Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Sophia Sokolowski has been admitted to Wellesley College, a prestigious liberal arts college for women. She will cross-register at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She also is working on a paper she hopes to have published in a scientific journal.

 

By B.C. Manion

Originally published July 6

 

Sophia Sokolowski isn’t quite sure when her love for science was born.

Perhaps it isn’t obvious to her because she grew up in a household of science-minded parents.

Her mom, Holly Sokolowski was involved in research for the cochlear implant in the years before Sophia, now 17, was born.

And her dad, Bernd Sokolowski, is director of otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat) at the University of South Florida.

Sophia remembers going to the labs at USF when she was quite young.

“I loved looking up and seeing these giant microscopes,” she said. “You know, when you’re little, everything is so big compared to your size.

“I thought it was awesome.

“That,” she said, “would be my first introduction to science.”

Fast-forward to eighth-grade when Sophia noticed that when she switched her iPod with her friends, their iPods were always louder than hers.

That spurred an idea for a science project: She compared the hearing of her peers to that of older people.

“I found out that some of the kids who were my age were already experiencing hearing loss,” said Sophia, who will be a senior this fall at Academy at the Lakes, an independent private school in Land O’ Lakes.

Her interest in hearing loss continued and she spent countless hours last year working on a project she called, “Audio Perception: Plotting the Pathway of the BK Channel.”

The project took first place in the biochemistry division of the 2011 Pasco Regional Science and Engineering Fair and second place in the same division at the Florida State Science and Engineering Fair.

It also captured two awards — one from the U.S. Army and the other from the U.S. Air Force — at the 2011 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, with prizes totaling about $5,000 in U.S. Savings Bonds. The competition, in Los Angeles this year, drew the top 1,500 projects from around the world this year.

Ask Sophia about her project and she’ll lay it out in technical terms. But she’s also able to break it down in simpler terms for those who operate below her level of scientific sophistication.

In part, she identified and cloned proteins important in hearing loss that could have an impact in rehabilitating those who have suffered hearing loss, and in preventing hearing loss in others.

“Hearing loss is a huge phenomenon in today’s society. We have troops coming back from the war and they have hearing loss from IEDs (improvised explosive devices), artillery fire and explosives,” she said.

It may also help others who suffer hearing damage from playing their personal music devices too loud. Sophia said she felt pretty confident that her project would do well at her school’s science fair, but she wasn’t sure how it would do at larger competitions.

“I didn’t know if I was going to be able to go to state because there were some other really great projects there. I was really, really nervous. I had absolutely no idea that I was going to internationals.”

However, she said, going to the international competition was something she’d hoped to accomplish.

She wanted to go so she could mingle with kids from around the world who have brilliant ideas.

“It was amazing. It was one of the best experiences in my life,” she said.

It was great to be around so many outstanding science students, Sophia said.

“They’re so intelligent and they’re so nice. And they’re normal,” she said, noting she hit it off so well with some of the kids that they struck up friendships and they’ve stayed in touch.

She’s aware of the stereotype that many people have of science whiz kids.

“Honestly, even if we’re nerds, there’s nothing wrong with that,” Sophia said.

Sophia spent many long hours in the labs at USF, working on her research.

When she encountered terms that she just didn’t understand, she turned for help to her Academy at the Lakes science teacher, Amy Jordan.

“She always had a way to relay the knowledge to me so that I understood what I was doing,” Sophia said. “She’s absolutely wonderful. She is so sweet and she’s caring and she’s understanding.”

Laura Hill, supervisor of science for kindergarten through 12^th grade in Pasco County Schools, accompanied Sophia to the international conference. This was the first time in 15 years that Pasco County brought home honors from the international competition and Sophia brought home two, Hill said.

“She’s extremely talented,” Hill said. The student’s work ethic was evident in the quality of her project and her presentation skills were impressive.

Sophia said attending another international science competition would be wonderful, but she doesn’t plan to shoot for that next year.

Instead, she’ll turn attention to a new goal: Trying to get published in a scientific journal.

Despite her accomplishments in science, it is just one of Sophia’s interests.

She’s been singing opera since she was 11 and at the moment, she’s thinking about a double major in music and medicine/health, hopefully at Stanford University.

