Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Middle school students get early look at career choices

By B.C. Manion

The students in Jennifer Warren’s “Exploring Communications Technology” class get a chance to do fun stuff  like launching rockets and programming robots while being exposed to a broad range of career choices.

The class, which Warren teaches at John Long Middle School in Wesley Chapel, includes 12 learning modules, covering such areas as audio communications, laser technology, computer-aided drafting, energy and power, research and development, flight technology and robotics.

It typically takes 2.5 weeks to complete each module. The semester is 18 weeks.

Initially, they spend time learning about the lab, rules and procedures.

Warren said she tells her students such things as: “it is better to wear goggles for 5 minutes than to be blind for the rest of your life,” and “if you walked in with 10 fingers, than we want you to walk out with 10 fingers.”

She also gives them specific examples of incidents she has seen in the past and pointers on how to avoid accidents.

Besides completing modules, the students complete team-building exercises because working well with others is important in the workplace.

“I tell them your first boss isn’t going to ask you who you want to work with,” she said. Indeed, the boss “will tell who you need to work with and you need to figure out a way to get along.”

The class also covers such topics as scholarships vs. loans, various educational opportunities and ways to get student loans forgiven. It also covers the possibility of having an employer cover the cost for an employee to seek an advanced degree.

Students also complete a number of projects. For instance, at the moment, students are building a bridge that is 10 inches long, 2 inches wide and 1.5-inches wide. They are constructing the bridge using 60 toothpicks and glue.

A weight will be placed on the bridge to test its strength. The bridge that can support the most weight will be judged as having the best design.

The class also recently finished a software program called Building Homes of Our Own. It took the students through the process of building and selling a home.

They have to look for clues, solve the problems on the lot after they purchase it, apply for a permit, build a home sticking to the theme of the community, select and place landscaping, write an ad, and then sell the house for a profit from a qualified buyer.

Other activities include completing interest surveys and doing career research.

As they work their way through each module, they learn about the history of that particular topic and complete associated lessons in mathematics, science, technology and reading, Warren said. They also keep a journal.

On one recent day, 13-year-old Rebecca Pierce watched as Warren guided a block of wood beneath the blade of a whirring saw.

Then the eighth-grader gave it a shot.

She followed the pattern as if she’d been using power tools for years.

The girl was obviously in command and, she was enjoying herself.

“I like it because it’s stuff you don’t get to do in a normal classroom,” she said.

Besides working with a band saw, a drill press and a belt sander, the students get to do all sorts of things with computers and other tools.

They get to learn how to use AutoSketch to design a two-bedroom house with furniture; how to measure bore and stroke;  how fiber optics travel through water; and, how to create beams and trusses out of balsa wood and test them for their efficiency.

During one recent class, 13-year-old Josh Spence and 14-year-old Julian Leon were testing out a beam.

“We just got done testing a beam,” Leon said.

“To see how much force it takes to break the beam,” Spence explained.

At a different pair of desks, 14-year-old Tyler Courtney and 14-year-old Kyle Johnson were learning about electricity.

“It’s definitely interesting,” Johnson said. “It’s hard, though.”

Warren, who began her teaching career as a woodshop instructor a dozen years ago, said the class gives students an early look at lots of career possibilities.

Each module has at least eight associated career options, she said.

For instance, people interested in structural engineering might find careers as architects, chemical engineers, contractors, surveyors, civil engineers, or building inspectors.

The class is short on lectures and long on learning through doing.

And, that’s right up Warren’s alley.

“I love hands-on,” the technology teacher said.

By B.C. Manion

As surgery centers and medical practices make the conversion from paper records to electronic medical records (EMRs), a Wesley Chapel company offers a service that combines both technical and medical expertise.

The company, Anaseed, gets its name from the word “Ana” which means bringing together information and “seed,” representing the start of new growth, said James Johnson, chief information officer for the company.

Two couples with deep roots in Wesley Chapel led the company that began operating last fall.

James Johnson is married to Vonnie Johnson, the company president. She is a former surgical assistant and has front-office medical experience, too.

The other couple is Diane Levin and her husband, Dr. Stephen Levin.

