The Torch 2024-2025

CHANGING THE GAME

FSU PC PREPARES TODAY’S STUDENTS FOR TOMORROW’S HIGH-TECH CAREERS

BY THE BAY: Students gather at the recently installed FSU sign on the shoreline during Nole Fest 2024. [Photo by Tony Simmons]

ON THE COVER : This edition takes a closer look at how FSU Panama City students are employing cutting edge technology in the classroom to prepare for the in-demand careers of the future. [Photo by Kyle Middlemass]

TORCH

The Magazine of Florida State University Panama City 2024-2025

DEAN OF FSU PANAMA CITY AND THE COLLEGE OF APPLIED STUDIES

Randy Hanna, J.D., Ed.D, ‘83

OFFICE OF ADVANCEMENT STAFF

Becky Kelly, Director of Advancement

Summer Toomey, Assistant Director, ‘23

Helen Johnson, Web Manager

Dorothy Forba, Development Coordinator

Katie May, Director of Development, ‘16, ‘17

Kyle Middlemass, Marketing and Publications, ‘19

Tony Simmons, Writing Program Manager

EDITOR

Becky Kelly

DESIGNER

Kyle Middlemass, ‘19

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Cristina Doan, Lee Harris, Kathleen Haughney, Becky Kelly, Kacie McVay, Linda Morgan, and Tony Simmons

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Helen Johnson, Kyle Middlemass, ‘19

Tony Simmons, Andrew Wardlow

THE TORCH MAGAZINE is published by the Office of Advancement at Florida State University Panama City. To be included in the mailing list, or to submit a change of address, email us at torch@ pc.fsu.edu. Please send alumni updates to outreach@pc.fsu.edu.

THE DEAN’S MESSAGE

We are proud to have seen record enrollment for the past two years. But we are just as proud to know why those students chose FSU Panama City and to see what those students accomplish once they’re here.

Look around any classroom, laboratory or common area at FSU Panama City, and you will find a wide variety of students engaged in every discipline and student activity. We have gathered within our halls a population who could go to college anywhere they want in the United States. Many of them had scholarship offers from other universities, but they chose FSU PC.

At the same time, we have students who are the first in their families to go to college, as well as students who might not have been able to go to college if not for FSU PC being located right here in their region.

You will find students who drive all the way from Marianna and back every day. Students from New York, California and other distant states who came here for one of our specialized programs, such as Crime Scene Investigation or the Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice.

They tell me that they like “the feel” of this campus. FSU PC feels like a small private school although it’s part of a major research university. They are receiving all the benefits of a preeminent institution, while enjoying close relationships with instructors who know them personally.

While you’re looking around, you may see some students who appear younger than the average university student. Those young people are part of The Collegiate School at FSU PC, the laboratory charter school we opened in 2023. Focusing on dual enrollment courses and technical career certifications, TCS doubled its student enrollment this fall. These Bay County high schoolers have opted for a unique educational opportunity, and we have welcomed them into the Seminole family.

As part of that family, we talk a lot about the FSU PC Promise. It’s more than a catchy name for a scholarship, it’s also our approach to student success. One important part of the promise is that FSU PC will always be their home. It is our goal that every student feels appreciated, and that they know they can reach out to anybody on this campus for support.

We are this community’s university, and everyone who visits here should feel welcome and at home. They should look around and see themselves reflected here, see a place for both their future and their children’s future.

Welcome home—and Go Noles!

Randy Hanna, Dean, FSU Panama City The College of Applied Studies

FACULTY SPOTLIGHTS

ERIKA GOINES, PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION

Erika Goines earned her Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instructional Technology from the University of West Florida, where her research examined the influence of content filtering and teacher self-efficacy on internet use in K-12 classrooms. She holds an Ed.S. in Curriculum and Instructional Technology from UWF, an MA in Digital Journalism and Design from the University of South Florida, and an MS in Corporate and Public Communication from FSU, with a Graduate Certificate in Emergency Management. Goines brings more than a decade of higher education experience, specializing in digital media, web design and communication strategies. She previously taught at Gulf Coast State College while serving as program coordinator for the AS and BAS Digital Media programs. She is a recipient of the Robert E. Tinney Professor of the Year and Frank W. Eiseman Outstanding Academic Advisor awards.

WILLIAM HOFFMAN, PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION

William Hoffman’s doctoral dissertation focused on health communication, investigating the communication between patients and healthcare providers regarding preventive health advice. Hoffman earned his Ph.D. in communication studies in 2021 from the University of Kansas. A university educator for just over a decade, Hoffman has worked as an educator and professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. His recent publications focus on mental health narratives on television as well as mental health perceptions within families. He has recently authored book chapters on persuasion and listening, and he published on the advancement of communication theory in intercultural contexts. He moved to Florida from New Mexico to begin teaching at FSU Panama City in fall 2024.

SANDRA PUGH, PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION

Sandra Pugh earned her Ph.D. in Literacy at St. John’s University, Queens, New York and earned both her BS and MS in Professional Communication at FSU Panama City. She holds a graduate certificate in Professional Writing with the University of Central Florida. She is also an alumna of Gulf Coast State College, where she previously served as a professor, teaching courses in public speaking, group dynamics, interpersonal communication and English composition. Prior to her career in education, Pugh worked for 16 years in the hospitality industry with Schooners, where she rose through the ranks to serve as floor manager and ended her career as general manager. With her local roots, she holds common ground with many of the students attending FSU PC, and she uses these shared experiences to build connections within her classroom.

Florida State University Panama City is pleased to welcome our newest faculty members.

TURNER AMACHER, FINANCIAL PLANNING

Turner Amacher, MSPFP, is a member of the Financial Planning teaching faculty. A dedicated educator and financial planning professional, he is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Financial Planning program at Texas Tech University, where he earned his master’s degree in the same field. He contributes expertise to the Personal Financial Planning program, preparing students for successful careers in the financial services industry. In addition to academic achievements, Amacher has gained valuable practical experience during four years with a Registered Investment Advisor headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Hands-on experience informs his teaching, allowing him to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world application. He is passionate about equipping students with the tools and insights they need to excel, including industry-relevant software and technology platforms integral to modern financial planning.

ANA WEST, CHEMISTRY

Ana West earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry (Physical Chemistry Division) from Emory University in Atlanta. She was a postdoctoral research associate in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis; a NIH-INBRE postdoctoral fellow in Chemistry at New Mexico Tech, Socorro; and earned her BS in Biochemistry from Kennesaw State University, Atlanta. Her research interests revolve around self-assembled systems, membrane biophysics, and protein-lipid interactions, focusing on computational and theoretical approaches. With more than a decade of experience teaching introductory chemistry classes, West has taught at prestigious institutions such as Emory, University of Georgia, Florida International University, Mercer University, and Kennesaw State. Her teaching philosophy focuses on active learning and innovative instructional techniques to boost student engagement and understanding.

AHSAN ABDULLAH, COMPUTER SCIENCE

Ahsan Abdullah received his Ph.D. in Computer Sciences from the University of Stirling in Scotland. He also received two master of science degrees from the University of California in Los Angeles: Computer Sciences and Computer Engineering. His bachelor of science with distinction is in Electronics and came from UET Lahore. Abdullah has a passion for distance education, and recorded two video courses (Data Warehousing and Web-based Database Applications) with Virtual University consisting of more than 200 videos. He has developed an online Learning Management System with several key features and cutting-edge courses.

NOTABLE NOLES HONORING OUR OUTSTANDING ALUMNI

BY TONY SIMMONS

FSU Panama City announced the 2024 Notable Noles in November as part of a nearly 30-year campus homecoming tradition. This year’s honorees include Collegiate School teacher Ted Czupryk, City of Panama City Manager Jonathan Hayes and Beachy Beach Real Estate owner/broker Karen Key Smith. The Notable Noles were celebrated during a luncheon at FSU Panama City on Nov.19.

The Notable Noles award is given to FSU Panama City alumni who demonstrated excellence as students and have made outstanding contributions to the community and within their careers. Since the award’s inception in 1996, FSU Panama City has recognized 91 Notable Noles, accounting for less than 1 percent of the campus’s alumni.

TED CZUPRYK, ’84

Ted Czupryk was nominated by the faculty and staff of The Collegiate School at FSU Panama City, where he currently teaches. His path to Florida State University was unique, as he was one of the first students to transition from the University of West Florida when its campus in Panama City became FSU PC in 1986.

“We were halfway through a social studies degree and our question was what was going to happen to us?”

Czupryk said. “Dr. (Larson) Bland was kept on as the director, which made the transition a lot easier. FSU worked really hard to match us up with programs it had here. Turns out, FSU had a fantastic Social Sciences Interdisciplinary program, and it helped me because I ended up teaching many different things.”

A 1979 University of Florida College of Education graduate and a 1984 FSU Panama City graduate of Interdisciplinary Social Science, Czupryk founded the Mosley High School Advanced Placement Program and later became the Collegiate Studies program director at Arnold High School. He served as the Bay Council for Social Studies president and has taught numerous dual enrollment classes at Gulf Coast State College and FSU Panama City.

“Ted has contributed a lifetime of work and service to students and schools in Bay County,” the nomination statement said.

In 2016, Czupryk retired from Bay District Schools with 38 years of service. In 2023, he and his wife, Sherry, were named Bay District Schools Teachers of a Lifetime for their profound impact on local students. His influence continues to be felt at The Collegiate School, where he returned from retirement to teach collegiate studies and dual enrollment courses for high school students at the laboratory charter school.

“We really have a huge responsibility, for these rising juniors to come in here and be successful across the board,” he said, describing the obligation he feels toward the dual enrollment students he currently teaches. “I like challenges.”

JONATHAN HAYES, ’05

Born in Greenwood, Mississippi and raised in Panama City, Jonathan Hayes is a fourth-generation resident of Bay County. He currently resides in Panama City with his wife, Tammy, and their five children. His grandfather, James E. Hayes, served as Panama City commissioner of Ward IV in the 1950s. Hayes received his Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from FSU Panama City in 2005.

Hayes credited the influence of his advisor, former professor Gary Bliss, for encouraging him while he was taking night courses and working full-time. “He’ll still send me notes every now and then, 20 years later.”

“Twenty years ago, it looked a bit different from what it is today,” Hayes added. “It was smaller, more intimate, just a couple of buildings. But even though it has grown a lot, I still feel like it has that intimate feeling.”

Hayes related his memories of night classes, punctuated by visits to a coffee machine by the old bookstore for a cinnamon-mocha drink to provide a burst of energy. He also thanked the professors who would ride over in a shuttle from Tallahassee to lead those classes each week. He also praised the “seamless” transition from (at the time) Gulf Coast Community College to FSU Panama City.

“I remember how, as I wrapped up my associate’s at Gulf Coast, I literally walked across the street and said, ‘I was thinking about maybe overlapping?’ and they were like, ‘Sure! No problem!’” he said. “It was seamless and super-easy. It was flexible, and it allowed me to meet a goal, which was finishing up my degree while continuing to work.”

After working in the Washington, D.C., area, Hayes initially returned to Panama City as director of Logistics for the city, and he transitioned to the position of director of Public Works in April 2022. Following an extensive search for a new city manager, the Panama City Commission selected Hayes in December 2023 and approved his contract in January 2024.

“It is a tremendous honor to partner with the city commission, city staff and, most certainly, the community as we lead Panama City into its next chapter,” said Hayes. “I will take my intimate and deep knowledge of Panama City’s history, geography, people, communities and politics and hit the ground running.”

Panama City Commissioner Janice Lucas (’89 and a 2020 Notable Nole) said Hayes had proven himself “to be steadfast” and he brought extensive experience to the manager’s role.

KAREN KEY SMITH, ’95

“Education sometimes is the thing you get that you didn’t know you needed,” said Karen Key Smith, a 1995 graduate of FSU Panama City, who was nominated for recognition by Brian Baber, Entrepreneur in Residence at the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship. “I loved it here. It was really cool being at FSU.”

A dynamic businesswoman, Smith is known for her community impact through dedicated service. At 50, Smith established Beachy Beach Real Estate, a small yet potent venture. Growing from 3 to 130 team members, she recently partnered with Premier Property Group. Together the companies amass over 250 exceptional agents.

“She firmly believes in the unique touch each of us possesses, urging us to make a difference in our own special way,” said Baber, who interviewed her for his Entrepreneurship podcast series in 2023. “Beyond merely motivating and inspiring, she leads by example, catalyzing action and inviting us to contribute positively to the world.”

Getting her degree was a huge confidence booster, Smith said. “I was always proud to tell people I was a graduate. As a person who went back to school, as an older person, it meant way more to me. Especially because I had three children and full-time job. It was one of the most worthwhile things I’ve ever done.”

When she looks back on her time at FSU PC, Smith sometimes can’t grasp how she managed to succeed. However, realizing what she accomplished “has made me able to do the things I do now.”

Smith has served on many committees over the years, including as president of Beach Care Services; board member, vice president and president of the Panama City Beach Chamber; leader of Food4kidz’s fund raising arm and many more. She is especially thankful for fundraising for Back Pack Blessings, Florida Panhandle Golf Therapy Alliance and the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center. She also uses her office to hold pet adoptions for Lucky Puppy and others.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith started a daily podcast to inspire and encourage others. It was called “My Happy Ass Life.” Passionate about recovery, Smith shares her story of triumph over family addiction, celebrating the transformative power of true recovery. Grace and gratitude drive her “rags to riches” journey, encapsulated in her mantra: “The only people we have to get even with are those who have helped us!”

APPROACHING APOGEE

BY TONY SIMMONS

BLASTING OFF: The FSU PC Rocketry Team (seen far right) scored a textbook launch in their first year competing in the NASA Challenge.

VIEW DAEDALUS LAUNCH VIDEO youtube.com/watch?v=lV95dmBlG7s

In Greek mythology, Daedalus was the first man to fly using the most advanced technology of his time: wings fashioned of bird feathers glued together with beeswax.

He was the architect of the labyrinth of Crete, where the Minotaur was imprisoned. When the legendary hero Theseus escaped from the maze, King Minos suspected Daedalus had aided Theseus, so he imprisoned the architect and his son, Icarus.

Daedalus fashioned two sets of wings so he and Icarus could escape. He warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sun, as the wax would melt, and he could plummet to his death. When Icarus failed to heed his father, a tragic metaphor for hubris and youthful overreach was born.

FSU PC mechanical engineering graduate Preston Clinedinst (’24) understands that metaphor on several levels—particularly as it relates to the Rocketry and Mechatronics Club and the senior design project he worked on for the last year of his degree program.

“When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut,” Clinedinst explained one day in the engineering workroom at the Holley Academic Center, where bits of circuitry, tools of all kinds, portions of rocket stages and other hardware lay scattered on benches and tables. “My mom put a stop to that, but ....”

As the leader of the Daedalus Rocket Team, Clinedinst also saw how over-estimating their mastery of the engineering tasks occasionally left the team members scrambling to adjust at the last minute. That team included Clinedinst, John Cowart, Grayson Smith, Jenna Murray and Nicholas Laymon.

But their training and the experience they amassed hand-building rockets also provided the skills to react on the fly with greater success.

“We’re very proud of what we accomplished as students who had no prior experience with rocketry,” said Cowart, adding that he hopes to someday work at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. “I feel like a true engineer.”

