June 2009 - Summer Camp is in full swing with trips to the Pub Restaurant, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, and a special visit from the Bucs! Thanks to some wonderful partnerships, Blossom summer campers once again were 'servers' for a day at the Pub Restaurant, visited Winter the dolphin at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, will have a special treat when some of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleaders and Captain Fear pay a visit to the school to help celebrate our recent grant award!  

Wednesday, May 27, Blossom's Performing Troupe, Deaf Express, performed a rollicking story of 7 deaf or hard of hearing teens as they looked back at their years in middle school and forward to high school. Broadway hit songs from West Side Story, The Wiz, Rent, Pippin and others were featured.

Goddesses in the Garden Fundraiser In honor of the blooming of spring and Mother's Day, a new spring fundraiser, Goddesses in the Garden at Sunken Gardens was held in May 2009.  For more information on ALL of our events, click here.

April 2009 - Blossom accepts hearing students Blossom is opening our doors 'a little wider' to hearing children without a connection to the Deaf community. Blossom is unique in that our enrollment already includes many hearing children, as they have deaf parents or deaf siblings.  With this new outreach, students would learn and grow in an environment that would offer them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to understand a culture much different from their own, and to learn American Sign Language, a language that transcends all geographic barriers.

March 2009 - Blossom receives Glazer Family Foundation grant Out of hundreds of applications throughout Florida, Blossom is 1 out of only 4 grant recipients from the Glazer Family Foundation, the philanthropic organization founded by the owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We received $3,648, which will go toward two projects: a new playground structure for 3- to 6-year-olds and general sports equipment for all grade levels. 

January 2009 - Do Good with the St. Petersburg Times Blossom has setup a profile on the new St. Petersburg Times "Do Good Channel" that provides nonprofits with the opportunity to reach thousands of communities via the Internet that may not have been accessible before.  Click here to view the site about information on specific programs, volunteering, in-kind needs, and articles.

Ongoing - Giving Back Through Habitat for Humanity

The students at Blossom are proud of their ongoing partnership with Habitat for Humanity to donate a bookcase and age-appropriate booksfor each home dedicated in Pinellas County.  Over the years, Blossom's students have become part of each dedication ceremony.  Please click here to read the original press release regarding Blossom's commitment to the community through National Youth Service Day 2005.  Blossom students are always looking for books for the Habitat children. If you have any books in good condition that you would like to donate, please contact Carol Downing. 

Thanks to support from CSDVRS (Communication Services for the Deaf, Video Relay Service), this innovative program provided the students of Blossom to visit the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts each month and discover the many wonders of the world of Fine Arts.  Ferman BMW / Mini Cooper supported this program with a large passenger van for monthly transportation.  Culminating with a Garden Party at the Museum, the students of Blossom transformed into their favorite artist and strolled the gardens.