Month: June 2016

Farina Rewarded For Humanitarian Efforts

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that New Tampa resident Sergio Farina has earned some recognition for more than just his academic achievements as he graduates from Tampa Jesuit High as the outgoing President of the school’s Student Body for the 2015-16 school year.

After all, Sergio is the son of my friends Lisette and local orthodontist Dr. Mark Farina, the man responsible for the beautiful smiles of thousands of New Tampa kids, including my sons, Jared and Jake.

But, Sergio is more than just a great student from a wonderful family. Also known as “DJ Svrge,” Sergio is a DJ and music producer who, through his passion for music, “adopted” a school in the Dominican Republic and provided it with a water well and electricity — two important, basic needs the school was lacking.

Sergio was awarded a Presidential Scholarship from Boston College (BC) for the Carroll School of Management Honors Program — based on his academics, leadership and service accomplishments during his years at Jesuit. This is a full merit scholarship, with summer international experience, service and internships abroad. BC’s Presidential Scholarship was awarded to only 14 students from around the world, representing only 0.2 percent of the Early Action applicants for the incoming freshman class of 2020.

Students were selected based on superior academic achievement and promise, leadership potential and a demonstrated commitment to serving society. They will be prepared to be global leaders.

The school announced, “As Jesuit’s student body president, it’s fitting Sergio Farina would earn a collegiate Presidential Scholarship.” JesuitTampa.org also noted that Sergio won this year’s Charles J. Lashley Award, for outstanding characteristics of student body leadership, “the highest honor Jesuit confers upon a graduating senior.”

The former Jesuit linebacker says that in 2009, he helped co-found with some of his family members in the Dominican “A Smile for a Sole,” a nonprofit organization that grew out of the Farina family’s vacations in the Dominican Republic. Sergio visited schools, plantations, and fishing villages, to distribute clothing, toys, and supplies. But, after six years of “doing the same thing,” he decided to help the Escuela Hermanas Mirabal school in Cucama a little more.

“I had fond memories of seeing kids running around the remains of the basketball court — rims broken and nets long gone, clenching pencils, determined to learn. I decided I would provide the school with its two biggest needs: water and electricity” — at a price tag of $10,000.

After one year, “DJ Svrge” reached his goal. “When I arrived in Cucama, the entire student body, as well as their parents, embraced me, taking photos with me. I was overwhelmed by their gratitude. I was just a kid who felt a strong social responsibility to provide what many take for granted.”

He may be “just a kid,’ but Sergio is a young man who hopes to inspire others to “Piensa Grande” (“Think Big”)!

bruce b. downs blvd. New Tampa

Girl Scouts Leave A Legacy At Tampa Palms Elementary

The Girl Scouts of Troop 966 donated a bike rack to Tampa Palms Elementary as part of their Bronze Project encouraging bike safety. The girls, pictured here with TPE principal MaryAnn Lippek are (l.-r.): Kaitlyn Graulich, Carissa Smith, Mallory Yee, Emory Seay, Lily Scalabrin, Isabella Cruz (in back) and Alexander Dominique. Gina Jasreman is not pictured.

When the eight girls (see photo) who make up Girl Scouts Troop 966 get together every other week, they meet at Compton Park in Tampa Palms. They’ve just completed fifth grade, but they’ve been a group since they were in kindergarten. While a few girls have come and gone over the years, the core group has stuck together.

“Six of the girls started together as Daisies, then moved up to Brownies, then Juniors,” explains their leader, Mieke Caris. “They are Juniors in fourth and fifth grade, and have now bridged to be Cadets, which is the Girl Scout rank for sixth grade girls.”

Now, as they leave Tampa Palms Elementary (TPE) and move on to middle school, they are leaving their mark at the school where all but one girl attended, in the form of a bike rack and a bike safety program that will continue, even after they’re gone.

Throughout this past school year, the girls have worked to complete their “Bronze Award” project, the highest award that can be received by Girl Scout Juniors. They have done all of the work and submitted their application; now they are waiting to hear if they will receive the award from the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida.

Earlier this year, the girls decided they wanted their project to support kids. “The Girl Scout law says to care for our neighborhood,” says Mieke, “so they found a good cause in safety when going to school.”

She explained that their research for the project included interviewing their school principal, local police, the crossing guards, and kids and parents on bicycles. They sold Girl Scout cookies and held other fund raisers to support their efforts.

Ultimately, the girls designed a program of bike safety that was supported by the TPE’s PTA. At a PTA meeting, the local group Bike/Walk Tampa Bay gave a presentation on bike safety, the girls discussed their project, and the PTA gave away bicycles and helmets.

“The Girl Scouts then placed a bike rack for all students to use in years to come to store their bikes safely,” says Mieke proudly.

Local Author’s First Book Sparked By Roar Heard In Wesley Chapel

The RoarWEB — Alicia White was inspired by a thread on the Wesley Chapel Community Facebook page to write her first novel, entitled The Roar.

