Education

Chalk Talk 10/30/2019

October 30, 2019 By Mary Rathman

Monsignor Robert Morris, left, and D. Dewey Mitchell bestow the presidential medallion on Jeffrey D. Senese, at his inauguration as Saint Leo University’s 10th president. (Courtesy of Renee Gerstein, Saint Leo University)

Inauguration at Saint Leo
In a Mass celebrated by Abbot Isaac Camacho, OSB, and a formal investiture ceremony, Dr. Jeffrey D. Senese officially became Saint Leo University’s 10th president, on Oct. 11.

Senese made the Oath of Fidelity using the Douay-Rheims Haydock Bible, published in 1893, and was presented with the presidential medallion, which features the university’s core values of community, excellence, integrity, personal development, respect and responsible stewardship.

In his inaugural address, Senese looked to the future of Saint Leo — the promise of growth in the number of students served, the addition of new programs, the expansion of physical locations, and the creation of partnerships among universities.

Halloween at area schools
These local schools will be hosting a variety of Halloween-themed events:

Bexley Elementary, 4380 Ballantrae Blvd., Land O’ Lakes: Family Literacy Day on Oct. 31 at 9:40 a.m. Families are welcome to attend these classroom collaborations. Call (813) 346-4300.
Centennial Elementary, 38501 Centennial Road in Dade City: Halloween Book Parade on Oct. 31 at 10 a.m., in the bus loop. Call (352) 524-5000.
Wiregrass Ranch Elementary, 29732 Wiregrass School Road in Wesley Chapel: Wiregrass Storybook Parade on Oct. 31 at 10 a.m., in the bus loop. Call (813) 346-0700.
Land O’ Lakes High School, 20325 Gator Lane: Fall Festival with trick-or-treat around the stadium on Nov. 1 at 6 p.m. Call (813) 794-9400.

Saint Leo homecoming
Saint Leo University will host homecoming Nov. 1 to Nov. 3. Alumni and friends are invited to attend the activities over the weekend.

Highlights will include the Class of 1969’s 50th reunion dinner and celebration; Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity’s 30th reunion; Brews & Bites; a Greek Mixer for members of fraternities and sororities; Spirit of Saint Leo Golf Tournament; Brunch with the President; Lions Rally with food trucks and live music; volleyball and men’s soccer games; the homecoming basketball game; and goat yoga.

For the full schedule, and to register, visit Your.SaintLeo.edu/hoco.

For information, call (352) 588-8667, or email .

Jewish scholar to speak
The Saint Leo University Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies will host Jewish studies scholar Ruth Langer on Nov. 5 at 12:30 p.m., in TECO Hall on the campus, 33701 State Road 52 in St. Leo.

This is a free, one-hour lecture on “Rabbis and the Ancient Synagogue.”

Langer is an ordained rabbi and holds a doctorate in Jewish liturgy from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio.

She is a professor of Jewish studies at Boston College and associate director of its Center for Christian-Jewish Learning.

For information, visit SaintLeo.edu.

Medal recipients visit schools
As part of a year-long collaboration with the Medal of Honor Character curriculum and convention team, eight Pasco County schools hosted Medal of Honor recipients.

The schools were selected based on their commitment to exemplifying character traits within their school buildings.

The Medal of Honor recipients shared their experiences and stories of bravery with the students.

The speaking engagements took place at Deer Park Elementary, New Port Richey; Centennial Middle, Dade City; Pine View Middle, Land O’ Lakes High and Rushe Middle, Land O’ Lakes; Paul Smith Middle, Holiday; Hudson High, Hudson; and Wiregrass Ranch High, Wesley Chapel.

Band yard sale
The Zephyrhills High School Band will host an indoor yard sale on Nov. 16 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Zephyrhills First Nazarene, 6155 12th St., to help fund a trip to Washington D.C., to march in the 2020 National Memorial Day parade.

Table rentals for the yard sale are now available. Rent a 5-foot round table and an 8-foot by 10-foot spot for $15; rent an extra table and spot for $10; and rent an extra spot for $5.

The building will open at 7 a.m., for setup.

The deadline for renting is Nov. 8.

For information, call Meggan Nichols, the ZHS Band sponsor fundraiser coordinator, at (813) 403-0700.

Financial aid tip
As high school seniors and their parents look into the college financial aid process, they may come across some unfamiliar terms.

The Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA) gives this short glossary of financial aid terms that students and parents should be aware of:

Conversion scholarship/loan. This type of scholarships requires students to provide certain services. If they don’t provide the service, the scholarship becomes a loan.
Cost of attendance. The total cost of one year of college: tuition, fees, room, meals, supplies, transportation and personal items.
Expected family contribution (EFC). This is the amount the student and family are expected to pay for the student’s education, based on a formula set by Congress.
FAFSA. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid must be submitted by students applying for federal and state aid. Visit FAFSA.gov, to apply.
Financial need. The difference between the cost of attendance and the EFC.
Institutional aid. The scholarships, grants and other financial aid programs provide by the college.
Verification. The process of making sure the information submitted on the FAFSA is correct. The federal government requires colleges to have certain students’ FAFSA information verified.

The KHEAA is a public, nonprofit agency that helps to provide information about financial aid and financial literacy at no cost, to improve students’ access to college.

For more information, visit KHEAA.com.

Chalk Talk 10/23/2019

October 23, 2019 By Mary Rathman

Promoting education and literacy
Sunrise Rotary Club has donated books for the last 10 years to local elementary schools with money raised from events and matching grants through the Pasco Education Foundation. Every year, Sunrise Rotary raises funds to promote education and literacy, and provide food bags and scholarships. To date, the group has provided 1,100 books, worth $15,000. Accepting donations, from left: Principal Latoya Jordan, Lacoochee Elementary; Principal Nena Green, Pasco Elementary; Principal Kimberly Napal, Cox Elementary; Pasco County Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning and Sunrise Rotary President Cindy Harper. Not pictured is Principal Gretchen Rudolph-Fladd, Centennial Elementary.

Trunk-or-treat fundraiser
Wesley Chapel High School, 30651 Wells Road, will host its first Trunk or Treat on Oct. 25 at 6 p.m., in the school’s bus loop.

For information on this fundraiser, contact Brad O’ Dell at (813) 794-8700 or .

Scare Fair Open House
Keiser University will host a Scare Fair Open House on Oct. 30 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., at its New Port Richey campus, 6014 U.S. 19.

There will be a costume contest with prizes, pumpkins to decorate and take home, trunk-or-treat, games, music, food and the WQYK-FM 99.5 station.

Guests also can learn about the school’s programs, including health care, nursing, business, legal studies, criminal justice, technology and psychology.

To RSVP, visit KUOpenHouse.com. For information, call (727) 484-3110.

Self-confidence workshop
The Hugh Embry Library, 14215 Fourth St., in Dade City, will present a Character Development Workshop with Latoya Desamour on Oct. 28 at 6 p.m., for grades one to five, with an adult. This will be an interactive discussion about bullying and self-confidence.

Dinner will be provided.

Registration is required by calling (352) 567-3576.

Principal challenge
Wiregrass Elementary School’s Principal Steve Williams challenged students to read books through the Scholastic platform over the summer, log their reading minutes, and earn incentives at each level.

Williams made a promise to read from the school’s roof all day, to further promote literacy and reading.

The students met the challenge and cumulatively logged more than 160,000 reading minutes, and on Oct. 11, Williams hit the roof and spent the day reading textbooks, newspapers, and storybooks chosen by the students.

Top student readers from each group, along with their classmates, visited the courtyard throughout the day to have Williams read a story to them through a megaphone.

Orchestra performance
The Florida Orchestra performed “One Giant Leap: 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing” for Pasco County Schools at The Center for the Arts at Wesley Chapel, on Oct. 15.

Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas music teachers developed a curriculum guide with the Florida Orchestra, and youth concerts are the culmination of the effort.

This anniversary performance explored space travel and music about the skies above, and featured visuals from NASA’s exploration of the lunar surface.

The event also introduced the musical instruments of the orchestra to the students.

Honor Society ceremony
Wendell Krinn Technical High School in New Port Richey recognized and celebrated students who excelled in their career and technical education programs with a National Technical Honor Society Induction Ceremony on Oct. 16.

Students were honored for their GPAs and attendance, and received certificates.

Pasco County School is redrawing boundaries

October 16, 2019 By B.C. Manion

Turnout was light for a public workshop regarding school boundaries held last week at Wiregrass Ranch High School.

Thousands of students will be affected by the proposed changes, but the vast majority of changes relate to Cypress Creek Middle School, which is set to open in the fall of 2020.

The school district initially had planned to open both a high school and a middle school on the campus at 8701 Old Pasco Road.

