Coach Leads Northdale Kid’s Team To Victory

By STEPHEN HAMMILL

Rick Valdez has coached six kids to statewide recognition.

Valdez is the director of the Northdale Recreation Center, 15550 Spring Pine Drive in Tampa. He also coaches the Northdale Bulls youth flag football team.
The team is made up of six 12- and 13-year-olds. Over the past two years they have traversed the state, playing in multiple tournaments and winning a fair share of trophies along the way.

“The kids have been working really hard,” said Valdez. He has been involved in youth flag football for about six years now, and his championship team has been together for the past two years.

Vicki Kenny’s son, Tyler Koch, started coming to the Northdale Recreation Center in elementary school. She said he has been having a blast since joining the Northdale Bulls.

“The kids are all pretty low-key,” Kenny said. “They really like Rick because he’s laid-back.”

The kids on the team had all been coming to the center when Valdez arrived. He recruited them more than two years ago. After a while, the team decided to take things to the next level, starting a park league.

They’ve now traveled all over Florida, from the University of South Florida campus to Lakeland, from Orlando to Jacksonville, competing in various tournaments. The Bulls recently took part in, and won, a double elimination tournament in Kissimmee.

Aaron Paulsen, Justin Gray, Koch, Mitchell McNall, Roberto Rodriguez and Carlo Perello make up the current Northdale Bulls squad. The team comprises four students from Ben Hill Middle School on Ehrlich Road, and one each from Davidsen and Walker middle schools.

When asked what their classmates think of the success the team has enjoyed around the state, Koch said, “they’re jealous,” with a smile.

Aaron Paulson is the Bulls Aaron Paulson is the Bulls quarterback and was named offensive Most Valuable Player in the Kissimmee tournament.
“The quarterback is always the team leader,” someone chimed.

“All he does is show his muscles – he gets all the girls,” joked Carlo Perello about teammate Mitchell McNall. Perello and McNall were both named first-team all-Americans on offense in a recent tournament.

Valdez said the main requirement for the boys is that they maintain good grades during the year.

The Kissimmee tournament featured a five-on-five format. In flag football there is no blocking allowed. Instead of tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier.

The Northdale Recreation Center is run and maintained by the Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department.
“Pretty much we hit on all the different team sports,” he said. Valdez estimates 220 kids come to the center daily.

The center also hosts activities for seniors. The Northdale Older, Wiser, Lively Seniors program, or OWLS, has a calendar of events that runs months in advance, from jazzercise to pingpong, all with the help of Valdez.

“We’re getting them active again – we also host dances,” he said.

The Northdale Recreation Center’s telephone number is 264-8956.

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ALL SPORTS GRADUATES GIVE BACK

By STEPHEN HAMMILL

When Tyrone Keys founded All Sports Community Service in 1993, he envisioned a program where kids could find the opportunity to pursue higher education through community service and mentoring.

Fourteen years, $20 million and hundreds of college graduates later, he has achieved just that.
Keys’ kids don’t fit a mold. He stressed All Sports is not a haven for the super-gifted athlete or for any specific minority. One of the tenants of the program is diversity, and it is seen in the students.

Tara Whelan was a Gaither High School point guard in 1999 when she had her first contact with Keys. All Sports helped her get a basketball and softball scholarship to Kentucky State University, where she graduated in 2005.

She returned to Tampa and to the All Sports family soon after. Now a physical education teacher at Middleton High School in Tampa, she also runs an after-school program there, sponsored through All Sports, aimed at young girls.

“We help the girls know there’s somewhere they can go to get good information about colleges and also get good life skills,” Whelan said.
Whelan is writing a formal proposal with the help of All Sports to make the after-school program a permanent fixture at Middleton.

“We’re definitely going to stress the community service aspect,” she said. “You may think things are bad until you see someone who has it worse.”
Whelan represents the third generation of graduate mentors for All Sports. Her mentor was an All Sports alumnus himself, taught by Keys, and now she is teaching her kids the very same lessons, something that makes Keys particularly proud.

“We really don’t care how many yards they’ve run for, how many touchdowns they score or how many homeruns they hit,” said Keys. He doesn’t follow their athletic careers, but rather the time they spend giving back to the community.

“Their natural progression is going to lead them to want to help with someone else’s dreams,” he said.

Satellite programs like the one Whelan heads up currently reside in five high schools, reaching about 75 students.

In choosing students for their program, Keys and the All Sports staff look for kids who would be the first in their family to go to college.
All students must perform community service as part of the agreement, and the staff keeps track of students’ grades throughout the year.
On a recent tour of the All Sports offices, Keys pointed out a computer lab for students or parents in need of Internet access.

“We have a lot of parents who don’t have a computer, and nowadays so much has to be done on one to get into a college,” he said.

Many previously overlooked athletes receive partial or full academic scholarships through All Sports. Non-athletes receive academic or community service scholarships and other types of college entrance assistance.

Keys is a native of Jackson, Miss., where he played college ball for Mississippi State University, earning a place in the school’s Sports Hall of Fame.
His seven-year career in the National Football League featured a Super Bowl win with the 1985 Chicago Bears and a stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After retirement from football, Keys made Tampa his permanent home.

Keys is himself a Carrollwood resident and a former Carrollwood News Person of the Year.

Fourteen years ago, he assisted a young man named Albert Perry achieve his dream of becoming the first in his family to attend college. Keys had helped with a scholarship for Perry to attend Texas Southern University, but did not check to make sure he had transportation to get there. Perry never made it out of his neighborhood, and was murdered a year later.

That tragic event provided the catalyst for Keys to found All Sports Community Service Inc, a nonprofit organization, in response to Perry’s death.
The late Jerry Ulm created job opportunities at his car dealership for two high school students in the summer of 1993, while Keys served as their mentor. From that seed a partnership was born, and there’s been no looking back.

“Our game plan was not to give handouts, but to require students to earn a chance to attend college and to take responsibility for their destinies,” he said.
The program has grown by leaps and bounds, and is now developed around the concept of two tiers and four quarters of a student’s process. The first tier involves the use of personal mentors to establish relationships with the students while in high school.

At that stage, Keys and his staff pre-select those candidates that will pass into the second tier, based on their personal and financial needs.
Once in college, the students are monitored closely to ensure retention. The mentor program works on the premise that many at-risk students have the desire for a higher education after high school, but lack the necessary direction. The mentors guide these students in their transition into college and even track their development through graduation.

Upon graduation, many All Sports’ students come back to the program to become mentors and mentor coordinators themselves.
Keys had a personal mentor of his own in Odell Jenkins, his former coach at Mississippi State University. Jenkins now hosts a satellite program for 15 kids in Jackson, Miss.

Many current and former Buccaneers have given not just their money, but their time. Mike Alstott, Trent Dilfer, Derrick Brooks and Leroy Selmon are just a small sample of the names of players both past and present who have helped, Keys said.

Current Buccaneers safety Will Allen came into the offices one Tuesday and has been coming back every week since. He now takes part in one of the after-school satellite programs at King High School in Tampa.

All Sports alumni include head coaches, NFL scouts, a bank manager, a Rhodes Scholar and a high school principal.

Keys noted how All Sports has become a model program for other cities. Former Buccaneer Santana Dotson has started a similar community service initiative in Houston, Texas.

All Sports funding comes mainly from donations and grants. NFL Charities has donated money, and this year alone, 55 alumni contributed to the program. The staff is small at four, but they get the work done, Keys said.

Comprising the rest of the All Sports staff are Eric “Pink” Floyd, operations manager, Christina Whidden, director of grants and scholarships, and Jasmine Lane, director of the recently added women’s program.

