Safety & Fighting The Primary Topics At Five Local Wharton Meetings

(L.-r.) Wharton High principal Brad Woods talks to a few parents at Heritage Elementary as Area 3 leadership coach Kristin Tonelli & athletic director Eddie Henderson look on.

In response to community concerns about violence and increased law enforcement at Wharton High earlier this year, school administration and district officials held a series of five meetings — at Turner Bartels K-8 school, Hunter’s Green (HGE) and Heritage elementary schools and Van Buren and Benito middle schools — between April 4 and April 11.

Designed to be smaller, more intimate gatherings where parents could ask questions freely, the meetings were attended by what could hardly be called “crowd” — in fact, a fraction of the hundreds of parents who showed up back in February for a larger meeting held on campus at Wharton were at the five meetings combined.

The meetings were led by principal Brad Woods, who, in a strange twist, announced his resignation from Wharton after 10 years at the school the morning after the final meeting at Benito.

In addition to Woods, the school’s six assistant principals and district staff — including Area 3 superintendent Dr. Anna Brown, who oversees Wharton and all of the New Tampa-area Hillsborough County public schools, and former HGE principal Kristin Tonelli, who is now the Area 3 leadership coach — attended all five. New Tampa-area Hillsborough District 3 School Board member Cindy Stuart attended all but one.

At the New Tampa-area meetings, attendance varied.

Administrators outnumbered parents 7-4 at the Heritage meeting, by far the least attended. The meetings at Hunter’s Green and Benito had about 30 parents each; roughly 20 were at Turner Bartels.

Some parents in attendance did express concern about the low turnout.

“I’d love to see more parents here,” said Jennifer Brooks, a Wharton parent.

But, administrators say their goal was to connect with the parents who did show up, no matter how many there were.

“It didn’t matter if the turnout was large or small,” Tonelli said after the last meeting. “We knew the community had questions and we wanted to provide answers.”

Woods stressed at each meeting that school officials had heard from parents on issues like better communication and student support, and improving school pride, which could include things like beautification.

A request has been made to have Wharton painted, but the cost could be $225,000 and the School Board would have to approve funding for that project. A campus clean-up and beautification day will be held on Saturday, April 28.

Parents and community members are invited to attend, although details on time and exactly what improvements will be made were not available at our press time.

Woods explained at the first meeting that new soap dispensers were being ordered that could not be as easily removed from the walls. Apparently, some students would empty the dispensers so that it was difficult to keep them filled. At the last meeting at Benito, Woods announced that the new dispensers had been installed.

He also addressed the issue of the smell of marijuana coming from the 100 Hall bathrooms at two of the meetings. Woods reported that a teacher reported the smell to the office earlier last week, and when no one was found in the restroom at the time, administrators reviewed security video and searched students seen going into or coming out of the bathroom during that time.

One student who was found with marijuana was suspended and arrested.

While administrators insist problems at the school stem from both local students who attend Wharton from New Tampa’s 33647 zip code and those who are bused in from outside of it, Woods reported that one parent has met with School Board member Cindy Stuart to propose new boundaries for Wharton, beginning a long process that could potentially end in rezoning at some point in the future.

Parents seemed to be reassured that the violence that was prevalent on campus a few months ago had calmed down. So, questions turned to issues of safety.

“We have your prized possessions here,” Woods said, adding that at Wharton, the perimeter of the school is being examined, and changes have been made to keep the students safer, such as opening and closing gates as needed, rather than leaving a gate open all day.

“It’s comforting to hear they’re managing the fighting situation and bringing it down to a normal level,” said Dale Miller, whose two children attend Wharton.

Following the final meeting at Benito on April 11, Brooks echoed the sentiments of several parents who attended the meeting. “I think they’re moving in the right direction,” she says. “I don’t expect everything to be fixed overnight, but I want to be kept in the loop.”

She says her 10th-grade daughter loves Wharton and she has no hesitations about her eighth-grade daughter attending the school next year.

“My two questions for any school are always, will you be safe, and will you be challenged?,” said Brooks. “The answer at Wharton is yes (to both).”

Brooks’ friend Christine Bonatakis has a daughter in eighth grade who will attend Wharton next year. “We have lots of friends and neighbors who attend Wharton and they’re happy,” Bonatakis said. “I feel very comfortable with my decision.”

