Area Students Pick Up Dozens of Awards At Regional STEM Fair

Clark Elementary fourth grader Harrison Shirey (left) and Chiles Elementary third grader Rohan Apte both earned Best of Fair at the February Hillsborough County Regional STEM Fair.

New Tampa’s elementary and middle schools once again had a strong showing at the 38th Annual Hillsborough County Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematic (STEM) Fair on March 6.

In fact, more than 50 students in New Tampa were recognized for their projects, including a pair of Best of Fair awards.

All students in Hillsborough County were allowed to submit a qualifying project in 13 major STEM subject areas. The top 27 winners advanced to the State STEM Fair, and the two best projects from Hillsborough County also will go on to compete in the International STEM Fair.

The Best of Fair winners were Chiles Elementary third-grader Rohan Apte and Clark Elementary fourth-grader Harrison Shirey.

Rohan won for his project entitled “Crash! Did it Break?: Do Seat Belts Matter?” His project involved crashing a LEGO car with eggs inside wearing (and some not wearing) rubber band seat belts.

It’s not the first Best of Fair aware for the Apte household — Rohan’s sister Ria also won the award, in 2016, also when she was in the third grade.

Harrison won his Best of Fair award for his project “What Material Does Wi-Fi Travel Through?”

Heritage Elementary (l.-r.) third grader Logan Jones, fourth grader Isabella Pappalardo and third graders Emily Lara, Isabella Santiago and Dylan Farner all earned medals.

Local elementary schools earned 15 Superior scores, including four each by Clark and Turner/Bartels K-8 and three by Chiles and Tampa Palms.

In the older division, Liberty Middle School’s Uma Panchal (“The Vitamin C Integrity Project”), Ellie and Olivia Pliska (“The Algae is Blooming: Does Synthetic or Organic Fertilizer Contribute more to Algae Growth?”) won first-place awards, while Wharton High took home seven top-3 finishes, including a first-place by Kylie Orihuela and Mackenzie Schaecher for “Copper Heals.”

The complete list of local winners are:

ELEMENTARY DIVISION GROUP PROJECTS 3rd GRADE
Superior
Magnetic Magic — Joel Madadha, Miles Shi, and Lucas Aguerreberry, Clark Elementary

ELEMENTARY DIVISION ‱ GROUP PROJECTS ‱ THIRD GRADE PHYSICAL SCIENCE/MATTER
Excellent
Time for Dissolving Fun — Jeshwitha Avula and Pranjal Kot, Pride Elementary

Excellent
Which bubble gum blows the biggest bubble: Super Bubble or Double Bubble? — Emily Lara and Isabella Santiago, Heritage Elementary

Superior
How Does the Brand of Nail Polish affect How Long it Lasts? Isabella Baez and Sophia Sauer, Turner/Bartels K-8

ELEMENTARY DIVISION ‱ GROUP PROJECTS ‱ FOURTH GRADE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
Excellent
Cookie’s Maze — Alexa Gonzalez and Luciana Guaman, Chiles Elementary

Superior
How Does Brain Dominance Affect Hand-Eye — Gal Lawrental Schori and Linney Kim, Chiles Elementary

ELEMENTARY DIVISION ‱ GROUP PROJECTS ‱ FOURTH GRADE PHYSICAL SCIENCE/ENERGY
Excellent
Lightning Magnets — Archith Gaddam and Saisharat Yenka, Pride Elementary

Superior
Energy From Garbage: How Much Methane Do Different Types of Food Scraps Produce? — Aayush Mehta and Anjali Mehta, Tampa Palms Elementary

ELEMENTARY DIVISION ‱ GROUP PROJECTS ‱ FOURTH GRADE PHYSICAL SCIENCE/MATTER
Excellent
Dissolve the Bomb! — Ana Clara DeJesus, Zeina Mughrabi, and Madison Long, Pride Elementary

ELEMENTARY DIVISION ‱ GROUP PROJECTS ‱ FIFTH GRADE EARTH/SPACE SCIENCE
Superior
Feeling Salty — Ethan Bahs and Morgan Aulet, Clark Elementary