THE ROAD TO HUNTSVILLE

Inspired by a presentation in Tallahassee in 2023, the students decided to participate in the annual NASA University Student Launch Initiative (USLI), a rocketry competition for teams in colleges across the nation. Because the competition’s timeline doesn’t line up with semester starts and finishes, they had to take ownership of the process and began working on what would become the Daedalus Project during the summer of 2023.

“NASA is very structured, so even though (the process is) very academic, it’s also very close to industry design processes, from proposal to design, defending design decisions and building the prototype,” Capehart said. “It’s structured like a pressure cooker of nine months.”

USLI focuses on achieving a 5,280-foot apogee (or highest altitude), a 90-second descent time, and precise payload deployment at 400 feet. The challenge showcases advancements in propulsion, aerodynamics and precision landing mechanisms designed and built by student teams.

The process started with writing a proposal for acceptance to the program, which began a nine-month countdown.

“None of us had any experience in rocketry, so it was kind of a shot in the dark,” Clinedinst said.

The team started by building rockets from readymade kits to learn the basics and study different stabilizing fin shapes. They consulted with the Panama City Rocket Club, which supplied them with Open Rocket flight simulation software.

“We bought one kit rocket and enough raw materials to build another four rockets based on what we learned from that,” Clinedinst said, adding that National Association of Rocketry (NAR) member John Hansel, a local resident, was “indispensable.”

The team also thanked the deans, professors, support

“COMPETITIONS LIKE THIS TEST THEIR FUNDAMENTALS AND KNOWLEDGE. IT’S VERY BENEFICIAL TO A SENIOR DESIGN PROJECT, AS A CULMINATION OF THEIR ENTIRE ENGINEERING PROGRAM.”

TWAN CAPEHART, PH.D., PROFESSOR AND ADVISOR

staff, donors and other mentors for their support, specifically naming Kaitlyn Batka, Darlene Barker and Jim and Sandy Dafoe.

“I don’t think we could do this without some kind of outside guidance from someone who has been doing it for years,” Clinedinst said. “Hansel warned us against a couple of mistakes, but we thought better. We learned we should have listened. A couple of times, we definitely were a little big for our britches and it came back to haunt us more than once.”

Parts for their rockets were hand-tooled in the engineering lab machine shop. Students learned by applying fiberglass to the fins, weighing every piece, deciding changes of material, being able to simulate those changes, figuring out weight distribution, designing electrical components, programming for controlled ejections at different altitudes, and addressing safety concerns.

“There’s no true, unique solution to these problems,” Capehart said. “They’re open ended, so it allows the students to be critical, test how confident they are in calculations, measurements, decisions. It gets them outside of the classroom.”

Next came a Critical Design Review, which explains their choices of materials, fin shapes and other details, and

results in the construction of a rocket at least half the size of their final project. They named this rocket “Icarus,” in part because it was doomed to fall—and they were fated to learn from its failures.

“We definitely flew too close to the sun, because we thought we knew what we were doing. We got lucky with one launch,” Clinedinst said.

They launched Icarus a total of three times. The first time, they were lucky because high winds forced air across the altimeters, but the second time was a still day. The altitude was misread on ascent and the rocket separated too soon, with parts split and parachutes deploying too early.

“Kind of the humor in it was that Icarus flew too close to the sun and he fell down,” Clinedinst said. “We actually had a similar experience with our Icarus. We had a little of that youthful hubris.”

NASA required each stage of the work to be carefully documented. Capehart doubted team members would ever see a more rigorous documentation requirement. “They have to learn to write like an engineer, not an English major. It’s a very different skill,” he said.

“It was more writing than I ever did for any engineering course,” Clinedinst said.

Icarus’ last launch occurred on Dec. 23, 2023, and criteria for success were all met with a successful deployment of recovery subsystems and flight profile data recorded throughout all stages of the flight.

“Flight Readiness Review is the final milestone, and by then we have to fly the full-scale rocket,” Clinedinst said.

FINAL COUNTDOWN

On April 12, 2024, the team presented their work at NASA’s Rocket Fair in Huntsville, Ala., where the Marshall Spaceflight Center is located. The next day, they flew Daedalus for the final challenge.

“Competitions like this test their fundamentals and knowledge,” Capehart said. “It’s very beneficial to a senior design project, as a culmination of their entire engineering program.”

After a short delay caused by an aircraft flying over the launch zone, Daedalus took flight, nearly disappearing from sight into a cloudless blue sky. Separation occurred as designed, and the drogue chute deployed to control the rocket’s descent and keep it from drifting down range. At about 800 feet, the main chute deployed and brought the missile to a soft landing in the field.

Expecting to reach about 5,200 feet at apogee, the team was gratified to reach another 81 feet beyond that height.

“This competition took up just about all of our time and pushed us to our limits regarding schoolwork,” Cowart said. “I personally am amazed that we did as well as we did, considering we are a team of 5—most teams competing had over 20 to 30 members. UCF had 60 members and 14 team leads. Auburn (had) around 50 declared and more than 80 helping with their rocket.”

Meanwhile, the Daedalus Project team is pursuing NAR certification to become mentors so they can train next year’s team. Over the summer, the new crew received a crash course in rocketry design.

Clinedinst hopes more students will want to get involved in the program or join the Rocketry and Mechatronics Club, a recognized student organization. He said the lessons have been invaluable to him as a mechanical engineer.

“It’s been a long journey,” Clinedinst said. “We’ve learned a bunch of lessons. We’ve been doing this over the course of three semesters. ... I would say, if we were given the resources, we could get there again in a month.”

ROCKET SCIENCE : At left, the team carries an early design to a test launch. This page: The rocket is mounted on a launch stand and prepared to fire (at top); the separated stage is ready for recovery (at right).

COMPUTER ENGINEERING

EVERY ROBODOG HAS ITS DAY

BY TONY SIMMONS

VIEW ROBODOG RACE VIDEO youtube.com/watch?v=6oi0XsGaAtI

Students and onlookers gathered on the tile floor of the Allan G. Bense Atrium in the Holley Academic Center to watch engineering students set up small, four-legged contraptions along a line of red tape. Four feet away, another stripe of tape marked the finish line—but the distance was less important than the effort students put into designing and building a device that could cross it.

Held once each fall and spring semester, the Robodog Race marks a milestone in Electrical and Computer Engineering, according to Ali Manzak, the class instructor.

“This is a microprocessor class,” said Manzak, Ph.D., assistant teaching professor, who worked as a digital design engineer in California before deciding to join academia. “While in this class, they are learning how microprocessors work. They have two projects. This was the first project, which is more fun, I guess. The second one is more complex.”

Microprocessors function as the “brain” of a computer. They perform arithmetic and logic operations, provide temporary memory storage, and can regulate elements of a computer-controlled mechanical system. In the robodogs, microprocessors controlled the speed and direction of movement of the robots’ legs.

The Electrical and Computer Engineering program at FSU Panama City is designed with the students’ success in mind; with small class sizes, students benefit from a personal teaching environment and individual attention.

Students can tailor the curriculum to their interests and career goals with two majors available — electrical engineering or computer engineering — leading to a bachelor of science degree.

Coursework emphasizes all aspects of the profession’s practice, including circuits, analog and digital electronics, cyber security engineering, controls, digital communications, electromagnetic fields, and power systems. A Capstone Senior Design project applies theory to practice to solve real-world problems.

The Robodog Race provides an early taste of this practical application.

“I was testing different speeds and delays,” said Nicholas Ni, whose shoebox design hopped to a speedy win in the spring race. “I ended up making the front legs not move and making the back ones really fast. My battery has so much weight that I had to place it in the right spot to stay straight enough and go really fast. So, honestly, trial and luck.”

Christian Ivers, 23, won the fall race with his “lastditch effort” after an all-nighter failed to result in a working robodog. “I tried to do a double-jointed dog, but I couldn’t get it to move properly. For me, the biggest challenge with all this was getting the power to work right.”

For more information about Electrical & Computer Engineering, visit PC.FSU.edu/ECE

NEXT LEVEL ESPORTS TEAM COMPETES FOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

BY TONY SIMMONS

FSU Panama City’s esports team, in its second year of competition, went head-to-head for the Peach Belt Championship in March 2024.

The team competed in the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) semi-finals in Overwatch, beating Augusta University 3-2, then moved up to the Champions Division Final in Aiken, S.C., facing off against the University of North Georgia. Unfortunately, FSU PC fell in the best-ofseven match.

FSU Panama City has two teams, “Flame” and “Sea,” with the Flame team going to the finals, including members Timothy Peagler, Kevin Wang, Gregory Shakes, Wesley Williams and Sophia Rivera.

“Given this is the start of our second season, this is a significant result,” said Nicholas Sellers, Ph.D., who was at the time coach of FSU PC’s esports team and a member of the Professional Communication teaching faculty. “The team finished 8-1 in the regular season and playoffs. They worked hard and have been really resilient.”

In regular season play, each match is scored according to a best-of-five finish. Sellers said the team had a few matches this season where they were down 2-0 and “clawed our way back. We earned this.”

HISTORIC FIRSTS

The FSU PC esports team is the first competitive varsity team in FSU PC history. In January 2023, the team was admitted to the NCAA Division II Peach Belt Conference as an associate member.

Open to any full-time students in good standing, the team is university-funded and provides mentorship and the opportunity to travel.

The PBC was the first NCAA conference to hold an esports championship starting with the 2017-2018 academic year. The league was also the first to partner with Riot Games, publisher of League of Legends, the mostplayed online game in the world, and the first to hold an in-person live conference championship.

Esports has become a large and popular competitive sports category with dozens of multiplayer games eligible for championship leagues.

For details about FSU PC esports, visit pc.fsu.edu/esports. To view streaming matches, visit Twitch.tv/FSUPC_esports

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

EXCEPTIONAL ENGINEERS

Women grads beat the odds, land Navy robotics jobs

BY TONY SIMMONS

Statistics say only about 16 percent of those working in engineering fields are female, according to the Society of Women Engineers.

Two of Florida State University Panama City’s spring graduates are skewing that statistic locally. Both were nontraditional students who received their bachelor degrees in Electrical Engineering in May 2024, and were already working full time in the area of Unmanned Systems Technology (or robotics) for the Navy’s NAVSEA department at Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division.

“It’s not typical for a woman to be in STEM, but I beat the odds,” said Josie Acreman, a single mom raising a young daughter. “On social media, a lot of moms reach out to me and ask for encouragement or advice on getting started. That’s the hardest part, getting started.”

Acreman said she is also a role model for her child, who accompanied her to many night classes during her degree program.

“My daughter knows most of the professors here,” Acreman said. “She believes I can build anything. She loves STEM. She actually helped us with our Senior Design Project in engineering. She’s so proud of me, and that’s the best gift.”

NAVIGATING THE OBSTACLES

Classmate Morgan Olsen, medically retired from the U.S. Coast Guard, used her G.I. Bill to go back to school. She started at Gulf Coast State College before transferring next door to FSU PC.

“I found a home here at FSU Panama City,” Olsen said. “The people, the location right on the bay. Everyone is amazing. The curriculum is rigorous, challenging but rewarding. There are so many reasons to come to FSU PC—small class sizes, you aren’t treated like a number. It’s very personal and you get to know your professors on a personal level.”

Olsen was a Coast Guard Electrician’s Mate First Class when a shoulder injury resulted in surgeries and lingering pain. Becoming an electrical engineer has offered her a chance to continue her love of science and technology in a design capacity.

“Since I’m older, I have older person problems: bills to pay, having to work, navigating relationships,” Olsen said. “You have to sacrifice a lot in returning to school as a nontraditional student. The goal is to stay focused and not give up. It’s not far until you actually reach the end—and here it is.”

BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE

Acreman joked there was some speculation about her reason for choosing engineering: “Some say I’m crazy,” she said with a laugh. “But I did it because I have a love for engineering and electrical-anything, STEM—I have a passion for it.”

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs are male-dominated fields. According to the American Association of University Women, females make up only 34 percent of the STEM workforce and men vastly outnumber women majoring in most STEM fields in college.

Drilling into those statistics, Acreman noted that only about 11 percent of people in the electrical engineering field are women, “and single mothers are even less than that, so me walking across that stage is me beating every statistic and proving everyone wrong.”

Acreman added that she’s not only paving the way for her daughter, but she’s also teaching the men in her field a lesson in equality: “I don’t take smack from men. You’ve got to be tough-skinned. This blond girl walks in, and I always surprise them all.”

Both women acknowledged the assistance of professors, fellow students, family and friends who helped them through tough times.

“YOU HAVE TO SACRIFICE A LOT IN RETURNING TO SCHOOL AS A NONTRADITIONAL STUDENT. THE GOAL IS TO STAY FOCUSED AND NOT GIVE UP.”

MORGAN OLSEN, ‘24

“When they say that everyone here becomes family, they aren’t kidding,” said Acreman, who added that her favorite place on campus is the engineering lab. “We are a pack. I can call anyone here today with a flat tire or for money, even, and they’ll come right out. They’re there for you.”

“No one is left behind,” Olsen said. “Everyone will

make it to the finish line if you find the resources and the individuals that will help you get there, which this campus is full of. … Not only did I make sacrifices, but everyone in my life also made sacrifices. I just want to say how grateful I am to them for helping me get through this. And thank you to all the professors, my peers and classmates that also assisted me in this endeavor.”

POWER WOMEN: Josie Acreman, left, and Morgan Olsen graduated in May 2024 with undergraduate degrees in Electrical Engineering.

Under the Sea

Dive

programs employ the latest subsurface devices

BY TONY SIMMONS

PIER REVIEW : KC Davis and Siena Parente prepare an ROV for use in the shallows of North Bay (below left). Davis lowers the tiny submersible on a cable (below right). Seen up close (opposite page) the ROV has lights, a central camera, and a grappling arm for grasping objects on the sea floor.

DEEP DIVE Q&A: SIENA PARENTE

BY CRISTINA DOAN

Q: Where are you from? Why did you choose to attend FSU Panama City?

A: I am from Rhode Island, originally. I chose to come to FSU Panama City primarily for the opportunity to join the Underwater Crime Scene Investigation certificate program and the Law Enforcement Intelligence bachelor’s degree program. I always knew I wanted to live in Florida, so FSU Panama City was the ideal choice all around. Who doesn’t want to study on the beach?

Q: What inspired you to choose your degree program?

A: For as long as I can remember, I have always been fascinated with police and detective work, specifically as it relates to psychology. After reviewing many programs throughout the state of Florida, I decided that FSU’s Law Enforcement Intelligence bachelor’s degree program was one of my top choices and given that the Underwater Crime Scene Investigation certificate program was there for the taking as well, I was happy with my decision to come here.

Q: What has your experience been so far in the program?

A: So far, I have loved learning about intelligence gathering in law enforcement and the psychological aspects that go along with it. I have also enjoyed learning about different intelligence gathering techniques that are used in the field. I love the environment and the professors. They are all very kind and understanding and seem genuinely interested in what they are teaching, which encourages me to do better in school.

Q: Who are the faculty or staff members that have helped or inspired you?

A: The professors that have inspired me the most would have to be Adam Wendt. As a dive instructor and educator, he makes learning so much fun while ensuring everyone is safe and understanding everything that is going on; and Dr. Banyon Pelham, as he has many stories to tell and is always excited about what he teaches.

