The Hillsborough County School Board held a recognition meeting on Dec. 2 to honor student teams, teachers and partnership programs across the district.

Chair Jessica Vaughn, identified herself at the start of the meeting as chair of the Hillsborough County School Board and welcomed attendees: "You're watching Hillsborough Schools TV, and together, we're preparing students for life," she said. The session was organized as a recognition meeting; board members were asked to keep remarks brief and no district business was on the agenda.

The meeting highlighted athletic accomplishments, with the district’s director of athletics and assistant directors introducing county and middle‑school champions in girls’ and boys’ basketball and volleyball. Coaches and student rosters were named and invited to the front for photos and applause.

District staff recognized winners of career, technical and adult‑education competitions, including JROTC teams, HOSA (Health Occupation Students of America) competitors, and student finalists in entrepreneurship and pitch competitions. Multiple principals and instructors were acknowledged for supporting students at regional and national contests.

Sabrina Gates, introduced as a district resource teacher for professional learning, led recognition of teachers who completed National Board certification or maintenance of certification. The presenter described the certification process as time‑intensive and noted the district’s ongoing support for teachers pursuing and maintaining national board credentials.

Human resources leaders celebrated seven paraprofessionals who completed their teaching degrees and transitioned into classroom teacher roles, a process district staff described as a practical pipeline that often hires paraprofessionals where they did their clinical work.

The board also recognized two elementary schools and their university partners for exemplary university partnership sites that provide multilevel internship placements and support for teacher candidates from institutions including the University of South Florida and the University of Tampa.

A district presentation described a hybrid internship pilot developed with the University of South Florida that lets two interns job‑share a full‑time vacancy: each intern serves as teacher of record for half the day and as a traditional intern under a mentor for the other half. The presentation said interns earn more than $8,000 for the semester through Kelley Education; the program has been used to fill high school vacancies and is slated to expand next semester.

Senior human resources staff noted the district received family‑friendly workplace recognition at the gold level and highlighted a district well‑being program that earned Aetna's workplace well‑being award at the platinum level, citing on‑site biometric screenings, mammography bus events and broader employee wellness engagement.

The meeting closed after additional spot recognitions for district well‑being champions and partners; no formal policy votes or motions were taken at the recognition meeting.

The board adjourned at the end of the recognition agenda with a request that photographs be taken of awardees.