Special to The Laker/Lutz News

By Cameron Valdez

The Laker/Lutz News Correspondent

Girl Scout Junior Troop 31214 organized the inaugural Tooth Brush Run in an effort to raise awareness of homelessness in the community.

Participants in the one-mile run, which was June 2 at the Steinbrenner Club House on County Line Road in Lutz, were only asked to bring a toothbrush and toothpaste. The supplies were donated to Homeless Education and Literacy Project (HELP), which helps homeless people in the community.

The troop collected 630 toothbrushes and 702 tubes of toothpaste.

“I loved seeing the big donation box filled with toothbrushes and toothpaste knowing that it would help people,” said troop member Grace Becker.

The event was part of the scouts’ Bronze Award, which is the highest honor they can receive for their age group. Troop leader Kristi Drablos said the girls wanted to find a way to make a big difference even though they are only in fourth and fifth grades.

“(The troop) looked into the community to see where they thought needed the most help, and they decided to help the homeless,” Drablos said.

HELP uses supplies like those collected at the run to assist families and children by eliminating barriers to school enrollment, school attendance and overall academic success.

Dr. John Metz, of Metz Orthodontics, sponsored the event, providing water, sports drinks and healthy snacks to the runners after they completed the course.

Metz said he wanted to sponsor the event in part because of its connection to oral health.

Metz took pride in seeing the girls organize the event as they learned “valuable leadership skills, how to interact with adults and how to plan something. It’s just something to be really proud of in our community.”

As for the race, Isabel Brown was the first to cross the finish line, completing the course in 6 minutes 46 seconds.

By Kyle LoJacono

St. Joseph’s Women’s Hospital made Tampa Bay region history moments after opening its Lactation Lounge May 14.

The hospital became the first business in the area to receive the Gold Breastfeeding-Friendly Employer Award from the Florida Breastfeeding Coalition.

“We’re so appreciative of this recognition for our team,” said the hospital’s chief operating officer Kimberly Guy. “We have worked very, very hard to advocate something so important to our patients, and share it with our team members and our families going forward.”

The lounge is designed as semiprivate, clean space for women to nurse their babies.

“Breastfeeding is important, and we support our breastfeeding nurses,” said the hospital’s director of patient services Karen Howell. “We want our team members to know they have the right to breastfeed. They don’t have to hide it in a bathroom, and they can do it in a designated location.”

The award also recognizes the hospital’s steps to be breastfeeding-friendly, such as offering lactation consultant support and reasonable break time for employees to express milk.

“They’ve done a lot to make breastfeeding mothers more comfortable,” said Dr. Joan Meek, president of the Florida Breastfeeding Coalition. “They’ve got people on staff to help first-time mothers, and they are making the process something enjoyable, which it should be.”

Meek said pumping breast milk helps maintain milk production and allows the baby to receive benefits of breast milk when the mother is not available to nurse. She added there are many benefits for mothers and children who breastfeed, including:

–Breastfeeding encourages the best brain growth and development in babies and helps babies reach their full intellectual potential.

–Breastfed babies are one-third less likely to die of sudden infant death syndrome.

–Breastfed babies have fewer illnesses, are less likely to be hospitalized in the first year of life and have milder effects when illness does happen.

–Breastfed babies are less likely to develop respiratory infections, ear infections, childhood diabetes and certain types of cancers.

–Breastfed babies are less likely to grow into overweight children.

–Breastfeeding helps to reduce the risk of breast and ovarian cancer for women.

–Breastfeeding provides a bonding connection for mother and baby.

–Breastfeeding releases the hormone prolactin, which decreases anxiety.

–Breastfeeding an infant during a natural disaster reduces the potential risk for feeding contamination from toxic materials.

 

 

 

By B.C. Manion

 

Kindergarten teacher Shelby Baldree recently received a huge surprise when Hillsborough County Superintendent MaryEllen Elia dropped by her school to give her the We Deliver award for the teacher’s outstanding work.

Besides a celebration that included silly string and noisemakers, the Land O’ Lakes woman received a $10,000 check from Hillsborough’s education foundation.

Baldree, who received 15 nominations for the award, was chosen from 188 district employees who were recommended. She is still overwhelmed by the honor.

