All posts by Tara Newsom

The Good Life Series: Serving Others

Civic Education

Join St. Petersburg College’s Applied Ethics Institute for The Good Life Series discussion, Serving Others. The institute will ask the important question, “How does serving others contribute to the good life?”

Join Dr. James Menkhaus, a celebrated author and educator, and Dr. Tara Newsom, Director of SPC Center for Civic Learning & Community Engagement, as they tackle this question.

Tuesday, February 28 at 6:30 p.m. at SPC’s Clearwater campus, ES-104 or via Zoom.

For more information, please email Dr. Eric Abercrombie at Abercrombie.Eric@SPCollege.edu.

Book talk: Where Have All the Mangoes Gone?

Civic Education

Remembering St. Petersburg’s Historic Gas Plant District

“Where Have All the Mangoes Gone?” is the title of Sarah-Jane Vatelot’s book, which shares the history of people of color in St Petersburg’s Historic Gas Plant District from a community and urban planning perspective.

Vatelot, an author and architect, will share her book on Thursday February 16 at 11 a.m. at the Downtown Student Lounge and online.

Sarah-Jane Vatelot has been working in the field of architecture since 2007, passing through structural engineering and interior design firms onto tackling larger high-profile architectural projects in the Tampa Bay Area. She has a passion for architecture and its ability to participate in and positively affect social change. She received her Bachelor of Design in Architecture from the University of Florida in 2007 and her Master’s in Architecture from the University of South Florida’s School of Architecture and Community Design in 2019. Her Master’s Thesis “Where have all the Mangoes Gone? Reactivating the Tropicana Field site – on the Threshold of St Petersburg’s History, Culture and Memory.” was published in 2019 and has contributed to the shift in the public discourse surrounding the redevelopment of the former Gas Plant Neighborhood. Sarah-Jane was subsequently invited to join the Sugar Hill Community Partners Development Team in drafting a proposal for the 86 acres of land in the heart of St Petersburg.

For more information about attending the event or joining the live stream, please contact Dr. Tara Newsom at newsom.tara@spcollege.edu

SPC celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King Day as a Month of Service!

Image for MLK Day of Service 2020
Campus Events, Civic Education, Service Learning, Volunteerism

SPC is excited to celebrate our annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Days of Service: United We Stand.  At St. Petersburg College, we again will be honoring Dr. King’s legacy as part of the National Day of Service by participating in volunteer opportunities throughout the county during the month of January.  

The Center for Civic Learning & Community Engagement (CCLCE) would like to encourage all SPC faculty, students, and staff to be involved in the SPC Month of Service in support of the MLK Days of Service.  In 2023, the MLK Day of Service is an urgent opportunity for thousands all over the country, to come together to serve their communities.  Indeed, volunteers in Pinellas County can look for ways to help organizations complete home improvement for the elderly, collect food and clothing to those in need, refurbish community centers,  provide mentors and more.  

As part of this national movement, let us continue SPC’s leadership role in community service as a shining example for others throughout the county.    

Volunteer opportunity

The Center for Civic Learning & Community Engagement, the Downtown & Midtown Centers’ Brother to Brother and Women on the Way programs, along with Phi Theta Kappa, Eta Nu chapter, are honoring Dr. King this FRIDAY, JANUARY 13 from 11-12:30 p.m. at Mycroschool, 2220 62nd Avenue S, St. Petersburg. There, volunteers can engage in a STEM classroom program and share SPC Careers and Academic programs, offer application support and financial aid information. Mycroschool is a drop-out recovery charter school that helps students get back on track to graduate high school. Student leaders, staff and faculty will be there to support Myscroschool.

Other ways to get involved

If you are familiar with other organizations in your community with volunteer opportunities available, you may commit to days of service with the organization of your choice, throughout the county during the month of January. Use this search tool to find a volunteer opportunity in your area of Pinellas County.

Please be sure to report your volunteer hours by using the Center for Civic Learning & Community Engagement’s survey measurement tool, which can be found here on our website.

Faculty, please spread the word

To help promote student involvement, faculty are encouraged to take a few moments in class to announce the month of service opportunities. Your participation, help and support are greatly appreciated as we look forward to showing the strength of our commitment to the community and to this important month of service. Let’s add to the progress being made in making SPC an exemplary institution for improving student success and being a beacon for community engagement.

Many thanks in advance for your commitment to students and for your help and support with the MLK Month of Service: United We Stand!  If you have general questions, contact Tara Newsom at 398-8470.

Love Music? Love Volunteering? You’ll dig the Clearwater Jazz Holiday

Civic Education

Volunteers are needed for the 43rd Annual Clearwater Jazz Holiday, October 14 – 16 at BayCare Ballpark.

