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Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Hurricane Maria

Sunlake High teacher lands geography fellowship

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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

Local man reaches ‘Hall of Fame’ status with relief charity

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When Mike Mira headed to the Noon Rotary Club Zephyrhills meeting nearly six years ago, he didn’t know it was going to change his life.

Mike Mira sits in his Zephyrhills restaurant, with a plaque and numerous $100,000 candy bars. The candy bars signify the amount of money that Mira has raised for ShelterBoxUSA, an organization that provides help internationally to victims of disaster. (B.C. Manion)

But, when the Zephyrhills man heard the presentation from ShelterBoxUSA representatives, he knew he wanted to get involved.

The presentation came about 18 months after the earthquake in Haiti, Mira said.

ShelterBox, which is an international organization, responds to disasters around the world. Trained responders will do an assessment to see what the need is, Mira said.

“If there’s a need, they’ll call for shelter boxes to come in,” he said.

The aid the organization sends is adaptable, based on what’s needed.

Sometimes it sends sturdy green shelter boxes, which hold practical tools and utensils, to support everyday life.

Contents of the box can vary, based on the disaster that occurred and the climate where it happened.

In general, though, each box contains a family-sized tent, solar lights, water storage and purification equipment, thermal blankets and cooking utensils.

In other cases, it sends shelter kits. These include toolkits, ropes, fasteners and heavy-duty tarps that can be used to build a shelter, repair damaged buildings and begin to rebuild a home.

These flooding victims in Malawi are carrying shelter boxes. (Courtesy of ShelterBox)

Again, the kits are customized to suit the needs of the community. Sometimes they include corrugated iron to help make resilient roofing, or even room dividers and mattresses to make warehouses habitable.

In some situations, the kits might also include solar lights, mattresses and water containers.

Sometimes, when families can’t start rebuilding their homes immediately, the organization supplies large, sturdy tents that can withstand extreme weather conditions and temperatures.

When a disaster strikes, ShelterBox Response Teams travel to the area to determine what, if any kind of response is needed, Mira said.

They go by foot, boat, helicopter or even tuk-tuk to get there, according to the organization’s website.

ShelterBox also makes sure the items end up in the right hands, Mira said.

These victims of an earthquake in Nepal are carrying supplies provided by ShelterBox. (Courtesy of ShelterBox)

“If they don’t come in through customs into our hands, we don’t bring them in. We want to make sure they actually go to the people who actually need them.

“That was the biggest selling point for me to get involved in the organization,” said Mira, who recently was inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame.

ShelterBox’s history dates back to 2000, Mira said, noting it was started by a Rotary Club.

“They wanted to help people who had lost everything,” he said.

“They came up with a kit. It had a tent. Basically, a glorified camping kit,” Mira said.

Over time, the organization grew into its own separate international entity, which is based in the United Kingdom.

A donkey hauls a cart holding a shelter box, in Ethiopia. (Courtesy of ShelterBox)

There are 14 affiliates around the world, Mira said.

“ShelterBoxUSA is right here in Lakewood Ranch, near Sarasota,” said Mira, who is a lead ambassador for the organization, and oversees the ambassadors in Florida and Georgia. He personally covers Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties.

Mira has done his part to spread the word, giving more than 100 presentations and raising more than $100,000. For his efforts, he recently became the 23rd person inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame.

The organization also has a location in Santa Barbara, California.

While it responds to disasters in far-off parts of the world, it also responds in the United States, he said.

“After Hurricane Katrina, when federal, state and local government were all pointing the finger at each other, and ‘Who’s problem is this?’ ShelterBox was on the ground,” he said, helping families.

“Superstorm Sandy, we responded. There wasn’t a need for the shelter. But, we left tons of mittens and scarves and hats.

These children and a woman sit in a tent provided by ShelterBox. (Courtesy of ShelterBox)

“We tailor the kits to where they are going,” Mira said.

“After the Japanese tsunami, we put a bunch of winter gloves and hats, and things like that, scarves. If it is going somewhere in Africa, we’ll put extra mosquito netting.”

It costs $1,000 for each shelter box, he said. In 2017, the organization helped 160,000 people, he added.

The organization focuses solely on helping families who have lost their shelter to operate from day to day.

“When the Haiti earthquake hit, the responder from ShelterBox called headquarters and said ‘Send everything we have.’

‘Everything in Cornwall?

‘No, everything we have around the world. We need it all.’

“We sent 28,417 shelter boxes, and an additional 7,000 just tents,” he said.

ShelterBox does not provide food.