Chris Williams, director of planning for Pasco County Schools, explains proposed boundaries for Cypress Creek Middle School, during a public workshop on proposed school boundary changes. (Christine Holtzman)

But, the district was short on funding, so initially the high school buildings were used to house students in grades six through 12.

When the new middle school opens next fall, students in grades six through eight will shift to the new building.

But, boundary changes are needed to fill up remaining capacity at both the middle school and the high school.

The proposed changes primarily affect the Seven Oaks neighborhood, said Chris Williams, director of planning for Pasco County Schools.

Specifically, the school district is proposing that 613 students now zoned to Wiregrass Ranch High School be shifted to Cypress Creek High School, and seven students zoned to Pasco High School be rezoned to Cypress Creek High School.

If that’s approved, the estimated enrollment at Cypress Creek High School would be 2,080, in a school which has a permanent capacity of 2,090.

After the proposed shift, Wiregrass Ranch would have an enrollment of 1,606 students, in a school with a permanent capacity of 1,633. Pasco High would have an enrollment of 1,602, in a school with a permanent capacity of 1,491.

The proposed boundary changes also call for shifting over to Cypress Creek Middle, an estimated 446 students now zoned to John Long Middle and five students now zoned to Pasco Middle.

If those changes are approved, Cypress Creek Middle would have an estimated 1,554 students, in a school with a permanent capacity of 1,600. John Long Middle would have 1,167 students, in a school with a permanent capacity of 1,327. Pasco Middle would have 918 students, in a school with a permanent capacity of 875.

Under the proposal, seven students living along State Road 52, at the north end of Old Pasco Road, would be reassigned from Pasco High to Cypress Creek High.

That shift is being proposed because where they live is a straight shot to Cypress Creek High, Williams said. “We felt that made sense.”

Alex Morales, of Wesley Chapel, center, and his wife Jessica, speak with Wayne Bertsch, communications and government liaison for Pasco County Schools, about their concerns relating to proposed school boundaries. The Morales family lives in Seven Oaks, a neighborhood that is currently zoned for Wiregrass Ranch High School, but under the new proposal, will be zoned for Cypress Creek High School.

The district also is proposing to shift an attendance area with 17 students in San Antonio Elementary over to Quail Hollow Elementary.

“These kids currently go to San Antonio Elementary, Pasco Middle and Pasco High. So, now they’re going to go to Quail Hollow Elementary, Cypress Creek Middle and Cypress Creek High,” Williams said.

In another proposed change, an attendance area with 143 students now zoned to Wesley Chapel High would be reassigned to Zephyrhills High. That would bring Zephyrhills High’s enrollment to 1,780, at a school with a permanent capacity of 2,004. It would bring Wesley Chapel High’s enrollment to 1,438, at a school with a permanent capacity of 1,506.

Williams said the change addresses a previous boundary shift.

“We rezoned some kids several years ago out of Wiregrass and John Long into Wesley Chapel and Weightman. We kind of shifted these kids over to Stewart Middle, but there wasn’t room at Zephyrhills, so they went to Wesley Chapel.

“The bulk of these kids go to Chester Taylor Elementary, then they go to Stewart and then they go to Wesley Chapel,” Williams said.

The planning director also noted that “Wesley Chapel has all of this growth coming from Epperson Ranch.

“So, we think it makes sense to fix the feeder pattern. Elementary and middle doesn’t change: They’ll still go to Chester Taylor and Stewart Middle. But, now they’ll go to Zephyrhills (High),” Williams said.

Zephyrhills High has room because the district just built a new classroom wing there.

As of last week, Williams had not received any feedback on the proposed shift affecting Zephyrhills High.

Overall, he has received about three dozen comment cards regarding the proposed boundary shifts changes — the vast majority coming from the Seven Oaks neighborhood.

As is often the case, those commenting said they’d bought their home in a specific neighborhood because of the school their child would attend, or they objected to the change because the new school is farther away from their home than their current school.

When the district drew up the original boundaries for Cypress Creek Middle High, it announced it would likely be shifting the Seven Oaks neighborhood over when the new middle school opened.

But, apparently that word did not get out to everyone, Williams said.

Jessica and Alex Morales, who live in Seven Oaks, said they moved into the neighborhood so their daughter could finish high school at Wiregrass Ranch. But, it now appears that their son, who is a freshman at Wiregrass Ranch, will be reassigned to Cypress Creek High next fall.

They attended the public workshop to see if there was any possibility their son could stay at Wiregrass Ranch High.

