B.C. Manion

Putting God’s love into action through clothing

February 20, 2014 By B.C. Manion

Drop by Phyllis T. Lise’s home and you’ll see piles of clothes on the living room sofa, boxes of clothing stacked against walls, and plastic bags full of shoes and other stuff.

Phyllis T. Lise, founder of Dressing Angels, stands near a stack of boxes filled with clothing in her Wesley Chapel living room. She delivers gently used clothing and shoes to the mentally ill and others in need. (Photo by B.C. Manion)

However, the piles, bags and boxes are not a sign that Lise is becoming a hoarder.

Instead, the Wesley Chapel woman is the founder of Dressing Angels, a charity that, according to its mission statement, “actively seeks to put God’s love into action by providing gently used clothing and shoes for the mentally ill and those in need.”

Lise was inspired to start the charity after her son was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic.

When she went to see him at mental health facilities or accompanied him on appointments, she noticed that many of the mentally ill patients were wearing clothing and shoes that were dirty or worn. At one facility, she heard patients complaining they were cold. They weren’t wearing any socks, she said.

“Their families had abandoned them,” Lise said.

She decided she needed to get involved.

“This is something God wanted me to do,” she said. “Somebody has got to help. Somebody has got to do something.”

So, she and her husband Fred found time outside their full-time jobs to start purchasing clothing and shoes at thrift shops and garage sales. Lise then launders the clothing and packages it to deliver to mental health facilities, group homes and to schools in Pasco and Hillsborough counties, which have large enrollments of poor children.

The charity also helps the homeless.

The need is great, Lise said.

“The mentally ill, they’re the forgotten in our community,” Lise said. “The stigma is still there. If I tell you I have breast cancer, you would feel so sorry for me. If I told you I had heart disease, you would feel sorry. But if I said I had mental illness, you would treat me as though something is wrong with me.”

But mental illness is pervasive, Lise added. Of Florida’s approximately 18.3 million residents, close to 660,000 adults live with serious mental illness, and about 181,000 children live with serious mental health conditions, according to statistics reported by the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Lise has encountered many people who have family members or friends who are mentally ill.

“Every time I talk to somebody, they’ll say, ‘I know somebody, my relative …’ People do not realize how prevalent mental illness is in our society,” Lise said.

After she launched the charity and began making appearances in television and radio interviews, she became much more attuned to the scale of the issue.

“You don’t know how many people are suffering until the story gets out there and people start emailing you with their stories,” Lise said.

She acknowledged that she, herself, didn’t realize the extent of the issue until her son was diagnosed. He was 17 when she began noticing something was wrong.

“All of a sudden, he stopped taking a bath. He stopped eating. He stopped brushing his teeth,” she said. “He started having signs of dementia, like mumbling. He couldn’t put his words together.”

Initially, she thought he was using drugs. But he told her he wasn’t. They both spent months visiting doctors before he was finally diagnosed, she said.

Besides donating items to mental health facilities and schools, Lise and her husband also visit a homeless camp where they donate clothing and cooking utensils.

Once a month, Lise delivers 50 bags of clothing to a school in Pasco or Hillsborough county. Each bag holds a week’s worth of clothing.

Some of the clothing she gives away has been donated, but Lise and her husband purchase most of it, she said. They spend much of their time shopping for bargains.

“I go to all of the Salvation Armys. Goodwill. Mom-and-pop thrift stores,” Lise said. “I go to a lot of garage sales because you can find a lot of clothes for like a dollar.”

Dressing Angels Teen and Young Adult Group
People between the ages of 14 and 26 meet the second Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the North Tampa Library, 8916 North Boulevard.

The group might participate in arts and crafts, watch movies, go on field trips to the Museum of Science & Industry or out to bowl.

Current Needs
• Clothing: Gently used or new clothing of all kinds for all ages.
• Gently used or new tennis shoes, shoes, sandals or boots for all ages.
• Donation center space where people can pick up clothing and shoes, and also can meet for support meetings and activities.
• Laundry detergent
To help, call Phyllis T. Lise at (813) 498-7967, or email .