GL Homes Continues To Develop The Ridge At Wiregrass Ranch

An aerial view of the clubhouse and The Ridge at Wiregrass Ranch community, which is being developed by GL Homes along S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel.

On S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel, a couple of miles east of the Shops at Wiregrass, behind a stunning entrance with an eye-catching waterfall feature, The Ridge at Wiregrass Ranch continues to take shape.

Families who want to enjoy the best possible Florida lifestyle in luxurious, custom homes have been moving into the community since 2016. Of the nearly 350 homes that have been sold in The Ridge so far, 216 have been completed. At build-out, The Ridge is expected to include 564 homes.

The starting prices for homes in The Ridge range between $310,000 to $640,000, with sizes from just under 2,000 sq. ft. to more than 5,000 sq. ft. Most homes back up to ponds or conservation areas, and the few homes that back up to another home feature deeper lots and more green space between them.

The Ridge is being developed, built and sold by Sunrise, FL-based GL Homes, a privately owned company that has been in business for more than 40 years. GL Homes started in Palm Beach and Broward counties and has grown to include communities throughout Florida.

The company is different from many community developers, because it also builds the homes.

“We purchase the land, work with engineers to create a site plan, go through the approval process, develop each home site and build each home,” says Marisa Lufkin, the project manager for The Ridge.

Marisa has been working at The Ridge for more than a year, and has been with GL Homes for 18 years. Previously, she was at Valencia Lakes (the only other GL Homes community in the Tampa Bay area), which is for adults ages 55 and older, located in the Sun City Center area of southern Hillsborough County.

She explains that being both the developer and the builder has its advantages.

“We control the standard of the overall aesthetics,” Marisa says. “We start with the entrance and follow through with the elevations of the homes. We tie it all together, from the guardhouse to the landscaping, to the exterior of the clubhouse to the homes themselves.”

The elevations of the homes in The Ridge all include concrete roof tile, stacked stone exterior details, a covered patio, and brick pavers on driveways, walkways, entries, and covered patios.

“These are standard features in all of our homes,” explains Marisa. She adds that the high-end standard features continue inside, as well, where you won’t need to upgrade to get stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, 42” upper cabinets in the kitchen or luxury bathroom finishes.

That’s one reason Adaliz Aponte and her family chose to build a home in The Ridge when they relocated from Panama City Beach, FL, last August.

“Things that are standard here were an upgrade with our last builder,” she says. “The quality of the home is really impressive. It’s the perfect fit for us, and we’re so happy we’re here.”

Marisa adds, “In this community, you really can have it all.”

Clubhouse & Pools

Speaking of having it all, the community’s 11,691-sq.-ft. clubhouse opened in March of last year. It includes a fitness center with 24-hour resident access, aerobics room, indoor sports court, game room, kids room and even an arcade.

At The Ridge at Wiregrass Ranch, developed and built by GL Homes, residents and visitors are greeted by this stunning waterfall entrance.

Outdoors, a resort-style pool is accompanied by a lap pool, kids water play area and a water slide. There also are four tennis courts, a shaded tot lot, a full-size, full-court basketball court, open play field and party pavilion.

“There’s nothing else like it in a community this size,” says Marisa. “We’re different for the market, and that’s what attracts buyers to this community.”

“We just love it here,” Adaliz says, “especially all the amenities.”

For example, Adaliz and her family enjoy the pool. “It’s huge,” she says. “First of all, it’s actually three pools because there’s also a lap pool and a water slide. The big pool has a lot of seating, including cabana-style seating, so you can sit back and watch the kids. We can cook out or take food.”

The community also has a lifestyle program, now in full swing, offering plenty of events for residents. A lifestyle director plans events, which have included a health and wellness expo, Christmas party with Santa, cookies, and crafts, and a “Winter Wonderland” event with food trucks, a snow machine, and a “polar bear plunge” down the waterslide.

Adaliz is one of many residents who chose The Ridge in part for its location, which is close to The Shops at Wiregrass, Tampa Premium Outlets, Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. and I-75. “It’s close to everything that’s important to us, like doctors, the supermarket and restaurants,” she says.

Marisa adds that a wide variety of people are coming to live at The Ridge, “from newlyweds to families with children to empty nesters.”