“We had moved from New York. He met all of his friends in sixth grade,” Jessica Morales said.

Under the proposal, he’ll be attending a high school that’s different from many of his friends.

“We’re trying to lessen that blow,” she said.

The family also has a second-grader they need to think about, too, she said.

They are planning to learn more about what Cypress Creek High has to offer.

Williams said there are other boundary changes proposed that would affect an area near State Road 52 and the Suncoast Parkway that is currently undeveloped, but has been approved for a massive development.

The proposal calls for assigning the entire area to Mary Giella Elementary, Crews Lake Middle School and Hudson High, Williams said.

Under the current boundaries, some of that future growth would have been assigned to Land O’ Lakes High, Pine View Middle and Connerton Elementary.

Anyone who wishes to comment on the district’s proposed boundaries can fill out a comment form by going to the district’s website, at Pasco.k12.fl.us.

The Pasco County School Board will have a public hearing on the proposed boundaries on Nov. 5 at 6 p.m., at 7227 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., in Land O’ Lakes. The final public hearing is set for the same location on Nov. 19 at 6 p.m.

Published October 16, 2019

Chalk Talk 10/16/2019

October 16, 2019 By Mary Rathman

Donation helps include more students
Through the TD Charitable Foundation, TD Bank has donated $15,000 to support the sponsored admission program at The Florida Aquarium for under-served students in the Tampa Bay area. This is the sixth year the aquarium has received the contribution that will once again help children, youth and families who would otherwise face challenges to visit The Florida Aquarium. ‘Educating the next generation about the importance of our marine environment and wildlife is at the core of what we do, and thanks to the TD Charitable Trust, we will be able to inspire more children this coming year,’ Roger Germann, the aquarium’s president and CEO said, in a release.

Manufacturing Day
Pasco County Students participated in the annual Manufacturing Day on Oct. 4 and toured selected businesses where they learned about the manufacturing partner assigned to their field of study.

The Office of Career and Technical Education staff accompanied the students on the tours.

The event highlights the importance of manufacturing in our economy and draws attention to the many high-skilled jobs available.

School programs, such as Manufacturing Day, help to prepare students as our future workforce.

Options Night
Lutz Prep Charter and Learning Gate Community School will host a High School Options Night for seventh- and eighth-grade students Oct. 17 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., at Lutz Prep, 17951 U.S. 41 in Lutz.

Parents and students can learn how to make an informed high school decision regarding private, charter, traditional, magnet and IB schools.

For information, email Brian Bethune at .

Catholic scholarship
Saint Leo University again will offer the Catholic Promise Scholarship, which helps to make higher education more accessible to Catholic high school students in Florida.

The scholarship will be offered for undergraduate students for the fall 2020 semester at University Campus in St. Leo.

The scholarship will award students who have attended four years at a Catholic high school, with an annual scholarship of $14,000 toward tuition at the Saint Leo University Campus.

The scholarship is renewable each semester for up to four years, providing up to $56,000 in financial aid by the time the student graduates.

Saint Leo will host a Catholic Promise Instant Admit Day on Oct. 19 from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., in the Greenfelder and Denlinger boardrooms in the Student Community Center, so prospective students and their families can learn more about the scholarship.

A tour of the campus also will be included.

Students should bring transcripts and other documentation in order to be granted admission.

To register, visit SaintLeo.edu/catholic-promise.

For requirements and information, call (352) 588-8238.

Bleachers closed, temporarily
Pasco County Schools engaged a structural engineer to conduct safety inspections of seven high school concrete stadiums.

Two of those schools require temporary closure of bleachers. Locally, Pasco High School visitors’ side bleachers will be closed for maintenance for the rest of the football season, and likely through the end of the school year.

The closure is not expected to affect high school football, cross-country, soccer, track and field, or middle school events at the stadium.

The home bleachers at Pasco High will accommodate both home and visiting team fans.

Local achievements

Luisa F. Caban, of Land O’ Lakes, received a Bachelor of Science in social psychology from Park University’s Davis-Montham Air Force Base Campus in Arizona.
Em Ovalle, of Lutz, was named to the Dean’s List for the winter/spring term at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.
Hanley Riggs, of Lutz, enrolled at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and joined other freshmen and transfer students for a Towering Traditions orientation for SERVE, an opportunity to complete community service together throughout the greater Nashville area.