For more information, visit DressingAngels.org.

Published Feb. 19, 2014

Wesley Chapel agriculture program making its mark

February 20, 2014 By B.C. Manion

When sophomores Spencer Brass, Amber Maxwell and Savannah Musser were students at Weightman Middle School, they were all involved in the school’s National FFA Organization program.

Savannah Musser and Spencer Brass help care for the goats behind Wesley Chapel High School as part of the school’s agricultural program. (Photo by B.C. Manion)

But they weren’t sure what would happen after middle school, since Wesley Chapel High didn’t have an agricultural program.

“We were like, how are we going to go into high school and not have this?” said Maxwell, 15. So the students pushed their former agriculture teacher and adviser Halyee Monk to help them out.

With Wesley Chapel High School principal Carin Nettles as a driving force, the school got its agriculture program, and students like Brass, Maxwell and Musser were able to continue their work.

“She definitely was the one who pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed to be able to get this program. Without the support of the principal, it’s impossible,” said Brass, 16.

The students were happy to get to attend a high school that was right next door to their middle school, instead of having to travel to Zephyrhills or Pasco high schools to pursue their interests, said Musser, 16. All three said they would have transferred to different high schools if necessary, but were glad it didn’t come to that.

While Wesley Chapel High’s agricultural program is still in its infancy, it is growing, said teacher Erin McCann Farquhar. It has two courses now and will add another next year.

Despite its short history, the school’s FAA chapter already is beginning to make a name for itself, Brass said.

“I think a lot of people underestimated us,” said Brass, who, along with Helena Polansky, won an award last April for their egg carton herb garden in the ornamental horticulture demonstration category.

“We all have so much determination. We are so new we are trying to get our name out there,” Musser said.

The Wesley Chapel team of Polansky, Stephanie Reschke, Renee Carpenter and Shawn Devisfruto had the highest score in the state in the preliminary round of the dairy judging competition.

“Our school is actually home to three of the top 10 individual scorers,” Brass said. “There’s no other school that has more than one. We have three.”

Reschke tied for first place, while Polansky was No. 4 and Devisfruto was No. 8.

“Helena Polansky, she coached the entire thing,” Brass said.

Reschke gave kudos to Polansky for helping prepare the team.

“Helena, our leader, has helped us quite a bit with the written test she gives us and the study guides on the information,” said Reschke, who enjoys being in FFA.

The school’s dairy judging team placed fourth in the state last year. Results were not yet available for this year’s competition that was on Feb. 15.

Wesley Chapel students have shown animals at the state fair and will show animals at the Pasco County Fair, as well.

Musser, Brass and Polansky are showing steer at the Pasco County Fair. Others in the program who are showing steer are Justin Taylor, Nick Wrage and Carpenter.

Maxwell and Devisfruto are showing pigs.

“These are market animals,” Musser said. “We put our money into them, then we’re going to take them and auction them off and hopefully have a really good profit.”

Before joining FFA, Maxwell said she had some misconceptions about the organization.

“I thought it was all like people who just wanted to be farmers,” she said.

Musser believed it was all about agriculture, too. “I never thought of the public speaking aspect of it, until I got involved,” she said. “When you get involved, you really learn a lot.”

The lessons go far beyond tending to animals or growing crops, Brass said. It provides excellent opportunities to take leadership roles.

“This is a youth-led organization. We run all of the meetings. You learn a lot of life skills,” Brass said.

Musser agreed. “It teaches you how to talk to people, how to approach things.”

While all three students are involved in the program because of their interest in animals, Musser and Maxwell said they don’t plan careers involving animals.

“I want to be a neonatal nurse,” Musser said.

“I want to do physical therapy,” Maxwell said.

Heissler, Reschke and Brass, on the other hand, do expect their careers to involve animals.