ELEMENTARY DIVISION ‱ GROUP PROJECTS ‱ FIFTH GRADE LIFE SCIENCE
Outstanding
Fantastic Fertilizer — Logan Andress and Chase Andress, Chiles Elementary

ELEMENTARY DIVISION ‱ GROUP PROJECTS ‱ FIFTH GRADE PHYSICAL SCIENCE/ENERGY
Superior
Harnessing The Heat — Aditya Shukla and Aditi Shukla, Tampa Palms Elementary

Superior
Flying Trains — Dev Parikh and Evan Stepanek, Turner/Bartels K-8

ELEMENTARY DIVISION ‱ GROUP PROJECTS ‱ FIFTH GRADE PHYICAL SCIENCE/MATTER
Excellent
Fear of Water: How Do Materials Stay Dry And Clean? — Eesha Venkatesh and Harini Iyer, Tampa Palms Elementary

Superior
An Apple a Day…Keeps the Spoils Away — Danai Bernard, Anu Badiger, Jayone Heo, and Kanishka Mittal, Chiles Elementary

****INDIVIDUALS****

ELEMENTARY DIVISION ‱ INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS ‱ THIRD GRADE EARTH/SPACE SCIENCE
Superior
Looking to Kill an Oil Spill? — Ani Marsland-Pettit, Clark Elementary

ELEMENTARY DIVISION ‱ INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS ‱ THIRD GRADE
Superior
Which Truss to Trust? — Nathaniel Bostic Jr., Turner/Bartels K-8

ELEMENTARY DIVISION ‱ INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS ‱ THIRD GRADE PHYSICAL SCIENCE/ENERGY
Excellent
Dear Dad, Don’t Drive Distracted! — Rex Knuckles, Chiles Elementary

Superior
Crash! Did it Break? : Do Seatbelts Matter? — Rohan Apte, Chiles Elementary

ELEMENTARY DIVISION ‱ INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS ‱ THIRD GRADE PHYSICAL SCIENCE/MATTER
Outstanding
Spoiler Alert — Logan Jones, Heritage Elementary

Excellent
The Race To The Fizz Line: How Does The Temperature Of Water Affect How Fast A Bathbomb Dissolves? — Maanini Kuruganti, Tampa Palms Elementary

Excellent
Stain, Stain, Go Away! — Dylan Farner, Heritage Elementary

Superior
Absorbing Socks — Advay Joshi, Pride Elementary

ELEMENTARY DIVISION ‱ INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS ‱ FOURTH GRADE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
Superior
Right Vs Left — Rhea Varma, Tampa Palms Elementary

ELEMENTARY DIVISION ‱ INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS ‱ FOURTH GRADE EARTH/SPACE SCIENCE
Excellent
Which is Better: Tap Vs Fountain Water? — Madison Fang, Chiles Elementary

ELEMENTARY DIVISION ‱ INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS ‱ FOURTH GRADE PHYSICAL
Outstanding
Tooth Decay — Isabella Pappalardo, Heritage Elementary

Outstanding
Chocolate Geodes — Jared Creel, Hunters Green Elementary

Superior
Which Substance Will Cause Soap Bubbles to Last Longer? — Jhanvi Anand, Turner/Bartels K-8

Superior
What Material Does Wi-Fi Travel Through? — Harrison Shirey, Clark Elementary

ELEMENTARY DIVISION ‱ INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS ‱ FIFTH GRADE EARTH/SPACE SCIENCE

Outstanding
Oil Clean Up — Sofia Rojas, Tampa Palms Elementary

Excellent
Slowing the Landslide — Radha Panchal, Clark Elementary

ELEMENTARY DIVISION ‱ INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS ‱ FIFTH GRADE

Superior
London Bridge is Falling Down! — Aryan Sriram, Pride Elementary

ELEMENTARY DIVISION ‱ INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS ‱ FIFTH GRADE PHYSICAL SCIENCE/ENERGY

Outstanding
Does a magnet’s shape affect the height it levitates? — Mohnish Satheesh Kumar, Chiles Elementary