“We work with other aid agencies. We provide the shelter. There are other agencies that provide the food, the medicine and stuff like that,” Mira said.

ShelterBox is currently responding in the Caribbean following Hurricanes Irma and Maria, Bangladesh following flooding in the north and the Rohingya refugee crisis in the south, and Somaliland where people are displaced by drought. The organization is also providing aid to people displaced by conflict situations in Syria, Iraq, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

Mira is proud of the organization’s record.

“We’re Charity Navigator 4-star rated, the highest rating you can get from Charity Navigator.

Anyone who would like to help can go to ShelterBoxUSA.com to donate.

“If there are any organizations who want a presentation, they can contact me,” Mira said. He can be reached at (813) 469-0243.

Published January 10, 2018

Helping Puerto Rico, one click at a time

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As the island of Puerto Rico tries to pick up the pieces after the devastating landfall of Hurricane Maria, a group of students at Sunlake High School offered their help in the recovery efforts — via classroom computers nearly 1,200 miles away.

Sunlake High School geography teacher Anne Cullison introduced her classes to a collaborative project called The Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team. (Courtesy of Sunlake High School)

On Oct. 2 and Oct. 3, students in teacher Anne Cullison’s Advanced Placement (AP) Geography class participated in a collaborative project called The Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, a nonprofit that does emergency mapping in the wake of disasters.

Cullison’s two classes, comprised of mostly freshman, mapped areas affected in Puerto Rico using what’s called OpenStreetMap, a web project that uses open-source geospatial data, and satellite imagery to create better, digitally available maps of the area.

Over the course of two days, Cullison’s students mapped and validated everything from buildings and streets, to homes and parking garages.

The exercise, also performed by numerous volunteers worldwide, serves a critical resource when relief organizations, such as the American Red Cross and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), are responding to disasters — by providing more details on the island’s roads and buildings, in part to give them information about who needs help and how to get there.

Cullison explained relief organizations working in Puerto Rico struggle to help those trapped in rural areas in the interior of the island, due to little data on roadways and buildings. Small towns may also not be labeled on maps, so in some cases, aid workers may not even know which towns exist.

But, with up-to-date maps, “the Red Cross…can go in and start actually checking destroyed things and go, ‘OK, well that was a building,’” Cullison said.

“It could also give them data about areas that may be without power or what kind of infrastructure needs to be rebuilt,” she said.

Hurricane Maria unleashes her fury

Puerto Rico was hit by Hurricane Maria, a Category 5 Hurricane, on Sept. 20. More than 1,500 roads and bridges were damaged after the hurricane. Rebuilding them could cost more than $240 million, transportation officials estimate. Forty-five deaths have been reported in Puerto Rico alone, as of Oct. 10. (Courtesy of U.S. Department of Defense)

Hurricane Maria, a Category 5 Hurricane, hit Puerto Rico on Sept. 20 after barreling into Dominica.

Regarded as the worst natural disaster on record in Dominica, Hurricane Maria also caused catastrophic damage and a major humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico.

More than 1,500 roads and bridges were damaged after the hurricane, and rebuilding them could cost more than $240 million, transportation officials estimate. There also have been 45 known deaths in Puerto Rico alone, as of Oct. 10.

The Humanitarian OpenStreet Map Team seeks to help emergency responders help people affected in disaster zones.

The group was initially organized after the Haiti earthquake in 2010. At the time, the maps available of the country were on paper, and mostly outdated.

A loose network of volunteers started using OpenStreetMap, to create better, digitally available maps of the area.

Since then, emergency disaster mappers have worked to coordinate their responses to provide more directed, higher quality maps — to give disaster response workers better information.

Cullison explained OpenStreetMaps differs from Google Maps, as Google Maps is proprietary software that doesn’t allow third parties to label buildings and residential areas and so on.

“If you pull up a Google Map of Puerto Rico, it’s going to look essentially like (OpenStreetMaps), but there’s nothing you do with it,” Cullison said.

OpenStreetMaps, however, can provide relief organizations data about the types of infrastructure that needs to be rebuilt in a certain area by detailing, “exactly what was there” prior to a natural disaster.

As an example closer to home, Cullison pointed out Google Maps has labeled streets and large buildings, like Sunlake High School, but not her own residential neighborhood.

“None of the homes around here are mapped…so we would have some of the exact same problems,” the high school teacher said.

Geography teacher brings her lessons to life
Cullison herself learned about humanitarian mapping last spring, when she participated in the American Geological Society teacher fellowship program. She was one of 50 teachers selected for the program, which was held at Columbia University in New York City.

