Category: Education

Wesley Chapel Valedictorian: Olivia March

Olivia March has always been able to successfully balance work, friends, sports and academics, so the fact that she is the Wesley Chapel High Class of 2021 valedictorian isn’t a big surprise.

But Olivia’s greatest skill, other than managing her time, might be surrounding herself with the right friends, according to her mom Trish.

While she may not have been thinking about her daughter being her school’s valedictorian, it was in middle school that Trish says that she realized Olivia would definitely be near the top of her class.

“The kids she hung around with were always taking the toughest classes,” Trish says. “We knew that they were the kids who were going to succeed in high school.”

She was right. Olivia took the toughest classes, but still compiled a 4.71 weighted grade point average while at Wesley Chapel, tops in her class, and also earned an Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree from Pasco Hernando State College.

Next year, she will follow in her father Ron’s footsteps when she attends the University of Florida in Gainesville, choosing to be a Gator over schools like the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Clemson University in Clemson, SC, and Florida State University in Tallahassee. “I always knew I kind of wanted to go there,” she says of U-F.

Olivia edged out her friend Michelle Joo, the salutatorian who will attend Yale University in New Haven, CT. To Trish’s point, Olivia and Michelle were friends and study partners at Wesley Chapel. They were sitting together at lunch when it was announced that Olivia was the valedictorian.

“They came out with cake and flowers,” Olivia says. “It was exciting. We weren’t really thinking about it, so it was a surprise. We’ve had classes together since freshman year and have been friends throughout high school, and it was a healthy competition. I think we were both happy for each other.”

It was during a field trip in the seventh grade at Weightman Middle School that Trish says she was struck by her daughter’s ability to surround herself with the right friends. She now holds that ability, an under-appreciated quality, in the highest regard.

“Olivia was a Montessori kid, and we were a little nervous about bringing her into the traditional school setting,” Trish says. “It was funny, on that field trip, I just thought ‘she is good at choosing friends.’ I saw all the kids she had to pick from, and who she chose, and I thought, ‘O.K., those are good choices.’ I had never thought about that before that day.”

Olivia found out she was in the mix for valedictorian prior to her junior year, which would end up being disrupted by Covid.

When she knew she had a chance to be No. 1 in her class, it was the first time she started thinking about it. But, since she had already registered for four dual enrollment classes — which helped boost her GPA — before finding out she was in the top 4, there wasn’t much she could change when it came to her course load.

“So, I just kept doing what I was doing,” she says. “I just followed the steps I was already planning to follow.”

However, Covid threw a wrench in those steps. Taking classes online, especially math, required a lot more time and were more difficult to schedule. Because she also works as a lifeguard at the Epperson Ranch lagoon, her time management skills were put to the test.

She had honed those skills her first three years at Wesley Chapel while competing in athletics, which only seemed normal in a family where mom (a court reporter) trains at Crossfit and dad (a Pasco County Sheriff’s Office deputy) is one of the better local tennis players in the area.

While she was challenging herself academically, Olivia competed for the Wildcats in volleyball, track, cross country, weightlifting and tennis. She was named as one of Wesley Chapel’s Athletes of the Year her freshman and sophomore years.

Olivia is looking forward to her speech to her classmates at graduation. So is Trish, who expects to burst with pride, and Ron, who Trish is predicting will shed a few tears.

While Olivia hasn’t written it yet, she say the speech will focus on what the future holds for the 2021 graduates.

For Olivia, that is enrolling at Florida and finding her way to a career. She isn’t sure what she wants to do just yet — nothing science or medical related, however — but will minor in business, because she thinks it’s good to have.

“Other than that,” she says, “I’m wide open, and looking forward to it.”

The Wesley Chapel High graduation is scheduled for Friday, June 4, 7 p.m. at the school’s football stadium.

valedictorian Wesley Chapel

Cypress Creek Valedictorian: Ashleigh Lacey

Ashleigh Lacey had a lofty goal when she entered Cypress Creek High as part of its first freshman class — she didn’t want to get anything lower than an “A’’ in any class she took. Ever.

It wasn’t that far-fetched of an idea. The only “B’’ she had ever received was in third grade at Denham Oaks Elementary. The subject was reading, which is actually something she loves to do. Like any good student, she analyzed why she didn’t get an A and made sure she never made that mistake again.

