2020 has certainly been a year for the record books. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted all of our lives, but no place has this been as acutely felt as in education. From distance learning to virtual graduations and socially distanced classes, today's students are encountering a schooling environment like never before.

One area lesser spoken about is the impact on extracurricular funding. Crooms AoIT was unable to host the 9th Annual Sanford Riverwalk 5K due to the current pandemic. The Riverwalk is a vital source of funding for athletics at Crooms. The school now needs our help in supporting the Panthers atheletics program so that students can still partake in sports. Please consider supporting through two programs:

• Athletic Banner Program: Alumni and community businesses can support by ordering a banner to hang in the new gym. The Alumni will be doing so; if you would like to support this, please consider giving at https://www.paypal.com/biz/fund?id=EJVWM2M7FMXZ8
• Grab a Piece of History: A new Roy A. Allen Gymnasium is coming to Crooms AoIT, but you can still get a keepsake from the old gym. For as little as $15 you can take home a brick or piece of gym flooring. If you're unable to give by cash or check to the school, simply donate through our Crooms AoIT Alumni PayPal.Me profile with "Grab a Piece of History" as the note and we'll coordinate the logistics between you and the school.

More information and order forms for both programs is attached, along with contact information for any questions you may have.

Dear Crooms AoIT Alumni Association members and supporters,

We are pleased to present our FY20 consolidated income and balance sheet to provide full transparency into how your financial support is used. The Association's fiscal year runs from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. The Association uses cash accounting but a line has been entered to recognize scholarship commitments made in FY20 that were not paid out during the fiscal year. A summary of our activities can be found below:

• The Association started the year with a fund balance of $3,657.44
• Revenues of $2,563.98 were collected through memberships, donations, and other means - representing a 33% from FY19.
• Expenses of $1,599.42 were recognized - representing a decline of 52% largely due to timing related to scholarship pay-outs. $1,550.00 of these expenses for were scholarships and grants. Overhead (largely from PayPal transaction fees and annual business registration fees) accounted for approximately 3.1% of all expenses for the year.
• An additional $2,250.00 remains to be disbursed for scholarships awarded during FY20.
• Fund balance ended at $2,372.00, representing an 18.4% decline from the end of the previous year (after accounting for scholarship commitments).

If you would like more details, we invite you review the attached spreadsheet which includes transaction level detail for the year. Donor information has been removed to protect the privacy of our donors. Do not hesitate to contact us if you should have any questions or concerns.

Thank you for your continued support.

The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association is proud to announce the winners of its two scholarships for the Class of 2020.

The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association Tech Innovation Scholarship, sponsored by the Class of 2009, worth $1,000 is being awarded to Eyad H. Even though the disruptions caused by COVID-19, our Crooms AoIT students submitted excellent examples of their technology prowess. Eyad's submission of a proof-of-concept video game using Java stood out as an example of the technical ability of Crooms AoIT students to build their own code-base while also integrating SDK libraries from third-parties. Eyad plans to study computer engineering in the fall at a Florida university.

The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association Community Scholarship valued at $1,000 is being awarded to Joelyz W. For the first time ever, the evaluation committee has also decided to award a $250 runner-up scholarship to Corey C. These decisions follow receipt of the largest number of scholarship applications -31 in total - in the Community Scholarship’s 14 year history. Each applicant demonstrated how volunteerism and community service is important to them and how Crooms AoIT has positioned the graduating seniors to support their communities. Joelyz's tremendous involvement both at Crooms with 15+ clubs / groups, and in her community volunteering at multiple local organizations while maintaining a high GPA was extremely impressive! She is choosing between several strong Florida universities for attendance in the fall. Corey C. also had excellent volunteering experience along with a strong ability to convey thought and emotion in his writing, and he plans to attend Seminole State College in the fall to study business.

The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association would like to thank this year’s applicants for their hard work and efforts, and we wish all of you – and, all of the graduates from the Class of 2020 - the best of luck in your future endeavors!

Dear Crooms AoIT Class of 2020,

The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association and the Class of 2009 would like to congratulate you on making it this far in your academic career. As a show of our support to academic excellence, technology, and the pursuit of higher education, we are proud to offer the Crooms AoIT Alumni Association Tech Innovation Scholarship (sponsored this year by the Class of 2009). This scholarship will recognize an individual with a $1,000 scholarship who has used their technical acumen to create or contribute to a technological project or product, which could include:

• Open source software you’ve contributed to or created
• Animated or 3D video
• Live video project
• Website you have designed or built
• Video game you have designed or built
• Video game mods, maps, or scenarios
• Robotics project
• Network schematics
• Graphic design artwork
• Infographic
• Data visualization or dashboard
• Hardware design project (Arduino, Raspberry Pie, etc.)
• BPA, SECME, Art Club, Gamers Club, class, etc. technical project
• Any other technological project or product

The deadline for application is Friday March 27, 2020 by 11:59pm. The scholarship recipient will be notified shortly thereafter. We look forward to answering any questions you might have and carefully reviewing all applications received. Remember, these are only open to graduating Crooms AoIT Seniors, so your chances of receiving the scholarship are quite high! If you have any questions, please reach out to scholarship@croomsalumni.com

Graduating seniors can find the application here: https://forms.gle/KJ5JP72X2arFJs1A8

Congratulations again on making this far and good luck in your future endeavors!

-The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association, Inc. Board of Directors

The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association, Inc. is honored to announce that Crooms AoIT Alumni Association Community Scholarship has been released for the 14th year in a row. This year the scholarship is included in the newly created Crooms AoIT Multi-Scholarship Application (a joint endeavor between the school, Business Advisory Council, and Crooms AoIT Alumni Association) which offers Crooms AoIT students the opportunity to apply for eight (8) different scholarships at once.

The deadline for submissions through the Crooms AoIT Multi-Scholarship Application is February 28, 2020. Those looking to learn more about the Community Scholarship are encouraged you visit https://www.croomsalumni.com/page/scholarship to read more about the scholarship and its short and long term goals.