The digital magazine for faculty, staff, students and friends of Pensacola State College

February 26, 2021



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By day, Jaylon Tellis is a mild-mannered research and development engineer at Johnson & Johnson.

In his free time, however, the 2016 Pensacola State College graduate dances – professionally. In fact, you probably saw him a few Sundays back performing in the Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime show. 

Tellis was one of the 55 face-bandaged dancers sporting matching red blazers to join The Weeknd on the stage and field during the nearly 15-minute show on Feb. 7 in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. 

“It was amazing, just unbelievable – a feeling unlike anything else,” Tellis said. “Running on the field with the fireworks, the lights, the crowd, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Tellis said he was impressed by the halftime star.

“The Weeknd was a real cool guy and took the time to show appreciation for everyone who helped make the production a success.”

Read more of Mary Mabins' interview with the rising dance star and entrepreneur

Spring Semester 'D Session' is last chance to take classes until summer

Pensacola State College’s eight-week classes offer a quick path toward completion for students. 

The Spring semester’s D session begins on March 8 and finishes May 7. The last day to register for D session classes is March 9. 

The full spring semester began Jan. 8 and ends May 7. 

Face-to-face classes, as well as hybrid and online – asynchronous and synchronous – classes will be offered for the D session. Classes include college credit and certificate classes, as well as adult education classes. PSC is offering over 90 sections of college credit classes for D session, including over 30 sections of general education courses. 

“For certain students, it’s a good fit," said Brenda Kelly, PSC Senior Dean of Academic Affairs. “It’s a lot of work and these classes are best for students who are very self-motivated or who have a goal or deadline they want to meet.” 

Kelly said some academic programs are better geared toward well suited for the accelerated sessions.

“The majority of the upper-level business and management sessions classes run B and D sessions,’’ she said. “It’s an acceleration strategy. You’re earning a lot of credits this way.” 

Kelly said some Allied Health programs are tailored to work within the abbreviated sessions. For example, some of the Allied Health programs will use an eight-week session for lectures followed by an eight-week clinical session. 

Although full-semester courses are most popular among PSC students, the abbreviated sessions can help some students achieve their goals at a faster pace. 

“Some students need that full 16-week term," Kelly said. “It gives them more time to develop the needed skills and master the material. That’s better for many students, but not all.”

Kelly said some students who enroll in the abbreviated sessions have a variety of reasons for doing do. 

“Maybe life circumstances didn’t allow them to attend at the beginning of the year semester but they’re able to attend now," she said. “And other students who are taking classes for the full term might realize they can fit one more class into their schedule, so they might add a class in the D session. It just offers more. We want our scheduling options to offer flexibility for students.” 

For information on admissions to Pensacola State College, call 850-484-2000 or go to www.pensacolastate.edu/admissions/.

-- Troy Moon

Christopher White, left, PSC photography lab manager and adjunct Enrique Viveros, photography major (also seen below right), in photos by Amelia Moore made during the SkillsUSA Region 1 Leadership Conference. Amelia achieved gold in the photography competition.

PSC SkillsUSA chapter, Lowe's help rebuild Warrington food pantry

The Pensacola State College Warrington campus food pantry was in a small closet with little organization or space. 

Now, it’s a way cooler food pantry. Literally. 

The Warrington, as well as the Pensacola campus, received new refrigerators for their respective pantries, allowing the College to now store refrigerated and frozen items to give to students in need. 

The refrigerators were donated by the Lowe’s on Airport Boulevard to help the PSC SkillsUSA chapter improve the pantries. The Pensacola campus pantry was already established, and the only change was the addition of the refrigerator. 

At the Warrington campus, the College’s SkillsUSA students, also helped install new shelving donated by Lowe’s, and organized the pantry, putting various food items in specific plastic bins. 

The food pantry activity was part of the SkillsUSA Florida Region 1 Leadership and Skills Conference, which just concluded. Part of the conference competition was a photography competition, and PSC student Amelia Moore won a Gold Medal for her photos of PSC students and staff working on the Warrington pantry. (Seen here.) 

SkillsUSA students also held food drives to help stock the pantries. 

