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Charles S. Rushe Middle

Medal of Honor recipient inspires local students

November 6, 2019 By Kevin Weiss

It was May 8, 1968, in La Chu, when then 19-year-old U.S. Army Specialist 4 Robert Martin Patterson singlehandedly bum-rushed five machine gun bunkers, killed eight enemy soldiers and captured a weapons cache, all in the midst of a firefight in the Vietnam War.

The actions that day earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor, the United States military’s highest and most prestigious designation for acts of valor.

Patterson would go on to serve 26 years in the Army and reach the highest enlisted rank, Command Sergeant Major, before retiring in 1991. Post-military, he worked as a representative for the Department of Veterans Affairs for 12 years.

He is one of just 70 living Medal of Honor recipients, out of total of 3,507.

Patterson’s heroism and military career were highlighted during a recent speaking engagement at Land O’ Lakes High School.

The visit was part the school’s yearlong collaboration with the Medal of Honor Character educational program, where teachers use stories of Medal of Honor recipients to help students explore the values of courage, integrity, sacrifice, commitment, citizenship and patriotism.

Patterson’s appearance at the school coincided with this year’s annual Medal of Honor Convention in Tampa, which hosted 46 Medal of Honor recipients from Oct. 22 to Oct. 26.

Seven other Pasco County schools also were visited by Medal of Honor recipients through the program. They were Deer Park Elementary; Centennial, Pine View, Charles S. Rushe, and Paul R. Smith middle schools; and Hudson and Wesley Chapel high schools.

Addressing a lecture hall full of students, the 71-year-old Pensacola resident inspired high schoolers to follow their dreams and strive to do their best.

On May 8, 1968, 19-year-old U.S. Army Specialist 4 Robert Martin Patterson singlehandedly bum-rushed five machine gun bunkers, killed eight enemy soldiers and captured a weapons cache, all in the midst of a firefight in the Vietnam War. The actions earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor a year later. (Courtesy of Congressional Medal of Honor Society)

“The most important part of your life is your education,” Patterson said. “You can be anything that you put your mind to. You want to be a doctor? You can be a doctor. You want to be a lawyer? You can be a lawyer.”

Patterson emphasized the importance of personal integrity and good decision-making, as a means to set up for future success and happiness in adulthood.

“The most valuable asset is your integrity,” he said. “You are the only person that can affect your integrity. Nobody else can. Only you. Don’t ever jeopardize your integrity. Once your lose that integrity, you’ll play hell ever getting it back.”

The overall theme was something he himself battled growing up in a poor family of tobacco farmers in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Patterson was known around his hometown as a troublemaker, dropping out of high school in 12th grade.

“I wasn’t going to be anything in my life, according to all my teachers and everything. (They said) the only thing I’d ever be in my life was nothing but a dirt farmer,” Patterson recalled.

Patterson, of course, would later prove any doubters wrong with his decorated military service, where he also obtained a college degree.

“The only thing blocking you from doing anything in your life, is your own mind,” Patterson said, adding, “I really do regret dropping out of high school because education is really important in your life, and I didn’t realize it until years later.”

For students facing similar challenging life circumstances, Patterson recommended the military as a positive route getting on the right track. He pointed out the service instills punctuality, work ethic and personal responsibility. “Military is not a bad way to get a start in the job market,” he said.

As for his distinguished act of bravery over 50 years ago, it was all a blur.

“I don’t remember my actions at all,” he said. “I was young, dumb and invincible.”

And, he doesn’t consider himself to be a hero, either.

“I just did my job,” he said. “Somebody was going to do it, I just happened to be the one that did it.”

Asked about what it means to don the Medal of Honor, a humbled Patterson said, “It’s not mine. I just keep in sacred trust. It belongs to the (soldiers) that didn’t come back.”

Published November 06, 2019

Filed Under: People Profiles, Top Story Tagged With: Centennial Middle School, Charles S. Rushe Middle, Congressional Medal of Honor, Deer Park Elementary, Hudson High School, La Chu, Land O' Lakes High School, Paul R. Smith Middle, Pine View Middle, Robert Martin Patterson, Vietnam War, Wesley Chapel High School

Students ring in the 2018-2019 school year

August 8, 2018 By B.C. Manion

As a new academic year begins, students heading to Florida public schools will be welcomed to campuses that are now protected by armed security.

The Florida Legislature mandated the armed guards at public school campuses across the state in response to the Valentine’s Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland that left 17 students and staff members dead, and 17 others injured.

But, the additional security is just one of many changes awaiting students at schools across The Laker/Lutz News coverage area.

Some students will be heading to entirely new campuses.

The North Tampa Christian Academy, is opening at 5619 E. County Line Road in Wesley Chapel. It will serve students from age 2 through 12th grade.

