The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Go for the whole-wheat pancakes at First Watch

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By Samantha Taylor

One of the things I love about writing these articles is I get to think of new ways of showing you that you can eat healthy and enjoy it too. If you are able to have a little fun while implementing your healthy eating plan, you’ll find it easier to stick with it, instead of being strict all the time.

My most recent visit was to First Watch on Bruce B. Downs, just south of SR 56. I went in there for a veg’d out omelet, but I was surprised to find out that they had whole-wheat pancakes, so I went for that instead.

The omelet is loaded with vegetables and you can order egg whites or egg substitute with no cholesterol although it does come with cheese in it. You can tell them to skip the cheese if you want to be totally health-conscious or let loose a little and ask them to use just a small amount of cheese.

It comes with a side of breakfast potatoes, which probably are too high in calories to combine with the eggs, so just ask for the English muffin with a little jelly. If you manage to eat only half of the omelet and the muffin, you’re doing a great job.

So anyway, for this visit, I got their whole-wheat pancakes at First Watch. All their pancakes are whole wheat, isn’t that great? Be sure you ask them beforehand to leave off the butter, since it comes with a large pat of butter on top.

You can spruce it up a bit by adding blueberries or a small serving of chocolate chips and whipped cream. Those really do not add that many calories and honestly, you may not even finish the whole thing just as what happened to me.

The whole-wheat pancake is a good go-between white flour and a true whole grain pancake because there is an obvious difference in texture and density between whole-wheat flour and whole grain flour.  They also offer sugar-free syrup to go with your pancakes, so you can have a little more liberty in adding some sweetness to your meal.

They have a wide array of breakfast items and for lunch, they have sandwiches, soups and salads. They have a healthier side portion on their breakfast menu, so it’s easier for you to go for the healthier options.

I was really impressed with the additional care they put into handling food allergies. If you tell your server the foods you are allergic to, they will make sure to tell you which foods do not have that allergen. For a large corporate chain restaurant that very unique service, along with the atmosphere, gives the place a family owned business feel.

Warriors claim first state championship in school history

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By Zack Peterson

Laker/Lutz News Correspondent

In only their second season, the Steinbrenner girls soccer team toppled the defending state champions to earn the school’s first state title. The Warriors defeated Merritt Island 2-1 Saturday, Feb. 12 to claim the Class 4A crown.

Marissa Marries’ header gave the Warriors the opening tally in the state final.

“It’s the last game, we had to give everything” said Marissa Marries, a senior who scored the game’s first goal. “It’s just nuts; it’s nuts that we won.”

After a momentous season, the Warriors (21-2-2) worked their way through regionals, and with a 1-0 victory against Naples Barron Collier, advanced into the state final four.

Driven with the goal at the beginning of the year to compete at the state level, the Warriors played “without pressure” as coach Teresa Patterson put it. With this philosophy in mind, the Warriors went on to defeat Harmony with an early goal, solid defense and ultimately, a 1-0 victory in the state semis Feb. 10 at the University of Tampa.

Then, matched against Merritt Island, the Warriors took the lead with another opening goal by Marries’ header in the 16th minute.

“I’m proud of the fact that we came out strong,” Patterson said. “We made a commitment to have strong energy for every game.”

But as the game ensued, the Warriors struggled to hold off the Mustangs fast-paced offense. With 13

Senior Lauren Laughlin assisted on the winning goal for Steinbrenner in the state championship game.

seconds remaining in the first half, Merritt Island’s Kirstie Schults cut across the field and scored on Steinbrenner goalkeeper Stephanie Hirsch to level the score.

Still, Patterson did not panic.

“I don’t get worried,” Patterson explained. “I know that sounds cliché, but as long as they do the small things they’re OK. I’ve seen in every situation, and they’ve always found a way to win.”

In the second half, the Mustangs continued to push, forcing the Warriors defense to pull together and counter the attacks with every ounce of strength they had.

As the situation heightened, the Warriors knew it was time to act.

“We knew if they scored it was over,” said Lauren Laughlin, a senior known for her defense and her exciting front-flip throw-ins. “We had to score a goal.”

However, neither the Mustangs nor the Warriors scored another goal, and the Warriors stood strong on defense, limiting the Mustangs to only five shots on goal.