“Back then, I thought you could only get As if you were a nice person,’’ Ashleigh says. “I just thought I needed to be nicer. But, that isn’t how it works.’’

It helps to be nice, and Ashleigh certainly is. But, the hard work is the most important thing.

After four years of budgeting her time between classes, extracurricular activities and a part-time job, Ashleigh has accomplished her goal.

She will finish her high school career with a weighted grade point average of 4.6. She earned only As in every class she took, which included her favorite classes (history and psychology) and her not so favorite classes (anything to do with math).

On June 2, Ashleigh will graduate as Cypress Creek’s valedictorian. She will be the first valedictorian to attend all four years at the school, which opened in 2017.

“I guess I’m in the school history books,’’ Ashleigh (photo) says.

She already has taken enough college-level classes to earn her Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree, which means she will enter college needing only two years to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree. She will attend the University of South Florida in Tampa on an academic scholarship.

“I’m kind of a perfectionist, so when I entered high school I told myself that I want to get all As,’’ Ashleigh says. “I didn’t even know what a valedictorian was.’’

*Ashleigh Lacey (in front) competed in track for Cypress Creek, winning a district championship in the long jump this season. She plans to try to walk onto the track team at USF.*

It was certainly not an easy path to graduation for any student over the past year and a half. Covid-19 restrictions reduced half of the 2020 school year to on-line learning only. Students were given a choice of on-line or in-person learning this school year. Ashleigh did both.

What’s also impressive is that Ashleigh didn’t just spend her high school days in classrooms and libraries or behind a computer screen. She has been part of the school’s art club for three years. And, she is an important member of the Coyotes’ track team. She won the District long jump championship last month and advanced to the Regional meet. She also competes in the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles and is part of the school’s 4x100m relay team.

In short, she is one of those student athletes who excels at whatever she decides to try.

“I would say that’s right,’’ her father Robert says. “You could see signs of it as a child, just in the way she organized and lined up certain toys in a perfect row. She always did very well in school. She’s just always done well in everything she’s done. She’s competed in speech contests and done well. She played the flute for a while and became an All-County flute player. She’s a very talented artist. She excels at anything she picks up.’’

The next step is college. Ashleigh’s goal is to attend medical school at USF and eventually become a psychiatrist. Early on, she thought maybe she might like to be a lawyer, but after taking advanced classes in biology and psychology, she decided to change her goals.

“I would read books on those subjects just for fun,’’ she says. “Sometimes I’m kind of a nerd.’’

Just because she is off to college doesn’t Ashleigh’s goals will change. She still doesn’t want to get a B. And, she says she would like the chance to walk on to USF’s track team.

She won’t be far away from the Wesley Chapel home where she grew up. She’ll be able to visit her younger brother Luke and parents, Robert and mom Michelle, often. As expected, Ashleigh credits her parents as having been a key to her success.

“They’ve been very encouraging,’’ Ashleigh says. “They’ve never pressured me. They put a lot of trust in me.’’

Well-earned trust.

“We’re lucky that she’s been so driven,’’ Robert says. “We haven’t had to push her. She’s taken care of her academics. She’s really taken control of her life. She’s made our jobs as parents a lot easier.’’

The Cypress Creek High graduation is scheduled for Wednesday, June 2, 7 p.m. at the school’s football stadium.

Wharton’s Warren Among District’s Budget Casualties

This is not how Jas Warren, Wharton High’s theatre teacher and director, expected the curtain to close on his long career.

Warren, who has been at the school since it opened in 1997 and helped lead the theatre department to dozens of awards and State competition appearances, is one of many teachers caught in the crosshairs after budget cuts were announced last week by Hillsborough County Superintendent of Schools Addison Davis in an effort to chop down a $100-million deficit.

The cuts mean that more than 1,200 positions in the country’s seventh-largest school district are being eliminated.

In New Tampa, Warren was far from the only teacher to be affected, but was one of the most senior among teachers who found their positions eliminated as the District continues to struggle with finances. Wharton’s theatre program has been one of the District’s best for many years.

