Category: Education

PHSC Conference Teaches Students What Businesses Are Looking To Find

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Homeschoolers Take First At Strawberry Festival With Re-Built Engine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Local Couple’s ‘JeeMin’ Books Help Kids Stand Up To Bullies

Bully Books copy — Matt, Lori and Kaia (aka JeeMin) Brown have turned their love of martial arts into a children’s book series to help prevent bullying and help young children be aware of ‘stranger danger.’

Lori Brown and her husband Matt were shocked when kids as young as five years old joined their martial arts program because they had experienced bullying.

“I couldn’t believe that kids this young were being bullied,” says Lori.

So, the couple decided to do something about it. They co-authored a book series for elementary-aged children starting in 2012, shortly after adopting their daughter from Korea.

They named their daughter Kaia, and the series of books stars a character with Kaia’s given Korean name, which is JeeMin.

The series, called What Would JeeMin Do, includes four books modeling how kids can deal with bullying, and four additional books to help kids learn about “stranger danger.” They are written for kids ages five to nine.

“We felt that if bullying was happening at these young ages,” Lori says, “Kids need to be educated younger, too.”

Matt and Lori completed all eight books in the series and self-published them in November 2015.

“Teaching martial arts is our passion,” explains Matt.

But, a few years ago, they realized there were many kids who would benefit from the lessons being taught in their classes who weren’t walking through their doors. “What we teach in our program, we wanted to also teach outside of our studio in a fun, different way.”

Bully Book Cover 2 Lori adds, “Martial arts is not for everyone, but bullying is a big issue that everyone needs to learn about.”

They describe the books as tools for both kids and their parents, whether it’s a kid who needs a model of how to deal with a bully, or a parent who’s not sure how to talk with their kids about issues that can be scary for small children.

“The most important message of the books is that kids should feel empowered to stand up for themselves and say, ‘Stop! Leave me alone!,’ if they are bullied,” explains Matt. “Bullies don’t have a right to do what they are doing. The person who is being bullied has a voice they can use to stand up for themselves.”

He says the books urge kids to stand up for others when they see bullying, too, and wants to let kids know they can seek out help if they are bullied, see bullying, or feel uncomfortable when they encounter someone they don’t know.

“We want to give kids encouragement, and also help them to find the courage to get help in these situations,” says Matt.

Martial Arts As A Learning Tool

For 10 years in Billings, MT, Matt and Lori ran a successful martial arts studio full time, teaching 130 students self defense.

They teach a blend of Korean Karate (called Tang Soo Do), Jiu-Jitsu, and Aikido.

Bully Book Cover 1 The pair moved to Zephyrhills in 2014 to be near family. Both are martial arts Masters (a designation certified through the Eastern USA International Martial Arts Association, Inc.), and both have been inducted into the Eastern USA International Black Belt Hall of Fame.

Matt has earned the rank of 5th Dan (aka “degree”) Black Belt, while Lori has earned the rank of 6th Dan Black Belt.

Matt currently works as the branch administrator at Berkshire Hathaway Florida Properties on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., just south of S.R. 56, in the Shoppes at New Tampa shopping center. He and Lori offer their classes at the Lake Bernadette Community Center off S.R. 54 in Zephyrhills on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

The Browns are looking for a publisher to pick up their books, but Matt concedes publishing is a competitive business and it’s hard work to get published.

“Regardless of if this series is picked up by a major publisher or not,” he says, “we’re just happy to get one of our books into the hands of someone who needs it.”

Matt and Lori are currently working with the Pasco County Library Cooperative to present a community event that would share the books and their authors’ expertise in martial arts to kids through its reading program.

To learn more about the What Would JeeMin Do series of books, visit the Browns’ website at PowerMartialArts.com. The entire series also can be purchased on Amazon.com.

Library Cooperative Holds ‘2020 Vision’ Meeting At New Tampa Library

What do you want from your public library?

Cooking classes? Yoga classes? More DVDs or magazines? Less noise?

These questions, and more, were asked on Feb. 16 at a Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative (HCPLC) 2020 Vision Open House at the New Tampa Regional Library (NTRL) on Cross Creek Blvd.

The NTRL stop was the third in a series of 10 open houses HCPLC is holding across Hillsborough County as the cooperative forges it’s agenda for the next five years.

“This is the public input period in the planning and design of our strategic plan,’’ said Andrew Breidenbaugh, the director of library services for Hillsborough County during the meeting. “We use this as kind of a guide to what our services are going to look like for the next five years.”

HCPLC had a handful of displays for patrons to look at in NTRL’s community room during the open house, with employees of the cooperative stationed at each display to facilitate conversation and answer questions.

The turnout was the best yet, Breidenbaugh says, as 73 people took part, compared to an average of roughly 40 at the HCPLC’s previous two stops at the Upper Tampa Bay and Jimmie B. Keel regional libraries.

“That was great and nice to see,’’ said Breidenbaugh, who says he started his career at the New Tampa location when it opened in 1997. “It’s nice to see such involvement from a community that doesn’t really have a center. Maybe the library can be that center.”

Although inconclusive at this early stage in the 2020 Vision process, some of the responses at the NTRL open house indicated a desire for the library to partner with museums, schools and neighborhood associations, but not so much with sports teams and restaurants.

Some people wanted the library to start offering yoga, cooking classes and even self-defense classes. Others expressed interest in the library carrying newer-release DVDs and books.

In 2015, the HCPLC hosted 13,452 events and classes in its 29 libraries, ranging from astronomy to computer coding, with 272,463 people participating.

“We take the public phase input on this very seriously,’’ Breidenbaugh said. “We were looking for feedback on what we are doing well, what it is we can improve and generally speaking what people want in their future library.”

When the remaining seven open houses have been completed, the HCPLC will solicit questionnaires and surveys through its website and in print, sometime in late March.

That will be followed by focus groups in late May or early June of this year. The HCLPC will analyze the raw data and put together a plan by Oct. 1, the start of the county’s new fiscal year.

One thing that Breidenbaugh says will be interesting to watch is how the HLPLC balances the technological demands of the patrons who use the library for the internet, and those who prefer it remains a completely silent place for reading books and studying.

Customers who have used the library for a long time seem to like the way it is, but the way information is presented today is far different — and far louder, according to Breidenbaugh — than it was 25 years ago.

“There are different ideas of what the library should be,’’ Breidenbaugh said. “The picture is not clear to everyone.”

By October, the HCPLC hopes the picture will be clearer.

The New Tampa Regional Library is located at 10001 Cross Creek Blvd. For more information about future open houses and how to take part in the 2020 Vision, visit 2020Vision.hcplc.org.