THEATER Today-Saturday "The Sleeping Beauty"; America's Ballet School takes you on a journey through enchanted lands filled with wondrous characters, including Princess Aurora, Puss 'n Boots, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and more; 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday; $12 to $15; The Center for the Arts at Wesley Chapel, 30651 Wells Road, Wesley Chapel; (813) 558-0800 ...more

June 6, 2008

The tension was evident as Highlands County's students squared off Saturday for school bragging rights. And it had nothing to do with athletics. It was all about brains and our top middle school students did a wonderful job answering questions that many adults wouldn't know. Academic teams from all Highlands County middle schools competed at the Sebring Middle School auditorium in an annual event measuring students' all-around knowledge. Each grade level battled to beat the buzzer and then the day was capped off with a "varsity" contest with each school's top students vying for a title. Sebring's Hill-Gustat won the varsity contest and the sixth-grade contest. Sebring Middle School won top honors in seventh and eighth grade contests. But the points separating all the schools was small, and every school had a strong showing with top students representing from throughout the county. ...more

June 2, 2008

EVENTS SKIN CANCER SCREENINGS: The Skin Cancer Foundation's Road to Healthy Skin Tour will offer free full-body skin-cancer screenings by board-certified dermatologists from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at Beall's, 11201 Park Blvd. N., Seminole. ...more

May 30, 2008

Nurses, nurse practitioners and educators at Mease Dunedin Hospital will provide about 15 middle school students with what the health care professionals hope will be an unforgettable summer camp. ...more

May 26, 2008

SEBRING — Were the Fourth Amendment rights of Hill-Gustat Middle School students violated during a Feb. 8 lockdown when 14 officers searched the school for drugs and weapons? Highlands County Sheriff's Office deputies conducted the search with help from officers from Sebring and Avon Park police departments. ...more

May 18, 2008

The Pundit of Parker Street has noticed the employment policies of the Pasco County school district, and he is not amused. Thursday, he seized on the storied dismissal of Jim Piculas, a substitute teacher with a talent for minor prestidigitation, and pinned it to the cover of the Metro section as a prime example of how civilization is replaced by foamy-mouthed superstition at the northern edge of County Line Road. ...more

May 18, 2008

In the waning days of the legislative session, lawmakers passed a pilot project allowing private-school students to play sports on public-school teams. ...more

May 12, 2008

TAMPA Eighth-graders in Hillsborough County outscored their peers in other counties on the state's annual writing test. ...more

May 8, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - The telephone call that spelled the end of Jim Piculas' career as a substitute teacher in Pasco County came on a January day about a week after he performed the disappearing-toothpick trick for a group of rapt middle school students. ...more

May 6, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - The telephone call that spelled the end of Jim Piculas' career as a substitute teacher in Pasco came on a January day about a week after he performed the disappearing-toothpick trick for a group of rapt middle school students. ...more

May 5, 2008