Special to The Laker/Lutz News

By Ashley Dunn

News Editor

LAND O’ LAKES — Sunlake High 12th-graders Karey Gumina, Taylor Rowand, Rhianna Davis and Chelsea Devlin crowded around a lap top in Rhonda Leslie’s American Sign Language class.

On the screen, they could see two students from the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, and those two students could see them.

“What’s your favorite movie?” said Rhianna, as she used her hands to sign the question.

The two boys on the screen signed back.

“Pineapple Express,” Chelsea said aloud as the girls laughed.

“Good movie,” Rhianna said as she signed.

For the past five weeks, students in Leslie’s class have been using Skype to communicate with deaf students at the school in St. Augustine.

“The goal is two-fold,” Leslie said. “It’s for them to develop their language through immersion and socially interact. Most of these kids may never meet a deaf person, it’s just a way for them to connect.”

Leslie got the idea for the project over the summer. It’s still in the beginning stages, so students are working through some of the technical difficulties. The yearlong project will be highlighted by a class field trip to visit students at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind.

Skype is being used more often in Pasco schools, according to Wendy Spriggs, director of the district’s Instructional Media and Technology department. It’s one of many technologies to help prepare students for the future.

“Ten years ago, students were barely using the Internet for research,” Spriggs said. “…Now, students use technology for communication and collaboration.”

New technology

Gone are the days of filmstrips. Overhead projectors are becoming fewer and farther between. Remember movie days when the lights would be turned off and your class would spend the entire period sleeping instead of watching the educational film at the front of the room?

“They don’t get that luxury so much anymore,” Spriggs joked.

Instead, teachers are encouraged to include short video clips in their lessons. If they’re teaching their students about the H1N1 vaccine, they can import a 3-minute clip into a PowerPoint presentation, for example, and get right to the point of the lesson.

Some schools use iPods and iPod Touches to watch videos or read e-books. Multiple books can be loaded onto an iPod Touch and pages can be turned with a finger. The technology give students access to reading material right at their fingertips, while saving the district money because it doesn’t have to order volumes of books.

In the classroom, teachers are using student responders, devices that allow each student to answer multiple-choice questions as they are learning a lesson. Teachers are instantly able to gauge how students understand the information. It’s more effective than calling on random students every so often, Spriggs said.

Classrooms are also being equipped with digital projectors with cameras, which can project images of anything one puts in front of the camera. Chalkboards are being replaced with electronic whiteboards.

Students have interactive slates, too. When teachers call on a student, they can pull up that student’s slate and project it on the whiteboard while he or she gives the answer.

At Double Branch Elementary, students recently received a dance mat that uses an interactive whiteboard and computer projector. Students can solve math problems by projecting them onto the whiteboard and dancing on the mat.

“In the last five years, things have exploded,” Spriggs said. “Moodle is exploding more than any technology.”

Moodle

Moodle is a free and secure learning management system that teachers and students can use to interact with others. It stands for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment.

Moodle gives students the opportunity to communicate globally by uploading files, podcasts, songs and other media. It’s mainly used for discussion, Spriggs said.

“When you’re discussing something, it really deepens the knowledge,” she explained. “Being able to do it with technology… it’s a more engaging way for students to discuss what they’ve learned. We really see technology as enhancing teaching and learning and really taking learning to a deeper level.”

Elementary schoolers have used Moodle to create instructions for kindergarteners on how to draw a snowman, and Wiregrass Ranch High uses Moodle to announce the morning news in podcasts.

“They (Wiregrass Ranch) have really jumped on using Moodle in a variety of ways,” Spriggs said.

Every school has access to Moodle, but some schools and teachers are much more involved in it than others. Some schools don’t use it at all.

“I would say 25 percent of our schools are using Moodle in one form or another,” Spriggs said, “and it’s growing quite rapidly.”

Skype

The Pasco school district has used Skype for about three years. Pasco Middle was one of the first schools to use it to communicate with China as part of the district’s Global Partnership Project, which connects Pasco schools with schools all over the world. Now, there are schools in the district that communicate with classes in both China and Sweden.

Teachers, principals and even Schools Superintendent Heather Fiorentino also use Skype to communicate.