Heissler is debating between equine veterinary or zoology. Reschke is debating between a veterinary career or training dogs for people with special needs.

Brass wants to continue his involvement with FFA.

“After high school, I want to go on to serve as a state and national FFA officer,” he said. “I want to go to UF (the University of Florida) and become a vet and have a large and small animal practice.”

Published Feb. 19, 2014

Porter campus enrollment exceeds expectations

February 20, 2014 By B.C. Manion

The numbers are in, and they paint a bright outlook for Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, the new satellite campus for Pasco-Hernando State College.

Officials at the college had forecast an enrollment of 1,500 for the first semester of the new campus, located on Mansfield Boulevard just off State Road 56 and slightly east of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. The actual count, however, came in at 1,749.

Stan Giannet, the provost for Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, said he had hoped for at least 2,400 students during the first year of operation, and that goal should be surpassed.

Most of the students enrolled there are between 18 and 30 years old, Giannet added. The statistics also show where the students are coming from.

Porter includes 587 students who had attended PHSC’s East Campus, 283 who had been going to the West Campus, 57 who traveled to the North Campus, and 29 who took courses at Spring Hill, Giannet said.

Some of those students may still be taking courses at other campuses, but they are now taking the majority of their courses at Porter, Giannet noted.

Porter Campus also attracted 180 students who have Tampa ZIP codes. But that was no surprise to Giannet.

College officials had expected Porter to draw students from Hillsborough County because the campus is so close to Interstate 75. For many Hillsborough residents, the PHSC campus is more convenient than other educational options.

Porter also has 358 students enrolled in Internet courses and 283 dual enrollment students. Most of the dual enrollment students — high school students earning college credits – attend Wiregrass Ranch and Wesley Chapel high school.

Enrollment figures indicate that general education courses leading to associate’s degrees are popular, as are allied health, business and information technology programs, Giannet said.

Popular information technology areas include associate’s degree programs in computer programming and analysis, networking services technology, Internet services technology and information technology security.

Giannet noted that the associate’s degree in human services — which leads toward a career in social services, social work and counseling — is attracting interest.

“This is very important for us because with the advent of our new behavioral health facility just down the corner from us,” Giannet said. “This will be a very good collaboration that we’ll forge.”

Giannet also expects the college to have a close partnership with Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel.

The college’s nursing department and the hospital are planning to work together to arrange rotations for the college’s nursing students. He also expects similar opportunities to develop for the college’s pharmacy technician and surgical technology students.

Plans also are in the works for Florida Hospital to provide some scholarship opportunities in the allied health areas for PHSC students, Giannet said.

Published Feb. 19, 2014

Pigz in Z’Hills already looking ahead to next year

February 20, 2014 By B.C. Manion

It was a brisk January day, but that didn’t stop the fourth annual Pigz in Z’Hills BBQ & Blues from setting a few new records.

Crowds gathered along a row of barbecue vendors, trying to decide which of the many varieties of barbecue they would like to try. (File Photo)

The event raised about $30,000, after expenses were covered — 50 percent more money than it ever did before, said Vonnie Mikkelsen, executive director for the Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the annual festival.

Most of the money raised will be doled out to various organizations, which help put on the event, she said. The festival also drew 44 barbecue teams and a crowd of about 6,000 to 7,000 people.

The event had a lot of firsts this year. It had a new venue, the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport. And it was in January for the first time, giving winter residents a chance to check it out.

Sixteen private pilots flew in for the day to enjoy the barbecue and bands, and Mikkelsen expects that number to grow in coming years as word spreads in the aviation community about the event. This year, they flew in from as far away as Miami and Jacksonville, she said.

Plans call for continuing to stage the event in January at the airport, Mikkelsen said.

“Having it at the airport, it presents a whole new horizon,” she said, noting next year organizers plan to showcase more aircraft at the event.

In addition to barbecued foods and bands, the event also featured exhibitors, a car and truck show and rides for kids.

