Commencement stageAVON PARK, Fla. – May 5, 2025 – South Florida State College (SFSC) celebrates spring Commencement with two ceremonies on Thursday, May 8. The first ceremony is at 2 p.m. and the second is at 5:30 p.m.; both in the Alan Jay Wildstein Center for the Performing Arts on the SFSC Highlands Campus in Avon Park.

The 2 p.m. ceremony features students who are earning their Associate in Science (AS), Career Certificate, College Credit Certificate, and State of Florida High School Diploma. Chelsea Marvel-Brooks, who earns her Electrical Lineworker Career Certificate, will be the student Commencement speaker at this ceremony.

The 5:30 p.m. ceremony features students who are earning their Associate in Arts (AA), Bachelor of Applied Science in Supervision and Management (BAS-SM), Bachelor of Science in Elementary Teacher Education (BSETE), and Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). Melissa Garner, who earns her Associate in Arts (AA), will be the student Commencement speaker at this ceremony.

Live online streaming, accessed by clicking a website banner at southflorida.edu, will allow friends and relatives to see everything from the processional to the last graduate crossing the stage. The stream begins on May 8 at 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. EDT.

Approximately 475 students will have met the SFSC requirements by spring 2025 Commencement. Of these, 13 will receive their BAS-SM, seven receive their BSN, eight receive their BSETE, 110 receive their AA, 58 receive their AS, 25 receive their State of Florida High School Diploma, one receives the College Credit Certificate, and 70 receive Career Certificates. Students participating in the Commencement ceremonies will total 294.

Mace bearer and chief marshal for this year’s ceremony is Mlisa Manning, and marshals are Marlene Cruz, Kelly Fairfield Dec, Courtney Green, Robert Hampton, Candy Jones, Garrett Lee, Michelle Macbeth, Micah Montague, Sofia Ochoa, Michael Pate, Lena Phelps, Andrew Polk, and Megan Togno.

The Commencement rehearsal takes place Thursday, May 8 at 9 a.m. in the Alan Jay Wildstein Center for the Performing Arts on the SFSC Highlands Campus.

Commencement speaker, Chelsea Marvel-Brooks, was featured in a student spotlight story on the SFSC employee newsletter, Daily Connection, in August 2024. Read it at https://www.sfscdailyconnection.net/?p=30348