Educator leaders participating in the “Becoming Titans in Civics & History” professional development opportunity completed their two-week academy with a community engagement project at the Florida Dream Center.

St. Petersburg College has been a long-time partner with the Florida Dream Center, which serves those in need in the Lealman area. It has community-based projects that serve Pinellas County, including Adopt a Block, helping neighborhoods and individuals one block at a time, utilizing a mobile food pantry to fight food insecurity, supporting resident advocacy, and preparing for job readiness.

Participants were welcomed by former County Commissioner Charlie Justice, a longtime advocate and volunteer for the Florida Dream Center. The team then worked on various projects, including stocking the food pantry and preparing snack bags for school-age kids, and packing Father’s Day treats for community members who will be out for Saturday’s weekly Adopt a Block event.

Florida Dream Center is one of many community-based engagement projects that can be built into the classroom for high school students to learn how to activate their citizenship and become student leaders in the community while mastering Florida Civics and History course requirements.

The Center for Civic Learning & Community Engagement is developing community-engaged projects for each of SPC’s Career & Academic Communities. This will help high school students explore their career interests while seeing how they can also serve their community.

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