Tampa Palms’ Phoebe Funai Is Tops In Her Class

Phoebe Funai’s high school resume is impressive. At Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High on N. Central Ave. in Tampa, the Tampa Palms resident is the captain of the cheerleading team, a member of five honors societies — including the National Honor Society — as well as the founder the Social Studies Honors Society and the student government vice president. And, thanks to her weighted grade point average of 8.72, Phoebe also is the Brooks DeBartolo Class of 2020 valedictorian.

However, her most impressive feat might be this:

She goes to the gym six days a week, and hadn’t missed a single 45-minute workout in a year and a half until everything shut down due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Every! Single! Day!

“She would go on Sunday too, if they were open,” says her mother, Maryanne.

It’s really no wonder, then, that Phoebe has an abundance of the dedication and commitment it takes to be a class valedictorian at any school.

“I would say it takes a lot of work, a lot of personal motivation and always staying focused towards your goals,” Phoebe says. “But, it’s something I enjoy. I love school.”

Born in Ohio, Phoebe’s family moved to New Tampa in the middle of her seventh grade year. She attended Liberty Middle School, but when it came time for high school, instead of enrolling at Freedom, Phoebe decided she wanted to attend a smaller high school like Brooks DeBartolo, which has roughly 600 total students across its four grades.

She signed up to be a cheerleader, and dove right into her studies. She had already earned some high school credits at Liberty, and her freshman year, she noticed she was second in her class.

“Phoebe had her eye on the prize from day one,” Maryanne says.

Phoebe started taking dual enrollment classes at Hillsborough Community College her sophomore year. Every semester, she took at least three dual enrollment classes, and will graduate with 109 college credits. She also took eight AP classes, joined student government and, in her junior year, started a local chapter of the Rho Kappa Social Studies Honors Society at Brooks DeBartolo.

Under Phoebe’s leadership, Rho Kappa members at the school recycled American Flags, volunteered at Metropolitan Ministries and Feeding Tampa Bay, and read books and made Valentine’s Day cards for the residents of Discovery Village at Tampa Palms, an assisted living facility.

“I took as much as I could take without being too overloaded,” Phoebe says. “Class valedictorian wasn’t about just being first in the class, it was about developing a work ethic and seeing how much I could accomplish in my four years of high school.”

She says her favorite class was AP psychology; her strongest classes were math — she took eight math classes at HCC, and plans to major in finance to study things like data analysis in college.

Choosing a college was a hard decision, she says. She went back and forth between the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, where her father Edmund, a high risk-obstetrician/gynecologist, went to school, and the University of Florida in Gainesville.

She decided to become a Gator, and says through the school’s combined degree program, she’ll be able to earn both her undergrad and Master’s degrees in four years.

The last five years she has volunteered teaching dance at the New Tampa Recreation Center in Tampa Palms, and hopes to join a dance team in college.

When Phoebe says she is going to do something, you can rest assured, says her mother, that it will get done.

“Honestly, she has a really positive, outgoing personality,” Maryanne says. “Challenges don’t scare her. She likes to try new things, she’s very dependable, and she’s one of those people that just shows up, no matter what. She always shows up.”

Parades Celebrate Graduates (with photo gallery!)

Wesley Chapel seniors celebrated their graduation on June 1 at The Grove.

As the Covid-19 pandemic took hold, the 2019-20 school year was forced to come to a premature end.

Senior year, which can be the best and sometimes most eventful year of a teenager’s life, ended with a whimper, instead of a bang.

High school sports, proms and Grad Bashes were canceled. Yearbooks were passed out through open car windows by folks wearing masks. Graduations were postponed until August. Final goodbyes among classmates would have to wait.

As the mother of a Wiregrass Ranch High senior, and the president of the Pasco County Council PTA, Denise Nicholas found it all to be a shame. So, she decided to do something.

With the help of all the PTAs across the county, a host of volunteers and the determination to give all of Pasco’ seniors a sendoff, Nicholas and a team of helpers organized a car parade for the outgoing seniors for every school in the county.

“I brought the idea to my (PTA) board and they were very excited about it,” Nicholas says. “And, we found people to help at each of the schools that do not have PTAs. The schools that do not have PTAs, we found people to help at each of those schools. We really wanted to give the same experience to every senior in the county.”

Here in Wesley Chapel, The Grove shopping center enthusiastically stepped up and offered a parade route in front of its shopping plaza after a few other sites declined.

Cypress Creek and Wiregrass Ranch high schools had their parades — which featured decorated cars and large groups of friends and family cheering along the parade route — on May 19 and 20, respectively, while Wesley Chapel High’s parade, which was delayed by rain, was held June 1.