Or, maybe she’ll pursue a degree in journalism; in which case, Northwestern University would be her first choice.

Sophia said she’s just not sure yet about what path she’ll take.

Her future, it seems, is full of possibilities.

 

Update: Since the new building housing the Donald R. Tapia School of Business opened at Saint Leo University it has been used to house classes in business and other disciplines including education, English and criminal justice. An international business conference is planned at the school on Feb. 9 and Feb. 10, 2012.

 

By B.C. Manion

Originally published Aug. 23

 

As Saint Leo University students head to classes this week for the beginning of a new school year, the new building housing the Donald R. Tapia School of Business is the big news on campus.

The $12 million building, which exceeds 48,000 square feet, is the first new classroom building on the Saint Leo campus in decades.

It is designed to take full advantage of technological tools available to enhance teaching and learning, while at the same time it seeks to create an atmosphere that fosters collaboration among faculty and students.

University officials are jazzed.

“The opportunities really are limitless,” said Michael Nastanski, dean of the Donald R. Tapia School of Business. The dean said he tells faculty members that the university’s potential accomplishments “are only limited by our imagination and our willingness to commit to the outcome.”

On a basic level, the new structure provides space needed to accommodate burgeoning growth. It also brings everyone in the business school under the same roof.

The natural outcome of bringing students and faculty into the same building is the opportunity for more interactions. Taking that notion one step farther, the building has gathering spaces and breakout rooms designed to spur collaboration among students and between students and their teachers.

The idea is to encourage students to work in teams, chat about ideas that came up during class and confer with faculty members.

“The faculty are going to be much more closely intertwined with the students,” predicted Lynn Wilson, a professor of management, human resources and international business at the university.

He offers this example: The students are “in one of the breakout rooms working on a case and the instructor is (in an office) 40 feet away, 50 feet away, or maybe at worse – one floor up or down.”

Stepping down the hallway or riding an elevator up or down a floor is a whole lot easier than running across campus to talk to a professor who is three buildings away — especially when it’s raining, Wilson said.

“For the campus students, it’s going to create such an excitement,” said Phil Hatlem, an instructor in sport business. “Whether they’re business students or not, there’s a buzz on campus already.”

In addition to its spacious and attractive quarters, the new building has another big advantage: It is outfitted with cutting-edge technology.

The idea is to prepare students to be competitive in a global market place, Nastanski said.

“The 18-, 19- and 20-year-old coming in here is tech-savvy and totally connected to the Web. Now, we’re going to leverage that technology — what they’re comfortable with — to stimulate learning in the classroom. That is the ultimate goal,” Nastanski said.

The university also has been working with faculty members to help them take full advantage of the technology, said Claudia Ruiz, assistant director of instructional technology.

Some classrooms are equipped with four interactive screens, while others have two.

The interactive screens allow faculty members to involve students in various activities at the same time. For instance, some students can be reading a CNN report, while a small group is doing an exercise it will share with the class. At the same time, others can be putting together a spreadsheet or working on a particular formula.

Instead of standing behind a podium, the professor can move about the room, stopping to ask questions, field queries and provide direction.

“It’s about collaboration, interaction, engagement and active learning. That’s what we’re aiming for,” Ruiz said.

The teachers will be able to use different modes of instructional delivery and students will be able to engage in different learning styles.

The technology also will allow distance learners to see what’s happening on all of the interactive screens in the classroom and to hear what the professor is saying, Ruiz said. And, students at the Saint Leo campus will be able to listen to lectures offered by experts in different locales.

The changes in technology will give faculty members more tools, but the university recognizes that faculty members will need some time and professional training to make full use of the tools.

To that end, a team of professors will be helping their colleagues to see how the technology can be harnessed for their day-to-day work.

“We know that the unknown sometimes is threatening,” Ruiz said, but those concerns may be lessened when peers are learning from each other.

Students will be using tools of technology that are commonly used in workplaces, Ruiz said. The technical skills they develop should give them an edge over other job candidates when they graduate, she said.

The new facility also has enabled the university to add a computer science program, Nastanski said. Students will learn how to write software, debug systems and to prevent cyber crimes, among other things.