“It couldn’t happen without Pink, Christina and Jasmine,” said Keys. “The QB is nothing without his offensive line.”

Keys attributes much of the program’s success to its volunteers. In essence, the very existence of All Sports stands as an example of what can be accomplished through volunteerism.

“We’re not really giving the students anything,” said Keys. “They earn it when they give back.”

He believes there are two forces in the world, positive and negative, and that young people are faced with the choice early on.

All Sports has volunteer partnerships with the Joshua House, Metropolitan Ministries, the YMCA, the Leslie Peters House and the Special Olympics.

Keys said his greatest reward has come from seeing All Sports students come full circle after college, dedicating themselves to helping others who face similar challenges.

“No one can do everything,” he said, “but everyone can do something.”

All Sports offices are located at 4511 N. Himes Ave., Suite 195. For more information, call 348-3729 or visit http://www.allsportscommunity.org.

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WOMEN’S CLUB AWARDS YOUNG WRITERS

By STEPHEN HAMMILL

For 16 students, appreciation came with applause as parents, teachers and friends all gathered to recognize their literary contributions.

On Jan. 17, the Lutz Community Center hosted an awards reception for an annual writing contest for Pasco and Hillsborough county students.

The Lutz/Land O’ Lakes Women’s Club, which belongs to the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC), sponsored the event once again.

Students in grades one through 12 may enter one poem or one short story. Poems can be any style with a minimum length of eight lines and a maximum length of 30 lines. Short stories, on any topic, must be 2,000 words or less.

Seven-year old Jazmine Williams was invited to read her poem, “Why Worry About Tomorrow,” which won for poetry in grades one through three. Jazmine’s family was on hand to watch her receive the award.

“We were very surprised to find out she won,” said Magnolia Williams, Jazmine’s mother, “but we knew she could do it. She has a great teacher.”

Her teacher is Rosa Washington. Washington has taught second grade at Lowry Elementary in Town ‘N Country for five years, and has been a teacher in Hillsborough County for more than 30.

“In a way it’s not a surprise because she is such an exciting and enthusiastic student. She’s always going beyond,” said Washington.

Another Lowry second-grader, Amber Achnitz, won for her story “Homeless Are People Too,” which her dad said came from a real-life experience.

“The contest asked her to write about what she’s grateful for,” recalled William Achnitz. He takes food to the homeless regularly and recently brought his daughter along for the first time. When they got home, Amber went upstairs and wrote things out.

“I was surprised,” her dad said. “I read it the first time and cried.”

According to Amber’s teacher, Marlene Sacarello, “She was so excited to win, just thrilled. She’s always had a niche for writing.” When Sacarello first read Amber’s piece, she also cried, as did the some of the judges.

The two Lowry second-graders posed together for photos with their teachers after the event.

Nine-year-old Olivia Marshall is a fourth-grade student at Independent Day School-Corbett campus in Carrollwood. She won the story award for grades four though six with her piece “The Legend of the Black Candle.”

Her teachers, Kim Rostick and Maureen Birmingham, were there to see Olivia read her story. Rostick turned Olivia on to the contest originally.
Olivia recalled that when Ms. Rostick first heard about her win, “she started jumping up and down, screaming,” recalled Olivia.

The GFWC is an international women’s organization dedicated to community improvement by enhancing the lives of others through volunteer service. The club has sponsored the writing contest for nearly 15 years now.

Women’s club president Barbara Nicholson said the club’s mission is “to encourage literacy and creativity in our community, as well as an interest in the arts.”

About 90 people attended the ceremony, where each winning student received a small cash prize and a gift.
On hand were some of the judges, all volunteers.

“We try to get people who have a background in education,” Nicholson said. “We’ve had librarians, retired teachers – they’re all volunteers.”

The winners will have their entries submitted to a state competition sponsored by the GFWC. For the past two years, The Lutz/Land O’ Lakes Women’s Club has sent contest winners on to the national competition.

Emma Doreen, a local winner from 2005, went on to compete against thousands of others in the national writing competition. The club presented her with a special certificate during the ceremony.

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By STEPHEN HAMMILL

A group of fifth-graders from Lutz Elementary School wanted to do something big for their environmental project. With the help of their teacher, and the organization Earth Force, they succeeded to the tune of $150,000.

Hillsborough County held a public meeting Jan. 16 at the Lutz Community Center, 98 First Ave. N.W. to discuss construction of a dog park in Lutz, as proposed by the students. The site is at Carolyn Meeker Park, 122 First Ave.

Judy Alvarez teaches math and science from kindergarten through fifth-grade at Lutz Elementary School. Her school, along with dozens of others in the Tampa Bay area, works with the Earth Force group on environmental school projects.

Earth Force is a national organization which engages young people as active citizens to improve the environment in their communities and to create sustainable solutions to local environment issues.

Alvarez said some of the projects her kids completed in previous years included a butterfly garden and a newspaper recycling program.
Last year, kids from Alvarez’s fifth-grade class made the request to build the dog park.

“They voted heavily to do the dog park,” said Alvarez. “We wanted to dissuade them. It just seemed like too big a thing to attempt.”

She was concerned that a drawn-out process involving local government would mean the kids would be gone from the school long before seeing any results.
“We said, ‘Well, let’s go to a county commission meeting and see what we can do.’”

At the meeting, two of Alvarez’ students were given three minutes to speak to the commission.

“In my four years, I’ve never witnessed anything as powerful as this presentation,” said Mark Thornton, director of Hillsborough County’s Parks, Recreation & Conservation Department. “It was great for the kids to partake in local government.”

“They got to see politics in action,” said Alvarez. The fifth-graders were given a tour of the county election offices after they spoke.
Shortly before the new school year started up, Alvarez was informed the dog park was on the docket for the county.

After looking at various possible locations, including Nye Park, Commissioner Ken Hagan informed Thornton that the county commisioners were ready to approve a $150,000 budget for the park on First Avenue.

The dog park will be a facility set aside for dogs and their owners where the animals can play unleashed in a controlled environment. The county currently has two dog parks for public use – West Park in Town ‘N Country and the Mango Recreation Center in Seffner.

The plans call for the inclusion of a nature and walking trail, which may connect the dog park to other areas. The budget for the nature trail is still pending.
The funding is in place to begin construction. The park’s budget of $150,000 will cover construction of perimeter fences, a gravel parking lot and a permanent public restroom.

The most time-consuming part of build-out will be the public restroom, which may take a year to complete, Thornton said. The fencing contract is already arranged, and the park itself should be open within weeks.

The proposed site contains a retention pond at its center, which Thornton said could later be used for water-loving dogs on a time reservation basis, barring aligators.

Thornton said since there are few trees on the site, a pavilion may be built to provide shade to visitors.

Plans also call for a large dog area and a small dog area, each about an acre in size. There will be drinking fountains for both people and dogs.
Dog owners are expected to place solid waste in cans. The park will close Wednesday mornings while waste material is removed by maintenance crews. Thornton mentioned composting as a more eco-friendly option for the park, but said it would be a more expensive process.

Thornton said once up and running, the dog park will be mostly self-sufficient. The county will spray the park for flees and ticks three to four times a year.
Many of the kids who first conceived of the dog park have scattered to various middle schools, but their lasting impact will be carried on to future kids, according to Alvarez.

“We’re going to go forward with this,” she said. The school is applying for grant money through Earth First to add future improvements to the dog park. They may also partake in water quality testing for the park’s pond.

Information about this and other parks can be found online at http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/parks.

The Earth Force Web site is http://www.earthforce.org.