Q: What advice do you have for fellow students?

A: I would advise if you don’t already, learn to enjoy reading. It doesn’t matter what it is, just read. Reading has helped me so much; it has made my writing so much better, which is so beneficial for college courses. Work hard in school and get your assignments done early; do not wait until the last minute. Finally, make sure you set aside time to do activities outside school and work that you enjoy. It’s very important to keep yourself happy and sane.

HEALTHY START FSU, Tallahassee Memorial partner for FSU Health

BY KATHLEEN HAUGHNEY AND TONY SIMMONS

FSU and Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare formalized their long-term partnership with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in April 2024 that created a governance structure for a new medical campus in Panama City Beach and an academic health center in Tallahassee.

The MOU was intended to form a new not-for-profit corporation to jointly oversee major strategic, research and clinical education decisions for the two organizations. This structure will help transform the future of health care in the region through scientific progress, programmatic expansion and technological innovation.

“Since arriving at Florida State University, my leadership team and I have been working diligently to lay the groundwork for FSU Health, a bold initiative that promises to transform the health care ecosystem in North Florida,” said FSU President Richard McCullough. “The MOU is an important step in solidifying our relationship with TMH and establishing the basic operating and governance structure for our partnership as part of the FSU Health initiative.”

FSU is also contributing to TMH’s partnership with The St. Joe Company to establish FSU Health in Panama City Beach. This campus opened in July 2024 with a medical office building housing physician partner groups, an Urgent Care Center and ambulatory surgery center, as well as cardiology and orthopedic services.

“We have so much growth in Bay County … and the region of Northwest Florida as a whole is just growing tremendously. We need more health care options,” St. Joe Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer Rhea Goff told news media during a February 2024 meeting of the Bay Economic Development Alliance.

BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

Plans for the Panama City Beach facility will initially include a 100-bed hospital with an emergency center and other inpatient services including surgery, scheduled to be complete by the end of 2027.

The campus is planned to eventually support a 600bed facility, supported by about 380,000 square feet of medical office space.

“We’re really excited about getting the medical office building open. Not only do we need health care services on that side of Bay County and Panama City Beach, but as we continue to grow and bring more people from other states into our community, health care is one of the major concerns of people that want to come to our community,” Bay EDA President Becca Hardin said in a statement to news media.

By combining TMH’s patient care with FSU’s medical and health education programs and its research capabilities, FSU and TMH will further their longstanding goal of expanding health care in the region.

This will also include opportunities for FSU researchers focused on aging and digital health, as well as residency programs and clinical rotations for FSU medical students.

“TMH has been working toward this goal of partnering with FSU to create an academic health center for almost 15 years,” said TMH President & CEO Mark O’Bryant. “This is a monumental step forward in our relationship, and I’m incredibly excited and proud of the work our teams have done.”

Research and clinical education are at the core of this agreement, with both parties recognizing the importance they each hold in enhancing the prestige needed to attract significant state and federal funding, as well as the reputation to recruit world renowned scientists and researchers.

Partnerships between TMH and FSU are not new, as both organizations have historically shared the common goal of moving health care innovation forward. The two organizations have partnered in the past to bring residency programs to the community including Internal Medicine, General Surgery and Psychiatry.

“WE HAVE SO MUCH GROWTH IN BAY COUNTY. WE NEED MORE HEALTH CARE OPTIONS.”

RHEA GOFF, ST. JOE CO. VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER

“We look forward to partnering with them through such programs as our Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice, Pre-Professional Health and Early Childhood Autism Program, and to expanding healthcare opportunities in this region,” said FSU Panama City Dean Randy Hanna.

This new opportunity presented itself in 2022 when the Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis awarded FSU $125 million to build an academic health center in Tallahassee.

This work is critical as North Florida faces significant shortages of health care professionals at the same time as it is experiencing rapid population growth. The development of FSU Health will boost the quality and availability of innovative care for North Florida and beyond.

STRONG BEGINNING : FSU Health is shown in an artist’s rendering (at left) and while still under construction (right) in 2024. A tour of the facility included one of the operating theatres (top right).

NEXT GEN MACHINING

Capabilities include Machining and Welding

Additive Manufacturing Systems Maintenance

Power Systems Energy Storage

Design and Manufacturing

WINDTUNNEL

Modeling, 34k evaluation,

Component Testing

Prototype Development

sq.ft. of configurable manufacturing work cells, materials testing, diagnostics laboratories, learning spaces to support project innovation, education, and workforce training programs.

MACHINING include CNC

Welding

ROBOTICS, SIMULATION & PROTOTYPING

Manufacturing

Maintenance

Offering spaces equipped for Mechanics & Control, Robotics & Automation, Systems Engineering, Manufacturing Simulation and Prototyping.

COMPOSITES TESTING & DESIGN

Featuring Materials and Composite Testing, High-Temp Composites, Materials and Process Design

Collaboration Spaces

Faculty, staff, students and partners work together on applied research, technology transition, education, and economic development objectives.

WINDTUNNEL & AEROTESTING FACILITY

Modeling, Simulation & Visualization sq.ft. for low to high-speed experimental testing and evaluation, collaboration and learning spaces.

SCIF

Sensitive Comparmented Information Facility

BUILD-OUT SPACES

for Partners & Collaborators

ASPIRATIONAL : FSU InSPIRE will combine advanced manufacturing and high-tech educational programs.

SUMMER S.T.E.M. S.T.E.M.

CAMPS FOCUS ON SCIENCE

BY TONY SIMMONS

Summer means “science” at FSU Panama City, as various programs host day camps for all ages that focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

In June, the TRIO students from several Bay District schools toured campus to learn about programs and services. They also participated in a marine biology lesson prepared by the St. Andrew and St. Joseph Bays Estuary Program, which included several hands-on activities on the waterfront.

“We’re just trying to raise awareness about some of the things that we do, get some of the kids involved with being able to look and see and touch some of the critters out there,” said Jessica Graham, Ph.D., director of the estuary program. She added that students were participating in “real research going on in collaboration with Auburn University and Rutgers University” involving genetic studies of oysters.

ASCENT (Advancing Science and Career Education in New Technologies) hosted four weeks of iCamp for grade school students in June. Campers learned digital design and programming skills and engaged in intense Mario Kart and Smash Brothers battles with the FSU Panama City Esports team.

“The FSU PC iCamp engages local students with career opportunities in computing, technology and engineering through a four-week program that focuses on graphic design, branding, resume building, Google sheets, coding, engineering, robotics, drones and AI,” said Brianne Biddle, K-12 liaison. “Having this exposure really opens that door to so many opportunities, and hopefully inspires them to major in STEM or computing.”

In July, FSU Panama City teamed with Rutherford High School in Springfield for Mavericks STEM Camp, a free summer series for students in grades 7-12. The camp included artificial intelligence projects, labs, expert guest speakers and team

HANDS ON: High school students in the TRIO program measure oysters being cultivated in North Bay by the Estuary program. Far left: Students in the Mavericks STEM Camp at Rutherford High sort equipment.

VIEW MAVERICKS STEM CAMP VIDEO youtube.com/watch?v=YStDIDkfi7E

SCOPE

IT OUT: The Collegiate School at FSU Panama City hosted a series of STEM camps during the summer of 2024.

challenges. Students built AI models and explored realworld applications; engaged in experiments; learned from industry professionals; and collaborated with peers.

“It was super-fun,” said Collegiate School sophomore Alina Beech, following a robotics competition. “I am very interested in STEM fields, and I hope to one day be a rocket scientist or aerospace engineer.”

Mavericks camp was co-sponsored by TAC Government Solutions and the Department of Defense’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office. It was overseen by FAMU-FSU Systems Engineering Program Coordinator Daniel Georgiadis, and FSU PC K12 Director of Youth Initiatives Denise Newsome. They were supported by Joshua Hinton and Joshua Everett, who are both civilian systems engineers employed at Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City with master’s degrees from FSU Panama City.

“A lot of people don’t know they can be part of the Defense Department while not wearing the uniform and not being in the military,” Hinton said. “There are a lot of different careers on the civilian side, and what this is trying to do is introduce this concept to the kids, that there are jobs in these fields in the Defense Department that are plentiful and pay well.”

The Collegiate School at FSU PC hosted its own Summer Institute camp in partnership with the FSU Panama City STEM Institute, limited to students who had completed grades 6-8. Separate week-long sessions focused

on crime scene investigation, digital design, robotics programming, literature, public speaking, photography, debate and biomedical science.

The STEM Institute connects university resources, faculty expertise and professional know-how with school districts, educators and students to enhance STEM curriculum and classroom practices.

Jenna Edwards, administrative specialist with TCS, said the camps were created to encourage middle school students to “explore career options and pathways” that they could pursue at TCS.

During the summer, while their students are off—or possibly attending STEM camps—teachers often have inservice training, certification courses and other continuing education. Many attended “Transforming Minds by Transforming the Classroom,” hosted by FSU PC Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs Elizabeth Crowe and the FSU PC STEM Institute. The camp for Bay District science teachers was funded by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division and Dr. and Mrs. James Cook.

ASCENT also hosted four weeks of T3 Academy, named for the slogan, “Teaching. Technology. Together.” The sessions designed for teachers included exploring artificial intelligence, WordPress, Google and Adobe, as well as Python coding. The aim was to train teachers so they could prepare their students for certification exams in those subjects.

ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER ENGINEERING

Current Capacity

Current Capacity

ELECTRONICS LAB GETS UPGRADE

HARDWIRED: Students perform tests (this page and opposite page) using state of the art equipment in the Keysight Electronics Laboratory.

BY TONY SIMMONS

A typical Monday afternoon this autumn found six undergraduates working through a circuitry assignment in the newly renamed Keysight Electronics Laboratory on the third floor of the Holley Academic Center.

“We have 20 complete workstations,” said Walid Hadi, Ph.D., associate teaching professor and program coordinator for Electrical and Computer Engineering, describing the equipment. “When I was an undergrad, we might have three students per workstation, but only one of them was really learning very much—the one operating the equipment.”

The state-of-the-art upgrade by Keysight, valued at $140,000, supplied 20 workstations including circuit boards, oscilloscopes and multimeters, plus the transistors, cables, LEDs and other gear needed to build specific circuits. Keysight is a global technology company that specializes in electronic design and test solutions with offices around the world, including the U.S., Germany, Japan and Malaysia. As part of the donation agreement, the lab will bear Keysight’s name until 2030.

The donation replaced workstations that were comparable in function but were a few years older. With the new equipment, readings are more accurate, visuals are clearer and more pronounced, and data can be saved wirelessly.

“I went through all the circuits courses with the old equipment, and when this came in it was a huge difference,” said Rohan Nana, a senior Electrical Engineering major who serves as Hadi’s teaching assistant in the lab. “They had different name brands (for each component). This is all Keysight, so they really mesh well together. Previously, we also had issues that some of the equipment was not very accurate. We go into lab now and get more accurate measurements that match our calculations and theoretical values.”

Hadi said some engineering programs don’t have classes and labs during the same semester, preferring to cover all the concepts before applying them. But his approach is to cover a topic in-depth in class, then immediately go to the lab to apply the lesson the same week.

Samantha Gibel, 21, Electrical Engineering major, returned from her summer break to discover the new equipment ready for use. She found the Keysight gear more user-friendly than the older workstations, especially for saving data. She plans to take her degree to a job as a civilian engineer at a local military base.

“There seems to be a bit of a gap,” said Jabari Acre, 26, a mechanical engineer employed at Naval Support Activity Panama City. “There’s electrical engineers who aren’t very familiar with the mechanical side of things, or mechanical engineers who think all the electrical stuff is magic.”

Acre, a master’s level student in Electrical Engineering,

already has a bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland. He was taking Hadi’s undergrad class this fall to establish a foundation for upper-level coursework as he expands his mastery of the field and prepares for the demands of the future.

“Definitely there’s a push for more autonomous related things and robotics. … Work is popping up at the base, and there’s a lack of electrical engineers” to tackle all of the projects currently underway, Acre said. “Right now, I’m designing enclosures and integrating electronic equipment. If I didn’t understand the fundamentals of electrical engineering, it would be a lot more intimidating.”

BY TONY SIMMONS

Innovative technology is the standard for FSU Panama City’s ASCENT program (Advancing Science and Career Education in New Technologies).

The 6-year, $23 million project partially funded by Triumph Gulf Coast Inc. was designed to contribute to the development of a strong, regional workforce in cybersecurity and new technologies. The Triumph grant pledges $11.5 million in matching funds to money raised by or donated to ASCENT.

Now in its third year of the six-year funding cycle, ASCENT’s key goals include increasing the interest and pipeline of students in engineering, computer science, information technology and cybersecurity fields through various K-12 initiatives; expanding FSU PC program offerings to include an undergraduate degree in Information Technology (IT); and delivering non-credit customized training and testing to meet regional needs of community partners.

“AI AND ROBOTICS ARE THE FUTURE. WE ARE REALLY PUSHING ROBOTICS THIS YEAR.”

BRIANNE

BIDDLE, ASCENT K-12 LIAISON

“It’s not often you can say we’re a one-stop shop, but that’s what we are,” said Suzanne Remedies, Ph.D., a retired USAF master sergeant and the assistant director for ASCENT.

The K-12 initiative includes the T3 Academy, which trains teachers who will guide students through a variety of high-tech certifications. The academy’s focus is supplying hands-on learning experiences in IT, where teachers can develop or enhance skills that will be passed along to their students.

Another aspect of the program is iCamp, a technology summer camp for high school students. The goal is to develop a sustainable environment where students become aware of fun and exciting career opportunities in IT and get help overcoming any learning challenges.

“We had a student who became a WordPress certified editor at 17 years old,” said Brianne Biddle, K-12 liaison for ASCENT. “She now runs a website for a local veterinary clinic. High school graduates can have a marketable certification that goes on their resume. They can get some of these certifications and move right into a high-tech job.”

The St. Joe Community Foundation donated $122,527 to ASCENT in July, which Remedies said would be used expand school-based technology clubs and iCamps. This year’s donation was a follow-up to $135,000 the Foundation gave in 2022.

“Our Integrated Technology Clubs focus on exposing students to new and emerging technologies through before- and after-school clubs, summer camps and team events with the ultimate goal of developing a younger pipeline of students who will become our region’s workforce of tomorrow,” Remedies said.

Among the initiatives at FSU PC is organizing a Cybersecurity Lab on campus designed for simulating and defending against security attacks. The lab would complement an IT undergraduate degree program with a cybersecurity specialization.

“Cybersecurity is in everything,” Remedies said, adding that the industry is forecasting a much higher need for skilled workers than what is currently in the educational pipeline. “They’re projecting a 45 percent shortfall in individuals needed for those careers.”

Another aspect of the programming deals with robotics. ASCENT’s first robotics challenge team started at the Maritime Academy in January, and ASCENTsponsored local teams competed in a Robotics Challenge at FAMU in March.

“AI and robotics are the future,” Biddle said. “We’re really pushing robotics this year.”

BFPL TECH EXPO

Another aspect of ASCENT’s work is illustrated by the annual Technology Expo, which is intended to raise awareness of educational and job opportunities. The second annual Expo, sponsored by Florida Power and Light (FPL), filled the Holley Academic Center March 2, 2024.

