Lake Wales, Fla. — The 2011 Edward Bok Youth Peace Award winner is Hillsborough High School graduate Ashira Pelt. The award was presented by Bok Tower Gardens during the Third Annual WMNF Peace Awards in Tampa last month. More...

Bok Tower Gardens gives two thumbs up for the Singing Tower replica constructed at LEGOLAND® Florida. Wearing a hard hat walking through construction areas as workers put finishing touches on buildings in the park’s Miniland USA, Bok Tower Gardens President David Price smiles with appreciation for a job well done. “The attention to detail is amazing and we’re honored that our National Historic Landmark is being represented in the Florida Miniland section.” More...

LAKE WALES, Fla. – Bok Tower Gardens is going to the dogs for good cause on Saturday, August 6 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the first annual Bark Tower Gardens’ Dog Day of Summer. For the first time in the 82 year history of the Gardens, leashed and friendly dogs will be invited to visit to help support the Humane Society of Polk County which will receive 50 percent of the event proceeds. More...

July School Board Meeting Schedule More...

The Wizard of Oz
Written by Frank L. Baum. Adapted by Frank Gabrielson.
With Music and Lyrics of the Screen Version by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg

A little Kansas farm girl, Dorothy Gale, and her dog Toto are blown away in a tornado and land in a fairyland named Oz. Here she meets a very unusual cast of characters – the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion, and together they go on a quest to see the Wizard of Oz, each of them seeking what they want most in life. More...

(June 28, 2011) The school district honored 112 individuals with a Volunteer of the Year Award during an event near the end of the 2010-2011 school year held at Winter Haven’s Nora Mayo Hall. Schools chose one person as their Volunteer of the Year.

A total of 26,901 volunteers performed 801, 624 hours of service in the 2010-2011 school year in the Polk Public Schools. This represents and in-kind monetary donation of $16,072,561. More...

LAKELAND, Fla. (June 23, 2011) – Florida Southern College’s new Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Sharp Family Tourism and Education Center is under construction with a blend of historical design and high-tech processes.

The new building’s design, like the campus’ existing Wright structures, features various intricate, custom-made concrete blocks. These blocks have been improved upon through extensive planning and testing, as well as key creative changes made to the composition of the concrete. More...

A Winter Haven couple has donated $3,000 to a children’s literacy project supported by the United Way of Central Florida. The check will fund the Dolly Parton Imagination Library – a program that mails age-appropriate books to children each month. The $3,000 donation, courtesy of Nat and Jane West, will provide free books for 100 Winter Haven area children for one year. More...

Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine is proud to present a free community event, The Lakeland Derby.

In honor of the city’s symbol, the main event features ten impressive fiberglass swans racing on Lake Mirror. More...

LAKELAND, FL (April 21, 2011) In January 2011, the Achievement Academy executed a contract to purchase the Department of Citrus Building on Memorial Blvd. in Lakeland, with a 90 day due diligence period. After careful review to determine whether the building could meet the needs of the school, the Achievement Academy Board of Directors’ More...