University officials also consider the new building a draw for leaders in business, industry and economic development.

The building can accommodate receptions, board meetings and conferences.

The university isn’t wasting any time reaching out to business leaders.

“The first day here, we had 12 presidents and vice presidents from major corporations in

here talking to us about how to take what we’ve built and help industry,” Nastanski said.

 

Update: Work is proceeding on schedule and college officials still anticipate the new campus to open for students in January 2014.

 

By B.C. Manion

Originally published on June 8

 

Pasco-Hernando Community College officials hope to open the college’s planned Porter Campus at Wiregrass in January 2014 instead of August 2013.

Officials had said they expected a potential delay following Gov. Rick Scott’s May 26 decision to veto the fifth and final installment of $6.9 million for the $52 million project.

The state has already provided $45 million for the Wesley Chapel campus and that money is expected to bring the project to near completion, Lucy Miller, director of marketing and public relations, wrote in an e-mail to The Laker.

The college will again seek the balance of the approved funding in the normal budget process for construction funds in the next budget year, the e-mail adds.

The final installment will allow the completion of the project, preparation of the grounds, landscaping and the purchase of furniture, classroom technology, equipment and other start-up supplies and materials, Miller’s e-mail says.

The college hopes to begin site preparation this summer, which includes grading the site to prepare for construction, installing underground utilities and constructing the foundation, the e-mail adds.

“Gopher tortoise relocation procedures have already begun consistent with the permit issued by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission,’ the e-mail says.

Meanwhile, the college has filed a request for a variance to allow it to build a taller building than is allowed under the site’s zoning designation.

“The variance, if approved, will allow us to move forward with plans to build up, rather than out, reducing the footprint of the project to best use the land designated for the campus,” the email says.

The variance seeks permission to build up to 154 feet in height. The current restriction limits the height of the buildings to 60 feet.

“The variance request is consistent with the developer’s Master Planned Unit Development (MPUD) submission that is pending approval and the previously approved variance for the new hospital currently under construction near our campus site,” the e-mail adds.

The tract of land is at 2727 Mansfield Blvd., just off SR 56, next to Wiregrass Ranch High.

The hearing on the variance request is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on June 23 before the Development Review Committee at the West Pasco Government Center, 7530 Little Road, New Port Richey.

After Scott vetoed the final installment of funding, J.D. Porter, whose family owns Wiregrass Ranch and supplied the 60-acre tract for the campus, told The Laker that he understood the governor had many difficult choices to make. Porter said he is confident that the funding for the college will be there by the time it becomes necessary.

Also, following the veto, Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, pledged that he will make getting those funds one of his priorities.

Scott’s veto drew the ire of Pasco County Commissioner Pat Mulieri.

In a May 16 e-mail to the governor, Mulieri characterized Scott’s action as “short-sighted.” She informed Scott “the hospital, the college and The Shops of Wiregrass would create a synergy in that area.”

A new hospital also is under construction on Bruce B. Downs, just north of SR 56.

The new PHCC campus will have a nursing program, and nursing students could do their internships at the hospital, Mulieri informed Scott. She also noted that students at Wiregrass Ranch High and workers in the community also would benefit from having higher education offerings nearby.

All of these factors are important, Mulieri wrote, because “jobs come to counties that have an educated work force.”

By B.C. Manion

Originally published May 11

Troy Button Jr. strode across the stage to accept his diploma from Pasco-Hernando Community College, and less than a minute later, his mother, Laura Button walked across the stage to get her diploma, too.

The mother and son took very different paths to their degrees.

The son is on a fast track. He started taking college classes as a sophomore at Sunlake High.

The mother, on the other hand, completed requirements for the Associate of Arts degree that she began pursuing more than two decades ago.

Life intervened, she explained.  “You meet people,’’ she said, nodding to her husband, Troy Button Sr. “You get married, you know. You have kids.”

When her son announced that he would be taking dual enrollment courses at Sunlake, Laura got busy. She was determined that he would not get his degree ahead of her.

Her goal was to complete her requirements so that she could get her associate’s on the same day as her son.

