Cooper Smith is an anomaly in his family – a redhead in a clan full of people with black or brown hair.

Curious about his heritage, Cooper, an honors student at Valencia College, has embarked on two research projects that will teach him more about his ancestral background. 

“When no one else in your family has red hair, it makes you really curious  about where that came from,” he says.

The first is his formal honors research project. For that project, Cooper is investigating the different cultures that may have influenced the ancient Celtic peoples.

And, because he doesn’t know much about his family’s heritage, Cooper has launched into another research project: a DNA study of his own ancestry.

To find out where his family hails from, he has sent a sample of his DNA (taken by wiping a cotton swab on the inside of his cheek) to the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C.  There, a team of scientists is using DNA samples from people around the world to compare DNA strains and determine where people originated from, based on their shared chromosomal traits.

It’s called the Genographic Project, and since 2005, more than 594,000 people around the world have participated in the project, sending in their DNA for testing and mapping.  (To learn more about the Genographic Project, go to https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/)

Originally designed to map the movement of indigenous peoples, the National Geographic project has expanded and now is working to map the migration of humans from Africa to the far corners of the earth.  Participants such as Cooper Smith are contributing their DNA to the research project, but in return will learn about elements of their own ancestry.

Scientists at National Geographic run a comprehensive analysis to identify more than 3,000 genetic markers on participants’ mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down each generation from mother to child, revealing a person’s direct maternal deep ancestry.  For male participants like Cooper, the team also examines more than 10,000 markers on the Y chromosome, which is passed down from father to son, to reveal direct paternal deep ancestry.  The team also looks at more than 130,000 other markers from across the entire genome to reveal the regional affiliations of ancestry, offering insights into ancestors who are not on a direct maternal or paternal line for both males and females.

This summer, Smith, who’s 19, will receive the results of his DNA tests. And as he accumulates information, he’s adding it to a web page that he’s created to document his findings.

“The only thing I know about my family’s history is from word of mouth,” says Cooper. “I know my grandmother was Cuban. Her family came to Cuba from the Canary Islands. And my grandfather on my mother’s side was Russian. His grandfather came here  and changed the family’s name,” he says. “But on my father’s side, I don’t know much, so I’m very interested to learn about it.”

The two research projects, which he has undertaken as part of his classwork for the James M. and Dayle L. Seneff Honors College, have inspired Cooper to think about the broader field of anthropology and archaeology.

“I originally planned to go to the University of Central Florida, but given my major, I’m now looking at multiple schools,” says Cooper.  Among those on his list: Rollins College in Winter Park, the University of South Florida in Tampa and University College of London.

The Valencia College Theater is proud to present Neil LaBute’s hilarious and biting comedy, “Fat Pig,” premiering June 6, and running through June 16. 

The play, which depicts the budding romance between Tom, an upwardly mobile corporate type, and Helen, a plus-sized librarian, balances black humor and social commentary. Its “dissection of how societal pressures affect relationships is astute and up-to-the-minute relevant,” says the New York Post.

LaBute’s caustic, hilarious and touching comedy not only critiques our slavish adherence to Hollywood ideals of beauty, but also boldly questions our own ability to change what we dislike about ourselves. The play is a distinctly comic and politically incorrect observation of the world around us.

Valencia College Theater presents this brilliant contemporary work by LaBute in a production directed by John DiDonna, with set design by Greg Loftus, lighting design by Kristin Abel and costume design by Kayleigh Raymondo.  The cast includes Chris Markcity, Olivia Richardson, Andrew Romano and Jessica Meguiar.

All performances will be in the Valencia College Black Box Theater, located on Valencia’s East Campus in Building 3.   Curtain times will be 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. Sunday performances will begin at 2 p.m.  Special talk-back with cast and director slated for Friday, June 14, after the production.

General admission tickets cost $12. Senior citizens, Valencia faculty, staff and students may purchase tickets for $10. Tickets can be purchased online at www.valenciacollege.edu/arts. 

Use the code “VALENCIAWEB” for a $2 discount on each ticket. The discount is for online purchases only. Tickets and more information are also available by calling the college box office at 407-582-2900.

Seating is limited in the Black Box Theater, so advance purchase is advised. The play is performed without intermission.

Please note: The play contains adult subject matter and language that may not be suitable for children.