“I guess I’m kind of a little bit sad, a little bit angry and kind of surprised,” says Warren. “I’ve done nothing but exemplary work for 31 years. I thought that meant something. I’ve been at Wharton for 24 straight years; I stood here when it was nothing but a dirt floor, and we’ve had award-winning theater productions, won at the District level and went on to the State level where we have received superior ratings. But, I guess that doesn’t seem to matter much.”

It does matter to parent Kelly Miller, whose daughter went through Warren’s program and whose son also attends the school. Miller says she was disappointed to see the program lose its founder.

“The school is known for its award- winning theater programs,” Miller says. “I’m very shocked at this. Without him, the program will collapse.”

Warren, like many of those who have seen their positions eliminated in the most recent round of cuts, was moved into the teacher’s pool — where he could land another job, although there will be few theatre positions available — because there were fewer students to teach these days.

A Hall of Fame inductee for the international Educational Theatre Association, Warren says he has been told he was being let go because he didn’t have enough students — although he still has about 50 kids in his program now, which is down from 110-120 pre-Covid.

He says he has been overwhelmed with the level of support and outrage from former students and parents, and will keep on fighting “until there is nothing to fight for.”

The theatre program will go on at Wharton, under the direction of a new teacher who also teaches other classes. The same goes for the band program at Benito Middle school, where 10-year veteran Staisy Kibart was told she no longer would run the program (but would be guaranteed a job somewhere else in the District) and it would be taken over, presumably, by another teacher.

Kibart says that when cuts were made last fall, she was told something was coming down. This time, she says she was caught off guard. “We were told something could happen in the fall when cuts were coming in October, but that conversation was never had this time around,” Kibart says. “I was pulled in Wednesday afternoon (April 14) and the bomb was dropped. They said we have to let a music teacher go, and it’s you.”

Benito will have a net loss of 8.08 positions, while Liberty Middle School will lose 6.88. Turner-Bartels K-8 School, however, is losing 16 positions, including five positions in grades 1-4, three Exceptional Student Education (ESE) positions and a music teacher, believed to be chorus.

At the high schools, Wharton actually gained some key positions (including two in reading) and will suffer a net loss of only 3.48 positions, while Freedom High will lose 12.32 positions.

However, Freedom principal Kevin Stephenson says those numbers don’t equal teachers. When vacancies that will go unfilled are unaccounted for, he “only” expects to lose 5-6 teachers.

Stephenson says the cuts will hurt everyone, but are needed.

“It’s something our District really needs to do to get into alignment financially,” he says. “There are challenges, but we have those every year. You have to make payroll, and that means doing things that are really tough.”

The cuts come after dozens of meetings between Davis, the School Board and principals and assistant principals this year.

District 3 School Board member Jessica Vaughn, a Tampa Palms resident, says the cuts are hard on so many but she feels Davis and his staff tried to be as thoughtful as they could, by including school administrators in the process.

But, in order to avoid a state takeover of the District for not meeting certain thresholds in the county reserves, as well as payroll, Vaughn said the action had to be taken.

“I don’t see any way around the cuts to avoid the State taking us over,” she says. “We have to stay out of receivership. I don’t trust the intentions of the State when it comes to doing what’s best for the District.”

Instead of directing her ire at Davis, Vaughn pointed a finger at the State legislature, which she says has continued to vote against providing more money for education and has instead focused on charter school expansion.

Necessary or not, “I think that these cuts drastically, drastically hurt our School District, and that we will feel it for a long time to come.”

hillsborough county schools wharton high school

Time For Pasco County Summer Camp Registration

The popular Pasco Parks Summer Day Camp, which fills up quickly, will open online registration this Saturday, April 10.

For directions to register (it is suggested to visit before the actual registration), and for more information, visit bit.ly/PascoCreateAccount

The summer camp, for children ages 5-13, will have a modified program due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It will run weekdays from 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. beginning June 14, and will run seven weeks through July 30.

Registration beings Saturday at 10 a.m. for the full program, and Monday, April 12 at 10 a.m. for Pasco County residents interested in registering for partial programs.

Non-Pasco County residents and county residents can register for any remaining spots Saturday, April 17 at 10 a.m.

While none of the camps are located in Wesley Chapel, there are three Land O’Lakes locations and another in Dade City.