When it came time to cross the stage during the commencement exercise on the afternoon of May 4, she told her son to go first. She wanted the event to be about him, not her, she said.

The two graduates were among 375 who received diplomas or certificates during morning and afternoon ceremonies at PHCC’s campus in New Port Richey. All together, 830 people were eligible to participate, but most chose not to take part in the day’s festivities.

For those who took part in the afternoon ceremony, the place was packed with people clutching bouquets of flowers, clinging to balloons, shooting videotape and snapping photographs.

Laura said her son not only inspired her to finish the requirements for a degree, but also spurred her to perform well in her classes.

They had some classes together, including math, photography and an online science course. “He was competition,” Laura said, adding, “We both got As.”

Both graduates said their family’s support helped them to attain their AA degree.

Laura said her husband played a huge role.

“He picked up all of the slack,” she said. He pitched in to make sure their other son, Tylor, got to school and that the 9-year-old did his homework.

Her husband also helped with laundry, cleaning and dinner, Laura said. “He just did it all.”

Troy Jr. feels lucky, too.

“If I were in any other family, I probably wouldn’t get the encouragement that I do,” he said.

For his part, Laura’s husband is proud of both graduates.

“It was fun watching them both go to school together,” he said.

“When Troy was in elementary school, he was kind of the class clown,” his father recalled.

Not anymore.

“He’s very serious about what he does. He’s very focused,” Troy Sr. said.

He’s also impressed with his wife. He praised her for “sticking with it.”

Tylor is proud, too.

“It was lots of hard work. It finally paid off,” he said.

Troy Jr. is unsure of where he’ll go to college, but he is certain about his career path: “I’m an aspiring filmmaker,” he said.

The reason he took college courses during high school was so that he could finish college earlier and get started on pursuing his dream.

He has broad interests when it comes to making films.

“I want to do all different kinds of genres, cover a whole variety of films. I want to do documentaries, action, comedies, horror,” he said.

Laura also intends to pursue a bachelor’s degree, but not on her son’s timetable.

After all, she does have her husband, children and a full-time job to consider.

And the family isn’t finished celebrating, either.

As if last week’s graduation wasn’t enough excitement, the family still has another graduation on their agenda.

On May 28, they’ll be heading to Sunlake High’s commencement ceremony.

He finished his requirements in December, but wants to mark the end of his high school years with his friends in Sunlake’s Class of 2011.

At that ceremony, Laura will be playing another role. She’ll be sitting with the rest of the family when her son crosses that stage to get his diploma.

By B.C. Manion

Originally published Aug. 3

The air was charged with a sense of excitement as children and adults gathered under a big tent last week at a site on Sunlake Boulevard to celebrate the groundbreaking of Imagine School at Land O’ Lakes.

“Welcome to what we thought would never happen,” said Principal Kathy Helean, recounting efforts that began in 2005 to create a charter school and build a home for it.

“It’s a glorious day, isn’t it?” said another speaker, Rod Sasse, executive vice president for Imagine Schools in Florida.

Helean compared the school’s efforts to create a school, find a site and line up a contractor to the children’s story, “The Little Engine That Could.”

“In the beginning, there was only the idea of having students with a seat on this train. The engine was filled with our school’s governing board, a few parents and Imagine.

“Once we got our charter approved by the school board of Pasco County, we started loading children on this train. We still hadn’t found a permanent home.

“Imagine (at) Land O’ Lakes opened in 2008, with 424 students on board, and teachers, parents and community members supporting, as we continued searching for a place for our school.

“Parents started telling other parents about Imagine and more students got onto the Imagine train, but still we needed to get these students into a permanent school building.

“We had several locations appear promising, but they didn’t work out. Some families became disheartened, but most decided to stay on the train.”

“And then we found Sunlake Boulevard and we found Ryan (Companies US Inc.); it seemed too good to be true, but we hoped this would be the one. This is the one, we made it,” she said, to an enthusiastic crowd.

It took four tries to find a site that would work, Helean said. The others did not work out because of traffic issues.

Imagine at Land O’ Lakes is a publicly funded charter school, operating under the authority of Pasco County Schools. Students are selected for the school through a lottery process.