At the end of regulation, the score stood frozen at 1-1, forcing overtime.

After running out with a new fire, the Warriors worked their way down field, and pushed their way to two corner kicks. Then with less than three minutes remaining in the first overtime, Laughlin perfected her front-flip throw-in, connecting with senior Carly Keene’s head for the winning goal.

“I was just trying to find Carly’s head,” Laughlin said. “I was so excited; we usually don’t score on my throws.”

The victory electrified Steinbrenner’s program, giving the Lutz school some hardware for the trophy case.

“This was destiny,” Patterson said. “They came out with fire and they made it happen. I’m honored to be part of this program with students so committed and faculty so supportive.”

For the three seniors on the team, the experience was magical.

“It feels amazing. It’s unexplainable,” Keene said. “It was everything we wanted and we achieved it. I can’t even put words to it.”

As Hirsch puts it, “It’s great to have our seniors go out scoring our best two goals of the season. We did what we’ve done all year, We held them in and packed them in tight. During that second half we had to stay positive, but it was a team effort, and I’m happy to have such great teammates.”

Steinbrenner girls soccer championship season in review

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By Kyle LoJacono

Cici Gonzalez joins 30/30 club

Steinbrenner junior Cici Gonzalez is a member of a very exclusive club. She is the only Hillsborough County girls soccer player with at least 30 goals and 30 assists this season.

Gonzalez put up a team-high 33 goals and 34 assists this year, but the numbers mean little to the team captain.

“I’m just trying to get our team to win,” Gonzalez said. “I could care less if I have the most goals in the country. I just want us to win, so if someone else has the ability to score, I give it to them, and if I have it, I shoot. It’s just instinct honestly. In my head it just happens and when it works out, I love it.”

Steinbrenner has only been open for two years, but every time Gonzalez scores or passes she breaks her own program record for goals and assists, which sit at 62 and 59 respectively.

“Of course it feels great to score, but if we’re getting it in the back of the net I could care less who does it,” Gonzalez said. “It’s a team effort and it’s always been that way.”

Hirsch’s life between the pipes

Being a goalkeeper is one of the more stressful positions on a soccer team because any one mistake can lead to the game-losing tally.

Steinbrenner’s starting keeper Stephanie Hirsch handled that pressure, allowing only five goals in more than 1,000 minutes. Hirsch said being technically sound in net is important, but her role does not end there.

“I also need to make sure my defense is doing exactly what they need to,” Hirsch said. “I’m so confident in my forwards, but when it comes down to me and it’s my ball, I live for that. When it’s me making the save, that’s what I love.”

Warriors coach Teresa Patterson said her team was fortunate to have two quality goalkeepers.

“Courtney Keene is also great,” Patterson said. “She got sick at the start of the season and Stephanie came in and played just as well.”

Patterson, a Largo High graduate, was a goalkeeper.

“She knows exactly what she’s talking about so I just listen to everything she says,” Hirsch said.

New kids on the block

In 2009, Steinbrenner won a district championship and the first regional tournament game in school history.

That was the first year for the Lutz school. In the second season the Warriors brought home a state championship with some help from new players working with the established squad.

Danielle Eule, Miranda Gonzalez, Megan Haraschak and Lindsay Steffes are freshman and goalkeeper Stephanie Hirsch, a sophomore, transferred in from Alonso High. Eule, Gonzalez and Hirsch all started in the state finals win.

“I knew if I wanted to be a starter I needed to work very hard,” Eule said. “When I learned I was good enough to start on a team as good as this, it gave me confidence.”

Eule had 11 goals and 12 assists this season. Gonzalez added two scores and four assists and Haraschak notched two tallies. Hirsch became the starting goalkeeper near the start of the season. She allowed only five goals in more than 1,000 minutes and made 65 saves.

Next year those freshmen will be seasoned veterans, but with the addition of state titles on their resumes.

“I can’t even wrap my mind around the fact that we’ve won the first state championship for Steinbrenner,” Hirsch said.

Coaching a pack of Warriors

Coaches of new programs usually are resigned to the fact that their team will take a few years to become competitive, but Steinbrenner High coach Teresa Patterson had other plans.

She started the program when the school opened in 2009. Less than two years later her Warriors are the reigning state champions.

