MacDill Happenings

This is week is graduation week for Hillsborough County Public Schools. Although those graduating seniors may not be thinking about freshman year in college, Borders bookstore in Tampa can help you get ready for college. In a couple of months from now, those new college freshmen will be wondering where the summer went. Whether freshmen are staying at home or going to college in another town, freshmen year is going to be a shock. They are going to be on their own when they get to campus. It is going to be a lot bigger than a high school campus and professors are going to expect you to be responsible. You’ll have a wide range of ages in class and some will be freshmen and some may be upper classmen. Freshmen are going to have a lot of freedom that they did not have in high school. Learning how to manage time, study time and fun time, is important to succeeding in college. Freshmen need to start out on the right foot. Jeff Karon will give a presentation called “The Five Secret Strategies for Succeeding in Your First College Semester.” Karon not only will instruct students how to survive college, but share key tips that will bring success. His presentation is at Borders, 909 N Dale Mabry Highway, Thursday at 7 pm is free and open to the public.

It that time of the year again! Hillsborough County Public high schools actually started their graduations on Thursday and Friday, but there are still plenty of graduations that will take place this week. There are two locations that are used for graduation venues: the Florida State Fair Grounds Expo Hall and the USF Sun Dome. The advantages for each venue is the large parking lots available and the easy of accessibility. The State Fair, located off of the intersection of 301 and MKL Blvd, is right off of I-4 and just west of I-75. Parking lot access can be made off of 301 or MLK. The USF Sun Dome off of Folwer Ave and is west of I-75 and east of I-275 with huge parking lots. There will be two ceremonies each day, one starting 3pm and one starting at 7pm. Graduations can take up to 3 hours so be aware of that if you are attending a 7pm ceremony, because you may run into traffic. At the State Fair on 1 Jun at 3pm, Brandon High graduates, then at 7pm Lennard High graduates. At the Sun Dome on 1 Jun at 3pm, Freedom High graduates, then at 7pm Middleton High graduates. At the State Fair on 2 Jun at 3pm, Robinson High graduates, then at 7pm Spoto High graduates. At the Sun Dome on 2 Jun at 3pm, Armwood High graduates, then at 7pm Chamberlain High graduates. At the State Fair on 3 Jun at 3pm, Tampa Bay Tech High graduates, then at 7pm Blake High graduates. At the Sun Dome on 3 Jun at 3pm, Leto High graduates, then at 7pm Bloomingdale High graduates. At the State Fair on 4 Jun at 3pm, Riverview High graduates, then at 7pm Adult Education graduates. At the Sun Dome on 1 Jun at 3pm, Wharton High graduates, then at 7pm HIllsborough High graduates.

This Sunday is Family Fun Day at Tropicana Field as the Tampa Bay Rays play the Cleveland Indians.  Game time is 1:38pm.  Don’t wait till the last minute to buy tickets because Family Fun Day is popular game for baseball fans.  Military personnel with an ID card can purchase 4 outfield tickets at half-price from the box office window for any game.  The first 10,000 kids 14 year and under will receive a free Matt Garza t-shirt! The Family Fun Day ticket offer is $25 for an outfield seat and a voucher for a hot dog, soft drink and a snack. On all Fun Days, there will be a face painter, clown, stilt walker and mascots in the Rotunda. And the first 10,000 kids 14 and under can run the bases after the game. During any game, there are plenty of activities for the kids along Left Field Street and Right Field Street. At the Louisville Slugger Wood Shop you can get your own Louisville Slugger with your name engraved on it. Or step into the Mountain Dew Extreme Zone and try playing some stickball. There is the Raymond’s Art Studio where kids can make their own arts and crafts including signs to cheer on the Rays! If you have a total of 4 people in your car, remember to come out early and park for free at Tropicana Field. It’s a great place for a tailgate party before the game. If you get there early enough, you might be able to park near a patch of grass.