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By STEPHEN HAMMIL

The first SNUG meeting for the winter program took place Jan. 12 at the University of South Florida’s main campus, where a partial move in classes to Carrollwood was a big topic.

The Seniors Networking User Group, or SNUG, was formed in 1996 to give SeniorNet program volunteers and students a place to connect and to keep learning beyond the classes. The group meets monthly, and instead of a rigid instructor/student setup, guest speakers and lecturers hold informal talks. The meetings can cover a wide array of computer topics.

SNUG is sponsored by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and the University of South Florida.

On Dec. 14, SNUG met to celebrate its 10-year anniversary. Jim Kaehler, the group’s current president, spoke at the milestone event. Kaehler, a former employment law attorney, has been involved with SNUG for more than a decade. When he retired, his company gave him a computer.

“And I didn’t know word one about computers,” he said. “I successfully avoided computers my entire working career.”
Like most of the SNUG members, Kaehler came to the program as a neophyte, but is now passing on what he’s learned to others.

“Computers open up an entirely new world,” he said. “For seniors, the challenge is we didn’t grow up with computers, so it’s a daunting experience.”
Kaehler recalled a 92-year-old student who had been a professor at the University of Kansas, who was given a computer by his grandchildren and didn’t know what to do with it. Stories like his permeate SeniorNet and SNUG, and illustrate Kaehler’s mission.

“The services we provide – it’s the best deal in town,” Kaehler said. A typical eight-week class costs $80. There is a three-to-one ratio of students to instructors in SNUG.

“We are excited to be able to make our program available for many more seniors so that their lives can be as full and productive as it has made ours,” said Marilyn Bartholomew, SNUG historian and co-chairwoman.

Asked to explain the relationship of SNUG to the SeniorNet program as a whole, Bartholomew said, “It’s a mixture; the SNUG group is a natural extension of SeniorNet. It gives beginners a chance to mingle with the instructors.”

SNUG meetings, according to members, have an informal, town-hall feel to them.

Bartholomew emphasized the camaraderie that SNUG generates, in addition to its technical support value. She hopes to stir up interest in further developing sub-groups in Carrollwood, where she lives.

The Osher institute has moved about 25 percent of courses off campus, with plans to move even more into neighborhoods like Carrollwood.
“We’re a parking-challenged community,” commented Kaehler, referring to the difficulty in navigating the USF campus. He also said bringing cla
sses to other areas will help increase enrollment among those not inclined to drive to the university.

Each term, the institute program runs an open house to drum up support and enroll new members in its courses. A recent open house at the Lake Magdalene United Methodist Church, 2902 W. Fletcher Ave., welcomed more than 300 people. SeniorNet and Learning In Retirement classes are now offered at the church on a daily basis.

The institute and USF coordinate programs and services for seniors over the age of 50. The Learning in Retirement program offers courses and study groups in the liberal arts and sciences, while the SeniorNet program provides hands-on computer instruction and training.

Joseph McAuliffe administrates the senior programs for USF. He said having volunteers for instructors and administrators helps keep the costs low.
“SNUG is great, because we try to blast away that thinking that it’s too late for these folks,” he said.

For many retired residents heading back into the workforce, the SeniorNet courses have evolved from a luxury to necessity.
“For so many seniors now, it’s not even that you can do it, it’s that you have to do it,” McAuliffe said. He has noticed a huge impact in the program over the last few years, as seniors use the courses for more than recreation.

“Now it’s moved into a realm for their survival. They need these basic skills to go back into the world,” he said.
McAuliffe stresses that SNUG is equal parts computer users’ group and social support group. The group, like other institute programs, encourages social activities and friendships.

“It gives some people a place to come to,” added Kaehler. “We help each other. It’s educational in a social setting.”
SNUG membership is open to those who have participated in any of the SeniorNet or Learning In Retirement courses. Guests are welcome to attend one meeting free prior to joining SNUG.

SNUG meetings take place the second Friday of each month in the Westside Conference Center at the University of South Florida’s main campus on 4202 E. Fowler Ave. in Tampa. Meetings typically begin with a social half-hour featuring beverages and snacks followed by guest speakers.

Ara Rogers is the institute’s director for senior programs at USF. She said she’s found her niche by working with senior citizens.

“What attracted me to the program was I didn’t have a personal experience of being around older people in my family. They’re very engaged in the community and their own lives. These people are showing me how to live,” she said.

Rogers stressed that they are not running a senior center or a service industry with these programs.

“We’re not doing things for them,” she said. “We allow them to do things for themselves.”

David Henry heads up the Windows SIG group. Three special interest groups, or SIGs, have developed from SNUG. The groups cover genealogy, graphics and Windows. Henry is a charter member of the SeniorNet program at USF, and he authored a book chronicling its history.

“It’s basically about starting a program like this – the challenges that arise, especially in a university environment,” said Henry, a former employee of IBM.
Henry said early on it was difficult finding computer experts who also knew how to teach, but that now they have nearly 70 qualified teachers who have volunteered.

Thanks to the Lake Magdalene Church classes, enrollment in the SeniorNet programs now surpasses 800, with between 125 and 150 of those also active members in SNUG.

McAuliffe, Kaehler, Rogers and Bartholomew all live in Carrollwood and have a vested interest in the new outreach at Lake Magdalene Church.

Kaeler said SNUG meetings usually last about two hours, with a half-hour of socializing preceding them.

For more information, visit http://www.seniornet.org.

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By STEPHEN HAMMILL

Seven trees lining Dale Mabry Highway have already been removed, but five more might go on the chopping block if Grand Plaza’s management team has its way.

At issue is whether the trees pose a hazard to customers using the parking lot.

The plaza’s management team originally requested a permit from Hillsborough County to remove 12 live oaks lining the front of the complex at 14499 N. Dale Mabry Highway. Grand Plaza, a large shopping, office and restaurant site, is owned by LPI Limited.

Permission from the county to remove seven of the trees was granted on Oct. 26. The county returned a denial letter to LPI Limited for the five remaining oaks, saying those trees are not irreparably damaged, unhealthy or causing significant property damage.
LPI and Grand Plaza have since re-applied to have those trees removed.

Commercial properties can claim trees need to be removed due to anatomical or structural defects, utility obstruction or landscape disturbance.
Tree removal permits are authorized by the Hillsborough County Land Development Code, Natural Resources team, and issued through the Planning and Growth Management Department.

“When sizable trees are being removed, we have to go out and validate it and replace them,” said John Schrecengost, manager of the natural resources unit of the Planning and Growth Development Department.

Since the property management team asked for permission to remove large oak trees, the trees will be replaced with smaller growing trees. County codes say commercial properties have an obligation to restore what they remove, which the county measures in trunk diameter.
In this case, the plaza was ordered to plant 24 inches (in total added trunk diameter) of replacement trees for the seven removed. The condition of the permit requires Grand Plaza to replace the trees on the frontage where the oaks once stood.

Schrecengost estimates the Grand Plaza live oaks are as old as the property, which is a little more than 20 years. The life span of oaks typically ranges from 200 to 600 years, with a few species reaching 1,000 years. The life span is shorter in urban areas, though the trees can still live a century or longer if properly maintained.

In order to augment Grand Plaza’s claims, the property management team had certified arborist A. Scott Kurleman assess the trees. Kurleman oversaw the inspection of the property and submitted his findings to the county.

His report found some cracking in the pavement and damage to curbs around the 12 trees’ perimeters. It claimed no major structural damage to any other property. It recommended the pruning of the canopies of some of the trees and the removal of some of the others.

