Viera Talks Veterans & More With Both New Tampa Rotary Clubs

Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera talks to the New Tampa Noon Rotary Club on Feb. 15.

Recently elected District 7 Tampa City Councilman and New Tampa resident Luis Viera, two months into his new job of replacing Lisa Montelione on the council, is continuing to make his rounds in New Tampa.

Last week, Viera spoke before the New Tampa Noon Rotary as well as the Rotary Club of New Tampa, filling in club members about some of his goals in his new position.

The most interesting tidbits Viera shared involved the potential creation of a North Tampa Veterans Association, while also suggesting that plans for the long-delayed Hunter’s Lake project may be close to being filed.

Viera, the attorney with Ogden Sullivan who defeated Jim Davison in a hotly-contested runoff election in December, said he recently met with developers, who told him that plans may be filed by April for the project located directly across from the entrance to Hunter’s Green that will be home to the New Tampa Cultural Center, apartments, a restaurant and a green grocer — which Viera said he has heard would likely be either a Trader Joe’s or a Whole Foods.

Viera added that he is hoping developers choose a non-chain restaurant to fill the space.

“Hunter’s Lake is a project that is necessary and important to the area, and I’m ready to fight for it,’’ Viera said.

Viera also is hoping to put together some area leadership groups, first and foremost a North Tampa Veterans Council. An informational meeting has been scheduled for Sunday, March 19 at 12:45 p.m. at the New Tampa Library.

He says New Tampa has a large contingent of veterans living in the area, and combined with the close proximity to the University of South Florida and the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., it’s only natural the area should support veterans through a council.

Viera’s hope is that regional connections can be made with other veterans group, and a council would not only help foster patriotism but also help craft an identity for all of North Tampa.

Although Viera said he is still months away from putting together a council, another of his projects is already seeing results, he says.

His recent area tour with code enforcement has already helped reduce the number of tractor trailers that typically park in the Muvico Starlight 20 parking lot in Highwoods Preserve, and he hopes to see the same results at the former Sweetbay Supermarket across BBD from Muvico.

Some other topics Viera touched on:

Tampa Fire Station No. 23, which will be built on County Line Rd. between LA Fitness and BBD, could break ground in April.

Viera also told the Rotarians that the Kinnan St.-Mansfield Blvd. dead-end is still on his list of items to tackle, and (as a member of the MPO Board) that the idea of a East-West road that was nixed in 2008 but still in the Tampa Hillsborough MPO’s 2025 Long Range Transportation Plan could be revived.

Viera said he would like to see a Veterans Park built in New Tampa. He also visited the New Tampa Recreation Center in Tampa Palms, where he was told the waiting list for gymnastics is 2,400 students long.

Turner-Bartels Kindergarten Teacher Runner-Up For ‘Teacher Of The Year’

Kindergarten teacher Carrie Donatelli of Turner-Bartels K-8 School was a 2017 finalist for Hillsborough Teacher of the Year.

At the annual “Excellence in Education” awards banquet to be held February 28, Hillsborough County Public Schools announced the school district’s 2017 Teacher of the Year.

Although she did not win, one of this year’s six finalists was Carrie Donatelli, a kindergarten teacher at Turner/Bartels K-8 School in New Tampa.

“Just to be one of six finalists in Hillsborough County, which is one of the largest school districts in the country, is such a huge honor,” Donatelli said. “It’s very humbling.”

Donatelli has been teaching for 16 years, with the last four years being at Turner/Bartels. She says she loves teaching at the school because of its commitment to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), and she serves on the school’s technology committee, which is currently working to design “capstone projects” to determine what kids at each grade level should be able to do using technology.

“In kindergarten, it’s things like turning on the computer and logging on to websites,” Donatelli says. “But, by the eighth grade, these kids are doing some amazing things.”

Her supervisor is Turner-Bartels assistant principal Lara Barone.

“(Carrie) does great innovative things, different than what you would expect in a typical classroom,” Barone says. “She wants her kids to be citizens of the world, so her kids have Skyped with people around the world.”

Donatelli also uses technology to strengthen the bond between home and the classroom. For example, she posts pictures of her class to a private Instagram page. “It gives the parents a window into their kids’ class,” she says.

