On Thursday, 17 April 2014, Seminole campus recognized its best and brightest students at the fifteenth annual student awards ceremony in the conference center.

The conference center was filled to capacity by students with their proud families, and a buffet lunch was served. The campus gave out 130 awards, honorable recognitions, and scholarships to students on Seminole campus, including the prestigious Seminole campus Eagle scholarship. This year’s Eagle scholarship was awarded to Jonathan Jacques by Seminole campus provost Dr. James Olliver. The award is open to students who have demonstrated a commitment to service, in addition to academic excellence. Sergio Cubero was recognized with scholarships for his academic achievement and as an outstanding Seminole campus student. The campus faculty and administration were not the only ones giving scholarships, as the city business community was in attendance to recognize student achievement. The Greater Seminole Area Chamber of Commerce awarded a Small Business Education Foundation scholarship to Cory Harvey. The Rotary Club of Seminole presented Priscilla Plange and Dakota Rockwell with scholarships. Cheri Kuenn and Timilehin Opapeju of the Seminole campus All-Florida Academic team received scholarships from the Florida College system.

Malena Buck of the Seminole campus Student Life and Leadership office awarded Nicole Cline, Patrick Dupeire, Dylan Lotze, Timilehin Opapeju, and Evan Shapiro awards for outstanding student leadership. She also recognized outstanding leadership in student organizations. Zachary Gomez received an award for his work for the Hospitality club, Jonathan Jacques for Men Achieving Excellence club, Cheri Kuenn for Phi Theta Kappa, Jasmine Salinas-Gomez for the Spanish club, Katherine Claypool for the Student Veterans Association, Kathleen Baird for the Web Arts and Visual Entertainment club, and Caitlin Wickline for Women on the Way. Sandbox writer Glenn Smith was recognized for his work for the InterVarsity club, and former Sandbox editor Lisa Manners was honored with an award for her work in the Gay, Lesbian, or Whatever (GLOW) club. Ms. Buck awarded the Student Government Association Member of the Year award to Adam Bailey.

Seminole campus is a leader in using social media, and it is only natural that the campus social media team was recognized for their work on Facebook. Dane Anderson, Joel Dominguez, and Michaelyn Rose-Byrkit, the team behind the posts, came on stage for a moment in the spotlight to a thunderous round of applause. This reporter was recognized by Dr. Faar of the Communications department for work on The Sandbox News on our page, as well as on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus. Former Sandbox live reporter Destinee Bullard received awards for her work in mass communications, her outstanding efforts as a peer advisor, and as an officer of the campus Student Government Association.

These are just a small sample of the awards given in near record time by the college last Thursday. On behalf of the faculty and staff of this newspaper, congratulations to this year’s winners.

This story was covered on the paper’s live events account on Twitter, follow @Sandboxsocial for up to the minute coverage of events at SPC and around Tampa Bay.