Join the Center for Civic Learning & Community Engagement as we support the ArtsXchange concert series “Jazz & Politics: Harmon & Discourse” on Friday, November 3, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The ArtsXchange is located at 515 22nd Street South in St. Petersburg.

The event will include a performance with the “Instrument of Hope” and a roundtable about gun violence prevention. The Instrument of Hope is a trumpet built from parts of bullet casing in response to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, FL. It has since traveled around the U.S. to promote healing and conversation about gun violence prevention. Composer and Arranger Kim Scharnberg has compiled testimonies from former students and survivors and will lead the roundtable discussion.

The concert will feature some of Tampa Bay’s best musicians assembled by the Al Downing Tampa Bay Jazz Association. Its roots can be traced back to the 1980s and to the joint efforts of Al Downing and the late Ernie Calhoun, renowned saxophonist and humanitarian from Tampa, Florida.

Ticket pricing options include General Admission tickets priced at $15 and discounted tickets for WADA and Al Downing members at $10. Become a member to qualify for discounted tickets. The event schedule is as follows:

• 6:30-7:30 p.m.: A roundtable discussion on gun violence prevention featuring community leaders, artists, and survivors at Seven C Music on the ArtsXchange campus.
• 7:30-9:00 p.m.: Concert presented by Al Downing Tampa Bay Jazz Association, featuring the “Instrument of Hope” at the ArtsXchange Outdoor Theater. 

Join us for an unforgettable evening of music, dialogue, and community engagement. For more information, please contact Tara Newsom at newsom.tara@spcollege.edu.

St. Petersburg City Hall welcomed SPC students from the Downtown and Midtown Centers this week to learn about the various departments in local government.

After a tour of City Hall, students sat down in City Council Chambers to have a conversation with St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch. Affordable housing, climate change, economic development, and equity were all on the table for discussion!

Students then joined city government professionals for a career panel to explore the various pathways to serving others through employment with the city.

To learn more about local civic opportunities, please contact the Center for Civic Learning and Community Engagement at cclce@spcollege.edu or Professor Tara Newsom at newsom.tara@spcollege.edu.

SPC remembered and honored 9/11 with college-wide events paying tribute and respect to the heroes who lost their lives, celebrating the resilience of our community, and creating meaningful dialogue.

Each campus remembered 9/11 through moments of silence, student presentations, flag-planting ceremonies, and honoring our local first responders.

The Center for Civic Learning & Community Engagement co-sponsored the Warehouse Arts District Association and Urban Stillhouse’s two-day 9/11 event collaboration that included a showing of the 12 Strong war drama based on true events, following a Special Forces team (Horse Soldiers) sent to Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks.

Saturday’s events included a showing of “12 Strong” followed by a Q&A with Horse Soldier Team Member and LtCol USAF (Ret) Jerry Lavely, who was deployed in response to the events of 9/11. This opportunity will provide the audience with a chance to engage, ask questions, and gain insight into the real-life events that inspired the gripping story.

Sunday’s events began with a ceremony surrounding the Rise Monument with a moving program that included speeches by community leaders and Armed Forces personnel, a color guard, the National Anthem, and an invocation.

After the ceremony, community members and students were invited to a “Flip the Script” Panel Discussion led by the audience, allowing attendees to actively participate in the conversation by sharing personal reflections, asking questions, and engaging in a collective exploration of the impact and significance of the tragic events of September 11.

SPC’s very own John Beggins, a retired officer with the NYPD, served on the panel, as did John Welch, an adjunct professor in SSBS. The panel was moderated by Jack Royer (News Channel 8 WFLA). Additional panelists: Arturo Jimenez-Bacardi (USF Int Relations & Political Science), Jerry Lavely (Horse Soldier Team Member/LtCol USAF (Ret).), Imam Abdullah Jaber (Executive Director CAIR-Florida).

The Sunscreen Film Festival, WUSF, Admiral Farragut, City of St. Petersburg, and Florida Arts Culture also served as co-sponsors.

St Pete Pride Events
June 24  – 2 – 10 p.m.

Get ready for St. Pete Pride’s 21st Year! To honor history, celebrate our community, and create an accessible, safe place for members of the LGBTQ+ community, St. Pete Pride will be hosting the largest Pride festival to date. This is a free event and open to the public.

The Parade route will run from Albert Whitted Park to Vinoy Park along Bayshore Drive, stepping off at 6 p.m.  Leading up to the Parade, the TransMarch will start in Vinoy Park at 5:30 p.m. Click here to register for the 2023 Trans March.

The Parade Festival will begin at 2 p.m. on both sides of the parade route! North Straub Park will have a variety of local vendors, food trucks, and a DJ!  Vinoy Park will host this year’s main entertainment stage, VIP cabanas, and more.

Taking it to the Streets: How to Combat Structural Racism in St. Petersburg
June 27 @ 6 – 8 p.m.

The League of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg Area’s Social Justice Team is partnering with Miss Gwen Reese on a project called Taking It To the Streets.