Besides Sunlake, volunteers from other universities — including Boston University, Trinity College, Miami (Ohio) University, the University of Miami, Rutgers (New Jersey) University and University of Nebraska Omaha — held simultaneous “mapathons” for Puerto Rico on their own campuses.

Meanwhile, other worldwide emergency mapping projects also are being done for Mexico, following a trio of September earthquakes, and for Bangladesh, after experiencing devastating flooding during monsoon season.

Madeline Murch, a freshman Advanced Placement geography student, marks buildings on OpenStreetMap, to gives relief organizations in Puerto Rico information about who needs help and how to get there. (Kevin Weiss)

Many of Cullison’s students, including freshman AP student Madeline Murch, found the two-day humanitarian activity worthwhile.

“It’s really nice knowing that you can help other people, just from sitting in your class and doing work at a computer, but knowing that it’s still helping others. I feel like it’s time well spent,” Murch said.

Diego Montoya, another freshman AP student, agreed that it’s great to be able to help others.

He also noted: “This class just kind of opened my eyes a bit to what’s actually going on in the world, rather than what’s going on just like in technology.”

The way Cullison sees it, the exercise has both philanthropic and educational benefits.

“This is kind of getting them some hands-on use in terms of GIS software and the layers,” she said. “We were already a little bit behind because of our own hurricane in losing (school) days, but I decided this was worth it so I pushed our schedule a little bit farther to get them into this, for them to see what we can actually do with geography.”

Throughout the year, Cullison plans to introduce her classes to other geographic-related software techniques, like Esri, an international supplier of geographic information system (GIS) software.

“It’s different than a regular geography course. It’s not just about, ‘Here’s a map and let’s talk about the culture in one place.’” said Cullison, who’s taught geography and social studies for 13 years.

Instead, students in her AP class learn about global development, migration, culture and religion, resource disparity, political geography and urban development, among other topics.

“We have the interplay between the human aspect and the physical aspects and where they come together,” Cullison explained.

“Kids come out more understanding, more caring, because they understand a little bit more about the world. They really start to understand the plight of some of the other people around the world, instead of having the veil of a fairly privileged upbringing.”

Published Oct. 18, 2017

Lessons learned from Hurricane Maria

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Hurricane Maria left a trail of death and destruction and continues to impose extreme hardships to those living in its path — and it also offered the Zloty family of Land O’ Lakes, dramatic reminders of the power of faith, the fragile nature of life, and the importance of gratitude.

From left, Martin, Justin and Colleen Zloty, are together again in their Land O’ Lakes home. Justin, 22, is a medical student at Ross Medical School, which is being forced to relocate from Dominica following Hurricane Maria’s devastation there. (B.C. Manion)

Hurricane Maria’s impact on Colleen and Martin Zloty’s family began on Sept. 18 when they heard a hurricane was building strength near the island of Dominica, where 22-year-old Justin Zloty was in his first year at Ross Medical School.

Knowing that a hurricane was brewing, Colleen turned on The Weather Channel when she arrived home from her job as an instructional assistant at Sand Pine Elementary School.

At that point, Hurricane Maria was a Category 2.

By 7 p.m. it had ramped up to a Category 5 and was headed straight toward Dominica.

In a national news report, NBC News meteorologist Bill Karins characterized Hurricane Maria as one of the fastest-intensifying hurricanes in recent history. He said it strengthened so rapidly that those in its path didn’t have time to get ready.

Hurricane Maria’s winds were so fierce they not only knocked down trees, but also stripped the bark off them. (Courtesy of Justin Zloty)

As Maria churned, Colleen and Martin’s concern grew.

“We were texting back and forth with him,” Colleen said. “I said, ‘You know, your roof is not going to hold for a Category 5 Hurricane. It has winds of 160 mph.’”

Justin responded that he was in a concrete block building with strong walls, that had weathered storms.

Colleen warned: “This is getting really strong now. It’s serious. You need to know of another place you can go.”

Justin replied: “If it gets real bad, I’ll go downstairs to a neighbor.”

As Maria approached, Justin told his mom: “It does sound like they say. It’s like a roaring train.”

Then, they lost contact.

“We’re trying to give him advice. Do this. Do this. Do this.

“Then all of a sudden, no contact. And then you think, ‘OK, maybe he’ll get back online. Maybe they’ll re-establish power,” Martin said.

Their last communication was about 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 18, Colleen said.

“It was silent for two days,” Martin said.

Fears mount as Maria strengthens

While his parents worried in their Land O’ Lakes home, Justin’s apprehension was increasing in his Dominica apartment.