She says many of the buyers are local. “Our community gives people who have outgrown their New Tampa homes an opportunity to build a bigger home in the area,” she says, adding that other local buyers are looking to downsize once they become empty nesters. “Other families just want to live in a brand new home with all the finishing touches and these amazing community amenities.”

In addition, she says, “GL Homes offers the whole package. From the multi-million-dollar entry that makes you feel like you’re coming into a truly upscale community, to our many floor plans and hundreds of options for customization, along with the great lifestyle.”

The sales center at The Ridge at Wiregrass Ranch is open every day, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. For more information, visit GLHomes.com or call (855) 671-1700.

SPOTLIGHT ON…The Joint Chiropractic!

If you have chronic back and/or neck pain, regular adjustments from a trained chiropractic physician, like those at The Joint Chiropractic Center, located in the Publix-anchored New Tampa Center plaza (near Pizza Hut), may help. A lot.

As I’ve mentioned in these pages before, The Joint is a new, much more affordable way to address your chronic pain when compared with most other chiropractic offices.

Like some of you, I wasn’t a believer in chiropractic care, in part because I never really suffered from any kind of back or neck pain until I was well into my 50s. I chalked it up to the problems of my sometimes sedentary lifestyle — I spend a lot of hours gazing into a computer, especially during my two deadline weeks per month — combined with trying to continue to do regular physical activity in order to keep my weight down as my body has aged.

But today, I am a true believer in not only the power of regular, ongoing chiropractic care, but also in The Joint, because never before has visiting a chiropractor been this affordable.

Although other chiropractors also work at The Joint’s New Tampa location — which is owned by Dr. Edward Leonard’s TJ Wesley Chapel PA and managed by my friends Valerie and Alex Pierroutsakos of Valex, Inc. — the chiropractor who sees patients every Monday through Friday is Dr. Barney Bickerton, DC (Doctor of Chiropractic). Dr. Barney and The Joint have been Godsends for both my fiancé Jannah and myself, because we have both been able to visit every week since Alex and Valerie opened The Joint’s New Tampa clinic last summer.

The initial fee at The Joint is just $29 and includes a consultation, an exam and an adjustment. Dr. Barney takes the time to find out where your pain is and when you feel it most often, and if you say you have pain in your neck or back, you don’t even have to show him where it is because he’ll find the source of it with his magic hands within a few seconds.

If you’re used to paying $45-$55 or more every time you visit the chiropractor, you’ll probably appreciate the fact that one adjustment per week — four adjustments every month — at The Joint will set its members back only $69, and additional adjustments in the same month, when you need them (like after Jannah and I were in a car accident in November), are just $10 each.

The Joint New Tampa recently hosted a Customer Appreciation event where Dr. Barney saw and adjusted 90 people in one day, including yours truly — with minimal wait times. Look for a one-year anniversary celebration announcement in future issues and please tell ‘em I sent you!

For more info about The Joint (19014 BBD Blvd.), visit TheJoint.com, call (813) 534-6415 or see the ad on pg. 3! — GN

Saddlebrook Teen Hosts ‘Golf Fore Guts’

In some ways, Parker James is a typical high school senior — visiting colleges, awaiting acceptance letters and hoping for great scholarship offers, while spending his days at school and playing sports.

Parker’s sport of choice these days is golf, and he works hard at it — training every day after classes at Saddlebrook Preparatory School inside Saddlebrook Resort Tampa off S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel.

Parker (pictured with his golf coach, Nick Dunn) also is getting ready to do something most teenagers don’t — he will host a golf tournament to raise awareness for a health condition he suffers from, Crohn’s disease.

“Crohn’s has shaped my fighter mentality,” says Parker, explaining that fighting his disease has prepared him for the mental challenges of golf. “In golf, you can go out on the course and lose every day. You can always do better, and you have to overcome that.”

He says he’s always loved playing sports, and as a child played baseball, basketball, football, soccer, lacrosse, golf, tennis, even skateboarding and wakeboarding.

His diagnosis at 10 years old with Crohn’s disease changed things for Parker. Crohn’s is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characterized by inflammation of the digestive tract.

Since then, an ankle injury and a new diagnosis — this time of rheumatoid arthritis —further limited his ability to play most of the sports he loves.

But, Parker found a way to keep his athletic dreams alive, by playing sports that are less strenuous on his joints, especially golf.