Some of the subject trees were growing on small interior islands adjacent to parking spaces. The report claims the roots of the trees were causing extensive curb damage, and had become tripping hazards for shoppers, which could cause liability. The report also said the small size of the islands means inadequate containment for the trees’ root systems.

Kurleman found that although the oaks were healthy systemically, they did not warrant preservation due to “poor structure.”
Bill Mazas, Grand Plaza’s property manager, applied for the permits to remove the oak trees. He said the plaza only requested to remove oaks that were causing a problem to the property.

“Originally they placed these trees in the wrong places,” Mazas said. “Now we’re having to deal with these.”
The problem with the trees is root outgrowth, Mazas said. He also mentioned that some roots are growing under the building.

“The roots are causing enough problems that in two or three years there will be serious structural problems over there.”
Mazas said the trees were more an insurance liability than anything else.

“It’s not like these are safe,” he said. “People can easily stumble over these roots. It’s sad to see trees like that have to go.
“It’s been a battle with Hillsborough County,” he said. “The people there have been doing their jobs.”

Schrecengost agreed with Mazas in concluding the live oak was an inappropriate tree to plant under utility lines.

However, the permit and arborist’s report do not stress the trees’ proximity to utility lines as a primary factor for removal.

Schrecengost said the county did not find evidence of the trees’ root systems threatening any buildings on the property, adding that even if roots were growing under the footprint of the buildings, there wouldn’t be much danger to the property.

Nearly all of the trees in Grand Plaza are adjacent to parking spaces, and not to any physical structures. In Kurleman’s report, under the heading of “structural damage,” are hand-written comments about roots disturbing curbs or pavement, but no mention of actual damage to buildings.

Schrecengost emphasized the county’s stance on the removal of trees that are a threat to parking spaces more than property.

“If we have some trees that are desirable, we may suggest that they physically remove the parking stalls,” he said.

With Grand Plaza’s re-submittal to remove the remaining oaks along Dale Mabry still pending, Schrecengost stressed that the new request re-emphasizes the same issues given before.

“It was the staff’s opinion that those claims for the remaining trees weren’t adequate,” Schrecengost said.

In all probability, he said, the county would not support the removal of the remaining trees in the front of the plaza.
“We gave it close attention the first time around,” he said.

The oaks, like the ones already removed, Schrecengost said, are relatively healthy considering their proximity to the paved parking lot.
Grand Plaza’s property management team also has recently submitted a separate application to remove a number of trees from the back of the property.
Schrecengost estimates it will take about three weeks to respond to the newest request.

A resident, who wished to remain anonymous, noticed the trees being cut down from Grand Plaza and contacted the Carrollwood News, citing concerns that the property was removing the oak trees in order to create storefront visibility along Dale Mabry Highway.

Schrecengost said the county has not received any official complaints from residents about the Grand Plaza tree removal.
Mazas said Grand Plaza has a six-month window to replace the trees with new ones. They have two months to identify what trees will be going in, and recently hired a landscape architect for assistance.

“We don’t want to take away anything more than necessary,” Mazas said.

Grand Plaza has plans to “plant the trees into areas where they won’t cause a problem,” Mazas said. “We’re hiring a specialist to see where the best place is for growth.”

Altough replacement trees haven’t been decided upon, Mazas said the property management isn’t intereted in using tropical varities.

“It’s a higher-end property and the landscaping will be geared around that,” he said.

Mazas specifically mentioned an ambitious landscaping plan in the works for the plaza’s southwest corner, where Grillsmith restaurant filled the spot once occupied by Hops Restaurant, Bar & Brewery.

“The county wants to see shaded trees, hedges. These oaks are beautiful trees and under any other circumstance they’d stay,” Mazas said.
He added there are liability concerns for the county, as well.

“If they deny you and there’s an incident, Hillsborough County can be involved in a lawsuit,” he said.

Mazas said that if the county was willing to come every year to grind the trees down, then the plaza would be happy to keep them. He said, however, that the cost otherwise, combined with liability issues, left them little choice but to apply for the tree removal.

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4 NANJING UNIVERSITY STUDENTS SHARE CULTURE, LANGUAGE

By STEPHEN HAMMILL

The Independent Day School-Corbett Campus has brought globalization to its doors in the personages of four university students from China.

Jun Liang, 24, Jie Yan, 22, Rain Yu Guo, 21, and Vanessa Xuan Yang, 21, arrived in Tampa in October to learn about education in the United States, specifically the M.O.R.E. teaching method, which stands for Multiple Options for Results Education, and which is taught at the Carrollwood school.
Founded in 1968, Independent Day School is a fully accredited independent school located at 12015 Orange Grove Drive in Carrollwood. There are about 550 students enrolled from Pre-K through eighth-grade.

“The students just adore them,” said Karen Waksman, head of public affairs for the Carrollwood school. She’s noticed a charged atmosphere since their arrival. “Their English is quite good, and they’re insatiable learners.”

The Chinese students are assigned to different classrooms in both the elementary and middle school throughout the week to work with students and teachers. They make presentations to the students most days, while teaching writing and language two days a week after school to both students and parents.

“We’re a team,” said Vanessa Xuan Yang, speaking of her three companions.
She finds IDS exceptional when compared to some other schools she’s visited.

“The students are very happy to come to school,” she said. “They have an international approach here. Everything is positive – you don’t hear negative words.”

“We four work together,” concurred Rain Yu, who has been teaching and observing all grades.
Rain said she and her fellow travellers are proud of their country and culture, but she wants to learn about others. She’s noticed how excited the students are to have them around. 

“You can tell from their smiling faces,” she said.

The Beginning

In November 2006, education leaders from around the world met in Tampa to discuss global trends in education and school development. These meetings were part of the International School Connection’s Global Summit, co-sponsored by the Independent Day School-Corbett Campus and the Museum of Science & Industry.

Earlier that year, the school connection gathered in China to discuss the upcoming summit. Joyce Swarzman, headmaster of Independent Day School, attended. While there, she met many eager Chinese education students from Nanjing University. It was decided that four of those students would be invited as guests of the Florida school.

The four students arrived one month before the summit to acquaint themselves with the campus and to share techniques with the staff.
Swarzman said Independent Day School is able to achieve balance in its learning environment through the M.O.R.E. approach, which is research based. It uses strategies such as positive phrasing, whereby teachers avoid focusing on negative statements when communicating with students.

“Instead of focusing on one area, we focus on multiple areas,” said Swarzman.

The school embraces technology at its very core. On a recent day, Swarzman was approached by two third-grade students, who showed her, with great pride, the first tomato grown in the school’s vegetable garden. Swarzman excitedly instructed the students to e-mail her all of the information, which they ran off to do. According to Swarzman, such interactions are commonplace during a school day.

The school’s specified vision is for its students to be educated as global citizens, and to work with people in other parts of the world on common projects and activities.

The school is equipped with SKYPE, a software tool which lets the students communicate by voice over the school’s computers with friends and family in China. The same goes for the entire school, which uses the program to talk to students in other countries.

The four students adapted to their new surroundings by embracing them, learning about culture as they teach.  During the Christmas holiday, they raised goods for a local food drive. Instead of being assigned to a single class, each student mingles with multiple age groups, working on teaching different activities, such as language, traditions, even business and economics.

A professor from Nanjing University in China helps sponsor the four while in America, and the Independent Day School sees to their lodging and other needs. They say the time spent here has been invaluable and they look forward to practicing what they have learned when the return home in February.

The Approach

The focus on globalization and internationalization at IDS stems from its headmaster. Swarzman said a global perspective is critical for young people today.
“We’re preparing for the world the kids live in today and for tomorrow,” she said.

