Students shine at Fine Arts Festival
The elementary and junior high students at Land O’ Lakes Christian School competed in the annual Sunshine State Association of Christian Schools State Junior Fine Arts Festival, in April.
The students, representing Christian schools throughout the state, competed in the basic areas of music, speech and art.
Music students challenged each other in solo and group competitions, for both vocal and instrumental music.
Speech contestants participated in such categories as humorous interpretation, acting and other categories.
Art and photography students entered pieces in categories such as acrylic, drawing, watercolor and digital photography.
Most Outstanding, Elementary Group:
- Choir-Fourth to Sixth Grade: Honors Choir
- Large Instrumental Ensemble: Beginning Strings
- Large Vocal Ensemble: Fifth Grade
- Small Vocal Ensemble: Mixed Fifth & Sixth Grades
- Humorous Interpretation: Emily Mason, Ben Woodson
- Piano Solo/Non-Sacred: LouisAden Capellupo
- Sacred Piano Solo: Kaden Garcia
- Sculpture: Natalie Zika
- String Solo: Katharine VanderVere
- Woodwind Solo: Luci Rhode
Most Outstanding, Junior High Group:
- Choir: Junior High Choir
- Handbell Choir: LOLCS Handbell Choir
- Large Instrumental Ensemble: LOLCS Large Instrumental Ensemble
- Bible Teaching: Alex Vidal
- Photography: Robert Luckey
- Piano Solo/Non-Sacred: Mia Cruikshank
- Sacred Piano Solo: Kate Livingston
- String Solo: Kate Livingston
Superior, Elementary:
- Band/Orchestra: Elementary Band
- Brass Solo: James DeStefano, Caleb Seiverd
- Duet Acting: Ariana Cruikshank and Olivia Rotella, and Avery Pham and Jenny Prill
- Piano Solo/Non-Sacred: Jaela Parrone, Zachary Tomasell, Lily Vincent
- Photography: Jennifer Prill
- Polychromatic Drawing: LouisAden Capellupo
- Sculpture: Jonathan Maass
- Woodwind Solo: Nadia Dimas, Lily Vincent
Superior, Junior High:
- Piano Solo/Non-Sacred: Will DeStefano, Hayden Vincent
- Polychromatic Drawing: Susie DeStefano
- Woodwind Solo: Susie DeStefano, Will DeStefano
Excellent, Elementary:
- Small Instrumental Ensemble: Strings Ensemble, Brass Ensemble
- Small Vocal Ensemble: Grade Six Girls
- Acrylic: Sofia Chinchilla, Jaela Parrone
- Duet Acting: Zarah Collins and Kaitlyn Crockett, and Javen Ironside and Gage Smith
- Humorous Interpretation: Bryant Mateo
- Oral Interpretation of Poetry: Natalie Craver
- Photography: Emily Mason
- Piano Duet: Lydia Becker and Abigail Lonski
- Piano Solo/Non-Sacred: Dixie Blessing
- Polychromatic Drawing: Mia Caputo, Jodiah Christensen, Jayla Hunt, Talia Tedesco
- Sacred Piano Solo: Ryleigh Blessing, Olivia Rotella
- Sculpture: Zayda Thomas
- Serious Interpretation: Waylon Dimas
- String Solo: Olivia Price
Excellent, Junior High:
- Band/Orchestra: LOLCS Strings
- Readers’ Theatre: LOLCS Readers’ Theatre
- Small Instrumental Ensemble: LOLCS Small Instrumental Ensemble
- Bible Teaching: Alex Reed
- Duet Acting: Corey Drexler and Caleb Moreno, and Ethan Mengel and Chance Newsome
- Humorous Interpretation: Justin Zabilowicz
- Photography: Jaxson Pham
- Polychromatic Drawing: Jordan McClain
- Serious Interpretation: Isabel Rivera-Cordero
- Vocal Solo: Caleb Moreno
- Watercolor: Mackenzie Craver
Good, Elementary:
- Humorous Interpretation: Alex Doan
Good, Junior High:
- Acrylic: Kaitlyn Mendez
- Humorous Interpretation: Brianne Bagshaw, Isabella Lexama-Solarte
- Monochromatic Drawing: Lily Sutton, Alex Vidal
- Oral Interpretation Poetry: Madison Fine
- Photography: Ryan Dahlberg, Chance Newsome
Average, Elementary:
- Acrylic: Dixie Blessing
- Watercolor: Laura Tipton
Average, Junior High:
- Acrylic: Ethan Peterson
Summer food service
Hillsborough County will again participate in the Summer Food Service Program, which provides free nutritious lunches and afternoon snacks to children when school meals are not available. This year’s program runs from May 29 to Aug. 3, at more than 50 sites in the county.
The meals and snacks will be offered at local parks and other convenient locations for children younger than age 18. Applications are not required.
Nearby sites can be found online at tinyurl.com/yaupwshl.
For information, email , or call (813) 276-8625.
Student bus passes
The Pasco County Public Transportation Department will offer Student Summer Haul Passes for $20.
Pasco County students can ride the fixed-route bus system all summer. The special rate will be effective June 1 through Aug. 31.
Haul passes can be picked up at all Pasco County libraries; the Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller’s office at the West and East Pasco Government Centers; the Pasco-Hernando State College bookstores in Wesley Chapel, Dade City and New Port Richey; and the PCPT Administrative Offices at 8620 Galen Wilson Blvd., in Port Richey.
For information, call (727) 834-3322, or visit bit.ly/SummerHaulPass.
For bus routes and schedules, visit RidePCPT.com.
Graduates overcome adversity
Pasco-Hernando State College hosted spring commencement May 2 with two ceremonies to honor graduates earning bachelor and associate degrees, certificates and diplomas.
Several students have encountered adversity in pursuit of higher education.
Rachel Watson, 19, of Dade City, received an Associate of Arts degree.
At PHSC, Watson was a full-time student, worked part-time as an English tutor, and completed a Professor-Student internship while traveling nearly every weekend to North Carolina where her fiancé was preparing for deployment with the Marines.
She will pursue a bachelor’s degree in advanced literary studies at Saint Leo University.
Kathryn McCarthy, 25, of Land O’ Lakes, earned an Associate of Science in nursing.
McCarthy was a sixth-grade world history teacher for Pasco County Schools when, in 2012, an illness left her paralyzed and on a ventilator for four months.
McCarthy left teaching to pay it forward as a caregiver and entered the PHSC nursing program. She also is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in nursing.
Andrew Moses, 28, of Spring Hill, received an Associate of Arts.
Moses withdrew from high school to complete an auto mechanic program in New York. He moved back to Florida to work with his mother’s business. A client, Matic, encouraged Moses to apply for an engineering internship within the company, which now employs him.
In 2015, he decided to go back to school to earn a college degree.
Moses will seek a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering.
Jonathan McCurnin, 22, of Dade City, earned his Associate of Arts.
McCurnin was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at an early age, resulting in language struggles, and a resistance to form bonds and make connections with people.
His family enrolled him in the all-inclusive Academy at the Farm charter school and, in seventh grade, McCurnin was transferred to a mainstream classroom at Pasco Middle School, where he participated in football and made the honor roll.
McCurnin graduated from high school with letters in three varsity sports and was active in a variety of groups.
He then immersed himself into the PHSC community as a student and a student employee at the school.
