Category: Education

Wharton High’s ‘Wee Wildcats’ Program Benefits Pre- & High Schoolers

While the halls at Wharton High are mostly filled with teenagers, there’s a brightly colored preschool-sized playground adjacent to the front parking lot that may seem a bit out of place on a high school campus.

It’s actually a symbol of a unique learning opportunity that benefits both high school and preschool students.

A handful of preschoolers arrive on campus four mornings a week for a program called “Wee Wildcats,” named after Wharton’s mascot.

The program has been a part of the school for two decades, bringing together high school students who want to learn about early childhood education with preschoolers whose parents appreciate the low cost of the program and the attention their children receive.

“It’s been phenomenal,” says Marissa Harris, whose four-year-old son, Cohen, was in the program last year. This fall, Cohen will return to Wee Wildcats, and he’ll be joined by his younger sister, Charleigh, who is three.

Wee Wildcats is offered Tuesday through Friday, from 9:30 a.m.-11:55 a.m., for children who turn three by September 1 of the year they enroll, until they go to kindergarten. Parents pay just $40 per month per child.

Marissa says she was nervous at first to leave Cohen in the care of high school students, but she decided to give it a try because it’s so affordable.

And, she says, Wee Wildcats quickly exceeded her expectations.

“Cohen is so comfortable and he’s learned so much,” she says, which is why she’s opting to bring him back for another year. In addition to his ABCs and 123s, Marissa says Cohen has learned how to spell his name and put letters together to form words in an environment he loves.

The Right Teacher

Wee Wildcats is led by Wharton’s early childhood education teacher, Erin Heilman, who doubles as the preschool director and has credentials to teach students in both age groups. The preschool only accepts 15 students at any one time to meet proper ratios for the one adult in the room — although they are considering hiring a second adult to make room for more students — but several high school students are the ones who actually lead the preschoolers through their day, which closely follows Florida’s VPK (voluntary pre-kindergarten) curriculum.

Wharton students in the first year of the program, typically freshmen, do bookwork in the classroom during times when there are no preschoolers in attendance. As they progress through their sophomore, junior and senior years, they begin to alternate bookwork with planning lessons and teaching the preschoolers in their care. The students design the lessons for the preschoolers, then lead them throughout the day.

Meanwhile, the bookwork they complete prepares them to earn a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential from the State of Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) once they turn 18. Some students may immediately begin using this license to teach in a preschool. For others, it’s a stepping stone to future goals.

Alexis Fernandez is a senior at Wharton who says she wants to teach elementary school after college. She is entering her fourth year of the Early Childhood Education program at Wharton.

She says her freshman year, before she was allowed to work with the kids, was “amazing,” as she learned how to “deal with kids.”

“It’s very difficult teaching small kids,” Alexis says. “They get distracted easily, and get upset a lot, too. I understand that, but without the program, I don’t think I could handle it. Really, it’s all about patience and learning how to be strict, but also calm and understanding.”

Alexis says the kids prefer the arts & crafts and hands-on activities. Heilman says she will continue to add science-based activities. For example, the preschoolers observed the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly last spring, and they will plant a garden this fall.

Heilman has been leading the program less than a year. She took it over late last fall, while it was undergoing a transition. She had been hired at Wharton as a technology teacher in the business department, thanks in part to the MBA (Master of Business Administration) degree that she holds from the University of Phoenix, Tampa campus.

She had previously taught middle school history and then third grade at the Turner Bartels K-8 school and was excited to move to Wharton, where her son is a junior.

One day, when a newly-hired teacher didn’t show up for work, administrators called on Heilman.

“I didn’t even know we had a preschool at Wharton, but I was the only one on campus with an early childhood certification,” Erin explains. “So, I ran down there and greeted the parents.”

She says several days later, she was offered the position.

Heilman says it feels like her dream job, and brings together many of her skills and passions. She asks rhetorically, “How lucky am I that I get (to teach) these incredible high schools students, as well as preschool?”