Diane is a registered nurse with many years of experience in the emergency room, as well as experience in implementing electronic medical records at University Community Hospital on Fletcher Avenue. Her husband, who has a private practice, is Anaseed’s consulting physician.

Anaseed provides health information technology solutions — including hardware and software, but also brings its wealth of medical knowledge to the table, said James Johnson, who is certified in health information technology.

The company uses Dell hardware and a Microsoft EMR program called gloStream.

“We are the only EMR on the market that is Microsoft-based,” James Johnson said, and Anaseed is the Central and North Florida platinum vendor of the software.

Offices that know how to use Microsoft will have little trouble making the transition to the new system, James Johnson said.

The company also offers a service called Practice Project Management that involves observing the current routine at a surgery center or medical office — and helping that team convert to a new system that makes sense for their operation.

The system can be customized for any size office, Vonnie Johnson said.

“That’s the beauty of our business model and our flagship product. It has the capability to be customized in any size environment,” Diane Levin said.

“We talk their talk. We know where the offices are coming from and why they are not using the EMRs the way they should be used,” Diane Levin said. “They’re not using them at all, or they’re only using parts of them, or they’re not tapping into all that the EMR can offer.”

They also talk with the doctors to learn their sources of frustrations and offer solutions to address them, Vonnie Johnson said.

The system they sell can be used in a wide range of environments, Vonnie Johnson said.

“That’s the beauty of our business model and our flagship product. It has the capability to be customized in any size environment,” Diane Levin said.

Because of their technical and medical expertise, the company is able to get the systems up and running more quickly — minimizing disruptions to medical offices and enabling the company to compete favorably in term of price, James Johnson said.

Besides helping physicians’ offices to become more efficient, the electronic records also enable information about patients to be shared with other care providers.

That’s extremely important when an unconscious patient is brought into the emergency room, Diane Levin said. Medical personnel will be able to see what kind of prescriptions the patient is using, will know if the patient has any allergies and will know, for instance, if the patient has any kind of metal implant. Patients who have metal implants can’t have MRIs, she explained.

While information can be shared, it also is protected, James Johnson said. The systems comply with federal health privacy laws, he noted.

“Everyone is very concerned about making sure that their information doesn’t get shared with the wrong people. Every piece of what Anaseed does, going from hardware, to going with Internet connectivity with firewalls, our EMR is all HIPAA-compliant (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act),” he said.

The company presently has 10 employees, serving an area that’s within a four-hour radius of Wesley Chapel.

The founders think there is tremendous growth potential in their field, and ultimately they envision having numerous satellite locations operating on the same premise as their Wesley Chapel location.

Regardless of how large the company becomes, however, they plan to keep its headquarters in Wesley Chapel.

“This is our home. We’re very happy to bring this high-tech industry to the Wesley Chapel area,” James Johnson said.

By Kyle LoJacono

A Pasco County program started during the high inflation of the late 1970s has been suspended because of the most recent economic downturn.

The county commissioners voted Feb. 8 to stop any new projects in its residential street paving program. The suspension was deemed necessary because homeowners in the program are not paying for the paving as they once did.

That, combined with a tight county budget, forced the move.

“It’s affected our cash flow,” said Pasco finance director Mike Nurrenbrock. He went on to say payments from citizens have gotten slower and slower as the economy has gotten worse.

The program, called the Paving Assessment Program, began in 1977. It allows residents in neighborhoods along certain county-maintained streets to petition Pasco to repave them. The job is funded and the homeowners pay for the project slowly during the following five to 15 years at a low interest rate.

Since the program was approved, the county has finished 467 projects and another two jobs involving drainage improvements at a total cost of $64 million. In the last 10 years, Pasco has done $38.9 million in similar construction, $1.7 since 2010.

All projects currently being done and those awaiting approval are not affected by the move, but homeowners planning to file for the program will be out of luck until the economy turns around. Those projects being done or awaiting approval total $7.5 million.

County commissioner chairwoman Ann Hildebrand said she does not want the program to end, but felt it was in the short-term best interest of the county.

“There are a lot of people who would like to see their road be done,” Hildebrand said. “To say after next year we’re going to eliminate this program, I guess that disturbs me a lot.”

