Climb To The Top No Easy Task For Freedom Valedictorian

Taravat Tarahom didn’t get to bask in the glory of being Freedom High School’s Class of 2020 valedictorian, thanks to the outbreak of Covid-19 cutting short her senior year. Nor did she get to give her speech in front of a throng of her classmates in an arena, instead settling for a safe and socially distant recorded message.

What Taravat says she did get out of being Freedom’s valedictorian, however, was a life-altering accomplishment at the end of what, at times, was an extremely difficult journey.

“This has taught me to look at one goal, but not make (that goal) my entire life,” the 18-year-old says. 

She was able to balance a huge school load, deal with the divorce of her parents and the death of her dog, as well as a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes, all while unexpectedly rising to the top of her class.

Taravat walked away from Freedom with a greater appreciation of her relationships and health and with the piece of mind that comes from learning how to stay prioritized.

“The experience definitely changed me,” says Taravat, who finished with a 7.64 weighted grade-point-average.

Leyla Mohebbi, her mother, says she couldn’t be more proud. She says academics have always been a priority in her home, where bringing home a B meant you would be asked, “Why not an A?”

“I feel like Tara put the expectation onto herself that she did not want to be anything less than a valedictorian,” Leyla says. “I’m very happy. I knew that was her dream, and she made it happen.”

Taravat has followed in the footsteps of her sister Targol, who was Freedom’s valedictorian in 2015 and is now in medical school at Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Lauderdale. Taravat says she felt the bar was “set impossibly high” before she even started high school. She faced a steady climb up the academic ladder, ranking only around No. 25 in her class after her sophomore year.

She remembers moving up in the class rankings after the first semester of her junior year, somewhere into the teens, and her determination to become the second valedictorian in the family was growing. 

She mentioned to some of her classmates and her teacher in AP Biology that she was going to go for it, and they laughed, because she still had more than a dozen students to pass. 

“That set something off in me,” Taravat admits.

A former cheerleader, she started her senior year ranked No. 7 in the class, but once her summer grades were input into the system — “I had a crazy workload that summer” — she had quietly risen to No. 3. But, she stayed under the radar, and continued to take a heavy load.

Taravat, who was co-president of the school’s Sierra Club, says a typical day in the fall of her senior year would entail waking up at 7 a.m. for six hours of school at Freedom, then coming home around lunchtime to eat and pack herself a dinner, and working for three hours as an online tutor, driving to the Hillsborough Community College (HCC) Ybor City campus for a three-hour English class and then heading over to the HCC campus on N. Dale Mabry Hwy. for physics lab. 

In February, she found out it was official — she had quietly risen to the top of her class. She called Leyla. They cried.

Even More Challenges

The hard work did not come without a cost, however.

In December, she had lost 15 pounds and spent two days in the hospital, where she was diagnosed with Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes. “I was so wrapped up in school I didn’t even pay attention to my health,” Taravat says. “I was kind of mad at myself for not noticing.”

Her diagnosis has triggered an interest in endocrinology, which she hopes to study at the University of Florida. She plans on majoring in microbiology and cell sciences.

And while her valedictorian speech wasn’t delivered to a crowd of her classmates, it did come from the heart. Without the trials and tribulations of her senior year, it might have been a completely different speech.

“Remember this,” she told the Class of 2020. “If you fall: get back up. It’s cliché, I know, but get back up. Don’t allow setbacks to steer you off your natural path. Don’t let a single failure ruin those deep-rooted hopes and dreams. Because ultimately, rock bottom could be the solid foundation that you build the rest of your life on.”

Photo Installation Included In NTRC Expansion

Matt May’s photography will be one of the highlights of the New Tampa Recreation Center’s expansion, which currently is under construction in Tampa Palms. (Photo: Charmaine George)

When the New Tampa Recreation Center (NTRC) was built in 2007, Tampa’s Matt May was commissioned to photograph some of the area gymnasts to adorn the windows at the new facility.

Now, 12 years later, the NTRC is just about finished with its $3-million expansion, and once again, it is May’s photography that will be among the highlights of the new structure.

The 7,300-sq.-ft. expansion will help the NTRC accommodate more of those gymnasts, as well as those in the city’s popular dance programs. The two programs served a combined 1,200 students (pre-Covid), and the additional space will allow those numbers to increase by roughly 25 percent when full capacity is again allowed.

Five panels of May’s photography will line a wall in the lobby of the new expansion, and will look like something you would typically see entering a professional sports complex or Hall of Fame. The images show gymnasts, ranging in age from 7 to 17, performing flips and other maneuvers. The large glass panels were put into place at the rec center July 29, as May watched like a nervous and proud parent.

