The recipient of the 7th annual Crooms AoIT Alumni Association Community Scholarship is Marcus Upshire. Our review team was impressed with all of the applicants – however, we only have one scholarship to give. As we reviewed the applications, all of the students had unique strengths that made them excellent candidates: high GPAs, involvement in school activities, and various community involvement efforts. But, one student really stuck out for the diversity of their activities: Marcus Upshire.

Marcus is undoubtedly a leader on campus. He is the captain of both the Crooms Boys Basketball and Boys Volleyball teams (while also running Cross Country), and he has taken part in the leadership class at Crooms. Marcus is also a member of three of the big service organizations at Crooms AoIT: Beta Club, Student Ambassadors, and National Honor Society. When it comes to academics, Marcus isn't a lightweight either. He was named a National Merit Scholar in 2012 and has also been accepted to Stetson to study business and accounting. But, what really swayed us were two volunteer activities:

• For the past several summers, Marcus has volunteered at the Oviedo Recreational Center to ensure everyone has a fun - but safe - time while visiting the facilities.
• This school year, Marcus stepped up to the plate to become the Chapter President of Reynolds' Right Hands. As you might remember, Reynolds' Right Hands is the distracted driving advocacy group founded by Crooms AoIT students in 2010. The group - along with other advocacy groups in the state - achieved a major victory this past week when the Florida Legislature voted to make texting while driving a secondary offense. The bill is currently waiting to be sent to Governor Scott.

Without further ado, congratulations to Marcus, and congratulations to the Class of 2013!

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The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association Community Scholarship is meant to honor a student that exemplifies not only academic and extracurricular achievement, but also demonstrates a dedication to community service and involvement. The scholarship totals $600.00 and is supported by donations from recent graduates. You can support the Crooms AoIT Alumni Scholarship by joining the Crooms AoIT Alumni Association, Inc. by visiting http://www.croomsalumni.com/donate.

Superintendent Walt Griffin has announced plans to change school assignments for three high school principals as well as several elementary school principals. Most of the moves will take place over the summer in advance of the start of the coming school year Aug. 12. As part of the arrange, Dr. Connie Collins has been tapped to become principal of Seminole High School. The high school moves have been triggered by the retirement of Sam Momary, principal of Hagerty High. That opening created a domino effect of switches. Mary Williams, principal of Lake Brantley High, will be transferred to Hagerty. Mike Gaudreau, principal of Seminole High, will move to Lake Brantley. And Connie Collins, principal of Crooms Academy of Information Technology, will take the Seminole High job. No word yet on who Griffin will put at Crooms.

Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/blogs/school-zone/os-seminole-pr...

Congrats are in order for Gloria Figueroa, Class of 2009, and Nick Ferry, Class of 2008, who are now newlyweds. Gloria and Nick tied the knot on Saturday, April 27th. Word is they said their I Dos in a hot air balloon above Metro Orlando!

All the best to the newlyweds and their families, we wish them many years of happiness.

Class of 2009 graduate Arian Howard has been named an honoree in the University of South Florida College of Business' 25 Under 25 Program. As an honoree, Arian's scholastic and professional achievements have been highlighted by the College of Business in a mini-biography on their website, and he is attempting to gain the most votes to be named the 2012-2013 "Most Remarkable" of the 25 Under 25. You can vote for him here.

The 25 Under 25 program recognizes outstanding undergraduate students from the University of South Florida's College of Business. Students selected for this honor are individuals who are under 25 years of age and have demonstrated excellence in at least two of the following four areas: scholarship, professional development, leadership, and community/campus service. The goal of this program is to highlight the positive impact students have on the USF campus as well as in the regional community and to recognize their leadership and academic achievements.

Crooms AoIT junior Bradley M. has received an Award of Excellence from the Florida PTA for his artwork (pictured above) entered in the in the 2013 Florida PTA Reflections Program. Bradley received his award in the Visual Arts, Special Artists division. As we previously posted, Bradley had been named a winner in the Visual Arts, Special Artists Division at the county level in order to be eligible to advance to state competition. As a state winner, Bradley's art is eligible to be entered in the National PTA's 2013-2014 Reflections Program.

PTA Reflections is a national PTA program that encourages students to explore the arts and express themselves by giving positive recognition for their artistic efforts. Since it was founded in 1969 by Mary Lou Anderson, millions of students have benefited from this program. This year's theme is The Magic of the Moment.

Congratulations to Bradley!