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School superintendent to hold town hall meeting

SOUTH TAMPA - Hillsborough superintendent MaryEllen Elia wants to hear what's on your mind at a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Madison Middle School, 4444 W Bay Vista Ave.

Since becoming chief of Hillsborough County schools in May, Elia has said she wants to keep communication lines open with parents and the community. Two of Elia's goals are eliminating the achievement gap and dealing with growth.

This will be the fourth of seven meetings throughout the county. This one is for people affected by Area I schools: Robinson, Plant, Jefferson and Blake high schools and the middle and elementary schools that feed into them. Also included are Tinker, Roland Park and Rampello Downtown Partnership K-8 choice schools.

TAMPA - Thousands of children who attend Tampa Bay area Boys & Girls Clubs can now surf the Internet after school thanks to Bright House Networks' donation of high-speed online service. Many of these children don't have computers or Internet access at home. Bright House Networks will give free Road Runner service to 60 local Boys & Girls Clubs and donate part of digital phone sales from September to area Boys & Girls Clubs to fund capital improvements, technology upgrades and after-school programs.

DOWNTOWN - Blake High School's television and film students will present their Fall Film Festival at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Don Thompson Theater. Students' works will include narrative film, documentary, montage, experimental, animation and music video. Tickets are $7 at the door.

PLAZA TERRACE - The Cambridge School hosts its annual Fall Banquet and Auction at 6 p.m. Nov. 4 in Higgins Hall at St. Lawrence Parish, 5225 N Himes Ave.

The high school choir will perform, and WFLA-Ch. 8 sports reporter J.P. Peterson will host the event and serve as auctioneer. Items to be auctioned include a South Beach condominium for a week, gift certificates to area restaurants and hand-painted items by Cambridge students.

Tickets are $60. Auction proceeds will support school programs, tuition assistance, and classroom and technological improvements.

For information or to buy tickets, call 872-6744.

CULBREATH HEIGHTS - Mark Holloway, a resource officer at Coleman Middle School, spoke to parents, students and community members Tuesday about the signs and dangers of gang activity in Tampa.

Holloway said children are targets at malls, parks, theaters, carnivals, skating rinks and bowling alleys. Once a child becomes aware that the group he has joined is a gang, it is difficult to get away from them, he said.

Before coming to Coleman, Holloway worked with the Tampa Police Department's Gang Suppression Unit.