“What you’re seeing is schools all over the world seeing the future, taking pride in what they have and also learning about the world around them.”

Swarzman’s reputation has helped her school garner attention from educators across the country and even the world. She’s developed a think tank for top educators by opening IDS’ doors, allowing public and private teachers to observe its educational practices in action. 

Every student at IDS takes Spanish as a foreign language. Swarzman said the school will continue to teach Chinese culture after the Chinese students depart and may add Chinese language courses in the near future.

The school has a similar program set up for the coming semester, where university students from Spain will come to teach and exchange ideas. Swarzman sees an invaluable lesson in promoting pride in one’s own culture while learning to appreciate others, something that comes from making personal connections like the ones her students have made with Jie, Rain, Jun and Vanessa.

“All of our visitors have great pride in their countries, but are so appreciative of learning about ours,” she said.
Jun said the children are always full of questions for them, about daily life in China, their school system, even the holidays.

“They want to know if we celebrate Halloween,” she said, with a laugh.

“They want to know what kind of houses we have,” added Jie. The boys of IDS have gravitated toward Jie, the only male in the group, as noticed by an abundance of high-fives that greet him on campus.

Rain Yu is most impressed by the teachers at IDS. Her experiences at the school have her most excited about the theory and practice of the M.O.R.E. approach and the uses of positive phrasing.

Getting to know more about successful educational models in America was just the beginning for them.  Swarzman has seen the connections being made on a personal level and the impact they are having on everyone involved. In many ways, these four have become part of the lives of the students, faculty and parents of IDS.

“We are so very grateful for the gifts they have given us,” she said.

Perhaps the biggest gift, according to Swarzman, has been “getting people to appreciate something new, to get rid of stereotypes. We are blessed. We’re learning so much from them. They are wonderful representatives of their country.”

Everywhere on campus the four of them go, children anxiously greet them.

“Ni hao, ma?” a line of fourth-graders shouted to them in passing. It is Mandarin for “how are you?”

“Everyone here is so motivated,” said Jie. “The kids are happy here. They treat each other with dignity and respect.”
Jie noticed the youngsters have a lot of time allotted for social activities. He was initially curious about the academic side of things, and how it might be affected by all the extra-curricular time.

“Here, every kid has a different learning style,” he said. “The social and academic sides are both promoted. The kids really know how to get along with each other.”

Every student in China must learn English, usually at a young age, and Spanish is gaining in popularity there as well. The average Chinese citizen’s cultural knowledge of America far outweighs the typical American’s knowledge of the Asian giant, Swarzman said, adding there are signs the gap is closing thanks to efforts like her school’s.

“Combining rigor with joy – that’s the art today,” said Swarzman. “People think you can’t be joyful and stimulating at the same time. You can.”

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By STEPHEN HAMMILL

The Friends of the Carrollwood Cultural Center have announced the return of the monthly Concert Cycle starting Jan. 14 with a jazz performance and art exhibit.

Proceeds from the concerts go to benefit the Carrollwood Cultural Center, which is under construction through a partnership with the Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department and the Friends of the Carrollwood Cultural Center, a nonprofit organization.

The gallery will open at 2 p.m., with the recital to follow at 3. Before the musical portion of performance, there will be an exhibit of the works of artist Tim Case. Visitors are invited to walk through the exhibit and talk to the artist. It will be a mixed-media show, featuring jewelry, paintings ceramics and textiles – about 80 pieces . Refreshments will be provided by J. Christopher’s restaurant.

Jazz guitarist Tom Jemmott will be performing in the Jan. 14 concert. Jemmott, 37, is a Carrollwood resident. He and his wife moved from South Tampa last year, where he still teaches at Don Banks Music on Henderson Boulevard. He graduated from the University of South Florida in 1994 with a jazz performance degree.

The Tom Jemmott Quartet will perform a variety of pieces from the jazz epochs, including the early bebop of Charlie Parker, some 1960s jazz written by the likes of Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, some Latin and Brazilian-flavored beats, along with a dash of more modern, funky styles similar to Pat Metheny.
“We’ll mix it together to keep it interesting,” said Jemmott. He said the quartet typically plays hotels and smaller clubs in the area and, although they have an original repertoire, will likely stick to standards for the upcoming performance.

Mary Ann Scialdo, artistic director for the Carrollwood Cultural Center, is excited about the partnership with the community and the county.
“My responsibility as artistic director here is to set up the program, contact the artists, basically making it happen. It’s hard work,” she said.
Scialdo, a Julliard-trained musician and a music teacher at Miles Elementary School in Tampa, still wakes up before dawn to practice piano. She sees it as her mission as director to bring the joys of music to her own neighborhood and to use the many connections made over the years to bring in some notable acts.

The concert series is meant “to present performances in a local venue which will allow people on a Sunday afternoon to have entertainment of the highest quality, without having to go too far,” she said. “It’s to have the best of the best.”

Scialdo also serves on the Carrollwood Cultural Center’s board. “It’s a volunteer board and all of us work very hard to supply the area with this marvelous organization,” she said.

The center must make due with the limited space afforded to it as construction continues on the new Carrollwood Cultural Center. Currently, all events are being held in the annex next door to the main building.

“Until the building allows us to do more staged productions, we make do with what we can,” said Scialdo, who asserted the intimacy can make for a unique experience for the audience.

The remaining schedule for this year’s cycle is still in the works. Scialdo did mention that for the February concert, a celebration of Black History Month is likely, as well as a large children’s performance for March. That event will feature artwork from children ages 8 and up.
“We want to have them work on the exhibit,” said Scialdo. “They will design the programs and make the art.”

In April the center will host a chamber orchestra performance, and she promises a surprise ending for the Concert Cycle in June.
The Carrollwood Cultural Center Concert Cycle takes place at the Carrollwood Cultural Center Annex, 13345 Casey Road. Tickets for each concert cost $12 for Cultural Center members, $15 for the public and $10 for seniors and children under 12. The center hosts one concert a year exclusive to its members as a thank-you gift.

For more information or for ticket reservations, contact Vicki Cuccia at 969-3991 or visit http://www.carrollwoodcenter.org.

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By STEPHEN HAMMILL

The Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department and the Friends of the Carrollwood Cultural Center are set to begin construction on a new home for the arts this January.

According to John Brill, spokesman for the Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation Department, the county issued a notice to proceed order, effective Jan. 2, giving the contractor the go-ahead to begin construction.

The main cultural center will sit on the site of the former St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 13335 Casey Road. The 5-acre complex also includes a 6,000-square-foot annex now located inside the former Carrollwood Church of Christ building.
The county provided for the acquisition of the building and land to create a cultural center for the residents of Hillsborough County. The center will be located in the heart of Carrollwood, off of South Village Drive.

CEM Enterprises is contracted to build the center, with a construction budget of $4.3 million. Work is expected to be complete in 300 days, in fall of 2007. The total cost for the county-funded project is $8 million.

“We will have a pre-construction meeting next week,” said Brill. “If we make an amendment to the plan or if there’s a weather delay, it can change.”
Construction plans call for a renovation of the existing 16,000-square-foot building at 13335 Casey Road, as well as creation of a brand new 5,700-square-foot, two-story addition on the east end of the structure.
The new edifice will serve as a meeting ground and performance space.
“It will be sort of our main hall,” said Brill.

The Carrollwood Cultural Center’s stated mission is to offer programs, services and events that encourage individual exploration and promote a sense of community. The center plans to participate with several Florida interest groups to promote the arts and its influences throughout the community, encompassing graphic and performing arts, education, and community outreach.