For example, Heilman’s business background helps her coach high school students who might want to open their own preschool one day. Not only do they need to know how to teach preschool-aged children, Heilman also can help them create a business plan.

She’s also elevating the program to be much more selective, where it was previously open to any interested student.

For the 2019-20 school year, only 45 Wharton students were chosen for the program, out of 130 who applied.

“I want only the best of the best working with these preschoolers,” Heilman says. “They have to be highly qualified with a high GPA, no tardies, no suspensions, and two teacher recommendations. Ultimately, I always think, ‘Would I, as a parent, leave my child with that student?’”

For the students who were chosen to be in the program this upcoming year, the answer is a resounding “yes!”

“I think it’s a great program for the community,” Heilman says. “I’m so proud of these high school kids. If I had known about Wee Wildcats when my son was that age, I would have put him in it.”

For more information about the Wee Wildcats preschool program at Wharton High, visit http://wharton.mysdhc.org/Programs/Wee%20Wildcats/ or contact Erin Heilman at Erin.Heilman@sdhc.k12.fl.us.

preschool Wharton

Check Out The Little Free Library At The New Tampa Family YMCA!

Getting books into the hands of those who want to read them has gotten a little easier for New Tampa residents, now that a Little Free Library has been installed and opened to the public outside the New Tampa Family YMCA.

Raequel Tomsich, who serves as vice president of communications & public relations for the GFWC (General Federation of Women’s Clubs) New Tampa Junior Woman’s Club (NTJWC), explains that a Little Free Library is a no-cost book exchange for the community. She says it’s part of a global phenomenon, with more than 80,000 of these community exchanges registered in 91 countries around the world at LittleFreeLibraries.com.

Raequel says she fell in love with the idea of a Little Free Library when she saw one while on vacation in Bryson City, NC, last summer. When she returned home, her New Tampa Juniors club was discussing ways to support a statewide project of the GFWC called Book Heroes that aims to get books into the hands of 10,000 children each year.

The GFWC New Tampa Junior Woman’s Club is a local nonprofit group that is part of an international organization committed to community service. Its members volunteer in the local community, raise money to support the club’s efforts, and meet monthly to discuss business, complete a hands-on service project, and plan upcoming events.

Club members decided to install a Little Free Library in Tampa Palms to support the statewide reading initiative.

They researched plans and obtained a GFWC Focus on Literacy grant provided by the Procter & Gamble Company to help with expenses.

Little Free Libraries can look very different, but most are some variation of a wooden box. The New Tampa Juniors chose plans that resemble a house shape, with two shelves inside for books. It’s raised off the ground on a post.

It’s also a personal project for Raequel, who says her father used to do woodwork and taught her husband, Mike, who has now used those skills to build the library structure. Her kids helped to install it.

“I’m so proud of it,” she says.

Club members collected books for children and adults alike. They were thrilled when the New Tampa Family YMCA, located at 16221 Compton Dr. in Tampa Palms, agreed to allow the Juniors to install the library on its property.

The library works on the honor system and anyone can take a book or leave one.

“It’s our hope that people who borrow books also will contribute,” says Raequel. “It doesn’t matter if the same book makes it back, but it’s just great if you can take one and share one.”

Raequel says response has been great and that books are borrowed several times a day. She is a member of the YMCA and visits frequently and says she can tell the Little Free Library is being used by the number of books that are taken from it each time she visits. She also sees books being added to the library, and hears from the YMCA staff that their members tell them they like and appreciate the library.

“I don’t think we could have picked a better location,” says Raequel. “You don’t have to be a member to use it, but the Y has so many members. And now, with summer camps at the Y, more people who didn’t know it was there before will see it and start using it.”

The club is committed to ensuring that the library is maintained and restocked as necessary. Raequel says she and other club members add books to the library several times a week.

Because books are borrowed so frequently, they need to be replenished often. Books can be donated by leaving them in the library outside the YMCA. They can also be donated by contacting the club through its Facebook page at Facebook.com/GFWCNewTampaJuniors or find contact information at GFWCNewTampaJuniors.org.

