Video Tour: Ponce Hall Towers

The towers of the old Ponce de Leon Hotel — now Flagler College’s Ponce Hall — are undergoing their first intensive restoration.

Primarily made of terra cotta, the towers are solidly built, according to Roland Ray of Byron & James, Inc, the construction company working on the restoration. But their age — the Ponce was built in 1888 — is catching up to them. The towers have small cracks that worsen during rainy weather, as water causes them to expand.

For love and meaning

English professor Liz Robbins talks poetry, publishing and truth

It’s hard to define “success” in the publishing world these days. As major publishing firms struggle to turn a profit, it’s more difficult than ever to get a traditional contract. Meanwhile, self-publishing companies – which let anyone print their work, for a fee – are rapidly expanding. But the books they publish sometimes reach just dozens of readers – as opposed to, say, a million.

Flagler Assistant Professor of English Liz Robbins is finding success somewhere in between those two extremes. Her first full-length book of poetry, “Hope, As The World Is A Scorpion Fish,” was published by small, Nebraska-based The Backwaters Press in 2008 and has sold more than 1,000 copies.

Learning to do nothing

Retiring English Professor Vincent Puma reflects on his Flagler career

Vincent Puma has done a lot for Flagler College over the last 36 years. He built the school’s composition program from scratch when he arrived in 1973, and he later established a peer writing center that’s grown from just two student tutors to more than 60.

Recent grad makes big difference with disadvantaged youth

He’s only 24, but alumnus Justin Black has already spent four years transforming St. Augustine’s Boys & Girls Club.

“We’ve done a 180,” he said. “When I first got here there was a fight almost every day … I’ve had people threaten to shoot me. I’ve had kids take a swing at me.”

Fights are rare now. The 2007 Flagler graduate said the club currently has the highest rate of teen participation in the area, and the kids often see him as “one of their own.” Those changes might not have been possible, Black said, if he wasn’t good at basketball.

A new environmental science minor arrives at Flagler during a season of political and economic change

“Can I swab a shrimp?”

A young woman in chest-high waders is ready to join the activities of her companions, who are gently swiping cotton along specimens: anchovies, tiny crabs, shrimp. On a strip of shore by the dam at Guana-Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve, Flagler College assistant professor Terri Seron’s biology students have gathered little squirming things from a net with latex-clad hands.

Flagler gets a little greener

The Flagler College campus has seen a variety of environment-friendly changes recently, from a low-impact renovation of Kenan Hall to a student-run recycling program.

The recycling effort has been spearheaded by the Flagler Outdoors Club, which was founded by students two years ago. Melissa Kafel, a sociology major and president of the club, said recycling on a large scale can get surprisingly expensive.

Homework pays off for public administration students

A grant writing class helped them bring almost $1 million to St. Johns County
Flagler College public administration students recently brought nearly $1 million in funding to St. Augustine public safety initiatives – just by doing their homework.

When St. Johns County Sheriff Deputy Ricky Domingo and 911 Emergency Systems Engineer Michael Banks submitted proposals for a grant writing class, they got what they asked for. Banks received $850,000 in grant money from the State of Florida for a new 911 emergency communication system for St. Johns County. Domingo landed a $1,000 grant from Wal-Mart to purchase seven tracking bracelets for the Sheriff’s Department.

On The Ground In Afghanistan

Alumnus Greg Teisan, ’88, returns from military duty in Kabul

In the civilian world, Greg Teisan works as a sales representative for a pharmaceutical company. But in Afghanistan, he held responsibilities that ranged from organizing a bazaar for local merchants to coordinating polio and tuberculosis vaccinations for thousands of people.

During his year as a major in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps, the ’88 Flagler alumnus spent most of his time arranging training, supplies and other logistics for medical missions and emergency health care. Teisan had been a member of the National Guard for nearly 20 years, living in South Carolina with his wife and two children, when he was asked to deploy to Afghanistan.

Audio Slideshow: Alumnus Greg Teisan Narrates His Year in Afghanistan

Lessons from Ama Ghar

Alumna McKenzie Lamborne volunteers in a Nepalese orphanage

McKenzie Lamborne, ’02, quickly found that life at a Nepalese orphanage requires some adjustments. She ate with her hands, stomped on her clothes to simulate the spin cycle of a washing machine and wore a surgical mask in the street to reduce the smell of garbage and sewage. She rode an elephant, watched demonstrations by Tibetan monks and waited through a transportation strike.

The Journey, Not the Destination

Alumnus Nicholas Serenati went from Hollywood hopeful to award-winning visual artist

Flagler alumnus Nicholas Serenati (’03) launched his career hoping to be a Hollywood director, but he’s found his niche in a variety of visual arts.