The center is supported by the Friends of the Carrollwood Cultural Center, a volunteer organization.
Vicki Cucchia is a member of Friends of the carrollwood Center, and has been involved with it for 2 years. She said that when she arrived here from New York there was a noticable lack of an artistic community in the city, especially in north Tampa, but now with the center open, she feels great priveledge in belonging to it.

“It’s nice to know the arts are being resurrected in Hillsborough County,” she said. “We will have a real theater – a place to have concerts and plays, and it will be surrounded by classrooms.”

More information can be found on the center’s Web site at http://www.carrollwoodcenter.org.

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By STEPHEN HAMMILL

For Carrollwood resident Joanne Spurlino, having lake-front property isn’t just a perk of Florida living. It’s a responsibility she takes seriously.
Lake Josephine occupies 50 acres tucked in between Gunn Highway and the Veteran’s Expressway. The serenity is dotted with a few dozen small boat docks hugging the water’s edge. At its south-eastern point it curls up to join Rock Lake to its north.

With such an abundance of lakes, Florida residents take their water quality quite seriously; and while most residents recognize the importance of the issue, it can often seem a confusing one, something better left to the experts.

Carrollwood resident Joanne Spurlino disagrees. Taking advantage of her access to the water and in an effort to make a difference she has become a Florida LAKEWATCH volunteer. Spurlino’s house looks out onto Lake Josephine. She and her husband have lived there for nearly 10 years.
Florida LAKEWATCH is a volunteer citizen lake-monitoring program that facilitates “hands-on” citizen participation in the management of Florida lakes through monthly monitoring activities.

Coordinated through the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, the program has been in existence since 1986.

The extent of Spurlino’s knowledge of lake bodies was rather limited when she first moved into her house on Lake Josephine.
“We liked the view,” she said. Life on the lake was quiet, and she most appreciated its scenic qualities.
Spurlino believes anyone who lives near so much nature ought to consider him or herself environmentally aware, and as a property owner, she was naturally concerned about water quality near her home.

She had never heard of LAKEWATCH until she read an article about the program in 1997. She signed up as a collection volunteer a year later and started drawing water samples from Lake Josephine.

Her neighbor, Liz Locke, lives on nearby Rock Lake, and the two take samples from each once a month.
The process involves Spurlino going out in her small boat and drawing three samples, two of which are frozen and sent to the University of Florida in Gainesville to test for nitrogen, phosphor and chlorophyll. A third test is run by dropping a white saucer, called a Secchi disc, named after a 19th century astrophysicist, into the water in order to test its transparency.

“Without the volunteers we would not have a LAKEWATCH program,” said Jason Mickel, Chief Environmental Scientist for Hillsborough County.
Mickel believes it imperative that more residents become aware of the program so there can be more people like Spurlino.
“It’d be impossible to staff 100 people to take these readings,” he said. “We also don’t have access to these lakes. Most of them are private. Our volunteers have dropped over the years. We have not gotten anybody new.”

The data LAKEWATCH volunteers like Spurlino collect ends up as part of the Watershed Atlas. The Hillsborough County Watershed Atlas is a comprehensive online resource for water quality information and ecological data. Conceived as a warehouse of collected water quality data for both scientists and citizens alike, the atlas contains more than one million data samples from 327 water resources, including 234 lakes and 93 rivers. Data recorded in the atlas reaches back 105 years, while new data are entered on a constant basis.

The county and the Southwest Florida Management District fund the program.
The atlas’ Web site is very user-friendly, with colorful photographs of all local water bodies, and charts that explain the data samples presented for the lay person while also offering raw meta-data for researchers.

Most of these samples come from water-collection agencies and volunteers like Spurlino.
LAKEWATCH was founded by Dan Canfield, professor of Limnology with the University of Florida. It is now one of the largest lake monitoring programs in the nation with over 1800 trained citizens monitoring more than 600 lakes in more than 40 counties.
“The work the volunteers do, the data they collect, it’s invaluable,” said Mickel.
Most of Lake Josephine’s residents do not know that someone like Spurlino is at work taking readings of the water.
“My close neighbors know what I do, not so much the others,” she said.
Spurlino credits the LAKEWATCH program with educating her on water quality.
“Now I can look at something because of the education I’ve received and tell if the water is good or bad.,” she said. She also believes that the program has made her closer to the community as a whole.

Mickel stresses the relationships the agency builds with people who live on these lakes, and the access they provide, are essential.
“It’s a very valuable program, because you can’t just look at a body of water once, you have to look at it over time,” said Spurlino. She cites cross-contamination as one of the issues the program has taught her to look out for. “When a body of water is fed from another source—which in my case is Rocky Creek, I’m picking up other sources—it’s a whole can of worms.”

She says hydrilla infestation is a constant threat to lakes in the area. Hydrilla is a long, fast-growing, non-native plant that can spread quickly. It can grow an inch a day in clear water and can overwhelm the native vegetation and pose a major problem for boaters and swimmers. It has infested more than 65,000 acres of Florida’s lakes, rivers, streams and other waterways. Florida managers regard hydrilla as their most serious aquatic pest.
Traffic further disturbs systems and introduces the invasive plant to new bodies of water when boats and jet skis move from one place to another, something the average boat-owner may not know.

Spurlino knows that educating residents is a good way to avoid problems like water pollution and cross-contamination. She interprets data for concerned citizens by going to the atlas and explaining the data to them, or by directing them there herself. The University of Florida also has numerous beginners’ guides available in book form and online in PDF format.

Other initiatives adding data to the Watershed Atlas include the Adopt-A-Pond program, which helps citizens learn to maintain their neighborhood ponds by providing them with the resources and expertise they need, and a fledgling stream-monitoring program with Hillsborough Community College.
Mickel emphasizes that this is about more than just data collecting; it’s about education and implementation.
“It’s a bit of a commitment,” said Spurlino of the volunteering, “But everyone from LAKEWATCH has just been fantastic.” She plans to volunteer as long as she lives on Lake Josephine.

Potential volunteers can call Jason Mickel at 307-1824.
The Hillsborough County Watershed Atlas can be found at http://www.hillsborough.wateratlas.usf.edu/.

