Category: Education

Freedom Valedictorian Maya Patel Parlays Excellence Into Bright Future

Maya Patel, a senior at Freedom High in Tampa Palms, has already graduated.

From college.

When she graduates again, as Freedom’s Class of 2016 valedictorian on Wednesday, June 8, 9 a.m., at the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall, it will just be the icing on the cake.

Maya is one of many exceptional students in the New Tampa area, but the Tampa Palms resident makes a strong case for being at the top of that list.

She is graduating with an 8.6 weighted grade-point-average, believed to be the highest ever at Freedom.

And, she already has an Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree with highest honors in Business Management from Hillsborough Community College. She also was president of five clubs at Freedom.

She even started a nonprofit organization with her best friend, Milan Shah (see below), dedicated to donating used books across the globe.

While she will attend the University of Tampa in the fall, declining opportunities to attend, among others, the prestigious University of Cambridge — the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world — and Kings College of London, England.

And, get this – Maya says she still found time to have some fun in high school. “Of course, of course,’’ she says, laughing. “High school is not just about academics; it’s also about fun. I have done Indian dance (called Bhangra) since I was five, and I did typical high school things like movies and the mall. I always made time for fun.”

And sleep, she says. Maya says that despite her many responsibilities, she always got 7-8 hours of sleep a night, even after she added a part-time job at Taco Bell to her already busy schedule.

She says it’s pretty simple, really — use a calendar, make lists and just follow them.

Cheryl Bernales, Maya’s Latin teacher and World Language Department head at Freedom, as well as an American Government honors teacher, thinks the secret might be more about math than lists.

“I don’t know how she does it, but she does seem to have found a few extra hours in a day,’’ Bernales says.

The only child of V.C. and Nila Patel, pharmacists with the Suncoast Community Health Center in Palm River, Maya says she never set out to be the class valedictorian. She did, however, want to be in the top 10 percent.

But, once she started taking dual enrollment and AP classes, “I realized my level of rigor was pretty competitive.”

Her initial goal, laid out with intricate planning, was to graduate with her A.A. degree from HCC, which she did on May 6. Then, she added Class Valedictorian to her to-do list.

Her sophomore and junior years were the toughest, she says, as the classes and assignments could pile up at times, causing a few brief moments of self-doubt.

“I felt at those times that I needed to keep going on,’’ Maya said. “Such a big thing like valedictorian doesn’t come easily. So, I would get a snack and a drink, and get back at it.”

Maya had no idea who else was close to valedictorian status. When she found out her closest competitor was good friend Junie Kim, who had gone to school with Maya at both Chiles Elementary and Liberty Middle School, she was thrilled.

“Had it been anyone else, I would have also been happy for them, but it was even sweeter that it was a friend,” Maya says.

Maya credits her parents for being “pillars of support” in her academic quests. She says they never pressured her, and only encouraged her to reach the goals that she had set for herself.

Those goals now include becoming the first dentist in her family. At the University of Tampa, which she chose in part because of its “positive vibe” and proximity to her Tampa Palms home, she will study biochemistry and work towards a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree, while trying to get into a top dental school.

She also will continue to help run MSMPC (her registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit), which stands for Milan Shah Maya Patel Collaboration, in the fall of 2014.

The two fell in love with reading at a young age, and over a discussion about what to do with their old books, hatched a plan to donate them, as well as others they would collect.

The MSMPC has donated more than 4,000 books in less than two years to places ranging from local community centers to Zambia, India, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. The organization also has partnered with Books For Africa to donate more than 2,000 books.

Maya admits it all sounds like a lot for an 18-year-old to juggle. But, she loves it.

“I don’t understand where she gets all this time,’’ Bernales says, “but she’s always positive, always high energy and never comes to school like it’s a burden or a task. She goes all out and does her absolute best job on everything, and does it with a smile on her face.”

If you want to contribute books to Maya’s nonprofit, please visit MSMPC.weebly.com.

Family Of Christ Student Wins $2,000 Writing Award!

By Christen Caporali

Bree Cleveland, a seventh grade student at Family of Christ Christian School in Tampa Palms, has been named the First Place scholarship winner in the “Why I Want to Go to College” writing contest. She was one of 1,133 entries from across the country, and won $2,000 in scholarship money to go toward any college or university in the U.S.

The “Why I Want to Go to College” essay-writing contest is sponsored by the Nebraska State Treasurer’s Office and the Omaha Storm Chasers baseball team, which is the AAA affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The contest is open to 7th and 8th graders across the U.S., and judged by the students and faculty in the College of Education at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, as well as by Nebraska State Treasurer Don Stenberg.

