A Sneak Peek At Cypress Creek Middle/High School

Carin Hetzler-Nettles is the principal of the new Cypress Creek Middle High School and was previously principal of Wesley Chapel High, where she earned Pasco County’s Secondary Principal of the Year in 2012. 

We spoke with Hetzler-Nettles during staff training week at Cypress Creek, located off Old Pasco Rd. As the entire staff worked together to create the culture of the new school (which is set to open to students on Pasco’s first day of classes for the 2017-18 school year, on Monday, August 14), Hetzler-Nettles reflected on all the work that’s being done to get the school ready for its first class of students. Here are some highlights from that conversation:

Neighborhood News: How different is this process of opening a new school, compared with the typical summer routine at other county middle and high schools?

Carin Hetzler-Nettles: Really different! Every principal does a lot of work this time of year, but it’s very rare to have this opportunity to be side-by-side with the entire staff, building something new.

We’re setting the stage, creating our culture here. We’re setting our school-wide expectations and motto, and talking about what a Cypress Creek “Coyote” looks like.

An aerial view of the sprawling new Cypress Creek Middle High School campus on Old Pasco Rd., near Overpass Rd.

Cypress Creek will be a pilot program for “trauma informed care,” so we had training for that. We learned about ourselves as a staff and to be mindful that everyone comes in with their own trauma (which could be something minor), and we react in different ways. When a student acts out, it’s because of something in their life, and it’s on us to figure that out, and then to build resilience, grit and perseverance. Those are life skills.

On the last day of our staff retreat (which was earlier this month), our teachers will get their schedules and find out their classrooms, which they’re so excited about. Then, as teams, they’ll head out into the community to commit random acts of kindness. We want to say “hi” to our fellow community members and tell them we’re hoping for their support.

NN: What’s your favorite thing about the campus itself?

CHN: The look of this school reminds me of a community college. It has beautiful brick paver accents. There are amazing (floor-to-ceiling) windows in the classrooms. There’s so much natural light and every classroom has a great view. We are the only high school in the county that will have a rubberized track, so we’ll be able to host some big meets. We also have a large cafeteria and an enormous band room, and the most beautiful gym floor I’ve ever seen.

We had been working out of two classrooms at Quail Hollow Elementary. To move into the new campus, we needed to have the wi-fi working, a place to sit at and something to sit on. That happened last week, so this is our home now. The trailers will go away, but we will have a district employee and construction subcontractors finishing up around campus, for probably six more months.

NN: What are you most excited about?

CHN: I am most excited about the opportunities for students. It’s so cool to have middle and high school students together. I have seen the power of kids talking to kids, and of kids showing leadership, like when eleventh grade students help ninth grade students transition. They explain, “This is why you need to do your homework,” or even say, “Let me sit with you at lunch.”

I see that happening.

Outside of school, you don’t necessarily see that part of them all the time, but we see that kids have big hearts and truly want to help others.

We have a “Pack leader” program where, over the summer, eleventh graders will be trained in leadership and eighth graders will be trained in peer counseling. Then, those trained students will be scheduled into core classes in the lower grades.

So, an eleventh grade student might be scheduled into a ninth grade English class and they are the “Pack leader” in that class. We partner them up in one of their strong subjects to help kids in that class. They might set up a texting app to remind the class that there’s a test tomorrow, or take kids outside the class to help them, or just talk, if they had a fight with a friend, for example.

We’re trying to help kids stay engaged. The Pack leader might say the same things as the teacher, but in a different way.

So many things divert kids’ attention, whether it’s that they don’t see the purpose of school, they’re looking for fun, or they’re making bad choices. It’s on us as educators to engage them and find what works for them. It’s different with every kid, so there are a lot of different ways to do that.

NN: How deep are your roots in Pasco County schools?

CHN: I am a product of Pasco County Schools. I graduated from Land O’ Lakes High. I started my career in 1996 as an ESE teacher at River Ridge Middle School. I spent a year in Hillsborough County but found it very different and came back to open Mitchell in 2000. I got my educational leadership certificate and became assistant principal, then became principal at Wesley Chapel High in 2009.

I’ve actually worked with people who were my teachers in high school. When I was at Mitchell, I became an administrator and one of the teachers there was a teacher I had in high school. The same thing happened when I was principal at Wesley Chapel. I was principal of a teacher who taught me.