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By STEPHEN HAMMILL

Mike Matteo, author, screenwriter, teacher and unabashed film junkie, is returning to teach his eight-week film course starting Jan. 11 at the Life Enrichment Center in Forest Hills.
The course, entitled Film Festival, features a series of popular movies and documentaries from different eras, with discussions to be held during and after viewing.
“We’ll talk about how they were made, who made them and why they were made,” said Matteo, who selects the films from his personal collection, which numbers, he estimates, between 2,000 and 3,000. The course aims to break films down into their genres and address their motifs, styles, social issues and historical contexts.
Matteo taught world history and economics at Gaither High School, Ben Hill Middle School, and in private schools before leaving teaching to open up M & P Costumes in Tampa. While that location has now closed, he is in the process of selling the costume store’s location in New Port Richey in order to devote himself to his writing, which he’s been doing for 20 years now.
Matteo’s plays have been produced in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. His origins are in New York, where he minored in theater at Brooklyn College while majoring in economics. These days he prefers to stay close to his home in Tampa.
“That’s what’s great about writing – I can stay home and work,” he said.
However, Matteo may travel to Germany in the near future to work on a screenplay. He’s also co-written two books, as well as authored and self-published a third, entitled “How to Survive the Public School System.”
For Film Festival, he sees it as his role to illustrate points on the movies and to lead discussions. The course breaks films down into genres, with each week devoted to a different one. Week one will feature musicals like “Singin’ in the Rain,” “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Rent.” The second week will be reserved for horror and science fiction films. Week three covers movies with social themes, followed in week four by the classics, comedies in week five, and parodies, remakes and sequels in week six.
“What was so scary in the movies of the 1950’s wouldn’t work now,” said Matteo. “People were focused on the Cold War then. “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” was about Communism if you take a look at it.”
Matteo uses the course to stress the significant changes in how films are made now versus decades past, and how our reactions to movies alter with our own historical perspectives.
“I’ll compare ‘Young Frankenstein’ to the original ‘Frankenstein’ movies, for instance, and trace the references,” he said.
When asked what kinds of filmmaking techniques his course will explore, he recalled “there’s a wonderful scene in ‘Immortal Beloved’ when they try to show what was on Beethoven’s mind when he wrote the Ninth Symphony. Now, there’s no way to know what was in his mind; it was up to the director.”
He also recalled how, in a recent course, he showed “Judgment at Nuremberg” and a woman exclaimed to the class that she had last seen the film when she was a young child.
He stresses there are no tests. This is for fun, enjoyment and enrichment.
“We will talk about politics, or what’s funny. I encourage people to tell me what’s on their minds,” he said. “The essence of filmmaking is to connect to an audience, and the films we watch all connect to people in a universal way. We will talk about that.”
Matteo makes no secret how much teaching these classes and re-watching the great films helps him as a writer.
“When I look at older movies, they tell me how it was good then, but also how it was different,” he said.
Matteo laments what he calls MTV-influenced changes in movies over the years, away from dialogue and open space.
“Now the cuts are every three seconds. If the scene goes for 30 seconds, the audience fidgets.”
He admits he had to change his writing style to better fit today’s audiences.
“When you write, you’ve got to give people what they’re used to,” he said.
He doesn’t mind this, but, in fact, sees evolution as integral to the life of a writer.
“If it doesn’t get produced and seen, there’s no point in writing it,” he said.
In Matteo’s home, film quotes and photographs line the walls, featuring many giants of cinema.
“If you surround yourself with great thoughts and great ideas, it inspires you,” he said.
He’s currently working on a new screenplay called “51 steps,” about a man serving time on death row. Matteo admits to an attraction to controversial subjects. The film “Descansos,” for which he co-wrote the script, deals with a man guilty of a past hit-and-run who goes around town ripping down roadside memorials wherever he finds them. The film was shot in the area and features performances by actors Charles Durning and Gary Busey. He was on set for the first couple of days shooting, but like any screenwriter, had to let the project go.
He’s now adapting his play, “Who Took the Last Ketchup?” into a screenplay for actor/comedian Jackie Mason.
Matteo also teaches a screenwriting course at the University of South Florida as part of its Continuing Education program. That course begins on Feb. 14.
Carrollwood’s Life Enrichment Center is the only private, nonprofit community-based center for adults in the Tampa Bay area, and one of few of its kind nationwide. It provides dozens of classes each year for active adults, typically 40 and older. Courses this year include contemporary dance, art, digital photography, creative writing, computers and Spanish. There are also non-academic fitness courses available, such as Tai Chi and low impact exercise. The classes run weekdays, evenings, and some weekends.
Ronna Metcalf has been executive director for the Life Enrichment Center for the past seven years.
“I’m always looking for new classes and new teachers,” she said. The 26-year-old center does a lot with a limited budget. Its funding comes mostly from individuals, small grants and fundraising efforts.
“None of us does it for the money because the money isn’t there,” she said.
Metcalf takes pride in the center as a model for adult education across the country. She stresses that these courses are not just for the elderly or retired.
“We are really targeting the baby boomer population, and our program is reaching out to them,” she said. “Mike approached me about a year ago and said he was interested in teaching a class.”
According to Metcalf, most of the program’s teachers are retired educators or active professionals looking to give back to the community.
“Mike is a wonderful teacher,” she said. “I feel fortunate to have him at the center.”
Matteo believes what they do at the Life Enrichment Center is vital.
“It’s a great place to teach,” he said, “and I love to give something back to the community.”
The prices for Film Festival run $10 per class, or $70 for the full eight-week course. All classes at the Life Enrichment Center can be paid for on a class-by-class basis, or up-front for the entire course.
The Life Enrichment Center is at 9704 N. Boulevard in Tampa. To register for classes, call 932-0241 or visit http://www.lifeenrichmenttampa.org.

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By STEPHEN HAMMILL

For the residents of Lakeshore Villas retirement home in Lutz, Christmas came with a special gift made possible by the generosity of strangers.
Val Rossi, 71, of Lake Carlton Arms in Lutz had a Christmas tradition of delivering wrapped slipper socks to the elderly, a tradition that reached back to her time as a young mother. This year, Rossi and her grandchildren donated slipper socks to each of Lakeshore Villa’s 170 residents for the holidays, re-starting the family tradition. It was the first time the family had donated the items since she had moved to Florida.
“I did something similar to this when my children were little,” said Rossi. Living in Illinois, she and her three children would bring slipper socks to the elderly during the cold Chicago holidays, usually to a local nursing home. It became a tradition – something the family could do together in the spirit of Christmas.
But while her children are now grown, the idea trickled down to another generation. Rossi’s youngest son, Russ, now has two children of his own, Christian, 14, and 9-year-old sister Robin. With the grandchildren close by, Rossi was looking for a way to include them in her holiday tradition.
“Their dad wanted something for them to do, and the grandkids really wanted to get into it. It’s good for young children to give,” she said.
Rossi researched various organizations – church groups and hospitals mostly – looking for the right fit.
“I made a bunch of calls,” she said. “Metropolitan Ministries was so far away, and I wanted to do something for our community.”
Finally she found a worthy place very close to her home at the 16002 Lakeshore Villa Drive retirement center.
There was a need there, as well as an opportunity for her grandchildren to experience the same spirit of giving that had touched her and her children so much for so many years.
“I asked Russ if he’d like the children to be involved and he said ‘yes,’” she said.
When Rossi asked what items the residents of Lakeshore might need, and the center responded with slipper socks, she knew she had found her cause.
The initial plan was for her grandchildren to wrap a small number of socks for a handful of residents and deliver them - similar to what she had done years ago. Her son Russ came up with the idea to expand things a little, asking “why not give socks to all 170 residents?”
Young Christian and Robin didn’t take much convincing.
“There was no hesitancy on their part,” said Rossi. “I think they were enthusiastic about it from the beginning.”
“We do different things for charity,” said Russ Rossi, whose family belongs to First United Methodist Church in Lutz. They recently raised money through the church to support a sister program in Ghana, Africa, allowing the followers there to worship in a new building for the first time. A desire to do something close to home, as a family, got him involved again with his mother’s idea.
Rossi recalled that when the grandkids saw the socks, they were a bit overwhelmed. It took about six hours to wrap all the presents.
“We wrapped the ladies’ in red and the men’s in blue.”
On Dec. 22, Lakeshore Villas held its annual Christmas party, where they welcomed Rossi, her husband Jim, her son Russ, young Christian and Robin, and her other grandson Kyle to their facility. Rossi took 9-year-old Robin by the hand as one by one they distributed the gifts to the lit-up faces of the residents.
Rossi was thrilled to gauge the reaction of the seniors.
“It was an eye-opener to see them. They were very, very happy to have young children visit them. You know, they sometimes get a Girl Scout Troop, but that’s usually it. They don’t get many young people, and it makes them so happy,” she said.
This was Christian’s first visit to a nursing home. Although he felt sad seeing many of the elderly in such immobile conditions, the experience had its positives for him.
“They seemed very grateful. I was happy we were giving our time,” he said.
His sister Robin heard many say “thank-you” and “Merry Christmas.” She thinks she may want to go back next year.
Russ Rossi was taken aback by the dedication of the Lakeshore Villas staff.
“The people working there are unbelievable,” he said. “I don’t know if any of us could do the job they do.”
Russ noticed that the staff gave out gifts to residents to make up for a lack of presents from friends and family.
Rossi plans to participate with Lakeshore Villas again next year, and she hopes to make this a tradition with her grandchildren in the same vein as her experiences in Illinois with her three sons.
“You try to instill in little children that they should give back,” she said. “It was a great experience.”