The all-ages event featured Minecraft scavenger hunts; rocket builds; an Esports competition; technology and engineering demonstrations; performances by the FSU Electric Chamber Orchestra (ECHO); a presentation on creativity and ChatGPT; and much more, including food trucks on site.

“Minecraft is a gateway opportunity to expose kids to programming,” Remedies said. “You have to find a way to make it fun and exciting to entice them into the opportunities.”

ASCENT had more than 400 participants in 2023 and more than doubled that number in its second year.

“It’s an all-day, family event,” Remedies said. “We want to show that there’s literally something for everyone in the field. It’s so vast, and it touches almost everybody.”

FPL donated $50,000 to ASCENT programs in February 2024, including the Tech Expo; that grant will result in $100,000 when matching funds are secured.

“The FPL grant is tremendously beneficial to us,” Remedies said. “FPL partnering with us expands the exposure and opportunities to these students, and it allows us to expand our outreach.”

FPL Vice President and General Manager Northwest Region J.T. Young said the utility company was honored to support ASCENT and Florida State University, as FPL has a stake in improving cybersecurity technology and security.

“At FPL, we believe in investing in STEM education and empowering the next generation of skilled workers,”

Young added. “It’s a privilege to be part of this educational journey for so many and witness the incredible accomplishments they will achieve. We are grateful for this partnership and the opportunity to make a positive impact on the local community.”

TECH SUPPORT: Below: Florida Power & Light contributed $50,000 to the ASCENT propgram in February 2024 (below), including support for the annual Tech Expo. Above: Students work together on an ASCENT robotics team project.

MECHANICAL

ENGINEERING

M.A.D. SKILLS

BY TONY SIMMONS Senior design project solves mobility

issues

When April Faircloth was a child, her grandfather owned a small farm and an auto repair shop in Panama City. She spent her days either on a tractor or working on a car’s engine.

“I started working on customer cars when I was 8 or 9 years old,” she said. “Picture this little girl under your car, pulling your radiator out. Sometimes, people wouldn’t like that. They’d ask, ‘Why is that little girl working on my car?’ My grandfather would say, ‘Why don’t you go over there and watch her, and if you think she does anything wrong, come and tell me.’”

Nobody complained about the results, she said. As Faircloth got older, she considered becoming a mechanic—or even a mechanical engineer—but people would frighten her by pointing out how much math was involved in the latter. Her family members had little experience with college, so she entered another field after high school.

“I ended up pursuing a career in corrections and was a corrections officer for 11 years,” she said.

WALKING TALL

Faircloth completed her senior semester in the summer of 2024, and had already started work for a Virginia-based engineering firm. She creates blueprints and designs HVAC, electrical and plumbing systems for skyscrapers.

For her senior design project, she and three fellow Mechanical Engineering majors—Jacob Dorr, Asher Young and Trevor Yelton—designed a prototype motorized walker for adults with mobility issues. The “secret extra ingredient” in their design was a stabilizer system that activates if the walker tips to one side.

The Mobility Assistance Device is a hybrid mechanism to enhance mobility and safety, which will reduce the risk of falls and associated injuries. MAD also prioritizes user experience through ergonomic design and intuitive controls, empowering users to navigate their environment with independence and confidence.

“It is a walker/rollator hybrid, something that doesn’t currently exist in the market,” Faircloth said. “Leaning on a walker and pushing it forward is what can put the user off-balance. This one is designed to allow the user to stand upright. You will stand in the normal position that you’ve been walking in most of your life, and it bases its speed off of how fast you’re walking.”

An ultrasonic sensor detects how close the user is to the device, and as the user changes speed, the walker adjusts to match them. “If you stop, it will hit that set distance and stop, so you are being supported and it’s not going to run away from you,” she added.

RESEARCH READY: The MAD team included Jacob Dorr, Asher Young, Trevor Yelton and April Faircloth.

She became a department head after nine years, but opportunities for advancement were limited. Feeling like she wasn’t living up to her potential, Faircloth decided to go back to college. She remained employed fulltime, and a scholarship helped her pay for classes at Gulf Coast State College.

“All the calculus was over with. Now I had to learn to apply it,” she said. Upon her transfer to FSU Panama City, she added the PC Promise Scholarship to funds she had already secured. That meant she could afford to take classes full-time and “move forward with my life.”

The MAD detects the user’s orientation in a multitude of ways. When a tipping event is detected it increases the base of the walker, preventing the fall.

“We extensively researched how users fall while using a walker or rollator, focusing on preventing the most common types of falls,” Faircloth said.

Twan Capehart, Ph.D., the MAD research group’s faculty advisor, noted that these sorts of projects are completely new to students and pose a host of challenges.

“They had to come up with entire guidelines that they set for themselves, come up with a project that is inspired by something in their life—something that happened to them or something beneficial to them—and then find ways to make it work. There are a lot of challenges in coming up with your own invention or device and bringing it to fruition in nine months.”

RESEARCH & EDUCATION

RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

Students of all disciplines make their case

BY TONY SIMMONS

The fourth annual Student Research Symposium brought dozens of students together to present their studies in the St. Joe Community Foundation Lecture Hall in April 2024.

“The goal of the research symposium is to get our students more involved in research,” said Karen Works, Ph.D., assistant teaching professor in Computer Science at FSU PC. “This event gives our students an opportunity to present their research to a multi-disciplinary audience in a way that is designed to simulate a professional conference presentation.”

Following the structure set by the Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement at FSU Tallahassee, the FSU PC Student Research Symposium is an annual showcase for students from all majors to present their work to the university community. Student researchers from FSU, area high schools and community colleges also presented their work in a poster or creative format.

Novel research work for presentations included STEM projects, designs, project proposals, artistic works or compositions, critical reviews and other independent works completed during the academic year.

Keynote speaker was Jessica E. Graham, Ph.D., director of the St. Andrew and St. Joseph Bays Estuary Program since August 2021. Graham supervises staff and ongoing research and has also been program director for the Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership since March 2015.

Works said Graham was invited to speak because she had an impressive research background and “is a fantastic advocate for the importance of research for the academic and professional development of our students.”

GLASS HOUSES: The Holley Academic Center lobby filled with information booths and displays during the annual Student Research Symposium.

FLOWER POWER : Joakim Croteau, Jordan Destifino, Renee Haire, Bryson Lepage and Siena Sicilano tied for first place in the Undergraduate division for their Biology project, “A Comparative Analysis of the Floral Profile of Honey Samples from Bay County, FL.”

AWARD WINNERS NAMED

Top award winners at the graduate level included three studies by students in the Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice program. First place went to Jennifer Laufman and Autumn Shaw (DNAP), advised by Stacey VanDyke, DNP, with a study titled, “Do adult patients undergoing surgery that receive a prophylactic eye lubricant, compared to those who do not, experience less corneal abrasions?”

A tie for second place went to Madeline Harper (Early Childhood Autism Program), advised by Marwa Abdelkader, MS; and the team of Dewey Brazelton and Kenyatta L. Taylor (DNAP), advised by Gerald Hogan, DNSc. Third place, also advised by Hogan, went to Hannah Cooke and Trenton Suffridge (DNAP).

Honorable mentions in the graduate level went to two teams from Systems Engineering advised by David Gross, Ph.D.: Kady Riddle and Lon Schell; and Andre’ Evans, Phillip Sowders and Chibuzo Ibemere.

In the undergraduate placement, there was a tie for first place. Emileigh Parda (Psychology), advised by Kelley Kline, Ph.D., submitted, “Don’t Worry Your Pretty Little Head: Effects of Ageism and Gender on Perceived Warmth, Competence, and Hire-Ability”; and the team of Joakim Croteau, Jordan Destifino, Renee Haire, Bryson Lepage and Siena Sicilano (Biology), advised by Sarah Wofford-Mares, Ph.D., with, “A Comparative Analysis of the Floral Profile of

SWEET SAMPLES: Skyla Lawrence, Lola Clark, Jordan Seamster and Agata Tomczyk presented, ‘Can We Use Honey Samples to Identify Plant Diversity in Bay County?’

Honey Samples from Bay County, FL.”

Second place went to Shawn Hagler and Jaehyun Lee (Computer Engineering), advised by Saeed Rajput, Ph.D. Third place went to Julia Choy and Jayden Lopez (Biology), advised by Bre Minniefield, Ph.D. Honorable mention went to Juan Sanchez Moreno (Computer Science), advised by Karen Works, Ph.D.

SCIENCE POLICE

UNCOVER THE CSI PROGRAM

BY TONY SIMMONS

It’s no mystery why students are drawn to the Crime Scene Investigation program at FSU Panama City.

TV crime dramas may have given the public an unrealistic idea of what CSI can accomplish in an hour’s time, but these shows—as well as “true crime” podcasts and documentaries—have also promoted the profession in such a way that it is appealing as a career.

Housed under FSU PC’s Public Safety & Security umbrella, the CSI major integrates analytic and hands-on skills with the theoretical principles needed to properly identify, document, process, collect and analyze evidence.

“Right now, we have about 100 students in this program,” said Banyon Pelham, assistant dean for the College of Applied Studies and teaching faculty. “There are forensic science programs offered at other universities, but in Florida, Crime Scene is us.”

Pelham said many law enforcement agencies in Florida have a CSI graduate from FSU PC working on staff.

“Any of our graduates who wants a great job gets one,” said CSI Program Coordinator and instructor Charla Perdue. “Crime is not going away. We call it job security.”

HANDS-ON LEARNING

On a summer afternoon, a student in one lab brushed graphite powder gently onto a flat surface to reveal unseen fingerprints; she explained that the graphite adheres to oils left behind from the skin of the person who touched the surface, making the prints visible.

Meanwhile outside, four students studied a car riddled with bullet holes. They placed markers where shell casings lay on the pavement, inserted colored rods into ballistic punctures to determine entry angles and photographed blood stains on the vehicle and in the parking lot.

In another room, students studied bullet holes in wood, drywall, glass, fabric and a variety of other surfaces to determine caliber, angles, entry- and exit-holes, and other specifics of ballistics.

And behind hanging sheets of translucent plastic in a portion of the “dirty lab,” students bashed a simulated skull with a baseball bat to produce blood trails on the floor and walls, then other students used laser pointers and colored cords to determine the trajectory and origin points of the blood. They learned the technique using a bright

ON LOCATION: Crime Scene Investigation students (above) measure bullet holes in a donated police cruiser during a lab session.

CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION

scarlet dye, then moved on to examining the qualities of various kinds of blood, including animal blood.

Earlier in the week, they attended an autopsy demonstration at the Medical Examiner’s Office. A couple of days later, they explored an outdoor area to locate a buried “skeleton” and disinter the bones.

“There’s something very satisfying about removing the earth and finding something,” Perdue said. “I like to watch the students at the autopsy and doing blood spatter, because they seem to be most interested in that. “

DUSTING FOR PRINTS: Lindsey Like demonstrates a technique for uncovering fingerprint evidence.

TRICKS OF THE TRADE

Students must learn a variety of techniques, including multiple ways of working with limited evidence to achieve results. They draw out latent prints using different types of chemicals, as well as developing prints from wet items or types of adhesive tape. They study laser microscopy to determine animal vs. human hair, use 3D scanners as well as sketches, build a Faraday cage and take teeth impressions.

“Everybody’s going to work at a different agency, and agencies have different budgets, so we kind of want them to know some of the tricks to be able to do something regardless of cost,” Perdue said. “The nice thing about doing a little of everything is they usually find an area that they really want to hone in. So, they may want to specialize— crime scene, lab, death investigator, autopsy technician. It’s

fun to see where they land after graduation.”

For instance, one graduate now works for NASCAR in accident investigation and cleanup. Another investigates insurance fraud.

Cienna Thomaston, 23, is a ’21 grad of the CSI program who now works as a civilian Crime Scene Investigator for the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. Originally from Bruce, where her family runs a crossroads café, she came to FSU PC planning to major in math. Her mother suggested she try CSI.

“As soon as I started it, I fell in love with it,” Thomaston said. “It’s definitely for people with a certain heart, a certain mindset, because you do or can experience a lot of troubling things.”

EYE-OPENING DETAILS

Originally from New York, 22-year-old Alex Joseph was living in Tampa during the COVID-19 lockdown. She visited FSU PC to check out the programs and found herself creating blood spatters and studying bullet holes.

“There’s a lot more behind the scenes that you don’t think about,” Joseph said, pointing out that ballistics went from being her least favorite activity to her dearest. “I was like, oh my gosh, which one’s a groove, which one’s a landing, how do I tell if there’s striations? When I got more into it in class, I was on it. It was so weird because I went from hating it to really loving it.”

Joseph said her instructors focus on students more than she saw at larger institutions: “Getting in to talk with teachers or having a relationship with them is a lot more difficult at other places. You don’t have that relationship at a bigger campus. They’re not focused on individual students, they’re focused on the class as a whole.”

TRACING TRAJECTORY: Students compute the angle of entry that a bullet took when penetrating a windshiield.

YOUNG NOLES Collegiate School students prep for tech careers

BY TONY SIMMONS

“A year ago, we talked about the great expectations we had for our school, but we didn’t know the heights of achievement that would be possible for our students,” said Debbi Whitaker, director of The Collegiate School at FSU PC, speaking in her office in late June 2024.

“We know that reality now, and we continue to have even greater expectations for the year to come.”

The Collegiate School, designed as a developmental laboratory high school with an emphasis on dual enrollment and career technical education (CTE), opened to its first cohort of 100 ninth graders in August 2023. TCS gives preference to children from military families and also accepts students from across the county.

Faculty and staff were elated to learn that TCS was designated as an “A” school by the Florida Department of Education at the close of its inaugural year. Grades are based upon student achievement, learning gains, college and career achievements and more. A release from the DOE said school grades provide an easily understandable way to measure performance, allowing parents and the public to gauge how well a school is serving its students.

“We are so proud of our students, faculty, staff, board, and families for their commitment to our school and our shared goals and visions,” Whitaker said. “Opening a high

school is a great accomplishment, but for our school to be ranked as one of the top in the state was an achievement we only dreamed possible.”

ROAD TO ‘A’

As that first school year drew to a close in May 2024, TCS freshman Ethan Toole reflected on the milestones he’d earned and the higher education pathway he discovered.

“My sister is a junior in high school, and she’s taking some college-credit courses online,” Toole said. “But I get to take dual enrollment actually on the college campus, and I’ve already earned CTE certifications.”

Toole earned certifications in Word and PowerPoint and planned to attend CTE Boot Camp over the summer to earn certificates in Outlook and Excel—steppingstones toward a career as a civil engineer.

“I’M HONORED TO BE AT THIS SCHOOL. WE HAVE AMAZING TEACHERS, COOL CLASSES—THEY’RE REALLY TOUGH, THOUGH.”

ETHAN TOOLE, TCS SOPHOMORE

“In the first year, our students earned 75 industry certifications, 60 students who earned Spanish 1 college credit and 38 who earned Spanish 2 credits,” Whitaker said. “We also counted over 1,200 volunteer hours for our kids.”

The rigorous college preparatory and career certification curriculum is unique in Bay County. Whitaker extolled the successes of the inaugural year, but she added that numbers don’t tell the whole story.

