(TAMPA, Florida) - Bisk Education, a leading facilitator of online education, will recognize two local Hometown Heroes next week with online scholarships to advance their academic careers.
The honorees – Anita Ives, guidance counselor at Academy Prep Centers for Education, and Kelly Newman, fourth grade teacher at St. Joseph Catholic School – will be recognized in a ceremony on Monday, February 29 at Academy Prep Center of Education. They were chosen for outstanding service and significant learning contributions, as well as inspiring students to develop their full potential.
“These individuals are to be commended for their daily dedication to educational excellence. It is our honor to help highlight their achievements and support lifelong learning through online scholarships,” said Michael Bisk, President of Tampa-based Bisk Education.
Nicknamed “Ms. Nita” by students and staff, Anita Ives is a guidance counselor with Academy Prep, where she has served since the center opened in 2003. She has been instrumental in the lives of her students, not only through her academic counsel and “tough love,” but also by broadening the horizons of hundreds of students through her creation and implementation of gardening and sewing programs at the school. As a result of her efforts, an extremely popular fashion show is conducted twice a year where students showcase the clothes they’ve made under her guidance.
Kelly Newman has been an educator at St. Joseph Catholic School, a University of Notre Dame ACE Academy, since 2008. Kelly’s colleagues have noted her to be a deserving Hometown Hero through her dedication to finding ways to improve her skills, further her knowledge, and sharing what she has learned with fellow educators. She is committed to
her students’ learning and is always available to her students before and after school hours. As a result of her hard work, her students make extraordinary academic gains year after year.
Awards Set the Stage for Film Debut of Another Education Initiative
The scholarships awarded to the Hometown Heroes complement another Bisk Education initiative, The Business of Good: Young Africa Rising, a documentary debuting March 2 during a private screening at the historic Tampa Theatre. The film chronicles the transformative journey of 25 Mandela Washington Fellows who attended the University of Notre Dame as part of the 2015 Mandela Washington Fellowship of the Young African Leaders Initiative.
“We are proud to recognize everyone who inspires others to reach their full potential through education,” Bisk said. “Whether it’s the work of people in our own community, or projects that bring social change a continent away, we’re pleased to honor those who are transforming the world through education.”
For more information about Bisk Education, go to www.bisk.com.
About Bisk Education
Founded in 1971, Bisk Education is one of the largest and most respected facilitators of online education. The company’s innovative, student-focused technology and support services power the delivery of degree and professional certificate programs from the nation’s leading traditional and accredited universities. Bisk is committed to supporting the lifelong learning goals of adult learners. For more information, go to www.Bisk.com.
About the University of Notre Dame
Founded in 1842, the University of Notre Dame provides a distinctive voice in higher education that is at once rigorously intellectual, unapologetically moral in orientation, and firmly embracing of a service ethos. The nation’s pre-eminent Catholic university and rated among the top 20 of all U.S. institutions of higher learning, Notre Dame is organized into four undergraduate colleges — Arts and Letters, Science, Engineering, and the Mendoza College of Business — the School of Architecture, the Law School, the Graduate School, 10 major research institutes, more than 40 centers and special programs, and the University library system. Located adjacent to the city of South Bend, Ind., which has a metropolitan population of more than 300,000, Notre Dame is highly residential, with 80 percent of students living on campus, and also is known for the quality of its physical plant and the beauty of its campus, including the Golden Dome of the Main Building, the world’s most recognized university landmark.
Media Contact:
Victoria Raymer