NN: How does the size of Cypress Creek Middle High School compare to other campuses in the area?

CHN: We are starting with 650 high school students, which is very small. The next smallest high school in Pasco County is 1,100 students, so we’re about half the size of that. It’s almost unheard of.

Four Cypress Creek Middle High teachers from the school’s Athletic Dept. showed up at our office on June 22, and all four were obviously excited to talk about the opening of the new school.

But, our middle school has 850 students, which is pretty typical. As those middle schoolers age up, we will end up being the size of a traditional high school, so we will grow quickly. We will have about 1,500 at the high school and 900 at the middle school (in the next few years).

In about four years, we hope to have a completely separate middle school built adjacent to this school. (Right now,) Cypress Creek Middle High School is a way to relieve a booming population that is necessary at our feeder schools. We’re embracing it as a unique opportunity to create a dynamic culture.

We’re doing vertical teaming, so sixth through eleventh grade teachers in each department (math, for example) will meet every week. There will be no “they didn’t learn this in middle school.” We will have a seamless campus and curriculum. And, when that day comes when there’s a separate middle school campus, we expect that culture will bleed over into that campus, as well.

NN: What do you want your students to know as they get ready to come to Cypress Creek?

CHN: Life is full of possibilities. That’s how I approach every day. I know parents teach their kids they can do whatever they put their mind to, and that’s what’s being instilled in our school. It’s easy to be worried or concerned about having sixth through twelfth graders on the same campus and sharing buses, and it’s right to have concerns. But, we are planning for that. We already have schools with this model.

We can also look at what an amazing situation it is that a middle schooler has access to criminal justice, business, and journalism classes. If they want to take Spanish or American Sign Language, they can walk across campus and take it. They have easy access to accelerated courses. They don’t have to do it online. It’s a great opportunity and it’s very exciting to me.

It’s easy to stay comfortable. I loved working at Wesley Chapel with those kids and teachers and parents and staff, but I took a leap of faith to come here, and so did all the other staff. We are looking at the possibilities and all the doors that will open for all of these students. It’s gonna be really cool.

Kookabuk Lends A Hand

At Benito Middle School, he’s known as Coach Howard, the boys’ basketball coach. He’s also the school’s resource teacher, taking care of computers and networking and setting up technology labs.

Kevin Howard also is now a published author, using his experiences as the parent of a child with autism, to help other people.

“My 15-year-old son, Seth, was diagnosed with autism before this third birthday,” explains Kevin. “At that time, a therapist suggested we create social stories to help him.”

Kevin  — who lives in Cory Lake Isles with his wife, Christina, Seth, and Seth’s younger brother, Joey — explains that the social stories would introduce Seth to typical life situations that could be intimidating for a kid who is autistic. The first book Kevin wrote for his son, for example, was about having his blood drawn.

Benito Middle School teacher and basketball coach Kevin Howard, shown with his wife Christina and their sons Joey and Seth, has written a book to help families with children who are autistic.

“We got pictures off the internet to make this book, and looked at the story over and over again,” he says. “We practiced having our blood drawn together with fake needles. So, when Seth went to have his blood drawn, we had no issues.”

He says it became a valuable tool in his household, so he began writing more stories for Seth, such as about going to the grocery store or the amusement park.

When the family was getting ready for a trip to visit family in New York, Kevin began working on a new social story. He collected pictures of all the things they would do — from packing to sitting on the plane — to the places they were going to go, including his father’s house. After reading the story over and over again, Kevin says, “We went to New York several times before we ever left (Florida).”

In the process of writing that book, Kevin was reminded of his favorite childhood toy, a stuffed monkey named Kookabuk.

“Kookabuk was given to me when I was a little boy and had an extended stay in the hospital,” Kevin says. “He took me on so many adventures. We played, we raced cars, we went on safaris, we had a band… all these adventures to occupy my time while I was in the hospital.”

So, when he happened to Seth, “You’re going on an adventure,” when referencing the family’s trip to New York, Kevin says it was, “like a light bulb went off. It reminded me of my adventures with Kookabuk, and that’s when the creative juices started to flow.”