“The biggest accomplishment was building a great school community, culture and climate,” Whitaker said. “We took kids from 16 different middle schools and molded them into one cohesive family, which was accomplished by the kids themselves and our close-knit faculty.”

Another sign of success was the number of applications received for the second year, which established a waiting list for vacancies. That steady growth brings new challenges, Whitaker added.

“As we continue to grow, we will continue to have increasing needs for space to accommodate the great demand we have for entrance into our school,” Whitaker said. “We will also continue to add electives and clubs, which are perhaps not seen as challenges but as opportunities for our students.”

Bolstering the effort was the fact that all of the faculty and staff returned for Year Two, which Whitaker said demonstrated “their commitment to what we’re doing at TCS.”

SECOND COHORT

As the inaugural year began, students attended classes four days a week at their campus at 2430 St, Andrews Blvd., then attended dual enrollment courses at FSU PC on Fridays. That schedule shifted to more days on campus in the spring.

By the academic year’s end, freshman Madelyn Tucker was convinced. Having no prior experience with colleges, she previously had found it “difficult to picture” her life after high school.

“I think now it’s going to be easier for me to be accepted into colleges, and I think with the experience I have now, going to FSU would be a better opportunity for me than going somewhere else,” Tucker said. “I’m used to the environment, I know people there, the knowledge about courses there is already being integrated into our classes—so it’s a lot easier to picture my years of college being there.”

Like Toole, Tucker earned certifications in two technical areas and planned to go to the summer session for at least one more. She suggested that the new crop of freshmen would have it even easier because her cohort had helped work out the bugs in the system.

TCS welcomed its second set of 125 rising freshmen during a reception on Jan. 25, 2024 and held a commissioning ceremony for them in March.

The reception gave parents an opportunity to question

LAY OF THE LAND: New Collegiate School students tour FSU Panama City during an orientation session.

GETTING SCHOOLED: John Vallas returned from retirement to teach Social Studies at TCS.

BREAK TIME: TCS students socialize during a organized break time at The Drip coffee shop next door to their campus.

staff and learn more about programs while current student ambassadors took the newbies in small groups to tour classrooms and meet teachers.

Rising sophomore Tai Chin led one of those tour groups. She noted they were “tall and a bit scary,” but she added that they were bright and “probably won’t be that annoying.”

Chin also participated in the ASCENT program’s iCamp at FSU PC over the summer. Reflecting on her freshman experience at TCS, she said the smaller class sizes and limited student population eased her adjustment to the unique environment: “It helped us build interpersonal relationships. At other high schools, everyone branches off into their own little cliques, but here everyone knows everyone.”

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

TCS is funded in part through a $7.6 million grant from Triumph Gulf Coast Inc., a nonprofit corporation that oversees the expenditure of 75% of all funds recovered by the Florida attorney general for economic damages to the state from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The funding is directed toward supporting CTE training for high school students.

In May 2024, the St. Joe Community Foundation presented a $30,000 donation to TCS, which will help build a more robust CTE program, Whitaker said.

“Thanks to the Foundation’s generosity, TCS is looking forward to providing even more resources and opportunities for students from across the county,” Whitaker said. “It is in the hands-on and experiential opportunities that our students truly accelerate their engagement in learning.”

Other types of community support have included visiting art teachers; Lunch and Learn sessions; CSI students from FSU Panama City demonstrating their work; and more.

“We have loved the support from our community,” Whitaker said. “The Friday ‘Lunch and Learn’ brought business leaders and others from the community to talk about their careers and road map to where they are now. This gave the kids a different perspective on how to reach their own destinations.”

Last year, TCS followed a modified block schedule. This year, the school has a full block schedule, which gives students intensive periods with a single subject. Many will earn extra credits as a result, and each of them will have the chance to earn at least an associate’s degree from FSU by the time they graduate from high school.

“I’m honored to be at this school. We have amazing teachers, cool classes—they’re really tough, though,” Toole said. “I’m really shocked by all the things we get done.”

Banyon Pelham, an instructor and assistant dean of the College of Applied Studies, was at the Bay County Medical Examiner’s office on Kayla Mitchell’s first day of work there.

More than a decade later, Pelham was there again to bring Law Enforcement Intelligence and Crime Scene Investigation students to observe an autopsy—on Mitchell’s last day of work.

“He kind of saw me in and then saw me out again,” she said.

In between, Pelham became her teacher and mentor as she pursued a master’s degree in LEI.

“She is a great example of how our MS in LEI assisted in a mid-career change,” Pelham said.

Mitchell, 36, grew up in a small Alabama community where her uncle was police chief. Always interested in forensics and law enforcement, she earned her bachelor’s in Criminal Justice at Troy University. After an internship with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, she was hired as an evidence technician, and she later accepted a job with the Medical Examiner’s office as an investigator, which she held for 13 years.

“I never planned to get a master’s degree,” Mitchell said. “But my old job was so physically demanding, I didn’t see myself doing that much longer. I knew a lot of companies and agencies have analysts, and that sounded like a good gig.”

However, it was also a challenge—going back to school and potentially changing careers with her family’s needs to consider. Mitchell is married, and she has “two bonus boys” from her husband Shannon’s previous marriage.

“It was time for a change,” she said. “I think I was getting burnout, just from the stuff we dealt with every day. You know, for you it’s just another Tuesday, but for the families involved, it was the worst day of their life.”

The Law Enforcement Intelligence master’s program

CAREER CHANGE

LEI program helps grad student find her place

BY TONY SIMMONS

at FSU Panama City is designed to prepare students for entry, supervisory and command-level positions within local, state and federal agencies with intelligence divisions or missions. The program includes coursework covering research methods in criminal justice, economics, political science and military science.

From terrorism to trafficking, financial crimes to street crimes, the program prepares graduates from any educational or professional background for advancement within law enforcement agencies, the government or private firms. All faculty have direct experience working with law enforcement agencies.

So, encouraged by a coworker who was already in the LEI program, Mitchell pursued the degree. Criminal profiling and researching murder cases were among her favorite lessons. Mitchell credited her instructors, including Pelham and Charla Perdue, with sharing real-life experiences that made the coursework more relevant: “I love instructors who tell good war stories.”

She completed the degree in December 2023 and landed her current job in April 2024 as the newest member of the Panama City Police Department’s Intelligence Unit.

“It was a big career change, for sure, but it was a good one,” Mitchell said. “I get to help out on whatever calls we can assist on; help identify suspects or go digging into suspects that they’ve already identified.”

Mitchell said her previous work as an autopsy tech was important to the community because she helped families determine their loved one’s cause of death. She is still helping the community in her new job, but instead of only dealing with the aftermath of crimes, she’s helping to protect the community—and even prevent crimes.

“I’m not a sworn officer,” she continued. “My background was Crime Scene, but this is real police work. As much as I enjoyed forensics, my heart was always more toward the law enforcement side.”

MEMENTO MORI Students restore historic Black cemetery

BY TONY SIMMONS

A journey that began with the search for two lost siblings’ graves led to a rededication ceremony in January 2024 at a historic Black cemetery in Panama City. Along the way, FSU Panama City students and staff participated in the cleanup effort, performing research and restoration.

“It was a cemetery of the forgotten, and we took initiative to come together and work on the project as a means to give back to the larger Panama City community,” said Associate Dean Irvin Clark, Ed.D.

REVIVED:

On Jan. 16, 2024, the City of Panama City hosted the dedication of a historic marker at the remnants of Covington Cemetery, which was a segregated cemetery for early Panama City’s African American residents.

“Significant figures in the African American community are buried there,” said Robert Cvornyek, Ph.D., at the time an assistant teaching professor in Social Science at FSU PC. “Amy Richardson, who was a teacher at Glenwood, is buried there, by Lorain Hill, another teacher. That cemetery really does tell the story of almost every African American educator in early Panama City.”

The modern portion of the story began when Cvornyek received a call from Katherine Pierce and her sister Sandra, who were searching for the graves of their twin sisters, who had died shortly after their birth many decades ago. They knew their infant siblings were buried somewhere in the St. Andrews area of Panama City, but they didn’t know the exact location. Staff with the City of Panama City suggested that they search the cemeteries along Lisenby Avenue, which were historically Black burial sites.

When they did so, they were shocked by the condition of Covington Cemetery, a privately-owned plot at 1525 Lisenby Ave. Hurricane Michael had toppled trees in the cemetery, which had become overgrown. Headstones were damaged. In addition, a camp of about 15 homeless people was discovered within the wooded area.

FSU students, faculty and staff joined community members to clean the historic site.

“When we first began working on the cemetery in 2021, it was completely in ruin and there had not been any maintenance to it since the 1990s. Between this time, there had been several hurricanes to hit Panama City, including Hurricane Michael in 2018,” said Camille Darley, one of Cvornyek’s students who has since graduated (B.S. Interdisciplinary Social Sciences,2021; B.S. in Criminology, 2022).

“There were large trees toppled over, some of which had crushed and covered headstones,” Darley said. “There was trash, debris, and drug paraphernalia scattered around the premises. The fence bordering the cemetery had also been destroyed and unhoused persons were residing in tents in the back of the cemetery.”

Cvornyek said the situation presented a moral dilemma of evicting people from a place where they had created a kind of sheltering space in order to clean up the final resting places of some of the city’s earliest residents. The homeless eventually were relocated with the city’s assistance, he said, and the cemetery was cleared of any environmental hazards, which opened it for reclamation and restoration.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION

“When I first heard about the need to cut up the downed trees and clean Hurricane Michael debris from a

AFTER THE STORM: Hurricane damage included fallen trees and smashed headstones.

private cemetery, I became anxious to see the site,” Clark said. “When I saw it, my heart ached because the few head stones I could read made it clear to me that those buried there are part of Panama City’s collective history, and their gravestones tell stories of people who once lived, worked and loved, memorialized by a few carved sentences.”

Clark, who oversees Student & Strategic Initiatives, came on the first workday and wielded a chainsaw to help remove the fallen trees. Other staff also pitched in, joining

“LOVE IS NOT TOO STRONG A WORD HERE. IT REALLY WAS A LABOR OF LOVE— RESTORING THE DIGNITY OF A SACRED PLACE GOES BEYOND POLITICS.”

ROBERT CVORNYEK, PH.D.

Cvornyek’s students.

“At the time, I taught a course in historic preservation,” Cvornyek said. “The students worked on returning the headstones, which had some water damage and other things, to as near the original condition as possible. … The class also did genealogical work.”

Working on the historical preservation of Covington Cemetery provided the opportunity to apply research skills to real-world field work, Darley said. “Part of my research involved determining a historical timeline of the legal ownership of the land parcel that the cemetery is situated on. I did this by looking through record archives and requesting records from the county.”

Darley also used genetic genealogy websites to build biographical sketches of the individuals buried in the cemetery.

The effort initiated by the Pierce sisters’ search brought a new lease on life to the historic location, as what was originally a preservation and restoration project became a research project, delving into the local history and families of the area.

“‘Love’ is not too strong a word here,” Cvornyek said. “It really was a labor of love—restoring the dignity of a sacred place goes beyond politics. The students felt a sort of deeper connection to the people buried there and the community they represented.”

The work inspired Cvornyek as well. He praised the “university students engaging outside the classroom in a loving and thoughtful way that is significant to their community.”

Clark now hopes an FSU PC registered student organization will “adopt” the cemetery and help maintain its landscaping, while FSU PC continues to use the historic site for future research opportunities.

Darley wants to see the plot maintained and protected: “Some of Panama City’s first African American teachers are buried in the cemetery, it deserves the proper recognition and support from our community.”

CEMETERY DEDICATION

Panama City Commissioner Josh Street arranged for the city to take over the care and maintenance of the

cemetery as part of the agreement to transfer the property from the private owner to the city. The city installed a new fence and cut the grass, Cvornyek said, and a marker was created by the Historic St. Andrews Waterfront Partnership, which has installed similar signage throughout the community.

“I was born and raised in Panama City, not far from where we are standing, actually here in the St. Andrews community in the historic African American community called The Hill,” said Janice Lucas, Panama City Commissioner for Ward 3 and an FSU Panama City 2020 Notable Nole (’89).

Lucas unveiled the marker at the dedication ceremony. Cvornyek wrote the inscription, which reads in part:

“Covington Cemetery originally dates to 1917, when Richard Covington, a successful African American truck farmer and landowner, buried his wife Laura on this plot of land. The cemetery grew from a private graveyard to a larger sacred space where Black residents living in the Hill section of St. Andrews buried their loved ones. The extended area, known as the St. Andrews Colored Cemetery, covered an extensive wooded area bounded by Lisenby Avenue, 15th Street, Fairland Avenue and 16th Street.

“By the 1950’s, this land became a desirable space for commercial development, and most of the cemetery shifted from communal ownership to private individuals. Mamie Norma Richardson, a descendant of the Covington family, astutely had a portion of the cemetery surveyed and enclosed in 1958. This lot became present-day Covington Cemetery. Richardson, a pioneer African American

TEACHER REMEMBERED: Mamie Richardson, a pioneering African American teacher. [Photo courtesy of the Bay County Public Library archive.]

educator, was laid to rest at Covington alongside other early Black teachers.

“In 1996, the burial ground survived one last attempt to erase its memory when family members of the deceased won a lawsuit to permanently safeguard the cemetery. The existing headstone commemorate only a portion of those buried at Covington and throughout the adjoining area.”

Many people in the local community are not aware of the historic significance of such places in Panama City, Lucas said.

“They think the things that they see about the early segregated times happened somewhere else. But you know, when I was born in 1961, this was a segregated community,” Lucas said. “It’s a part of humanity; we judge society by how we treat our young, how we treat our elderly and how we remember those who have gone on

HISTORIC MARKER : A sign commemorating the original founding of the cemetery was erected on the site.

before us.”

Lucas said the dedication and the marker meant a forgotten chapter of local history was finally acknowledged. She hoped the community would learn from the message of the marker and the search for the Pierce sisters’ graves.

“There are people who are unseen, who feel unimportant, marginalized, expendable,” Lucas said. “And when we take time to acknowledge the sacred burial

ground of African Americans, we are saying that our ancestors are important, and we revere the lives that they lived and are doing what we must do to acknowledge that and thus bring life and hope back to those that live who believe that no one cares about them.”

(Editor’s note: FSU PC students Katie Dier (’24), Destiny Hansley (’24), and Justine Sowell (’24) contributed to this report.)

“WE JUDGE SOCIETY BY HOW WE TREAT OUR YOUNG, HOW WE TREAT OUR ELDERLY AND HOW WE REMEMBER THOSE WHO HAVE GONE ON BEFORE US.”

JANICE LUCAS

REDEDICATION: Panama City Commissioner Janice Lucas spoke at the unveiling ceremony for the historic marker. She said many in the community were unaware of the cemetery’s historical significance.

FACULTY HONORS CVORNYEK

BY TONY SIMMONS Professor, author, specializes in sports history

“WHERE THE PASSION IN THE PROFESSOR COMES FROM IS THE FACT THAT YOU DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS WITH THESE KIDS.”

ROBERT CVORNYEK, PH.D.

Retiring professor Robert Cvornyek was honored in May 2024 by his fellow faculty for outstanding teaching, excellence in academics and commitment to student success. They presented him the inaugural Provost Sally McRorie Excellence in Teaching and Service Award.