Chalk Talk 10/09/2019

October 9, 2019 By Mary Rathman

Dr. Jeffrey Senese
(Courtesy of Mary McCoy)

Saint Leo inauguration
Saint Leo University will celebrate the inauguration of its 10^th president, Dr. Jeffrey Senese. The ceremony will be on Oct. 11 at 2 p.m. at the university’s Marion Bowman Activities at 33701 State Road 52 in St. Leo.

Prior to becoming president at Saint Leo University, Senese became the university’s first provost in 2018. He came to Saint Leo after serving as provost at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

For event information, contact Mary McCoy at (352) 588-7118 or at .

Free math hotline
Hillsborough County Public Schools offers a free math homework hotline, available on select Thursdays, for math help on any topic.

Certified math teachers will be available from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., Oct. 10, Oct. 17, Nov. 7, Nov. 14, Nov. 21 and Dec. 5.

There also is a ‘live’ show on Spectrum Chanel 635 and Frontier Channel 32, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., or live stream at MHH.mysdhc.org, and students can win prizes and/or answer the challenge question.

For information, contact Maggie Mixon at (813) 272-4927 or .

Parents and students can learn how to make an informed high school decision regarding private, charter, traditional, magnet and IB schools.

For information, email Brian Bethune at .

Teacher fellowship
The American Geographical Society (AGS) has named Anne Cullison, of Sunlake High School, a 2019 AGS Geography Teacher Fellow.

The AGS Fellow program is a year-long professional development opportunity that enables geography teachers to incorporate open source mapping into classrooms, and provides supplementary resources and materials to the selected teachers.

Cullison was one of 50 teachers selected from across the United States to participate in the initiative.

Loan forgiveness
The federal government may forgive all or part of teachers’ and nurses’ federal student loans, if certain requirements are met.

The forgiveness options, according to the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA), include:

Teacher loan forgiveness. To qualify, you must teach at least five full years in a low-income school in an eligible district. Depending on the field, teachers may have up to $17,500 in student loans forgiven. For details, visit Ed.gov.
Nursing loan forgiveness. You must be at least a registered nurse and agree to work full-time for at least two years in a critical shortage facility. If the agreement is fulfilled, 60 percent of the loan balance will be forgiven. Another 25 percent will be forgiven if work is done for a third year. Nurses teaching at an accredited school of nursing also may qualify. For details, visit BHW.hrsa.gov.

The Internal Revenue Service does count the amount forgiven as income.

To learn more about KHEAA, a public, nonprofit agency that provides free information about financial aid and financial literacy, visit KHEAA.com.

Invention winners
Two students from Tampa were honored for their innovations at the Florida Invention Convention.

Makana Salim-Uesi, a seventh-grader at Williams Middle Magnet School, took first place for her invention, “RCV H20,” a model of a labor-saving device that can transport and filter water at the same time.

Salim-Uesi’s invention can be useful to people in rural areas and developing countries where access to clean water is extremely limited.

Shreya Mathur, a 12th-grader at Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School, took third place for her invention, “Stress Master,” which enables the user to access any part of their body with a hand-held massager by a 360-degree pivot unit.

Mathur also won the Bailee’s Choice Award.

For information on the convention, visit InventFlorida.org.

Sunlake High teacher lands geography fellowship

October 2, 2019 By Kevin Weiss

In her AP Human Geography classes, Sunlake High School teacher Anne Cullison strives to “lift the veil” on what the world is really like.

She often tells her students: “Everything is geography, and geography is everything.”

The local educator soon will get a chance to broaden her knowledge and add to her kit of tools for teaching.

She is one of just 50 teachers nationwide selected as a 2019 American Geographical Society (AGS) Teacher Fellow. This is the second time she has been selected for the honor. The first time was in 2016.

Sunlake High School social studies teacher Anne Cullison was recently named a 2019 American Geographical Society (AGS) Teacher Fellow. She is one of just 50 teachers nationwide selected to the year-long fellowship program. (File)

The AGS fellowship is a year-long professional development opportunity that enables geography teachers to incorporate open source mapping into their classrooms. It also provides supplementary resources and materials.

As part of this year’s fellowship, Cullison will attend the AGS Fall Symposium in Nov. 21 and Nov. 22, at Columbia University in New York City.

The symposium, titled “Geography 2050: Borders and a Borderless World,” gives the fellows an opportunity to interact with geography and geospatial leaders from across the country. They also receive professional training in open source mapping.

Samantha Power, U.S Ambassador to the United Nations under President Barack Obama (2013-17), will be the keynote speaker.