Applicants were tasked with writing a 750-word essay about their educational goals and dreams for the future, and had the opportunity to win up to $2,000 in scholarship money toward the Nebraska Educational Savings Trust (NEST), a state-sponsored college savings program. Three winners were chosen from each of Nebraska’s three U.S. Congressional districts; the other three winners, including Bree, were all from outside of Nebraska.

Bree learned about the contest from her language arts teacher, who has her students enter it every year, telling them that, “they never know, they might actually win!”

Bree’s educational goals and dreams for the future involve children with special needs. She has been a volunteer at St. James United Methodist Church in Tampa Palms since she was 8 years old, and has had the opportunity to work closely with special needs children during a program called FriendZone, which was the inspiration for her essay.

She wrote, “Most people look down on those with special needs as if they can’t do anything, or that they were a mistake, but I see them as a gift that is full of potential and love. That’s why I want to be a sign language teacher. If I can help special needs kids express their full potential, then I believe the world could see them the way I do!”

In addition to working with special needs children, Bree also has dreams of becoming a professional dancer. She has been taking dance classes at the Jansen Dance Project in Tampa Palms since she was 4 years old, and plans to potentially attend Howard W. Blake High in Tampa for its performing arts program. She says her ultimate goal is to dance for the New York City Ballet.

“Dance is a way for me to take my emotions or whatever may be bothering me and leave it at the door,” she wrote. “Once I step in the dance studio, I feel like I can be an all new me.”

As a victim of bullying herself, Bree has been able to take the negative emotions she felt when she was bullied and throw them into her dancing, turning them into something positive. Because of this drive, she has been able to excel in her dance classes.

“College is about growing and perfecting what I love so that one day I can share it with the world,” she wrote in her $2,000 scholarship-winning essay.

With Bree’s heart and positive spirit, she is sure to have a bright future ahead of her.

For more information about the Why I Want to Go to College scholarship, please visit: treasurer.nebraska.gov/csp/scholarships/essay/college/2016/contest-announcement.

PHSC Conference Teaches Students What Businesses Are Looking To Find

PHSC13WEB — (Above, l.-r.) Wesley Chapel Chamber CEO Hope Allen, Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel marketing director Tracy Clouser, The Shops at Wiregrass mall general manager Greg Lenners and new Pasco Hernando State College-Porter Campus Provost Dr. Bonnie Clark were among the panelists during a PHSC conference on April 5 which addressed what businesses in the area are looking for in a good employee. The program was part of the pre-inauguration festivities for when Dr. Timothy Beard (below) is officially inaugurated as PHSC’s fourth president on May 6.

If students planning to graduate from Pasco-Hernando State College (PHSC) want to find their way to success, then immersing themselves in the community, developing leadership skills and gaining experience while in school might be the most important ways to move forward.

What businesses are looking for was the main theme on April 5 at the “Defeating the Odds…Achieving The Dream” panel discussion held at the PHSC Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch.

The event, which focused on leadership development and community engagement, was part of a series of events leading up to this month’s inauguration of Timothy L. Beard, Ph.D., as PHSC’s fourth president.

The panel featured local business leaders, such as Shops at Wiregrass mall general manager Greg Lenners, Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) CEO Hope Allen, and Tracy Clouser, the director of marketing for Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC).

The panel, moderated by new PHSC- Porter Campus Provost Bonnie Clark, Ph.D., also included educators Carin Hetzler-Nettles, the principal at Wesley Chapel High, and assistant humanities professor Dennis Feltwell, Ph.D., as well as current PHSC student Denise Saviolis.

Dr. Beard was the keynote speaker, and he talked about PHSC’s vision of student success and innovative teaching, which he says go hand in hand if the school is to achieve its mission of, “Imagine, Believe and Achieve.”

“We want students who are globally astute and are able to think outside the box,’’ Dr. Beard said.

Those students will be the ones most desirable to future employers, the panel agreed. By increasing college completion rates, joining forces with K-12 educators to make sure students are college-ready and collaborating with private institutions in the hopes of developing strong advocates in the community, Beard hopes to have students more prepared for their futures.

The discussion centered around PHSC itself and its plans to always meet the needs of employer expectations, and what those employers are looking for, especially in any management-level hire.

“We look a lot at culture,’’ Clouser said, when it comes to hiring well-rounded employees. “There are a lot of studies that show that highly-engaged employees deliver better results. In healthcare, that means better outcomes for our patients.”

