Wharton’s Cross Country Success Bodes Well For 2016 Track Season

Story & Photo by Andy Warrener

(L.-r.): Bryanna Rivers, Rachel Lettiero, Mackenzie Willman, Caroline Maggi, Marin James, Alisha Deschenes and Rania Samhouri pose with their trophy after winning the Hillsborough County Cross Country Championship meet. The Wharton girls went on to finish third at States, tops in the Tampa Bay area.
(L.-r.): Bryanna Rivers, Rachel Lettiero, Mackenzie Willman, Caroline Maggi, Marin James, Alisha Deschenes and Rania Samhouri pose with their trophy after winning the Hillsborough County Cross Country Championship meet. The Wharton girls went on to finish third at States, tops in the Tampa Bay area.

A great way to forecast high school spring track season success is to evaluate a school’s success during the fall cross country season. In that regard, the members of the girls cross country team at Paul R. Wharton High on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. have put themselves in a very good position for spring track following a dominant cross country season that concluded Nov. 7 in Tallahassee.

Mired in a brutal district (District 4A-6), the Wharton cross country team had to cut its teeth by battling all season with 10-time state champion Plant and county powerhouse Newsome.

Still, they came out on top in all of Hillsborough County in nearly every instance. First, it was the Hillsborough County Championships, where the Wildcats out-distanced Plant 44-65. Next, it was at the District 4A-6 meet, where the ‘Cats clipped the Panthers 32-41.

At the 4A Region 2 meet in Lakeland, the Wharton girls had an off day but still managed third place behind Newsome, 104 to 112.

“You always know Coach (Orlando) Greene is going to field a competitive team at Plant and you know you have to be ready to roll and that you can’t count them (Newsome) out,” Wharton coach Anthony Triana said.

The Wildcat girls bounced back in a big way, however, in Tallahassee at the State championships, finishing third, the best showing for any Hillsborough County girls team, and a big jump from the previous year when Wharton was 13th.

Top cross country runners Alisha Deschenes and Rania Samhouri both placed in the top 30 individually in Tallahassee.

WhartonXC_2_1Deschenes was the 4A-6 District champion and set a personal best this season with a run of 19 minutes, 31 seconds at the FSU Invitational, as did Samhouri (19.44 at FSU Invitational) and Bryanna Rivers (19:50.9 at the district meet). Samhouri moved up to the No. 2 runner behind Deschenes for Wharton after starting the season at No. 5.

Samhouri used a tough finish at state track last season to fuel her cross country season, and she hopes to carry that energy from cross country into the upcoming track season. “Rania had a tough leg of the 4x800m at States, where she got passed down the final stretch,’’ Triana said, “and it’s fueled her ever since.”

Rania told Triana that the ride back from the State meet counted as her break, and she was ready for the next season. “Most kids take a couple of weeks off, Triana said. “That just shows her determination and why she did so well in cross country this season.”

Deschenes didn’t even compete for Wharton in track last season, devoting her time to the soccer pitch, but after a solid cross country campaign, she’s now slated to run for the Wildcats this coming season.

The Wharton girls started spring conditioning for track on November 23.

“Anytime you go from States to the next season, it’s all about keeping the kids hungry,” Triana said. “These girls have that. We took two weeks off from cross country States and we’re already ready to go.”

According to the FHSAA record books, no Hillsborough County girls team has ever won a team track title. The best finish by any Hillsborough County school belongs to the Wildcats in 2008, when they finished third.

It will be no picnic and certainly it will be extremely difficult to unseat 10-time and back-to-back Class 4A state champs St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale, but Triana thinks cracking into the top five with eyes on the runner-up position or even better is possible.

“All last year did was give us more confidence that we can compete with anyone,” Triana said. “When that gun goes off we’re going to give it all we can and compete with those people.

“Forty or 50 points is likely to get you first or second (in Class 4A) at States. We expect to have 10-12 girls competing at the State track meet this coming season, so I’m pretty sure we can score 40 or 50 points.” Last season, the Wildcat girls finished 12th, but return most of the key contributors.

Top sprinter Aria Tate, a junior, placed sixth in the 100m hurdles at states, just missing the 200m finals by 0.08 seconds. Top middle distance runner Rivers, the school record holder in the 800m and sixth-place finisher in the event at the State meet, also is just a junior. Serena Gadson was 13th at States in the 800m and is just a sophomore. Junior Marin James returns after placing 13th in the 3200m race.