This year, like years past, there is a great lineup and many of the volunteer shifts provide volunteers with the opportunity to hear the music for free!

To volunteer, visit this site, scroll down to the green “Volunteer Sign Up is Open” button, sign in (or create a new account, if you do not have one from previous years) and select the area/shifts/times for which you would like to volunteer.

Don’t forget to submit your volunteer hours through Titan Connect!

FRIDAY, OCT 14 LINEUP

5:00 PM – Gates Open

5:30 PM – 7:00 PM: THE WAR AND TREATY – WEBSITE

7:30 PM – 9:00 PM: AVERAGE WHITE BAND – WEBSITE

9:30 PM – 11:00 PM: TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE – WEBSITE

SATURDAY, OCT 15 LINEUP

5:00 PM – GATES OPEN

5:30 PM – 6:45 PM: JUSTIN-LEE SCHULTZ – WEBSITE

7:15 PM – 8:45 PM: DUMPSTAPHUNK – WEBSITE

9:15 PM – 10:45 PM: CHARLIE WILSON – WEBSITE

10:45 PM – FIREWORKS

SUNDAY, OCT 16 LINEUP

3:00 PM – GATES OPEN

3:15 PM – 4:15 PM: THE CHAMP JAXON BAND – WEBSITE

4:45 PM – 6:00 PM: ST. PAUL & THE BROKEN BONES – WEBSITE

6:30 PM – 8:00 PM: OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW – WEBSITE

8:30 PM – 10:00 PM: GOV’T MULE – WEBSITE

Have additional questions about volunteering?
Please email volunteer@clearwaterjazz.com.

Looking for additional information regarding Clearwater Jazz Holiday? Visit https://www.clearwaterjazz.com/.

Dunedin Causeway Cleanup!

Civic Education

Join Keep Pinellas Beautiful and SPC during the International Coastal Cleanup as we work to clean up the Dunedin Causeway!

Date and time

Fri, October 21, 2022, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM EDT

Location

Dunedin Causeway 61 Causeway Boulevard Dunedin, FL 34698

For more information please contact Dr. Kelli Stickrath at: stickrath.kelli@spcollege.edu

Let’s TACO-BOUT Democracy and Register to Vote!

Civic Education

Get #SPCVOTEREADY by registering to vote by the October 8 deadline!

Stop by to TACO-BOUT Democracy, register to vote, update your voter registration address and learn about how to access non-partisan voter registration materials!

on Tuesday, October 8 on these campuses:

SPC Downtown Campus, 9:30-10:30 a.m., DT Lobby
SPC Gibbs Campus 11 a.m.- 12 p.m., front of SA Building

For more information, check out: www.411vote.org




Tampa Bay Votes: Bay Area Colleges Team Up to Register Students

A ribbon of I Voted stickers.
Campus Events

St. Petersburg College and Hillsborough Community College may be a bay apart, but their mission is the same: register as many students as possible and make sure Tampa Bay votes in the 2022 elections.

Professors and students from both colleges are teaming up to spread the message of political participation and the importance of voting, hoping to break the record-breaking youth turnout of the 2018 midterm elections. During the week of National Voter Registration Day (9/20), both colleges will be hosting a series of virtual and in-person events centered around educating and registering students. ‘‘Elections are the bedrock of democracy. The more people participate, the more vibrant the U.S. polity is and remains,” says Dr. Gyldas Ofoulhast-Othamot of SPC. 

Nonpartisan organizations will be on hand at both colleges to assist students in registering fellow students to vote. Student governments of both colleges are hosting election centered events focused on educating students. Election experts like Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer will also be on campus at HCC to answer student questions on 9/21. SPC is hosting a variety of nonpartisan voter education outreach efforts including helping first time in college students and first-generation students to register to vote. Student-lead efforts are at the core of the SPC and HCC collaboration. 

With more students taking online classes, both colleges will host virtual events open to students from both sides of the bay. “Whether you’re a student on one side of the bay or the other, being a first-time voter can be daunting. There are a lot of important dates to know, forms to fill out, and that’s before you even start researching the candidates and issues! It does not matter if you are a first-time college student, nontraditional student, a completely online student, if we can help students through this important democratic process….we will,” said Dr. Eric Fiske of HCC. 

For questions about the Tampa Bay Votes initiative or more information about local events at your college, please contact Dr. Tara Newsom (newsom.tara@spcollege.edu) or Dr. Eric Fiske (efiske@hccfl.edu) or follow #VoteReady on social media. To check your registration status, head to votepinellas.gov or votehillsborough.gov.