He partnered with his brother, Jesse, who lives in New York and is a special education teacher, teaching elementary and pre-kindergarten kids who have a variety of exceptionalities, including autism.

The two worked together to develop stories that would help families. They have self-published the first story in the series, called Kookabuk Shares His Shovel, and have several more stories written and planned for future publication.

“I just love the name,” says Kevin. “I can see the smile on your face when I say it. I want Kookabuk to help other children the way he helped me.”

The series has been thoughtfully developed with characters who are inspired by real life. Kookabuk — or “Kooky,” as Kevin calls him – is the character in the book who is on the autism spectrum. And, he says Kooky’s friend, Emily, was inspired by someone in real life, too. “Emily was the first little girl who became friends with my son,” although both Kooky and Emily are monkeys in the book.

About the character Emily, Kevin says, “She is the model for every typical child when it comes to awareness, acceptance and understanding,” says Kevin, “We want typical kids to see the model of Emily, where we’re showing them how they can have a rewarding relationship with a child with special needs.”

Kevin’s pet macaw, Trevor, appears in the series, too. Trevor became part of the Howard family 20 years ago when Christine convinced Kevin to adopt Trevor. In the book, Trevor shows up whenever the characters are using a strategy that can be helpful to parents and caregivers of children with autism.

“We call it our ‘Best of Help’ tips,” says Kevin. He explains that whenever a specific strategy is being used that parents, teachers and caregivers can emulate, a picture of Trevor indicates to go to the back of the book to learn about the strategy and how to use it.

The tips come from Jesse’s expertise as a special needs educator and what Kevin has learned as the parent of a child with autism.

“We tried to make these tips the things that are going to help you on a daily basis,” Kevin says. “It’s what’s going to help with my kid having a meltdown right now.”

He says the books can be enjoyed by children — both those with special needs and those who are typical — either together with their parents or on their own.

“The response has been very positive,” says Kevin, saying Kookabuk Shares His Shovel has received great reviews, and was recently chosen by the University of South Florida faculty as its “Book of the Month.”

In April, to celebrate Autism Awareness Month, Kevin worked with the Youth Basketball League of Florida to put on an event called, “It’s Kool to be Kooky.” He says the event brought in a lot of sponsorships — including from the Miami Heat and AND1 basketball footwear and clothing company.

The event raised $1,301, which was donated to Focus Academy, a Hillsborough County magnet school for students with special needs, where Seth currently attends.

Kookabuk Shares His Shovel is currently available at Amazon.com. For more info about Kookabuk, please visit Kookabuk.com.

Wiregrass Ranch High Co-Valedictorian Lauren Payne Follows Her Sister To UF

Wiregrass Ranch High co-valedictorian Lauren Payne will follow her sister Emily to the University of Florida.

Lauren Payne says she wasn’t necessarily trying to earn the title of valedictorian of the 2017 class at Wiregrass Ranch High, but that’s where her hard work and smart choices landed her.

She recently graduated as co-valedictorian, with a weighted GPA of 4.79.

“I chose my classes based on what I thought was going to be interesting,” Lauren says, not with having the toughest schedule in mind. “I took a mix of AP (Advanced Placement) classes and dual enrollment, and they were all good.” She says her favorites — among courses such as AP calculus B/C, government and statistics — were her dual enrollment world literature and AP biology classes. What did she take for fun? “Oceanography and anthropology were like electives,” she says.

“Lauren has a really strong work ethic,” says her mom, Janet. “It is really important for her to try her best and challenge herself.”

Lauren’s natural drive to try her hardest has earned her some pretty impressive credentials. For example, she’s a National Merit Scholarship winner. This makes her eligible for a program called the Benacquisto scholarship, where the State of Florida provides a financial award equal to the cost of attendance at a Florida school, including tuition and fees, on-campus room and board, books, supplies, travel and miscellaneous expenses remaining after using  award given by the National Merit Scholar program and the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship program.

Lauren is taking her Benacquisto scholarship to the University of Florida in Gainesville, the school from which her older sister Emily just graduated. Emily was WRH’s salutatorian in 2013.

“I chose UF because I’ve been visiting my older sister there since middle school,” she says, “and I always felt like I belonged.” UF also offered her its Presidential Scholarship, which offers $5,000, $8,000 (gold) and $10,000 (platinum) per year to in-state, high-achieving students.