Valencia’s East Campus is located at 701 N. Econlockhatchee Trail, Orlando.

Playwrights (who must reside in Florida) are invited to submit a cover letter, resume or bio, one page synopsis, and the first 15 pages of no more than two never-before-produced manuscripts. The deadline for this first phase of submission is July 30, 2013. A committee will evaluate the excerpts and selected playwrights will be invited to submit the full manuscript as part of the second phase of the submission process.

From these manuscripts, one play will be chosen for development as a workshop production with the playwright’s participation. The writer will receive a stipend to cover travel and other expenses related to the production. The administrator of the competition plans to announce the winning play in early September 2013, and the workshop process will begin in late fall 2013 or early spring 2014.

Scripts must be original, previously unproduced, full-length plays. Scripts that have received staged readings may be submitted. Collaborations are acceptable, but children’s plays, adaptations, and musicals are ineligible at this time.

Electronic submission of the cover letter, resume or bio, one-page synopsis and 15-page excerpt is required. Please send submissions and questions to Valencia’s incoming Artistic Director (May 2013), John DiDonna, at jdidonna@valenciacollege.edu.

Valencia’s commencement exercises took place at 10 a.m. at Silver Spurs Arena, Osceola Heritage Park, on U.S. Hwy. 192 in Kissimmee.

But just as Nathan was hitting his stride at work—buying a house and beginning to take college classes in electronics—the realities of the global economy crash-landed on his doorstep.

Lucent Technologies was sold to another company and, then, in 2005, the Orlando plant closed down. The 1,600 jobs, making microchips, were sent overseas. And Nathan Maurer found himself with a home, a mortgage and no job.

Quickly, he scrambled to find a job and landed one working for a landscaping company, then working the night shift at Walmart. Meanwhile, he returned to Valencia, where he had taken a few classes earlier in his career. Here, he began ramping up his efforts to earn an Associate in Applied Science degree in Electronics Engineering Technology.  

Life, however, moved on while Nathan was in college. He got married. When his wife, a legal secretary, had their first child, Nathan continued to go to college, but became a stay-at-home dad instead of putting the baby in day-care. To help pay the bills, he began working as an online tutor.

After earning his A.A.S., he tried to find a job in his field, but with the recession gripping the nation, he couldn’t find anything. So Nathan signed up for Valencia’s new bachelor’s degree program in Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology. “When it started, I wasn’t sure what the coursework would be like,” he says. “But as the program started, I became more interested in electronics and engineering. And I was impressed by the level that they were teaching—especially since this was the first time for all these courses.”

Having taken classes at UCF, where many of the classes contained hundreds of students, Nathan was thrilled to find himself in classes with less than 20 students.

“At Valencia, if you need help at any point, you can sit down with that instructor and get help,” Nathan says. “At UCF, there is not one-on-one at any point.”

Now, at age 37, Nathan Maurer is proud to be in the first class of bachelor’s degree graduates from Valencia College. His wife, and three children, ages 9, 7 and 10 months, will be in the audience—and his mom, who lives in Michigan, will be watching the commencement on her computer, by live-streaming video.

After graduation day, Nathan wants to land an internship in the field—and then a job.

“My long-term goal,” he says, “is a permanent position with a power generation unit.”

It wasn’t. Although the health-care field is growing, Zenia discovered that the Orlando area was already full of nuclear medicine technologists—and even though the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts higher-than-normal job growth for workers in this field, Zenia couldn’t find any full-time jobs.

“There aren’t many positions and the people in this field tend to stay where they are,” she says. “They get a job and they stay there.” And with local colleges pumping out new graduates each year, Zenia  found the region was saturated with nuclear medicine techs.

Unable to find a full-time job, she settled for a part-time job at a hospital in Lake County—which means a one-hour commute from her home in Deltona.

Frustrated—and worried about paying back her student loans—Zenia started investigating going back to college to earn a bachelor’s degree in radiography. When she learned that Valencia College had started a new bachelor’s degree program in Radiologic and Imaging Sciences, Zenia was thrilled. Although she could have attended the same private college where she earned her associate degree, she was already feeling overwhelmed by the student loans she’d taken out to pay for that.

At Valencia, however, the cost of earning a bachelor’s degree was significantly cheaper than at a private college.

