Nehemiah ‘Tre’ Rivers: Running Out Of A Tall Shadow Towards A Wharton Record

Wharton runner Nehemiah “Tre” Rivers has run out from the shadow of his older sister Bryanna and towards the boys cross country and track record books for Wharton High. (Photo: Andy Warrener)

Like any good cross country runner, Wharton High junior Nehemiah “Tre” Rivers is always chasing something.

For most of his life, it was older sister and former star Wharton runner Bryanna. Then, it was his first meet title, along with all the others that followed.

Now, he has his sights set on the Wharton school record for the 3.1-mile distance.

Nehemiah and his Wildcats teammates head into the Class 4A state meet Saturday in Tallahassee — for the first time since 2008 both the boys and girls will be competing  — looking for a strong finish, and maybe make a little a history in the process.

Nehemiah is certainly primed and ready. At the Class 4A, District 6 meet at Al Lopez Park in Tampa on Oct. 25, he won his second straight individual district title in 16 minutes, 12 seconds. Just the week before, on the same course, at the Hillsborough County Championships meet, he had taken second in 16:10.40, a new personal best.

At the regional meet in Lakeland where the Wharton teams qualified for state, Rivers was fourth overall but his time was only 16:35. The Wharton boys school record is 15:55, set by Ryan Courtoy in 2006 at the Foot Locker South Regional, and Nehemiah has beating that mark as one of his current goals.

Can he get it? His coach think so.

At the county meet, Nehemiah paced off of Citrus Park Christian’s Trevor Foley, who has the second best cross country time in the state this season (15:20). At county, Foley ran a 16:05.60 and pulled Nehemiah along to that 16:10 personal best.

“Tre was going to keep it close with Foley,” Wharton boys track and cross country coach Kyle LoJacono says. “I feel like if Foley ran a 15:50, Tre would have ran a 15:55.”

LoJacono plans to enter Nehemiah in this year’s Footlocker South Regional on Nov. 25 in Charlotte, NC, and if the school record survives Regionals and States, it’s there that the record could very well fall.

LoJacono says he has Nehemiah on an overload cycle, a training method that stacks on miles over the course of about a month. Runners tend to be a little sluggish during overload period, but when they get off of it, it’s a lot like taking the weighted donut off a baseball bat.

Nehemiah was in Day 23 when he repeated as District champ on October 25. Both LoJacono and Rivers are hoping that the peak is right around the corner.

All In The Family

Rivers ran in the long shadow cast by his older sister Bryanna his first two years of high school cross country and track.

Now a collegiate runner at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Bryanna was one of the most accomplished Wharton runners ever. She set the school record in the 800 meters,  and amassed 11 state medals in her four years at Wharton, the most for any track athlete, boy or girl, in the school’s 20-year history.

She’s only the second girl in Wharton track and field history to sign a full-ride college scholarship.

They say you run faster when you have someone to chase, and Tre grew up chasing Bryanna. She always had the edge, but he was getting close to his sister by 11 years old, until a problem with a growth plate in his foot de-railed the effort.

At 13, Nehemiah finally caught up to his big sister, beating her in an 800-meter race. He hasn’t looked back since.

“I see us as equals now,” Nehemiah says. “We both push ourselves to get stronger and rise up to the next challenge.”

Rivers is seizing the opportunity to shine.

“We knew coming in what he could be,” LoJacono says. “He missed time with the foot injury, but we knew it would only be a matter of time before he came along.”

Tre’s ascent has been strong and steady.

He actually won his first high school meet, the Central Hillsborough Invitational, in 2015, but failed to advance past the district meet.

However, his improvement from year to year has been staggering. He slashed three minutes off that first victory by the end of his freshman season, qualified for the state meet as a sophomore with a time 16:49, and then ran a personal best of 16:16 at States.