Wharton’s 4x400m relay team was dominant locally and was seventh at the 2015 State meet. The 4x800m relay was third at States, two seconds off the school record, and returns all four runners.

Field events might be the one weak spot for the 2016 Wildcats, but it’s an area of emphasis with Triana and his assistants this offseason.

“It’s part of the team that we really need to develop,” Triana said. “Long jumper Avonti Holt and high jumper Sabrena Eye will be key for us.”

Rapid growth fuels Family Of Christ Christian School’s success

Story and photos by Andy Warrener

Family of Christ Christian School principal Jennifer Snow (r.), with Kelli Tully, the director of Pure Hearts Rescue of New Tampa, on Great American Teach-In day at the school.
Family of Christ Christian School principal Jennifer Snow (r.), with Kelli Tully, the director of Pure Hearts Rescue of New Tampa, on Great American Teach-In day at the school.

New Tampa was a vastly different place in the early 1990s, home to more wildlife than people, more trees than homes and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. was a two-lane, eight-mile “road to nowhere.”

As we all know, that changed quickly. From 1990-2000, the population in New Tampa increased by 273 percent, from 7,145 residents to 26,634, according to the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Division. Getting in on the ground floor of the population boom was a tiny Lutheran Church with big ideas.

In November of 1999, Family of Christ Christian School (FoCCS), part of Family of Christ Lutheran Church, led by Pastor Dave Haara, purchased 31 acres of land in Tampa Palms. At the time, all Haara and his followers had was a church, a Pre-K and Kindergarten class and a mission.

“Our goal was to add one grade every year,” FoCCS principal Jennifer Snow says. “We are looking to be a light that stands out in the community.”

Family of Christ has stayed the course. The school has continued to add grades, and today, FoCCS includes kindergarten through eighth grade.

“God has blessed us more than anything I could have imagined,” Snow says. “It’s like a family here.”

When Snow arrived in 2005, after helping establish Grace Episcopal Pre-School in New Tampa, there were already 79 students ranging from Kindergarten through fifth grade at FoCCS. The school now educates 177 children, more than doubling the student population under Snow’s watch. “It’s been a tremendous amount of growth,” Snow says.

Snow also notes that 95 percent of the staff that was present when she took over in 2005 is still at the school today.

“There hasn’t been a day that I don’t want to come in here and see these faces,” Snow says with a smile.

FOC5The school couples community service with academic achievement. Parents of FoCCS students are asked to put in 20 hours of volunteer work annually for the school. Those hours can be logged in the classroom, at open house events or during any of the many fund-raising events the school participates in each year.

“(Volunteer hours) are an integral part of the school’s success,” Snow says. “Most (families) do more (than the 20 hours), some go way beyond and are always searching for opportunities to serve others in the community.”

In addition to helping at the school itself, FoCCS parents, students and administrators participate in community outreach programs, including partnering with Metropolitan Ministries in central Tampa to help feed the homeless.

“(Our) parents are the first ones to go out in the community,” Snow says. “Those are the people (who) allow God’s love to show through them.”

Academic achievement is another ingredient in the school’s success. FoCCS is fully accredited by the National Lutheran Schools Association (NLSA). The school also complies with and exceeds the Florida Sunshine State Standards as well as the Hillsborough County Benchmarks set for each of FoCCS’s nine grade levels. The school is an active participant in the National Junior Honor Society (NJHS); in fact, Snow estimates that 80-90 percent of her students are members of the NJHS. FoCCS also offers three high school credits — in Science, Spanish I and Algebra I — and Snow estimates that 98 percent of the students who graduate the eighth grade leave with all three credits.

FOC“We take what’s really working out there and use it to educate (our) students,” Snow says.

The results are encouraging. FoCCS participates in the Science Olympics at MOSI, and recently, first-grader Spence Palmer was one of the award winners. Students also take standardized tests like the SAT and ACT, and most feed into local public and private schools like Wharton, Wesley Chapel, Freedom, Cambridge Christian and Tampa Catholic. Some students have fed into the International Baccalaureate (IB) programs at King and Hillsborough high schools. Many are now attending state universities like the University of Florida in Gainesville and Florida State University in Tallahassee, and even nationally-recognized technology institutes like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, MA.