Although Alicia White has lived in Lutz and Land O’ Lakes for 20 years, she says the first time she heard a roaring sound she describes as “ominous” was when she moved to Wesley Chapel a year ago.

White, who is a fifth grade teacher at Turner/Bartels K-8 School in nearby New Tampa, said the noise shook the windows and she felt it in the ground.

“I happened to be online and noticed people posting about it on the Wesley Chapel Community Facebook page,” she says, and it piqued her curiosity. “It’s the kind of thing that makes you look at someone in the room and say, ‘You heard that, too, right?’”

Alicia says that sparked an idea and led her to write a book. “The story is entirely fictional, but the idea came to me from hearing this roaring noise here in Wesley Chapel.”

Alicia’s self-published book is called The Roar and is available in hard copy and e-book form on Amazon.com. Alicia’s pen name is A. M. White.

The Roar is classified as “young adult dystopian fiction,” Alicia says, and is planned to be the first in a series. The book’s back cover explains it this way: “The world as we know it disappeared with the roars. Alex was enslaved by those controlling them. Little does she know that some have survived the roars and live outside the compounds, and someone out there is very interested in finding her. Alex’s world is about to expand beyond her imagination.”

Alicia is currently writing the second book in the series. Although she doesn’t use the book in her classroom (“That would be a little too much shameless self-promotion,” she laughs.), she does use her story to inspire her fifth graders. “It’s not just my dream to be a published author,” she tells her students. “It’s something that can be realized.”

Alicia says she intentionally wrote the book so that it would be appropriate for her students who might come across it. “Nowadays, it’s harder to find things that aren’t risqué,” Alicia says. “There is some violence in the book, because it’s a dystopian novel and has people trying to survive. But, I kept out profanity and sexual content.”

Alicia has been encouraged by reviews and the response to The Roar so far. She says book bloggers from around the world – from Denmark, India, South Africa, and the Philippines – have contacted her, wanting to read and review her novel.

“That’s been really neat,” she says. “It makes the world a bit smaller.”

The reviews on Amazon.com include this one by Maddy, who says:

“The Roar was a novel that sucked me in before I even started with a unique and captivating concept, took me through twists and turns and then left me wanting more. The characters were interesting and relatable, the story held my attention as I held my breath, cried, and laughed throughout, and the post apocalyptic world painted was one like no other. This book will please fans of post apocalyptic novels with slight nods to The Hunger Games and Divergent. You won’t be disappointed.”

As for those noises in Wesley Chapel? Alicia still hears them from time to time. While the most popular explanation seems to be they are from military exercises from MacDill Air Force Base, Alicia insists that just doesn’t make sense.

“It doesn’t seem like there’s a good explanation,” she says.

You can read more reviews or get your own copy of the book by searching “The Roar by A.M. White” at Amazon.com.

Saaya Named A Finalist In National American Miss Florida Pageant

By Christen Caporali

Six year-old Wesley Chapel resident Saaya Felder has been chosen as a state finalist for the National American Miss Florida Pageant that will be held in Orlando on July 8-9. She will be competing for the title of Miss Princess Florida in the 4-6 age division.

The pageant, which will be held at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Hotel, is for girls ages 4-18 in five different age divisions. Contestants will compete in four overall categories, including formal wear modeling, personal introduction, interview and community service projects. They also have the opportunity to compete in optional contests like Top Model Search, Talent, Actress, etc.

“We learned about the National American Miss Pageant from my sister-in-law, whose two daughters competed for Virginia in 2015,” says Nisha Sharma-Felder, Saaya’s mother. “The pageant is all about confidence and showing inner beauty, so they thought Saaya would be a perfect candidate.”

Through the National American Miss referral program, Saaya received an invitation in the mail to come to try-outs, which included an interview and a photo shoot. She had never competed in a pageant before and Saaya’s family was thrilled to find out that she had been chosen as a finalist.

“We had such a great experience with National American Miss,” Nisha says. “We are going to try and do it every year from now on.”

Saaya’s easiness around the cameras and with her photo shoot did not come as a surprise, as she has been modeling for the Benz Modeling Agency in Tampa since she was only a year old. According to Nisha, she loves to “work it” for the camera.

Saaya says her favorite part about the pageant was meeting the other girls, getting to dress up and model for the judges, and the photo shoot. Her favorite activities outside of modeling include t-ball, tennis, piano and swimming, as well as spending time with her family and friends.

In addition to the National American Miss Florida pageant, Saaya will also compete in the optional Casual Wear and Most Photogenic contests.

According to Steven Roddy, founder of ThePageantPlanet.com, the National American Miss Pageant System is by far the largest in the nation, beating out Miss America and Miss United States by a long shot. National American Miss places an emphasis on the importance of gaining self-confidence and learning new skills, such as good attitudes about competition, as well as setting and achieving personal goals. It is dedicated to celebrating America’s greatness and encouraging its future leaders while equipping them with the real-world skills they will need to make their dreams come true. The program awards hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships and prizes to recognize and assist the development of young ladies.

