Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 8-19-16 Online Edition

Local
Special Ceremony Held For Student Who Missed Graduation
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
On July 25th, three Hills- borough County charter schools held a joint gradua- tion ceremony. Originally, 104 students were slated to graduate.
The prospective graduates from Seminole Heights, Town & Country, and West Univer- sity Charter High Schools gathered at the Tampa Con- vention Center for the event. And, among them was Ms. Jamila Wilson.
Just minutes before the graduation was slated to begin, Ms. Wilson became ill and officials called Emer- gency Medical Services, who transported her to a local hos- pital. Ms. Wilson recovered
Shown from left to right are: Principal Robert Schodt, Principal of Seminole Heights Charter School; Dr. Bobby Smith, Regional Director; Chrystian Anderson, Jamila Wilson with her daughter, Ta’Nyiah Reddin; James O. Simmons, Chairman; Ms. Amy Fordyce, Hillsborough County School District Charter Office Representative; and Ms. Verna Williams, Senior Teacher.
overcome significant obsta- cles to achieve this milestone of earning an accredited diploma. Having it end this way we thought would be tragic for this student and her family.”
Instead of remarking about the tragedy of the situ- ation, school officials decided to do something about it. On Thursday, August 11th, Ms. Wilson was presented her diploma amid a full cap and gown graduation ceremony complete with all of the pomp and circumstance.
The ceremony was held at her alma mater, Seminole Heights Charter School.
Ms. Wilson is slated to begin at Hillsborough Com- munity College to continue her education.
from her illness. However, she was very disappointed that she had missed her grad-
uation.
Dr. Bobby R. Smith,
Regional Director, of ALS Ed-
ucation said, “It was very heartbreaking! Our students were at-risk and most have
Tampa International Airport Continues To Grow Its Minority Business Partnerships
Halfway through its his- toric expansion, and with sev- eral other ongoing construction projects under- way, Tampa International Air- port’s commitment to hiring woman- and minority- owned businesses is stronger than ever.
The airport has so far paid out nearly $51 million to woman and minority firms working on the various con- struction projects in the ex- pansion, which began in late 2014 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2017. The airport expects to meet or exceed its goal of paying $122.8 million to such firms.
In June, the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority board voted to implement more initiatives targeted at in- creasing small, woman and minority business participa- tion by expanding its outreach for purchases under $100,000 and sheltering bids for federal projects under $1 million for competition by small busi- nesses, as well as other up- dates to its Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and Woman- and Mi- nority-Owned Business Enter-
as it increases its woman- and minority-owned concession- aires from three to 15.
“Increasing minority and small business participation has been an important objec- tive for Tampa International Airport as we enter this his- toric period of growth and transformation,” said Elita McMillon, Director of Ethics, Diversity and Administration. “By constantly updating our policies and adding staff to handle more outreach and im-
plement more programs, we hope to include more and more woman and minority business owners, which in turn benefits this community.”
Tampa International Air- port is proposing an overall goal of 12.3 percent on feder- ally funded projects over the next three fiscal years (FY2017-2019). The public is invited to submit questions or comments about the goal at tampaairport.com/dbe-poli- cies.
Tampa International Airport’s Ethics, Diversity and Administra- tion team receives recognition from the Tampa Bay Community Ad- vocacy Committee as a thank you for support and participation in the TBCAC Job Fair earlier this year.
Pictured from left to right: Virgil Perry of the Corporation to De- velop Communities of Tampa, Inc.; TPA Business Diversity Manager Cheryl Hawkins; Vice President of Diversity Affairs for Austin In- dustries Inc. Simeon Terry; TPA Director of Ethics, Diversity and Administration Elita McMillon; and TPA Business Diversity Man- ager Stephanie Pierce.
prise (WMBE) policies.
And in December, the Au-
thority hired new Business Di- versity Manager Stephanie Pierce, whose responsibilities include implementing the DBE and WMBE programs for construction projects, includ- ing the expansion work. She works in tandem with TPA’s other Business Diversity Man- ager, Cheryl Hawkins, who
focuses on woman- and mi- nority- owned business initia- tives for the new concessions program and other non-con- struction contracts.
Hawkins also oversees the DBE and Airport Conces- sions Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) certifica- tion process and her extensive knowledge of these programs is a great asset to the Airport
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