The final graduation of 2008 for Hillsborough County schools was a celebration of second chances. ...more

June 5, 2008

High school students love their bling, so when they choose a class ring they sometimes pay $550 or more for the privilege of wearing their school pride on their fingers. ...more

May 28, 2008

With graduation looming, officials are hoping efforts to boost high school graduation rates will pay off in the numbers. ...more

May 22, 2008

thugs who were sent to their maker in uncounted numbers. In Myanmar, the body count in the wake of a killer cyclone may reach six figures. ...more

May 8, 2008

Country music singer Gretchen Wilson has a mantel full of awards in her Lebanon, Tenn., home. Her first single, "Redneck Woman," earned her a Grammy. ...more

May 5, 2008

As youngsters, they belonged to the same church and both attended the University of Tampa. But it wasn't until long after Temple Terrace resident Sylvia D'Aloia's graduation that she came to recognize the significant role Ron Govin has played in the Tampa Bay area. ...more

May 3, 2008

Matthew Allen Grindy checked off one more of his life's goals when he received a doctoral degree from his hospital bed. ...more

February 10, 2008

AVON PARK — A quote on one of the floats aptly described the point of Monday's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. parades, both in Avon Park's Southside and in Lake Placid's Highway Park neighborhood. "Live the Dream," the backboard of the float read. Three men dressed in a suit, a cap and gown and medical gowns rode with a group of kids as they greeted a crowd of about 600 lining the sidewalks of Delaney Avenue Monday afternoon. The Junior Diamonds, Senior Diamonds and Baby Diamonds performed marching dance routines while nine children cheer-led for the Avon Park Recreation Center. They came along with four floats, youth groups and church vans among the 21 registered entries, according to Cynthia Barrett, the executive director of the Family Christian Association of America. At Highway Park, NAACP Highlands County chapter president Brenda Gray said "the march was good," though she could not give a crowd estimate. A call to Major Callahan, who organized the Highway Park parade, was not immediately returned Monday. ...more

January 22, 2008

Photographs tell only part of his life story, a tale not even his parents can tell with certainty. James Andre PaulinÖ , a native of New York's Queens borough, graduated from a private high school in New York City, began studying business at an Atlanta college and then, much to his family's chagrin, dropped out to follow his dream of becoming a rap/hip-hop artist. ...more

January 8, 2008

Ebony Adams made a name for herself scoring baskets for Pasco High School several years ago. ...more

January 8, 2008