“Obviously with the pandemic, the (way school ended) was very saddening for our students and their families,” said Monica Ilse, Ed.D., assistant superintendent for Pasco Schools. “But, Denise reached out and wanted to do something to provide some community support for the seniors, which we appreciate beyond words.”

Nicholas had no shortage of volunteers to pull off the project. Pasco County Commissioners Mike Moore and Ron Oakley agreed to introduce the seniors and serve as the parade emcees, local professional photographers Jess Montgomery and Paul Gigante took pictures, Makayla Gulash (aka DJ Night Mixer) provided the music, Troy Stevenson (of Acme On The Go multimedia) also contributed video trucks at each event, and former Tampa Bay Bucs tight end (and father to a Wiregrass Ranch sophomore) Anthony Becht also donated time and services.

Ilse said the county hopes to be able to hold traditional graduations in August at the Yuengling Center on the campus of the University of South Florida, but that will depend upon the CDC and the status of the pandemic. If they can’t be held, she thinks the car parades made a nice send off.

“I took my niece to the Wiregrass Ranch one, and she had a great time,” Ilse said. “It was a lot of fun.”

Nicholas said the smiling senior faces across the county helped end their final years on a happy note, which was her primary goal. “Bryce (her son) thought it was a great idea, but he had no idea how much he would enjoy it,” Nicholas says. “Seeing how his face lit up, to be able to drive in the parade and hear the horns and the cheering and see the signs….it was worth every second.”

Love Of Writing Pays Off For Liberty’s Jaylen McCall

Jaylen McCall poses with his dad and biggest supporter Jamal (left) and with his dad and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Selling kids on the importance of writing gets harder and harder every year, according to Liberty Middle School language arts teacher Alycia Marcarian. She says it’s true even when the prize is a full scholarship to any university in the state of Florida.

However, Jaylen McCall, 13, might be changing that, at least at Liberty.

The eighth-grader’s 500-word essay about former Black Seminoles leader John Horse was chosen last month as the winner of the middle school division of the Florida State Black History Month Essay Contest.

The prize: a full ride to the Florida university of his choice.

“It’s incredible,” says Jaylen’s father, Jamal. “I had to look at (the prize) a couple of times.” 

It was Jamal, who does data and analytics for MetLife, who found out first that his son had won. He says he was in a midday meeting and missed a call. He didn’t recognize the area code, but called back anyway and received the good news.

He was able to keep it a secret while picking Jaylen up, bringing him home to change clothes, and dropping him off at practice for his West Florida Flames club soccer team.

From there, Jamal hustled over to Publix to buy some celebratory cupcakes, and returned to the field. 

“I had to play it cool,” Jamal says. “I ended up with a bunch of Valentine’s Day cupcakes and passed them out to a bunch of 13-year-old boys.”

The soccer celebration shocked Jaylen — “I thought it was somebody’s birthday or something” — and he says his teammates have now nicknamed him “Scholar.”

Sadly, plans for Jaylen and Jamal to attend a celebratory Miami Heat vs. Chicago Bulls NBA game had to be scrapped due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Getting Jaylen, who says he enjoys writing, to enter the essay contest wasn’t that tough a chore. He says that he tries to write at least five stories every summer about “interesting and entertaining” things, and finds the craft relaxing and a great stress reliever.

When Alycia told him about the contest, he set out to write about someone whose story hasn’t been widely told. He had read about the Black Seminoles, a group of free blacks and runaway slaves who fought alongside the Seminole Indians during the Seminole Wars, the year before, and that led him to John Horse.

“I wanted to do somebody that nobody has heard of, so they could be interested in it,” Jaylen says. 

Once he started researching, he found himself wowed by the John Horse story — a former slave who earned his freedom and went on to help other slaves escape, while wielding a large amount of influence as one of the leaders of the Black Seminoles. 

It was a difficult process fitting everything he learned into 500 words. After days of researching, writing and editing, he entertained thoughts giving up. 

“But I kept working on it, and when I was done, I was really excited about it,” Jaylen says.

Not only did Jaylen win a scholarship for his essay, he got to visit the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee and received his award from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“There were a lot of other people there and the governor’s mansion was really cool,” Jaylen says. “They also served food. They had some really good pineapple. It was really good.”

Jamal’s essay, and the significant prize that goes with it, is sure to inspire other students to enter next year. He says many of his classmates have already told him that next year they will be participating, and some sixth graders recently told him they were amazed he got to go to Tallahassee and meet the governor.