Fellow commissioner Jack Mariano said what upsets him is county residents are almost always pleased with the work done.

“I can’t think of a single project we’ve done where we haven’t had a happy citizenry after were done,” Mariano said.

Both commissioners and Nurrenbrock said the suspension is a temporary way to save money during the budget cycle. If the program goes away for good, the county would have to increase its own public works programs to fix potholes and other issues on the roadways.

“We understand homeowners are more willing to pay their water and heating bills right now than the one for their roads,” Hildebrand said. “We’re hoping things get better, people start paying the bill again and we can go back to the old program.”

By Kyle LoJacono

A late compromise by Pasco County Sheriff Bob White and county commissioners prevented a hearing with Gov. Rick Scott and his cabinet.

White was appealing the commission’s decision to not raise the budget for his department for the current fiscal year, part of a long-running feud between the two offices. The Pasco Sheriff’s Office received $85.5 million in funding, but White was asking for a $4 million increase to pay for 28 new deputies and offset the rising cost of pensions and retirement for those already on staff.

The commission rejected White’s counter offer of a $2 million increase to bring on 21 new officers because they are projecting as large as a $10 million shortfall next year.

“We won’t have the money to keep new officers on board,” said Pasco Commission Chairwoman Ann Hildebrand.

The commission voted 4-1 at an emergency meeting Feb. 12 to offer White an increase of $945,000 to pay for the rising cost. He called Hildebrand the following day to accept the proposal.

“He said his department was in the red and needed the money to level his costs,” Hildebrand said. “He still wanted to hire new officers, but said this was more important right now.”

The new deputies were slated to bolster law enforcement presence in west Pasco.

The meeting in Tallahassee was to take place on Monday, Feb. 14. Hildebrand said Scott’s office was pressuring the two sides to come to an agreement before the hearing.

“The commissioners decided this was the only way to work this out,” Hildebrand said. “No one really wanted to take it to the governor.”

By Tammy Sue Struble

What started as a functional meal for miners in England has become a tasty delight for those in the states. Pronounced “pass-tee,” this delicious meal in a pie-type shell originated in Cornwall, England.

In a tedious process that takes many steps, owner Allan Gower builds these delights at his shop, Ye Olde Miners Pasty Shop at 35201 SR 54 in Zephyrhills, in the Zephyr Village shopping area near Sergio’s restaurant. To some Northerners they are known as Michigan pies, although, they are nothing like a fruit pie or a potpie. Pasties are unique.

A pasty is a meal. It is more firm than a pot pie as it was intended to be eaten by hand like a sandwich.

Monday through Saturday, Gower peels and dices potatoes. Then he makes the pasty dough, which is a little like pie crust, but easier to handle. Gower portions out the dough into pasty size balls. Next he dices the onions and rutabaga then mixes all the vegetables with the ground meat. Gower rolls each pasty by hand, puts in the vegetable and meat mixture, folds the pasty dough over it and crimps the edge closed.

The pasties take about 45 minutes to cook in his convection oven at 350 degrees.

“Some, mostly Michiganers, like them with extra rutabaga,” Gower explained. So, they call ahead so Gower can have it ready for them.

How the pasty made its way to Zephyrhills is interesting. Gower described the origination of a pasty. They came from Cornwall, England where the miners used to take them down into the mines so they would have something nutritious to eat. The original pasties had an extra large crust or handle around the edge that the miners could grasp with their dirty hands. They had no way to wash their hands in the mines back then. They could eat the pasty without contaminating their lunch. When they were finished eating the pasty, they threw the dirty crust on the ground as good luck, by feeding the mine’s gremlins.

In the mornings, the miners would bring their pasty cold. At lunch, they would set the pasty on a clean shovel and place the shovel over the warm ventilation pipes to heat them up.

//From England to Michigan

Gower continued the story. Work for miners in England started getting scarce. When iron ore and copper was found in the upper peninsula of Michigan, thousands migrated from England to Michigan to work…bringing their pasty tradition with them.