Her plan is to major in microbiology and cell science and eventually work in the medical field. “It’s exciting to be on my own for the first time,” says Lauren, who has lived in the same house in Meadow Pointe her entire life, attending Sand Pine Elementary and John Long Middle School before WRH.

While she’s following her older sister’s footsteps into college, she also followed her athletically. Lauren watched Emily run cross country in high school, so she started running in middle school. Lauren became part of a team at WRH that won the Sunshine Athletic Conference Eastern Division championship this year.

“I looked up to my sister, so I thought running cross country looked like so much fun,” Lauren says. “Once I started, I really liked the coach and all the girls on the team, so I stuck with it, even though it was a lot harder than I thought it would be.”

She adds, “There are some days for everyone where it’s just a really rough run and it doesn’t feel fun or easy. There’s a point where you have to decide whether I’m going to stick through this. The experience with all the other girls on the team made the hard days worth it.”

In addition to being a scholar and an athlete, Lauren also was active on campus at WRH, as a class Senator all four years, president of Mu Alpha Theta (math honor society), a Ranch ambassador (representing the school at different events such as orientation and open house) and a member of both the National Honor Society and the Science National Honor Society.

“She grew up liking to try a lot of different things, such as dance, swimming, and playing a couple of different instruments,’’ said her mother Janet. In fact, Janet says Lauren still plays violin but had to stop playing in the school’s orchestra.

“Orchestra is a big-time commitment,” Janet said, “Lauren had to make choices. She even did cheerleading for her first two years, but couldn’t keep doing all of those activities, so she had to make decisions about how to best spend her time.”

While Janet is proud of Lauren, she doesn’t seem at all surprised at her success. “Since Lauren was pretty young, she’s always had a curiosity about how things work and has been enthusiastic about school,’’ Janet said. “We’ve had great public schools and great teachers who have nurtured her along the way. Those things came together: good schools, good teachers, she gets a lot of support and she tries hard.”

Valedictorian Is Just One Impressive Accomplishment For This WCH Senior

Wesley Chapel High valedictorian Samantha Politano is congratulated by Pasco County school superintendent Kurt Browning and School Board member Cynthia Armstrong as Politano receives one of several scholarships.

When Samantha Politano steps on to the stage to speak to Wesley Chapel High’s graduating class of 2017 on May 26, it will be the culmination of a dream she’s had since the third grade, when the letter “A” first appeared on her report card.

It was at that time — when she saw not just one, but all As on that report card — that she says she became determined to always get straight As, and to become her class valedictorian. And now, she’s done it.

With a weighted GPA of 4.77, she has the privilege of the title, and the responsibility of making the speech.

“I’m really excited about it,” Samantha says, “I’ve been thinking about it since third grade, so I feel like it’s a lot of pressure.”

At the same time she’s receiving her high school diploma, she’s also earning her Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree from Pasco Hernando State College, thanks to dual enrollment classes she’s been taking for the last three years. She’ll be recognized as an “honors graduate” for maintaining a 4.0 GPA in her college classes when she walks across the stage at that graduation ceremony.

While she’s been busy studying, doing her homework and keeping her grades up, Samantha also has been committed to extracurricular activities as an officer in seven organizations. She’s not only student body president at WCH, she’s also vice president of the PHSC chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

Samantha also received the Girl Scouts Gold Award, the highest award given by that organization. When she earned it in 2016, she was the only Gold Award recipient in Pasco County that year. She says she was an active Girl Scout for 12 years, and the project to earn the award was to make Wells Rd. — where Wesley Chapel Elementary, Weightman Middle and Wesley Chapel High schools are located — safer.

Currently, Samantha is planning to attend Florida State University in Tallahassee, where she’ll be in the Honors College.

“My parents never went to college, so I’ve always dreamed of going to college,” she says. “When I started at Wesley Chapel Elementary, I thought that was college.”

Samantha says her parents’ story is an inspiration to her. She looks up to her mom, who she says is, “so organized and gets everything done without getting distracted; she motivates me.”

She also says that her dad’s hands are a reminder of why she works so hard to be successful. “Dad used to be a gas fitter and he had to work hard, digging deep holes,” she says. “His hands are so rough. I want to work hard mentally so my family and I don’t have to work hard with our hands.”