The Brandon High School Choir concert will hold their end the year concert this Friday. The performance begins at 7pm. Admission is $5. Brandon High School is located off of Brandon Blvd. They will be presenting pieces from Phantom of the Opera, Wizard of Oz, Bohemian Rhapsody, West side story and much more. The Concert Choir is the centerpiece of the Brandon Choral Program. This choir, consisting of sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses, performs music from the art repertoire, as well as a variety of music from other sources such as the pop field, musical theatre, and traditional and contemporary holiday music. Students in the Concert Choir study vocal technique, music theory, performance etiquette, stage presence, music history, etc. They perform from 30 to 50 selections each year, from memory. Many of the songs the Choir sings are in foreign languages, and the students learn the pronunciations and meanings of all these song texts. In the last two years the Choirs sang in English, German, French, Latin, Italian, Hebrew, Russian, Japanese, and Gaelic. Choir members may also choose to participate in Solo and Ensemble, All-County Honor Choir, All-County Honor Jazz Choir, All-State Honor Choir, Harmony Explosion, Barbershop Workshop, and other opportunities for enrichment as they arise.  The Concert Choir is open to sophomore, junior, and senior female singers by audition, and all male singers without audition. Freshman female singers have the same opportunities through the Brandon Chorus. The City of Brandon is a eastern suburb of Tampa with access to downtown Tampa or MacDill AFB by the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway. Time to downtown Tampa from Brandon on the Expressway is about 15 minutes and to MacDill AFB about 20 minutes. Brandon is a very popular location for MacDill AFB employees due to the convenient access to the base and it’s location right off of I-75. Brandon has one of Tampa Bay’s largest mall, Brandon Towne Center, and a satellite medical clinic of MacDill AFB Hospital.

The Brandon Broncos Youth Football team in Brandon are getting ready for Fall football.  The Brandon Broncos is the oldest youth football and cheerleading organization in Brandon with hundreds of children participating.  Registration takes place the 1st and 3rd Saturday of every month from 10am to 2pm JC Handley Field at 3104 Kings Ave in Brandon.  Teams fill up fast so sign up as soon as you can.  Football registration fees are $200 and cheerleader fees are $175.  Football teams are divided into 5 age/weight divisions so that similiar sized children are playing against each other. Brandon is an affordable housing alternative from many people who work at MacDill AFB. Brandon is about a 30 minute drive from MacDill AFB. The LeRoy Selmon Expressway runs from Brandon to Tampa and can cut 10 to 15 minutes off your commute during rush hour. Make sure you buy a SunPass transponder it’ll save you .25 cents at each toll booth. Also, instead of waiting to pay at the toll booth with a SunPass transponder, you can go through the automated pay lane and save yourself some time. Brandon has all the amenities that anyone would need. The Westfield Shoppingtown is one of the largest malls in the Tampa area. It not only a shopping destination but also a great place for dinner with the Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen and Sam Selzer’s Steakhouse along with a host of other restaurants. A great local jazz club is Dela’s After Dark with its initimate setting and delicious food for dinner. There is a large variety of housing available. From single family homes to condos to townhouses, there something for every budget. The local community is very supportive of military families with many establishments offering military discounts. In Brandon there is the MacDill AFB Branch Medical Clinic across the street from the AMC 20 Brandon Regency movie theater so that military families don’t have to drive onto MacDill AFB for medical appointments. Make sure ask to go to the branch clinic in Brandon when you register at Tricare. A great source of information about Brandon can be found at the Brandon Chamber of Commerce website. There are some great neighborhoods in the Brandon area: FishHawk Ranch, Bloomingdale, Providence Lakes, and Brentwood Hills. Towns near Brandon include Seffner, Riverview, Lithia and Apollo Beach.

The Student Dance Production Board at the University of South Florida will present an evening of new and exciting student choreographed work.  The performance will take place at Theatre 2 starting at 8pm.  Tickets costs for advanced sale are $8 for students and seniors, $12 for adults.  Tickets purchased at the door are $10 for students/seniors and $15 for adults. The Dance Program in the School of Theatre & Dance, one of three academic units in a nationally-acclaimed College of The Arts, is housed in its own state-of-the-art Dance Centre. Interdisciplinary projects and course study in Theatre, Music and Visual Arts are encouraged, and involvement with Graphicstudio and the adjacent Contemporary Art Museum keeps students aware of current national and international issues in the Fine Arts. The University of South Florida is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities and one of 39 community-engaged, four-year public universities as designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. USF was awarded more than $360 million in research contracts and grants in fiscal year 2007/2008. The university offers 219 degree programs at the undergraduate, graduate, specialist and doctoral levels, including the doctor of medicine. The university has a $1.8 billion annual budget, an annual economic impact of $3.2 billion, and serves more than 46,000 students on campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee and Lakeland.

