News & Events
CARIBE Starts the 2014-2015 School Year with Faculty Professional Study Day
Published August 14, 2014
Teachers of the CARIBE Refugee Program participated in the Hillsborough County Schools Adult Education Professional Day. Teacher received information about changes in the ESOL curriclum, security updates, student service updates, Career Pathways, Social Services updates, and CASAS Testing information. Teachers were also informed of the upcoming changes to the CARIBE Refugee Program such as new course offerings, revised organizational chart, new program deliverables, and Fall Semester class schedule.
Please view the video presentation during the Faculty Professional Study Day.
CARIBE Takes Part in 2014 World Refugee Day
Published July 1, 2014
Students from the Erwin Site participated in the festivities of World Refugee Day held at Jefferson High School. The event drew more than 2000 attendees from students, community leaders, teachers, school administrators, task force members and refugee families. The event included a cultural fashion show, booths, guest speakers from UNHCR, DCF and ORR, and a refugee camp exhibit. Students from the University of South Floida (USF) interviewed students from the Lois site and presented their journey during the World Refugee Day Celebration.
Winter Term Certificate Ceremonies
Published May 2014
CARIBE students ended their Winter Semester with a bang! Each school site held their certificate ceremonies. The celebration was alway highlighted with a wide variety of food from different nations prepared by students. This year, the Academic Skills students from MacDill Headed by their teacher, Luis Cardenas, prepared a grand presentation about vacation places in Florida. Each class from the Lois site gave their own presentation such as poem reading, singing, game show hosting and PowerPoint presentations. Students from Erwin and First Baptist Church gave their own testimonials about how CARIBE has helped improve their lives in the United States.
Representatives from UNHCR, ORR, and DCF Visited First Baptist Church of Temple Terrace Site
Published July 2014
As part of the World Refugee Day 2014 Celebration, representatives from the U.S. Department of State, UNHCR, ORR and DCF conducted a site visit of the CARIBE @ First Baptist of Temple Terrace Site. Present during the visit are Simon Henshaw (Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State), Faith Hurt (Atlanta
Regional Representative, Office of Refugee Resettlement), Jana Mason (UNHCR Senior Advisor for Government and External Relations), Hiram Ruiz (Director of Refugee Services, Department of Children and Families, Tallahassee, Florida) and Patti Grogan (Deputy Director of Refugee Services, Department of Children and Families, Tallahassee, Florida). The dignitaries observed lessons, participated in classroom activities, conduted interviews with refugees from Iraq, and listened to student testimonials. CARIBE teachers, William Posey and Leah Pizana, engaged the dignitaries with well planned interactive lessons. The dignitaries were also able to meet briefly with the FBCTT Staff who makes holding classes at the church possible. There to greet the guests were Pastor Josue Calzada (Director of Missions), Zak Moussa (Director of Prayers and International Ministries), Peter Adler (Dirctor of Childrens Ministries) and Kim Gilio (Ministry Assistant to Missions). Michelle Loango (Supervisor of Curriculum) was also present at the event to represent the Hillsborough County Schools Adult Education program. The event was covered by Janelle Irwin from WMNF. A radio transcript of the coverage may be found on the CARIBE Facebook page. The dignitaries had a great time and were delighted to meet the refugees at the First Baptist.