This project is funded by the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg to educate residents and community groups about the Structural Racism study that the City funded and conducted. This is also a way to get folks to advocate for the recommendations from the study.

Miss Gwen will provide an overview of the study, and then there will be a community discussion on the experiences with structural racism.

We hope to see you there!

The Center for Health Equity
2333 34th St S
St. Petersburg, Florida 33711 

St. Petersburg College students and faculty spent the week supporting the Florida Dream Center’s food pantry efforts. Stay tuned for August dates to get involved!

The Florida Dream Center is a 501c3 tax-exempt, faith-based nonprofit organization that takes resources and aid into at-risk communities. Their boots-on-the-ground concept materialized as organizational leaders realized various pockets of service deserts existed in Pinellas County. FLDC programs foster stability and promote self-sufficiency throughout Pinellas County.

Since its inception in 2012, FLDC has worked with local organizations, government agencies, churches, and schools to collaboratively increase impact within the areas of poverty, hunger, social economic equality, community revitalization and gainful employment. Their programs are consistent and accessible as they work with our neighbors to empower communities, one person at a time.

To learn more about the FLDC’s programs, https://floridadreamcenter.org.

For more information about future SPC efforts to support the FLDC please contact Dr. Tara Newsom at newsom.tara@spcollege.edu.

Join St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch at his City Hall on Tour, stop #2, which will be this Wednesday, June 14 at Willis S. Johns Recreation Center.  

Fast facts:

Willis S. Johns Recreation Center 
June 14, 2023, from 5:30 – 8 p.m.
6635 Dr. Martin L. King Jr. St. N., 33702

• No registration required.
• No appointments needed to speak to city staff or Mayor Welch.
• Recreation center is open for school-aged kids.
• Free food from beloved North St. Pete restaurants: Cali, Paul’s Chicago Pizza, Miller’s Ale House, La Segunda and Chick-fil-a.
• Enjoy a Kahwa coffee with Mayor Welch in the Coffee with (Mayor) Ken area.

St. Petersburg College’s chapter of Alpha Phi Omega (APO) attended the summer regional conference in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez campus. The University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez APO chapter hosted the conference with a focus on leadership and service.

Five SPC APO student leaders attended the conference and banquet, building strong friendships and learning how other student organizations make positive change in their communities. Curating your own leadership style, cultivating service opportunities and maintaining student cyber security were all part of the conference agenda.

Alpha Phi Omega is a co-educational intercollegiate service organization in the United States. Since 1925, more than 525,000 members on over 375 campuses, continue to provide more service on more campuses than any other collegiate service organization.

It is the vision of Alpha Phi Omega to create inclusive communities for a more peaceful world in which to make a life, by developing leaders, uniting members through friendship and rendering service to all.

For more information about APO at SPC, please contact Tara Newsom at newsom.tara@spcollege.edu.

The Center for Civic Learning and Community Engagement is proud to announce that St. Petersburg College has earned the Voter-Friendly Campus Designation for 2023-2024.

The Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators program “NASPA LEAD” Initiative partnered to establish the Voter-Friendly Campus program.

The Voter Friendly Campus program’s goal is to help institutions develop democratic engagement action plans that coordinate administrators, faculty, and student organizations in civic and electoral engagement.

This designation is awarded to institutions that continued their efforts, even during a non-national election year, to break down barriers and empower students with the information and tools they need to participate in the political process.

This work undoubtedly played a part in the tremendous youth voter turnout in the 2022 elections and opened the door to lifelong civic engagement for their students.

Campuses were evaluated on their ability to complete a multi-step process, which included engaging a coalition of campus members from staff, faculty, students, community organizations, and local election officials to develop a written plan for how the institution would engage student voters in 2022, facilitating voter education and engagement efforts on campus, and writing a final analysis of their efforts reflecting on what worked and what to change going forward.

The institutions designated 2023 Voter-Friendly Campuses include a wide range of two-year, four-year, public, private, rural, and urban campuses that collectively serve over 3.5 million students.

Notable statistics of this cohort include:

• 71 institutions joining the program for the first time
• 49 Minority Serving Institutions
• 13 Historically Black Colleges and Universities
• 41 Community Colleges

To learn more about how you can get involved in non-partisan voter engagement, please contact the Center for Civic Learning and Community Engagement by emailing Tara Newsom at newsom.tara@spcollege.edu.

Join the Motherland Music Festival Movement!

On Saturday, April 22, 2023, from 4-8 p.m., the Motherland Music Festival will transform Williams Park in Downtown Saint Petersburg into an immersive village where ALL are welcome to share in the spirit of LOVE, UNITY and ENLIGHTENMENT.

For information on the Motherland Music Festival, tickets or sponsorships, please check out the website.

We are seeking volunteers, 18 years old and up, to assist with the logistics on the day of the event. Anyone interested in helping out can apply via this form.

Please do not give any information, submit any other application, or pay any fees to anyone outside of our organization. If you receive any communications about this event that do not come from ancestralfunk@gmail.com or medinakaragic@gmail.com, please notify us. You will be contacted via email if you are accepted as a volunteer.