Sebring Mayor John Shoop has called for strategic planning workshop involving both the city council and the Sebring Community Redevelopment Agency. Shoop said he has been talking with CRA Executive Director Kristi Vasquez about a number of programs involving housing, business and business retention, that could be used for incentives.
Saying a lot of the planning has been paid for already, the idea would be to develop a course of action to retain what the city has and plan for future development.
The Highlands County School Board last night got an update on students involved in the STEM program. An acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The youngsters have made field trips to such places as Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida Southwestern State College and Florida Polytechnic to learn how those skills are used.
They also made forays to the Highlands County Sheriff’s office, the US Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring and U.S. Sugar to see how STEM skills may be used there.
A Sebring teen has earned the first Jimmy Whitehouse Scholarship. 18-year-old Rachel Boyd was dual enrolled at Sebring Senior High School and South Florida State College. She now is trying to decide in which four-year school to enroll.
The $1,200 stipend may be used for tuition, books or any other college-related expense. The Whitehouse scholarship was one of three handed out last week by the Florida Association of Supervisors of Election at their convention in Fort Lauderdale.