Baldree’s classroom at Hammond Elementary in Odessa has hundreds of books tucked in plastic bins. Writing samples are posted proudly on walls. There are words and letters everywhere.

This is a place where children write daily, and where they vie for a chance to read the stories they’ve composed aloud.

When they arrive each fall, some students are already reading. Others don’t know the alphabet. When they leave Baldree’s classroom, they’re ready for first grade and beyond — all of them.

“There is not a child who crosses her threshold that is not successful in the end,” said Hammond Principal Lynn Rattray.

The teacher stands for her students, Rattray added. “You tangle with her about her kids, you’re probably going to lose.”

The key, Baldree said, is getting to know each child and their educational needs.

“We do have varying backgrounds,” Baldree said.

There’s no cookie-cutter approach to teaching, Baldree said. “Sometimes you have to change in midlesson to accommodate all of the different needs. Daily, I’m changing up things.”

Sometimes, she has to make things more challenging; other times she must go over the lesson again.

“It’s nothing you can learn in a textbook,” said Baldree, who has been teaching for 17 years. “It is experiences, hands-on, with children. It is spending time watching them and talking with them. That is how I get to know my students on a deeper level, and that is how I believe I reach them.”

When students are struggling, Baldree uses her breaks to give them extra help.

Baldree also likes to keep lessons real for her kids. She wants children to see the connection between what they learn and the rest of their lives.

When they’re learning about finance, for instance, she’ll talk to them about money they’ll earn on their jobs one day or when they get an allowance. Then they talk about using it to go shopping.

When they’re learning how to tell time, she brings that into their world, too. She’ll tell them, “You have to know how to tell time. You’re going to want to show up to your soccer game on time.”

Writing is such an essential skill, Baldree said, and she wants her students to understand how they can use it.

“If they want to express how they’re feeling, they can write about it,” Baldree said. “If they want to inform someone about maybe an animal that they’ve learned about and they’re excited about it, they can write a book about it. If there’s something that’s a life lesson they want to share with others, they can create a play about it.”

The teacher said she loves teaching kindergarten because she knows it is a level where she can make a true difference.

“If I do give that child — no matter what their ability — the opportunity to succeed in a room with other, typical peers, then I know just from experience that that child is going to be successful. Period,” Baldree said.

She knows she could not be successful without the help of the children’s parents. They work together to help children succeed, she said.

“I would not be the teacher I am without parent support,” said Baldree, who added sometimes she has to the bearer of “not-so-good” news. But when she does, she said, she always has strategies ready.

Parents who nominated Baldree for the award waxed on about her skill and compassion, expressing gratitude for the work she has done with their children. They noted she often goes above and beyond, attending dance recitals and soccer games while staying connected with their children long after they leave the teacher’s classroom.

For Baldree, it’s all about the kids.

“The kids are why I come to work,” Baldree said. “I just love what I do.

“I knew I wanted to be a teacher when I was in kindergarten,” she continued, recalling the first day she arrived in Miss Banfield’s classroom at Lutz Elementary.

“Even though I’m 40 years old, her face is in my mind,” Baldree said. “She was so passionate, and so caring and so loving. That inspired me.

“That was my first school experience,” said Baldree, who now lives with her husband, Jason, and son, Jason Jr., in Pasco County.

“I didn’t want to go to school, but as soon as I set foot in that room and felt love (and) I knew that was where I was meant to be.”

She still feels a kindergarten classroom is her place, but now she’s the one welcoming children.

 

 

 

Measures needed to address $25 million shortfall

 

By B.C. Manion

 

Facing an estimated $25 million shortfall, Pasco County School board members have started to identify ways to plug the budget hole.

Board members were set to vote at their June 5 meeting on a proposal that calls for trimming 87 positions from the district’s staffing allocation.

That’s the number of positions Superintendent Heather Fiorentino recommended cutting during a May 25 school board budget workshop.

Eliminating 87 positions, however, doesn’t represent the actual number of employees who will lose their jobs because many staffers will be reassigned. There will also be departures because of attrition.

School board member Alison Crumbley said she has discussed the issue with district staff who informed her they believe they can eliminate the vast majority, if not all, of the 87 positions without handing out pink slips.

Cutting those positions is expected to yield about $3.6 million in savings.