Others on the panel suggested developing passion, a capacity to connect to others, as well as resilience, while debating whether such things can be taught.

“Grit and perseverance, which in my mind can get you through anything,’’ said Hetzler-Nettles. “I think it can be taught to both adults and children.”

Those in hiring positions, though, are not only looking for engaging personalities and leadership, they most often require experience. By engaging the community and developing relationships in the private sector, PHSC leaders hope to help create those bridge opportunities for students.

“We are really trying to connect those students from Day One with employers,’’ Dr. Beard said.

Those who have completed internships, mentorship programs and worked full- or part-time with companies in their field of study will have a leg up on the competition, the panelists agreed.

“A key is getting students out to experiences,’’ Hetzler-Nettles said, which she said will result in referrals and references. “It’s all about making connections. We all need cheerleaders and champions.”

Those new to the workforce also need to “manage expectations,’’ Allen said, adding that sometimes, that high-paying job isn’t there right away. But, it should not dissuade employees from working their way through a company. “It’s okay to start at the bottom.”

The panel also discussed how social media can both assist and be a detriment to students and graduates looking to enter the workforce. On the one hand, Facebook, Twitter, et al., can sharpen a person’s “brand,” but executed poorly, can depreciate it as well.

“It’s a double-edged sword,’’ Lenners said. “(Social media) can be your friend and/or your enemy.”

Clouser also noted that social media is an extension of one’s brand, but if that consists of photos of prospective employees, “wearing low-cut clothing or drinking and smoking at a party,” it can sink many employment opportunities. “We will look (at social media),’’ Clouser said.

Dr. Feltwell offered some of the best, and simplest advice — stressing caution.

“Make sure it (your social media) says what you want it to say,’’ he said.

Dr. Beard’s inauguration ceremony will be held on Friday, May 6 at the PHSC West Campus in New Port Richey.

For additional information about Pasco Hernando State College, visit PHSC.edu.

Hunter’s Green Kids Plant Flowers & Memories For Nick Wolf

Nick Wolf loved butterflies. His parents, Christina and Jim, raised them in the family’s patio garden. He and his younger brother Scott learned almost everything about them, and loved to share little tidbits of information about butterflies whenever they had the chance.

Last year, as a brain tumor ravaged the fifth-grader’s body, but never his spirit, and the end was near, Christina told Nick that when his time came, to remember to send messages from heaven via butterflies.

Thanks to almost 70 former and current students, teachers, friends and family, some of those message-carrying butterflies may actually land in a perfectly manicured garden behind Hunter’s Green Elementary, where Nick attended school.

Teacher Cheryl Pahl led a contingent of earnest gardeners on April 9 in building and planting the Nick Wolf Memorial, a butterfly garden behind the school near its athletics track just off Cross Creek Blvd.

Christina planted the ceremonial first plant, a pentas, as Jim and Scott looked on.

“I know this is how he would want to be remembered,’’ she said.

Pahl has not only spent the past 15 years helping children to grow in her role as one of the gifted class teachers at HGE, she has done a pretty good job in school’s garden as well. Tomatoes, beans, and kale — lots of kale — have sprung forth from a dozen or so raised beds she and her students monitor (and steal a healthy treat or two from on occasion).

Pahl said she was honored to help plant some memories for those who knew Nick. Built with money left over from last year’s fifth-grade fund raiser, the garden was tilled and ready to go when friends and family showed up at HGE on Saturday morning.

“He just knew how to light up a room,’’ said Alexa Trafficante, a former math and science teacher at HGE who taught Nick in the fourth grade. “He always came in with a joke to tell you. He even had a smile if it was the day after a chemo treatment. That’s why I think a butterfly garden is the best way to show our love for him.”

Nick was experiencing headaches and nausea in May of 2011 when Christina took him to the doctor. In just a week after that first visit, as Nick continued suffering from unbearable pain, he was diagnosed with a primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) on the right side of his brain and headed into surgery, followed by months of radiation and chemotherapy. He spent 89 straight days in the hospital.

“All he wanted to do was get back to school,’’ Christina recalled.

Although he suffered permanent hair loss after six rounds of chemotherapy and 31 radiation treatments, Nick appeared to be winning his battle. “Yes, he got some stares, but that didn’t bother him at all,” Christina said.

