Although I had never encountered a sheepadoodle until January of this year, when New Tampa resident Todd Pitner brought his sweet, then-year-old, 100-lb. sheepadoodle named Zammy into our office for a story in our January 13 issue — after a photo of Zammy, taken at the Shops at Wiregrass mall, went viral (more than a million hits) on Reddit.
And, my life hasn’t been the same since.
Although I currently live in an apartment, if I ever do move into a house, I’m going to buy a sheepadoodle (old English sheepdog and standard poodle) because I have never seen a better disposition on an animal of any size or breed, much less on a giant stuffed animal come to life.
Since that first story, Zammy has appeared on WCNT-tv, replacing yours truly on set with my co-anchor Susanna Martinez, and I promised Todd that if he ever wanted us to do a follow-up, all we needed was someplace to go where I could see — and chronicle — Zammy’s instant rapport with literally everyone he meets.
So, when Todd asked me and WCNT-tv production assistant Gavin Olsen (who starred as the voice of Zammy in that WCNT-tv segment) to tag along and watch this gentle giant work his magic with the children in the Shriners Hospital on the Tampa campus of USF, we were both thrilled to tag along.
And of course, Zammy didn’t disappoint. Whether the kids were wheelchair bound or walking, teenagers or toddlers, or even Shriners Hospital staff, Zammy gave everyone a few happy minutes of his time and I didn’t see one kid, parent or hospital staffer leave him without a smile on their faces.
I thank Shriners Hospital Tampa’s public relations manager Lisa Buie for not only letting us accompany Zammy on his mission of goodwill, but also for getting everyone in these pictures to sign a release so we could show them.
Look for more Zammy exploits in future issues — and on future episodes of WCNT-tv.
The Shriners Hospitals for Children-Tampa is a 60-bed nonprofit specialty care facility that has served 60,000 patients since it was established in 1985.
Sarrk Restaurants, LLC, is the owner and operator of nine Firehouse Subs locations in the Tampa Bay area. Through a valuable partnership with the Impact Group, Sarrk Restaurants, LLC, became one of the earliest franchisees to sign on with Firehouse Subs, with its first location that opened in New Tampa in 2002 that was later relocated to the Shoppes at New Tampa of Wesley Chapel plaza in 2012.
The New Tampa Firehouse Subs was the 51st location for the franchise. Since then, the company has grown to become a national & international brand in 44 states, as well as in Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico, totaling more than 1,000 locations, making Firehouse Subs one of the fastest growing fast casual restaurant concepts.
All restaurants have a focus to provide the highest in Quality, Service and Cleanliness, all based on a Firehouse Subs’ firefighter theme. And, for the Sarrk Restaurants, LLC, owner Sarju Patel and the public, the brand has become much more than that.
Firehouse’s current marketing drive focuses on a new slogan, “This Sub Saves Lives.” And it really does! Through the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation, the company’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, which has granted more than $25 million to hometown heroes in 46 U.S. states (plus Canada and Puerto Rico) since it was established in 2005 to provide lifesaving equipment to more than 2,800 first responder organizations.
All of Patel’s valued team members that make this company run to its optimum are expected to learn what the foundation is all about and, in turn, educate the community.
The life saving equipment that is provided is truly remarkable. This part of the business is so strong, that the company’s own analysis has shown that the restaurants that raise the most foundation dollars has a higher percentage of sales than restaurants that do not embrace this aspect of the business. The old saying “Giving is Receiving” is very much alive and true. Funds are raised in three ways — customers can donate their loose change into canisters at the register, they also can “round up” their Firehouse purchases to the next dollar and/or purchasing a five-gallon pickle bucket for only $2.
Firehouse of America will donate 0.13 percent of your purchase in 2017 at all U.S. Firehouse Subs locations to the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation. This percentage will result in a minimum donation of one million dollars.
The Foundation was founded in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Firehouse Subs co-founders, Chris Sorensen and Robin Sorensen, traveled to Mississippi, where they fed first responders as well as survivors. As they traveled back to Florida exhausted and exhilarated, they knew we could do more and the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation was born.
Locally, through the funds raised from all Firehouse locations in the Tampa Bay area, here is a list of some of the Equipment that local organizations have received to date, valued at over $100,000:
•AED Defibrillator — Pasco County Sheriff’s Office
•Personal Locator Devices – Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office
•Fire Prevention Safety materials to educate the community – City of Seminole Fire and Rescue
•See-Doo water craft and trailer, surf rescue sled, life vests, ropes and helmets – City of Treasure Island Fire Dept.