“I knew they were coming from good club teams,” Patterson said. “I knew the talent-level was very high. I thought if I could manage them and get them to gel, set a culture of success and get them to pay attention to detail, we would be able to win a state title.

“That really was our goal to win within the first two years,” Patterson continued. “It has to be your goal and we have such a talented group of student-athletes.”

Patterson graduated from Largo High and played at Mercer University. She was an assistant on the first team at the University for Alabama at Birmingham and was the first girls soccer coach at Marshall University. She then moved to the high school level, leading the Gaither High program in 2008 before coming over to Steinbrenner.

“It’s been my profession to be a coach after college,” Patterson said. “I like the fact that I can help student-athletes meet and exceed their goals and to collectively work together to accomplish such things.

“I just feel that on the athletic side I can do that over the course of their academic career, where as a teacher you get the opportunity to do it for a semester or a year,” Patterson continued. “It makes it incredibly rewarding to see the personal growth and the collective growth of a group.”

Injury and title to fuel Opila

One week before the Steinbrenner girls soccer team started practice, Marley Opila’s season ended.

The sophomore turned sharply with the ball, felt a sharp pain and a pop in her left knee and fell to the ground. Opila tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). She was one of the top offensive players for the Warriors last season, scoring 16 goals and recorded 17 assists.

She was one of three Warriors who suffered torn ACLs this season, including junior Lexy Bubley and freshman Rebecca Tabor. The three formed a kind of club to support each other.

“We all do everything together,” Opila said. “We all talk to each other about what we’re going through. We help each other out.”

Opila said the physical training has been hard, but the mental side of dealing with the injury has been worse.

“Thinking why did it happen and how do I make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Opila said.

Patterson said Bubley has been a big reason for the program’s success. She added that Tabor is a talented young player who should add a lot to the team in the coming years.

“I’m very excited about our prospects moving forward,” Patterson said. “We get Marley Opila back from a knee injury. She’s a great central player who will fill in for Marissa Maries (a senior).We’ll get Lexy Bubley and Rebecca Tabor, plus we have a good group of freshman coming in. I think we can be competitive again.”

Opila is hoping for just that because while she has a state championship, she is hoping to be on the field next year when the final whistle blows.

“It gives me so much drive to help get them back and feel like a state champion,” Opila said. “I want to actually help the team win the title. I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can for next season. I’m learning from everyone else to help the team get better and win another state championship next year.”

-All stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches.

Sunlake upsets Pasco in regional semifinals

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Seahawks come up just short of the final four

By Kyle LoJacono

Pasco High is an established boys soccer power in Pasco County, but upstart Sunlake High marched into Dade City and upset the Pirates 2-1 in the Class 4A regional semifinals Feb. 8.

Pasco (21-3) was coming off a game where they shutout high-scoring Land O’ Lakes High, but could not hold down the Seahawks (20-9-1).

“It’s our biggest win in our school’s history in soccer and now we’re in the final eight,” said Sunlake coach Sam Koleduk. “So, it is very exciting for our team. And, coming and beating a team that’s just beat Land O’ Lakes now is extremely exciting.”

In the fourth minute, Colin Armstrong headed in a pass from sophomore Conner Gilboy past Pirates sophomore goalkeeper Angel Garcia.

Pasco answered in the 36th minute when senior Jose Flores set up sophomore Carlos Riojas for a one-time shot past Sunlake senior goalkeeper David Danahy.

The Seahawks took the lead for good when senior Jordan Landry scored his 51st goal of the season and the 117th of his high school career. The winning tally came off a free kick by junior Calvin Restrepo in the 53rd minute.

“They definitely caught us asleep on the second goal, that was a sure thing,” said Pasco coach Barry Grayling. “The first goal, we just weren’t marking up. We paid the price.”

Sunlake then moved into a defensive alignment to preserve the one-goal lead. Koleduk said he was nervous that the Pirates would be able to breakthrough, but they could not get past the Seahawks defense.

Sunlake then played at Celebration High in the regional finals, but the Seahawks came up one game shy of the final four losing 1-0 in penalty kicks. Sunlake was the only remaining Pasco County school in the boys soccer postseason.