Excellent
There’s No Debate, Properly Inflate: How the Amount of Air in Tires Affects Bike Riding — Allison Wells, Chiles Elementary

Superior
Solar Powered Car (Next Generation Car) — Raj Guntuku, Tampa Palms Elementary

ELEMENTARY DIVISION ‱ INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS ‱ FIFTH GRADE PHYSICAL SCIENCE/MATTER

Outstanding
Alka-Seltzer Action — Frances McKoen, Hunters Green Elementary

Excellent
Nail Nonsense! How Does the Brand of Nail Polish Affect How Long the Paint Takes to Dry? — Kacy Hauck, Turner/Bartels K-8

Superior
Don’t Underestimate the Insulate — Andrew Feaster, Clark Elementary

3rd Grade Best of Fair
Crash! Did it Break? : Do Seatbelts Matter? — Rohan Apte, Chiles Elementary

4th Grade Best of Fair
What Material Does Wi-Fi Travel Through? Harrison Shirey, Clark Elementary

SECONDARY AWARDS

Elaine Feaster, Liberty Middle
Title: Naturally Cool
Memorial Award: Helen Johnson’s Award

Sarrah Abdulai & Olivia Giraldo, Wharton High
Title: How Effectively Oysters Filter Different Types of Water
Award(s): Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration

Alisha Bhatia, Freedom High
Title: Similarities Between Humans and Animals in The Huntingtin (HTT) Gene
Award(s): Big Cat Rescue

Elaine Feaster Liberty
Title: Naturally Cool
Award(s): Cardinal Roofing Broadcom

Zion Flavien, Wharton
Title: Global Warming: The relation between chlorophyll production and a healthy Earth
Award(s): American Meteorological Society

Uma Patel, Liberty
Title: The Vitamin C Integrity Project.
Award(s): Broadcom

Ellie & Olivia Pliska, Liberty
Title: The Algae is Blooming: Does Synthetic or Organic Fertilizer Contribute more to
Award(s): Broadcom

Junior Animal Sciences Awards
3rd: Lisa Maeda, Benito: Which Length of Electromagnetic Waves Repels Mosquitoes the Most?

Junior Biomedical and Health Sciences Awards
1st: Uma Panchal, Liberty: The Vitamin C Integrity Project

Junior Earth and Environmental Sciences Awards
1st: Ellie and Olivia Pliska, Liberty: The Algae is Blooming: Does Synthetic or Organic Fertilizer Contribute more to Algae Growth?

Junior Environmental Engineering Awards
2nd: Elaine Feaster, Liberty: Naturally Cool

Junior Mathematics and Computational Sciences Awards
3rd: Osman Eksioglu, Liberty: Machine Learning and how it adapts

Senior Behavioral and Social Sciences Awards
2nd: Nicole Carlin, Genesis Dalcourt, & Maria Pinilla-Baquero, Freedom: How Does Music Impact Test Taking?

Senior Chemistry Awards
3rd: Yash Patel, Wharton: Using Banana Peels as Eco-friendly Supplements to Livestock feed

Senior Cellular/Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Awards
1st: Kylie Orihuela & Mackenzie Schaecher, Wharton: Copper Heals
2nd: Aaron Ha & Clyddyll Uyan, Wharton: Chlorophyll Extraction/Chromatography

Senior Earth and Environmental Sciences Awards
2nd: Sarrah Abdulai & Olivia Giraldo, Wharton: How Effectively Oysters Filter Different Types of Water
3rd: Meghna Desai & Neelam Patel, Wharton: Is it Worth Paying for Water Bottles?

Senior Engineering and Materials Sciences Awards
2nd: Jaclyn Saldana, Wharton: Bridge Breaking

Senior Physics and Astronomy Awards
2nd: Laura Deloso, Wharton: Proving Acceleration Due to Gravity

Senior Plant Sciences Awards
2nd: Crystal Castro & Isabella Kim, Wharton: The Effects of Different Concentrations of IAA on Root Initiation
3rd: Sarah McInvale, Wharton: Radiation on Germination

New Tampa Teen Wins Community Hero Award From The Lightning!