“With the help of the administration and Lowe’s, we were able to really make a difference with the Warrington food pantry,” said Jennifer Ponson, PSC Student and Program Outreach Coordinator, as well as SkillsUSA Region 1 Coordinator and PSC SkillsUSA chapter founder. “It really was a group effort.” 

PSC Wellness Case Manager Jessica Johnson said the pantries are important to the College, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have many PSC students who are significantly food insecure,” Johnson said. “This was an issue before COVID, but now it’s much more of a concern. We have students seeking help who have never had to use the pantry resources before.” 

She said that through the first two months of 2021, PSC food pantries have distributed more than 100 bags to students.

“It’s been a rough few months for many students,” Johnson said. “We just want to do what we can to help them.” 

--Troy Moon

Enrique Viveros, photography major, seen in a photo by Amelia Moore, who achieved gold in the SkillsUSA Region 1 Leadership Conference photography competition.

PSC’s SkillsUSA chapter wins big at Region 1 Leadership Conference

Several Pensacola State College students won gold medals at the SkillsUSA Florida Region 1 Leadership Conference, which took place earlier this month.

SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. The national organization serves more than 360,000 students across the country. SkillsUSA Florida was founded in 1968 and serves 125 chapters and more than 12,000 members across the state.  

The Pensacola State SkillsUSA chapter was founded in 2009 by Student and Outreach Coordinator Jennifer Ponson, who is also the Region 1 coordinator.

PSC students won 11 medals – gold, silver or bronze – overall. Students compete in a variety of competitions that showcase technical skills, social skills, workplace professionalism and more. 

The PSC SkillsUSA Florida Region 1 medalists are:

Commercial Baking: 

Gold – Lisa Wicks

Silver – Patrick Newburn

Bronze – Elizabeth Burgeson

Culinary Arts: 

Gold – Carolyn Lungaro

Esthetics: 

Gold – Lateisha Hughes

Job Interview: 

Silver – Enrique Viveros

MRE Challenge: 

Gold – James Martin, Keenan Stoughton (team award) 

Photography: 

Gold – Amelia Hutchins Moore

Silver – Rebecca Thomaston

Bronze – Fredrick Hallman

Restaurant Service: 

Gold – Ashlyn Cain

PSC photography instructor Mark Francis was named the recipient of the Jim Sullivan Award and PSC photography alumna Lisa Carver received the Outstanding Alumni Award. 

Gold and silver medal winners will advance to the state competition, to be held virtually, in April. Ponson said invitations have yet to be sent out for the state competition but added there is a possibility that bronze medal winners might also be invited to compete at state. 

For more information, contact Ponson at 850-484-2245 or jponson@pensacolastate.edu.

--Troy Moon

PSC to hold virtual Financial Aid Frenzy event March 8-11

Get free, expert help applying, registering and paying for college at Pensacola State College’s Virtual Financial Aid Frenzy set for 4-6 p.m. Monday-Thursday, March 8-11.

Registration is required to access the Zoom event. To register or for more information, go to PensacolaState.edu/FinancialAidDay.

Enrollment, Registration, Financial Aid and Educational Opportunity Center counselors will be available to help new and returning students and their parents get started at Pensacola State College. 

To complete FAFSA, please have:

• FSA ID – apply at https://fsaid.ed.gov/

• 2019 IRS Tax Transcript and W-2 or Form 1099 statements

• Social Security Number

• Driver’s License or another valid photo ID

• Alien Registration card or Certificate of Naturalization

• Untaxed income records for 2019:

• Social Security benefits

• Veterans non-education benefits (disability compensation)

• Most recent Military LES (active-duty)

• DD214

• Value of 2019 child support received and/or paid

For more on financial aid, call 850-484-1680 or email FAVA@pensacolastate.edu.

Pensacola State College provides high-quality, low-cost education to the residents of Northwest Florida through university transfer, workforce certificates, degrees, continuing education, corporate and professional development, and televised programming through the WSRE Public Broadcasting Service.

The PSC Foundation seeks to enhance the College’s ability to provide these services through a five-year campaign, "Your Community - Your Legacy," focused on supporting student scholarships, academic programs, faculty and staff professional development, and facility and technology infrastructure.

Click the button below to learn more about the campaign and to make your donation!