•John Deere Gator Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) and Medlite Transport Deluxe System – Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue
•RoboteX Inc Avatar Tactical Robot – Largo Police Department
•Extrication Equipment – Tampa Fire Rescue Station 13
•AED Defibrillator – Clearwater Central Catholic High School
What About The Food? — GN
Of course, most people still know Firehouse Subs for their steamed meat, toasted subs and everyone in our office has their favorite. I’m partial to the semi-spicy tuna salad sub and the steak-n-cheese sub (and I also really enjoyed the savory chicken noodle soup,too).
Graphic artist Blake Beatty and assistant editor John Cotey both prefer the NY steamer sub, which features corned beef and pastrami.
Sales rep Tom Damico enjoyed the hook & ladder sub, which comes with smoked turkey breast, Virginia honey ham, and melted Monterey Jack.
And, billing manager Stephanie Smith said she really enjoyed the crispy, toasted sub roll on her meatball sub, as well as the zesty tomato sauce.
You can add your favorite dressings and toppings to any Firehouse sub, but the chain is famous for serving its subs “Fully Involved®,” or loaded, complete with mayo, deli mustard, lettuce, tomato, onion, and a kosher dill pickle on the side. The pickles are pretty tasty, too.
And, the fresh-baked, fudgy brownies are to die for and everyone in the office enjoyed the white chocolate macadamia nut and chocolate chip cookies, the Miss Vicki’s chips and Coca-Cola “super fountain,” where you can combine more than 100 different sodas and sparkling waters.
The Wesley Chapel Firehouse Subs is located at 1824 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. For more info, call (813) 977-3181 or visit FirehouseSubs.com. Or, see the ad on page 35 of our current issue for $2 off when you buy a medium or large sub, chips and a drink.
Carin Hetzler-Nettles is the principal of the new Cypress Creek Middle High School and was previously principal of Wesley Chapel High, where she earned Pasco County’s Secondary Principal of the Year in 2012.
We spoke with Hetzler-Nettles during staff training week at Cypress Creek, located off Old Pasco Rd. As the entire staff worked together to create the culture of the new school (which is set to open to students on Pasco’s first day of classes for the 2017-18 school year, on Monday, August 14), Hetzler-Nettles reflected on all the work that’s being done to get the school ready for its first class of students. Here are some highlights from that conversation:
Neighborhood News: How different is this process of opening a new school, compared with the typical summer routine at other county middle and high schools?
Carin Hetzler-Nettles: Really different! Every principal does a lot of work this time of year, but it’s very rare to have this opportunity to be side-by-side with the entire staff, building something new.
We’re setting the stage, creating our culture here. We’re setting our school-wide expectations and motto, and talking about what a Cypress Creek “Coyote” looks like.
An aerial view of the sprawling new Cypress Creek Middle High School campus on Old Pasco Rd., near Overpass Rd.
Cypress Creek will be a pilot program for “trauma informed care,” so we had training for that. We learned about ourselves as a staff and to be mindful that everyone comes in with their own trauma (which could be something minor), and we react in different ways. When a student acts out, it’s because of something in their life, and it’s on us to figure that out, and then to build resilience, grit and perseverance. Those are life skills.
On the last day of our staff retreat (which was earlier this month), our teachers will get their schedules and find out their classrooms, which they’re so excited about. Then, as teams, they’ll head out into the community to commit random acts of kindness. We want to say “hi” to our fellow community members and tell them we’re hoping for their support.
NN: What’s your favorite thing about the campus itself?
CHN: The look of this school reminds me of a community college. It has beautiful brick paver accents. There are amazing (floor-to-ceiling) windows in the classrooms. There’s so much natural light and every classroom has a great view. We are the only high school in the county that will have a rubberized track, so we’ll be able to host some big meets. We also have a large cafeteria and an enormous band room, and the most beautiful gym floor I’ve ever seen.
We had been working out of two classrooms at Quail Hollow Elementary. To move into the new campus, we needed to have the wi-fi working, a place to sit at and something to sit on. That happened last week, so this is our home now. The trailers will go away, but we will have a district employee and construction subcontractors finishing up around campus, for probably six more months.
NN: What are you most excited about?
CHN: I am most excited about the opportunities for students. It’s so cool to have middle and high school students together. I have seen the power of kids talking to kids, and of kids showing leadership, like when eleventh grade students help ninth grade students transition. They explain, “This is why you need to do your homework,” or even say, “Let me sit with you at lunch.”
I see that happening.
