Brevard Sun

On an October day in 2022, Mindy Mozena, director for Enrollment Services at UCF Downtown, came to work dressed as Pete the Cat. It’s an unusual outfit choice for the professional who is usually wearing a blazer and high heels. But today is the campus’s second Book Character Parade and Mozena is laser focused on her customers — kindergartener and first graders from the Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) Academic Center for Excellence (ACE).

“It’s so fun to see the kids all dressed up in their costumes and so many smiling faces on campus, but there is a deeper goal than handing out candy,” Mozena says. “Today is just one of many touch points we hope to have with these students to show them that college is something that’s within their reach — and expose them to the opportunities right in their backyard.”

In late 2014, UCF announced its plans to build a campus in downtown Orlando. At the center of its plan was a commitment to serve not only students, but the immediate surrounding community of Parramore. Mozena, along with a team of others from UCF, Valencia College and OCPS ACE, are in the first year of an engagement plan with the elementary school, designed to educate, engage, and excite OCPS ACE students about UCF, Valencia College, and post-secondary education in general. Mozena serves as co-chair of the committee along with DeShawn Chapman ’11MEd ’16EdD, education programs manager for the Parramore Education and Innovation District.

Original source can be found here.