“When he came out to run his freshman year, it was a fight just to get through Districts, and he didn’t make it,” LoJacono says. “He remembered that the whole year, and it motivated him to have a great sophomore year. Now, he’s established himself as the top runner in the district.”

Why Those Against Connecting Kinnan St. To Mansfield Blvd. Are Wrong

In our last issue, assistant editor John Cotey told you that Hillsborough County had anted up $250,000 in an effort to end the long-time stalemate involving the City of Tampa, Hillsborough and Pasco counties regarding connecting Kinnan St. in New Tampa to Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe II at the Hillsborough/Pasco county line.

District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera, a New Tampa resident, called the county’s move to set aside funds to build the 60-foot-long connection “a game changer.”

However, on the Pasco County side, Dist. 2 County Commissioner Mike Moore, a Seven Oaks resident, told Cotey that “70-80-percent” of his constituents who have contacted him about him about the connector have been opposed to it. 

I have become friends with Moore over the last few years, but after Cotey’s story came out in our last issue, I called Moore to explain to him my issue with what he said, as well as with anyone who opposes making this long-awaited, much-needed connection.

“You shouldn’t base whether or not to support the Kinnan-Mansfield connection on how many people contact you about it,” I told Moore on the phone. “You should base whether or not to support it on whether or not making the connection is a good idea for your county, for your constituents — and I know it is.”

Some people who live in Meadow Pointe II, on the Pasco side of the barrier to Kinnan St., say they don’t want the two roads connected.

Now, I’m not a transportation engineer, but in the nearly 24 years I have owned the Neighborhood News , I have attended literally hundreds of city, county and Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) meetings and I still edit every word of every one of John’s transportation stories and provide insights to him about the history of most of these situations.

Although Kinnan St. is primarily located in the county, it jogs into Tampa’s city limits near the Pasco line, which means that all three governmental entities would have to come to an agreement in order to make the connection.

Moore says he is waiting until after Pasco’s traffic study of that area is completed — which is expected to happen later this month — before deciding which side to support. He says virtually no one is opposed to connecting Meadow Pointe Blvd. (about a mile-and-a-half to the east of Kinnan-Mansfield) to K-Bar Ranch Blvd. in New Tampa, but I don’t believe that connection would be close enough to Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. to provide any relief when the only current north-south connection between New Tampa and Wesley Chapel gets backed up — as it does all the time these days, while BBD is being widened between Regents Park Dr. in Pebble Creek and the county line.

The biggest argument the folks in Meadow Pointe II have against making the connection is that Mansfield Blvd. is only a two-lane road that serves four schools — Wiregrass Elementary, John Long Middle School, Wiregrass Ranch High and Pasco Hernando State College. They say that connecting Mansfield to Kinnan would bring additional traffic and increase the danger to students going to and from school.

Sorry, but I call B.S.

Long, the closest of the schools to the possible connection, is located one full mile north of the county line. Vehicles coming from the Cross Creek/Live Oak area would be able to turn right (east) onto Beardsley Dr. to access Meadow Pointe Blvd. and, ultimately, S.R. 54 heading towards Zephyrhills — within 0.3 mile from Kinnan St. Those same drivers also could turn left (west) onto County Line Rd. and hook back up with BBD at Aronwood Blvd. or County Line Rd. a half mile north of Kinnan.

It doesn’t make traffic flow sense that anyone from New Tampa would choose to drive north past four schools during school hours (when there are always crossing guards slowing you down), unless it was their only choice because of a traffic situation on BBD or they were planning to go to the Shops at Wiregrass or some other business on S.R. 56 east of BBD.

In other words, most of the traffic coming from New Tampa heading north would do so in the evenings and on weekends, when there are no students heading to and from school.

It reminds me of New Tampa’s long-time battle for an East-West Connector Road (E-W Rd.). I remember that the people who were screaming the loudest against it were those living along the planned route, in West Meadows and Tampa Palms Area 3. Those folks didn’t appreciate my unconditional support of that connector, even though that road still isn’t built today and seemingly never will be.