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By STEPHEN HAMMILL

Outback Steakhouse has teamed up with Chamberlain High School to construct a one-of-a-kind working version of its famous restaurant chain on the school’s campus.

Erik Young is a teacher at Chamberlain, and the culinary program’s head coordinator. He has been in charge of the development of the Outback teaching restaurant, which opens early next year.

The Chamberlain culinary program currently features courses in pastry baking, culinary tech skills and hospitality. The hospitality classes will utilize the new Outback facility.

Young, a former chef, previously worked at Hillsborough High School. There he began an association with Pete May, who serves as Joint Venture Partner for Outback restaurants. When Young transferred to Chamberlain, he used his relationship with Outback primarily as a mentorship opportunity for his culinary students. It eventually led to tours of Outback’s facilities.
“Then the idea came about: let’s take it to the ultimate level,” said Young. The Outback partnership was born, and plans began to build a state-of-the-art teaching facility that would be unlike any other in Florida.

The school board approved a construction budget of $192,352 this year to create the restaurant/teaching facility on Chamberlain’s grounds. Before the projects inception, the Hillsborough County School District has the highest concentration of culinary programs in the state.
“It was a long process getting the funding from the county,” said Young. “It was getting scary for awhile, but we finally got it done.”
According to Chamberlain Principal Jeff Boldt, major construction on the facility began the beginning of December. The basic structure is now in place.
“It’s coming,” he said.

Meanwhile, enrollment in the culinary program nearly doubles each year.

The positions at the Outback teaching restaurant will be given to students on a yearly basis. Young stresses that although every effort is being made to make the facility look and run like any Outback establishment, this will be “a teaching facility. We’re here to educate students, not to make money.”
The restaurant will open once-a-week for dining to faculty, staff and business-partners of the program. This will give the students an opportunity to put what they have learned into real-world implementation.

When asked what can be expected of the facility when complete, Young replied, “anything you would expect at the heart of house or front of house for a restaurant.” Front of house refers to areas of the building that the public has access to, while the heart of house implies the offices.
The replica facility will be very faithful to its real-world counterpart in everything from the purple ceiling to the wood flooring to the Australian-themed décor, but with subtle changes meant to substitute patrons’ entertainment with students’ education. There will be hanging televisions, but in this Outback they will transmit educational materials in place of sporting events. At the bar, there will be no alcohol served, but instead coffee, and on the back wall where a bar would typically display its bottled brands, the program will instead display the awards it has garnered.

Young sees this facility as a chance for the students to learn how money is made in the hospitality business. He pointed out a curved table space where guest lecturers will talk with students and teach their craft. This year the program welcomed two master chefs.

Booth seating, with both square and round tables, will allow teachers to demonstrate different types of service training.
“We want to give these kids real-world experience by allowing them to keep the integrity of the Outback,” Young said.
The food is all prepared in the kitchen next-door. That kitchen is already fully furnished, though it can still use improvements, Young added.
“Although we can’t grow physically anymore, we can still grow as a program,” he said.
Young is optimistic that the new facility will open in early February.

The culinary program at Chamberlain boasts 232 students, with 54 in the upper program. About 18 students at a time will work in the new dining room.
The students on campus are excited about the new face of the program. Lauren Miller, senior, 17 years old, has been in the culinary arts program for three years now.

“I’ve always enjoyed baking,” she said. Although she’ll only get to experience the new facility for one semester, she thinks it will be a great addition to the program.

Booster club member Pat Levin’s son, Brett, donated the garden behind the Outback.
“I’m very proud of him,” said Levin. Brett, an Eagle Scout, is in the culinary program. Large bay windows will look out onto the garden and to a plaque in his name. The garden will feature all kinds of fruit trees and herbs for use in the program. There are also plans to build a large outdoor grill.
Pete May, Joint Venture Partner for Outback, believes the program falls in line with Outback’s mission to give back to the community. Where many other community outreach ventures benefit their patrons, however, this program’s goal is “to continually give back to the future of our industry. We want to give the young people experiences dealing with the industry.”

May hopes programs like this inspire other people in his industry to get more involved.
“With the cutbacks taking place, it’s so important to give opportunities where there may not be any,” he said.”This is the first time anything like this has been done. This is definitely going to draw attention.”

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By STEPHEN HAMMILL

Gaither High School teacher Beverly Jarrett and the Gaither National Honor Society sponsored a hugely successful bear drive for the Rough Riders, collecting teddy bears for donation to local hospitals this holiday season.

The Rough Riders Tampa chapter came to the school to pick up the bears on the morning of Dec. 8. The Gaither bear drive, spurred on by a challenge from Sickles High School’s Sue Traynham to see which school could collect the most bears, brought in more than 3,000 bears.

The 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment “Rough Riders,” Inc., was formed for the purpose of creating and perpetuating a living memorial to the unique accomplishment of President Theodore Roosevelt and the members of the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment known as the “Rough Riders”. It boasts approximately 540 members.

Every holiday season the Rough Riders take the bears to sick children in local hospitals, as well as local fire and police departments, on a daily basis.
The Rough Riders can be reached by phone at 248-1898.

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OPEN HOUSE NOW
IN ITS 10TH YEAR

By STEPHEN HAMMILL

The Old Lutz School on U.S. 41 is opening its doors to the public for the 10th consecutive year with its Christmas open house.
Visitors are invited to walk through each of the school’s rooms, decorated floor to ceiling with lights, working train sets and Christmas trees with all the trimmings.

Each year the Citizens for the Old Lutz School sponsor a Breakfast with Santa as well as the nightly open house in an effort to raise funds for the landmark, and to spread some Christmas cheer to the neighborhood. Barrels are available to collect nonperishable food items and toys for families. The school welcomed about 400 visitors last year.

“We used to do a spook-house here,” said volunteer Beth Nevel. “The idea came to do something different, something to give back to the community. All the donations go to the building.” Nevel’s whole family is involved with the Old Lutz School. Her brother attended class there as a child.
The dozens of brightly lit Christmas trees are put together and donated by area volunteers such as Brownie and Boy Scout troops, craft clubs, churches and individual families.

People come from all around to enjoy the open house. Some have been coming for years. Others stop in on a whim. Matt and Gina Betz were driving with their young daughter Jillian, and seeing the lights decorating the outside of the building, decided to stop in and have a look.
“She really loves it; she’s mesmerized by everything. She especially loves the lights,” said Jillian’s mother.

For the first time this year, the school is holding nightly performances of choirs and caroling, to be sung by local church members.
“We’re bringing back the old-fashioned type of Christmas,” said volunteer William Westcott. He also stressed that anybody can join in.

The Old Lutz School is a two-story colonial revival building. Built in 1927 and designed by architect Frank A. Winn Jr., it served as the community school until 1973 and is the oldest publicly built building remaining in the community.

The remaining dates for Christmas at the Old Lutz School are Thursday, Dec. 21 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Tuesday, Dec. 26 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. The schoolhouse is located at 18819 U.S. 41 North, in Lutz.

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