“I love reading and the idea of getting books into the hands of kids,” says Raequel. “Especially in today’s world, with everyone usually on their electronics, it’s good to get people reading.”

Library new tampa family ymca

Cool Summer: A/C Work To Begin At Local Schools!

When the half-penny school sales tax referendum passed in Hillsborough County last year, the promise was that aged roofs and floors and playgrounds would be repaired, athletic tracks would be repaved and classrooms and fire evacuation systems being upgraded, just to name just a few much-needed enhancements.

But, what got Wharton High’s Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) president Kristie Scism most excited was much cooler than all those things.

“The air conditioning,” Scism says. “It may not be the best thing, but it was the one thing I was most excited about.”

Hillsborough County Public Schools announced last week that teams of workers have begun moving into the 21 schools that will receive an overhaul or replacement of their existing AC systems.

While every school in New Tampa except for Hunter’s Green and Tampa Palms elementaries is scheduled to get upgraded AC in years 1-5 of the school tax referendum, only Wharton High, Benito Middle School and Clark Elementary are among the 21 schools having the work done this summer.

Over the next 10 years, funds from the half-penny sales tax are expected to overhaul or replace the A/C systems at 203 schools, or about 20 each summer.

“It’s pretty miserable when the A/C breaks,” Scism said, adding that it has been an all-too common occurrence at Wharton. “It gets to be like a sauna in some rooms. It’s very hard (for students) to concentrate in those conditions.”

Intermittent air conditioning at times has also been a complaint of parents and teachers at Benito and Clark for years.

AC Wharton

Family Fuels Academic Success Of Freedom Valedictorian

When Amir Iranmanesh takes the stage at this year’s Freedom High graduation ceremony to give his valedictorian speech, he won’t be thinking about his GPA, which he says is 9.14.

The 18-year-old will be remembering his late grandmother, the most influential person in his life.

“Everyone says this about their grandmas, but mine was the purest, most innocent person in the world,” says Amir, who describes himself as very family-oriented. “She was magical — every time I make a decision, I pause to consider what she would do.”

Amir believes his achievement would have been impossible without his parents, who emigrated from Iran before the 1979 revolution that threw their home country into chaos and raised their children to make their own decisions since they were young.

“My parents have always put a lot of trust in me, and gave me enough love to motivate me to want to do good things,” says Amir, who also credits his brother Eamon and sister Elhaam for their support.

Amir says he didn’t intentionally aim for the top rank in his class. He had a “passion for math” and wanted to learn as much of it as possible, so he began taking dual enrollment courses at Hillsborough Community College as soon as he could.

“Understanding math truly opens a whole new perspective on the world,” says Amir, who especially enjoyed algebra and calculus but also took extra courses in literature, public speaking, visual arts and computer science.

Amir’s strategy was to fill up his school days with homework and extracurricular activities and reserve Fridays and Saturdays for spending time with family and friends.

He competed for Freedom’s swim team for three years, and was a member of the school’s National Honor Society. He also served as an officer in multiple organizations at school, including the Rho Khappa National Social Studies Honor Society, Model United Nations and Future Business Leaders of America.

Amir helped others succeed in the classroom, too. He created a year-long math tutoring club staffed by student and teacher volunteers during their lunch hours, and also collected more than 3,500 book donations for the New Tampa Regional Library.

The future businessman currently serves as the treasurer of the student body-elected Executive Board of the HCC Dale Mabry Student Government Association. He manages a nearly $650,000 budget, votes on how to use the money during weekly board meetings and helps run general student body meetings on Tuesdays.

Although undecided at our press time where he will attend college, Amir says he plans to attend somewhere in Florida to remain close to his family.

Amir says he draws inspiration from his parents — father Ali, a civil engineer who owns a company with Amir’s mother Parvin, a former social worker.

“I plan to major in business so I can learn everything about how companies work, then invest in real estate once I have a steady income,” Amir says.