However, these aren’t your ordinary images. May’s photos have been transformed with the use of ceramic inks that are printed onto inch-thick glass, which is then tempered so the inks become a permanent part of the glass.

“This is a new medium for me,” May admits. “The technology has gotten to a point where we could pull this off. Over time, you won’t have to worry about Florida’s heat or UV rays fading that image. To be able to put something in a window in Florida and have it last the test of time, at this level of detail, is really something that has only just become possible over the last year or so.”

May is a local sports photographer, who also shot the first studio pictures of new Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ quarterback Tom Brady in the team’s new uniforms. He also shot new tight end Rob Gronkowski after he joined the Bucs.

May also shot ad campaigns for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 2019 and, back in 2017, produced the art for the Bucs’ “Siege the Day” campaign.

He says he approached shooting the new pictures for the New Tampa Rec Center the same way, employing the same studio-lit pro action style.

“About a year ago, we set up here in the gym, using a black backdrop, and I photographed some of the young gymnasts just like I would Tom Brady or other pro athletes or sports teams,” May says. “I was not only showcasing their personalities, hard work and athletic ability, but also their confidence.”

The NTRC expansion is expected to be completed this fall. Prior to the pandemic, the facility boasted a waiting list of 1,400 kids — 960 waiting to get into gymnastics, the rest waiting to get into the center’s dance programs.

The expansion will add a 50’ x 40’ room specifically for children ages 5 and under, who currently have to share space with older kids in the existing 12,500-sq.-ft. gymnastics area.

Another 50’ x 40’ all-purpose room for dance also is being added, and the expansion also will include a 1,760-sq.-ft. “training box,” which will offer a wealth of possible training exercises for a variety of sports, like retractable batting cages and small group fitness classes.

District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera, who helped lead the charge to get the expansion funded after years of budget disappointments as New Tampa’s representative on the Council, was on hand as the panels were fitted into place and found them to be a fitting touch for the new building.

“I think it’s amazing,” Viera said. “It really improves the existing location, and is consistent with what I think the community wanted to see.”

Browning Reelection Bid Highlights Primary Elections

Election season officially kicks off in Pasco County with the primary election on Tuesday, August 18, with a few key races, including the one involving Pasco County Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning and a replacement for District 4 County Commissioner Mike Wells, Jr.

Also on the ballot but running unopposed in the primary election are Republicans Mike Fasano (Tax Collector), Brian Corley (Supervisor of Elections), Chris Nocco (Sheriff), Ron Oakley (District 1 County Commissioner), Kathryn Starkey (District 3 County Commissioner) and Jack Mariano (District 5 County Commissioner).

The most interesting race may be between Browning and challenger Dr. Dave LaRoche, a race that became personal in June when Browning demoted and transferred his opponent.

Kurt Browning

Browning told the Tampa Bay Times that he replaced Dr. LaRoche, who has been the principal at Hudson High for 12 years, because he wanted someone in that position who shared his long-range plans for the county.

The School Board backed Browning’s decision to send Dr. LaRoche to an assistant principal position at Mitchell High in New Port Richey.

Dr. LaRoche, who graduated from Hudson High, as did his three younger brothers, wrote on his website that Browning’s decision was “suspect” and that, “I am concerned that the school that I have spent the last 16 years as an administrator (in Pasco schools) building, cultivating, and leading is being ripped apart for political aspirations.”

Dr. Dave LaRoche

Dr. LaRoche has been involved in public education for more than 30 years.
Browning is a former Supervisor of Elections for Pasco County, as well as the former Florida Secretary of State under then-Governor Charlie Crist.
Browning is running for his third term as Superintendent of Schools. He filed to run again in December of 2019.

He oversaw a series of contentious re-drawing of school districts over the past few years, including one in the Wesley Chapel area, but has generally received favorable marks. The District’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been largely applauded.

How the district handles the upcoming school reopening could play a significant role in the election.

The winner in the primary will face Bayonet Point middle school teacher and Land O’Lakes High graduate Cynthia Thompson in the general election on Nov. 3. Pasco County is the largest of the state’s 41 districts that elect their superintendents of schools.

In the race to replace Wells, who is running unopposed for the property appraiser position his father Mike Sr. once held for 20 years, candidate Gary Bradford has garnered much of the support of the county’s Republican leadership.

He has received endorsements from District 2 Commissioner Mike Moore and Sheriff Nocco, among others.

A retired law enforcement officer and current Tallahassee lobbyist for the Florida Police Benevolent Association, Bradford has raised $104,873, which is roughly $70,000 more than the other three Republicans running against him .— Christina Fitzpatrick, Russell “Jeff” Miller and Gabe Papadopoulos — have raised combined.

