Local school officials and community leaders continue working with students and encouraging them to graduate high school, a premise at the heart of improving the graduation rate in Polk County. That number increased from 86.5 percent to 88.8 percent in 2018-19 among Polk County’s 14 traditional public high schools. “Improving the graduation rate equates to […]
As Polk County continues to focus on education, it’s seeing results: More teenagers are graduating from high school, and more residents have college degrees. The Florida College Access Network, an organization of community leaders that Polk County joined to improve talent development, and the Talent Pipeline Committee, formed by Polk Vision and the Central Florida […]
When AdventHealth predicted it was going to need additional face shields for members of its medical staff treating coronavirus patients, it turned to Florida Polytechnic University for help. That was three weeks ago. Now, students and staff are using 3D printers to make headbands for 4,000 shields. After working out details like a memorandum of […]
Keeping up with demand at a school dedicated to students with dyslexia, Florida Southern College is constructing its third building, this one to educate middle-school students in The Roberts Academy. The groundbreaking on March 9 means construction is now underway on the building, which will include mathematics and science labs when it opens in August […]
Leaders at Florida Southern College’s new Justice Teaching Center for Civic Learning hope the lessons it’s bringing to students across the state create an active, engaged, civic-minded population that understands justice, the courts and the Constitution. “The center continues to improve civic learning opportunities in Florida through effective law-focused partnerships, programs and resources,” said Annette […]
To keep up with a technologically advancing world, Florida Southern College has added three new majors to its ever-growing computer sciences program. During a curriculum revision, the Florida Southern College identified three areas that are deemed critical skills needed by today’s graduating students: cybersecurity, machine learning and artificial intelligence, as well as web and cloud […]
Polk County Public School grad and first generation college student inspired by mothers’ enjoyment of numbers and favorite high school class – Algebra. “When my mother was younger, her dream job in Mexico was to be an accountant for a big company,” said Jacquelin Flores, 19. “Although my mother could not continue her education, I […]
As America continues to age, the need for personal care or home health aides is shifting into high gear, with no signs of slowing down. One big reason: There are 73 million baby boomers, the largest living adult population at about 25 percent, and 10,000 of them turn 65 and retire each day. As Baby […]
Senaida Avalos, a freshman at Polk State College, is grateful the Polk County School District develops new programs that keep up with current market demands, such as the Pharmacy Technician Academy at Fort Meade Middle-Senior High School. “I think that one of the things that the school system did well was create programs, such as […]
Mankind has always had a fascination with space, and as Mars 2020 approaches, Polk County is playing an ever-increasing role in the high-tech aerospace industry. Some of the county’s involvement stems from Florida Polytechnic University, where a 14-member team is working with the Florida Space Institute on a capstone project to build a Mars rover. […]