Pasco County summer camp

Rep. Driskell, Wharton Students Team Up On Environmental Bill

If a bill gets passed during this upcoming State of Florida legislative session that helps eliminate food waste and, in the process, provides the Sunshine State with environmental benefits, you might just have some Wharton High students to thank for it.

During a Zoom class on Jan. 28 moderated by District 63 State Rep. Fentrice Driskell, the Wharton students were asked to debate three potential bills they had been given, and whichever one they found to be the most preferable, Rep. Driskell would take with her to Tallahassee when the 60-day legislative session begins March 2 and work to get it passed.

“This is a new initiative for me,” Rep. Driskell said. “I have heard of other members doing this, but I wanted to put my own spin on it.”

Each of the bills debated had a strong climate change component to them, something near to Driskell’s heart — before attending Harvard University and Georgetown Law School, she was an officer in the environment club at Lake Gibson High in Lakeland.

“We were setting out to save the world,” she told the class. “Never doubt that young people can save the world, and part of the reason we are having real conversation around climate change is because the younger generation is pushing us to do so.”

The students in the class of Mary Johnson (AP Environmental Science) and Chad Reed (AP U.S. Government) chose a version of the Rhode Island Refuse Disposal Act, which ensures that the organic-waste materials generated by educational facilities are recycled at an authorized composting facility or anaerobic digestion facility.

“There is a lot of food waste,” said Sarai Guzman, a senior, who added that since she moved to Tampa she has noticed excessive waste, especially in schools. “We need to help those who don’t get as much food.”

Zoe Craig, a junior, agreed. She said she has volunteered a lot in a local food pantry, and sees the need for food in the community.

Sonya Patel, also a junior, also voted for the food waste bill, stressing its environmental benefits.

“It would lead to less going to the landfill, and the less landfill, the less we burn, which (means) less greenhouse gas,” she said. “There is a whole chain of reactions involved with that.”

Senior Mark Johnson agreed that the gashouse effect of less waste would provide a large benefit to society.

The other bills presented for discussion included one dealing with testing for and eliminating lead in the water of schools and child daycare centers, and another focused on an energy security and disaster resilience pilot program to create solar energy storage systems at certain facilities which could provide needed power following natural disasters.

The Lead-Safe Schools and Daycares Act also was a popular choice of the class. Kylie Lewis said she thought the transparency of the bill — requiring testing results to be made available to district leaders and parents — was great, while senior Vlada Pitner said the safety issue was important.

“There have been a lot of problems in the district in Hillsborough County with lead being in the water,” Pitner said. “It’s a big issue and I feel like a lot of people overlook it. And, it affects the next generation, who we want to be healthy.”

Senior Jonathan Arms cast his vote for the solar energy bill, primarily because of the possibilities it could open up.

“If we could prove to the other states that solar energy is viable and can properly be used as a back up, then there is no real excuse it can’t be used as a primary source,” Arms said. “Maybe we can start using solar energy for big projects, maybe we start making, I don’t know, solar-powered cars. That would be kind of cool. I kind of like (what this bill could mean for the future).”

In a non-Covid world, Driskell says she would have liked to break off into groups for further debate. Instead, she put it to a vote, with 47 percent of the class picking the food waste bill. She called the experience a success.

“It went better than I expected,” Driskell said. “The kids were so impressive to me. They were engaged the whole time. I couldn’t have asked for it to go any better.”

Driskell said the class was the first of many she would like to do in New Tampa, and that she will approach other schools in the future. She chose Wharton for this one because of her relationship with principal Mike Rowan, whom she met in 2018 shortly after being elected for the first time.

She will now take the bill, rework the language in it, and work on getting it sponsored. It would then go into committee and, if deemed favorable by the House committee and by a House vote, it would be sent to the Senate floor for a final yes or no vote.

Driskell joked that she will tell the Senators that there would be some angry high school students calling them if the bill doesn’t pass, telling the Wharton students to be ready to go.

“I didn’t grow up knowing elected officials,” she said. “I had no sense of how accessible government is on the local and state level. I hope this sparks curiosity in the minds of these students. Maybe it gets them engaged at this level, at an early age, and they will want to stay engaged for the rest of their lives.”