Other scheduled speakers include National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency director Robert Sharp and Nada Bakos, a former CIA analyst and targeting officer who was instrumental in tracking down Osama bin Laden and other terrorist figures.

Cullison, in her seventh year at Sunlake, is eager to learn and network with fellow educators and professionals “who actually work in the field that I’m teaching about.

“I really enjoy getting to listen to people who are so incredibly knowledgeable of that real-world application side of what we actually do — what I spend my days talking about,” Cullison said.

She also appreciates being selected for the honor.

“It feels great. It’s a great way to feel recognized for working hard with kids to get them to see the world in a different way,” Cullison said.

She now teaches about 170 students across five AP Human Geography classes.

Coursework in her class goes far beyond simply labeling areas on a map and learning the basics of other cultures, she explained. It attempts to answer the what, where and why of human patterns, and the social and environmental consequences of that.

She put it like this: “It’s more about, ‘Why are some countries successful and others aren’t? Why are there people starving in some places and some places aren’t? Why do some people practice one religion and then others something else, and how does that affect the politics, the culture and languages they speak and everything?’”

In essence, she said, it enables her students “to see the world in a different way.”

Before arriving at Sunlake, Cullison taught social studies at Rushe and Pine View middle schools, in Land O’ Lakes.

Cullison studied political science at the University of Central Florida and University of South Florida.

Her first teaching experience came during an internship with the U.S. Department of Defense’s Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies in Washington D.C.

There, she was tasked with educating Middle Eastern government and military officials on American foreign policy in that region.

The experience, she said, “gave me the first touch of, ‘I really like teaching. I want to be able to help people understand where (other) people are coming from.’”

She said it also helped her to gain insight on why other peoples’ perspectives are sometimes different.

Cullison is eager to use the fellowship to introduce more open source mapping tools in her classroom.

Open source mapping is a collaborative volunteer project to create better, digital maps available of an area, specifically in less developed nations.

Cullison said the program is particularly useful for search and recovery efforts after natural disasters.

It allows first responders “to see what something is or was” in destroyed areas — whether it be schools, homes, buildings, roads and so on, she said.

“It’s really all about being able to identify and locate, and mark what computers can’t do,” the educator said.

Two years ago, her classes utilized the mapping program to aid humanitarians and first responders in Puerto Rico, in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

It helped in the search and recovery efforts to find people who had been injured by the natural disaster, or those who had not survived, she said.

Published Oct. 2, 2019

Pasco County Schools secures $1 million grant

October 2, 2019 By B.C. Manion

Pasco County Schools is among a dozen school districts across the country selected to receive a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant, as part of the Professional Learning Partnerships Initiative.

Pasco County Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning said a $1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be used for professional development of teachers, to help them effectively deliver a new middle school mathematics curriculum. (File)

The school district will use the $1 million grant in partnership with the initiative to prepare teachers for a new middle school math curriculum, Illustrative Math (Open Up Resources).

The grant money will be used to provide teacher with professional learning to ensure that instruction is meeting the needs of all students.

Superintendent Kurt Browning said the district is honored to be selected by the Gates Foundation for the opportunity.

Browning said the grant will help the district to strengthen performance in mathematics at the middle school level, by ensuring teachers receive professional learning opportunities to help them effectively deliver the curriculum to students.

“Students will be able to make connections between what they learned in elementary school, to help them prepare for high school,” Browning said.

The district has already implemented a new mathematics curriculum at the elementary level, and this training will help teachers help students make a seamless transition at middle school, Browning said.

“My end goal is to make sure that when students graduate, they are prepared,” Browning said.

“It was a competitive grant,” Browning said. “We’re doing great things in Pasco. We’re thinking outside the box, and we’re thinking differently.”

Pasco has made significant efforts to provide teachers with resources to help them understand the Florida Standards and to deliver standards-aligned instruction, according to a district news release. The work will continue with this grant and the Professional Learning Partnerships Initiative.

Published October 2, 2019

Chalk Talk 10/02/19

October 2, 2019 By Mary Rathman

Schools and PTA garner recognitions

The Pasco County School Board recognized the Pasco County Council PTA and three schools at its September board meeting. Seven Oaks Elementary, River Ridge Middle and Wiregrass Ranch High schools were named National PTA Schools of Excellence. The Pasco County PTA was honored with the Florida PTA Safety Award, President’s Award for Membership, and Gold membership increase. From left: Heather Buboltz, Seven Oaks PTA past president; Kurt Browning, superintendent of schools; Megan McNeil, Wiregrass Ranch PTSA past president; Robyn White, Wiregrass Ranch principal; Shauntte Butcher, Seven Oaks principal; Denise Nicholas, PCC PTA president; Kevin Kolean, River Ridge assistant principal; Jennifer Resto, River Ridge School of Excellence chairman; and Alison Crumbley, school board chairwoman.