She was also excited because Valencia’s classes were primarily online, allowing her to do her classwork and homework anytime—even if that was 2 a.m. For Zenia, who has a three-year-old daughter, “that flexibility is great.”

Although most of her contact with her professors was online, Zenia enjoyed their interaction. “The instructors are very knowledgeable,” she says. “They really help you out. They’re there to make sure you get through the program and they really care about our success. That’s super important, especially for working professionals—to know that the faculty will really work with you.”

Like many of her classmates, Zenia, now 32, worked while earning her bachelor’s degree. And Zenia, whose bachelor’s degree specialization was quality management, now hopes to find a job in the field. “I really like the whole quality aspect—making sure that everything is done in a certain way, making sure the machines are up to date and working properly and everything is done according to regulations,” she said.

Eager to be one of the first students to earn a bachelor’s degree from Valencia, Zenia took more courses than she might have in order to finish by May 2013.

“I could have graduated in the summer,” she says, “but I took as many classes as I could so I could be in that first graduating class.”

Now her mom, her brother, her husband and her daughter, Leilani, have a special celebration planned for graduation. The family—originally from Puerto Rico, but now living in Deltona—plans to stay in a hotel near Disney the night before graduation and then watch with pride as Zenia walks across the stage the next day.

“I’m extremely excited,” says Zenia. “And so is my family. They are so proud of me and they’ve been so supportive. They’ve helped me through this whole experience.”

Bladimir had to make a decision. Because he had lived in Rhode Island the age of nine, when his parents emigrated from Colombia, he opted to stay at URI.  But with his parents in Florida, his residency status changed and, Bladimir, who was struggling with the large class sizes at URI, then lost his financial aid.

His path to college then detoured to Florida, where he worked for a year before enrolling at Edison State College in Fort Myers. There, he loved the small classes and the interaction with his professors. After earning his A.A. at Edison State, Bladimir moved to Orlando to study engineering at the University of Central Florida.

But after he arrived on the Orlando campus, he found himself facing the same problems that plagued him at the University of Rhode Island. “Once again, in those big classrooms, it was hard to concentrate,” says Bladimir. “It’s hard to listen to a teacher when he’s all the way down there… and you’re all the way up here.”

When UCF put him on academic probation, Bladimir decided to take a few classes at Valencia, in hopes of boosting his GPA. He knew the classes would be smaller, and if they were anything like Edison, he’d get more interaction with the instructors.

As luck would have it, one of his first classes was taught by Dr. Ali Notash, who taught the class about lasers. “I thought it sounded pretty interesting,” Bladimir recalls. “I began thinking, ‘Maybe I want to go into this field.’” So when Notash told Bladimir that Valencia was planning to take over UCF’s bachelor’s program in electrical engineering technology, Bladimir was excited.  Finally, he could get an engineering degree at a college that offered the small classes where he could thrive.

And after he started in Valencia’s engineering program, in classes of 20 to 30 students, he was excited to find that Valencia’s professors teach engineering from a hands-on perspective, not the theoretical material presented at most universities.

“When we came here, we didn’t know how to use some of the equipment in the lab, like oscilloscopes and that kind of thing,” Bladimir says. “So the professors took us back to basics.”

In addition to smaller classes, the professors reached out to help students. “My professors here know me,” Bladimir says. “One of my teachers said, ‘Email me any time of the day and I’ll get back to you.’ And they do. I sent him an email at 12 a.m. and I got an email back from him at 12:03 a.m.”

During the program, the students in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology program learn, among other things, how to program microcontrollers and microprocessors. For his senior design project, Bladimir and a classmate are designing and building a machine that will sort candies like Skittles and M&Ms by color.

“It’s definitely challenging, but you learn a lot,” Bladimir says.

Like many Valencia students, Bladimir worked throughout his college career. To support himself and his wife,who’s a student at UCF, he works nights as a valet at an upscale hotel. He and his fellow engineering students have become a tight-knit group, though they see each other primarily in class.

 “A couple of the guys have kids, some of them have daytime jobs,” says Bladimir, “so we socialize in class. But we’ve all gotten to know each other.”

Now, at age 29, he’s on the verge of making history—becoming one of the first students to earn a bachelor’s degree from Valencia College.  And Bladimir—who learned English by watching cartoons—now hopes to get a job in the power-generation field or communications engineering.