Union Park Charter Academy, a charter public school, is another new school. It is opening, at 32775 Oldwoods Ave., in Wesley Chapel. It is a kindergarten through eighth grade school, but this year will be serving only students in kindergarten through sixth grade.

Meanwhile, in Land O’ Lakes, students and faculty arriving at Land O’ Lakes High School will continue to see a campus in the midst of a major makeover. There’s still a considerable amount of work left to do, but the project involves a substantial upgrade of the facility.

Students and staff at Woodland Elementary School in Zephyrhills will find a campus that has already undergone a massive makeover.

And, while it’s not noticeable yet, Zephyrhills High School is gearing up to begin a renovation that also will breathe new life into the facility.

There are changes on the academic front, too.

Cypress Creek Middle High School, in Wesley Chapel, for instance, will have its first senior class.

And, Pine View Middle School, at 5334 Parkway Blvd., is starting the new school year as Pasco County’s first authorized IB Middle Years Programme World School.

The middle school has worked long and hard to achieve the distinction, dating back to May of 2015 when it became an IB candidate school.

In addition to that new distinction, Pine View also has been named a magnet school, which means that students who live outside of the school’s attendance zone can apply to attend the school.

On another front, Pasco County Schools offers a variety of enrichment programs before and after school for elementary-age children.

The district’s afterschool enrichment department also manages five other programs.

Two of those programs are funded through 21st Century Community Learning Centers federal grants. Those programs are the STAR Academy, for elementary students; and DELTA Academy, for middle school students, according to the district’s website. Both are free and are aimed at academic enrichment.
The STAR Academy programs are located at Gulf Highlands, Quail Hollow, and Rodney B. Cox elementary schools. The DELTA Academy programs are located at Gulf, Hudson, and Raymond B. Stewart middle schools.

Two afterschool fee-based programs also are being offered at some district schools.

Beyond the Bell is an afterschool program for middle school students that incorporates homework assistance, sports, music, dance, leadership development and community service activities, the district’s website says. It will be offered at Charles S. Rushe Middle School, in Land O’ Lakes and River Ridge Middle School in New Port Richey.

Explorations will be offered at Wiregrass Elementary School, in Wesley Chapel. The program operates Monday through Thursday, from 4:10 p.m. to 5:10 p.m. The program includes a variety of enrichment activities for children, such as coding and robotics, dance, Spanish, and sports drills and skills.

School’s back in session: Drive safely
As school bells ring in another academic year, motorists and pedestrians are reminded to be cautious to help keep everyone safe.

Here are some tips for drivers from AAA, North America’s largest motoring and leisure travel organization:

  • Observe the speed limit. School zone speed limits are purposefully set low. Children are unpredictable, and may have difficulty gauging the distance and speed of an approaching car.
  • Look for AAA School Safety Patrollers. They’re a sign you are approaching a school zone.
  • Stop completely at intersections with stop signs.
  • Always stop for school buses that are loading or unloading. Going around a stopped school bus is not only dangerous, it’s against the law.
  • Eliminate driver distraction. Keep your eyes on the road. Put your phone down, and keep an eye out for other drivers and pedestrians.
  • Plan Ahead. Build in extra time for congestion.

Published August 8, 2018

Filed Under: Education, Local News Tagged With: AAA, Beyond the Bell, Charles S. Rushe Middle, Cypress Creek Middle High School, DELTA Academy, East County Line Road, Florida Legislature, Gulf Highlands Elementary School, Gulf Middle School, Hudson Middle School, IB Middle Years Programme World School, Land O' Lakes High School, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, North Tampa Christian Academy, Oldwoods Avenue, Parkway Boulevard, Pasco County Schools, Pine View Middle School, Quail Hollow Elementary, Raymond B. Stewart Middle, River Ridge Middle, Rodney B. Cox Elementary, STAR Academy, Union Park Charter Academy, Wesley Chapel, Woodland Elementary School, Zephyrhills, Zephyrhills High School

Grades slip at numerous local schools

July 20, 2016 By B.C. Manion

The Florida Department of Education has released its annual school grades, and the news was not good for numerous Pasco County schools in The Laker/Lutz News’ coverage area.

“As soon as I saw the information, I was pretty distraught,” said Pasco County School Board member Alison Crumbley.

“This has to really be broken down,” she said, noting she has requested a school board workshop to address the issue. “We need to pick this apart. This is priority one — priority one, to figure this out.”

The district needs time to analyze the results, Crumbley said, so she requested the workshop be held following the board’s Aug. 2 meeting.

Overall, 10 central and east Pasco elementary schools slipped by one letter grade. Six elementary schools maintained the same grade as last year, and two improved by a letter grade. Pine View Elementary had the biggest drop, slipping from an A to a C. Sanders Elementary, which opened last school year, received a B. Quail Hollow, which reopened last year, received a C.

