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Features
Family Seeks Prayer For Child Burned By Fireworks
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
On Monday, July 4th, a 7- year-old youngster was par- ticipating in setting off fireworks when something went terribly wrong. The fire- work he was holding hit him in the chest and burned his face and neck.
As of Wednesday morn- ing, Deontae Fisher was still in the Pediatrics Inten- sive Care Unit at Tampa Gen- eral Hospital. He had been admitted with first and sec- ond degree burns.
Now his family is praying that the burns will not cause him his eyesight and they are asking the community to pray for Deontae.
His great grandmother, Mrs. Shirley Black said, “I know God is able, but I am asking everyone to become a prayer warrior for this child.
“This is so tragic. I thought I could do it, but I’m not that strong. I need help to be strong for his mother and grandmother. I came to the newspaper to ask all prayer
DEONTAE RISHER Burned by fireworks on July 4th
warriors from the north, south, east, and west to pray for this child.”
Deontae is a student at Edison Elementary School and was recently promoted to second grade. His great
grandmother said he loves everything fast, bicycles, mo- torcycles, you name it.
She further said that De- ontae is a very active child. He attends Bible Missionary Baptist Church, where his great grandfather, Rev. L. C. Black, is the pastor.
“He had spent the night with his great grandparents and was outside with his uncle when the tragedy hap- pened. We are just hoping and praying that he will not lose his eyesight,” Rev. Black said.
Mrs. Black said although he couldn’t respond, she spoke to him on the tele- phone. “I told him, your granddaddy is talking to God for you and a lot of other peo- ple. We are going to keep praying for you.”
Anyone wishing to reach the family can call (813) 325- 7317.
USF Graduation And Retention Rates Garner National Recognition
In an analysis of 1,100 schools, USF ranks first nationally in student suc- cess
The University of South Florida ranks as the nation’s top performer in “Overall Stu- dent Success” among public re- search and doctoral universities in the 2016 Edu- ventures Student Success Rat- ings.
A leading independent higher education research and advisory firm, Eduventures an- alyzed graduation and first- year retention data — two key indicators of student success — from 2004 to 2014 from more than 1,100 colleges and univer- sities in the United States to develop the ranking.
“Over the last ten years, USF has significantly improved its six-year graduation rate from 47 to 67 percent and First Time in College student reten- tion rates from 81 to 89 per- cent, a rate of growth that few institutions can match,” said Paul Dosal, vice president of Student Affairs and Student Success at USF.
“These gains are the result of a thoughtful and deliberate
culture change as the univer- sity transformed the way we approach the student experi- ence and committed to im- prove graduation and first-year retention rates. We created a student success movement de- signed to embed the responsi- bility of our students’ success in every individual on cam- pus.”
“As a result of these efforts, USF also has eliminated the achievement gap between racial and ethnic minorities,” added Dosal. “Black and His- panic students graduate at rates equal or superior to the rates of white students. The same is true for limited income students.”
As part of the institutional focus on student success, USF has implemented numerous programs and initiatives in re- cent years, including: adding academic advisors with fo- cused assistance to students who may be struggling; re- designed gateway courses; cre- ated a SMART Lab and increased library hours, ex- panded study spaces, writing and tutoring assistance and created Living and Learning Communities.
PAGE 2-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, JULY 8, 2016