Helean said she began writing the charter application for Imagine Land O’ Lakes in 2005 because she believed “all families deserve to have a choice in their child’s education.”

At Imagine at Land O’ Lakes, “the philosophy is that the parent is the one that knows the child best. We’re here to assist the parent.

“We focus not only on academics, but on character development and parent involvement.”

The school has a 95 percent re-enrollment rate.

The new 43,000-square-foot school will have a capacity for 728 students, but it is only authorized currently for 584 under its charter agreement with the school district.

The school will have 38 classrooms and a 6,000-square-foot multipurpose room, for lunch, gym and other activities. The site has ample play spaces, including a 1.2-acre play field.

Amanda Battistoni, president of the school’s board, said the new school “gives parents the security of knowing we are a permanent fixture in this community. We’re not leaving.”

Besides helping children who attend Imagine, the school also lessens the potential for overcrowding at other area schools, Battistoni said.

Pasco County Commissioner Pat Mulieri was among the dignitaries attending the July 29 groundbreaking ceremony.

The commissioner, a former professor at Pasco-Hernando Community College, said she had visited Imagine and liked what she saw there.

The school has a child-centered curriculum, Mulieri said. “I was also impressed with the joy of learning on the children’s faces.”

As an educator, she’s pleased that Imagine is getting a beautiful new facility, Mulieri said.

“As a commissioner, I am delighted to see jobs in Pasco County. I’m delighted to see a new building come in.”

Christine Gegan, whose 7-year-old son, Quintin, attends the school, said she’s happy that families attending the school will have a place “to plant our feet and solidify the children’s education. Being in the temporary building, it felt a little uncertain.”

Gegan said she’s thrilled with the education her son is receiving.

Students work with teachers in clusters, working with the same teachers for three years, Gegan said.

The teachers really get to know the children.

“They focus on each individual child,” Gegan said. “The families that go there are just a delight. There’s a real sense of community. Most of the parents that go there want to be involved with their children’s education

A ceremony is planned from 1-3:15 p.m. on Jan. 6 to celebrate the opening of the new Carrollwood Day School elementary building on the campus at 1515 W. Bearss Ave. The celebration will include the first performances in the school’s new auditorium.

 

Carrollwood Day School begins campus expansion

School outgrows the former Idlewild Baptist Church

 

By B.C. Manion

Originally published Feb. 9

 

Carrollwood Day School has broken ground on a new elementary school and is set to make considerable renovations to the main building on its Bearss Avenue campus to create a permanent home for its high school.

The school, at 1515 W. Bearss Ave., had a groundbreaking ceremony Jan. 21 to celebrate the first phase of the school’s projects which are expected to be completed within eight months.

The existing 32,000-square-foot school building will be enlarged to 45,000 square feet to accommodate the school’s high school students. The renovated structure will be shared by the high school and middle school, and the portable classroom buildings, now housing the high school will be removed, said Shannon Gauthier, marketing director for Carrollwood Day School.

The expanded space includes additional second floor space and a new theater/auditorium. It also includes state-of-the-art science and language labs, arts and humanities spaces.

“This whole thing came about because our high school took off so well,” Gauthier said, referring to the high school program that began in 2006. The school wants the new space to be able to accommodate a high school of 400 students, 100 at each grade level.

The new elementary school, for students in grades one through five, will be 35,000 square feet. Beyond classrooms, it will integrate the latest technology to encourage collaborative work among children in different classrooms.

The school also has an early childhood center at 12606 Casey Road, which educates children age 2 through kindergarten.

The early childhood and upper school campuses serve students from Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties.

The school has raised $2.5 million of the $8 million needed for phase one of its campus expansion. Other planned Bearss campus improvements include renovation of the middle school space and the addition of a gymnasium, tennis courts and a baseball field. No timetable has been set yet for those projects, Gauthier said.

Carrollwood Day School has been recognized nationally for its academic excellence and its quest to educate the whole child. It was the first school on the west coast of Florida to be authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization to offer the Primary Years Programme for students through grade five, the IB Middle Years Programme, implemented in grades six through 10 and the IB Diploma Programme for students in grades 11 and 12.