All seven middle schools, meanwhile, maintained the grades they received last year, including three As, at Rushe, John Long and Pine View.

But, the news was not as good at the high school level. Four high schools in east and central Pasco dropped a grade, while two remained the same.

No Pasco high school within the newspaper’s coverage area received an A grade. Last year, Wiregrass Ranch High, Land O’ Lakes High and Sunlake each received an A, but this year, they each dropped to a B. Wesley Chapel High, which had a B last year, dropped to a C.

Meanwhile, each of the Pasco charter schools, serving the newspaper’s coverage area — Academy at the Farm, Countryside Montessori and Imagine School at Land O’ Lakes —received an A, mirroring the score they each received last year.

Crumbley said she’s trying to understand why some schools performed at the same level, or even improved, while others slipped.

“Nothing is really straight up, cut-and-dried, in this business, and I do know that,” Crumbley said. “But by the same token, we have to get to the bottom of this. We have to. Period.”

School board member Steve Luikart also expressed concerns.

“Some of the schools slipped and the district slipped. We went from B to C,” Luikart said.

On one hand, Luikart said, “it’s hard to throw mud at something, when you’ve got a change of criteria every year … It’s impossible to nail down data, when the criteria is not consistent.”

On the other hand, he continued: “We’re still competing with everyone else in the state,” he said.

“We’re going to have to look at what we’ve got to do differently to head it back in a different direction. There’s no doubt about that,” he said.

“I’m definitely concerned. It’s very disappointing,” Luikart said.

This chart provides scores for east and central Pasco County schools.

Elementary schools
Centennial Elementary                         2016: D           2015: C
Chester W. Taylor Jr. Elementary                   2016: C           2015: C
Connerton Elementary                         2016: C           2015: B
Denham Oaks Elementary                               2016: C           2015: B
Double Branch Elementary                             2016: B           2015: A
Lacoochee Elementary                         2016: D           2015: F
Lake Myrtle Elementary                                  2016: B           2015: A
New River Elementary                                    2016: B           2015: B
Oakstead Elementary                                       2016: A           2015: A
Pasco Elementary                                            2016: D           2015: D
Pine View Elementary                         2016: C           2015: A
Quail Hollow                                                  2016: C           2015 (Not open)
Rodney B. Cox Elementary                             2016: D           2015: F
San Antonio Elementary                                 2016: C           2015: C
Sanders Elementary                                        2016: B           2015 (Not open)
Seven Oaks Elementary                                  2016: B           2015: A
Veterans Elementary                                       2016: B           2015: A
Watergrass Elementary                                    2016: C           2015: B
Wesley Chapel Elementary                              2016: A           2015: A
West Zephyrhills Elementary                          2016: D           2015: C
Woodland Elementary                         2016: D           2015: C

Middle schools
Centennial Middle                                           2016: C           2015: C
Charles S. Rushe Middle                                2016: A           2015: A
Dr. John Long Middle                                    2016: A           2015: A
Pasco Middle                                                  2016: C           2015: C
Pine View Middle                                           2016: A           2015: A
Raymond B. Stewart Middle School               2016: C           2015: C
Thomas E. Weightman Middle School            2016: B           2015: B

High schools
Land O’ Lakes High                                       2016: B           2015: A
Pasco High                                                      2016: C           2015: C
Sunlake High                                                  2016: B           2015: A
Wesley Chapel High                                       2016: C           2015: B
Wiregrass Ranch High                                    2016: B           2015: A
Zephyrhills High                                             2016: C           2015: C

Charter schools
Academy at the Farm                                      2016: A           2015: A
Countryside Montessori Academy                  2016: A           2015: A
Imagine School at Land O’ Lakes                   2016: A           2015: A

Published July 20, 2016

 

Filed Under: Education, Local News Tagged With: Academy at the Farm, Alison Crumbley, Centennial Elementary, Centennial Middle School, Charles S. Rushe Middle, Chester W. Taylor Jr. Elementary, Connerton Elementary, Countryside Montessori, Denham Oaks Elementary, Double Branch Elementary, Dr. John Long Middle, Florida Department of Education, Imagine School of Land O' Lakes, Lacoochee Elementary, Lake Myrtle Elementary, Land O' Lakes High, New River Elementary, Oakstead Elementary, Pasco County School Board, Pasco Elementary, Pasco High, Pasco Middle, Pine View Elementary, Pine View Middle, Quail Hollow Elementary, Raymond B. Stewart Middle, Rodney B. Cox Elementary, San Antonio Elementary, Sanders Elementary, Seven Oaks Elementary, Steve Luikart, Sunlake High, Thomas E. Weightman Middle, Veterans Elementary, Watergrass Elementary, Wesley Chapel Elementary, Wesley Chapel High, West Zephyrhills Elementary, Wiregrass Ranch High, Woodland Elementary, Zephyrhills High

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