Today, many of those same anti-connector New Tampa residents don’t know how they could survive if the so-called Gateway Bridge — the first leg of the E-W Rd. — had never been built connecting West Meadows to Tampa Palms.

Likewise, I’m certain that it’s actually the people in Meadow Pointe II who will get the most benefit from the Kinnan-Mansfield connection. I also can’t believe that they would prefer to see it continue to be piled high with garbage (photo) than allow that tiny connection to become a reality.

Wesley Chapel Families Love KidsPark’s Drop-In, Hourly Childcare

In a little more than a year, KidsPark Tampa (located just off of S.R. 56, east of I-75, in Wesley Chapel) has registered nearly 1,500 families — totaling 2,800 kids — looking for the support and flexibility that no-reservation, drop-in childcare gives them.

“The numbers here have blown away all the other KidsPark centers,” says Amanda Justus, the owner of KidsPark Tampa. “In May, we received the ‘Shooting Star’ award for fastest growth within a year among Kids Park centers nationally.”

KidsPark also has been nominated for the 2017 Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce New Business of the Year.

KidsPark is a national franchise, with just three locations in Florida (two are in Jacksonville). There will soon be four, as Amanda has recently signed a franchise agreement for a second location. While she’s still looking for the perfect place, she expects it to be close to downtown Tampa and hopes to open in the summer of 2018.

She says the growth is because KidsPark meets an important need for families.

“If you’re a mom, you get it,” says Amanda. She explains that KidsPark is available for children ages 2 through 12, for drop-in childcare. “We offer hourly childcare on days, evenings and weekends, with no reservations. For date nights, meetings, grocery shopping, appointments, anything… you just drop your kids off.”

Amanda knows, because she’s been there herself.

“My first experience with hourly childcare was when I was living in North Carolina and my husband was in the Marines,” Amanda says. “Hourly childcare saved my life. Sometimes, it was the only way for me to get to the store or clean the house.”

Amanda and her husband Ricky now live in Wesley Chapel with their two children, Camryn, who is 11, and Gavin, who is 7. Amanda worked as a microbiologist at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel before leaving her job to focus on opening and running KidsPark. While her undergraduate degree is in microbiology from the University of South Florida in Tampa, she also holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degree from nearby St. Leo University, which she earned in 2013.

“I’ve always wanted to own my own business, and I knew this was something the area needed,” she says.

KidsPark’s full-time director, Heather Perez, has 20 years of experience as a preschool director in Pasco County.

“Heather has been a huge help for me,” says Amanda. “My background is in science, so it’s great that Heather understands all of the licensing and requirements.”

Fun For The Kids

KidsPark has something for all kids, from dramatic play to air hockey, board games and puzzles, as well as karaoke, Wii dance, Wii sports, and Xbox. Kids Park also has a private, enclosed outdoor space so kids can get some fresh air.

While visitors to KidsPark get time for open play, there also are scheduled activities. “We try to make sure every child takes home a craft or art project,” Amanda says, “so parents can see what they’ve been doing.”

KidsPark serves lunch at noon every day, and dinner at 6 p.m. The meals are catered and cost just $4.25 per child. Snacks are provided at no additional charge at 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.

“It’s huge to know that you always have child care,” Amanda says, “and — unlike what might happen with a babysitter — that they aren’t just sitting there watching TV.

Preschool & VPK, Too!

In addition to hourly childcare, KidsPark offers both Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) for four year olds and preschool for ages two and three.

KidsPark has two VPK classes, one from 9 a.m.-noon and one from 1 p.m.- 4 p.m. These classes, which are currently filled, are for families who use a voucher and pay nothing out-of-pocket for this time. On any day, whether the parent is running late or would like additional childcare, they pay just the regular hourly rate for any extra time.

“Buddy Preschool” also is held each day from 9 a.m. to noon, but parents have the flexibility to choose which days they attend and pay hourly just for the times their child is there.