“It’s a really hard sell, even when the prize is something great like this,” Alycia says. “A lot of kids don’t want to do the extra work or think they won’t win. It’s a challenging task, but writing is something they have to do in college and beyond….luckily we have kids like Jaylen that work hard and do it anyway.”

HGE Opens Comfort Corner Sensory Room

The Comfort Corner at HGE is the Hillsborough County School District’s largest sensory room, thanks to the Sydney Has A Sister foundation.

For students who deal with sensory processing disorders such as autism, having a safe, comfortable space to calm down can make a difference in how successful that child is at school.

At Hunter’s Green Elementary (HGE), to meet this need, a brand new sensory room was unveiled on January 30. While a few other schools throughout Hillsborough County also have sensory rooms, the one at He is housed in a large classroom, making it the largest in the District.

Dubbed the “Comfort Corner” — with fabric softening the room’s lights and translucent curtains dividing it into many separate spaces — it doesn’t feel like a classroom. Filled with quiet areas with dark spaces, hanging hideaway chairs, and weighted blankets, as well as active areas with fidget toys and fine motor skills activities, the room meets the many varied needs of diverse students.

“Some kids with autism have a sensory overload,” explains Joni Cagle, HGE’s Exceptional Student Education (ESE) teacher, “while others don’t get enough sensory input. We wanted a place for kids who have differences to feel safe and learn coping strategies to meet them where they are so we can help them to be successful at school.”

But, Joni is quick to add, “It’s not just for kids with labels.”

She says typical kids who get anxiety before a big test, for example, can come to the room and bounce on a ball for a few minutes to help reduce that anxiety.

David and Veronica Mardo have two kids at HGE, a daughter in third grade and a son with special needs in pre-Kindergarten.

“This will help my son for sure,” David says. “I think it’s great the school has something like this for him.”

To bring the Comfort Corner to the school, more than $8,000 worth of equipment – from bouncing balls to rope lights to a weighted blanket in the shape of a hamburger – was donated by a local foundation called Sydney Has A Sister, founded in 2014 by Ernie and Becky Black of Land O’Lakes.

Sydney Has A Sister was established to provide scholarships that recognize the sacrifices that typical children make when they have siblings with special needs, such as long hours in doctors’ waiting rooms.

It expanded its mission to help provide sensory rooms at schools after seeing one in Jacksonville.

“This is our fourth sensory room,” says Ernie. “Some other sensory rooms are a small room or even a longer hallway. The challenge is they don’t have enough space. This is what we envisioned. And, even though it’s large, we’ve created these nooks so it’s not as sterile and the space is intimate.”

He says every item chosen for the Hunter’s Green sensory room was intentional, based on the recommendations of specialists and what they have learned creating rooms at other schools.

“For example, the way the room has dividers,” explains Ernie. “There can be five kids in here that don’t feel like they’re in the same room. And, the curtains are transparent so the teachers can still supervise all of them.”

He and Veronica believe the Hunter’s Green Comfort Corner will be a model for future rooms.

“This is a place that gets kids geared up to learn and focus and gets them back into the classroom,” Ernie says. “That’s the whole point.”

He says that Sydney Has A Sister was able to fund the room through the generosity of its sponsors and fundraising events. 

In addition, a family at the school, who asked to not be named in this story, provided a donation to purchase additional needed furniture and supplies and ensure the ongoing success of the Comfort Corner. 

Joni says the total cost of the room is more than $10,000. The good news is that it’s already making a difference. 

“We’ve seen attention spans increase,” Joni says. “We’ve seen social skills increase. Fine motor skills. Gross motor skills. It really affects the whole child in a positive way.”

For more information, visit SydneyHasASister.com.

A PLACE OF THEIR OWN

Kids squealed with delight upon arriving at the brand-new inclusive playground designed for those with virtually any type of disability at the Wesley Chapel District Park. There were swings and tubes and things to sit and spin on, a soft, cushioned floor to walk on and roll over and lots of bright colors.

It was all theirs.

The glee in their faces was contagious, and it was exactly the moment Pasco County Board of County Commissioners chair Mike Moore had envisioned when he first pitched the idea to the county’s Parks and Recreation department.

The kids weren’t the only ones overwhelmed.

“I’ll be honest with you, when the kids first came out here, I was watching and I had to walk away because it was a little overwhelming,” Comm. Moore said. “I had a couple of tears in my eyes, I really did. This is a miracle.”

***

On December 4, a large gathering of overjoyed kids, dedicated caregivers and teachers, Pasco County government dignitaries and generous donors from the Wesley Chapel Rotary Club, the Lennar Foundation and AdventHealth Wesley Chapel took a few snips at the ribbon cutting, officially opening Pasco’s first-ever inclusive playground.