He also hopes that other students will discover Valencia’s small classes and hands-on approach to engineering education.

“Hopefully the word will get out about this program,” he says. “The only reason I found out about it was because I took Ali Notash in a lasers class … but it turned out to be pretty cool.”

[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHhT7GHJICE[/embed]

In her short 19 years, she has bounced back from devastating losses – first, at age 13, from the death of her mother, then from the murder of her uncle. But with the help of her family, her church and her faith, Chacoryia has persevered and is the winner of this year’s Mary Smedley Collier Distinguished Graduate Award.

Every day, she is inspired by the words of her late uncle, who frequently told her one maxim: “Nothing comes to a sleeper but dreams.”

As a teenager, Chacoryia often pondered his words, uncertain exactly what he meant. Ultimately, she decided his message was simple: If you want your dreams to come true, you’re going to have to work for them.

And Chacoryia has worked relentlessly to make her dreams come true. 

A good student throughout her elementary and middle school years, Chacoryia was 12 when her mother had a heart attack. Hospitalized and diagnosed with congestive heart failure, 38-year-old Chelsea Howard, was transferred to a nursing home to recover. Unable to walk or speak, her mom would still smile when Chacoryia came to visit and talked about the books she was reading.

Yet Chacoryia – the eldest of three children — was devastated to come home one day to find her grandmother’s home full of family members. Her mom, they told her, had passed away. Full of grief and reeling from her mother’s absence, Chacoryia, then 13, struggled to find her footing. In school, she lost focus. She pressed on, however. And then, just as she was beginning to find her path, she experienced yet another setback: Her uncle, the one who’d given her those words of wisdom, was shot and killed.

But in 11^th grade, Chacoryia began to rebound. And by her senior year, she was back, pushing herself academically. She excelled in her honors English class at Evans High, prompting her teacher, Juan Chisholm, to push Chacoryia to attend college.

And though Chacoryia dreamed of going to Florida A&M University, Chisholm had another idea: He recommended she join Valencia’s Bridges to Success program.  Now, looking back over her college career, Chacoryia says Bridges was the key to her success at Valencia.

In her first two semesters at Valencia, she earned a 3.5 GPA and was soon invited to join Phi Theta Kappa, the national honor society for community college students. Through the Bridges program, she joined Valencia Volunteers and soon began contributing articles to the Bridges monthly newsletter. She also began participating in REGAL (Remarkably, Elegant, Gifted, Ambitious, Ladies), the Bridges mentor program for young women.  And, along the way, she discovered more opportunities, including the chance to appear on local TV in public-service announcements for Black History Month.

Juggling her schoolwork with her other responsibilities hasn’t been easy. Chacoryia works 30 to 35 hours a week at Wendy’s, and has worked as a student assistant for Valencia Volunteers between 10 and 20 hours a week. With no car, she travels to and from campus on the Lynx bus.

Yet, for Chacoryia, the sacrifices have been worth it. “My mom and my uncle would be so proud of me,” she says. And she knows that her little brother and sisters – Zoria, 15; Kalib, 11; and Jamella, 9 – see her as a role model.

Now poised to enroll at Florida A&M University in the fall, Chacoryia has set her sights on her next dream – majoring in journalism, with the goal of working for Vogue magazine one day.

And she won’t rest until she accomplishes those dreams. After all, nothing comes to sleepers but dreams.

Kissimmee, FL – On Saturday, May 4, about 1,200 Valencia students will receive their associate degrees as Valencia College celebrates its 44^th spring commencement at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee.

But another 20 Valencia students will make history at this commencement ceremony – becoming the first students to earn their bachelor’s degrees at Valencia College.

Eleven of the graduating seniors are earning bachelor’s degrees in Radiologic and Imaging Sciences, while nine students are earning their bachelor’s degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology.

The two programs are Valencia’s first bachelor’s degree programs. The college began offering the two bachelor’s degree programs in the fall of 2011. The graduating students have either completed their coursework or will finish it in summer 2013.

This year’s commencement address will be given by 19-year-old Chacoryia Burns, who was named the 2012-2013 Distinguished Graduate by the Valencia Alumni Association.