In School Board races, District 4 incumbent Alison Crumbley faces off against Joshua Stringfellow, who has 10 years of professional experience in finance and accounting, including with Pasco County Schools from 2014-19.
Crumbley is seeking her third term, after winning her seat unopposed her past two races.

Ivanov Stresses Integrity & Impartiality In Her Circuit Court Bid

Ashley Ivanov

Integrity. Impartiality. Service.

These are more than words to non-partisan judicial candidate Ashley Willis Ivanov, who is running to become the next Group 19 judge of Florida’s 13th Circuit Court.

To her, they hold value when they are lived out. Professionally and personally, Ivanov says she lives out these ideals.

Ivanov, an attorney who lives in Lithia, has handled a diverse range of cases, including litigated and non-litigated matters, representing both plaintiffs and defendants. She presently focuses her practice on probate and estate planning.

“Integrity in the practice of law is important for the rule of law to be effectively carried out,” she says.

Born in Charleston, SC, Ivanov graduated magna cum laude with honors from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and cum laude from Vermont Law School in South Royalton.

She previously clerked for the federal government, interned at the U.S. Department of Justice and later worked for large, mid-size and small law firms in Washington D.C., Maryland and Hillsborough County, where she started her own law firm in early 2018.

A member of the Hillsborough County Bar Association, Ivanov zealously advocates for her clients, giving them straightforward feedback. Sometimes, this may mean informing a prospective client that he or she does not have much of a case or that the legal fees in the matter could be higher than what the client may have initially anticipated. “Transparency is part of being ethical,” she says.

The public testimonies of Ivanov’s clients attest to her professionalism.

Reading to children in the Head Start Program with her fellow Rotarians (above) is one of the ways Ashley Ivanov, a candidate for Circuit Court judge, gives back. (Photo: Ashley Ivanov campaign)

“My clients’ matters are more than pieces of paper filed in court with case numbers,” she says. “These are real people with real stories that matter.”

In her personal life, Ivanov says she stays busy volunteering with her church and taking her daughter to Girl Scout events.

“I try to lead by example and integrity is at the center of this,” she says, adding that impartiality is a cornerstone of a judge’s responsibilities in administering justice.

“We need more people to run for public office who are going to do what is fair and right and, for the judiciary, uphold impartiality,” Ivanov says. “It is not the judge’s role to legislate from the bench, but to apply the law as it is, as created by the legislature.”

Service also is a regular part of Ivanov’s life, and she would not have it any other way. She serves with the FishHawk-Riverview Rotary and says she enjoys reading to children in the HeadStart Program with her fellow Rotarians.

As a member of the Hillsborough County Bar Association’s Community Services Committee, Ivanov has participated in Wills for Heroes, where she prepared complimentary estate planning documents for First Responders.

For more information about Ashley Ivanov’s campaign for District 13 Circuit Court Judge, Group 19, visit VoteAshleyIvanov.com.

Radiance Orthodontics Wants To Put A Smile On Your Face, Too!

Dr. Sam Jureyda and Radiance Orthodontics in Tampa Palms have more than 100 reviews on Google, and all of them are 5 stars. The staff invites you to Google “Radiance Orthodontics” to see what patients have to say about the practice. (Photos courtesy of Eric Bunch)

Tampa Palms resident Kellie Lightbourne says she’s a very particular person, especially when it comes to her family and their teeth.

You’d expect that from a former Mrs. USA and veteran television personality.

So, when it was time for Kellie to choose an orthodontist for her 12-year-old twins, she went to several offices for consultations.

She says it was when she met Sam Jureyda, D.M.D. (Doctor of Medical Dentistry), of Radiance Orthodontics, located in the Tampa Palms Professional Center, that she knew she had found exactly what she was seeking for her family.

“Dr. J is amazing,” she says. “He sat with my kids, talked with them, interacted with them and made them feel welcome.”

That’s a big deal for Kellie’s son, Niko, who has special needs. Kellie feared he wouldn’t cooperate with an orthodontist working inside his mouth.

“Once Niko decides he’s not doing something, there’s no way he’s going to do it,” Kellie says. “I thought orthodontic treatment would be a nightmare, but now he’ll do it for Dr. J because he likes him so much. Now, I have no fear.”

Niko’s twin sister, Landyn, immediately liked him, too. “Dr. J was so different than all the other orthodontists because he actually talked to us,” Landyn says. “It wasn’t boring. He actually made it sort of fun and interactive. He made us feel very comfortable and he’s very funny.”

Dr. Jureyda has spent more than 25 years practicing orthodontics. Before moving into private practice in 2006 — and subsequently opening Radiance Orthodontics in 2016 — he taught graduate-level students at the University of Buffalo, NY.