If she wins Miss Princess Florida, Saaya will receive a $1,000 cash award, the official crown and banner, a bouquet of roses, a VIP day for 2 at Disneyland and the opportunity to compete in the National American Miss pageant at Disneyland in California on November 19-25. She also will tour Hollywood, and have the chance to represent Florida for the entire year.

For more information about the National American Miss Program, please visit NAMiss.com.

Guinness Record for local hotshot

New Tampa resident Justin Dargahi recently made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for making 26 NBA-range (23’-9”) three-point shots in one minute.

Justin Dargahi doesn’t have the smoothest shot around. His form isn’t ideal, his finish isn’t textbook. In fact, you could argue he looks a little awkward as he fires the basketball towards the rim, jumping forward a bit, landing on his right foot.

“My shot’s been laughed at all my life,’’ Dargahi says.

Until it starts going in, which it almost always does.

Swish.

Dargahi, who lives in Hunter’s Green, is one of the newest entries into the Guinness Book of World Records, for that not-ideal, non-textbook, awkward-motion shot, after he made 26 three-pointers from the NBA range in one minute.

Shooting at the top of the key from 23 feet, 9 inches away, Justin broke the old Guinness record of 25 threes in a minute held by Oregon’s Dan Loriaux, who also holds the record for most treys made in one hour (1,077) and in 24 hours (10,381).

“I told some friends that I set the record, but they just told me to come see them when it’s official,’’ Justin said, laughing.

Well, it’s official.

Taking aim at Guinness record

The former Land O’ Lakes girls basketball assistant coach set the record Jan. 4 in the Land O’Lakes High gymnasium. His record-setting morning, for which he had to file an official application, as well as hiring basketball officials and recording the event, was finally certified by the Guinness Book of World Records last month.

Justin says the Guinness record doesn’t sound like much to some, who are convinced that an NBA player could set it if they tried. But, he says some have, most notably former Boston Celtics All-Star forward Paul Pierce and former NBA journeyman and sharpshooter Jason Kapono, who led the NBA in three-point shooting percentage twice and also won the Three-Point Shootout, held during the NBA’s midseason All-Star Weekend, twice.

It takes consistency and resilience, Justin says, and the fortitude to throw up almost a shot a second. After about 10 shots, most shooters’ arms grow weary. After 20, they hurt and after 30 the ball gets heavier, and the shooting form becomes a bit unraveled.

On Justin’s most recent attempt, which was the fifth time he had tried to break the record, he missed his first shot but then made his next six.

Halfway there (at 30 seconds), he had 16 makes and only five misses.

Justin Dargahi sets the record, seen here on YouTube.

And, with 7.8 seconds left, Record No. 26 swished through the net.

Justin, however, thought he had only made 25. After missing his final four shots, he extended his arms in agony, despite the cheering from the girl basketball players on hand.

“We had to make sure and check the video,’’ he said.

In all, Justin shot 38 times in 60 seconds, and made 26, for a remarkable 68.4 percent.

“It’s a little bit of notoriety, that’s nice,’’ said Dargahi, who works for Future Home Realty, which has six Florida offices, including one in Wesley Chapel.

Guinness confirmation arrives

The official Guinness Record certificate now sits over the fireplace in his home, a testament to setting a goal and achieving it. His next shot at fame, he says, may come from the free throw line, where the current record is 52 made in one minute from that 15-foot distance.

For Justin, the road to the record books was a natural one. He grew up a shooter, always drawing crowds and breaking records at the pop-a-shot games you find at arcades and theme parks.

He first played organized basketball at Tampa Baptist and Tampa’s Cambridge Christian, and had college aspirations. But, there were few spots on college basketball rosters for slightly-built 6-footers who weren’t great defenders.

“I was always by far the best shooter on the basketball teams I played on,’’ Justin said. “But, I wasn’t at good playing defense.”

Instead, Dargahi went to USF — where he once won $1,000 in a three-point shooting contest at the school — and graduated with a degree in journalism.

He continues to shoot hoops. On a recent blazing hot afternoon at Hunter’s Green’s Capt. Nathaniel Hunter Park, Justin shows off his gift, moving around the court and firing up shots, or “shot puts,” he jokes, many from a few feet behind the arc.

Swish.

“I’ve never been better,’’ says Justin, who is 34 years old. “My range keeps getting better.”

Justin still plays on Sunday mornings at Cambridge Christian on N. Habana Ave. with his old high school teammates and friends, and though he lives across the street from the court at Hunter’s Green, he doesn’t get out to shoot as much as he would like.

Still, he recently sent a letter to the University of South Florida basketball program — which has sorely lacked a pure outside shooter in recent years — asking coach Orlando Antigua for a chance to walk on to the team. He figured if he can make the Guinness Book of World Records for his uncommon gift of deadeye, long-range shooting, why not?

“Wouldn’t that be a great story?’’ Justin asks with a smile.