The barbecue competition, which is sanctioned by the Florida BBQ Association, drew 30 competitors in the professional category. The grand champion of the professional division will receive an invitation to the American Royal National Championships in Kansas City, Mo., and entered in the drawing for the Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational Barbecue Competition in Lynchburg, Tenn.

This year, Sweet Smoke Q of Winter Haven, with head cook Jim Elsner, won the professional division. The team received the Pigz in Z’Hills BBQ & Blues Grand Champion Professional Division trophy and a $1,700 prize.

Hot Wachula’s of Lakeland, with head cook Matthew Barber, was the reserve champion professional division, and received a $1,500 cash prize.

Bettern Store Bot, with head cook Dave Grantham, won the grand champion trophy and a $150 cash prize in the Backyard Division. Papa P’s, with head cook Wayne Peterson, was named reserved champion, placing second.

Since its inception, the festival has raised thousands of dollars for local youth and education programs, and community services provided by the Zephyrhills chamber.

Published Feb. 19, 2014

Flu activity increasing in some Florida counties

February 13, 2014 By B.C. Manion

The flu is rampaging across the nation, causing epidemics in nearly every state. But so far most counties in Florida are reporting a mild level of activity, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the Florida Department of Health.

However, the level of flu activity is increasing in 21 Florida counties, according to the state department of health.

Dr. Nelly Durr Chambers, an internist with Florida Hospital Physician Group, said she has noticed Florida residents tend to get the flu later than residents in some other states.

“What I’ve seen in years prior is that the flu will hit November, December up north, and it will hit us January, February, March down here,” Chambers said.

The CDC recommends a flu shot for anyone older than six months as the most effective way to prevent the flu. And Chambers agrees.

“I really do think that getting the vaccine is very important,” she said. “Everybody should consider getting the flu vaccine, but especially if you’re in those risk categories — whether you’re young or very old, or if you’re pregnant, or if you have conditions like asthma, emphysema, if you smoke, if you’re diabetic, if you’re a cancer patient.”

Those patients are at a much higher risk of complications, Chambers said.

“They get sick faster,” she said. “When they get sick, their immune system doesn’t allow them to respond as quickly or as effectively as ours.”

The state department of health is reporting an increased number of pregnant women reporting to emergency rooms for care.

Besides getting the vaccine, people also can reduce their risk of getting the flu by avoiding contact with those who are ill, Chambers said. It’s also a good idea to frequently wash hands to avoid getting sick.

“If you get the flu and you recognize the symptoms in the first 48 hours, going to a doctor is helpful,” Chambers added.

She advises people to be alert to the symptoms.

“A lot of times people have symptoms and they wait three or four days, and by then, the medication that we would use is too late to use,” Chambers said.

Within the first 48 hours, a physician can prescribe medication that would be helpful to shorten the duration of the illness and to reduce the severity of the symptoms, Chambers said. After that, the medication won’t be effective.

There are definite differences between the flu and a common cold, Chambers said.

“The flu comes on, kind of like a truck hits you,” she said. “It’s not mild symptoms that progress into becoming more. You’re fine one minute, and the next hour you’re so achy, you have a fever, you have a headache. You feel awful.”

But a common cold is different.

“You start with a tickle, you start feeling congested,” Chambers said. “Maybe a day or two later, you have more of a cough or a sneeze.”

Besides prescription drugs for the flu, there are over-the-counter medications that can be used for upper respiratory infections, fever and body aches, Chambers said. Some of those medications, however, are not recommended for people with a heart condition or high blood pressure.

Besides medication, it’s also important to get plenty of rest and drink lots of fluid, Chambers added.

An average of 36,000 people across the country die each year from influenza, and about 114,000 have to be admitted to the hospital, according to the CDC.

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention offers these tips to help reduce the spread of germs.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick, and when you’re ill, keep your distance from others to avoid spreading your germs.

• If possible, stay home when you’re ill. Do not go to work, school or run errands. This will help prevent others from picking up your illness.

• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. It may prevent those around you from getting sick.