Criminal justice panel
Saint Leo University at 33701 State Road 52, in St. Leo will host a criminal justice panel discussion on Oct. 7. The panel will include Saint Leo’s criminal justice and psychology faculty members as well as Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco. A reception will be held from 4 p.m. to 5:50 p.m. in the Kirk Hall lobby. The discussion panel will follow from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Selby Auditorium in Lewis Hall. The event is free and open to the public. For information, call Mary McCoy at (352) 588-7118 or email .

Student concert
Saint Leo University, 33701 State Road 52 in St. Leo, will present “Fall Into Songs of the Roaring Twenties,” a student concert, on Oct. 8 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., in Selby Auditorium, Lewis Hall. For information, email , or leave a message at (352) 588-8401.

National Merit semifinalists
Officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of about 16,000 semifinalists in the 65th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

These high school seniors have the opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million, to be offered next spring.

Local students that have been named as semifinalists are:

Cypress Creek High School: Mindy L. Do
Land O’ Lakes High School: Shannon S. Chen, Achyudhan R. Kutuva, Kathy Liu, Steven Miltenberger, Stanley S. Moonjeli, Elizabeth A. Thorner, Maxwell M. Twitmyer, Takashi Xu and Jennifer R. Zartmen
Lutz (home-school): Mark T. Thivierge
Mitchell High School: Bethany A. Bradshaw, Dustin G. Rendell and Amber L. Seaberg
Pasco High School: Nicholas C. Gray and Joseph S. Hart
Steinbrenner High School: Jonathan E. Barbara, Rebekah F. Hurwitz, Matthew R. Lee and Rana X. Scherer
Wharton High School: Valeria M. Gutierrez and Shehzad S. Shah
Wiregrass Ranch High School: Aidan J. Persaud

Saint Leo ranked best value
Saint Leo University was ranked as one of the best regional universities and best values in higher education in the South, in 2020 U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges rankings. Among regional universities in the South, Saint Leo ranked 25th, up from its 47th place ranking last year.

The university also jumped up to fifth place, from 14th place last year, among Best Value Schools in the South.

And, Saint Leo tied with Christian Brothers University (Tennessee) for 14th place as Best for Veterans School among southern regional universities, up from 31st place last year.

In a new category, Saint Leo was named to the Top Performers on Social Mobility in Southern Regional Universities list, tying for No. 10 with Columbia College (South Carolina).

For more information on the 2020 Best Colleges, visit USNews.com/best-colleges.

Chalk Talk 09/25/19

September 25, 2019 By Mary Rathman

(Courtesy of Pasco Education Foundation)

Scholarship recipients
The Take Stock in Children program, which provides scholarships, mentors and hope, has awarded 30 Pasco County students with the opportunity for a paid college education. The Suncoast Credit Union sponsored a ‘signing event’ for the new scholars and their families, during which time the students confirmed their commitment to maintain good grades, attendance, behavior, and to remain drug- and crime-free. Upon high school graduation, each student will receive up to four years of college tuition.

Free math hotline
Hillsborough County Public Schools offers a free math homework hotline, available on select Thursdays, for math help on any topic.

Certified math teachers will be available from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., on Sept. 26, Oct. 3, Oct. 10, Oct. 17, Nov. 7, Nov. 14, Nov. 21 and Dec. 5.

For information, contact Maggie Mixon at (813) 272-4927 or .

Saint Leo open house
Saint Leo University will host an Undergraduate Admissions Fall Open House on Sept. 28, starting at 8 a.m.

Students of all ages can attend with their families and friends, and explore the campus at 33701 State Road 52 in St. Leo.

Guests also can speak with members of the Saint Leo community.

Prospective students will be able to tour the campus, learn about the university’s academic offerings, student life, campus involvement, financial aid, and more.

For information and to register, visit SaintLeo.edu/visit-campus.

For questions or for special accommodations, contact the Office of Admissions at (352) 588-8283 or .

