Class Notes 10.30.14

+ Montverde senior wins chamber award

Montverde Academy senior Ciara “Pepper” Hopkins, also the school’s head prefect, received the South Lake Chamber of Commerce’s Outstanding October Student of the Month Award.

Hopkins received her award at a South Lake Chamber of Commerce breakfast, held Oct. 17, at the Clermont City Center. Wesley Reed, of Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. presented the award.

The distinction recognizes the most outstanding student nominated from each high school in South Lake County. 

+ WOHS thespians choose one-act play

The West Orange High School thespians have chosen the Bernard Pomerance play, “The Elephant Man,” for their one-act play entry in the Florida Theatre Conference and the District V thespian competition.

The play is based on the real-life story of John Merrick, who lived in England in the late-19th century. He was horribly disfigured from birth and, as a young adult, lived as a sideshow freak until he was discovered by a prominent London surgeon.

The original production opened on Broadway in the late 1970s. Next month, the show will once again take to the Broadway stage in a new revival starring Bradley Cooper. 

The West Orange production will star senior Isaiah Rothstein in the title role, with Zachary Croft in the supporting role of Dr. Treves and Alexandra Crosby in the role of Mrs. Kendall.

The local performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2, in the auditorium at West Orange High School, 1625 S. Beulah Road, Winter Garden. All tickets are $10. Reservations are not needed for this production. 

For more, call the Theatre Department, (407) 905-2400, Ext. 6162462.

+ POPS hosts first workshop

Professional Opportunities Program for Students held the first of six educational and career readiness workshops recently at the FAMU College of Law.

POPS has been providing college and career readiness programing for underserved high school youth in the greater Orlando community for more than a decade. More than 150 students and parents attended this month’s workshop, titled “Academic Decathlon.”

“By inviting local community leaders, we created an interesting learning environment for our students,” POPS District Manager Dorcas Dillard said. “Our experts discussed key strategies for completing high school and applying to a technical school, college or university of their choice.”

Local experts included Cedric Brown, senior assistant director for undergraduate admissions for UCF; Corrine Dukes, career counselor for Ocoee High School; Ken Lundy, Devry University’s partnership representative; and Rusha Williams, SEC mentoring and educational consultant.

The presenters covered a wide variety of topics, such as the benefits of choosing advanced placement and dual-enrollment classes, SAT/ACT testing tips, under-applied for scholarships, financial aid strategies and the career paths associated with technical schools.

For more information, contact Mary Alice Fish, [email protected].

+ Local United Way launches clothing drive

Heart of Florida United Way has launched Dress2Learn, a program providing new clothing to about 5,450 homeless students across 250 schools in Orange and Osceola counties.

This fall, more than 21,000 Levi’s brand clothing items — including a combination of jeans, khakis, shorts, polo tops and graphic tees — will be distributed to children in grades K through 12 who are classified as homeless by their school system under the McKinney-Vento Act.

To raise money for the program, United Way has started an online donation platform for community members and local businesses.

To make a donation or start a fundraiser, visit UWDress2Learn.org.

A child can be sponsored through Dress2Learn for only $50.

This year, United Way assumed ownership of Dress2Learn, which was formerly run by Dr. Phillips Foundation under the name COOL FIT. Follow United Way on Twitter and Facebook for more information.

+ Southwest team wins competition

Southwest Middle School’s WSLN-TV news team won high honors at the 2014 Jim Harbin Student Media Festival.

The team took second in the state in the competition’s News Show category.