Communication Builds Our Community

(49) stories found containing 'Warner University'


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  • The Power of Example

    Wade B. Jakeway|Updated Jan 10, 2021

    A famous photo, featured in psychology textbooks, shows a lineup of infant ducklings following a baby elephant around a barnyard. The phenomenon is called "imprinting" – the tendency in fowls, within hours of being hatched, to follow the first moving object and regard it as their mother. Scientists have long attempted to determine to what extent the imprinting principle can be extraplated to the experience of human beings. It is widely felt, for instance, that adolescence i...

  • On Being a Somebody

    Wade B. Jakeway|Updated Jan 10, 2021

    According to the philosopher, John Dewey, the primary drive in every man's life, without exception, is the desire to be somebody. Take John Dillinger for example. He was once America's public enemy number one. On the loose, one night in a rural Wisconsin area the notorious gangster suddenly appeared in the living room of an elderly couple. Sensing their benumbed terror, he spoke reassuringly, "I'm not here to hurt you; I just want you to know I'm John Dillinger." By contrast,...

  • Lake Wales High School Sports On Hold for Now to Avoid COVID-19 Spread

    Brian Ackley, Lake Wales Charter Schools|Updated Aug 6, 2020

    Sports at Lake Wales High School are on the shelf for the time being as the result of a vote Tuesday, Aug. 4 by the charter system's Board of Trustees. The group unanimously voted to immediately suspend all athletic activity during a specially called board session to discuss the system's reopening plan, which originally called for following recommendation of the Florida High School Athletic Association. The meeting was electronically attended by almost 200 school officials,...

  • Atheist Offering Invocation at Commission Meeting Met with Resistance, Prayer

    Chevon T. Baccus APR, Executive Editor|Updated Aug 5, 2020
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    About 30 people stood outside the Lake Wales city administration building praying to God while Sarah Ray of the Atheist Community of Polk County gave the invocation at the city commission meeting Aug. 4. Others filled some of the available seats inside the commission chamber or in the lobby and break room and some people indicated they were praying from home. City commissioners Al Goldstein and Curtis Gibson exited the room during Ray's comments and returned for the Pledge of...

  • Charter School System Offers $575K for Historic School Property

    Chevon T. Baccus APR, Executive Editor|Updated Apr 9, 2020

    The Lake Wales Charter Schools system is offering to buy the city's old high school property north of Seminole Avenue for $575,000 to turn it into a permanent site for Bok Academy North. The City Commission in its capacity as the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) will consider the proposal at an April 14 meeting. Due to coronavirus concerns the meeting will be held online beginning at 6 p.m. via video teleconference and live streamed on the city's website at...

  • Don't Miss 49th Arts Festival on Shores of Lake Wailes Feb. 29-March 1

    Updated Feb 26, 2020

    New features and patron events and more than 50 artists from around the world look to make the 49th Annual Citizens Bank & Trust Lake Wales Arts Festival Feb. 29 and March 1 the best one to date. Hosted by the Lake Wales Arts Council, the Festival will kick off with the 9th Annual Art-B-Que on The Shores of Lake Wailes, 33 N. Lakeshore Blvd., from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday February 28. The free-to-attend Arts Festival will continue on February 29 and March 1. Additions to the festiva...

  • Lake Wales Chorale Spring Semester Starts Jan. 13

    Updated Jan 9, 2020

    People who love singing are invited to join voices for the spring semester of the Lake Wales Chorale. The first session with new director Dana Hofstrom of Warner University begins at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 13 at the Lake Wales Arts Center gallery, 1099 SR 60 E. Those new to the chorale are asked to come at 6:30 p.m. to register. Hofstrom is director of choral music and instructor in worship and music at Warner University. Cost is $50 per person, which includes music. Students...

  • Sonya Byrd, 1940-2019

    Updated Dec 5, 2019

    Sonya Crenshaw Byrd, 79, of Lake Wales passed away Saturday, Nov. 30, 2019 at AdventHealth. She was born September 30, 1940 in Orlando to the late Horrace and Frances (Jarvis) Crenshaw. She was adopted by Addie Overstreet Crenshaw. She was the manager for Plaza Twin Theater and was a member of the First Baptist Church of Waverly since 1999. She worked for Kmart, Escod, LWPD and Warner University and Sambo's before the movie theater. She is preceded in death by her husband...