“This award was established by the faculty at FSU Panama City in 2024 as an acknowledgement of exceptional work in the classroom with our students as well as in the community,” Dean Randy Hanna said. “Robert was selected by the faculty after their April meeting.”

Cvornyek, who received his Ph.D. in History from Columbia University, retired this summer as an assistant teaching professor in Social Science. He and his wife, Dorothy, are marking their 50th wedding anniversary this year; they have a daughter, Elizabeth, and granddaughter, Isabella.

A professor emeritus and former chairman of the History Department at Rhode Island College, Cvornyek specializes in sports history. He edited the autobiography of baseball Hall-of-Famer Effa Manley, and his documentary film, “The Price of Admission,” was screened April 6 at the Rhode Island Black Film Festival at Johnson & Wales University in Providence.

“Public history always has an element of applied history, going out into the community,” Cvornyek said in discussing a class project in 2022. “A lot of times there is a disconnect about what is written about someone and what the public understands about a person.”

Born and raised in a working-class family in Newark, N.J., Cvornyek said he was inspired by the sacrifices his parents made for their children, which instilled a strong work ethic and a desire to give to others.

“My father got his GED in the Army, and my mom worked at a factory,” he said.

“They valued education and striving to better themselves.”

Cvornyek joined the FSU PC faculty in 2018, and he officially retired in August 2024. His happiest memories of his teaching career center on the administrators who supported his work over the years—and particularly the students he has had the honor of teaching.

“A lot of the students I teach are first-generation college students like myself,” he said. “It’s hard not to see myself in them. Where the passion in the professor comes from is the fact that you develop relationships with these kids.”

LOCAL HISTORY

Cvornyek’s passion for working-class history and community pride found outlets in the Panama City area that benefited the education and development of his students as well.

Spearheaded by Cvornyek’s research, the project “Portraits of the Black Experience in Bay County” became an ongoing, evolving initiative to document the collective history of individuals and their communities. The project’s mission is to preserve, reimagine and share stories that otherwise may be lost to history.

His involvement with the LEAD (Leadership, Empowerment and Authentic Development) Coalition in Panama City led to projects to preserve local African American historical places (see the article on the Covington Cemetery elsewhere in this issue for an example). He also got students involved in the Panama City Publishing Co. Museum in historic St. Andrews.

“It was also a way of getting students out of the classroom and into the community,” he said. “I try to teach them to be respectful of what the community needs and desires. Find out what is important to the community. The expertise you may have means little to people unless they feel they are equal partners in the endeavor.”

It is important, as a student of history and society, to respect the direction of local community members rather than try to impart some esoteric “wisdom” to them about how they should “best” preserve their heritage, Cvornyek said.

He added that he was honored to work with LEAD on public health issues during the COVID-19 outbreak. He had researched how the community responded during the polio epidemic in the 20th century and was able to help bridge gaps in trust between the public and stakeholders within the healthcare establishment.

BEACH PIONEER LEAVES LEGACY

ED HICKEY TRUST DONATES $260,000 TO FSU PANAMA CITY

BY TONY SIMMONS

Ed Hickey, a pioneer in the Panama City Beach business community since the mid-20th century, believed in second chances. That’s why the $260,000 endowment that bears his name will provide opportunities to students in need from the beaches area.

The gift from the Edward F. Hickey Jr. Memorial Trust will provide up to $10,000 in scholarships per year to deserving students, according to Jeff DiBenedictis, executor of the trust and a good friend of the late businessman. The endowed fund will be held in perpetuity to generate income for the purpose of the scholarship.

“We developed a very close personal relationship,” recalled DiBenedictis, division president for Cadence Bank, on his first encounter with Hickey nearly 30 years ago. “He was like a father to me; he treated me as a son. … Edward was an advocate for young people in the area who needed support and was a strong believer in second chances.”

The Edward F. Hickey Jr. Memorial Scholarship will serve as a lasting tribute to Hickey’s love and support of the Panama City Beach community. The scholarship will be reserved for students from ZIP codes 32407, 32408, 32411, 32413 and 32417 who need a second chance opportunity for a higher education. Applicants should have a minimum 3.0 GPA. For financial aid information, visit pc.fsu.edu/finances.

WAR HERO

Hickey died at age 94 on April 18, 2021, after a long struggle with cancer. Born in Norwalk, Conn., on April 15, 1927, he first came to Florida at age 13 when he enrolled in the Florida Military Academy, according to information provided by DiBenedictis. Hickey graduated at 17 and persuaded his parents, Ed Hickey Sr. and Lucille Handyside Hickey, to sign a waiver to allow him to enlist in the U.S. Army. After bootcamp at Fort Benning, Ga., he joined the 101st Airborne Division.

His World War II exploits included action in Operation Market Garden, the Allied campaign in 1944 to seize a bridge over the Rhine River. Three months later, his

battalion was besieged by Germans during the Battle of the Bulge in the Belgian Ardennes. Struck by shrapnel from an artillery shell, Hickey sustained a serious head injury. After being shipped home to the states, his recovery took eight months. He was on the way to ship out for the planned invasion of Japan when the war ended on Sept. 2, 1945.

Hickey briefly worked for his father’s hat business in New York in 1946, then returned to Florida to manage The Tides Hotel and Bath Club in St. Petersburg. He opened beach service businesses in locations across the state, as well as in California and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 1952, he found a lifelong home in Panama City Beach and opened a concessions business by Long Beach Resort.

Ed’s Beach Service Inc. provided lifeguards and equipment to hotels, resorts and other businesses along the Gulf shore and Front Beach Road. (Hickey is shown below with his lifeguards, posed beside Miss Long Beach 1967.) Hickey’s other business interests included a trampoline center, a paddle boat concession on the lake by Long Beach Plaza, and a rental car company.

Hickey opened Ed’s Sheds in 1982, one of the oldest self-storage facilities in the city. He helped to develop the first City Hall building in Panama City Beach and was a supportive member of the Panama City Beach Chamber of Commerce. In 1999, the Chamber awarded him its prestigious “Pioneer of the Year” award.

In the wake of Hickey’s passing, many community leaders recalled how he guided them as they began their careers on the beach. He was described as a “self-made man” who mentored countless young people and taught them a strong work ethic. Sometimes gruff on the outside, he was also a gentle, caring man.

“He was a solid guy, tough, but he had the heart of a teddy bear,” Dibenedictis said. “So many would run into a crossroads in life, and he gave them a second chance.”

The trust has also donated to Backpacks Blessings Panama City Beach and the Bay County Public Library’s GED program. For information on giving opportunities at FSU Panama City, call 850-770-2108.

BOOK DROP Students Erect ‘Little Free Library’

BY KAYCIE MCVAY

Kierstynn Crawford was looking for ways to contribute to her community when she started the Introduction to Public Relations course in August 2023. She found a group of like-minded classmates who love to read and have a passion for literacy.

Together, they discovered a common purpose: To share their love of books by establishing a Little Free Library on the FSU Panama City campus.

“My friends and I are bookworms,” said Crawford, 19, “and there are a lot of other students here who love to read, too.”

Intro to Public Relations, a required course for Professional Communication majors, is taught by Brian Parker, Ph.D., the program coordinator. On the first day of class, Parker observed Crawford reading an actual printed-on-paper book while waiting for class to start. Delighted and inspired by her, Parker initiated a classroom conversation about the importance of reading physical books—including how it’s become a “lost art” in today’s world. The discussion inspired what would become the class project of the semester.

Professional Communications student Tristan Costales, 24, another of Parker’s students, hopes to become a writer after graduation. He said the Little Free Library project was of particular importance in light of declining literacy rates in Florida.

“One of the big things that we’re hoping to achieve with this initiative is to help promote reading,” Costales said. “We’re also looking to promote better literacy and better critical thinking skills.”

Costales, Crawford, Parker, and seven other students spearheaded the campaign to make reading a staple of student life via access to free books.

Excited by the potential of the little library, Milinda J. Stephenson, Ph.D., a writing professor at FSU PC, offered

guidance to students.

“I am of the firm belief that reading is reading,” Stephenson said. “Whenever a student finds a subject that they’re very interested in, and they continue to read on it, it increases their vocabulary, it helps their writing become better, and it improves their reading.”

Stephenson said she loved the idea of including classic novels in the little library, but she wouldn’t want to limit the choices: “It doesn’t have to be classics. When someone starts reading, they eventually go to the classics because they become hungry for those insights.”

“MY FRIENDS AND I ARE BOOKWORMS, AND THERE ARE A LOT OF OTHER STUDENTS HERE WHO LOVE TO READ, TOO.”

KIERSTYNN CRAWFORD

For the 2024 fall semester, Parker’s students chose to come up with a marketing program for the Legacy Brick campaign (see page 63). As it was not well-known, the fundraiser made a perfect project for Intro to PR: “That is a communication issue, and they are communication students,” Parker said.

Emily Bowen, a project lead, said the most important lesson the class learned was to work as a team and figure out how individual strengths could contribute to success. “We are learning what we are each capable of, and where those skills can best be used to bring our ideas to life.”

Lee Harris (‘24) contributed to this article.

Dynamic Duo PELLERIN SISTERS PURSUE JUSTICE FOR OTHERS

BY TONY SIMMONS

Two graduate students, twin crimefighters, walked the commencement stage together in May 2024 on their way to a future of “serving and saving” as-yet-unknown strangers.

For sisters Hallie and Sydney Pellerin, both 23 years old, their master’s degrees in Law Enforcement Intelligence is about adding value to the world.

“The ultimate goal is to help people. That is a core value of mine,” said Sydney, who is younger than her sister by one minute. “LEI is a great way to advocate for others. … It means having an impact on the world.”

Born in Charlotte, N.C., the sisters have lived all over the U.S. as their father’s career kept them on the move. They chose Panama City for their university experience because of the Crime Scene Investigation program.

“I grew up loving CSI—the psychological aspects of it—connecting the dots and catching the bad guys,” Hallie said. “I grew up watching crime shows, and I found out about the CSI program here at FSU PC. My professors really cared about all of their students and pushed them to succeed in the areas they were most passionate about.”

Sydney echoed Hallie’s interest in the analytical and investigative aspects of LEI. She added that her experiences as an undergraduate, including an internship with the 14th Judicial Circuit Court, helped her develop skills she will need to shine in her chosen field.

“One of the things that really drew me in was the sense of community here,” Sydney said. “I truly can see how devoted and dedicated the faculty and staff are here. They are committed to seeing that every student pursues their individual successes. I just love this school with my entire heart. I felt welcomed at FSU PC.”

Hallie was drawn to the waterfront campus and the prospect of enjoying beach days on the Gulf of Mexico. But she added that the smaller class sizes and individualized attention of professors sealed the deal. The smaller campus “allowed us to have closer ties to our professors, more personal relationships with them and with other students,” she said.

Professors have substantial professional experience in the field and can provide the perspective of that experience to their students, Hallie added: “I found that allows us to understand how to apply the skills learned in the program to the real world.”

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES

Sydney was born with cerebral palsy, a motor disability caused by abnormal brain development or damage to the developing brain that affects one’s ability to control their muscles. In her case, difficulty during the twins’ premature birth deprived part of Sydney’s brain of oxygen. She uses a set of crutches to help her walk, and she acknowledged that one of the obstacles she had to overcome was external.

“One of the biggest challenges was navigating such a unique environment with a physical disability,” Sydney said. “But I am so thankful to have these educational opportunities through FSU PC, because they have stayed committed to creating equal opportunities for each and every student. It means a lot that they cared as much about my success and my future as other students.”

Hallie reckoned her biggest challenge had been internal—overcoming her own fears and self-constructed obstacles to higher learning.

“I didn’t feel like I could even do what I’m doing now. In part because, when I was growing up, I always thought it was going to be a very tough four years for me, and a tough life afterward,” Hallie said. “You have all these expectations from high school about what professors were going to expect, how you should act, what you should do and maybe feeling like you’re not as far ahead in life. But at FSU PC, they make you feel valued for where you’re at, and then they provide you with the skills and tools to get to where you need to be while valuing the learning process for yourself.”

“We grew up together, attended the same schools, but this is kind of the first time we’ve been able to pursue a similar path,” said Sydney, who is considering a law degree or becoming an intelligence analyst for a law enforcement agency. “It has been a really fun experience. I’m proud of how far I’ve come.”

For Hallie, studying alongside her sister “has been absolutely wonderful. She’s my best friend and my partner. We love to spend time together, and our interests obviously mirror one another. We wanted to add value to the world as well, and we felt like pursuing a degree in LEI would help us to tap into what we love and help others.”

“THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO HELP PEOPLE. THAT IS A CORE VALUE OF MINE.”

SYDNEY PELLERIN, ’24

VIDEO OF HALLIE & SYDNEY PELLERIN youtube.com/watch?v=34hTRDzdZdI

received their master’s degrees in Law Enforcement Intelligence in May 2024.

CRIME FIGHTERS: Twin sisters Sydney (left) and Hallie Pellerin

ACTION FOR AUTISM

Fundraising helps ECAP serve young clients

BY TONY SIMMONS

The 12th Annual Auction for Autism Awareness on April 12, 2024 was a resounding success, nearly doubling the fundraising goal set for the event.

April is Autism Awareness Month, and the Early Childhood Autism Program at FSU Panama City marks each April by hosting an auction. All proceeds go to the ECAP Butchikas Scholarship fund, which provides financial assistance to Bay County families affected by autism who need help paying for therapy.

This year, the organization hoped to raise $30,000, and ultimately raised $55,772. The auction total has increased 220-percent in the past three years, according to Dakota Januchowski, clinical coordinator for ECAP and a board-certified behavior analyst.

“The money is making a measurable difference,” he said. “We have 41 clients, total, who receive an average of

6 hours a week in services. Money shouldn’t be a barrier to receiving services. You have to get to them early, because this is life-changing therapy at an early age.”

Established in 2001, ECAP is a 501(c)3 non-profit early intervention and community outreach program that provides Applied Behavior Analysis services to local children with developmental delays or disabilities. It is the only local nonprofit ABA program to provide inhome, in-school and in-clinic services, helping clients develop language, self-help, academic, communication and social skills.

“The auction is one of ECAP’s most valuable tools for giving back to the community,” Januchowski said. “With the money raised through our yearly event, we’ve provided thousands of free therapy hours for an underserved population.”

BIDDING FOR A CAUSE: The annual Auction for Autism Awareness is a major event for the Early Childhood Autism Program at FSU Panama City — not only because it raises significant sums to support the program, but also because it brings smiles to so many.

OTHER SOURCES

The Edward F. Hickey Jr. Memorial Trust donated $38,000 in fall 2024 to renovate the ECAP Fun Room. The play space allows clients to self-regulate when they are over-stimulated, and it provides therapists with opportunities for work on language and social skills. The Fun Room reopened with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony on Feb. 7, 2025.

(Read more about the Hickey Memorial Trust and how it is supporting programs at FSU Panama City elsewhere in this edition.)

The Bay Health Foundation (BHF) awarded a $15,000 grant to the FSU Foundation for ECAP in February 2024. The funds will allow an expansion of ABA therapy services for clients.

“We are so grateful for the Bay Health Foundation,” said Amy Polick, Ph.D., development director for ECAP and associate dean for academic affairs. “This is our 10th year partnering together to help families impacted by autism in our community.”

