Santa Comes in From the North Pole to Visit SWFC Tampa

On Monday , Dec. 19th 4:30-6:00pm, Santa will be in the front foyer of the building to greet the children of SWFC students.  This is a great opportunity for students to take a picture with Santa without the lines.  So bring your cameras and your wide-eyed children and meet Santa.

STUDENT I-SEARCH PAPERS REVEAL INDIVIDUAL LEARNING STYLES

As I sit in my Composition 1 class, I am really proud of the interesting things my students have learned about themselves by doing their I-Search/research projects.  This project required them to look inward as they discovered themselves through Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory.  It was so cool to watch my students come to understand themselves better as learners--and even as to how they came about choosing the career paths they have decided to take.

My hope is that you all will continue to think about these things as you continue in life because employers really have begun to look at these things when making hiring decisions.  I promise you will see some of those fun tests, again, we took in class! 

I look forward to reading your final drafts of these I-Search papers--AND your final self-reflection essays!

Ms. Dye

Port Charlotte Pictures with Santa

Santa is coming to the Southwest Florida College, Port Charlotte campus!

Join us on Saturday, December 10th, 2011 from 10 AM till 12 PM for FREE photos with Santa.
There will be Arts and Crafts for the Kids!
For more info, email Ruth Williams.


About Southwest Florida College: Southwest Florida College is an accredited, private institution of higher learning that is listening to employers and providing its students with placement assistance in today’s most demanding career fields. The college is located in Fort Myers, Tampa, Port Charlotte and Bonita Springs. The Institute of Interior Design is also located within the Bonita Springs campus. For more information, call 1-877-455-0107 or visit www.swfc.edu.

Southwest Florida College is a proud sponsor of the American Heart Association's Lee Heart Walk

Southwest Florida College is a proud sponsor of this year’s Hydration Station for American Heart Association’s Lee Heart Walk!

Lee Heart Walk will take place on December 10^th, 2011, rain or shine in Centennial Park of Downtown Fort Myers. Registration begins at 8 AM and the walk takes place at 9 AM. The total distance of the walk is 5K, with an optional 1-mile route.

Southwest Florida College will also have a walking team. Please contact Team Captain, Dana Thimons for more information on how to donate or participate in the walk. Each year, thousands of people will walk at more than 2,000 locations across the U.S. to fight heart disease and stroke. The Heart Walk is a success due to the commitment of corporate walk teams and sponsors.

For more details about Lee Heart Walk, visit http://www.leeheartwalk.org. 

About Southwest Florida College: Southwest Florida College is an accredited, private institution of higher learning that is listening to employers and providing its students with placement assistance in today’s most demanding career fields. The college is located in Fort Myers, Tampa, Port Charlotte and Bonita Springs. The Institute of Interior Design is also located within the Bonita Springs campus. For more information, call 1-877-455-0107 or visit www.swfc.edu.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT REFLECTION

My reading class was so much fun tonight!  The students presented the types of exams they will be facing for certifications within their programs.  It was very interesting to learn the details of each program's requirements.  Each group discussed how to prepare for these tests by relating the studying/test-taking strategies we learned in this course.  

I was very proud of these guys who worked so hard for several weeks to organize this information and make it into such nice presentations.  Dr. Hicks was our special guest, and she, too, was impressed with how my class embraced this project and just ran with it. 


Hats off to my Wednesday night class!  You guys are awesome, and you made me proud!

GIVE THANKS

I HOPE EVERYONE'S HOLIDAY WAS A TIME OF REST, REFLECTION, AND THANKSGIVING!

Let us be thankful for our families, friends, jobs, health, each other--and so much more. Let's always take the time to notice the beauty in all we see.

Please be safe!

Ms. Dye Returns From Cengage Conference Renewed and Ready to Rock the Composition Class!

Last week, I attended Cengage Learning's "Destination Composition" conference in Ashville, North Carolina. It was awesome!

I want to thank Dr. Barbara C. for choosing me to be a part of this wonderful collaboration opportunity! I cannot think of a better place, or better people, with whom to work. The Grove Park Inn was most conducive for many composition instructors to meet and share ideas.

I walked away from this conference with lots of ideas and new ways to reach and teach our students. We really got creative and had fun with technology. I know our students will find it more fun and interesting to express themselves in writing class with some of the exiting experiences I have planned for the upcoming terms--thanks to everyone at Cengage Learning! Stay tuned.

