As the local economy continues to grow, more and more students are attending college after graduating from high school, and many are staying local. As colleges throughout Polk are experiencing increased enrollment, the local talent pipeline gains access to new degree programs and universities are opening their doors to more dual-enrolled students and developing online […]
As Florida Polytechnic University continues to grow, it’s adding three new engineering degrees to further entice its science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) students. Florida’s only state STEM university, which opened in 2012 in Lakeland, is offering degrees in environmental engineering, engineering physics and engineering math for the first time beginning in the fall 2019 […]
Scott Leslie learned to tackle school lessons on computers in third grade in the mid-1990s. That early work was an important part of who he is today, where he’s been and where he’s going. Although he rates his K-12 educational years as average, admitting he has nothing to compare them to, he praises Polk County […]
Yaliana Garcia, 19, moved to Polk County from Puerto Rico at the end of her junior year of high school. Even with such a short time here, she looks back at Bartow High School and its teachers as the reason she’s pursuing her dream to become a doctor. “I did not have the opportunity to […]
Nucor Steel, prides itself on empowering its employees to solve problems. When the company was having difficulty finding qualified electricians, their maintenance managers decided to work together to find a solution. Six years later, one of those solutions has been implemented locally and is helping one local teen prepare for his first full-time job at […]
Florida Polytechnic University’s dominance on the world autonomous vehicle stage continues to grow, a status that enhances all of Polk County. Dr. Rahul Razdan, senior director of special projects at Florida Poly and head of the university’s Advanced Mobility Institute (where AV technology is tested and validated), has been appointed to lead a new project […]
Polk County student finds career in Central Florida’s Creative Industry following studies at Polk State College and Southeastern University and service in the Marine Corps. Alan Langdale thought he had his life planned out after he graduated from Mulberry High School in 2008. He enrolled at Tallahassee Community College, where he expected to earn a […]
Students from around the nation are flying high at Southeastern University this summer. For the first time, SEU is taking part in an Air Force Junior ROTC program that gives high school and college students a chance to earn their private pilot’s license in an eight-week program. Students will graduate on July 29th and receive […]
Heather Novis knew she wanted to become a nurse when she watched her aunt help her brother through treatment for Burkitt’s lymphoma, an uncommon but aggressive form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that affects children. “Seeing her help him made me want to help others,” said Novis, 22, who spent her middle and high school years at […]
Polk State College’s 16,000 students will soon have an easier path to a four-year degree at Florida Polytechnic University as the presidents of both institutions formalize an agreement they’ve been working on for a year. The transfer-articulation agreement means students who graduate from Polk State with an associate of arts degree will be allowed to […]