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You welcomed a stranger and sent home a friend.
– Madura M. Chatrapathy, IVLP Alumna
The Central Gulf Coast is known for its seafood, quality of life, and white sand beaches. The majority of the people in the region live in metropolitan areas, but most of its land remains rural. Important economic sectors include tourism, the health sciences, aviation and defense, transportation, and renewable energy; but agriculture remains significant with nearby farms producing fruits, vegetables, cotton, hay, catfish, cattle, and timber. Six U.S. Air Force installations, one naval base, and one U.S. Coast Guard aviation training center are located in the vicinity as are numerous historic forts, nature reserves, and parks.
International delegates can visit medium-sized cities, small towns, and rural communities. These visits contribute towards the exposure of IVLP participants to the diversity of the United States. Area resources enhance a variety of national programs including those covering journalism, youth, education, social issues, energy, aviation, robotics, archaeology, emergency management, tourism, and environmental sustainability. We have a lot to contribute to the national program, including those resources featured in our list of Great Things about Northwest Florida.
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Thirty-Four Great Things about Northwest Florida
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2. The nationally-acclaimed National Museum of Naval Aviation on Pensacola Air Station, one of the largest aviation museums in the world which uses aviation as a teaching medium and motivational force through its Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics lessons for 6th to 8th graders
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4. The Andrews Institute for orthopedics and sports medicine which recently announced its new program for training future space tourists
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5. Pensacola, the first European settlement in the nation, which celebrated its 450th anniversary on August 15, 2009
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6. The Archaeology Institute at the University of West Florida where students study archaeology, do fieldwork, and learn to display and curate their findings, including the 2006 discovery of the second oldest shipwreck in the United States
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7. The Historic Pensacola Village in downtown Pensacola where costumed interpreters explain colonial history among more than 20 buildings
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10. The University of West Florida's Build Educate Sustain Technology (BEST) House which is creating a durable energy-efficient home affordable to median homebuyers
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11. Project Greenshores, a multi-million dollar habitat restoration effort taking place along the urban shoreline of downtown Pensacola
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13. Gulf Islands National Seashore, the largest track of protected shoreline in the U.S., which includes Naval Live Oaks Reservation and Fort Barrancas
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14. The environment itself, one of the five most biologically diverse regions in the nation
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17. The Escambia County Division of Emergency Management and its Emergency Operations Center which trains other communities in emergency management
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20. The U.S.S. Oriskany , the largest vessel ever sunk to make a reef, the only sunken aircraft carrier accessible to divers, and the largest artificial reef in the world
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21. The Japan House at the University of West Florida which offers educational activities for all ages and which is the only authentic Japanese facility affiliated with an institution of higher learning in Florida and where in March 2009, a grand master of the tea ceremony bestowed a name upon the Japan House tea rooms, a great honor reserved for only a few
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22. Dr. Kimberly Womack, who is a member of the International Association of Forensic Nurses and the Lead Trainer for SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) in Florida and who wrote the Florida SANE training materials to standardize the sexual assault exams given in the state and who and works throughout Florida to train and educate medical, legal, and law enforcement professionals
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23. The Florida-Japan Linkage Institute which nurtures the cultural, economic, and educational links between the Sunshine State and the Land of the Rising Sun and which helps improve the ties between Florida and its largest international trading partner, promoting goodwill, scholarship, and policy interests (Offered by Dr. Jack Kichler)
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24. The premier performing arts found here which include a world-class symphony and opera, a thriving jazz community and festival, Ballet Pensacola, the Pensacola Children's Chorus and varied theater from the original innovation to the traditional with productions at several colleges, community and private theaters, and the newly renovated historic Saenger (Offered in part by Dolly Berthelot)
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25. The flourishing visual arts community which is reflected in acclaimed changing exhibits at the Pensacola Museum of Art, at Pensacola Junior College, and at the University of West Florida and in numerous galleries and festivals, including the Greater Gulf Coast Arts Festival, one of the best in the nation (Offered by Dolly Berthelot)
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26. Eglin Air Force Base which is home to the largest military installation in landmass in the United States (contributed by Andrea Moore)
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27. A small Gulf Breeze manufacturer of gas chromatography instruments, Separation Systems, which was one of 13 companies nationwide to be awarded the President's E-Award 2008 for excellence in exporting (contributed by Andrea Moore)
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28. Dr. Ken Ford, the head of The Institute of Human and Machine Cognition, who chairs the NASA Advisory Council (contributed by Andrea Moore)
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29. CHOICE™ Career Academy which was developed at Okaloosa County Schools and serves as national model for career preparation and which combines rigorous coursework with skills training, simultaneously providing students high school credit, college credit and industry-recognized certification (contributed by Andrea Moore)
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30. Escambia County which in 2009 won the Solid Waste Association of North America Gold Excellence Award in Landfill Management, the "Oscar of Solid Waste," for its outstanding work at the Perdido Landfill (contributed by Dr. Jack Kichler)
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31. Make a Difference Day at Pensacola Catholic High School which in 2002 was recognized as one of the Top Ten Make a Difference Day Programs in the country, earning the school a $10,000 prize
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32. The mission of Pensacola Young Professionals (PYP) is to develop the Pensacola Bay Area as a thriving and dynamic place to live, work and play by making fellow young professionals and the community as a whole aware of issues shaping the area through proactive civic, social and professional involvement. PYP developed two programs that serve the needs of the community, Internship Pensacola which assists in the retention of talent and Pensacola Professional Development Institute (PPDI) which provides several professional educational opportunities to business and members of the community.
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33. Chain Reaction, our local teen volunteer bank which creates quality volunteer opportunities for teenagers and which provides leadership training to area youth
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34. The amazing amount of hospitality found in the hearts & homes of Northwest Florida
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Other Links That Showcase Our Area
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