The final was scoreless through regulation and the two overtimes. It went to penalty kicks, where Celebration ended up on top 4-3 to win 1-0. Ryan Norberg, Gilboy and Landry converted their kicks, but it was not enough for Sunlake.

Sunlake was playing in the program’s first ever regional tournament after finishing as the district runner-up to Land O’ Lakes. The squad also won 20 games for the first time in its four-year history.

-Staff Writer Tammy Sue Struble contributed to this story. All stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches.

Land O’ Lakes downs Mitchell by 37

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Shanel Sweet had 15 points in the Gators regional quarterfinals win. She is seen with first-year coach Laurie Fitzpatrick.

By Kyle LoJacono

After winning their last two games by a combined 11 points, the Land O’ Lakes High girls basketball team defeated Mitchell High 54-17 Feb. 10 in the Class 4A regional quarterfinals.

The 37-point victory illustrates how far the Gators (23-2) have come from the team that went 4-12 last year.

Since then, Laurie Fitzpatrick became the coach, and starters Shanel Sweet and Simone Brown transferred in from Gaither and Wesley Chapel high schools respectively. The squad won a district championship the week before and then regional quarterfinals at home.

“It’s overwhelming,” Sweet said. “I’ve never gotten this far, so to get this far with this team in my first year being here, it’s overwhelming. I can’t be any prouder of my team.”

Land O’ Lakes had to adjust to each other and work through several injuries to starters to begin the season.

“It was hard at first to build chemistry, but once we got going we came together as one and now we play so well with each other,” said Nicole Woodard, who has been on the Gators squad for four years.

In the quarterfinals, the Gators held the Mustangs (15-13) to just five first-half points and forced a running clock in the fourth after gaining a 35-point margin.

“I didn’t expect that,” Fitzpatrick said of having a running clock in the fourth. “I thought it would be a lot closer.”

Fitzpatrick said her team was not pushed much during the regular season, winning by an average of 22.8 points per contest.

“It’s taken us up to now just to be conditioned because we haven’t played a lot of really good teams until districts,” Fitzpatrick said. “We were a little shocked at districts and we tend to play to the other team’s ability, so tonight I told them to come out and play hard.”

On offense, the Gators had three score in double digits, including Sweet’s team-high 15. Brown put up 14 and senior Julia Della Penna added 10.

“From the start of the game we knew we had to come out fighting hard,” said Sweet, a point guard. “We did. We clicked as a team. Our offense was on point tonight.”

The Gators defense forced 30 turnovers and allowed Mitchell to score on only 13 percent of its possessions. Woodard pulled down a team-high 13 rebounds while adding seven steals and six blocks.

“I was so nervous before this game and I’m going to be so nervous next week,” Woodard said. “I want to go as far as I can my senior year and go out on top.”

It was not all smiles in the game for Land O’ Lakes. Sweet re-injured a sprained thumb shooting just after the start of the second quarter. She went to the locker room to get it taped, but came back to score 10 of her 15 points after the injury.

The Gators will now host Gulf High at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 15. The two teams did not play this season, but Fitzpatrick said she knew they would have to go through the Buccaneers at some point.

“We’ve been waiting to play Gulf,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m looking forward to Gulf because I want to beat them so bad.”

Wildcats advance to semis

The Academy at the Lakes girls basketball team’s remarkable turnaround season continues after the squad defeated Sarasota Christian 40-34 in the 1A regional quarterfinals Feb. 10.

The Wildcats (15-4) went 0-15 last year, but Karim Nohra was hired as their coach, and his press defense has them two games from the state tournament. Andrea Mauger had a team-high 15 points, while eighth-grader Marjorie Rivera added eight.

The academy will next at Naples First Baptist Academy at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 15.

Bulls bring home first district title

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By Kyle LoJacono

Last year, the Wiregrass Ranch boys basketball team suffered a season ending loss 57-52 to Nature Coach in the district semifinals.

Michael Chase

The Bulls (21-7) avenged that disappointment in the Class 4A-District 8 finals Feb. 12 by defeating the Sharks 59-52 to win the first district crown in program history.

“It’s really a great feeling to be able to come back and beat them my senior year,” said Wiregrass Ranch guard James Tringali. “We started out four years ago with only a couple wins and have gotten better each year.”