BHF Board of Trustees Chairman Dr. Jim Cook III presented the grant. BHF has been supporting ECAP with grants and scholarships since 2016. This donation will provide continued patient care for existing clients and expansion of services to new patients from the waitlist.

“We are thankful for the direct benefit to the families we serve, as well as the relationships we’ve built with other service providers as we work to expand the reach of ECAP and further meet the needs of Bay County,” said Nikki Dickens, Ed.D., the ECAP program director.

The Bay Point Women’s Club donated $10,000 to the FSU Foundation to support ongoing renovations and upgrades at the ECAP clinic in May.

“The funds will be used to improve and modernize ECAP’s ability to provide effective ABA therapy by assisting in renovating ECAP’s furniture and rooms,” Januchowski said.

One of the most active clubs at Bay Point, according to the neighborhood website, the Women’s Club hosts many exciting events each year, including a Rose Tea, Tour of Homes, annual auction, Fashion Show and more to raise funds for community needs. Learn more at BayPointFlorida.org/clubs.

And in July, the St. Joe Community Foundation (joe.com/community-foundation) gave ECAP $75,000, which is going to support the renovations as well as scholarships for low-income clients. Januchowski said nine clients would directly benefit from scholarships, while the upgrades would “bring the clinic into the 21st century.”

To donate to ECAP, email fsuecap@pc.fsu.edu or call 850-770-2241. All donations are tax deductible.

VOLLEYBALL CLUB NAMED RSO OF THE YEAR

At the 2024 Grad Gala in May, the Volleyball Club was recognized as the RSO of the Year. The mission of the club is to prepare students from both FSU PC and Gulf Coast State College to play volleyball and succeed at a competitive level.

“I have played volleyball for several years and absolutely love the community aspect of it,” said club president Olivia Curtis (Psychology, ’25). “I have made so many friends on campus since it started. It’s a great way to get connected with others and to make the campus feel more like home.”

The club meets at the beach volleyball courts by the bay each Tuesday and Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Membership numbers vary, Curtis said. Other officers include Vice President Nicholas Ni and Treasurer Krieg Conrad.

Curtis noted that sunsets viewed from the courts by the bay are gorgeous: “A lot of club members comment on how pretty it is. The two courts have been amazing. Now, no one has to wait to get a chance to play. We sometimes split up and will play threes or fours as well. It’s a great way to get reps in and hone skills.”

Curtis has collected a number of great memories with the club, such as traveling to Tallahassee for a day trip to watch the FSU Women’s Volleyball team compete against Miami. Another was the end-of-semester dinner last fall at American Charlie’s.

“Competing in the local Lynn Haven Rec league was also a great event,” she said. “We were able to win a couple games and compete against some high level teams.”

CLUB NEWS

These are a few highlights of activities by the registered student organizations at Florida State University Panama City.

BY TONY SIMMONS & LEE HARRIS

PROJECT RUNWAY SEWS BALLET COSTUMES

Project Runway, a club for sewing enthusiasts, pitched in to help create costumes for Panama City Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker” in November 2023. Club secretary Alexis Taylor, studying Crime Scene Investigation, heard about the ballet’s need and floated the idea of helping with costumes to club President Justine Sowell.

“Project Runway has all these resources,” said Sowell, who also has studied dance at a local studio. “I really like to do community projects, so today we’re making mouse pants.”

Students gathered in the Digital Design Studio to sort materials and begin work at a group of sewing machines encircling a table in the center of the studio. Their first project was to make trousers for the “mouse” soldiers who harry the Nutcracker’s regiment. Other costuming projects followed.

DISCOVERING DEVOTION-NOLES

Established in 2021, Devotion-Noles is a Christian faith-based club currently led by student Caitlyn Noble as president. The club’s goals are to build fellowship and a stronger community amongst students. Currently, the club meets on Fridays at 1 or 2 p.m. For more, check the club’s pages on Faceook and Instagram under the name “DevotioNoles FSU,” or email devotionoles@gmail.com.

ENGLISH CLUB HOLDS ‘BRIDGERTON’ TEA PARTY

The English Club held a “Bridgerton”-themed tea party one afternoon in April 2024 at the Digital Design Studio workroom. Having read the novel that birthed the “Bridgerton” TV series phenomenon, they discussed Regency accents, subversion of literary tropes and social expectations, modern songs reimagined as chamber music—and much more—while enjoying sweets and Earl Grey tea.

ROBOBOAT TEAM LAUNCHES

Students seeking a great way to try their hand at design, engineering and programming, or to build upon skills that they already have, may want to join FSU PC’s RoboBoat team. A RoboBoat is a student-designed small-scale Autonomous Surface Vessel (ASV) capable of navigating a course and completing tasks without assistance. The ASVs are entered in an international competition in RoboNation’s RoboBoat program.

All students are welcome, whatever their major may be. For more information, contact Dr. Twan Capeheart at tcapeheart@pc.fsu.edu, or students Cesar Narvaez-Suarez at cjn23@fsu.edu and Katrina Le at kll24@fsu.edu.

PRE-LAW CLUB VISITS STATE CAPITOL

The FSU PC Pre-Law Club visited the Florida Supreme Court and FSU Law program in Tallahassee in November 2023. Members had the privilege of meeting with Chief Justice Carlos G. Muniz, followed by a private tour of the library, robing room, and private office of Justice Jorge Labarga.

HANG OUT WITH THE ART CLUB

The Art Club values learning, community and selfexpression. Vice President Gregory Shakes said the club is a “great way to hang out with friends and just chill between classes.”

Secretary Arianna Jennings added, “Art Club brings us together and it allows us to have a good social life.”

The Art Club is also a great place to start learning something new. “Art doesn’t really have a look. Anyone can be interested in art. It can come from anywhere,” said President Sunset John.

Art Club meetings are Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Holley E202. The club also hosts events such as drawing with sidewalk chalk with a side of pizza and soda.

SNOWPOCALYPSE

RECORD SNOWFALL BLANKETS CAMPUS IN JANUARY 2025

The sugar-white beaches of Bay County were covered in several inches of snow on Jan. 21, an unprecedented winter storm that forced the closure of FSU Panama City for three days. By the time of the annual Torch Run 5K on Jan. 25, however, most of the snow had melted.

BUILDING A LEGACY

CIVIL ENGINEERING GRAD MARKS FSU PC COMMENCEMENT WITH LEGACY BRICK

BY TONY SIMMONS

Jhonattan Ramirez received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering on May 5, during the FSU PC Spring Commencement ceremony. But while he was finished with classes, Ramirez wasn’t done with FSU PC.

The Thursday before graduating, he met Dean Randy Hanna in the courtyard between the Holley Academic Center and the Barron Building to place a legacy brick with his name on it in the walkway. The brick will be a lasting reminder of his time at FSU Panama City and his training as a civil engineer.

“I’m the first one in my family to graduate in the United States,” said Ramirez, whose family is originally from Columbia. “What makes it sweet is knowing where I came from and how far I’ve come along, thanks to my family and FSU Panama City and the community they have created.”

Standing under the shade of a live oak, Ramirez and Hanna were joined for the brick placement by Ramirez’s grandparents, Isabel Hurtado and Dumar Ramirez, who traveled from Columbia to witness and celebrate his graduation. He said he was proud to graduate with the support of “my family, my grandma, my brother, my church, my community.”

The brick was especially meaningful for Ramirez because of his major. Civil engineers have a primary role in creating the “built environment” while also protecting the natural environment.

They plan, design, construct and operate buildings, highways, airports, pipelines, bridges, dams and levees, irrigation works, water supply systems, wastewater treatment systems, and various other components of the built environment. They also work to minimize environmental and social impacts, and to improve the quality of life.

Ramirez is currently employed by a land development firm in Walton County. He plans to continue working with them and begin focusing on construction. He said his position started as an internship connection through FSU PC.

“The Civil Engineering program at FSU PC provided me with a quality education and valuable connections, not only with my classmates and faculty, but also with local industry leaders,” Ramirez said. “The passionate professors, amazing staff, and supportive community inspire growth along every step of the way.”

Each 4-by-8-inch Legacy Brick costs $200 and is placed in the Legacy Courtyard between the Holley Academic Center and Barron Building. The purchase constitutes a donation to the FSU Foundation and is 100-percent tax deductible. Purchasers also receive a miniature keepsake brick. For questions or more information, call 850-770-2150, email alumni@pc.fsu. edu, or visit PC.FSU.edu/alumni-giving/brick-program.

BRICK BY BRICK : Civil Engineering graduate Jhonattan Ramirez places his Legacy Brick in the courtyard.

Inscribe your brick with up to three lines of text

TAKE YOUR PLACE IN FLORIDA STATE

Alumni, friends & family members, leave a lasting legacy by including your name in the commemorative bricks at FSU Panama City.

• Perfect for graduation or celebrating your alumni status, bricks cost $200

• Purchase includes a matching miniature keepsake brick. Mini bricks will be available for pick up at the Office of Advancement at no additional cost or can be shipped for $10

• Personalized bricks will be incorporated into a legacy courtyard between the Holley Academic Center and the Technology and Barron buildings. For questions or more information, call 850-770-2152, email alumni@pc.fsu.edu

The St. Joe Community Foundation, Inc. was created with the express purpose of making Northwest Florida a wonderful place to live, work and play. Since 1999, the Foundation has contributed over $48 million grants in Northwest Florida to enhance cultural arts, strengthen education, improve healthcare, and protect the environment. How can the Foundation help you?

SOUND & VISION

Ultrasound simulator gives DNAP students the full picture

BY TONY SIMMONS

An innovative technology in use for the first time at FSU Panama City gives students the ability to see inside the heart, lungs or stomach of a simulated patient before they decide how to administer anesthesia.

“What’s cool about this is, you see the heart in real time, and they took patient scans from actual ultrasounds and put them into a library” linked to the computergenerated display, explained instructor Kyle Hodgen, DNP, ACNP, CRNA, assistant teaching professor in the Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice program. “You can marry up what you’re trying to look at on the patient and what you’re seeing ultrasonically.”

A mannequin called “Eve” is part of the Intelligent Ultrasound simulator that includes visual representations of an ultrasound and computer-generated views of the organ being examined. This allows students to see exactly which “slice” or cross-section of the organ is shown on the ultrasound. By adjusting the angle or movement of the external wand or internal esophageal probe, the student alters what is displayed on the projection.

to show various internal structures or deviations that would affect patient outcomes under anesthesia.

The 34 students in this year’s cohort are using Eve in small group labs to learn how to make health assessments prior to a procedure. For instance, if they discover Eve has a full stomach, then they would run the risk of the patient aspirating stomach contents when under anesthesia.

“As revolutionary as the stethoscope was, this will replace the stethoscope,” Hodgen said. “With a stethoscope, you can listen to the heart and apply the sound to some template you learned to create a mental image of what might be happening internally. With this point-of-care ultrasound, you can hear it and see it in real time instead of making an assumption.”

“...THIS WILL REPLACE THE STETHOSCOPE.”

KYLE HODGEN, DNP, DNAP PROFESSOR

Practicing health assessments with Eve from the very beginning of the program will increase the skillset students take to clinical settings after they complete the didactic portion of their program, Hodgen said.

While DNAP students have long used ultrasounds to examine radial and carotid arteries in their fellow students for the purpose of learning to assess good routes for IVs, Eve allows them to face unexpected factors. As with other health simulators, instructors can program the Eve device

DNAP instructors are currently working on a grant that will provide similar technology to the clinical sites, allowing students to practice the same health assessments on live patients.

“The Sim Lab starts in the spring, when we’ll have them doing inductions,” Hodgen said. “This semester Eve was seup as an introduction.”

BEAT BY BEAT: Kyle Hodgen, DNP, an instructor in the Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice program, demonstrates “Eve,” an ultrasound simulator in use by students at FSU PC.

HONOR STUDENT: Emiliegh Parda is beating the odds and breaking down barriers in pursuit of her education.

HONORS IN (AND OUT OF) THE MAJOR:

Psych student thrives outside the boundaries

BY TONY SIMMONS

Emileigh Parda is passionate about her education, which she takes personally. For instance, in one of her classes, “our final paper could only be on a certain list of topics. I opposed this rubric and asked to do a research topic that I had more passion for—schizophrenia, which is one of the mental illnesses my mother has.”

Persistence and a willingness to make the topic work for the assignment won over her professor. “My education is much deeper to me than a degree or just checking off a box,” she said. “I do everything with a deep passion and love for it.”

Parda, 21, is in the Honors in the Major program and tied for first place in the undergraduate division of the 2024 Student Research Symposium. Her project, “Don’t Worry Your Pretty Little Head: Effects of Ageism and Gender on Perceived Warmth, Competence, and Hire-Ability,” was overseen by Professor Kelley Kline, coordinator of the FSU PC psychology program.

“She is highly motivated, exceptionally intelligent, poised, does well under pressure—perhaps even thrives at it,” Kline said of Parda. “She is incredibly creative and works hard to solve problems. Emileigh is very devoted to her career goals, and I believe will excel in any graduate program she undertakes.”

GO-GO-GO

To call Parda an over-achiever might not be fair, but it wouldn’t be inaccurate. She joked, “My life is an Outlook calendar. I love it, though. I’m very much go-go-go.”

She’s on track to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and two minors—sociology and social work— in 2025, when she plans to apply for a doctoral program. She was among the 53 FSU PC students inducted into the Garnet Key Honor Society in April 2024.

Parda is also a research assistant for the St. Andrew and St. Joseph Bays Estuary Program. She assists with sampling and every Wednesday she gathers buckets of old oyster shells for restocking habitats.

She credits her grandparents for instilling her work ethic. “They’ve always been super hard-working. If it

weren’t for them and having a good support system, I don’t know where I’d be right now.”

“I applaud the way she pushes boundaries and challenges assumptions,” said former professor Robert Cvornyek, who served on her honors thesis committee. “She’ll break the rules that need to be broken to advance her unique and creative perspective.”

GETTING THERE

A first-generation college student, Parda grew up in Panama City and graduated from Mosley High School. She described herself as “one of those who has always known what I wanted to do,” though her litany of achievement seemed out of reach just a few years ago.

“I was adopted by my grandparents,” she explained. “My biological mom suffers from extreme mental illness, and that has been a tough relationship. I wanted to better understand her, and my first psychology class in 10th grade provided me a way to cope and heal from that.”

Parda used the stigmas around adoption and dysfunctional families as motivation—both personally and as an example to “destigmatize people” in similar situations. “We can still be successful and break the cycle that has been set for us,” she said. “I owe everything to my grandparents, who have been unbelievably supportive of me throughout my whole life.”

At FSU PC, she has worked as a peer mentor, helping others with their academic goals and time management skills. Now at Admissions, she helps new Noles through the process that initially baffled her.

While in high school, Parda found the college admissions and enrollment process daunting. She had a good GPA, full Pell grant and independent living arrangements, and could potentially complete a college degree without debt, but she didn’t understand how to get started. Luckily, an admissions representative reached out and walked her through the process.

“I know how lucky I am to be given this opportunity, so I’m going to do everything while I am here,” she said.

FSU PC and Collegiate School recognized for dedication to veteran students

BY TONY SIMMONS

Florida State University was designated a Purple Star Campus in June 2024 by the State University System in recognition of its dedication to military and veteran students. In December 2024, The Collegiate School at FSU PC was also named a Purple Star School of Distinction.