Harsh Bagdy (right) with 9-year-old Sabian, who was the first to receive a donation from Harsh’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Charity Health Resources.

When New Tampa resident Harsh Bagdy was in the fifth grade at Montessori Preparatory School, the place he loved the most was the soccer field — and it was in bad shape. More rocks and dirt than grass, it was too dangerous to play on.

So Harsh, whose father Ash had instilled in him a passion for giving back, decided to do something about it. Together, they rallied people in the community to raise $40,000 for a brand new field.

That was only the beginning. In seventh grade, Harsh secured enough money to build a new computer lab at Terrace Community Middle School. By his sophomore year at King High, he had founded his own nonprofit, Charity Health Resources, a 501(c)(3) that raises money to purchase quality wheelchairs, walkers, shower chairs and other devices for people without adequate health insurance.

“I see mobility as something we all take for granted,” said Harsh, whose mother Kavita Jain works as a physical therapist. He said she often tells him about the great need for mobility equipment she sees. 

“It’s impossible to go out, have a job or do really anything if you aren’t mobile, and if you’re worried about paying for food or housing, you can’t do anything about it,” he said.

Harsh, 17, a first-generation American whose parents moved to Tampa from India 25 years ago and now a junior in high school, was honored by the Tampa Bay Lightning on January 19 as this season’s 25th Lightning Community Hero.

He received a $50,000 donation from the Lightning Foundation and the Lightning Community Heroes program. Half of the money will go towards his own education. He gave the other half to Metropolitan Ministries, an organization he’s been volunteering with since the sixth grade, and the one he turned to when establishing Charity Health Resources. 

“I instantly connected with Metro’s outreach team, because we had something they couldn’t easily provide and they could find people who needed it,” said Harsh. 

Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Alex Killorn (left) and CEO Steve Griggs present Harsh Bagdy, the 25th Lightning Community Hero this season, with a check for $50,000.

A new partnership between Metropolitan Ministries and Charity Health Resources, made possible by Harsh’s winnings, will put more members of the outreach team further into the community, allowing them to find mobility-challenged clients who are unable to travel to the main outreach center in Tampa Heights. 

“Because of Harsh, when our team meets someone in the community with a handicap or mobility challenge, we can just call him up and he’ll fulfill the need,” said Metropolitan Ministries’ president and CEO Tim Marks. “That’s something we never could have done without him.”

Charity Health Resources, said Harsh, has made between 15-20 donations in its first year. Their first donation was a new wheelchair for a 9-year-old boy named Sabian with spina bifida. He was growing too big for his chair and too heavy for his mother and grandfather to carry around, but his insurance wouldn’t pay for another wheelchair for two more years. 

The chair that Charity Health Resources donated to him enabled him to return to riding around in his grandfather’s car, spending time with his cousins and other family.

“I really enjoy hockey,” said Harsh, who attended the January 19 Lightning game against the San Jose Sharks as the team’s guest of honor. “I see it as a faster-paced soccer game.”

When Harsh — who is enrolled in demanding International Baccalaureate (IB) classes at King and travels multiple weekends a month for debate competitions, and also is a Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) member — isn’t at school or doing charity work, he still loves playing soccer and occasionally goes out for movies or dinner with his friends.

He’s hoping for admission into a prestigious business school to pursue his interests in business.

“Being chosen for this award felt amazing, both for me and for the work I’m doing,” Harsh said. “I may get the recognition for it, but the best part is that it allows me to spread my branches further and help people in areas I couldn’t reach before.”

For more information about Charity Health Resources, visit charityhealthresources.org. For additional information  about the Lightning Community Hero award, visit NHL.com/lightning/community/community-heroes.  

Liberty Students Turn Principal Into A Sundae For Fund-Raising Success!

Sixth-grader J.D. Ammirati got to pour the first round of chocolate syrup over the face of his dad, Liberty Middle School principal James Ammirati, as part of a reward for raising $5,254.37 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

She has seen a principal take pies in the face, another sing songs from the top of the school and another kiss a pig, goat and a llama on the lips.

But until March 15 at Liberty Middle School, Tracey Maniecki of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society had never seen a principal turned into a human sundae.