Outside of school, you don’t necessarily see that part of them all the time, but we see that kids have big hearts and truly want to help others.
We have a “Pack leader” program where, over the summer, eleventh graders will be trained in leadership and eighth graders will be trained in peer counseling. Then, those trained students will be scheduled into core classes in the lower grades.
So, an eleventh grade student might be scheduled into a ninth grade English class and they are the “Pack leader” in that class. We partner them up in one of their strong subjects to help kids in that class. They might set up a texting app to remind the class that there’s a test tomorrow, or take kids outside the class to help them, or just talk, if they had a fight with a friend, for example.
We’re trying to help kids stay engaged. The Pack leader might say the same things as the teacher, but in a different way.
So many things divert kids’ attention, whether it’s that they don’t see the purpose of school, they’re looking for fun, or they’re making bad choices. It’s on us as educators to engage them and find what works for them. It’s different with every kid, so there are a lot of different ways to do that.
NN: How deep are your roots in Pasco County schools?
CHN: I am a product of Pasco County Schools. I graduated from Land O’ Lakes High. I started my career in 1996 as an ESE teacher at River Ridge Middle School. I spent a year in Hillsborough County but found it very different and came back to open Mitchell in 2000. I got my educational leadership certificate and became assistant principal, then became principal at Wesley Chapel High in 2009.
I’ve actually worked with people who were my teachers in high school. When I was at Mitchell, I became an administrator and one of the teachers there was a teacher I had in high school. The same thing happened when I was principal at Wesley Chapel. I was principal of a teacher who taught me.
NN: How does the size of Cypress Creek Middle High School compare to other campuses in the area?
CHN: We are starting with 650 high school students, which is very small. The next smallest high school in Pasco County is 1,100 students, so we’re about half the size of that. It’s almost unheard of.
Four Cypress Creek Middle High teachers from the school’s Athletic Dept. showed up at our office on June 22, and all four were obviously excited to talk about the opening of the new school.
But, our middle school has 850 students, which is pretty typical. As those middle schoolers age up, we will end up being the size of a traditional high school, so we will grow quickly. We will have about 1,500 at the high school and 900 at the middle school (in the next few years).
In about four years, we hope to have a completely separate middle school built adjacent to this school. (Right now,) Cypress Creek Middle High School is a way to relieve a booming population that is necessary at our feeder schools. We’re embracing it as a unique opportunity to create a dynamic culture.
We’re doing vertical teaming, so sixth through eleventh grade teachers in each department (math, for example) will meet every week. There will be no “they didn’t learn this in middle school.” We will have a seamless campus and curriculum. And, when that day comes when there’s a separate middle school campus, we expect that culture will bleed over into that campus, as well.
NN: What do you want your students to know as they get ready to come to Cypress Creek?
CHN: Life is full of possibilities. That’s how I approach every day. I know parents teach their kids they can do whatever they put their mind to, and that’s what’s being instilled in our school. It’s easy to be worried or concerned about having sixth through twelfth graders on the same campus and sharing buses, and it’s right to have concerns. But, we are planning for that. We already have schools with this model.
We can also look at what an amazing situation it is that a middle schooler has access to criminal justice, business, and journalism classes. If they want to take Spanish or American Sign Language, they can walk across campus and take it. They have easy access to accelerated courses. They don’t have to do it online. It’s a great opportunity and it’s very exciting to me.
It’s easy to stay comfortable. I loved working at Wesley Chapel with those kids and teachers and parents and staff, but I took a leap of faith to come here, and so did all the other staff. We are looking at the possibilities and all the doors that will open for all of these students. It’s gonna be really cool.
Although I had never encountered a sheepadoodle until January of this year, when New Tampa resident Todd Pitner brought his sweet, then-year-old, 100-lb. sheepadoodle named Zammy into our office for a story in our January 13 issue — after a photo of Zammy, taken at the Shops at Wiregrass mall, went viral (more than a million hits) on Reddit.
Since that first story, Zammy has appeared on WCNT-tv, replacing yours truly on set with my co-anchor Susanna Martinez, and I promised Todd that if he ever wanted us to do a follow-up, all we needed was someplace to go where I could see — and chronicle — Zammy’s instant rapport with literally everyone he meets.
And of course, Zammy didn’t disappoint. Whether the kids were wheelchair bound or walking, teenagers or toddlers, or even Shriners Hospital staff, Zammy gave everyone a few happy minutes of his time and I didn’t see one kid, parent or hospital staffer leave him without a smile on their faces.
Look for more Zammy exploits in future issues — and on future episodes of WCNT-tv.
