GAINESVILLE, Fla. – One had been a homeless, high school dropout. Another overcame a serious disability. Another just learned English a few years ago. Graduates of Florida’s universities share their inspiring personal stories as they walk across the stage with their diplomas this month. Here are the stories of a …
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CLEARWATER, Fla. – With a scanner like ones used at grocery stores plugged into her computer, Paula Stephens spent her 30-minute planning period scanning two boxes of books from her classroom library. Those two green boxes had roughly 55 books, and her first-grade classroom at Eisenhower Elementary has about 40 …
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – When McKenzie McAliley, a senior at Atlantic Community High in Delray Beach along Florida’s East Coast, took the bus to school, she would wake up at 5 a.m. and walk to the bus stop in the dark. McAliley, 18, now drives to school but must wake just …
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CLEARWATER, Fla. – Nancy Velardi has negotiated with Pinellas County Schools, one of the largest school districts across Florida, for 18 years, securing affordable health insurance for teachers and their families and working to increase salaries. But in her last term as president of the Pinellas County Teacher Association, the …
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TAMPA, Fla. – Lluvia and her calf Morado glide to the bottom of their habitat to munch on romaine lettuce; this is hour one of the eight they spend eating daily. They are the lucky ones, survivors from what wildlife experts are worried could be another year full of unusually …
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The University of Florida is making sure its newly hired president, former Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, can dive into the job: It is spending $300,000 to build a new swimming pool behind the stately mansion where Sasse will live with his family, the school confirmed. Construction on the expensive …
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His Compassion Food Bank in Ocala has canceled Thursday food distribution for the last three weeks because of a lack of food supply. An increase in the number of families in need and a decrease in donated food products are problems food banks face throughout the state and nationwide as a result of inflation.
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Residents of District 9 will choose between Republican Sen. Keith Perry and Democrat Rodney Long to represent them in the state Legislature in the upcoming election Tuesday, Nov. 8. Here is what voters need to know about the candidates and their viewpoints before they head to the polls.
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The vote halts developer Sayed Moukhtara and JBrown Professional Group from constructing a 70-home subdivision named Tara Club.
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Alachua County Public Schools began taking standardized tests with the new Florida Assessment of Student Thinking less than a month into the school year. Students in voluntary prekindergarten through 10th grade will participate in this assessment three times a year. Florida Assessment of Student Thinking replaces the end-of-the-year Florida Standards Assessments and monitors student progress in the fall, winter and spring. Each cycle tests students’ knowledge of the entire year’s material in English Language Arts and mathematics, according to the Florida Department of Education. But critics of the new assessment say more time spent testing means less instructional time.
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WUFT News News and Public Media for North Central Florida from the University of Florida in Gainesville