A smiling James Ammirati, Liberty’s principal, sat on a chair in the gymnasium as hundreds of students cheered loudly for every scoop of vanilla ice cream, every drop of Hershey’s chocolate syrup, each piece of crumbled Oreo cookie, every sprinkle and, naturally, the jars of cherries that were dumped over his head.

It was all for a good cause, as well as a reward for every homeroom that raised more than $100 towards Liberty’s final tally of $5,254.37.

“About two months ago, I met with Ms. Katie Smith and also several students that are on Student Council, and we just threw around some ideas and this is the one they landed on,” said Ammirati. “I was all in because its for a great cause. And, it obviously drove our numbers up.”

 Smith, a 7th- and 8th-grade Spanish teacher and Student Council advisor, has led the fund raiser the past five years, but says she usually raised about $1,000. This year, she says the students were sparked by stories of children whose only wish was to make it to their eighth birthday.

“For a child not much older than that, it really hit home,” Smith said. “It hit home for me, too.”

Money was raised from donations from students, with some parents sending their kids to school with checks of more than $100, while additional funds were raised selling treats like chocolate and Takis.

“Sometimes it’s hard to get the principals engaged, but I can’t say enough about Katie Smith and the fact she was able to get the principal on board to raise the awareness,” Maniecki said.

Ammirati tilted his head back during the sundae making, joking that he consumed enough ice cream and toppings that he probably gained a few pounds.

Next year, he hopes to be involved again, but wouldn’t mind a warmer payoff.

“It was freezing,” he said.

5K Road Race & Music Fest Will Benefit Hunter’s Green Elementary PTA

The Hunter’s Green Elementary PTA is hosting a professionally chipped, photographed and timed 5K road race on Feb. 9, which is the school’s primary fund raiser for the year.

On  Saturday, February 9, the Hunter’s Green Elementary (HGE) Parent Teacher Association (PTA) will host a 5K run and 1-mile fun run starting at the school and winding through the Hunter’s Green neighborhood.

“It’s two weeks before Gasparilla, so we’re inviting everyone to participate as a great training run to get your groove for Gasparilla,” says  Emily Milam, HGE’s PTA president, who is one of the event organizers.

Having a chip-timed 5K race in New Tampa, which is open to everyone, is rare, says Milam.

Typically, she explains, these types of races can’t be held in our area because the City of Tampa won’t issue permits to close roads in New Tampa. The roads for the Hunter’s Green race are privately owned by the Hunter’s Green Community Association, which is partnering with the school to bring the race to its residents and the surrounding community.

The race will be professionally chipped, photographed and timed by FitNiche Events. Swag bags and t-shirts will be given to those who register, and medals and prizes will be awarded to winners.

The $35 race entry fee will go to support the school and also includes admission to the second part of the event — a music festival that will be held at Hunter’s Green’s Capt. Nathaniel Hunter Community Park for all residents and race participants from 4 p.m.-8 p.m.

The family-friendly music festival will feature three local bands — Celebrity Romance, Panic Fire featuring Gary Schutt and Chello Hollyday Band. There will be food trucks and bounce houses. While the music fest is being organized by the Community Association for residents of Hunter’s Green, everyone who runs in the 5K race that morning will be invited to come back for the music fest in the afternoon.

“It’s definitely a multi-faceted focus,” says Jenny Giraldo, the social director for the Hunter’s Green Community Association. “The music fest is a great time for the community to come together, take full advantage of our amenities and the wonderful park we’re fortunate to have, while enjoying the live entertainment.”

The Hunter’s Green 5K run and Music Fest will serve as the school’s primary fund raiser for the year. For the past two years, the PTA has hosted an extremely successful gala that raised about $30,000 each year. In addition, the school has held a “fit fest” that included a fun run the past two years.

This year, the PTA is replacing the gala with the expanded 5K run, hoping they can grow it to be as successful an event as the gala has been.

“The gala was great and does really well for us, but it’s an overwhelming amount of work,” says Milam. “We also wanted to move to something that’s really family friendly. Kids weren’t allowed at the gala.  This is a more of a family-targeted event, so your whole family can prepare for it together and run together, then participate in the music fest together.”

