March 2012 - Volume 11, Issue 3

Success in Public Schools
Supporting students, teachers, scholarships and advocacy  

 
The Hillsborough Education Foundation can be proud of the role it plays in the support of our public schools. We are viewed as the leading advocate and supporter of public education for Hillsborough County. Many of our projects and programs have broad-based community support and recognition.
Our focus on students, teachers, scholarships and advocacy - STS A+, as I have come to call it, has earned us a reputation as one of the best education foundations in our state and nation.  Our programs supporting students, teachers, scholarships and advocacy play an important role in the success of our public schools.

For students, our support of Career & Technical Education (CTE) and this year's very successful Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Fair have been instrumental in enabling Hillsborough County Public Schools to achieve academic excellence and move us toward the goal of a 90 percent graduation rate.

We recognize and encourage our teachers with grants. The "Excellence in Education Awards" honoring the "Teacher of the Year," the "Instructional Support Employee of the Year," and the "Ida S. Baker Diversity Educator of the Year" is a wonderful evening honoring our area's best educators. Our Teaching Tools Supply Store gives away at no cost to our teachers more than $1.5 million in school supplies annually. 
We will award over $1 million in scholarships this year. The "Take Stock in Children" program has 215 Florida Prepaid Scholarship students and more than 100 mentors dedicated to ensuring students succeed at graduating from high school and moving on to a college education. Our scholarship interviews and upcoming scholarship reception are very meaningful events for the participants.  I am also very excited about plans for the Tampa Bay Scholarship Walk on December 8.

We continue to be vocal supporters of one of the best school districts in America. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant is evidence of the respect our school district deserves. Our public schools have excellent faculty and staff, led by one of the most creative superintendents in America, MaryEllen Elia. We have much to be proud about when it comes to Hillsborough County Public Schools. 
 
B. Philip Jones, Jr.
President
Hillsborough Education Foundation
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Thanks, February Supporters! 

Achieva Federal Credit
   Union
All Phase Electric and
   Maintenance, Inc. 
Amscot Financial 
Argosy University Tampa
   Campus 
AT&T Florida 
Jamael Barber 
The Beck Group 
Board of County
   Commissioners 
Brown and Brown
   Insurance 
CFIndustries, Inc. 
Children's Board
   Of Hillsborough County 
Coca-Cola Enterprises Bottling Companies 
Eckerd Family
   Foundation, Inc. 
Fantasy Theatre
   Factory, Inc. 
Florida Masonry Construction Company 
The Florida Orchestra 
Florida State Fair Authority 
Gasparilla Distance
   Classic Association, Inc. 
Harper Limbach LLC 
Eric Herzberg 
High Reach 2 
Hillsborough Solid Waste
   Management Dept. 
Himes Electric
   Company, Inc. 
Ron Hockman 
Holland & Knight, LLP 
Holmes Hepner &
   Associates Architects 
Humana, Inc 
Illinois Humanities Council 
J.C. Newman Cigar
   Company 
Joffrey's Coffee & Tea
   Company 
Johnny R. Adcock, CLU & Associates, Inc. 
Junior League
   of Tampa, Inc. 
Frances Langerfeld 
Mabry Elementary School
   PTA 
Mayor Dick Greco
   Scholarship Fund  
Merit Professional
   Coatings, Inc. 
MetLife Resources 
Molina Healthcare 
Morgan Stanley 
Myrtle Phillips Baker
   Memorial Scholarship
   Fund   
Neuberger Berman 
New Tampa Pet
   Resort, Inc. 
New York Life
   Insurance Company 
Nielsen 
Brian Noriega 
Paper Plus 
Connie D. Penrod 
Preferred Materials 
Publix Super
   Markets Charities 
Publix Super Markets, Inc. 
Quality Building Controls 
Rays Baseball
   Foundation, Inc. 
Fred and Mary Sue
   Rothenberg 
Rough Riders, Inc. 
Ruth Eckerd Hall, Inc. 
SERVE, Inc. 
Shriner's Children's
   Hospital 
South Tampa Chamber
   of Commerce 
Spectra Contact Flooring 
St. Mary's Episcopal
   Day School 
Staples through Kids in
   Need Foundation 
Suncoast for Kids
   Foundation 
Tampa Bay Times - Payroll
   Deduction 
Tampa Bay Lightning
   Foundation 
Tampa Bay Times
   Fund, Inc. 
Tampa Bay Times Newspaper in Education 
Tampa Convention Center 
Tampa Theatre 
Taylor Contract
   Hardware, Inc. 
TECO Energy, Inc. 
Volunteer Florida, Inc. 
Phil Jones, President of the Hillsborough Education Foundation, recognized Brady Harris and Dave Marshall of Batson-Cook Company at the School Board recognition meeting in March for their longtime partnership with the Foundation. Batson-Cook has been instrumental in the success of our Play FORE Education Golf Tournament as its presenting sponsor.