In September of 2014, an MRI showed no indication of cancer. However, a few months later, Christina said, the tumor had returned. Nick also was fighting hemolytic anemia, an abnormal breakdown of red blood cells in which they are destroyed and removed from the bloodstream, a condition likely caused by the amount of chemotherapy he received.

Maxed out on radiation treatments, there was sadly little left for Nick to do.

“Nick was a fighter,’’ Christina said. “After he found out it came back, he cried for a bit but he said, ‘I’m not giving up.’”

Nick continued to talk about the future. He wanted to buy his own laptop when he got older. He wanted to know what kind of car he was going to get. The fact that he continued to press on with such a devastating tumor amazed doctors.

Christina took him to school to exchange valentines at HGE in 2015. She says Nick was able to complete many of the items on his bucket list — he swam with dolphins, rode on a motorcycle, served as an honorary team captain for the USF baseball team and got to go on a Disney Cruise with his family.

He was still fighting and defying the odds, until on April 12 of last year, following a seven-hour seizure, he slipped into an unconscious state. He survived another month before finally passing away at age 11 on Mother’s Day.

“Aside from that last month, even knowing what his condition was, he always had a smile on his face,’’ Christina says. “He just had an amazing attitude.”

That is what many who helped plant the butterfly garden will remember about Nick, and why so many showed up to help.

To attract monarch butterflies, the gaggle of gardeners planted plenty of milkweed, which is the only thing monarch butterflies eat, Paul said.

The group also planted plumbago and cassia, a flowering tree that attracts caterpillars. “If the caterpillars eat the tree, and it has yellow flowers, the caterpillars will be yellow,’’ Pahl said.

Parsley, dill and penstemon were also planted, all of which are feeding plants for caterpillars, as well as butterfly weed.

Pahl hopes to add a citrus tree, since butterflies like to lay eggs on citrus trees.

A brief ceremony followed the planting. A plaque with Nick’s name on it was placed in the garden, and butterflies were released by Christina into the sky. Most of them headed right for the fresh plants. Others landed on giggling children who had helped plant the garden.

Some, Christina likes to think, may have even been carrying messages.

Homeschoolers Take First At Strawberry Festival With Re-Built Engine

A local group of about 15 homeschoolers who meet together for classes in a group called Legacy Homeschool Group has won a first-place blue ribbon and a “Grand Champion” purple ribbon for their display of a car engine they re-built and entered into Plant City’s Florida Strawberry Festival “Neighborhood Youth Village” competition. The award winners were announced on March 3.

The kids, ages 8 to 18, had a few classes learning about cars with Marty LaBarbera, owner of Christian Brothers Automotive on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in New Tampa. At one of those classes, Marty helped the kids take apart an old engine that he had at his shop.

“It was in bad shape and couldn’t be re-used,” LaBarbera explains, “so we spent about three hours taking it completely apart. That’s when the kids started swarming over it like a bunch of ants.”

LaBarbera says that’s when one of the kids said, “Let’s put it back together!” But, LaBarbera told the group that was an extremely ambitious goal. He suggested that they could partially put it back together so it could be used as a tool to help the kids see the parts of the engine and how they move, to gain a better understanding of how a real car engine actually works.

So, the kids met with LaBarbera several more Saturday mornings, cleaning each of the parts and painting them to prepare to put it all back together.

“It was a major task to clean all the grime and goo off that engine,” says LaBarbera, adding that the kids learned the names and the purposes of all the parts as they worked through the project.

Once completed, the students were able to use a small tool to turn the engine over by hand.

“They were so excited about their experience and what they had accomplished,” LaBarbera says.

At that point, it was Legacy Homeschool Group’s coordinator, Cheryl Chew, who suggested that the kids enter their engine into the Strawberry Festival, in the “model” category.

“It had turned out so well,” she says, explaining that she wanted the students to have the opportunity to have their efforts publicly displayed.

LaBarbera also says that the “word has gotten out” about his Saturday morning classes with the Legacy Homeschool Group students, and other local groups — such as Cub Scout packs and Girl Scout troops — have asked him about hands-on learning opportunities for their groups. He’s happy to oblige.

“This is fun for me,” he says. “I’m retired from another career, so I enjoy being able to do things like this.”

And, he got to see the fruits of his labor with the kids, as they were recognized for their efforts with the two ribbons at the Strawberry Festival.

“This is really an experience for them that they can be proud of,” LaBarbera says.

For now, the engine is on display in the lobby at Christian Brothers Auto Service, located at 20303 Trout Creek Dr. For more info, call Christian Brothers of New Tampa, at 991-7007.