Thursday, Aug. 2, President Barack Obama became the third sitting U.S. president to visit Rollins College. Coordinated by Organizing for America, the free and open to the public grassroots event held in the Harold & Ted Alfond Sports Center featured a 25-minute speech by the 44th and current president of the United States.

Though the majority of the student body was away for the summer, the president’s visit brought to Rollins an ethnically, economically and politically diverse crowd of 2,400 citizens from across Central Florida. For Rollins, it’s been 63 years since a sitting president visited the College. In 1949, President Harry Truman came to Rollins at the request of the College’s eighth president, Hamilton Holt, and was bestowed with an honorary degree. Before Truman, President Franklin Roosevelt visited and received an honorary degree from Holt in 1936.

Re-proposal after 40 years

John O’Brien rode up on horseback and proposed once again to his wife of 40 years, Sally Kilgore O’Brien, on Park Avenue on the evening of Saturday, Aug. 4. She said yes!

Free Pre-K spots still available

It’s not too late to enroll for Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) offered by Orange County Public Schools for the 2012-2013 school year. Brand new this year is Extended Day Services for VPK students at some locations. The program begins Aug. 20, the first day of school for all of Orange County. The Extended Day Services are fee-based, which ranges from $15 to $85 a week. Visit OCPS.net

Center gets $10K to support anti-bullying program

The Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida has received a special grant through the State Attorney’s office to support its UpStanders: Stand Up to Bullying initiative. The $10,000 contribution will help expand the project, which has already been active in 17 schools in Orange and Osceola counties’ schools. State Attorney Lawson Lamar, for the Ninth Judicial District, approved the funding in July.

The UpStanders initiative, launched by the Holocaust Center three years ago, uses the example of Holocaust-era rescuers as role models for student intervention. “We tell students that during the Holocaust thousands of lives were saved when bystanders became ‘upstanders,’ standing up to protect others from danger,” Holocaust Center Executive Director Pam Kancher said. “The UpStander project helps them become more aware of what they can do to safely intervene.”

New website in making for Park Avenue

The Park Avenue Area Association is in the production phase of a new website designed to showcase the Park Avenue area to visitors and locals alike. The website will include information about Park Avenue area businesses as well as links to company websites and social network pages. Register your Avenue business and complete the online questionnaire at members.experienceparkavenue.com by Aug. 17. Please contact Linda Semmler at Earth Inspired Living, 407-644-2344, with any questions.

Morse season preview

In its 2012–2013 season, the Morse Museum draws from new acquisitions as well as its permanent collection to provide further perspective on the art of the fin de siècle, and deeper insights into the Museum’s collecting activities. Highlights include a focus exhibition on a recent gift, an Orientalist painting by Lockwood de Forest; a special show celebrating the mesmerizing “line” of Art Nouveau objects; and a vignette on the art of fountain pens. The following are new exhibitions from the Morse collection and public events scheduled for the upcoming season:


Focus Exhibition: Lockwood de Forest’s The Wreck, opens Oct. 23

Secrets of Tiffany Glassmaking, opens Oct. 23

Vignette: New Acquisitions, Oct. 23, 2012–Jan. 6

Art Nouveau from the Morse Collection, opens Feb. 12

Vignette: The Art of Fountain Pens, Feb. 12–Oct. 6

Art makes Central Florida $264M a year

New research released on June 8 by American for the Arts indicates that the nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $264 million in annual economic activity in the seven-county Central Florida region. According to the Arts & Economic Prosperity IV (AEPIV) national economic impact study, local arts and culture also support 8,966 full-time-equivalent jobs and generate $36 million in local and state government revenues. For more information about this project, as well as breakout reports for select participating counties and cities, please visit tinyurl.com/UAresearch

Volunteer at Center for Independent Living

The Center for Independent Living (CIL) — a Winter Park-based nonprofit dedicated solely to helping individuals with disabilities and seniors achieve independence — is offering several volunteer opportunities for students and individuals seeking office experience, earning college credit or simply looking to help others. With the end of summer sneaking up on us, many students may still be looking to volunteer in the community. Services CIL offers include housing assistance, employment, mental health counseling, deaf services and aging in place. For more information, visit cilorlando.org

Volunteer opportunities for tour guides

Orange County Regional History Center, 
 65 E. Central Blvd., has volunteer opportunities for school group docents (tour guides). After a period of mandatory training, shadowing and classroom instruction, docents are responsible for taking school groups on tours of the History Center. Call 407-836-8523 for more information.

Apply for college scholarship

The Women’s Executive Council (WEC) is accepting scholarship applications for women attending Rollins College, University of Central Florida, Valencia College and Seminole State College. Ten recipients will be awarded $1,500 scholarships on Sept. 28. The event is at the Crowne Plaza Downtown Orlando. Visit wecOrlando.com

Winter Park families can apply to host international students

Ayusa is looking for American families in the Winter Park area interested in hosting international high school students for the 2012-2013 school year. Visit ayusa.org or contact Ellen Barr at 407-310-8330.

Road to Recovery program looking for volunteers

The American Cancer Society’s Road to Recovery program is currently recruiting volunteers to drive local cancer patients to and from their chemotherapy and radiation treatments in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. For more information, contact your local American Cancer Society office at 1-877-901-2862. If you are a cancer patient seeking more information about the Road to Recovery program, call 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org

Schools in Orange and Seminole counties need volunteers

Junior Achievement (JA) of Central Florida needs volunteers for the upcoming fall semester to teach JA classes in Orange and Seminole county elementary, middle and high schools. Training is held monthly at Junior Achievement’s office at 2121 Camden Road. For more information, contact Rachel Whitmire at 407-898-2121, ext. 30, or [email protected]

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