“It’s such a different concept,” says Amanda. “You don’t have to wait for the next school year to start.”

Affordable Rates

“We try to make it so everyone can afford child care,” Amanda says. The hourly rate is just $8 for one child, or $12.25 for two siblings. Additional siblings are $3.25 per hour. A “preferred customer rate” is available for anyone who pre-pays $100 or more (in $50 increments, up to $250). Ten percent is added to your prepayment, so if you pre-pay $100, you actually get $110 credited to your account. There also is a day rate, so the price is capped at $56 for one child and $85.75 for two, per day.

There is a $25 registration fee per family (not per child), which is a one-time fee, as long as you come at least once a year. Also, once you’ve paid the registration fee at any facility, you can use all KidsPark facilities across the country when you’re traveling.

Amanda also offers discounts to hospital employees and to anyone in the military.

On Sundays, before and after KidsPark is open, the staff hosts birthday parties and other private parties.

“For a private party, you have the whole center to yourselves,” says Amanda. “You choose a craft and a game, and the cost includes face painting, two staff members to keep the kids busy, and also includes invitations, paper products and even decorations.”

Happy Customers

Samantha Weaver is a Wesley Chapel mom of three boys. “I have two who are old enough for KidsPark, and I have my one-year-old, who I desperately wish I could drop off at KidsPark!”

She says her two older kids, ages 2 and 4, love KidsPark. “It’s their favorite thing to do.”

As if on cue, one of her boys immediately interrupts. “Mommy, can we go to KidsPark?”

Samantha says her kids are introverted and usually take a long time to warm up. “The first I took them there, they didn’t want to leave,” she says.

Samantha also is a military wife, who says her husband is gone all the time, working. And, she’s a photographer. If she has a shoot in the evening, she’ll drop the kids off at KidsPark.

“I take them there because I know they’re going to have fun, they’re going to be fed well, and they’re going to fall asleep,” she says.

She says she also uses KidsPark instead of the gym daycare, which her son hates. “I’d rather pay to know my son is happy and having fun than to think that he’s miserable at the gym daycare.”

Samantha continues, “Especially for people in my situation – moms who do it on their own, or single moms – I can’t imagine a better scenario than what KidsPark gives me.”

At one of her first few visits, Samantha says she had a family emergency and had to drop the boys off, flustered and in a hurry. But, she says, the way she was treated was helpful, generous, and reassuring. At that point, Samantha says, she realized, “I’m not alone. These are my people. This is my tribe.”

The staff at KidsPark feels the same way. Heather says Samantha’s family has scheduled a birthday party there, and she thinks the entire staff is planning to attend. “We’re so attached,” Heather explains. “We all love this family.”

KidsPark is located at 26240 Golden Maple Loop, just south of S.R. 56 (and just east of I-75). The center is open Monday–Thursday, 7 a.m.–10 p.m., 7 a.m.–midnight on Friday, 10 a.m.–midnight on Saturday, and 1 p.m.–6 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, call (813) 803-4972, or visit KidsPark.com. Mention this story for half off of your registration fee!

Wesley Chapel Resident Alexandra Joyce Proves She Has ‘The Voice!’

Alexandra Joyce performs during her Battle Round on The Voice on Oct. 23. (NBC photo)

Standing backstage just moments before she would begin singing Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams” on NBC-TV’s”The Voice,” Wesley Chapel’s Alexandra Joyce didn’t have a care in the world.

The 16-year-old Wiregrass Ranch High junior had prepared for that moment since she was a little girl. She was in the All-State chorus in the fourth grade, competed in talent shows at John Long Middle School, taught herself to play the ukulele and guitar in high school and a day doesn’t pass without Alexandra showing off her pipes.

“I don’t think there has been a single day of her life that music hasn’t been an important part of for her,” says her mother, Adrienne Reed.