Amir traveled back to his native Iran last month for an extended vacation, exploring new cities and visiting family. He also took time to pay his respects at the grave sites of his three late grandparents and reflect on what he might do someday to alleviate the country’s crumbling economy.

“It’s upsetting to see people from my own city suffer and struggle to pay for food,” he says. “Whatever my journey is, it will surely consist of me giving back to my hometown.”

Freedom High’s 2019 graduation ceremony will be held at the Florida State Fairgrounds on U.S. 301 in Tampa on Thursday, May 30, at 9 a.m.

Freedom valedictorian

Nupur Lala reflects on her National Spelling Bee win 20 years ago

THE WORD was “logorrhea.”

Nupur Lala bought some time by asking for it to be used in a sentence. A hint of a smile crossed her bespectacled face. Inside, she was bursting.

Meena Lala watched her 14-year-old daughter intently. There had been one scare during the Scripps National Spelling Bee, but that was a few rounds back, on the word “poimenics,” maybe the only time she had gotten nervous.

But not now. Not on this word.

“L-O-G…”

Odalys Pritchard remembers the moment like it was yesterday. She was on the edge of her seat, watching her Benito Middle School eighth grader on ESPN trying to spell her way into history.

“I remember seeing the smile and the confidence when they gave her the word,” Pritchard says. “I knew she knew it.”

“…O-R-R…”

Right before she was given the final word, Nupur caught a glimpse of the event organizers preparing the trophy for the winner.

“It felt like a dream,” she says, and she wasted no time, quickly spelling the winning word.

“…H-E-A!”

When Nupur nailed the final word at the 76th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee on June 3, 1999, she jumped as high as she could two times, stopped to tuck her shoulder-length hair behind each ear, and jumped again, her yellow placard designating her as Speller No. 165 flailing about with her arms.

She grabbed the big trophy, raised it up to the sky and smiled the widest of smiles.

“It didn’t feel real,” says Nupur, now age 34. “I remember jumping up and down, and wondering ‘Is there going to be ground beneath me when I land?’”

***

Twenty years later, she remembers every detail, from the hero’s greeting she received at Tampa International Airport to receiving a key to the city to a slew of television cameras eager to record her every move.

There were banners declaring “Busch Gardens Spells Champ N-U-P-U-R” and local daily newspaper headlines calling her “The goddess of spelling.” The Neighborhood News (see pg. 36) called her “Super Nupur.”

New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner invited her to New York and gave her tickets to see “Phantom” on Broadway. Even Hooters put up a sign congratulating Nupur.

Her parents, Meena and Nupur’s father Parag, had her write the restaurant a thank-you letter.

“In hindsight, thinking back, it was extraordinary,” she says. “I’ll never forget the way that Tampa treated me.”

Nupur is greeted at Busch Gardens after her win.

However, when she felt the most famous, she says, is when her mother was driving her home to Hunter’s Green one day, and the guard at the gate asked if that was the Spelling Bee champ in the back seat.

Meena said yes, and he asked if she could hop out and say hi. This was a time before cell phones, so he didn’t want a picture. He just wanted to congratulate her and share his admiration for her accomplishment.

“That might have been the moment I felt really famous,” Nupur says.

***

It was just the beginning, though. In 2002, the documentary “Spellbound” was released, to critical acclaim. It followed Nupur and seven other Regional champions through the 1999 Scripps Spelling Bee competition. It earned $6-million and was nominated for an Oscar, giving Nupur a second round of fame.

She never thought she would always be the Spelling Bee champ from Benito Middle School in Tampa.

“I’d say it’s the one accomplishment in my life people are still interested in,” she says. “It has stayed with me more than anything I’ve done.”

There were times, she says, that fact chafed Nupur. To be defined by something you did at age 14, when you barely knew then who you even were, and then to have so much more expected of you as a result, was frustrating at times.