“This is further acknowledgement of FSU’s campuswide commitment to the success of these students,” said Jim Allen, director of FSU Panama City’s Academic and Registrar Services, who is also a U.S. Navy veteran. “Being a Purple Star Campus also conveys to the many active and former service members in the Panhandle that FSU provides an open and welcoming university experience.”

Last year, the Florida Legislature expanded the Purple Star initiative to include state universities, which provided Bay County, in particular, an opportunity to heighten awareness of its support of the region’s military-connected families. With Purple Star recognition being awarded to numerous K-12 schools in the district, as well as Gulf

Coast State College, FSU’s designation provides a capstone for Bay County.

“From top to bottom, the schools here have always been very supportive of the military and their family members,” said Randy Hanna, dean of the FSU Panama City campus. “What the Purple Star program provided us are metrics that validate that level of support.”

For state universities, those metrics include priority course registration for veteran, military and dependent students, a designated military liaison, student-led transition programs, dedicated resources for veteran/ military students and families, and faculty and staff training programs.

FSU has a long history of serving its military students and veterans. In 1947, the Legislature converted the Florida State College for Women to coeducational Florida State University as World War II veterans using the G.I. Bill attended colleges in droves.

In 2011, FSU enhanced its commitment to veteran/ military students with the launch of the Student Veterans Center in Tallahassee, followed by the Veterans Ready Room in Panama City.

FSU’s veteran-rich heritage and culture is symbolized by the Veterans Alliance Arrowhead, which represents the university’s commitment to current and previous members of the armed services.

“Being a Purple Star Campus is confirmation from the Board of Governors that Florida State University is proactive in its veteran-success endeavors,” said Hanna.

“BEING A PURPLE STAR CAMPUS CONVEYS TO THE MANY ACTIVE AND FORMER SERVICE MEMBERS IN THE PANHANDLE THAT FSU PROVIDES AN OPEN AND WELCOMING UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE.”

JIM ALLEN, DIRECTOR OF ACADEMIC AND REGISTRAR SERVICES

TCS JOINS THE RANKS

The state Legislature established the Purple Star School of Distinction in 2021 and the Purple Star School District program in 2024. The district-level award recognizes districts in which at least 75% of schools are Purple Star Schools.

Purple Star designation indicates that The Collegiate Sschool supports the unique needs of military families, helps military-connected students navigate critical challenges and provides resources for military-connected students when transitioning to a new school environment.

“It is an honor to be recognized as a Purple Star School of Distinction,” said TCS Director Debbi Whitaker. “We appreciate being able to join all of the other schools in Bay County in receiving this accolade for supporting our military community, and specifically the children of military families.”

During an appearance at Callaway Elementary School in Panama City in December 2024, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that five districts — including Bay District Schools — and an additional 176 individual schools received the Purple Star designation this year from the Florida DOE.

“Florida is committed to being the most military-friendly state in the nation, and this program supports students as they relocate to new schools due to a parent’s change in duty station,” said Paul O. Barnes, DOE senior chancellor, in a letter announcing the Collegiate School’s distinction.

Each school, district or campus awarded the Purple Star must reapply after three years to maintain its designation.

From its inception, TCS was designed to give preference to student applicants from active military families. Having opened in 2023 as a tuition-free developmental laboratory charter school, TCS offers a rigorous college preparatory curriculum and technical career preparation.

SERVICE: Opposite page: Student veterans address an audience of high schoolers during the Veterans celebration in 2024. Above: All student veterans and VA benefit recipients may use the Skinner Veterans Ready Room at FSU PC for individual and group study.

LOVE STORY BEGINS BY THE BAY

Many students and alumni would list FSU Panama City as a place that’s special in their lives and hearts.

For ASHLYN TEW (Professional Communication, ’24), an afternoon’s appointment for graduation photos unexpectedly turned into something more.

Ashlyn and her boyfriend, JOSEPH EMERY (Business Administration, ’23), met on campus in 2023. She brought him to help with her graduation photo shoot in late April 2024, just a few days before she walked the stage at Commencement.

He surprised her with a question— and a ring.

“Joseph and I both attended classes at the FSU PC campus, which is where he first laid eyes on me,” Ashlyn said. “We soon realized we attended the same church as well (Destiny Worship Center) and shortly after meeting, we began dating. We dated for exactly one year and one day before he proposed to me on campus.”

Ashlyn, 22, was employed part-time as a social media specialist for the College of Applied Studies at the time. She is now a fulltime social media specialist with Kerigan Marketing Associates in Mexico Beach.

Joseph, 23, is a project analyst at Eastern Shipbuilding Group in Panama City.

Their wedding was set for Dec. 28, 2024, in Ashlyn’s hometown of Eufaula, Ala.

“With both of our degrees from FSU PC and now beginning our careers together, I would say everything is falling into place perfectly for us,” Ashlyn said. “We plan to stay in the Panama City area as we build a life together and remain Seminole fans forever!”

STUDENT HONORS

ANNIE BRAXTON received the Linda Buchanan Harrison Scholarship, which is provided to a student in the Nurse Anesthetist Program, during the Annual Dinner in October 2023.

REBECCA COUTURIER , a student leader in the Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice program, was recognized for her work as the FSU liaison to the Florida Association of Nurse Anesthesiologists as a student representative. She served in the Florida Association of Resident Registered Nurse Anesthetists from 2022-2024.

PHILIP JUNG, a student in the Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice program, was selected as the Region 7 Student Director to the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (COA). As part of his responsibilities, Jung will review programs that are under consideration for accreditation. Region 7 includes 23 institutions from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

REAGAN LAND, a graduate student in Corporate and Professional Communication and an administrative assistant to the Student Government Council, received the Notable Noles scholarship at the annual luncheon on Nov. 19, 2024.

CAITLYN NOBLE , pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, was awarded the Department of Defense Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship. Upon completing her studies, Noble will work full time at Naval Surface Warfare Center- Panama City Division.

TIMOTHY PEAGLER received the Pat Evans Memorial Scholarship during the Welcome Back luncheon in August 2024. He is pursuing his master’s degree in Corporate and Public Communication.

JUSTINE SOWELL and BRITTANY URIARTE each received a Pat Evans Memorial Scholarship during the Welcome Back luncheon in August 2023. The scholarship honors a former staff member who worked in faculty support and had a strong love for helping students. Brittany and Justine were recognized for their academic achievements, spirit of service, kindness and hard work to make this campus welcoming and inclusive.

KEEGAN WELCH received the 2024 OLLI Scholarship from the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at FSU. The $1,000 stipend will help her pay for exams in her field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) as she pursues a master’s degree.

SEMINOLE 100 AWARD

FSU annually recognizes the 100 fastest-growing companies owned or led by FSU alumni. Two companies owned by FSU Panama City alumni were recognized in both 2024 and 2025: Kerigan Marketing Associates of Mexico Beach; and Aaron Rich Marketing of Panama City. Additionally, Panhandle Engineering of Lynn Haven was named to the 2025 list. The complete list of Seminole 100 businesses may be seen at Seminole100.fsu.edu

Kerigan Marketing Associates is led by spouses JACK KERIGAN (a Notable Nole with an MBA and master’s degree in Marketing from FSU Panama City) and DANA KERIGAN (an FSU 100 More award-winner with a bachelor’s degree from FSU, master’s from University of Florida, and a graduate certificate from MIT). Learn more at KeriganMarketing.com

Aaron Rich Marketing is led by spouses AARON RICH (a Notable Nole with a master’s degree from FSU PC) and HEATHER RICH. Learn more at PanamaCityWebsiteDesign.net

Panhandle Engineering (PanhandleEngineering. com) is led by company president CHRISTOPHER B. FOREHAND, a lifelong resident of Bay County with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from FSU.

FACULTY HONORS

AIMEE FRIER , Ph.D., NBCT, visiting teaching faculty in Elementary Education, penned two chapters in “Teaching Multicultural Children’s Literature in a Diverse Society.” She also actively participates in local and national organizations and presents research on teaching and learning at the state and national levels.

DAVID GAITROS, Ph.D., teaching professor in Computer Science, marked 25 years of service at FSU in April 2024. He received his doctorate in computer science from FSU in 2007 and is a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel.

DAVID GROSS, Ph.D., teaching professor in Systems Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, received the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award for FSU in April 2024. The award was presented by President Richard McCullough.

LEAH KOEHLER , Ph.D., was chosen by FSU PC students as the Faculty Member of the Year for 2023-24.

SEMINOLE 100 : Top, Jack and Dana Kerigan of Kerigan Marketing Associates (Ranked 58). Bottom, Aaron Rich of Aaron Rich Marketing (Ranked 77).

FACULTY HONORS: Top left, Aimee Frier. Top right, David Gaitros. Bottom, David Gross.

FACULTY HONORS (CONT.)

RICHARD TATUM, Ph.D., an adjunct instructor in Mathematics, received the Top Navy Scientist Award for U.S. Naval research in August 2023.

YVONNE TRAYNHAM, Ph.D., coauthored a new textbook about marine engineering. “An Introduction to Marine Materials and Structures,” published by the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, was written for engineering students and practicing engineers.

KAREN WORKS, Ph.D., assistant teaching professor in Computer Science, received an AnitaB.org scholarship to attend the Grace Hopper Celebration, a gathering of technologists. She was also elected as the Southeast Regional Representative for the National Board of Directors of the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges.

STAFF HONORS

JAMES ALLEN, director of Academic and Registrar Services, received the 2023-24 Exemplary Service Award for Student Services. The recognition was presented by the FSU Division of Academic Affairs, Office of the Provost.

KATIE BARLEY-DIER , administrative executive, was named coach of the Esports team.

JESSICA GRAHAM, Ph.D., director of the St. Andrew and St. Joseph Bays Estuary Program at FSU, recently graduated from the Leadership Northwest Florida Class II.

DENNIS GRIFFIN, Facilities Director, marked 33 years of service at FSU Panama City in April 2024.

SUSAN HOGG joined the staff as the Assistant Dean of Enrollment Management.

JEANETTE NICHOLSON received the Security Officer of the Year Award from FSU Chief Justin Malloy.

STEPHANIE SMITH, Facility Use Coordinator, received the Mayor Alfred L. Still Spirit of Service Award at the annual Welcome Back luncheon in August.

DEBBI WHITAKER , Director of The Collegiate School at FSU Panama City, received the Class Act recognition from WMBB News 13 for her dedication to students.

FACULTY HONORS: Left, Karen Works. Right, Yvonne Traynham.

STAFF HONORS: Top left, James Allen. Top right, Katie Dier. Middle left, Jessica Graham. Middle right, Dennis Griffin. Bottom left, Debbi Whitaker.

STUDENT GOVERNMENT PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Growing up, I always knew I wanted to be an engineer. But for most of my childhood, it felt out of reach. I grew up in Ohio, attending a high school so big that getting actual guidance from counselors was difficult. I knew college cost money— money I didn’t have—and living just 15 minutes away from Ohio State University, I was keenly aware that it really cost a lot of money.

When I was a freshman in high school, I gave up on the idea of becoming an engineer. It did not seem possible for someone like me—someone who, rationally, was terrified of debt. So, I chose what seemed more realistic at the time: I enrolled in a career center and started working at AAMCO, doing everything from changing brake rotors to rebuilding transmissions. I was working as an auto mechanic. I already worked on my own car, but I knew this was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It just felt like the only option.

Then something happened in 2020 that changed everything—COVID-19. My family and I were forced to move, and we ended up relocating just 15 minutes from FSU Panama City, though at the time I had no idea. That is when I began volunteering at the Man in the Sea Museum, a place dedicated to maritime engineering, with everything from underwater research facilities to submarines. Being there rekindled my passion for engineering.

With just one year left in high school, I made the decision to pursue that dream again—even though it still felt unlikely. I told myself that if I failed, I could always continue working as an auto mechanic. During my senior year, I worked hard and learned a lot. But the most important thing I discovered was FSU PC.

This campus was close to home, offered financial support, and had faculty and staff who truly cared. FSU PC was a blessing—an opportunity I never expected. Here, the university did not just admit me; they agreed to be my partner in my journey.

Last October, I applied for an engineering internship at Eastern Shipbuilding, where they are building a ship for the U.S. Coast Guard. I had mentioned my interest to Dean Randy Hanna a month prior. Then, one day, I got a call from an unknown number. Thinking it might be spam, I almost didn’t answer. Luckily, I did.

It was Dean Hanna, who asked, “Have you heard anything from Eastern Shipbuilding yet?” I told him, “No, but it has only been a week since I applied.” And he said, “I’m heading over there right now; I’ll talk to them for you.”

That is the kind of support you get here at FSU PC. It is because of this university that I am no longer worried about if I will become an engineer—I am now debating whether to get my master’s in electrical or aerospace engineering. FSU PC has been my partner in this journey, and I am forever grateful.

Krieg Conrad, Student Government President Mechanical Engineering

ANNUAL DINNER

EDGEWATER RESORT

OCTOBER 9, 2024

1. FSU First Lady Jai Vartikar, SGC representative Brianna Morgan, SGC President Krieg Conrad, FSU President Richard McCullough 2. Stacey VanDyke, DNAP administrator, sings the National Anthem 3. VITAS Healthcare representatives 4. The FSU Jazz Quartet 5. Directed by Heather Bishop, Ph.D., t he FSU Marching Chiefs Visual Team including the Color guard, majorettes and featured twirlers , perform. 3 1 2 4 5

TORCH RUN 5 KILOMETER

FSU PANAMA CITY JANUARY 20, 2024

1. Maggie Bartlow, 17, First Place winner with a time of 18 minutes and 8 seconds 2. Medals for runners 3. Canine particpant earning his medal 4. Runners starting the race in front of the Holley Acadmic Center

FIRST-YEAR CONVOCATION

FSU PANAMA CITY

AUGUST 25, 2024

1. The FSU Choral Scholars sing ‘The Hymn to the Garnet and Gold’ 2. Dean Randy Hanna addresses the audience 3. Students listen to the speakers during the ceremony 4. Each student receives an honorary robe to mark the beginning of their academic journey 5. First year students gather for a group photo in the lecture hall

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1 2 4 5

GRADUATION CELEBRATION

TOMMY OLIVER STADIUM

MAY 5, 2024

1. Justine Sowell 2. Decorative mortarboard 3. Instructor Charla Perdue congratulates graduate Sydney Pellerin 4. Snapping family photos after the ceremony

BOBBY BOWDEN INVITATIONAL

PANAMA COUNTRY CLUB

MARCH 29, 2024

1. Will Cramer, Aaron Rich, Bryan Taylor, Dave Hornkohl 2. Andrew Rowell, George Roberts, John Mulrain, Jamies Nelson 3. Larry Bailey, Bob Borrelli, Mark Wilson, Tom Borrelli 4. Rendy Lovelady, Jemmi Beignet, Jeromey Gillespinsoa, Hunter Show 5. Scott Johnson, Matchu Duncan, Cherry Duncan, Kellee Detme r 6. Harrison Hartley, William Bennett, Payne Denney, Tome Norris

GREAT DAY FOR A 5K :

Jordan Taylor, left, and Heba Abdelkader were among the Nearly 200 runners registered for the 2025 FSU PC Torch Run.

[Photo by Andrew Wardlow]