But the board also has directed the superintendent’s staff to look for additional positions that could be cut, said Summer Romagnoli, school district spokeswoman. She said a list of affected positions will be released after the employees are notified.

One of the reasons the job cuts are needed is the district must add 107 positions to meet state-mandated class size requirements, Romagnoli said.

The district can’t afford to hire that many additional people, so it must shift personnel and make budget cuts to cover additional costs, said Joanne Hurley, the school board’s chairwoman.

Beyond reducing personnel allocations, the board is also eyeing several other cost-saving measures to balance its budget. Options include furlough days, requiring employees to help cover the costs of benefits and cutting salaries — all of which would require union negotiations.

Hurley said the board doesn’t appear to be anywhere near a consensus on how to proceed. She added board members need more information before deciding the district’s course.

The district would not be breaking new ground by requiring employees to cover a portion of their benefits or by reducing employee pay, Romagnoli said.

“We’re one of three school districts in the state that provide a fully-funded benefits package,” Romagnoli said. Many school districts already have cut employee pay to tackle budget deficits, she added.

A proposal to require three furlough days for all district staff would save slightly more than $5 million.

The district also is looking at narrowing the budget gap by using nearly $8.9 million in capital outlay funds to pay for property insurance. It is also considering reducing its reserves to a bare minimum, which would free up $3.9 million.

Those ideas are being explored, Hurley said, but she emphasized, “It doesn’t mean that any of these ideas is set in stone. None of this is ready for a vote. We are simply discussing what the options are.”

Crumbley said board members want to minimize impacts on classrooms when it makes its budget cuts.

However, Crumbley added, salaries and benefits for district personnel make up roughly 85 percent of the district’s budget; making it impossible to reduce such a large shortfall without affecting people.

Crumbley said she’s asked someone to research whether it would have a lesser impact on staff to reduce salaries or to have employees help pay for benefits. There may be tax implications that should be considered, she said.

She also wants the district to explore using retired teachers to volunteer as substitutes. It may not save enormous sums, but she said it might help.

“Personally, I think it’s worth trying,” Crumbley said.

She also wants the district to see if they the general public can contribute money to spend in specific areas, such as arts education.

Board member Cynthia Armstrong said there are no easy answers to resolving the budget gap.

“Nothing is off the table at this point,” Armstrong said. She added, “We’ve cut the fat. We’ve cut the muscle. Now, we’re down to the bone.”

However, Steve Luikart, another board member, doesn’t think the district has done all that it can to cut its fat.

He thinks the district’s transportation system can be more efficient by increasing the students who ride each bus and by trimming the number of people it has routing buses.

He also thinks the district could cut costs by being more energy efficiency.

Luikart said employees have been bearing the brunt of budget shortfalls for too long. He opposes salary cuts for anyone who has direct contact with students. He’s also against furlough days.

“We’ve been looking at the easy fix,” Luikart said. “We have got to look at being more efficient at what we do.”

Considerable debate is expected before any final decisions are reached. Two public hearings are required before the final budget can be adopted. One is expected in July and the other in September.

 

Lutz woman graduates from Centre College

Cailynn West of Lutz received a Bachelor of Science degree in behavioral neuroscience at the May 20 commencement ceremony at Centre College, of Danville, Ky., one of the nation’s top 50 liberal arts colleges, according to U.S. News. West is the daughter of Craig and Georgia West of Lutz.

 

USF student to attend Fulbright program

Christine Goddard, a student from the University of South Florida (USF), has been selected to be part of a Fulbright Summer Institute and will study at Cardiff, Bangor and Aberystwyth universities. The summer institute is one of the most prestigious and selective summer scholarship programs in the world.

The United States-United Kingdom Fulbright Commission was created by treaty in 1948 and is the only bi-lateral, transatlantic scholarship program offering awards and summer programs for study or research in any field, at any accredited university in the United States or United Kingdom.

Goddard will attend a six-week summer program that will focus on Welsh culture and industry.

The Honors College student at USF is pursuing degrees in public health and Spanish, with a minor in history and a concentration in Latin American and Caribbean studies.

As a participant in the Fulbright Wales Summer Institute, she hopes to learn about the British healthcare system and incorporate that knowledge into a future career in public health.

Goddard graduated from the International Baccalaureate Program at Land O’ Lakes High and is a resident of Crystal Springs in East Pasco County.