So, Alexandra had convinced herself this was just another performance.

Alexandra filmed her audition in June, and waited months to reveal to Wesley Chapel how she fared.

“I felt a lot of pressure on me, for sure,” she said. “An immense amount of pressure. I had to prove something to myself.”

“But,” she added, with a laugh, “right before I went on I was cool as a cucumber, I was chilling.”

Then, the doors opened and everything changed. Her heart stopped, she says, and her breathing grew heavy as she walked towards the backs of four large red chairs.

“Nothing really prepares you for that,’’ she admits.

After quickly composing herself, Joyce began singing, trying not to focus on the chairs in front of her. Then, one chair turned — “You could hear a little excitement in my voice,’’ she confesses — followed by two others. She finished her audition with three judges smiling back at her — Academy- and Grammy-award winner Jennifer Hudson, Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine and country crooner Blake Shelton.

Whew.

While Levine and Shelton offered some encouraging words while mentioning pitch issues (due to nerves), Hudson didn’t say much. Her nerves now settled, Alexandra wanted to know why.

“She just kind of said to me like, you know, I can’t really compete with the other coaches, so good luck,’’ Alexandra says. “And I ended up calling her out and kind of saying, ‘Well, you haven’t said anything to me. What do you have to offer to me?’”

Hudson perked up and told Alexandra that she saw the drive in her, and the passion. She told the young Wesley Chapel resident that no matter who she chose as her coach, she had the right stuff to succeed.

“Right when she stood up and really started to get passionate about it, that’s when I knew that was where I needed to go,” Alexandra says of joining Hudson’s team.

Alexandra’s journey on the show ended when she lost in the Battle Round to her teammate, Jeremiah Miller, as they both performed “One Call Away” by Charlie Puth.

Alexandra’s Battle Round, like her audition, only aired as part of a montage, so her television time was limited after a an excruciating wait.

“They don’t tell you when the show will be on, they just tell you to watch,’’ said Adrienne, who took her daughter to the initial audition for the show in Baltimore, MD, earlier this year.

Adrienne, who runs a yoga studio in Land O’Lakes, says the experience has been memorable for her daughter, who sent in a video submission to get the initial invitation to Maryland.

In Maryland, she auditioned and was given a “maybe” by the show’s producers. Two weeks later, she received an email telling her the show was going to pass this time, but would keep her in mind for the future.

Two weeks after that, another call came — shockingly informing Adrienne that her daughter was not only getting another chance, but that it would be at the blind auditions in Los Angeles.

“Is this a prank call?,’’ Adrienne asked the caller.

It wasn’t, and when she called Alexandra, she told her to sit down before she broke the news.

“There was a lot of screaming and jumping around,’’ she says.

Adrienne said appearing on a music competition has been a long-time dream for Alexandra, who would often as a child come singing and sliding down the foyer in socks and into her mother’s home office ready to put on a performance.

“We used to watch those shows when she was little,’’ Adrienne says. “When she turned 16, the (young) age limit for the show, she decided she wanted to go ahead and do it.”

Alexandra, a junior at WRH who will graduate early next spring, describes her style as folk indie, but she says she can sing a little bit of everything. Ed Sheeran is one of her biggest musical influences, inspiring her to teach herself the guitar at the age of 13.

And of course, there’s Adrienne, who encouraged Alexandra every step along the way.

“I’ve never really had a music teacher,” Alexandra says. “If anyone, my mother has been the biggest rock for me. When I first started playing guitar, initially I didn’t think I was good enough, and she said ‘Yes, you are.’ She built me up, I really owe that to her.”

Alexandra said the experience has been awe-inspiring.

“I think its definitely been kind of a stepping stone for me,” she says. “I know I have this assurance that I can do this. I have a single on iTunes; I never in a million years thought I would have a single on iTunes.”

She says her favorite part has been the people she has met on this journey, which has been highlighted by being coached by the likes of Hudson.