Athletics also is a big part of the FoCCS experience. Volleyball, cross country, soccer, flag football, golf and basketball are all offered at the school and students participate in a 14-school Tampa Bay Christian Athletic League.

Getting into FoCCS isn’t automatic, but it’s far from impossible. There’s a screening process every applicant must go through and there is mandatory, annual tuition along with the volunteer commitment. Class sizes range from 18 to 22 students per class and, according to Snow, FoCCS is at capacity but is always looking forward to new applicants. “It’s hard to turn great families away,” she says.

The school has a number of ways to help with tuition once a student is accepted. First, FoCCS participates in the state-approved “Step Up for Students” program, a non-profit organization that provides scholarship funding. There also is a school scholarship fund aimed at retaining students whose families endure economic hardships.

“When there’s a need within the school and the family has attended and started with us, then if there’s a job loss or a death in the family, we try to keep the continuity for the kids,” Snow says. “We try to keep tuition down; it’s up to families (to give) what they are capable of giving.”

FOC2Tuition is not the only source of funding for FoCCS, and that’s where the school takes participation to a new level. In order to fund its nearly constant expansion, FoCCS offers a litany of community fund-raising events.

The school’s “Night of Knights” event, started in 2006, has raised more than $380,000 since its inception. In 2015, the Night of Knights featured a casino theme with a silent auction, a live auction and other casino gaming activities. Auction items included beach weekends, sports memorabilia, and the chance to be principal of FoCCS for a day. The school’s walkathon takes place every February and targets specific needs — in 2016, Snow says the goal will be to build a new basketball court on campus.

FoCCS also hosts an annual Octoberfest, an event open to the public with a live DJ. The first week back from Christmas break, the school hosts an Epiphany bonfire, also open to the public. Even small events like pumpkin carving contests and auctions for decorated Christmas baskets keep the school moving and growing and the community is always welcome to attend all of them.

“We want everyone to feel welcome (at the events),” Snow says.

The week before Thanksgiving break, FoCCS participated in the Great American Teach-In and had 35 speakers come in. Among them were Florida Highway Patrolman Eric Madill, Kelli Tully (director of Pure Hearts Rescue of New Tampa) and USF Assistant Professor of Anthropology Rosie Bongiovanni.

Even if your child does not attend FoCCS, there are opportunities at the church’s Child Development Center (CDC) where full-time childcare is offered 7 a.m.-6 p.m. every weekday. Buses from FoCCS travel to public schools in the area and escort children to the CDC.

“When you can give a tour and not have to sell anything, when you see parents all smiles and having fun, when you see the kids learning but still having fun,’’ Snow says, “it makes you think you must be doing something right.”

Family of Christ Christian School & Church are located at 16190 BBD Blvd. in Tampa Palms For more info, call 558-9343 or visit EdLine.net/pages/FamilyofChristCS. To see FoCCS’s list of donors and sponsors, see the ad on pg. 32 of this issue.

Syrian Restaurant Owner Speaks Out About Fear & Misconceptions

Bilal2By John C. Cotey

Bilal Saleh, the owner of Zaytoun Mediterranean Grill on Cross Creek Blvd. at Morris Bridge Rd. is a U.S. citizen who was born and raised in Syria. Bilal wants the people of New Tampa to know that the vast majority of Syrians living here are productive members of U.S. society.

Bilal Saleh, wearing black dress slacks and a blue pinstriped dress shirt, sits in a booth at the Zaytoun Mediterranean Grill, the restaurant he owns with his brother Mohammad. Saleh’s voice is soft and his words are thoughtfully chosen.

He is troubled.

Originally from Damascus, Syria, Bilal (now a U.S. citizen) says he watches television these days, and the sights from his homeland horrify him, as much as the sounds, from talking heads, politicians, presidential candidates and so-called experts, mostly calling for the United States and other countries to turn away refugees fleeing a war that has dragged on for almost five years now and has left more than 200,000 of his people dead.

Plans to let refugees into the U.S. have been facing stiff resistance. The terrorist killings in Paris on Nov. 13, and unofficial reports of a discovery of a Syrian passport — later deemed a fake — next to one of the terrorists, quickly turned much of the country against the refugees, conflating the Syrian people themselves with the terrorist group commonly known as ISIS.