Tom Freeland, founder of the Zephyrhills pasty shop, was originally from Gladstone, Michigan. Tom met Gower working at Outback Steakhouse in the Englewood area. Tom got the idea to open a pasty shop, so he semi-retired from Outback and opened a pasty shop in Englewood. Gower learned the pasty trade from Freeland. Tom helped Gower start his Zephyrhills pasty store, sold the Englewood location and moved to Colorado. Gower has been at this location for a little over three years.

Longtime customer Lonnie Smrkovski, from the Lansing, Michigan area, noticed Gower’s pasty shop when he came to Zephyrhills. He had to try them.

“I was very familiar with the pasties (before coming to Florida),” Smrkovski explained. “It’s really a different kind of meal. It’s a lot of work making them yourself. It’s a lot easier to get them from Gower’s shop!”

Regarding Gower’s Ye Olde Miners Pasty Shop, “They are great pasties. Everybody should try them. I eat mine with ketchup. Some eat theirs with gravy. They’re great either way!”

Just a little shop off SR 54 with four small restaurant tables and not a dozen metal folding chairs is a pasty shop open Monday-Friday 11 a.m. to 6p.m and Saturday from 11a.m. to 5 p.m. Gower sells them hot or frozen to take home and bake. A filling 14-ounce pasty is $4.99; a mini half-size seven-ounce is usually $2.99. Bite size/hors d’oeuvre (special order) two-ounce size is $6 a dozen.

Call ahead for special events and ask for a large order discount. Southern Charm park in Zephyrhills recently had a pasty night with a 200-pasty order.

For more information, contact Gower at his shop at (813) 715-7278.

By B.C. Manion

Learning Gate Community School will seek a charter to begin a high school and plans to construct a new building for seventh- through 12^th-graders.

The high school will have a new name and will be located within a couple of miles of the existing campus in Lutz, said Patti Girard, the school’s principal.

In the interim, the school has signed a deal to lease classroom space in an office building at 15316 N. Florida Ave. and expects to have classes there for students in grades 7-9 in the fall, Girard said.

Offering a high school program would be the latest expansion of a school that began as a private pre-school in 1983 and became a public charter school in 2000.

The school, with its 572 kindergarten through eighth-grade students, operates on 27 wooded acres at 16215 Hanna Road. Students from both Hillsborough and Pasco counties attend Learning Gate.

It’s a place where children do research in a log cabin, sit outside to write in their journals and tend to an organic vegetable garden where they grow some of the veggies served in the school’s lunchroom.

It’s also a place that seeks to teach children to be good stewards of the Earth.

The high school would continue on that theme.

It will take a couple of years for the land to be purchased and the school to be built, Girard said.

“We’re going to strive to get to net zero with that building,” she said, meaning that the power produced on campus will equal or exceed the amount needed for operations.

Being energy conscious is nothing new for Learning Gate. A modular building on its campus was the first in the country to achieve the Platinum designation in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Schools program.

Girard said the school is enthused by a partnership it has formed with Imperium, a cutting-edge company that specializes in alternative forms of energy and will help Learning Gate ensure the new school is designed to maximize energy efficiency.

Girard said a new charter will be needed for the high school and an application seeking that charter will be submitted to the Hillsborough County school district by Aug. 1. The ninth-grade program already has approval for next year.

Girard believes the district will look favorably on the application, given Learning Gate’s solid track record.

The new school will be much smaller than a typical public high school and care will be taken to limit its impacts, Girard said.

One example: “Kids will have to carpool to limit the amount of traffic in and out.”

In addition to ushering in a high school program and shifting some classes to a leased location, Learning Gate also plans to add a classroom to each of the grades on its Hanna Road campus, Girard said. The total enrollment there will remain under 600 because the seventh- and eighth-grade classes will be operating out of the leased space.

But adding the class at each grade level will allow the school to reduce its waiting list, Girard said.

By Kyle LoJacono

Betty Weymouth spends between $150 and $300 for her bi-monthly trip to fill her four prescription medications.

The Wesley Chapel resident suffers from high blood pressure, joint pain and breathing problems. It has become difficult for her to maintain her prescription drug regimen, but a new Pasco County program will make things a little easier.

Points of Care, which started Feb. 1, allows Pasco residents to save from 10 to 50 percent off their prescriptions, diabetes materials, hearing aids and other medical supplies. There are no qualifications for age, income or pre-existing conditions.