In fact, while it seems schools are increasingly focused on testing, and technology plays an integral part in Donatelli’s classroom, neither test results nor technology are what Donatelli says is her biggest goal.

“The most important thing is that my students know I care about them,” she says. “I’m here for them, whatever they need. My classroom is very structured and has high expectations, but it’s also very loving and caring.”

Clearly, her students feel the love. Barone says Donatelli is often requested as a teacher and Donatelli says she is now teaching younger siblings of previous students, and strives to maintain relationships with those families. In 2015, she was invited to a high school graduation for a girl who was in her very first kindergarten class. “It’s pretty cool to maintain those relationships,” she says.

Barone says that, in addition to Donatelli being a natural leader and someone who can always be counted on at the school level to go above and beyond, she also has shown a commitment to the next generation of educators.

“She is a great mentor to interns, and is able to mold and help shape some of our future teachers,” Barone says. “Her past intern is now a teacher in the classroom right next door to hers.”

Donatelli credits those around her, including Barone and her former-intern-turned-next-door-neighbor, for helping her students succeed in a great educational environment.

“I don’t do this job alone,” says Donatelli. “It’s an amazing school with amazing teachers. We collaborate well and work well together, and we’re all here for the kids.”

Cypress Point Community Church Unveils New Youth Center & ‘Dwelling Place’

Change was the subject of Youth Pastor Earl Henning’s first Sunday sermon in Cypress Point Community Church (CPCC)’s new youth center.

“We have changed buildings, stages, microphones and there’s an element of uncertainty,” Henning told the young congregation. As the church’s youth ministry gets used to its new home, known as “The Dwelling Place,” he reminded the Sunday service gathering at the center of what remains constant: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever.”

Cypress Point’s lead Pastor Dean Reule says that the 10,000-sq.-ft  Dwelling Place cost $1 million to build and sits beside the church’s main building, which can be accessed from Morris Bridge Rd., just north of Cross Creek Blvd.

There’s plenty at the youth center to interest young people in grades 7 to 12, such as room for basketball and volleyball, free-standing video games, snack bar, pool table, lounge area with cell phone-charging stations, rooms to meet in and special activities.

Reule notes that the new facility is the largest youth center in New Tampa, Wesley Chapel or Zephyrhills. He says the goal of The Dwelling Place is to provide a resource for young people.

“Many teens in the area are looking for something to do,” Reule says. “This generation has more discretionary time than any other generation and we want to stand in the gap and share our message with the teens of today and future generations.”

The nondenominational center will mainly be open for scheduled church activities at first, but there are plans to expand operating hours and community access in the next few months, possibly adding after-school hours a couple of days a week.

“We’re hoping we can open it up after school as a safe place to play basketball or do homework,” Henning says.

According to Reule, the new facility opens up new possibilities to serve the interests of its youngest members and neighbors.

“It’s a little bit of a blank canvas now,“ he says. “There are lots of ways for the church to engage the youth and be a positive impact on lives.”

The Dwelling Place is part of the student ministry at CPCC, which offers a variety of ongoing activities, such as movie nights, retreats, missions in the local community and beyond, as well as Sunday services promoted as, “Worth waking up for!”

One teenage church member who wakes up for Sunday services is Riley Denham, who anticipates good times in The Dwelling Place.

“It’s a fun place,” he says. “It has basketball and video games before services, and there’s a hang-out space where you can meet your friends.”

Riley’s father, Justin Denham, finds the facility uplifting.

“It’s a fun, friendly place where you can play some games and learn about Christ,” Justin says.

The new building is a visible indication of how much CPCC has grown since it consisted of a few families meeting in homes and rented spaces.

The center is the second phase of a three-part plan Reule and the church put together about five years ago.

The first phase successfully retired a $1 million debt on the main building. The third phase of the church’s plan is to remodel the main building to accommodate a counseling center.

The Dwelling Place of Cypress Point Community Church is located at 15820 Morris Bridge Rd. Learn more about it via social media at “The Dwelling Place at Cypress Point” on Facebook and on Twitter @dpnation1. The Dwelling Place website is DwellingPlaceYouth.com. Wednesday night services are held at 7 p.m. and Sunday services are at 9:30 a.m. & 11 a.m.