Ultimately, though, the emerging technology in schools is meant to get students ready for life after they leave the Pasco school district.

“It’s a new world in schools today, and it’s a new world in business and colleges today, and it’s our job to prepare them,” Spriggs said.

Back in Leslie’s classroom, the girls continued signing to the two male students in St. Augustine. One of the boys held up a prom picture of his girlfriend, and the girls asked how long he had been dating her. They gasped when they heard the answer: five years.

“Wow,” Rhianna said as she signed, holding up three fingers on either side of her face.

Karey Gumina said she uses Skype at home and is excited to use it in school.

“I think it’s fun,” she said, “and something new and different.”

Glossary of terms

Skype — a software application that allows users to make free phone calls, send instant messages, transfer files and videoconference over the Internet

PowerPoint — a computer program that allows a user to create a multimedia presentation

iPods and iPod Touches — personal and portable media players

e-book — a digital book that is the equivalent of a printed book

student responders — devices that allow each student to answer multiple-choice questions as they are learning a lesson

electronic whiteboard — an interactive display that connects to a computer and projector, which casts an image from the computer to the board

interactive slate — a smaller, personal version of an electronic whiteboard about the size of a sheet of paper

Moodle — (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) a free learning management system that teachers and students can use to interact with others

podcasts — a series of digital media files that are released by episode and can be downloaded

Employees excited to relocate

By Ashley Dunn

News Editor

LUTZ — Gloria Serrano double checked prices on Christmas labels. Cathy Nichols stocked shelves in the pet department. Pat Miro iced a cake in the bakery.

Around the new Wal-Mart last week, employees were getting ready for the store’s grand opening on Nov. 4. It will open at 8 a.m. after a ribbon cutting ceremony at 7:30 a.m. It’s located at 1575 Land O’ Lakes Blvd. in Pasco Lutz and is replacing the store at the Village Lakes Shopping Center on SR 54 in Land O’ Lakes, which closes at 8 p.m. on Nov. 3.

“We can’t wait,” said Store Manager Brandie Guderjahn on Oct. 28 about the move.

In recent months, Wal-Mart has taken steps to refresh its stores, merchandising and customer experience, Guderjahn explained. The new 210,966-square-foot store features wide aisles, enhanced service and a layout designed to make the shopping experience more convenient for customers. Wal-Mart aligned the departments that customers shop most frequently.

The pharmacy, for example, is adjacent to the grocery section so that it’s easier for customers to pick up their prescriptions while shopping for their groceries.

The site-to-store pick-up counter and the photo lab are located at the entrance so customers spend less time weaving through the store to get to them.

“You want to print some pictures, you just run in, print them, and run back out,” Guderjahn said.

Lower shelving creates an improved sightline, she said, and directional signage on every aisle helps customers find what they are looking for quickly.

The new store will also have a Subway, an optical center, a hair salon and a Redbox, a DVD vending machine.

“I think the sustainability piece of the building is the best,” Guderjahn said.

The new Lutz Wal-Mart includes features to reduce energy and water consumption and minimize waste. Skylights let in sunlight and reduce the amount of energy required to light the store by up to 75 percent daily. After the sun goes down, LED lighting in the store operates 70 percent more efficiently than traditional fluorescent lighting. Lights in freezers are on motion sensors and only come on if a customer walks by.

The cement used in the concrete flooring is made with recycled materials, and the floor’s finish reduces the need for chemical cleaners. Baseboards are made from recycled plastics.

Low-flow toilets and faucets reduce the water used in the bathrooms. The extra heating from refrigerators and freezers heats the water in the bathrooms.

The new store is tailored to the needs of the community based on sales at the other store, Guderjahn said. The garden center features a drive through so that customers can bring their vehicles right up to the stone that they are buying, for example, and have an associate load the items.

“It’s kind of unique to our community,” Guderjahn said.

The firearm section of the store has a new automated system so that customers no longer have to fill out forms by hand — it’s all done on the computer.

“It takes, like, half the time,” Guderjahn said.

Guderjahn has been with the Land O’ Lakes Wal-Mart for five years, but this isn’t the first time she’s opened a new store. She helped relocate the Zephyrhills store about six years ago. Lately, she said she has been traveling between the Land O’ Lakes and Lutz stores four to five times a day to make sure there aren’t any snags at either location.