Donor Spotlight  

Batson-Cook Company    

  

Batson-Cook Company has been a longtime supporter of the Hillsborough Education Foundation's programs for our students, teachers and schools. Education is a key initiative for the construction firm. In fact, the construction firm continually engages its industry partners to support education in Hillsborough County. Batson-Cook has supported our schools for many years. Batson-Cook has completed more than 30 projects for Hillsborough County Public Schools.

We named Batson-Cook our 2007 "Company You Can Count On" because of the valuable partnership with our Play FORE Education Golf Tournament, which raises money for our education programs. In addition to being our presenting sponsor, Batson-Cook has been an active member of our golf tournament committee, elevating the event to a new level.

This is the sixth year that Batson-Cook Company has served as presenting or title sponsor of our golf tournament. In that time the tournament has raised more than $400,000. It is through the generosity of everyone who participates each year that the Foundation is able to continue its work in helping the students, teachers and schools in Hillsborough County find success in all aspects of education.

We really appreciate our longstanding partnership with Batson-Cook.
Hillsborough School Superintendent MaryEllen Elia plays a round of golf with Hillsborough Education Foundation staff at the Play FORE Education Golf Tournament at Avila Golf & Country Club.

Golfers Play "Fore" Education!    

 

The Hillsborough Education Foundation, along with Presenting Sponsor Batson-Cook Company, hosted the 2012 Play FORE Education Golf Tournament. This year's event also featured a morning Executive Shootout, which partnered local business leaders with leaders in Hillsborough County Public Schools. Thanks to the support of the
tournament sponsors and participants, more than $97,000 was raised
to benefit our programs.

Congratulations to this year's big winners! 
1st place Gross Team                           1st place Net Team
Allstate Construction                              Cox Fire Protection
  Dion Falzon                                            Scott Cox
  Kenny Sohl                                             Brian Detri
  Rory Salimbene, HCPS                           Shane Rushro
  Casey Weldon                                        Michael Bruce 
 
Putting Pro Shootout Champion 
Morris Lopez

Course Putting Contest                         Closest to the Pin Contest 
Greg McLaughlin                                      Casey Weldon

Straightest Drive Contest                      Longest Drive Contest 
Justin Wilson                                           Chris Egan 

Thank you to this year's sponsors! 

Presenting Sponsor                      Hole-in-One Sponsors
Batson-Cook                                    Bright House Networks
                                                       Humana
                                                       Merit Professional Coatings, Inc.
                                                       Suncoast for Kids Foundation                                                                          

Birdie Sponsors                            Par Sponsors
Allstate Construction                       APG Electric
Consolidated Electrical                    The Beck Group/VoltAir
     Systems, Inc.                               Consulting Engineers
Horus Construction                          Borrell Electric Company, Inc.
RIPA and Associates                       Cives Steel Company
Southern Equipment                        Cox Fire Protection, Inc.
Spectra Contract Flooring                 Crowther Roofing & Sheet Metal
                                                         of Florida, Inc.
                                                      D&S Electrical Technologies, LLC
                                                      Florida Masonry Construction
                                                         Company
                                                      J.R. Long
                                                      Morgan Stanley
                                                      New York Life
                                                      PAR Development Partners, Inc./
                                                          StorageCraft
                                                      Preferred Materials, Inc.
                                                      Publix Super Markets Charities
                                                      Quality Building Controls
                                                      Service Painting
                                                      Tampa Bay Trane

Good 4U, Good 4Us

Enjoy Some Savings

LEGOLAND® Florida Tickets 

As a Hillsborough Education Foundation supporter, LEGOLAND® Florida would like to offer you BIG savings on 1-day, 2-day and annual passes!     

 

Tampa Bay Times Forum Event Discounts    

The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Tampa Bay Times Forum are partnering with Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, and Polk school districts to bring fans special education offers for the upcoming events below. A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit your school district.

CLICK HERE to learn more about our promotions!  

Mark Your CalendarsCalendar-Events
Hooked on Education Fishing Tournament
Friday, April 6, 2012
Westshore Yacht Club

The Annual Hooked on Education Fishing Tournament will take place on April 6, 2012 at the Westshore Yacht Club. The Hooked on Education Fishing Tournament was started by two devoted corporate partners who understood the necessity of generating undesignated funds for the Foundation. Today, Larry Wilder of WILDERARCHITECTURE, INC. spearheads the event in partnership with Casey Weldon of Allstate Construction. They continue to add to the $250,000 already raised for the Foundation through this annual event. Each year, they host a Captain's dinner with key administrative Hillsborough County Public Schools personnel & participants the evening before the tournament. Participants receive dinner, a fishing shirt, hat and a cooler for their participation. At the tournament, each angler is treated to a McDonald's breakfast, boxed lunch, and a Westshore Yacht Club Awards dinner where photos document the biggest fish of the day for this "catch and release" tournament. The Foundation appreciates Larry's continued leadership of the event. If you are interested in sponsoring a boat or donating a drawing prize, contact Larry Wilder at 813-230-0190 or Cheryl Hedrick at 813-574-0273.
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