Four years ago the Bulls went 7-19, followed by a 9-17 campaign in the 2008-09 season and a 21-6 record last year.

The Bulls had to fight back from a 26-21 halftime deficit to claim the district crown. Nature Coast was leading 52-51 in the last two minutes when Wiregrass Ranch went on an 8-0 run to end the game. It is the first time the Bulls have defeated Nature Coast in program history.

Senior Michael Chase led the way for Wiregrass Ranch, pouring in 20 points, while pulling down a team-high nine rebounds and adding two blocks.

Senior Antwan Prince put up 17 points in the finals. Tringali had a team leading six assists while also posting 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals.

The Bulls will play in the first regional tournament game in program history on Thursday, Feb. 17 against Wesley Chapel High, which finished as the runner-up in the 4A-7 district tournament.

“That will be a fun game,” Tringali said. “They’re in another district, but they’re the closest school to us. We played them earlier this year and it’s always intense. It’ll be like a battle for Wesley Chapel.”

-All stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches.

World leaders could learn a thing or two from this cultural exchange

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By B.C. Manion

The children in Danielle Bockus’ second-grade class at Double Branch Elementary arrived at school 45 minutes early one recent day to accommodate a live video chat with a classroom they’ve befriended in England.

The children in Jacqui Johnson’s class at Eureka Primary during the live video chat.

By coming in before the opening bell, the Wesley Chapel kids could link up electronically with the children in teacher Jacqui Johnson’s class at Eureka Primary in Derbyshire before those youngsters had to go home at the end of the school day.

Finding out about the five-hour time difference between the two schools is just one example of what the youngsters are learning as they connect in a program that uses technology to give a new twist to cultural exchanges.

In previous generations, when kids were learning about their counterparts in different parts of the world they would send bulky envelopes stuffed with letters, photographs and news articles.

In this program, the children from both schools are learning about each other through blogs, digital photos, videos and live chats.

They each will be working on videos that highlight a day in the life at their schools. They’re also using Google Earth to get to know a bit about each other’s geography.

Each of the children also will help to write an adventure story about this shared high-tech connection.

The kids already have written blog posts to compare their school lunches, chat about their school days and recount what they like about their schools.

In one blog post, Abbie L. Batchelor, at the Eureka Primary writes “at the start of the day (9 a.m.) we come to school and we have our register whilst we are writing some lovely letters.

“After that we like to perform our learning (I like art the best).

After their luscious lunch, she continues, “We play on our wicked playground” before finishing the day with 2 ¼ hours of learning.

Madison MacDiarmid, at Double Branch, notes in her blog post that the school has a big and a little playground.

“I love doing the monkey bars,” she writes. Her favorite part of the playground is where her friends can

Danielle Bockus’ second-grade class at Double Branch Elementary in Wesley Chapel.

spin her.

“Oh! I forgot something, I love playing in the spider web. You can climb in it.

“This is the best school,” the second-grader concludes.

During the live chat, both groups of children were shown on a white screen at the front of Bockus’ classroom.

Her students were wearing clothes in all sorts of styles. The English youngsters were all wearing red sweaters.

The kids were curious about each other.

“Are hot dogs a popular food?” asked Double Branch second-grader Scott Atkins.

“Yes!” the English class shouted in response.

How do you stay active? a student at Eureka asked.

The kids in Bockus’ class said they play baseball, softball, soccer and football, or to ride on a skateboard.

Johnson said her class wanted to know if any children in Bockus’ class had visited the Harry Potter attraction at the Universal Orlando resort, and she noted: “We’re very jealous.”

“The Harry Potter Village looks just like the movies,” Bockus said.

There were some technical glitches during the chat. The sound wasn’t loud enough sometimes and it cut out entirely at others. The images were often blurry, too.

But none of that seemed to matter to the kids or their teachers.

A number of guests dropped by Johnson’s class to check out the chat. “The whole school is so excited,” the teacher said.

At one point, they talked about their schools.

A Eureka Primary student told the kids at Double Branch about Eureka’s Golden Assembly that happens every Friday. One golden child is chosen from each classroom for achieving an accomplishment. That child gets to wear a special red cap.

Eureka Primary also has a vegetable garden and some badgers, Johnson reported.