“Everything’s going really smooth as expected,” she said.

The new store has about 380 associates, including 240 new positions that were created as a result of the relocation. More than 60 of the store’s associates have worked for Wal-Mart for more than 10 years, including five associates who have worked at the store since its original opening in 1987. Some of the employees at the new store have come from other nearby locations. Gloria Serrano, for example, came from the store on Little Road in New Port Richey.

“I love it here,” Serrano said of the new Lutz location. “This is gorgeous.”

If you go

What: Wal-Mart ribbon cutting ceremony

When: Nov. 4 at 7:30 a.m.

Where: 1575 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., Lutz

Notes: Pastor Mark Quattrochi of Grace Family Church will begin the ceremony with an invocation. The Sunlake High School Band will perform the national anthem with local veterans presenting the colors. Members of the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce will cut the ribbon to officially open the new store. The Lutz Wal-Mart will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

More information: (813) 949-4238

Grants will be presented

As part of Wal-Mart’s commitment to the communities in which it operates, $33,000 in grants from the Wal-Mart Foundation will be presented during the grand-opening celebration. The following organizations will each receive grants to support programs that serve the community:

— Pasco County Fire Department

— Habitat For Humanity

— All Children’s Hospital

— Suncoast Harvest Food Bank

— Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

— American Cancer Society

— Hospice Foundation

— Pasco Education Foundation

— Sunlake High School

— Rushe Middle School

— Sanders Memorial Elementary

— Denham Oaks Elementary

— Quail Hollow Elementary

— Lake Myrtle Elementary

The Rev. Morson Livingston asks for community help

By Kyle LoJacono

Staff Writer

LAND O’ LAKES — The recent economic situation has made it a struggle for many people to stay in their homes, and military veterans are no exception.

“Veterans sometimes have a tough time adjusting to life after serving, and unfortunately, many end up homeless,” said the Rev. Morson Livingston, of St. Jude’s Church in Land O’ Lakes. “The current economic problems have caused even more of our brave men and women to the streets, and it just hurts me deeply when I see them struggling.”

Livingston, 50, is a retired Army Captain who served as a Chaplain in such places as the Bahamas, Hungary, Bosnia and Kosovo. He retired from the army in 2001 and moved to Land O’ Lakes in 2007.

“To help homeless veterans we decided to have a special day on Veterans Day (Nov. 11) to help them as much as we can,” Livingston said. “We’ll have a barbecue and clean water, portable showers, care packages, a barber, some clean clothes and fun activities like a fun station and a clown for the veteran’s kids. We’ll also have a flag ceremony to honor them and all U.S. veterans.”

Livingston is the founder of the St. Jude’s Homeless Veterans Resource Center, which is sponsoring the flag ceremony. The event will be at the Rotary Concourse Pavilion in Land O’ Lakes, located at 15323 SR 52 near Safety Town.

The center had a similar event on July 4 in Odessa, where about 200 homeless veterans and their families from across Pasco County, including Land O’ Lakes, Lutz, Dade City, Zephyrhills and Wesley Chapel, attended. The center’s target is for 1,000 veterans and families to come to the Veterans Day event.

The center works by the slogan “veterans working for veterans” because many that work with the center are veterans, including center treasurer and program director John Carland.

“Unfortunately, many of these homeless veterans have just lost guidance in their lives after leaving the service,” Carland said. “In the service, we had a hard and strict schedule that everyone had to follow. Once a lot of veterans leave, they don’t have that anymore, and many don’t adjust well. So, we understand that and try to help them find that guidance as a friend.”

Carland is a retired Coast Guard Captain who served for 33 years before retiring in 1992. He lives in Holiday.

At the event, the center will help the veterans with their physical needs but will also put them in touch with organizations that can help them turn their lives around, which include: alcohol and substance abuse service centers; homeless shelters; the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System; and the VA James A. Haley Center in New Tampa.

“Outreach programs like the one St. Jude’s is doing helps connect homeless veterans with our center,” said Wendy Hellickson, supervisor for the Healthcare for Homeless veterans program at the VA. “At the center, we can offer a number of life and metal health councilors to assess how to help them best. It can take as many as two years to begin to help them depending on how willing someone is to trust us.”