 

Battle of the Belts raises awareness

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for American teenagers, and statistics show teenagers have the lowest rate of safety belt use among drivers particularly when there are multiple teens in the vehicle.

The Battle of the Belts program seeks to change these statistics by boosting safety belt use by teenagers. Pasco County high schools were invited to participate in the program through their school resource officers.

Award categories included: highest seat belt use; most improved seat belt use; best school campaign; best public service announcement; best poster and best essay.

Local schools in the competition included Sunlake, Wesley Chapel, Wiregrass Ranch and Zephyrhills high schools, which was sponsored by Safe Kids Pasco Council led by All Children’s Hospital.

Wesley Chapel was the only local school that came away with winning one of the categories. The Wildcats claimed gold in campaign book, which came with $250 sponsored by Rasmussen College.

 

Vacation Bible school in Land O’ Lakes

Land O’ Lakes First United Methodist Church is presenting its 2012 Vacation Bible School- I-JAM Jesus’ Amazing Miracles!  June 25 through 29. The school is free and open to children in kindergarten through fifth grade.

The program will feature stories, music and fun. The sessions are from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at the church, 6209 US 41 in Land O’ Lakes.

Register online at www.lolumc.org and click the VBS tab. For more information, contact Tonya Stout at or (813) 996-3533.

 

San Antonio Credit Union scholarships

The San Antonio Credit Union and its ATM service, Accel/Exchange, each awarded $5,000 in college scholarships.

The money went to seven graduating high school seniors. David Roth of Land O’ Lakes and Rachel Wise of Zephyrhills each received $2,500.

Jonathan Yann, Gloria Manriquez and Timothy Dombrowski, all from Pasco; Beverly Mejias of Bishop McLaughlin and Kelly Farrell of Zephyrhills each received $1,000.

 

Senator Fasano honored by USF students

State Sen. Mike Fasano has been named the 2012 Outstanding Student Advocate by the University of South Florida (USF) student body. The award was given “in appreciation for his tireless advocacy on behalf of the USF student body, as well as for his commitment and dedication to the University of South Florida system.”

“We wish to recognize you because you were one of the students’ biggest advocates over the past year through the difficult legislative session we faced,” stated immediate past Student Body President Matthew Diaz in a release. “Furthermore, you listened to our students and their concerns and consistently and tirelessly worked on our behalf.”

USF was the target of significant budget cuts as well as controversy about the separation of USF Polytechnic in Lakeland from the main university system.

Fasano was credited by students for playing an instrumental role in restoring many of the budget cuts, in particular those targeting the USF School of Pharmacy, as well as being the university’s voice regarding the protection of USF Polytechnic.

 

Florida Gulf Coast graduates

These local residents recently graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University:

—Jake Proudfoot of Land O’ Lakes with a Bachelor of Science degree from the College of Business

—Megan Smith of Land O’ Lakes graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the College of Education

—Melissa Simat of Land O’ Lakes graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the College of Professional Studies

—Melanie Belknap of Lutz with a Bachelor of Science from the College of Business

—Nancy Daniel of Lutz with a Master of Science from the College of Health Professions

—Amanda Goble of Lutz with a Bachelor of Science from the College of Professional Studies

—Seth Monaco of Lutz with a Master of Social Work from the College of Professional Studies

—Hayley Katzof of Odessa with a Bachelor of Arts from the College of Arts and Sciences

—Michelle Persante of Odessa with a Bachelor of Arts from the College of Education

—Sara Rieveley of Odessa with a Bachelor of Science in nursing from the College of Health Professions

 

Applications still open for Buc-Packs

Applications are open until June 29 at 5 p.m. for Buc-Packs for Back-to-School, one of the Glazer Family Foundation’s signature programs.

Each summer, the program presents Buccaneers backpacks filled with school supplies to children throughout Central Florida. This year, youth from local community groups will receive a total of 5,000 backpacks during the team’s training camp at One Buccaneer Place.

After receiving backpacks, the children will have the opportunity to watch the Buccaneers practice before participating in their own on-field football drills.

The foundation accepts applications for the Buc-Packs for Back-to-School program from local community organizations with nonprofit status. Applications for the program will only be accepted online. To learn more, visit www.GlazerFamilyFoundationn.org.