“I’ve had different feelings at different points in my life about all of it,” Nupur says. “Definitely early high school, early college, I felt that there were such massive expectations from winning the Spelling Bee at 14. I was still trying to figure out who I was and where I wanted to fit in in the world. It was very difficult.”

Today, however, Nupur has found her path. As a result, it is easier to embrace being noticed by someone who recognizes her name or face.

***

Nupur attended high school in Fayetteville, AR, where her family had moved just a few months after the Spelling Bee victory. She graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 2007 with a B.S. degree in Brain Cognitive and Behavioral Science, and worked for three years at the Massachusetts Institute of technology (MIT) in Cambridge doing functional MRI research in cognitive neuroscience

She graduated with a Master’s degree in Cancer Biology from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2015. And, after earning her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, she is now doing her residency in Neurology at the Rhode Island Hospital in Providence.

She hopes to do a fellowship in neuro-oncology, specifically Glioblastoma multiforme, the brain cancer that killed U.S. Senator John McCain.

***

Millions of students from all 50 states battle each year to make it to The Scripps National Spelling Bee, scheduled this year for Sunday-Friday, May 26-31, in Washington, D.C.

A Benito newsletter recognized Nupur, as well as her stiffest competition.

Nupur remembers the grind. She did her first spelling bee in Kaye Whitehurst’s seventh grade English class, merely to earn extra credit. She hadn’t even heard of the Scripps Spelling Bee, but once she discovered she was good at it, winning it became a goal.

Few remember that she actually made it to our nation’s capital for the first time as a seventh grader, when she was eliminated in the third round on the first day in 1998.

She was happy and proud, but she remembers while she was almost universally praised for her efforts, a classmate taunted her by reminding her that she didn’t win.

“I still remember that feeling. One moment you can be on top, and the next moment, you’re back to being a regular kid,” she says. “I didn’t realize how much it bothered me or how much I internalized that feeling. It fueled me for years.”

Nupur says it was Whitehurst, who had gone to D.C. with her student in 1998, and Pritchard, who is now interim deputy director for Hillsborough County’s Achievement Schools, that helped lift up her spirits.

“Teachers don’t even know the impact they make,” Nupur says. “I hope they read this and know they made a tremendous difference.”

***

With Meena (who spent many hours reading the practice words to her daughter), Whitehurst and Pritchard in her corner, Nupur was determined to get back to the National Spelling Bee in the eighth grade, and her goal was to make it to the televised portion of the event. She competed in a half dozen regional events to qualify, but says the stiffest competition was actually at Benito.

There were 249 competitors from around the country who survived Regionals and made it to Washington and 144 of them were eliminated on the first day.

But, not Nupur. She had made it to the televised portion on Day 2, and when she did, she says a strange calm came over her.

“I met my goal,” she remembers thinking. “It was still the most surreal moment of my life.”

Nupur’s parents moved to the U.S. from a small town in central India in 1984, where Parag worked as an engineering professor at Syracuse University in upstate New York, where Nupur was born. They moved to Tampa in 1997.

Nupur’s win marked a historic shift in the Spelling Bee. Since her win, 19 spellers of Indian descent have either been champion or co-champion.

Since her win, Nupur says she did not watch the Spelling Bee every year. She confesses to a rebellious period where she didn’t want to be the “goddess of spelling” anymore.

But, when she does watch it, she says she finds herself moved by the reactions of the winners, as well as her own memories.

“It was the culmination of a lot of hard work, by me and my family,” Nupur says. “I did something very few people have, and I will forever be grateful for that moment.”

So will those who knew her, like Pritchard. Nupur’s picture commemorating her win still hangs in the front office at Benito. And, for a long time, there was a large photo portrait of Nupur displayed at the Hillsborough County School Board boardroom auditorium, until the boardroom was renovated in 2017.

“It was always nice seeing that picture,” Pritchard says. “I can’t believe it’s been 20 years. Nupur was a shining star. There’s probably a lot of people who remember her vividly.”

Benito Middle School nupur lala scripps spelling bee