Blake High School Magnet Dance department will be presenting “In Harmony” their Spring dance performance on 2 and 3 April. The performances begin at 7pm each night. This performance showcases dancers from the Blake HS Dance Department with the choreography done by the Dance Department instructors. Blake HS students are also responsible for all the stage work, lighting and management. Blake HS is the Arts Magnet school for Hillsborough County Public Schools. The Arts program includes Visual, Performing and Communication Arts. Blake HS is located near downtown Tampa and easily accessible from I-275 with bus transportation from all locations in Hillsborough County. Hillsborough County Public Schools provides bus transportation to all Magnet schools from any location in the county. The Blake HS Dance department provides an integrated curriculum supported by learner-centered educational communities. Families can expect the best dance centered education for their children. Ms. Albena, head of the Blake HS Dance department, received her MS in Dance from USF and is a classically trained ballerina who danced as part of the world famous Bolshoi Ballet for many years. “In Harmony” is one of 4 performances conducted during the school year. Magnet schools offer students the opportunity to discover, explore and refine their talents and interests while focusing on excellence in academics. Acceptance into any Magnet program starts out with an application with the next application period starting on 13 April. The Blake HS Dance program requires an audition.  Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students.

Come out and support USF basketball on 18 Feb at the USF Sun Dome.  Tip off time is 7pm against perennial basketball power Georgetown.  USF just had the biggest upset in school history when they defeated No. 8 Marquette 57-56 on 6 Feb.  Look for the Bulls to continue to fight to end in every game!  The University of South Florida is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities and one of 39 community-engaged, four-year public universities as designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. USF was awarded more than $360 million in research contracts and grants in fiscal year 2007/2008. The university offers 219 degree programs at the undergraduate, graduate, specialist and doctoral levels, including the doctor of medicine. The university has a $1.8 billion annual budget, an annual economic impact of $3.2 billion, and serves more than 46,000 students on campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee and Lakeland. USF is a member of the Big East Athletic Conference.  If your going to be a freshman or looking to transfer, now is the time to apply!

A relatively inexpensive way to market your company is on the Internet. The USF Small Business Development Center in the Channelside district of Tampa is offering an Internet Strategy class on 28 Jan from 5:30pm-8:30pm. You’ll learn to manage all components of an online presence. Learn how to establish and develop a web site, deal with service providers, create site content and structure, develop promotions and the establishment of key words that can be Googled. The Mission of the Small Business Development Center is to provide accessible, affordable, and professional counseling, training, and resources to start-up and existing businesses, and assist them in various aspects of small business development. The SBDC conducts more than 300 entrepreneurial programs annually on topics and issues that are important to today’s small-business owners. These low cost and no-cost workshops and seminars are taught by industry experts and SBDC professional counselors.
The cost for the class is $45.

If you’re child is a senior in high school, then now is the time to start filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA is the first step in the financial aid process. It is used to apply for federal student financial aid, such as the Pell Grant, student loans, and college work-study. In addition, most states and schools use FAFSA information to award their financial aid. All the information that you put into FAFSA results in your Expected Family Contribution, or EFC. The EFC is a preliminary estimate that measures your family´s financial strength. It is subtracted from the Cost of Attendance at the school(s) you plan to attend to determine your eligibility for federal student aid. There are couple of things that are helpful to have including a completed 2008 income tax form. Most people haven’t filed their 2008 taxes yet, but another item that you can do while you waiting to file 2008 taxes is requesting a PIN. A PIN will allow you to file your FAFSA online. You can go ahead and start filling out the FAFSA which will include basic information like addresses for parents and students. Having parent’s and student’s Social Security Number, driver’s license, income tax returns, bank statements, and investment records will help make filling out the form easier. State and school deadlines will vary and tend to be early. Check with them to find out their exact deadline dates. Be wary of organizations that charge a fee to submit your application, or to find you money for school. Some are legitimate and some are scams. Generally, any help that you pay for can be received free from your school or Federal Student Aid.