Continuing my firsts

Online Instructor! I can now add that to my list of firsts. I am so excited! I am the instructor for the Online Mini Term College Success class. I am still a new-be to the entire concept. But everyone has to start somewhere. I feel like you don't know if you like something until you try it...it's almost like when you were a kid, and your mom forced you to eat your peas and you were convinced you hated peas, until you tried it...then you come to find you love them!!

Bonita Holiday Happenings

November 21st: Harry Chapmin Food Drive
Drop box can be found in the front desk. Help our local families this Thanksgiving by cleaning out your pantry and donating any nonperishable food items.

November 23rd: Operation Christmas Cards
Cards can be found in the student lounge. Put a holiday card in the hands of our troops.

December 2nd: Giving Tree
Help give local children a gift this Christmas. Pick a name off our tree and find your child’s name. There you will find their wish list.

December 6th: Holiday in the Park
Volunteers needed to help Santa give out gifts, pass out cookies, and play in snow. Sign up sheet can be found at the front desk.

December 12th: Toys for Tots
We will be a drop off location for Toys for Tots. Box located by front desk.

Quote of the day

Do me a favor… Stand up, walk to wherever the nearest window is, and just look outside. You may not know this, but there’s an entire planets-worth of summers, friends, sunsets, street lamps, songs, late nights, great films, and night skies waiting for you. Your life is as amazing as you want it to be, but first, you have to let it be that way

You have come to "The Write Place!"

Hello, All!

I just wanted to welcome you to my little spot in the blogging world!

Here is a little about what goes on:

My composition students just began their "compare/contrast" essays, and, as usual, we have great fun with warm-up activities to help generate ideas. Last week, we set out to prove that one really can compare (and contrast) apples and oranges!

"Whoever said that was wrong!" exclaimed several of my students.

I quite agree. After the apples-to-oranges workshop was over, we all enjoyed a healthy breakfast, and my class came up with some really great topics!

Nourished tummies = nourished minds.

Once the class completes their total writing package for this paper, they will be sharing their comparisons and contrasts in Power Point presentations! They are excited about uploading some fun stuff, and I cannot wait to be dazzled!

STAY TUNED! I shall report more later!

Thanks for visiting THE WRITE PLACE!!!

Ms. Dye

SWFC's Roadhouse Roundup

Student Appreciation / Taking Care of Business (registration) Event.  Join the Roundup with your Partners at Tampa SWFC.  This western themed event will feature Smokey Bones Pulled Pork sandwiches, cole Slaw, Chips, and drinks (Water/soda).  The event will be held on Tuesday & Wednesday , Nov. 15th & 16th at 10:45am-11:30am and 6:30pm-7:30pm on both days.  All students are welcomed to join us for food & fun.

We appreciate you!

This week is student appreciation week!
To help give our thanks, we will be providing a breakfast, lunch, and dinner to our student's.
Tuesday : Dinner - Popz BBQ 5pm-7pm
Wednesday: Lunch - Buba's Roadhouse 4pm-6:30pm
Thursday: Catered Breakfast 8am-10am

*This is reflection upon the Bonita Campus*

Thank You for all you do :)

Launching November

It's hard to believe that October has come and gone. Here we are the fist week of November. Lots of events are coming up that I am super excited about.

I have collaborated with The Harry Chapin Food Bank to start a collection of non perishable foods to help those in need for the Thanksgiving Holiday. Please stop by and drop off any canned foods, dry beans, and any non perishable foods you may have.

We are also partaking in Operation Christmas Cards. It is our mission to love our troops one card at a time. We desire to put a card into the hands of all those deployed during the holidays, so please help us put a smile on the faces of those that cannot be home during this holiday season. Click here for more details:
http://www.operationchristmascard.org/Participation_Info.html

December 6th is Holiday in the Park:
We are looking for volunteers to help Santa distribute presents, pass out Christmas cookies, partake with the snow pile, and so much more. Please let me know if you would like to help..Email me at gsholes@swfc.edu. I will be there with my elf costume ready to kick off the Holiday Season...Hope to see you there :)

Photos Galore

Thank you to all who helped plan for our Halloween Bash, it was a huge success! You can all view the photos from the Photo Booth by clicking on the following link:
http://proofing.luminairefoto.com/event/SWFL-College-2011-fotobooth/Gabrielle-Sholes/4lgs4v6eUM1HY


A special thanks to Karl Rouwhorst from Luminaire Foto for providing us with the Photo Booth.

Reminder!

Fall Fest and Halloween Bash events coming up!!!