• Wash your hands often to help protect you from germs. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.

• Avoid touching your nose, mouth or eyes. Germs often are spread when someone touches something that is contaminated, and then touches his or her nose, mouth or eyes.

• Clean and disinfect the surfaces at home, work or school that are frequently touched — especially when someone is ill.

Published Feb. 12, 2014

Pasco’s top teacher says he’s ‘living the dream’

February 13, 2014 By B.C. Manion

When Pat Connolly was in high school, he thought he had his future mapped out.

He planned to become an engineer and had even been accepted to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Pat Connolly jots out a problem during his Advanced Placement calculus class at Land O’ Lakes High School. Connolly recently was named Teacher of the Year for Pasco County Schools. (Photo by B.C. Manion)

All that changed, however, after he began tutoring some high school peers.

As he worked with them, Connolly saw the light bulb go on in their heads when they understood what he was teaching.

“I felt then that I’d been given a gift, and it became my moral responsibility to the universe to use that gift,” said Connolly, recently named Teacher of the Year in Pasco County Schools.

Instead of going to MIT, Connolly headed to the University of Chicago where he earned a degree in mathematics and picked up some classes in education. Even then, Connolly said he understood that there’s both an art and a science to teaching.

It’s not enough to have mastery of the material one’s teaching, said Connolly, who teaches mathematics at Land O’ Lakes High School. It’s also essential to able to convey it in a way that connects with students.

“They (students) trust me to take them on this ride called education. And, without that trust, I can’t do what I do,” he said. “I think I have earned that trust from them. I’ve shown them that I care about them. I’ve shown them I have interesting things to teach them, and that I have faith that they can learn it.”

Even after decades of teaching, Connolly still delights in seeing that light bulb go on when a student finally catches on after struggling with a concept. He often sees that light go on when he’s introducing new ideas.

“They’ve got no clue what you are talking about,” he said. “Then, after five minutes, you get a bunch of them nodding. Then, you finally get this one kid, after 15 or 20 minutes, he’s like, ‘I got it!’”

Watching students become confident in their ability to learn is satisfying, Connolly said. Students in his Advanced Placement calculus class describe him as a teacher who is not only in full command of the material he’s presenting, but also can relate mathematics to just about anything in life.

“He knows like everything,” said Carlos Osorno, the high school’s senior class president. “Anything we talk about, even random topics that come up in class, you really don’t know how he knows everything.”

Classmate Andrea Slouha agreed. “Any subject you ask him about, he seems to always have an answer for it. I don’t think he’s ever said, ‘I don’t know’ to anything.”

Vincent Trang, who has taken Connolly’s classes for two years, described him as a teacher who wants his students to succeed.

“He’s a really helpful teacher,” he said. “There are some times when I don’t understand a concept. He would take the time to make sure I understood it.

“I think he loves teaching,” Trang said.

Robin Hanna, another AP calculus student, said she took the class because of Connolly’s good reputation, and he’s lived up to the billing.

“He has turned out to be really interesting,” Hanna said. “There’s never a dull day in this class. I have learned a lot — not just about math, but about how certain things work and about how math can be applied to real-life situations. Just a lot of random facts, too, because he can go off on tangents.”

Another student, Ryan Kova, said Connolly is tuned into students and can tell if his lessons are getting through to them.

Connolly has been teaching in Pasco County Schools since 1989, first at Ridgewood High School, then transferring to Land O’ Lakes two years later.

His wife Sherri is a teacher at Centennial Elementary School, her school for 25 years. They live in Zephyrhills and have three adult children, Shanna Harper and Sara and Shane Connolly.

Before arriving in Pasco County, Connolly taught for five years in Missouri, followed by six years as an instructor at the Naval Nuclear Power School in Orlando, as well as two years at the Naval Academy Preparatory School.

Connolly had considered retiring at the end of this school year, then seeking out a teaching job overseas. But he put those plans on hold to instead run for president of the teacher’s union.