Bockus shared some news about her school’s campus: “About once a year, we’ll get our alligator that will come and try to take a nap on our lawn. We have lots of snakes.”

The project seeks to help youngsters develop a global awareness and to gain a deeper appreciation for cultural differences, Bockus said.

It also is helping her students become better writers and communicators, Bockus said.

Another bonus: they’re improving their typing and computer skills, she said.

The collaboration is being achieved through Epals.com.

Bockus registered with the website in August, seeking a partner classroom for a project called “The Way We Are.”

Bockus said she learned about the electronic learning platform from Scott Atkins, assistant principal at Double Branch, who suggested she give it a try.

He’s pleased that she did.

Getting acquainted with other cultures is key, said Atkins, whose son is in Bockus’ class.

“These kids are going to be competing globally,” he said.

Gaither baseball field ranked best in the nation

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By Kyle LoJacono

When fans of the Gaither High baseball team pack their home stadium this season, they will be watching the Cowboys play on the No. 1 high school field in America.

Alex Milne works on the surface of the No. 1 field in America at Gaither during a recent practice. (Photos by Kyle LoJacono)

Gaither’s field earned the Turface Field Maintenance Award as the No. 1 playing surface by the American Baseball Coaches Association. Cowboys’ 26-year coach Frank Permuy received the award in January, an honor he and the team relish.

“We pride ourselves on our playing surface,” said Permuy, the only baseball coach in Gaither’s history. “I got the call and they said to me I should come to the award ceremony because we won. It was a surprise because we know our field is good, but this means we’re the best. The kids really take pride in the field.”

Current Gaither principal Marie Whelan is a Cowboys graduate and remembers watching games on the newly awarded top field.

“I remember watching those games all the time and it was always great to sit in the bleachers,” Whelan said. “It’s a real honor to be named the best field in America. It shows the work they put into it. Coach P makes sure they know how important it is to work on the field before and after every game and practice.”

Permuy said the coaching staff puts an emphasis on keeping the field up to the best standards.

“It’s like a part of our practice to keep the field looking good,” said junior starting pitcher Alex Milne.

The award did not come as a shock to senior right fielder and pitcher Zach Jackson.

“I wasn’t surprised at all,” Jackson said. “I look around and see everything we’ve done to make this field the best. We take a lot of pride in having a great place to play baseball.”

Sophomore shortstop Oscar Mercado was born in Columbia and is happy to be playing on the well-kept field in northern Hillsborough County.

“I come from a country where we have bad turf,” said Mercado, who moved to this country at age 8. “This is great. There aren’t any bad hops.”

The award comes with one ton of playing Turface, the material that helps dry the infield, and $400 to help with maintenance costs.

The field was also recently honored as the third best overall high school stadium by the Baseball Coaches Association.

“And we think we can get better,” Permuy said. “We’ll be doing some work on the field in the next few years. We’ll be replacing the wood poles with metal or concrete ones in 2012 and we’re doing some other things to make it better.”

Permuy said drainage in right field has been a problem for years and they are looking into ways to make that better.

Gaither’s baseball field has always been in the same place, right by the northwest side of the football stadium. It is 360 feet to center field and 340 and 330 to the left and right field lines respectively.

On the eight-foot high outfield wall are the program’s retired numbers. Chad Zerbe and Kevin Cash each wore No. 12. Zerbe was a relief pitcher in MLB, while Cash is still a catcher in the professional ranks. The two 12s flank Permuy’s own No. 7, which was retired in 2009.

“I love everything about coaching here,” Permuy said. “We’ve got a great field, the best field, and we’ll keep it the best for our fans to come watch us each year.”

Gaither’s first home game is part of the Saladino Pre-Season Tournament on Tuesday, Feb. 8 against Wharton at 4 p.m. The first home district contest is against Hillsborough High on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m.

Jump Rope For Heart teaches healthy lifestyles

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Denham Oaks students also help American Heart Association

By Kyle LoJacono

For the second straight year, Denham Oaks Elementary students took up jump ropes to learn healthy life habits and raise money for the American Heart Association.

Robert Kranendonk jumping rope on one foot.

“We want to teach the kids how to live a healthy lifestyle,” said Denham Oaks physical education teacher Mary Jane Kranendonk. “During P.E. they did several jump rope related activities to get them moving and their hearts pumping.”