It was a perfectly sunny day, with a slight chill in the air. But, most everyone there had their hearts warmed by the excitement of the kids, most of whom arrived on a bus from the Exceptional Student Education (ESE) programs from John Long Middle School and Wiregrass Ranch Elementary.

“I’m having a ball,” shouted Eric Piburn, a terminally ill 13-year-old in glasses, gloves, a knit cap and a face mask. Piburn, who needs a heart and double lung transplant, excitedly described his experience as he swung back and forth from a disc swing (that looked like an over-sized basket), the tube from his oxygen tank swaying along with him.

“I’ve loved swings since I was little,” he exclaimed. “I never ever ever ever ever ever want to leave. Ever.”

Another Long student walked around giving everyone a hug. Others wide-eyed but trepidatiously wandered from ride to ride, looking to find something they enjoyed.

“This is really cool,” said Deborah Collin, assistant principal in charge of ESE services at Long. “I keep saying to myself, where can we get some of this stuff?”

****

For every 1,000 children in Pasco County, there are 85 who have some type of special needs. Countywide, the Pasco County School District says there are about 16,000 children with special needs. Collin says there are 55 children in the ESE program at her school, spread over three different classifications of disability, with five teachers and eight instructional aides.

While they have adaptive physical education for the students, it is confined to a room.

“It’s still not enough movement or variety,” she said.

Which is why the playground is such a gamechanger for children with disabilities.

“This is huge,” said Barbara Hayes, a physical therapist with Pasco County Schools for 22 years. “There aren’t a lot of areas for those children to access. You can see the smiles on their faces. This gives them an opportunity to play with children more at their developmental level. This is a wonderful thing and very well done.”

Collin said one of her students, seventh grader Zakyla McKenzie, spends a lot of time playing with a plastic bottle. It fulfills some of her sensory needs, with its texture and the sound it makes when squeezed. But, it’s been the only exercise she usually gets each day.

At the inclusive playground, however, Zakyla was able to find something she liked more.

“She was having such a good time on the swing, she did not want to get off,” said Nellie Reilly, a behavioral specialist at Long who seemed as overjoyed as many of the students.

****

While many area parks may be compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines, few truly meet the standards of what proponents consider to be inclusivity. To do so requires wider pathways and easier-to-navigate surfaces, activity panels that are at ground height, larger swings with more back support and sensory elements that include touch and music.

There are multiple swing sets on the playground, an inclusive spinner that allows kids in wheelchairs to have a merry-go-round experience with their friends, a tube to crawl through — “I like to pretend I’m a cat!” said Eric — and four springy chairs. The surface throughout the playground is made of rubber and, combined with the spread-out rides, allows easy access for wheelchair-bound kids to move around and interact with others.

In the spring, a butterfly garden, which will be tended to by the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel, should be in full bloom.

“I didn’t see anybody that didn’t find something that worked for them,” Collin said.

****

The inclusive park is the first of its kind in Pasco County and one that Moore said he hopes to replicate in other places. It was not, however, your typical project for the county — it was introduced, funded, approved, designed and built in less than five months, which is light speed by traditional governmental standards.

As a volunteer coach at the District Park for a variety of sports, Moore had for many years seen kids who could run fast, jump high and were able to revel in what the park had to offer.

However, he also had seen the kids who couldn’t, those relegated to the sidelines because of a disability. The park wasn’t for everyone, he realized, and he said the thought bothered him and prompted him to try and change that situation.

After a few months of research, Moore introduced the idea to Keith Wiley, Pasco’s director of Parks and Recreation, earlier this year. Wiley had been thinking similarly — he already had been planning some special needs camps for the county. 

****

To fund the project, since it wasn’t in the county’s budget, Moore turned to the 53-member Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel — of which he is an honorary member — which just happened to be looking for a big project, and the club agreed to donate $50,000 for the playground.

Chris Casella, the Rotary Club’s current president, told the ribbon-cutting ceremony crowd of roughly 100 that he was motivated by his own experiences as a kid, and the times spent at the park with friends and family.

“Today,” he said, “this can be a reality for so many families from this area that are going to be able to bring children to this park and have memories that will last a lifetime.”

The Lennar Foundation, the homebuilder’s charitable arm, donated another $50,000, and Advent Health Wesley Chapel chipped in another $25,000.

In August, the county commission voted 5-0 to approve roughly $215,000 in public funding to cover the rest of the project. Ground was broken in September. The ribbon was cut in December.

It was money well spent. As the kids slowly filed back to their school bus, and the adults headed back to work, Eric Piburn continued to rock back and forth on the disc swing, still planning to never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever leave.

Ever.