Samantha is still on the waiting list at both Harvard and Yale, and should find out by the end of May if she’ll be accepted into either of those Ivy League universities. If she does end up at FSU, she has earned so many scholarships that she will have the cost of her education covered, and then some. She earned a prestigious scholarship for students who have overcome significant adversity, called the Horatio Alger Scholarship. She also was named a national semi-finalist from the Elks National Foundation for a “most valuable student” award, plus she was awarded scholarships from the Mary and Bob Sierra Family Foundation, the Florida PTA, Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative and from FSU.

Ultimately, she says she hopes to become a lawyer. “It’s unfair that lawyers charge so much and that low-income families can’t afford a lawyer,” Samantha explains. “I’d like to advocate for low-income families and help them.”

Because her scholarships will cover four years of education, “I’ll probably take my time,” she says. “Because I already have my A.A., it would be too easy to just do one major.” She’s planning to study both English and Biology, following a track for marine biology, and thinks she might study abroad.

Samantha says that, to apply for law school, she can have any degree, so her choice to study marine biology is purely for fun and the experience of learning more about something she loves. “I won’t be using that as a lawyer,” she says. “I’m just passionate about it. It’s going to be really enjoyable. I think more people should do things just because they enjoy them.”

New Start & End Times Coming, But Not Until Next Fall

 Note: This story has been updated since it was printed in our April 21 issue hitting mailboxes today and tomorrow. Superintendent Jeff Eakins made an announcement after we went to press that he will propose to the School Board that changes in the bell schedule be postponed to the 2018-19 school year.

Superintendent Jeff Eakins emailed parents April 17 saying that he will now recommend the proposed bell schedule be implemented in 2018-19, not next fall.
Superintendent Jeff Eakins emailed parents April 17 saying that he will now recommend the proposed bell schedule be implemented in 2018-19, not next fall.

Hillsborough County Public Schools has released a proposal that changes the times school will start and end, which will affect start and end times for all elementary, middle and high school students in New Tampa. While originally the plan called for changes to be made this fall, for the 2017-18 school year, school superintendent Jeff Eakins sent an email to parents on April 17 saying that he will now recommend these changes be implemented for the following school year, 2018-19.

“Currently, many students are consistently late to school because there’s not enough time for our buses to pick up and drop off students,” explains Eakins in a video emailed to parents and staff in late March. “This means our children are losing valuable instructional time. When students are late to class, it affects the learning environment for all children.”

The bell schedule originally proposed for 2017-18 adds instructional time at the elementary level in most schools, with one exception in New Tampa. Turner Bartels K-8 students would lose 5 minutes of a day that already is longer than most elementary schools. For middle schools, students would lose 20 minutes, and high schools lose 32. Middle and high school students will keep their seven-period day, but may see the elimination of homeroom, a shorter time for lunch, and class periods that may be reduced by a minute or two.

Eakins says additional benefits of changing school bell times are that the new times may allow for more time for music, art and physical education at the elementary level, and that “… all students will benefit, due to an increase in quality planning time for teachers.”

Eakins wrote in his email to parents that he still feels the proposed plan is still the best option for meeting the school district’s goals. However, the proposal drew a large amount of public outcry, not only because of the time changes but also how the proposal was created. The plan, released on April 4 and available online at SDHC.k12.fl.us/doc/1855/administration/resources/belltimes/, proposes the following changes:

School Current Bell Schedule Proposed Bell Schedule for 2017-18
High (Freedom & Wharton) 7:33 a.m. – 3 p.m. 7:15 a.m. – 2:10 p.m.
Middle (Benito & Liberty) 9 a.m. – 4:15 p.m. 9:30 a.m. – 4:25 p.m.
Elementary (Chiles, Clark, Heritage, Hunter’s Green, Pride & Tampa Palms) 8 a.m. – 2:15 p.m. 8:35 a.m. – 3:05 p.m.
Turner Bartels K-8 8:45 a.m. – 3:35 p.m. 8:30 a.m. – 3:15 p.m.

The Board is still expected to consider the proposed recommendation — which may include revisions based on comments from the community — at a specially called meeting on Tuesday, April 25, 3:30 p.m.

To share your thoughts on the proposed changes, email bellschedule@sdhc.k12.fl.us.