The event ran from Jan. 24-Feb. 4 during regular P.E. periods for all 816 students at Denham Oaks. It included such activities as standard jump rope, jumping rope on one foot, jumping a hula hoop like a jump rope and team jump rope.

The students also filled out a heart-shaped piece of paper with the name of the person they were honoring by doing the exercises.

In addition, the kids went out and collected donations for the American Heart Association. Kranendonk, along with Debbie Smith and Diane Forrester, showed proper technique for the various events, but also explained the good they were doing with the money.

“Last year we collected $7,500, but that was with our health fair that we didn’t do this year,” Forrester said. “We told them they were helping people with heart problems and making their own hearts stronger.”

Kranendonk said the event raised $4,000 this year.

First grader K.J. Campbell said making the donations is something he likes doing.

“We need to jump rope to get money for people with heart problems,” Campbell said. “… I like the jump roping too.”

Fellow Dragons first-grader Kayla Bonilla likes a different jumping activity the best.

“Hopscotch,” Bonilla said. “I really like hopscotch.”

Along with the heart-healthy activities, the kids had added incentive to bring in donations. Anyone who raised at least $40 got to be a part of a sliming party. Denham Oaks administration and Kranendonk had slime dumped on them by those in the $40 club. Last year, kids got to duct tape them to a wall.

“I want to dump slime on them too,” said Tyler Rankin earlier in the week. “That’ll be fun.”

For more information on the event, visit www.heart.org.

Numbers in Hillsborough after-school programs plummet

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Higher fees likely cause for shrinking membership

By Kyle LoJacono

Increased fees kept after-school programs in Hillsborough County alive the last two years, but that price increase might end the day care option.

Nye Park in Lutz has survived the stark drop off in numbers since the increased fees for Hillsborough after-school programs. (Photo by Kyle LoJacono)

Two years ago, about 6,000 children went to after-school programs at county parks, but today that number has been cut by two-thirds and now sits at around 2,000. During the same time span, the number of students in a similar program from the Hillsborough School District has seen its membership jump from 4,000 to 10,000 children.

“If our partners, like the school system and the YMCA, are able to supply equal or better services to the county, we need to take a look at that and possibly change the structure of the program,” said county commissioner Kevin Beckner.

The suggestion by Beckner is the parks department could do away with the after-school program, shifting the children to either the YMCA or school’s equivalent.

“I think we’d need to bring on a few new people, but we should be able to handle the increase if needed,” said Hillsborough School spokeswoman Linda Cobbe. “Hopefully the kids would be somewhat spread out because if they’re all from the same area, it would be difficult.”

The cost for a week in a Hillsborough after-school program is $48 per week, but that number can be reduced to $10 for needy families. Two years ago the fee was $20 for a week. Mark Thornton, parks department director, said the cost for a week at either the YMCA or the Hillsborough School District’s after-school program is also $48.

“It’s not like our price is out of line,” Thornton said.

Hillsborough Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department spokesman John Brill said while the numbers have dropped significantly, other areas have remained consistent.

“The numbers seem to be much lower in the urban areas like in Tampa, but they’ve remained closer to normal in the suburbs,” Brill said.

Brill did not know why the numbers have remained somewhat flat in the suburbs, such as at Nye Park in Lutz. Carol Legan, Nye Park’s director and recreation specialist, said the numbers for the summer program dropped from 125 in 2009 to 118 in 2010. The difference in the after-school program has been similar.

“We were in survival mode last year with the budget crisis,” Brill said. “The department was just trying to stay afloat. At all our budget meetings, the people who attended said they favored fees over closing parks and reducing services. The higher fee is letting us offer the same good after-school programs to county residents.”

The current after-school program costs about $7 million per year. County administrator Mike Merrill recently stated that is too expensive to keep going under the current budget conditions. Merrill said recent projections for property value suggest Hillsborough will be facing a $65 million shortfall for the next fiscal year.

This stark budget reality comes when numbers in the county school’s after-school programs is booming.

County commissioners will continue to discuss budget possibilities leading up to the new fiscal year, which starts in the fall. For more information on Hillsborough parks, visit www.hillsboroughcounty.org/parks.