The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Mary Rathman

Poised to play

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Charlie is a Lhasa mix and is 1 ½ years old. He enjoys playing with his owners’ grandson, Carter. He also loves the water and chasing lizards. Charlie lives with his family, Jim and Cheryl Cole, in Land O’ Lakes

Caught up in a breeze

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Marjorie Hoffmann, of Lake Padgett Estates in Land O’ Lakes, took this photo of a wind-blown snowy egret in Belleair Beach. During the breeding season, adult snowy egrets develop long, wispy feathers on their backs, necks and heads.

Chalk Talk 05/23/2018

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Senthil Kumar

Vice president named for new office
Saint Leo University’s president, Dr. William J. Lennox Jr., has appointed Dr. Senthil Kumar as the school’s vice president for the newly created Office of Global Engagement and International Affairs.

Prior to this position at Saint Leo, Kumar served as vice president of enrollment management and dean of international programs at Bay State College, Massachusetts, and dean of enrollment management and director of institutional advancement at The National Graduate School of Quality Management.

Kumar also served as vice president (consultant) of global strategy at Juesheng Education Group, in China.

Beth Schlossberg

Hillel appoints new director
Hillel Academy, the Tampa Bay area’s only accredited Jewish school, has appointed Cantor Beth Schlossberg as director of Jewish Life and Curriculum.

Schlossberg comes to the academy after most recently serving as co-director for the religious school of Congregation Kol Ami, where she built a comprehensive, creative elementary and middle school Hebrew and Judaics curriculum.

In 2003, she enrolled in the Jewish Theological Seminary and began studies at the H.L. Miller Cantorial School.

After being invested, Schlossberg spent four years with Beth El Synagogue in Omaha, Nebraska.

Afterward, she and her husband, Michael, moved to Tampa to join Congregation Kol Ami.

Teacher certification
Pasco-Hernando State College is accepting applications for individuals who want to pursue a career in teaching.

The Educator Preparation Institute, an approved program by the Florida Department of Education, provides an alternative route to a Florida Professional Educator’s Certification for those who already have a baccalaureate degree and want to teach kindergarten through 12th grade.

The college will be training a new group of teachers this fall.

The deadline to apply and complete testing requirements is July 20. Classes start Aug. 20.

For information, call Melissa Burr at (727) 816-3471, or visit Educator-prep.phsc.edu.

Student wins national scholarship
Camellia Moors, a senior International Baccalaureate student and member of the National Honor Society at Land O’ Lakes High School, was named one of 500 national semifinalists in the National Honor Society Scholarship program.

Moors was chosen from more than 11,000 applicants to receive a $2,850 scholarship.

While at Land O’ Lakes High, Moors has been founder of the Green Club, president of Model UN, and treasurer of the National Honor Society, while heading several service projects, including bringing county libraries to LEED status, a $9 million bond vote and fundraising endeavor.

Moors plans to attend Princeton University to study global affairs and environmental policy.

Five Pasco schools named the best
The U.S. News & World Report list of 2018 Best High Schools included five from Pasco County: Land O’ Lakes, J.W. Mitchell, Wiregrass Ranch and Sunlake high schools, and Pasco e-School.

Less than 30 percent of high schools in the country qualify for the list.

Four of the schools earned Silver badges, an honor only 11 percent of the U.S. high schools can claim.

In Florida, Land O’ Lakes was ranked 50th, based on its 87-percent graduation rate and 53.5 ranking for college readiness.

J.W. Mitchell ranked 90th with an 85-percent graduation rate and 44.5 college readiness ranking.

Wiregrass Ranch came in at 117 with a 91-percent graduation rate and 37.4 for college readiness.

Sunlake’s 86-percent graduation rate and 37.3 college readiness score ranked it 119th.

Pasco e-School earned a Bronze badge, with a 100-percent graduation rate, but had no college readiness ranking. Only 16 percent of U.S. schools fall into the Bronze badge category.

For information, visit USNews.com/education.

Health News 05/23/2018

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Hospital recognized for helping to ‘stop the bleed’
The Pasco Board of County Commissioners recently recognized Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point for the facility’s extensive support for the county’s implementation of the “Stop the Bleed” campaign.

The campaign was developed to improve civilian outcomes and survival in the event of mass casualty and active-shooter incidents. It provides civilians with basic first aid training before an event occurs, with emphasis on the use of direct pressure and tourniquets to control bleeding.

Pasco County adopted a policy to ensure that employees and visitors to county buildings are appropriately prepared for events.

The trauma center at Regional Medical donated 112 “Stop the Bleed” kits to Pasco County Fire Rescue.

In addition, Isabella Discepolo from Trauma Services attended the “train the trainer” session for the campaign and offered classes to the community.

The donated kits were dispersed to all AED stations in government buildings to allow for immediate access to tourniquets and other basic first aid supplies necessary for bystanders to administer in intervention during an event.

 

Sally Jones

Sally Jones receives humanitarian award
The Medical Center of Trinity has recognized Sally Jones, RN, as the hospital’s 2017 HCA Awards of Distinction Frist Humanitarian Employee Award winner.

The award honors outstanding individuals for humanitarian and volunteer services, named in honor of the late Dr. Thomas Frist Sr., founder of HCA.

Leigh Massengill, CEO of the hospital, said, in a release, “During Sally’s 40 years at Medical Center of Trinity, she has never wavered from making each and every patient she interacts with feel as if they are the most important person in the hospital. She works cohesively and collaboratively with her colleagues throughout the hospital.”

Jones also is involved in the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk, serving as the team captain for the hospital.

 

 

 

 

Soaking up the sunshine

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Lauren Harkness took this photo of a baby alligator lounging at the pond on Sotogrande Loop in Country Walk, in Wesley Chapel.

Rescuing one another

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Daisy is a rescue from Pasco County Animal Services. She is 3 ½ years old. Daisy was adopted a year ago. She was going to be destroyed, as she was not doing well, but looking into her beautiful copper eyes, her family knew where she belonged. Daisy loves to sit by the pool and to play with her stuffed animals. She is doing great and has gained 15 pounds. Daisy’s patience and love rescued her proud owner, Eileen Halczyn of Wesley Chapel.

What a beauty!

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Lillian Cucuzza, of Land O’ Lakes, captured this photo of a male rose-breasted grosbeak on her feeder. Cucuzza sees quite a variety of feathered friends during the short-lived Spring migration of birds coming up from the Florida Keys.

A native to the Americas

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Self-proclaimed amateur photographer Margaret DeSisto captured this photo of a Great Horned Owl and a fledgling (about 5-weeks old) in a nest in Philippe Park in Safety Harbor. These owls use a broad range of habitats, including swamps, deserts, tropical rainforests, cities, orchards, suburbs, parks, and deciduous and evergreen forests.

A treasured pet

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This cutie was found in an alley when he was about a week old. Named Precious, he has adapted to the indoors like a champ. He loves playing on the sofa cushions much better than climbing on the old tires where he was born. Precious’ happy owner is Richard Arto, of San Antonio.

A common sight in the Sunshine State

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Michael Rowshan saw a few Sandhill Cranes in the Wesley Chapel area, and just had to snap a photo. Sandhill Cranes are similar in plumage, but they vary in size. ‘Lesser’ Sandhill Cranes breed in the Arctic and are the smallest; the largest form — ‘Greater” Sandhill Crane — breeds in the northern U.S. The non-migratory ‘Florida’ Sandhill Crane and a form that breeds in central Canada are intermediate in size.