Friday: Bonita Springs Campus. 7pm-9pm

Saturday: Fort Myers Campus. 11am-3pm

Hope you can all make it :)

Fall Festivities

Counting the days....8 days, 11 hours, 23 minutes, 48 seconds

Preparing for the Halloween Fest has been lots of fun! I will be making a trip to the Fort Myers campus tomorrow to pick up decorations....

Don't forget to mark your calendar's:
Bonita Springs Halloween Bash: Friday, October 28th 7-9
Fort Myers Fall Fest: Saturday, October 29th 11-3

See You There :)

Job Openings: Patch.com

Attention SWFC Students and Graduates:

Patch.com is hiring! All listings in the Tampa Bay can be found here: Patch Jobs - South Florida.

About Southwest Florida College: Southwest Florida College is an accredited, private institution of higher learning that is listening to employers and providing its students with placement assistance in today’s most demanding career fields. The college is located in Fort Myers, Tampa, Port Charlotte and Bonita Springs. The Institute of Interior Design is also located within the Bonita Springs campus. For more information, call 1-877-455-0107 or visit www.swfc.edu.

October Spooktacular

My first week was a huge success...! ...Onto Week 2
We are getting ready for our annual October Events. Tiffany Fox and I have collaborated on our Fall Fest/ Halloween Bash Events. We are bringing out the decorations and starting to bring our ideas and turning them into a Hairy Goule of a time!!

Fort Myers: Fall Fest ~ Saturday, October 29th 11am-3pm
Bonita Springs: Halloween Bash. ~ Friday, October 28th 7pm-9pm

It's going to be a Super~Spooker :)

Great Success

Our Meet and Greet event left me with a great big smile! It was a great way to meet some of the new students and put a face to a name. Thank you to all who helped and participated...look forward to more events to come :)

Week of Firsts

Getting Excited!!!
This week we have our first event for the Fall Term here in Bonita. Our "Meet and Greet" is our opportunity to meet the new faces that will be entering our campus. Photo Booth, yummy food, and fun activities are just a few of the things to look forward to.
Jumping ahead to Saturday, Student Orientation! My first here on the Bonita Campus. :)

This week will be my week of firsts... I plan on welcoming it with open arms!!

Beach Day and Volleyball Tournament

Attention all Southwest Florida College students!

Reserve the Date: Saturday, August 20 from 10AM to 1PM. We have reserved the area behind Wicked Wings (beside Lani Kai) on Fort Myers Beach for a beach day and volleyball tournament. The physical address is 1480 I street.

Bring sunscreen, a blanket and a sack lunch and be ready for some fun in the sun. Bring a friend if you want.

To play 4 on 4 volleyball, sign up your team in the LRC on the Fort Myers or Bonita Springs campus. Each team will have up to five players and will have four on the court at all times.

It will cost $5 - $7 for parking.

About Southwest Florida College: Southwest Florida College is an accredited, private institution of higher learning that is listening to employers and providing its students with placement assistance in today’s most demanding career fields. The college is located in Fort Myers, Tampa, Port Charlotte and Bonita Springs. The Institute of Interior Design is also located within the Bonita Springs campus. For more information, call 1-877-455-0107 or visit www.swfc.edu.

Congratulations Jennifer

In the Fall of 2008, Jennifer Skocik was a first term student in my College Success class. I still remember how engaging and how much fun that class was. The class was on a Friday night. I was afraid that none of the students wanted to be in class on a Friday night, but we actually wound up having a great experience!

At the beginning of that College Success class, Jennifer introduced herself to the class and shared her dream: to become a teacher. Fast forward three years. This morning, I saw the newly graduated Jennifer in the third floor campus lobby, and she had such an enormous smile on her face. She had just accepted a teaching job! She is now a first grade teacher at Caloosa Elementary School in Cape Coral!

Congratulations on successfuly completing your degree and being placed in your field Jennifer. I am proud of you!

Paws for the Cause was a big success!

The first "Paws for the Cause"bake sale, sponsored by the Newsletter Club at the Port Charlotte campus, was a big success! All proceeds will go to the Animal Welfare League for Southwest Florida College to adopt a pet! Thank you to everyone who participated in this event.

About Southwest Florida College: Southwest Florida College is an accredited, private institution of higher learning that is listening to employers and providing its students with placement assistance in today’s most demanding career fields. The college is located in Fort Myers, Tampa, Port Charlotte and Bonita Springs. The Institute of Interior Design is also located within the Bonita Springs campus. For more information, call 1-877-455-0107 or visit www.swfc.edu.