  • Having Hope at Home Runs Nov. 8-24 at Lake Wales Little Theatre

    Updated Nov 21, 2019

    The Lake Wales Little Theatre's first Season 42 production, Having Hope at Home, opens Friday, Nov. 8 and runs for three weekends. Having Hope at Home is described as a light comedy with serious intentions. Directed by Glenda Thurmond, the productions will be at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 24 in the intimate 140-seat theater at 411 N. Third St. Tickets are $18 for adults and $12 for those under age 18 and can be purchased online at...

  • Yolanda Ortiz, 1959-2019

    Updated Sep 12, 2019

    Yolanda Ortiz, 60, of Lake Wales passed away Monday, Sept. 9, 2019 at her residence. She was born July 27, 1959 in Chicago, IL to the late Carlos and Rosa (Pagan) Ortiz. She has been a resident of the area since 1995 coming from Miami. She was a Financial Aide Counselor for Warner University. Yolanda was of the Catholic faith, she liked to garden and loved dogs. She is survived by her son Lorenzo Sanchez (Linda) of Lakeland, sisters Mirta Urroz (Walter) of Chicago, IL, Olga...

  • Defenders of Crooked Lake Issue Health Warning After Heavy Rains Cause Sewage Overflows

    Updated Aug 20, 2019

    The Defenders of Crooked Lake are sounding a health and safety alarm since recent record rains have resulted in overflows of both raw and treated sewage. "Please use caution in the vicinity of standing water in the Crooked Lake Park area. The discharge of wastewater can result in increased concentrations of coliform bacteria and present a risk to human health," said an alert by Defenders President Jim Tully. Tully said the Babson Park area typically receives eight inches of...

  • Investing in the Workforce

    Kevin Kieft, Contributing Writer|Updated Aug 7, 2019

    A significant agreement was forged in July between Polk State College and Florida Polytechnic University. The arrangement establishes the first academic pathway for students to go from Polk State to the state's only STEM-dedicated institution. This is the type of proactive, forward momentum that advances Polk education and builds our profile as a region with competitive, adaptable graduates and a workforce trained for the latest trends in employment. When companies consider...

  • LW NAACP Presents Servant Leader Award to Bishop Roscoe Williams III

    Updated Aug 1, 2019

    The Lake Wales NAACP Branch 5109 presented its Servant Leader Award to Bishop Roscoe Williams III. Board member Nicara Daniels announced the award at the Branch's 46th Annual Freedom Fund Banquet Saturday, June 15 at the James P. Austin Center. Williams was born in Sylvester, GA and moved to Florida at a very young age. He graduated with the class of 1974 from Lake Wales High School. He married his high school sweetheart, Annie, and they are the proud parents of four children...

  • Farmers Are Judged by Their Crops

    Trey Heath, Staff Writer|Updated Jul 30, 2019

    Passion, drive, and follow through are items we don't always see today. To find them in one person is even less likely. Now, add strong Christian values, continually advocating for the agriculture mission, and an unflappable desire to educate the next generation of agriculture student, and you have Justin Sharpless. A few months ago, the opportunity arose to sit down and discuss his history with Warner University, his love of agriculture, and his faith. His thoughts are...

  • Commissioners Explore Big Ideas to Develop Vision for City

    Chevon T. Baccus APR, Executive Editor|Updated Jul 30, 2019

    When Lake Wales commissioners were asked to envision what would produce a huge city success story by the year 2040, they enthusiastically detailed a bright future. Commissioners and senior staff came up with some big vision headlines for a "Miracle on the Ridge": "Lake Wales Annexes its Way to Prosperity and Success." "Lake Wales Restores Big Lake Wailes as Recreational Paradise." "Grand Hotel Open with Rotating Restaurant on Top." "Lake Wales Becomes Second Largest City in...

  • Leroy Fulton, 1931-2019

    Updated Jul 2, 2019

    During the past years of extraordinary physical and mental disabilities, Leroy M. Fulton exuberated kindness and love to the very end. He built a life of family, friends, faith and service. He was the definition of God's servant leading a variety of ministries in all walks of life. Leroy was born November 13, 1931 and passed away peacefully at home surrounded by loved ones June 12, 2019. He was born in Neon, Kentucky to Esther Hermine Baker and William Marcus Fulton. During hi...