If he wins, he’ll finish out the school year and take on that role. If he loses, he’ll stay on for another year at Land O’ Lakes High and pursue overseas teaching opportunities the following year.

For now, though, he’s enjoying the privilege of teaching. He said people think he’s joking when he says he’s “thrilled to be here” or that he’s “living the dream.”

But he’s serious.

In his application for Pasco’s Teacher of the Year, he explained his love for teaching by describing a scene from the movie “City Slickers.”

In that scene, a character named Curly explains the key to happiness is finding the one thing that really matters to you and sticking to it, no matter what.

“It seems teaching is my one thing,” Connolly wrote.

Published Feb. 12, 2014

Pasco superintendent pushes for culture of caring

February 6, 2014 By B.C. Manion

Planning is underway for Pasco County Schools’ second youth summit aimed at reducing violence and creating more inclusive schools throughout the district.

Students gathered last year at the Pasco County school system’s first youth summit to talk about ways to take aim at problems of bullying and create a culture of caring in schools and offices around the district. (File Photo)

The Together We Stand Youth and Community Summit 2014 will be on June 10 at River Ridge Center for the Performing Arts at River Ridge High School.

The first planning session for this year’s event was on Jan. 21.

This year’s theme is “building safer, more inclusive schools and communities, and reducing violence,’’ according to school district spokeswoman Linda Cobbe.

Speakers and guests have not yet been fully determined, but the event will include Roy Kaplan, last year’s keynote speaker, and Pasco County Schools superintendent Kurt Browning. The daylong seminar will include a keynote address, breakout sessions, networking, lunch and a panel discussion.

An online application will be available soon for speakers and exhibitors. Online registration for the free event will start in April.

The summit is one of the tangible ways that Browning is trying to promote an increased “culture of caring and respect” in the county’s public schools.

The lack of civility and lack of respect are issues that Browning has frequently discussed. He wrote about those concerns in an op-ed piece published last December in The Laker/Lutz News after the violent death of a 16-year-old. Another teenager was charged with the crime.

“When that op-ed was penned, I think it had a sense of frustration, desperation, in it,” Browning said.

“I know it will take deliberate and tough conversations within families and communities to help kids learn how to deal with conflict and cope with adversity appropriately. We must work together,” the superintendent wrote in the piece.

His words struck a chord with readers.

“I did get a number of emails, as well as people stopping me out in the community, when I’ve walked through schools, teachers have stopped me, administrators,” Browning said. “They agree. We’ve lost civility. We’ve lost respect. We have become, in my opinion, a society of entitlement — with no accountability, no responsibility.”

There are no easy answers, Browning said.

“This is like nailing Jell-O to a tree,” Browning said. “It’s such a pervasive, complex issue. It is a societal issue. It is a cultural issue. And yet, the school district is expected to fix it.”

Technology adds to the challenge.

“Technology is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because of the things that we can do with kids today in the classroom are incredible,” Browning said. “It’s a curse because we have technological advances in our school being used inappropriately.”

Photos taken with smart phones often end up in cyberspace. And once the images are circulating, they’re out there forever, Browning said.

Cyberbullying is an issue, too.

The district also must deal with electronic posts in which students threaten to harm others or themselves, Browning said. A student making a flippant remark can set off a whole chain reaction of activity.

“We’ve got to notify district staff, we’ve got to notify law enforcement, we reach out to moms and dads,” he said.

So how does this all get back to the culture of caring and respect?

“It starts at home. It starts at home,” Browning said. “These kids are sponges. They watch moms and dads. They watch neighborhood kids. They watch other adults. And these kids are going to model what they see.”

For his part, the superintendent sets a tone of high expectation for the district’s staff. When it comes to influencing student behavior on campus, Browning believes that students are key to elevating the standard of behavior among their peers.

This year, Browning wants middle school students to be involved in planning the youth summit. Behavior problems begin to develop when children are young, so the district needs to address them — and involve students at younger ages — in helping to find solutions.