Scott Stromer, Pasco County’s purchasing director, said the program was created for those who do not have prescription drug coverage with their health insurance, or in Weymoth’s case, if there are medications not covered.

“The board of county commissioners actively sought a program at no expense to the county that reduces prescription costs for residents and generates revenue to support the Human Services Division,” Stromer said. “First and foremost, the program is designed to help residents save money, especially those who are unable to secure insurance or experiencing financial difficulties in the current economic environment.”

Universal Rx will administer the program.

“We are excited to help the residents of Pasco County save money on prescription medications,” said Jan Sessor, president of Universal Rx. “During difficult economic times, savings is important and can mean the difference of prescriptions being purchased or not each month. We are confident that our savings program will make a difference for the people in Pasco County, and more importantly, bring a little relief to the high cost of medications.”

Weymouth, 68, was very happy to hear about the new program.

“Oh that’s a Godsend,” Weymouth said. “Sometimes I wonder if I’ll have enough. My husband and I are both retired and this will really help.”

The county did have a plan to help with prescription costs as part of the National Association of Counties, but it was dropped to save money to place the current budget.

The new agreement will actually earn the county money, $1.52 per prescription filled. Stromer said the county expects to raise as much as $250,000 per year with the program. Money raised will go to Pasco’s human services department to help needy families pay their electricity and other bills.

Residents can visit www.PascoRxCard.com to print a card, which is free, that will let them participate. The cards can also be picked up at any county community services office or library.

Once they have a card, people just have to present it at one of the more than 45,000 participating pharmacies nationwide, including CVS, Kmart, Publix, Sam’s Club, Sweetbay, Target, Walgreens, Wal-Mart and Winn-Dixie.

For more information on the program, call (727) 847-2411.

By Kyle LoJacono

A year ago St. Joseph’s Hospital-North welcomed its first patient, Dustin Keithly.

Since then, the facility has seen more than 33,500 patients, welcomed 40 babies into the world and opened its own imaging center.

Paula McGuiness, the facility’s chief operating officer, said people come from around northern Hillsborough and southern Pasco County for more than just treatment.

“From our very first emergency room patient, to the folks who stop by our hospital each day just to dine at Twigs Café, the support of this community has made the opening a success,” McGuiness said. “We value each and every person who has visited our hospital or trusted us for their care.”

The 350,000-square-foot  hospital opened last February. It is located at 4211 Van Dyke Road in Lutz and was the first new full-service facility in Hillsborough County in 30 years. Hospital spokeswoman Jacqueline Farruggio said along with improved healthcare in the area, St. Joseph’s North also added 500 jobs to the local economy.

The facility was designed to be energy and water efficient and has just been awarded LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, which verifies the hospital’s efforts as a steward of the environment.

“Research shows environmentally sustainable buildings contribute to improved health, so having a green hospital helps St. Joseph’s achieve its vision of creating a healthy environment for the community it serves,” said Colleen Mackin, executive director of Florida Gulf Coast Chapter of the building council.

McGuiness said the model fits in with what BayCare Health System, the hospital’s parent company, is working to achieve in all its facilities.

“Buildings are one of the largest consumers of resources and energy in this country,” McGuiness said. “St. Joseph’s Hospitals and BayCare Health System believe in being leaders of environmental stewardship, innovation and corporate responsibility.”

Along with reducing its impact on the environment, the hospital was designed to put the patient’s comfort first. Known as evidence-based design, the rooms, hallways and waiting rooms are patterned to look like a hotel with artwork, soft colored paint and wood floors.

During the last year, the hospital has opened its obstetrics unit. The first baby, Michael Boria III, was born in September to Jill and Michael Boria II of Land O’ Lakes.

In December, the facility opened BayCare Outpatient Imaging Center right next to the hospital in front of Kohl’s on Van Dyke. Farruggio said the center offers high-field MRI, multi-slice CT scans, digital mammography, digital X-rays and bone density and other scans to make treatment faster.

The hospital offers emergency care, surgical services, imaging, intensive care, obstetrics, cardiac catheterization and other services. For more information, call (813) 443-2045 or visit us at StJosephsNorth.com.