  • Betty Jakeway, 1924-2019

    Updated Jun 4, 2019

    Betty Louise Jakeway, 94, of Lake Wales passed away Saturday, May 18 @ 5:35am, at Winter Haven Hospital. She was born June 12, 1924 in Benton Harbor, Michigan to the late Harold and Vernetta M. (Johnson) Harter. She has been a resident of this area since 1971, moving here from Los Angeles, CA, when her husband Dr. Wade Jakeway came to work for Warner Southern College, now Warner University. She coached softball at Warner and umpired for local recreation leagues, drawing from h...

  • Former Webber VP Now Liaison for Polk Schools

    Polk County Schools|Updated Apr 24, 2019

    Step into Steve Warner's office at Eagle Lake Elementary and your eyes will be drawn to the whiteboard, where he's drawn a large, pyramid-shaped illustration. The names of the two Winter Haven-area high schools he serves as Polk County Public Schools' first community liaison director are at the apex, followed by the names of four middle schools and 12 elementary schools. The drawing is more than just a way to help Warner remember school names. It's also a depiction of what he...

  • Chorale Honors Director Treadway at Final Concert

    Cassie Jacoby, Staff Writer|Updated Apr 11, 2019

    Lake Wales Chorale Musical Director Vince Treadway bid a fond farewell after receiving a standing ovation from the packed audience on Sunday, April 7 at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Lake Wales. Students from the Warner University Chorus and Chorale members were accompanied on piano by Dr. Jonathan Reed, Warner University assistant professor of music, and on organ by Lee Cobb, who serves as organist and choirmaster at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Ft. Myers. Treadway, who...

  • Cattle Industry Big Business in Polk

    Chevon T. Baccus APR, Executive Editor|Updated Apr 5, 2019

    The cattle industry is big business in Polk County, contributing an estimated $1.2 billion to the local economy and creating about 5,859 jobs, according to a March 2019 impact analysis produced by the University of Florida-IFAS. The UF-IFAS study said as of January 2019, Florida had an inventory of 1.68 million cattle and calves, including 914,000 beef cows and 116,000 dairy cows. An estimated 60,600 of them were in Polk County, which has the third largest cattle operation in...

  • Samantha Havens Shares Love of Music

    Lake Wales Charter Schools|Updated Apr 2, 2019

    You might say that Samantha Havens is the Dale R. Fair Babson Park Elementary School Teacher of the Year because she hits all the right notes. Now in her ninth year at the Lake Wales Charter System, the school's music teacher earned a bachelor's in music education from Warner University in 2010, where she was inspired by Dr. Steven Darr. "Dr. Darr taught me that if you want something to be spectacular, then you need to put in the time and effort," Havens noted. "He is...

  • Citrus Families Display Crate Labels at Warner

    Abby Crawford, Warner University|Updated Mar 14, 2019

    Warner University officially became part of the Citrus Label Tour of Polk County on March 1. What started a few short years ago as an initiative to identify buildings, land, and families with significance to the citrus industry in Polk County has grown to well over 15 locations. Warner University is honored to house two of the label displays which were generously donated by the represented families, the Maxcys and the Keens. The signs were conveniently placed around our Ed &...

  • Tera Dent Cheers on Struggling Students

    Updated Mar 5, 2019

    Tera Dent has, one way or another, always been a cheerleader. For four years, it was on the sidelines at Warner University, where she was getting her elementary education degree. Today, it's as Hillcrest Elementary's "K Academy" Director, working to support the academic needs of struggling students who were retained along with incoming students who are academically ahead of their peers, work that led to her being named the school's 2018-19 Teacher of the Year. "I love that...

  • Tom Freeman: Past, Present & Future

    Robert Bullock, Staff Writer|Updated Feb 25, 2019

    Tom Freeman turned 93 years old on October 19, 2018. Who is Tom Freeman? Well, he's kind of a legend around here - a Lake Wales treasure. He's somewhat of a renaissance man: an artist, poet, farmer, educator, businessman, war hero, golfer, historian, fisherman, storyteller, wildlife expert and activist. His life is an inspiration to many, and his art is a fabulous and important legacy. As are many, I am honored to know Mr. Freeman, and I am grateful for the privilege of...