May 2017
Congratulations Graduates!
On May 13, President Bill Law welcomed guests at St. Petersburg College's 133rd Commencement Ceremony. Held at Tropicana Field, Law led the celebration noting that, to-date, SPC has awarded 162,262 degrees since the college opened in 1927.

Past Alumni Association president Bill McCloud presented the Honorable George W. Greer with the 2017 Outstanding Alumnus award. Greer, a 1962 graduate of what was then St. Petersburg Junior College, served as a Circuit Court judge for 18 years before his retirement in 2010.

The Alumni Association also presented awards to honor graduates who demonstrate exemplary leadership, academic achievement and community service. Associate Degree graduate Theodore E. Martin, Jr., received the 2017 Apollo Award, and Baccalaureate Degree graduate Alexis Gagliardotto, received the Achievement Award. Both students addressed their fellow graduates - who ranged from 17 to 68 years of age.
 Calyx Schenecker Art Infinitum Exhibition
Calyx Schenecker Scholarship recipients (L to R) Sarah Holmes, Gabrielle Cohen and Malik McCain
L to R: Jonathan Barnes SPC Chair of Humanities & Fine Arts; Don Gillespie and Kay Campbell, Clearwater Arts Alliance; Colonel Parker Schenecker; Maria Cantonis, Clearwater Arts Alliance
The first annual Calyx Schenecker Art Infinitum Exhibit at SPC's Crossroads Gallery opened with a well-attended reception and awards ceremony on May 17. Pinellas County public and private high school students proudly displayed works of art in all mediums. Gabrielle Cohen, East Lake High School; Malik McCain, Largo High; and Sarah Holmes, North East High, received first, second and third place prizes respectively. All three students were awarded SPC scholarships in recognition of their achievements in visual arts.

The exhibit runs through July 6th at the Crossroads Gallery on Clearwater Campus. Visit the gallery Monday-Thursday 9am-5pm and Friday 9am-2pm. The exhibit is free and open to the public.
2017 Silverberg Endowment for Academic Excellence Awarded
The Silverberg family has selected the Cell Phone and Tablet Repair program as the recipient of the Annual Silverberg Endowment Grant award of $5,000.

Launching in September at SPC's Midtown Campus, the program will include 40 hours of classroom and lab instruction to prepare students for various certification examinations. The program is open to current SPC students as well as prospective students, and will focus on reaching ex-offenders, who often have a difficult time finding work. After completing the program, students will have the skillset to work as a certified cell phone repair technician - currently a $4 billion industry.

Grant recipient and Associate Provost Dawn Rodak said, "We are so grateful to the Silverberg family. We feel it's a first step in helping to change people's lives." The annual Silverberg Endowment Grant was first awarded in 1982 and provides up to $5,000 to help support, enhance, enrich or develop programs of benefit to SPC and it students, as well as the local community. The Silverberg Grant will help fund the equipment costs associated with the program.
St. Petersburg College Trustees Appointed
Governor Rick Scott appointed Katherine Cole and re-appointed Bridgette Bello to the St. Petersburg College Board of Trustees.

Cole, of Belleair, is an attorney and shareholder at Hill Ward Henderson. Cole earned a B.S. from the University of Tennessee in 1995, and a J.D. from Stetson University College of Law in 2007. Cole was appointed for a term beginning March 24, 2017.

Bello, of Seminole, is president and publisher of the Tampa Bay Business Journal. Bello earned a B.S. in Journalism from the University of Florida. Bello served as an SPC Trustee from 2013-15. She was reappointed on April 24, 2017.
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