Although an expected 1,200 students are participating in commencement ceremonies, 7,515 students have graduated in the summer, fall and spring semesters. Valencia holds one commencement ceremony each May.

To recognize this year’s graduates, the college has posted the names of all 7,515 Class of 2013 graduates on a Lynx bus. The bus will be parked outside the Silver Spurs Arena, where students and their families can pose beside it for graduation photos. After commencement ceremonies, the bus will be used on Lynx bus route 15, which travels from downtown Orlando to Valencia’s East Campus, on Econlockhatchee Trail.

Valencia’s commencement exercises will take place at 10 a.m. at Silver Spurs Arena, Osceola Heritage Park, on U.S. Hwy. 192 in Kissimmee.

What’s the best artwork that Valencia students produced this year? Come see when the 2013 Annual Juried Student Graphic and Fine Art Exhibition opens in the Anita S. Wooten Gallery on Friday, April 12, with a reception from 6:30-8:30 p.m. There will be an award ceremony at 7:30 p.m. for outstanding work that includes drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics and design as well as graphic design and interactive design.

From over 300 submitted entries, 120 were selected for display. The jurors for the fine art selections were: Kevin Haran, a professor in the art department at the University of Central Florida, and Rick Lang, who heads the photo department at Crealde School of Art in Winter Park. Eleven graphics professionals from the Valencia Graphics Advisory Board selected the works for the graphics area.

The exhibition will run through May 17.  The Anita S. Wooten Gallery, which is on Valencia’s East Campus in Building 3, room 112,  will be open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. (excluding college closed breaks), and is free to the public.

Valencia’s East Campus is located at 701 N. Econlockhatchee Trail.

Accompanying Allred will be Michelle Mailhot, who teaches jazz vocals at Valencia, and the Valencia Jazz Lab Band, a student group directed by Chris Dolske.

The musicians will perform Duke Ellington’s “In A Sentimental Mood,” and Quincy Jones’ arrangement of “Honeysuckle Rose.”

Also performing will be solo guest trombonist Bill Allred, John’s father.  One of the original staff musicians hired to perform at Disney World in 1971, he is known today as the leader of Bill Allred’s Classic Jazz Band.

Raised in Orlando, John Allred moved to southern California after graduating from high school to perform with the Jazz Minors, a six-piece Dixieland group that performed at Disneyland.

Allred later performed with Harry Connick Jr.’s Big Band and, in 1999, moved to New York, where he has played with   Toshiko Akiyoshi Big Band, the Woody Herman Orchestra and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band. He is currently the trombonist for the new Broadway play, Cinderella.

The concert is supported by the Valencia Student Government Association.

Valencia College’s Performing Arts Center is located on Valencia’s East Campus, 701 N. Econlockhatchee Trail, Orlando.

The public is also invited to an open rehearsal prior to the concert. The rehearsal will be held on April 3 from noon to 1 p.m. at Valencia’s East Campus, Building 3, Room 126.

The Council of Presidents noted the colleges were designed in part to promote economic development for Florida, and the new study shows just how well the FCS lives up to that mission. The Florida College System awarded 105,798 degrees and certificates last year.

Reacting to the study, Gov. Rick Scott said, “This study comes on the heels of today’s announcement that we’ve added more than 280,000 private-sector jobs over the last two years, and as we continue to focus on greater economic growth, students will have even more opportunities to find a job in the Sunshine State. Moreover, this report is great news in support of our goal to create more jobs and strengthen education. Florida colleges continue to step up and provide students with an even more affordable, high-quality education. I am proud that all colleges offering four-year degrees have accepted our $10,000 Degree Challenge. Our ‘Florida Families First Budget’ increases state funding to Florida colleges by more than $74 million. We are committed to making sure our students are prepared to compete for jobs in the global marketplace.”

St. Johns River State College President Joe Pickens, chair of the Council of Presidents, said the study provides solid data regarding the 28 members colleges. “Florida’s colleges are providing exactly the kind of boost our state needs,” Pickens said. “With a $26.6 billion bump to our economy, it’s clear the Florida College System plays a vital role in shaping Florida’s future. We are grateful to our state leaders for their wise investment that touches the lives of so many Floridians.”