“That’s just freaking insane,” she says. “Absolutely freaking insane.”

PCSO Corporal Alan Wilkett Awarded For Fighting Human Trafficking

Corporal Alan Wilkett, of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office and the Pasco County Human Trafficking Task Force, is presented an award from Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi for “Law Enforcement Official of the Year” at the 2017 Human Trafficking Summit in Orlando.

Most days, you’ll find Corporal Alan Wilkett at the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) community office at the Shops at Wiregrass mall.

Cpl. Wilkett wears many hats, including that of the commander of the Pasco County Human Trafficking Task Force.

For his work on the task force, Wilkett was recently recognized as the “Law Enforcement Official of the Year” at the 2017 Human Trafficking Summit, held in Orlando on October 2. The summit was hosted by Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office. She presented the award to Wilkett, along with awards for “Survivor Advocate of the Year,” “Community Advocate of the Year,” and “Prosecutor of the Year.”

“The award was given to one, but it was earned by many,” says Wilkett. “I didn’t earn it on my own. It’s a team effort by a lot of people, all who are as passionate as I am about ending human trafficking in our area, in Pasco County, in Florida and in the United States.”

Wilkett explains that working to eradicate human trafficking has been part of his job for about seven years. As efforts and awareness of trafficking have increased, he said he’s found that he’s spending more and more time fighting this heinous crime.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work in law enforcement for 20-plus years,” Wilkett says, explaining that he’s investigated all kinds of crimes, including child abuse. “In the course of investigating complaints, we would stumble across things that now we would know as human trafficking. At the time, we didn’t really understand that we had something so comprehensive. When the Trafficking Victims Protection Act became law in 2000, I looked back over my career and saw opportunities to have made a much bigger impact in the lives of people who were affected by this crime. That’s when I became very passionate about ending human trafficking.”

He adds that people often think of human trafficking as a prostitute and a pimp, or a laborer and a boss, but it’s much more than that.

He says it’s a huge business. Using the lowest number that is agreed upon, from the International Labor Organization, estimates are that human trafficking is a $150-billion-per-year business with 20.9-million victims. The United Nations says 27 million victims.

“It’s abhorrent that in the U.S. — the land of the free, home of the brave — that we would have this modern day slavery in our communities. We’re going to end this. I don’t know that we’ll end it in my career, but I can sow the seeds.”

In Wesley Chapel, Though?

You might think it’s limited to the seedier parts of the Tampa Bay area. But, is the human trafficking going on in Wesley Chapel?

Cpl. Wilkett says yes.

“It’s so entrenched in our fabric, it’s in every single community,” he says. “It could be the landscaping guy cutting the grass in a gated community, the construction crew on a new business, going on right in our own shadows. It could be a gated community in Wesley Chapel where girls are being kept during the day and then going to the street at night. We’ve seen examples of all of these things.”

He says he’s seen a “groundswell” in Pasco County, where people are saying, “It can’t happen in our community, in Wesley Chapel, in our country.”

And, Wilkett says there are ways everyone can get involved to end human trafficking.

“If you’re a member of a group – any group – ask that group if they would consider having a presentation,” he says. “We’ll talk about what it is, what to look for, and how to stop it.” Your group could also hold a collection drive to gather toiletries, shoes or clothes to support the organizations that help victims of this horrific crime to recover.

He says that once you know the signs, behaviors, and indicators, “you can be (our) eyes and ears out in the community.” He says don’t take direct action, but call 9-1-1 or the Human Trafficking hotline at (888) 373-7888.

Also, January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Mark your calendar now and plan to attend “Light Up The Night” at the Shops of Wiregrass on Saturday, January 20. Search “Light Up The Night Wiregrass” on Facebook for more information.

For more info, visit PascoSheriff.com/human-trafficking, or to schedule Cpl. Wilkett as a speaker on Human Trafficking, email a PCSO customer service specialist at css@pascosheriff.org.