“All of a sudden, the power went out and the water stopped working and the Internet went out,” Justin said.

When a corner of his ceiling popped down and broke. Justin hid under a table for protection.

The third-floor apartment started flooding. Justin worried he could get electrocuted if the power went back on.

“I was really scared,” he said.

When more ceiling began falling, Justin decided it was time to leave.

Hurricane Maria wreaked havoc across Dominica, including tearing the roof off of Justin Zloty’s third-floor apartment, getting everything wet and blowing debris everywhere. (Courtesy of Justin Zloty)

He ran downstairs — clinging to a railing as winds whipped him about.

He stayed overnight with his landlord and his landlord’s wife.

“I continued to hear trees snapping and aluminum things just flying around.

“Around 6 a.m., the storm had settled down,” Justin said.

He decided to check on his apartment. It was flooded, his belongings were strewn about and the roof was gone.

He packed some clothes and food and headed to Ross’ student center, where he’d been told a roll call would be taken.

Normally, the student center is a 10-minute walk from Justin’s apartment.

But he couldn’t take the usual route. The area was unrecognizable. Trees were snapped. Bark was blown off. Power lines were down and buildings were damaged or destroyed.

Hurricane Maria wreaked havoc across Dominica, including tearing the roof off of Justin Zloty’s third-floor apartment, getting everything wet and blowing debris everywhere. (Courtesy of Justin Zloty)

When he arrived at the student center, it was chaos.

He was stuck there, waiting for the roll call and to find out what would happen next.

There was no running water, so he bathed and washed his clothes in the river. He slept on the floor.

Meanwhile, his parents still had not heard a word.

“That was terrible,” Colleen said. “Who could survive? I knew that the roof was not going to hold.”

The Zlotys, who attend First Baptist Church in Land O’ Lakes, relied on their faith.

“We were praying and praying. That’s how we got through it,” Colleen said. She called a friend and asked her to pray for Justin.

Her friend got a prayer chain going.

“These are ladies — they are on their knees when they’re praying,” Colleen said.

“It just wrenches you,” Martin said. “The mind would go crazy: Is he hurt? Is he calling out for help? Is he alive?

“So, then you say, ‘Lord, I know you are there. This is all in your timing. I know you’ve got this under control.’,” Martin said.

Colleen added: “I kept thinking about that verse, ‘All of the days ordained for me are written in your book, before one of them came to be.’ It’s in Psalm 139:16.”

She continued: “God knows what’s going on. He’s got a plan for Justin. I’ve loved having him for my son, and I wanted to still be able to treasure and find great joy in the years I’ve had with him, not let the thought of all this grief, overwhelm that.”

 While waiting, they worked

Martin, a nuclear medicine physician at James A. Haley Veterans Hospital, said he knew working would help keep his mind occupied.

Colleen went to her job because she wanted to honor Justin, who had encouraged her to do the work she does.

The wait, however, “was really agonizing,” Colleen said.

This is the pirate cruise ship that Justin Zloty sailed on from Dominica, past Martinique to St. Lucia. The trip normally would take a few hours, but took 12 hours because of the high seas. (Courtesy of Justin Zloty)

Martin replayed his emotions during that time.

“You go back and you think of all of the baby pictures. All of the times you were with him. Even the last conversation you had with him, you think, maybe that’s all there is now.

“You start to come to grips: Do I have to say bye to him? And, how do I deal with that?” Martin said.

Finally, on Sept. 20, they found out Justin was OK.

“As soon as I heard, I just started crying,” Colleen said.

Martin added: “I was just, ‘Thank you, Lord.’”

That gratitude hasn’t flagged.

“I’m still thanking the Lord every morning on my way to work. It had been just begging the Lord to spare his life,” Colleen said.

Justin’s return to Land O’ Lakes started with a taxi ride on Dominica to catch a ride on a pirate cruise ship that took 12 hours to make a trip on rough waters to St. Lucia. Then, it was another long taxi ride to catch a chartered flight to Miami.

Finally, he flew on a commercial jet to Tampa International Airport.

Since returning to Land O’ Lakes, Justin has been enjoying time with his parents, and his three brothers, Joshua, 24; Weston, 18; and, Daniel, 15.

Martin and Colleen said they’re grateful Justin is safely home, but they realize how terrible the conditions are for people in Dominica, Puerto Rico and other places ravaged by Hurricane Maria.

Justin understands, too.

“I was able to fly away from that island and come home here. But the island people, they live on that island. That’s their home,” he said.

Published Oct. 11, 2017