Last year, a similar economic impact study — conducted by Economic Modeling Specialists International (EMSI) — found that Valencia College’s economic impact on the Central Florida region is over $1 billion a year in the form of alumni earnings, student spending and expenditures on college operations.

The Council of Presidents and the FCS Foundation subsequently commissioned EMSI to conduct the economic impact study of the Florida system. EMSI has been conducting economic impact studies for colleges and universities and economic development groups from across the U.S. since 2000. In addition to examining impacts created by the accumulated skills and higher productivity of students in the workforce, EMSI also looked at the impact of Florida’s college and student spending.

“At its core, the Florida College System is about providing access to high-quality education and job training that responds to community and state needs,” said Florida College System Chancellor Randy Hanna. “The results from the economic impact study confirm something we already knew: The Florida College System is an important economic development engine for the state.”

Joining education leaders at Tuesday’s event were State Board of Education Members John Padget, Ada Armas, John Colon and Barbara Feingold and Seminole State College Board Chairman Scott Howat.

The Florida College System has always served as a gateway to higher education through its high-quality programs, open-door admission policies and low tuition rates. Today, the 28 colleges serve one out of every 21 Floridians. In fact, 88 percent of FCS graduates are employed or continuing their education within one year of graduation.  Bachelor’s-degree graduates had an average salary of $46,186. Those who receive an associate in science degree go on to earn an average salary of $44,095.

“We often talk in the legislature about creating jobs and making things better for our children, and the Florida College System is the perfect example of what we need to do more of,” said House Speaker Pro Tem Marti Coley of Marianna, who attended Chipola Junior College before moving on to Florida State University. “I know from my own experience that our college system lays a solid foundation for the future.”

FCS offers a range of certificates and degrees that prepare students for the workforce. According to the EMSI study, for every $1 students invest in FCS, they receive a cumulative $6 in higher future income over the course of their working careers.

Last year’s job placement and continuing education rates show that 79,438 FCS graduates found jobs or continued their education following their completion of FCS coursework.

“The Florida College System nourishes our home-grown talent – 93 percent of FCS students remain in Florida and contribute to economic growth,” said David Hart, executive vice president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce. “When we invest in the FCS, we are investing in Florida’s future workforce, and that makes sense for all of us.”

Among the highlights of the 2013 EMSI report on the economic contribution of the Florida College System:

•  The total effect of the Florida College System on the Florida economy, based on student productivity gains, college operations, and student spending, is $26.6 billion.

• State government sees a rate of return of 9.4 percent on its investment in the Florida College System.
• For every dollar of support, taxpayers see a cumulative return of $2.90 over the course of students’ careers.
• Students enjoy an attractive 16.8 percent average rate of return on their educational investment, recovering all costs (including tuition, fees and lost earning potential while in school) in 9.1 years. In comparison, the historical average rate of return for the stock market is 9.9 percent and recent two-year certificates of deposit earn between .25 percent and 1.20 percent.
• Florida also benefits from the improved health and reduced welfare, unemployment and crime that accompany a more educated population.
• 93 percent of Florida College System students remain in Florida and factor into the state’s overall economy.

“An investment in the Florida College System is an investment in Florida’s future,” said Council of Presidents Chair Pickens. “The FCS consistently generates positive returns for the state, for taxpayers, for local employers and communities, and for our students.”

For detailed information on the EMSI study, see Florida College System Economic Impact.

For more information on Valencia College’s economic impact study, see Valencia Counts Economic Impact Study.

The annual dance concert is a partnership between Valencia and Rollins College, which dates back to 1991.  The concert features student, faculty and guest artist dancers from Rollins and Valencia.

This year, the concert features an excerpt from David Parson’s “Nascimento,” restaged by guest artist and former Parsons Dance company dancer Jaime Martinez. Dancers will also perform: “Elvis is in the Building…A Tribute to the King,” choreographed by Lesley Brasseux Rodgers, Valencia College’s artistic director; and “Out of the Closet,” a jazz piece choreographed by Dr. W. Robert Sherry, Rollins College’s director of dance.

Tickets are $12 for general admission, $10 for Valencia faculty, staff, senior citizens and students from other colleges (with an ID). Admission is free for Valencia students with a valid college ID

For more ticket information or to purchase tickets, go to www.valenciacollege.edu/arts or call the box office at 407-582-2900.