She says reaching out to the Hunter’s Green community and the New Tampa area is an important part of the plans, as well.

“It’s a new era in our school,” Milam says. “We’re trying to reach beyond the walls of our school to impact a lot of the neighborhoods around us and support the school where funding (is lacking).”

She says the PTA spends the majority of its funding to go to technology in the school, where the goal is to have a 1:1 ratio of every child having access to a laptop computer at his or her desk.

The PTA also funds supplemental support for music and art, which Milam says are areas that consistently get cut in the School District’s budget, plus school beautification and teacher support.

For more information or to register for the race, which includes admission for your family to the MusicFest, visit HuntersGreenPTA.com/5k. Registrations will be accepted up until the morning of the race.

Construction Of Cypress Creek Middle School Is Under Way; Plus, Hurricane Help

At its meeting on October 16, the Pasco County School Board approved a contract for Ajax Building Corporation to begin construction on Cypress Creek Middle School.

The school site is located adjacent to the current Cypress Creek Middle High School on Old Pasco Rd.

Construction is expected to be completed by June 2020, and the school will open to new students in grades six through eight that fall for the 2020-21 school year.

When Cypress Creek Middle opens, the current Cypress Creek Middle High will be converted to a high school only. That school’s younger students will transfer to the new middle school campus next door.

Mike Gude is director of construction services and code compliance for Pasco County Schools. He says the school is being built with the continuing growth of Wesley Chapel in mind.

“There will be 1,600 student seats,” he says of Cypress Creek Middle School. “That is larger than the middle schools we’ve built in the past because of the area it’s in.”

The school will include a three-story classroom building of nearly 80,000 square feet, plus a multi-purpose building of more than 55,000 square feet, a 24,000-square-foot gymnasium, and a two-story administration building of 33,0000 square feet.

“In addition to typical school spaces,” Gude says, “the fine arts wing will include not only band and music and chorus rooms, but there will also be a small black box theatre that will be for students to learn performing arts and technical aspects like lighting and theatre rigging.”

Cypress Creek Middle School will cost $40 million to build.

While the school site is adjacent to Cypress Creek Middle High, Gude says the construction won’t affect those students.

“We won’t even use the entrance to the existing school,” he says. “We’ll come onto the construction site from a different entrance.”

Pasco County Schools has worked with the Oldsmar-based Ajax Building Corporation before. Gude says the last school they constructed was Sanders Memorial Elementary in Land O’Lakes, which was completed in 2015.

Pasco County Schools doesn’t typically do groundbreaking ceremonies, but a dedication ceremony will be held once the school has been completed.

Pasco Employees, Buses Help With Hurricane Recovery
After Hurricane Michael devastated Florida’s panhandle on October 16, employees from Pasco County Schools stepped in to do what they could to help.

The district gave 20 buses (photo) to the Bay County school district, which includes Panama City.

On November 1, school bus drivers from Bay District Schools traveled to Pasco County, where they each drove a bus back to Bay County.

Pasco’s Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning was on hand to welcome the bus drivers. He thanked employees who collected donations to fill one of the buses with supplies for the people of the area, such as bottled water.

In addition, Pasco County Schools sent 21 maintenance employees to Bay District Schools for a week of work to prepare the schools that reopened on Nov. 12.

The crew, which left on Nov. 3, included laborers and experts in site development, tree trimming/heavy equipment, electricity, HVAC, carpentry, plumbing, and mechanics.

“I can’t imagine what our colleagues are going through in the Panhandle, and we just wanted to give them the same kind of support I know they would give to us if we were in the same situation,” said Browning.

It appears at least some of those affected by Hurricane Michael have taken notice.

“You all are awesome,” posted Susan Holt Stanley on Facebook. “Thank you so much for all your county has done to help us in the Panhandle.”

Another Facebook user, Kellie Banks, posted, “I have a child in Pasco County Schools and a child in Bay District Schools. I can’t begin to express the gratitude of how much compassion and help I’ve seen from Pasco to my hometown of Bay County.”