“It’s just amazing how within the span of a week, the Syrian people have turned from victims to a threat (in people’s eyes),’’ Bilal says. “The Syrian people have been bombarded, killed, raped and tortured for four years. That really hurts, when you see how suddenly (it happens)
.yesterday you were a victim; today, you are now a threat.”

Bilal is quick to condemn ISIS and the terrorist attacks in Paris and other places.

“We vehemently disagree with all that is going on. It is definitely against Islam and against the teaching of the Prophet (Mohammed),” he says.

It angers him, because as a result, anti-Muslim fears and threats are at an all-time high in this country, according to the Council of American-Islamic Relations. Mosques are on high alert, Islam is being protested, violence has been threatened.

Bilal says he himself hasn’t been threatened specifically, but the Masjid Daarus Salaam (which translates to “house of peace”) mosque on Morris Bridge Rd. a couple of miles south of his restaurant, where he and his family worship, has received threatening phone calls and hate emails. Facebook comments have been harsh. The vitriol in the public square has definitely been heating up.

“If I compared the reaction after the Paris attacks to the reaction after 9-11, I see this reaction as much more, I don’t know how to describe it…enormous,” Bilal says.

To a degree, Bilal says he can understand the fears and concerns. It didn’t feel great, he says, when he traveled internationally on business in his years working for MCI Telecommunications and was held for a search every time, or how he was suspiciously viewed after 9-11. “We lost over 3,000 people (on 9-11),’’ he says. “I understand.”

Those fires burned out. But now, even larger, hotter flames are being stoked.

“I am a little worried,’’ Bilal says. “I’m worried about a crazy person coming to the mosque on a Friday where we have 500 people. It’s highly unlikely but it is possible
.we’ve gotten some (safety) recommendations from the (U.S.) Dept. of Homeland Security. We haven’t done anything. Maybe we should, I don’t know.”

Most disappointing, perhaps, is what Bilal says is a pattern of troubling disinformation espoused by some of the Republican presidential candidates. Ben Carson, for example, compared Syrian refugees to “rabid dogs.” Others have called the refugees terrorists and accused Muslims of celebrating after 9-11.

“For the average person watching CNN and FOX News, I really sympathize with them,’’ he says. “I see where they are coming from. If I were them, I would have the same feelings. There is a very credible story with pictures with experts talking, and they are instilling fear. I would be concerned. I really feel sorry for them, I would like to reach out to them and explain to them at the same time. But, for politicians, leaders, to spread this misconception, I don’t understand. They are playing on (public) fears. It is not American. Everyone is an expert, but no one lets us talk.”

Bilal left Syria in 1978 as a 17-year-old, when his father took a job in Saudi Arabia as a professor. A violent uprising in Syria around that same time made it unsafe to return.

He came to the U.S. as a student, and attended Eastern Tennessee State University in Johnson City. He holds a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Electronics Engineering, a Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Computer Science and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago. He also holds three U.S. patents.

His four daughters are all college graduates. Two are currently in law school.

The process for Bilal was far easier than it is for political refugees today, who have to pass through a rigorous 13-step process, which can take two years.

In the last year, just over 100 Syrians have settled in Florida, with 36 of them making Hillsborough County home.

Bilal says there are just a handful of Syrian families in New Tampa, but they are productive members of society and take pride in their achievements, and certainly don’t deserve to be a singled out for the atrocities being committed overseas.

“If you look at the Muslim community, and the Syrian community in particular, we are engineers, physicians, lawyers, business people, innovators, technologists,’’ he says. “Chances are, talking to your readers, one of you or someone you know has been treated by a Syrian physician. The bridge you drove on, designed by Syrian engineer. I myself hold three U.S. patents, I have contributed to the technology industry. We are people who are providers, who are contributors. We’re not freeloaders, we’re part of the fabric of this society.”

That fabric, however, may be fraying, as anti-Islamic violence pops up across the country.

Still, Bilal looks around, and while the hatred and anger towards Muslims is disconcerting, it has not changed his view about America. He still thinks it is a wonderful place and a beautiful country and he is still proud to be a U.S. citizen. And, even when darkness seems to be descending, he says there is always seems to be a ray of hope.

“One of the my customers, he called me over and he said I came here for two reasons — the second reason is because you have good food,’’ Bilal says. “But the first reason is to make a statement that I support you. I disagree with what’s being said. I told him people like you make me love this country even more.”