School district expands mental health services

September 18, 2019 By B.C. Manion

The Pasco County school district has been ramping up training and tapping into outside sources, in its quest to build a better mental health support network for students.

Statistics from across the school district underscore a compelling need for increased services.

District figures show that more than 1,200 suicide assessments were done last year of students in elementary, middle and high schools.

The breakdown showed that 463 suicide assessments were reported at the elementary school level; 408 at the middle school level; and, 308 at the high school level.

There also were nearly 600 threat assessments across the district, with 278 reported at the elementary level; 134 at the middle school level; and, 186 at the high school level.

Jeannine Welch, Melissa Musselwhite and Vicki Papaemanuel are leading up efforts to expand mental health services within Pasco County Schools. (B.C. Manion)

District data regarding Baker Act cases reported 171 at the elementary level; 211 at the middle school level; and, 207 at the high school level.

Baker Act cases involve individuals who are deemed to be a threat to themselves or others who are referred for mental evaluation.

“We obviously have many students that need significant support from us, relating to mental health,” said Melissa Musselwhite, the district’s director of student support programs, during a school board session on mental health held this summer.

Pasco Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning pointed to the suicide assessments.

“Twelve hundred and sixty — 463 just in elementary school alone,” Browning noted.

He also observed there were more suicide assessments at elementary level, than in high school.

“The same with threats,” noted School Board Chairwoman Alison Crumbley. “It’s (threats) higher at elementary.”

Jeannine Welch, senior supervisor for student support services, told board members that it’s difficult to pinpoint what the statistics mean. For instance, a suicide assessment could refer to a student who was assessed, but not in any danger.

Musselwhite also said more information is needed: “Do we have the same standard for kids we are referring, let’s say for suicide assessment?

“If the kid has scissors and says, ‘I’m going to stab you,’ or ‘I’m going to stab myself,’ do we have a common practice across the district how we respond to that?

“Those are questions. I don’t know. We really need to analyze the data more deeply,” Musselwhite said.

Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Schools David Scanga said the statistics are telling.

“It does reflect the stress level of elementary that probably 10 years ago we didn’t see,” he said. “So, the stress on the families, the stress on the communities, the stress within the building. I hear what Melissa is saying, but we also know and agree that there are things in elementary that we’re dealing with that are more frequent — not that they were never there — but they are more frequent than they were in the past.”

To help address the needs, the district has been collaborating with Central Florida Behavioral Health Network, which has allowed the district to expand its services.

Central Florida has worked out a memorandum of understanding with all of the providers, so the district doesn’t have to obtain a separate contract for a specialized service, Welch said.

Students receiving services are run through a voucher system.

That helps stretch the district’s spending capacity because if a child is eligible for Medicaid, or would be potentially eligible, those dollars are used first, Welch said.

The district has added key personnel and has expanded training efforts.

It has added mental health coaches to coach school-based student services staff regarding mental health initiatives.

The mental health liaison has been able to help analyze data, and also has provided “literally, someone to call instantly in order to be able to problem-solve with some of the situations we have within schools,” Musselwhite said.

The district is working to improve its supports for students.

When a student has been Baker-acted, for instance, the district wants to be sure it supports that student when he or sure returns to school.

“We want to make sure that it’s truly done as a safety net for them,” Welch said.

“We’ve had kids that have been gone for a week and come back, and said they’ve been on a Disney cruise. They weren’t on the Disney cruise,” Welch said.

The district has ramped up training.

“We are required to train staff and make sure they have first-aiders at schools. When this first came out, we had zero trainers,” Welch said. “This summer we’ve trained 688 staff members.”

The district continues to build on its capacity, she said.

“We spent this year building up trainers,” she said.

“It shouldn’t just be the administrator. It should be others that, these are embedded practices that live on, regardless of the leadership,” she said.

“The state has rolled out a new threat assessment protocol that we’ll be training all student services and administrative staff, in the next month (by Oct. 1),” Musselwhite said.

“The majority of the day will be around the threat assessment, behavioral threat assessment that the state mandated, using a specific tool and a training platform,” said Vicki Papaemanuel, who will be overseeing the training for the district.

“The second half of the day will be around threat to self or suicide assessment,” she said.

Threat assessments
Elementary: 278
Middle: 134
High School: 186
Total: 598

Suicide assessments
Elementary: 463
Middle: 408
High School: 308
Total: 1,260

2018-2019 Baker Act Data
Elementary: 171
Middle: 211
High school: 207

Source: Pasco County Schools

Published September 18, 2019