For more information on the hospital, call their main office at (813) 972-2000.

The flag ceremony and barbecue will begin at 11 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. The center is looking for anyone willing to help during the event. Those interested should call Livingston at (813) 951-2288 or e-mail him at .

“We know times are tough for everyone, but when we look around, it is worse for these fellow human beings,” Livingston said.

Livingston is also asking for anyone who has an unused building that his church can use as a meeting place on Sundays and to store donated items for the veterans to call or e-mail. He said it is difficult for him to keep all the items donated in his home and would like a larger area for donations. He also is looking for more space to host his services.

While the church has already helped hundreds of homeless veterans and their families, one veteran made a special impression on Livingston.

“A man named Jessey, who is from Pasco County, came to our flag ceremony on July 4 and told me that no one else had ever cared about him after he left the service,” Livingston said. “He told me that we were the first ones who cared enough to help him and told us how much it meant to him. It was so sad and yet we felt so happy because we were able to help him at least a little.

“Helping these men and women on the days like Veterans Day lets them know we haven’t forgotten what they have done for

Suzin and Chandler Carr produced “I Choose”

By Steve Lee

Staff Writer

LUTZ — Suzin and Chandler Carr, of Lutz, have received plenty of recognition for “I Choose,” a book authored by the mother and illustrated by her 9-year-old son.

Their first writing award, however came on Oct. 24 at the Florida Writers Association conference in Orlando. The Carrs won a Royal Palm Literary Award, taking first place in the published children’s book category.

Needless to say, Chandler’s mother reacted to the news a bit more enthusiastically than her son. Upon hearing they won the award, Suzin literally dragged her son to the podium.

“I dragged him down the red carpet,” said Carr, the Lutz Guv’na. “Poor Chandler was like, ‘Would you please let go of my arm?’”

Chandler chuckled at that recollection.

“She took my arm and took me down the red carpet. Then she ran fast,” Chandler recalled. “I said, ‘Mom. Mom. Let go. I haven’t seen you this excited since the Guv’na thing.’”

Asked if he was nervous accepting an award in front of about 300 people, Chandler responded, “Not really, because I didn’t have to do a speech.”

Chandler, a fourth-grader at Learning Gate, a charter school in Lutz, plans to take his illustrations to another level.

“I want to be a video game designer,” he said. “Drawing’s a big part in making video games.”

Next up for mother and son is a Veterans Day appearance on Channel 10’s “The Morning Show.”

Carr said she will probably be a bit more subdued on television than she was at the writers conference in Orlando.

“I was known as the jumper and the screamer,” she said jokingly.

Already, the Carrs have been recognized by Fox News, Tampa Bay Parenting magazine and Dr. Laura Schlesinger.

“I r-e-a-l-l-y like this one for kids. Frankly, I like it for adults too,” Dr. Laura said last May on her nationally syndicated radio show.

Having his book discussed on the radio, Chandler said, “was really neat for thousands of people to hear

It wasn’t me!

Rylee is a Bassett Hound who will be five years old in December. She is extremely protective of her Sophie and sends out an alert if Sophie cries for more than two minutes. Sophie likes to crawl over Rylee, and her face shows that Rylee usually passes gas when she does! She has been known to push Sophie’s swing with her nose if her owner forgets to hit the reset button. If Rylee hears the word “bath” she howls and gets upset, but she sits perfectly still in the tub and acts like she enjoys it. Rylee was a gift to owner, Christina James of Wesley Chapel, from her husband Kipp.

Tank chews on everything that moves

Tank is a Bulldog puppy. He became a member of the Rogers family after the passing of their beloved English Bulldog, “Daisy.” Daisy was 12 years old and will be remembered by the many customers of Rogers Landscaping. Tank enjoys chewing on everything that moves. He is very sweet, so come by and meet him! His proud owners are Glenn and Cathy Rogers, owners of Rogers Landscaping Supply in Lutz.

Zephyrhills High lost its homecoming game, 29-7 to Gulf at Bulldog Stadium on Oct. 30. Nonetheless, the evening was highlighted by plenty of festivities including a parade down Main Street and announcements for King and Queen and the Homecoming Court. Photos by Gary S. Hatrick.