Land Gift to the SFSC Foundation Benefits Neighborhood Children

The After School Spot on Kenilworth Boulevard in Sebring will have a new and larger facility that will benefit neighborhood children thanks to Bob and Caroline Duncan.

During the November 2023 meeting of the SFSC Foundation Board of Directors, a parcel of land came up for discussion. Months earlier, 2 acres of land had been gifted to the Foundation through the estate of Larry Ross Johnson and now the Foundation Board was in search of a buyer.

The Foundation, typically, sells land that has been gifted through an individual’s will. The ensuing funds are then used in any way the donor has stipulated through their will. It could be to create scholarships for SFSC students, to purchase needed educational equipment for the College, or to upgrade College facilities.

The buyer for the Johnson property came as a surprise to the Foundation directors. In fact, the buyer was a 15-year member of the Board of Directors, Bob Duncan. Duncan had become deeply interested in the property and purchased it for $293,000. “My wife and I have our own foundation,” Duncan said. “It’s called the Duncan Family Foundation. Our Foundation bought the property.”

Duncan has been a Take Stock in Children (TSIC) mentor through SFSC for the past 20 years. He was mentoring a student from Sebring High School who needed to perform community service hours so that he would be eligible for scholarships, such as Bright Futures. Dolores Breedlove, a TSIC college success coach, suggested that Duncan contact Regina Nicolois at The After School Spot in Sebring about community service work the student could perform for her facility. After speaking with Nicolois, Duncan was impressed with her and her mission to provide a safe haven for youth in the community.

The After School Spot was located at 3725 Kenilworth Boulevard, practically across the street from Sebring High School. The 550-square-foot facility has served as a safe haven for 35 to 52 children a day, ages 11 to 17 years old, since November 2021. The After School Spot needed a larger facility to accommodate neighborhood children and its programs and Duncan found a solution.

The After School Spot will soon move into a 1,400-square-foot house that sits on the 2-acre property at 3804 Kenilworth Boulevard. It is a two-bedroom house with a living room, den, kitchen, and one-car garage. Recently, an old homestead that sat at the back of the property was demolished. Two trailers were removed. Nicolois’ wish is to have a grand opening of the new facility no later than April 1, 2024, after repairs to the house are completed.

“Kids need a place to go,” Duncan said. “My wife and I talked about doing something like what Regina does, but we’re too old. I don’t have the tolerance or the temperament to do what Regina does. When she came along, it was an absolute gift. Regina has the programs and the equipment. All she has to do is set it up and these kids are going to get a real education.”

The slogan of The After School Spot is “Engage, Enrich, Empower.” “We engage with students, enrich them with tools, and, in doing so, we empower them,” Nicolois said. “We raise their self-esteem and their self-confidence by giving them something more – to believe in themselves.”

Nicolois said that the facility presents young people with classes and activities in four areas: youth development, creative outlets, peer engagement, and independent life skills. Currently, she is partnering with Outschool, an online learning platform that has donated classes to The After School Spot. One class was, “Taming Your Inner Hulk,” a program about anger management. Bank representatives have taught the students about checking and savings accounts, how they work, how to fill out a check, and so forth. Local auto mechanics have brought vehicles to the facility to show the students how to read a dashboard, how to check fluid levels, and how put air in a car’s tires. Other activities include movies nights, game nights, and painting classes.

Opening the larger facility across the street will give Nicolois an opportunity to offer more programs to the students. A swimming pool that previously sat at the back of the house was filled in with dirt. Local farmers will bring compost, top soil, and seeds. “We’re going to launch an agriculture program, where they come out once a week and teach the kids to grow vegetables,” Nicolois said.

She indicated that she received a $5,000 grant from the Burlington Foundation to dedicate an entire room to provide media, music, and technology. “We’ll put in a computer, a couple of microphones, a green screen, electric guitars, and some audio equipment,” she said. “The kids will be encouraged to start their own podcast. Our podcast series is going to be interviewing local business owners once a week. Through the interviews, the students will be encouraged to chase their dreams, overcome obstacles, and understand how super important education is in getting them to where they want to go in life. In the meantime, they’ll be developing a number of other skills that they can take with them.”

The After School Spot will partner with a company called “I Train Now.” “With their assistance, we’ll do mock interviews and resume writing,” Nicolois said. “They can also get children as young as 15 years old CPR certified.”

Further, Nicolois plans to bring in tutors who have master’s degrees and experience as high school teachers to concentrate on mathematics, science, and language arts. A social worker is scheduled to work with the young people for non-judgmental learning sessions on topics, such as body changes.

For Duncan, purchasing the property so The After School Spot can flourish was a way of giving back to those who helped him early in life. Duncan had told his high school football coach that after he graduated from high school, he’d just “go get a job.” The coach recognized that Duncan was bright and encouraged him to apply to college. One of the people the coach guided Duncan to was a local pharmacist, who told him, “As a pharmacist, you’ll never get rich, but you’ll always have a job as long as you have a license.”

That struck home with Duncan, who’s father had lost his job when Duncan was 12 years old. He never wanted to experience being on welfare again, so he pursued a degree in pharmacy at what is now Ferris State University in Michigan. Residents of Highlands and Hardee counties know Duncan as the owner of Heartland Pharmacy.

“What’s cool about this story is that I believe Larry Johnson would be tickled pink and pleased with how this all ended up,” said Jamie Bateman, SFSC’s vice president for institutional advancement and external affairs. “Larry Johnson was a coach who had a passion for making sure kids succeeded. In comes Mr. Duncan, who buys the property that Mr. Johnson willed to the SFSC Foundation, so it will continue to help kids stay off the streets, mature, and grow. The property is going to help students in a completely different manner than what he, likely, ever dreamed it could.”

For more information about the SFSC Foundation or to make a donation, call 453-3133 or email foundation@southflorida.edu.