In addition to supporting the youth summit, Browning encourages student initiatives aimed at building respect at schools throughout the district, and he wants district administrators to support the youth-led efforts.

Browning believes that, essentially, people have the same needs and desires.

“When you take our skin color off of us, we all look the same,” he said. “Our emotions are the same. We express them differently. Our desires are the same. We want to be successful. We want to be loved. We want to be cared for. We want to be respected.

“Even the hardest of hard kids want to be cared for, loved and respected. I’m convinced of that,” Browning said. “We need to be respectful. We need to be civil. We need to be caring.”

Browning welcomes suggestion and help from the community. Those who would like to help or have ideas can email him at .

Published Feb. 5, 2014

Wesley Chapel High senior ranks among state’s top 14

February 6, 2014 By B.C. Manion

She didn’t move on to the nationals, but Savannah Renberg was among 14 young women from across the state vying for that chance.

Renberg, a senior at Wesley Chapel High School, was one of 16 Distinguished Young Women in Florida selected to compete earlier this month in Winter Garden.

Distinguished Young Women is a national scholarship program in which high school seniors from across the country compete for scholarships. The competition requires contestants to interview effectively, demonstrate physical fitness, and perform on stage.

The young women first compete in local events to advance to the state competition, and then on to the national level.

While 16 qualified for the state contest, it turns out only 14 — including Renberg — made the trip to Winter Garden.

Renberg, who is a member of Suncoast Dance Theatre in Lutz and has been dancing since she was 1, showcased her dancing skills in the competition. While the 18-year-old wasn’t one of the top finishers, Renberg said she’s glad she took part.

“It was just a very unique experience,” said Renberg, who is the senior class president at her school. “Every day we would have rehearsal. I kept forgetting that there was a contest, that there was going to be a winner at the end because it just felt like, to me, like a performance.”

She also enjoyed meeting young women from across the state, and they became fast friends.

“There weren’t any cliques or anything. We all have the same desires,” Renberg said. The Distinguished Young Women requires its participants to be academically focused.

For her part, Renberg has a 3.9 unweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale, and a 4.4 weighted GPA when college-level coursework is considered.

Renberg became aware of the program through a friend and decided to give it a shot. While she knows she eventually wants to be a college professor teaching literature classes, she’s not sure what college she’ll attend. So far, she’s been accepted to the University of North Florida and Winthrop University in South Carolina.

“I’m waiting for my acceptance to Troy University,” Renberg said about the college in Alabama. She wants to go there because it has a dance program, and she’d like to minor in dance.

Renberg credits her mom, Sharon Renberg — a first-grade teacher at Chester Taylor Elementary School outside of Zephyrhills — for helping to develop a love for teaching and learning. After volunteering in her mom’s class, Renberg said she thinks she would be suited for teaching older students.

She’s attracted to the university level because that would enable her to teach and to continue pursuing her love for learning at the same time.

The Winter Garden contest was friendly, Renberg said, and when it was over, the competitors planned to stay in touch.

“We all were swapping numbers and Instagrams and Twitters,” she said.

They’ve even talked of going on a road trip together to cheer on the young women who will represent Florida at the 57th Annual Distinguished Young Women National Finals this summer in Mobile, Ala.

The young women there will compete for more than $130,000 in cash scholarships.

Renberg hopes the Florida contestants make the trip to Mobile.

“I think it would be fun,” Renberg said.

Published Feb. 5, 2014

Program helps seniors get back to work

February 6, 2014 By B.C. Manion

Pasco County senior citizens who are 55 or older and have been out of work for a year or more may be able to benefit from The Experience Works Community Service Employment Program.

The program is reaching out to older residents in central and eastern Pasco County who need help getting back into the work force, said Dorothy Myles, state director for Experience Works. To be eligible, applicants must have an individual income of $14,588 year or less, or $19,663 or less for a family of two.

A limited number of slots are available, but there always is turnover as people land full-time jobs, move, or exit the program for other reasons, Myles said.