And now, he wants to raise awareness about the many people who suffer from Crohn’s, especially those who, like him, are diagnosed as kids.

“I want to inspire other young people to never feel defeated by their illnesses,” Parker says. “Don’t let it hold you back in any shape or form.”

The golf tournament Parker is organizing will be held on Saturday, April 14, at Saddlebrook Resort. All proceeds will benefit the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation.

Players can register a foursome, or sign up to play in a group with an academy student.

To learn more about sponsoring the tournament, to donate or sign up to play, visit GolfForeGuts.com.

Fears Felt Miles Away From Parkland

Students at Wiregrass Ranch (above) were some of many in Wesley Chapel who took part in a national walkout to honor those slain at Stoneman Douglas High. (WTSP)

As students across the country react to the Valentine’s Day school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, Florida, about 13,000 people participated in Tampa’s “March For Our Lives” on March 24.

Students at schools in Wesley Chapel came out to the event, after many also attended candlelight vigils on February 19 and walk-outs on February 21, remembering and honoring the victims, while showing solidarity with those affected by the shooting and calling for changes to make schools safer.

At Cypress Creek Middle High School, a lockdown caused by an announced “active threat on campus” on March 13 inspired sophomore Brina Gutierrez to write this opinion piece for the school’s newspaper, the Cypress Creek Howler. As it turns out, there was no threat to the campus, but police responded after a student reported seeing a suspicious person walking near the school with what might be a firearm.

Here’s how one student reacted to what might have been a routine procedure just a month before (this piece has not been edited):

The way I thought I was going to react was not how I reacted.

March 13, 2018, almost exactly a month after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre occurred when 17 precious lives were lost. I was working on a memorial for the lives lost for a commemoration event our school had plans for the next day when on the intercom I heard the bone-chilling words:

Brina Gutierrez

“Teachers, we have an active threat on campus.”

My mind went blank. Panic began to overwhelm me. I wasn’t in my normal classroom, so the teacher whose room I was in rushed to make sure the door was locked, and cover the windows with paper we had just gotten twenty minutes earlier for the use of the memorial project we were working on, unaware, this was about to happen.

I could feel tears begin to rush down my face and didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t react. I didn’t know where to start or what to do. Everyone seemed to be moving sluggishly as if it were a drill. It just didn’t seem as if we were acting quickly enough. I was both mentally and physically unprepared for this such event.

The day had been normal, besides the slight chill that the air held, which was unusual from Florida’s normal weather. I had recently become more comfortable with the idea of school being safe again and suddenly, that idea shattered into a million pieces for me.

There was nothing I could do to be emotionally or physically ready for this. Time slowed down, seconds felt like minutes. My mind became slightly more coherent as I snapped into action, adrenaline coursing through my veins. I was flipping a table over to act as a barricade and shoving the usually heavy desks with such force that I’ve never had before.

After blockading the room, I immediately began texting my sister, who was in the other building. The fear I felt for her was so immensely palpable I could almost taste it. I didn’t know what was going on or if she was even alive. I didn’t know what was happening. I quickly texted her to see if she was okay and you can not imagine the relief I felt when she texted me back she was alright.

I was quickly ushered into a supply closet and in an attempt to make more room for people, I squeezed myself into a cabinet that was barely a foot high. In that room, I felt every emotion go through my body, but the most dominant was the absolute terror I felt. That terror gripped my soul. It dawned on me at that moment, I wasn’t ready to die.

I had no certainty of what the threat was, but I knew this wasn’t the way or day I wanted to go.

The moment I found out there was no active shooter, I felt like a million pounds lighter. From there, slowly the terror began to let up. Though people were returning to their normal attitudes and actions from before the lockdown, I still couldn’t fathom the idea there was even a potential threat at my school. I still can’t.

The moment I was reunited with my sister and family was a euphoric experience.

Whether or not the threat had merit or not, we need to be proactive with school safety. I can’t continue to have the fear that the place I go to ensure a good future, could also so easily end my future.

This isn’t about whether or not we should have more strict gun control laws. Take the politics out of it for a minute, what all of this is really about is us as students, and you as parents ensuring we are safe at school.

I just want to feel like I can go to school without the threat that I may not go home that same afternoon. I’m supposed to feel safe at school and somewhere along the line, someone failed us. Never again.

We got lucky this time, but what if next time we aren’t as lucky?