Back-to-School Brings Bright Moments

IN BELLE GLADE:

The Belle Glade Chamber of Commerce held a Teacher Appreciation Breakfast for Belle Glade, Pahokee, Canal Point, and South Bay teachers.

The Chamber's goal was to thank you to educators in the area for all of their hard work and to wish them well as they embark on a new school year.

A number of volunteers worked diligently to make sure everything looked "just right". Generous sponsors in the area made the event possible.

IN CLEWISTON:

The Clewiston Museum held its inaugural Teacher Appreciation & Welcome-Back Celebration last week! About 130 teachers attended for lunch, door prizes and goodie bags! The event was made possible by generous community sponsors. Aside from handsome financial contributions, almost all of the food was donated, & all of the door prizes were donated.

The Clewiston Museum presented a framed tiger puzzle to Phillip Summers, the principal at Clewiston High School, home of the Tigers!

It is moments like this that make us proud of the community we are a part of.

Foreverglades Art-Piece Finds Forever Home

An impeccably crafted 1920's steamboat replica featuring the photography work of Sofia Valiente opened in Belle Glade on Friday, August 6, 2021 at the Lawrence E. Will Museum.

Steam boat, Roseada, featuring the Foreverglades exhibition will remain at the museum permanently, making Belle Glade its forever-home. Valiente calls her work a look at the Glades 'from the swamp to sugar bowl, pioneer days in Belle Glade'.

Sofia shot to mini art-fame with Miracle Village in 2015, a work that featured a community of people (mostly men, one woman) who have been convicted of sex crimes and are registered sex offenders in Florida.

With all of her projects, Sofia is driven by the journey of discovery. She is drawn to people who live on the fringe of society and aims to create a new portrait, for the often misunderstood or spoken over, that humanizes people.

We are proud to have her work now living in our backyard.

Super Bowl MVP Shares His Love of a Different Game with Hometown Kids

THE LAKE OKEECHOBEE NEWS

Posted Monday, July 26, 2021 10:14 am

BELLE GLADE — Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes brought his love of the game, not football, but rather golf, to his hometown of Belle Glade. The football phenomenon joined efforts with South Florida PGA Foundation, Pratt & Whitney, Glades Central High School and, local agriculture company, U.S. Sugar to hold the first STEAM Golf camp. The week-long event is part of Holmes’ non-profit 10 ALL IN Foundation.

Glades-area children were given the opportunity to sharpen their minds through the STEAM program which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math. Engineers at Pratt & Whitney challenged the kids to create a new hat to help golfers battle the sun, bugs and other elements they encounter on the golf course. Kids aged 8-17 were separated into four groups – Team Blaze, Team Track Hawks, Team Crew Mates and Team CKC Express. They had to work together to produce a prototype of their product. The students introduced each of the hat prototypes during a presentation at the Belle Glade Municipal Golf Course. Each team was recognized for outstanding skills including marketing and innovation.

“Realizing how important socio-emotional learning skills play a big factor in our character and who we are and how we interact with our co-workers, I understand just how important it was to educate the young kids on what it’s like to be a professional,” said Holmes. Also, many of these students held a golf club for the first time this week. They were given hands on instruction and encouragement from PGA professionals. Holmes grew to love the game of golf after his years of playing football in the NFL. This camp is his way of exposing kids to a game they would likely never get to play otherwise. Holmes’ high school buddy, Jimmy Vincent, is also his business partner and executive director of 10 ALL IN. Vincent’s mental health background and expertise in socio-emotional learning combined with Holmes’ love of golf was the impetus for the STEAM Golf camp. Vincent, says this is the first of many more events to come.

“We thought we could combine the STEAM aspects with our new love of golf because we knew that was something that could be beneficial to our community,” added Vincent. “We reached out to the right people and here we are.”

Today, these lifelong friends accepted a check from South Florida PGA Foundation for more than nine thousand dollars. The funds will be used to sponsor more events in the future. Holmes attended Glades Central High School and went on to be a standout wide receiver for The Ohio University before playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers where he was the Super Bowl XLIII MVP in 2009.

Melanie Bolden-Morris, the principal high vocational at Glades Central High School, was an integral part of hosting the event and happens to be the former high school guidance counselor to both Holmes and Vincent. She attended the presentation and told the crowd, “I’m so proud of you guys and the men that you’ve become. Thank you for coming back to the community and giving because it is so needed.”