Participants work for 21 hours a week, receiving the minimum wage of $7.93 an hour. By handling community service jobs, participants can update their skills and use those new skills as a springboard to land permanent jobs.

The program also helps participants pursue jobs they are interested in, Myles said.

“We assist them. This is participant driven,” she said.

The worker indicates the kind of job they’re interested in and the program seeks to help them secure it, Myles said. Some workers who begin part-time positions are hired on to handle full-time roles by the organizations that participate in the program. There also are cases when the participating organization isn’t able to hire the employee, but can alert the worker to an opportunity elsewhere.

Besides providing opportunities for workers to enhance their skills, the program also can help them in their job search and offer referrals for other services, Myles said.

Some program participants were laid off and have been unable to find a job for more than a year, while others have been out of the workforce for years, she said. Some have encountered bias against older workers.

“We do realize, too, that there is some age discrimination out there,” Myles said.

She believes misperceptions about older workers often can be overcome when an employer is able to witness an experienced person’s work ethic in action.

The program is having an enrollment fair on Feb. 25 and Feb. 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Career Central, Room A, 4440 Grand Blvd., in New Port Richey.

For additional information, call (888) 859-1051, or visit www.ExperienceWorks.org.

Benedictine Sisters celebrate long history of service

January 30, 2014 By B.C. Manion

When the Benedictine Sisters of Florida came to San Antonio nearly 125 years ago, Pasco County was in its infancy.

The new Holy Name Monastery being built on the south side of State Road 52 will be the new home for the Benedictine Sisters of Florida. It’s expected to be completed by Fall 2014. (Photo by B.C. Manion)

“Truly, it was part of Hernando County when the sisters came,” said Sister Roberta Bailey, prioress of Holy Name Monastery.

There were five Benedictine Sisters and they came to the area from Elk County, Pa., Bailey said.

“They came by train to Jacksonville and by horse and carriage the rest of the way,” she added. Along the way, the sisters saw snakes, encountered Native Americans for the first time, and heard about alligators.

“It must have been a terrifying experience,” Bailey told a crowd gathered for a Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting on Jan. 21.

The Benedictine Sisters arrived on Feb. 28, 1899, and began their ministries on March 1.

To honor the sisters’ long tradition of service, a 125th Anniversary Gala Celebration is planned on the very same day that they arrived in the area — just 125 years after those first sisters arrived.

Besides the gala, the sisters also expect to mark the year by moving into their new home that’s now under construction on the south side of State Road 52 at Wichers Road. The sisters expect to make the move in the fall.

The sisters also have received a gift of $100,000 from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous toward their “Recall the Past, Celebrate the Present and Embrace the Future” campaign, which aims to raise $500,000 to ensure the completion of their new Holy Name Monastery.

Ground was broken for their new quarters in October, after the sisters sold 37 acres of land to Saint Leo University. The acreage included the site of the Holy Name Monastery on State Road 52, which is directly west of the university.

The sisters also sold some parcels on the south side of the road to the university. Saint Leo plans to use the land to accommodate enrollment growth.

The sisters decided to leave the monastery, where they’ve been living since it was completed in 1961, because the building had become too large for their current needs. It also had become both a financial and maintenance burden, Bailey said.

“In those days, we had the high school boarding school, plus 65 sisters that were housed in that building. Today, we have 15 sisters and we don’t have the high school,” Bailey said.

To make the move, the sisters will need to do a bit of downsizing, Bailey said. The new building will be one-third the size of the sisters’ current quarters.

If you go
WHAT: The Benedictine Sisters of Florida celebrate 125 years of service with a cocktail hour, a silent auction and dinner.
WHEN: Feb. 28, 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Tampa Bay Golf and Country Club Ballroom, 10641 Old Tampa Bay Drive, San Antonio
COST: $50 per person
INFO: (352) 588-8320

Note: This story was updated to correct when Pasco County was incorporated.

Published Jan. 29, 2014