As a former educator, he believes his own practice is improved by education, as he strives to give his patients access to modern options that lead to the best possible outcomes. He knows each patient has a unique set of needs and is sure to treat each individual with a personalized and completely customized treatment plan.

His goal is not just to treat the patient, but also to involve the patient in the process — even the youngest among them — so they are invested in their care and have a positive experience at Radiance Orthodontics.

“We believe in building a relationship with each patient,” Dr. Jureyda explains, “educating, supporting and encouraging them. We look forward to your visits as time spent with a friend, and we genuinely hope you will feel the same.”

Radiance Orthodontics offers traditional metal braces, along with clear braces, and also offers treatment with InvisalignTM, which uses invisible, removable, comfortable aligners to straighten teeth. The method is constantly improving and is now so effective, it often works more quickly than traditional braces.

Adapting To Keep You Safe

Like all orthodontic practices, Radiance Orthodontics was required to shut down for several weeks during the Covid-19 pandemic.

During that time, Dr. Jureyda and his staff continued to answer phone calls, text messages and emails to help their patients.

“Dr. J” provides quality orthodontic care and your health and safety are his top priorities. Photo provided by Radiance Orthodontics.

When the office reopened, the same stringent cleaning protocols that have always been practiced were followed, and enhanced procedures have been added, such as temperature checks and health screening questions. 

“We have temporarily closed our waiting room and now ask our patients to wait in their cars,” says Dr. Jureyda. “Simply call or text us when you arrive, and we’ll let you know to come in as soon as your room is ready. We’re being extremely cautious at this time, to protect all of our patients and staff.”

‘Consultations Are Free?’

Justine (who asked that we only use her first name) is a University of South Florida medical student who recently began treatment at Radiance Orthodontics.

In January of 2019, Justine signed up with a company that promised to close a gap between her front teeth by sending her aligners in the mail. While her first choice would have been to go to an orthodontist in person, she didn’t think she could afford it.

“I don’t have dental insurance and I thought braces would cost $6,000 to $8,000,” she said. “I didn’t know consultations are free.”

Justine says the next 12 months with the mail-order company couldn’t have been further from her expectations. The aligners did not move her teeth, which caused them to not fit properly as she tried to continue her treatment. When she had questions — such as if the painful sores she was developing were normal — she had no medical professional to ask. She says the company’s customer service department replied in form letters that were sometimes not even relevant to her question.

When the aligners didn’t fit anymore, the company offered to send her modified aligners. She did her own impressions at home, and sent them in. She didn’t receive the new aligners for eight weeks. At that time, they no longer fit her teeth and she had to start over. After the third modification, with still no progress happening to fix the gap between her front teeth, she gave up. She decided she needed to see an orthodontist in person, and scheduled an appointment with Radiance Orthodontics.

She says she wishes she would have done it much sooner.

As she discovered, consultations at Radiance Orthodontics are completely free and are always no-obligation. 

“The cost is much less than I thought it would be,” Justine says. “And it’s worth it. I’m a young adult without a lot of experience. I didn’t know there were discounts for paying in full, or that the pricing would be built around monthly payments and a payment plan.”

She says the experience is already vastly different than with the “do-it-yourself” aligners, including attachments being placed on her teeth to hold the InvisalignTM aligners in place. 

“Dr. J was listening,” Justine says. “It was such a stark difference than when I had no one to turn to.”

Serving The Community, Too!

One hallmark of Radiance Orthodontics is that Dr. Jureyda remains committed to being a partner at almost all of New Tampa’s public schools. As a business partner at our two high schools, three middle schools, and seven elementary schools, Dr. Jureyda actively supports the PTAs and students in our community. 

“We truly miss being able to be out in the community and attending events at our local schools,” he says. “We consider it a privilege to support our local students and educators.”

To ensure that Radiance Orthodontics is accessible to everyone, especially during these uncertain times, Dr. Jureyda makes accommodations in both scheduling and payment plans. Some evening and Saturday appointments are available, and Radiance Orthodontics also works with patients to determine orthodontic benefits through dental insurance and provide affordable payment options.

 “My reputation relies solely on how I treat each and every patient,” says Dr. Jureyda. “I take that very seriously.” 

To read reviews about the practice, Google “Radiance Orthodontics,” where you’ll see that every review is a five-star rating. In addition to more than 100 ratings on Google, the reviews for Radiance Orthodontics on Facebook, Yelp! and Healthgrades are also exclusively five stars.

Radiance Orthodontics is located at 17427 Bridge Hill Ct., Suite A, in the Tampa Palms Professional Center. For more information, please visit MyRadianceBraces.com, search “Radiance Orthodontics” on Facebook, or see the ad on page 21. To schedule your free consultation, call or text Radiance Orthodontics at (813)-972-1100.