 

 

Vice President made history when he dropped by Oakstead Elementary School. Since his visit, the school received special recognition for doing a superb job in hosting the vice president’s visit and the White House sent colored 8-by-10 photographs to each of the children in Kelly Keene’s fifth-grade classroom, which Biden visited before making a pitch for President Obama’s American Jobs Act, which met with resistance in Congress.

 

 

 

By B.C. Manion

Originally published Oct. 12

 

It was no accident that Vice President Joe Biden chose to drop by Oakstead Elementary School last week in a pitch to sell President Obama’s American Jobs Act.

Oakstead is the largest elementary school in Pasco County, a school district that’s been rocked in recent years by steep budget cuts — including a $54 million shortfall this year that resulted in 513 fewer jobs.

Biden visited Kelly Keene’s fifth-grade class in a portable classroom building before holding his afternoon news conference in the school’s media center.

Keene’s class has 25 children. That’s six more students than she taught last year, and three more than the state’s 22-student class size cap.

Oakstead, which has more than 1,000 students, lost eight teaching positions because of budget cuts. Built just six years ago, the school was constructed for 700 pupils. It must use 22 portable classrooms to accommodate the overflow.

At the Oct. 4 news conference, Biden said the proposed American Jobs Act would jumpstart the economy.

In part, the measure calls for preventing up to 280,000 teacher layoffs, while keeping cops and firefighters on the job; modernizing at least 35,000 public schools; providing tax cuts to small businesses; and building or repairing roads, rails, airports and waterways.

The measure was expected to go to a vote before the Senate as early as Tuesday, Oct. 11.

During his remarks, Biden cited a newly released report revealing that 300,000 teachers across the nation have lost their jobs since 2008.

“That’s bad for the teachers, in terms of being able to make a living, but it’s devastating for our children,” Biden said. “This is an emergency.”

Oakstead is a “Grade A” school, the vice president said, but he noted, “there are a lot of schools around the country that aren’t Grade A.”

During the past 12 months, budget cuts across the nation have resulted in 200,000 fewer teachers, 10,000 fewer firefighters and 18,000 fewer police officers, Biden said.

Besides reducing public services, those reductions play out in very practical ways across the economy, the vice president said.

“It means fewer haircuts, fewer trips to the restaurant, fewer times you can take your kids to the movies, fewer times you can gas your automobile up — and fewer, and fewer and fewer,” Biden said.

Whether it’s a string of lights, a well-lit wreath, a jolly St. Nick or a nativity scene – there are many ways to convey the spirit of Christmas.

Many homes throughout northern Hillsborough, central and east Pasco counties get decked up for the holidays, including the ones on this list.

 

Land O’ Lakes

21306 Morning Mist Way, Wilderness

The display includes about 3,000 lights and seven animated figures. The family has been putting up its display for about 20 years, according to Christine Jordan. It goes up the day after Thanksgiving and remains up until after New Year’s.

 

7121 Moss Ledge Run, Wilderness Lake Preserve

White and colored lights. Goes p the first week in December and comes down the first week in January. The display gets bigger each year, writes Erica Leon.

 

22253 Bell Harbor (See accompanying story for more details)

Thousands of lights and about a dozen inflatables, each one having a story.

The display goes up on Dec. 1 and remains until Jan. 6.

 

22375 Southshore Drive, Lake Padgett subdivision

Twelve inflatables, pink flamingos, alligators, dolphins, candy canes and lollipops. The display gets bigger each year, writes Carla Parker.

 

Also, the Connerton development has numerous nicely decorated homes.

 

Wesley Chapel

5609 Grindstone Loop (See accompanying story for more details)

5609 Grindstone Loop

Display includes 50,000 lights which are synchronized to15 songs.

The family accepts donations, half of which help pay the electric bill and the other half which goes to the “Make A Wish Foundation.”

 

Some well-lit neighborhoods in Wesley Chapel include Stage Coach and The Enclave, which are both off Wesley Chapel Boulevard.

 

Zephyrhills

38810 Miller Ave.

Display includes more than 10,000 lights, 15 to 20 animated figures and nine inflatables.

The display goes up after Thanksgiving and stays up until after New Year’s.

 

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