New Tampa resident Aarush Prasad has always been good at math, but when he got his SAT results back in February, even he was a little stunned at the results:
A perfect 800 on the math portion of the important college entrance exam.
Even more amazing is the fact that Aarush is only a seventh-grader.
“I was a little surprised,’’ says Aarush, who attends Williams Middle Magnet School on E. Hillsborough Ave. “I was pretty excited when I found out.”
Aarush was honored for his accomplishment by the Duke University Talent Identification Program (TIP) on May 16 at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Duke’s beautiful campus in Durham, NC.
The Grand Recognition Ceremony honored seventh graders across the country who earned exceptional scores on either the ACT or SAT.
The last four years, Duke TIP has named 35-60 students a year as William and Dorothy C. Bevan Scholars for getting perfect SAT math scores, which means they scored equal to or better than 99 percent of all college-bound high school students who took the test, not that they answered every question correctly.
Aarush’s mother, Veenu Gupta, is an instructor at Aloha Mind Math on Cross Creek Blvd. She said she told her son before the test to focus on the math section, since that was his strongest subject. He says he took some mock tests and read study guides to prepare.
“I told him to focus on getting a better score in the math,’’ Veenu said. “But a perfect score is really amazing.”
Aarush, who was on the Math League team at Williams that won top Hillsborough County School District honors last year, also plays the viola for the school orchestra, competed in the U.S. Chess Nationals this past fall and can complete a Rubik’s Cube in less than a minute.
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that New Tampa resident Sergio Farina has earned some recognition for more than just his academic achievements as he graduates from Tampa Jesuit High as the outgoing President of the school’s Student Body for the 2015-16 school year.
After all, Sergio is the son of my friends Lisette and local orthodontist Dr. Mark Farina, the man responsible for the beautiful smiles of thousands of New Tampa kids, including my sons, Jared and Jake.
But, Sergio is more than just a great student from a wonderful family. Also known as “DJ Svrge,” Sergio is a DJ and music producer who, through his passion for music, “adopted” a school in the Dominican Republic and provided it with a water well and electricity — two important, basic needs the school was lacking.
Sergio was awarded a Presidential Scholarship from Boston College (BC) for the Carroll School of Management Honors Program — based on his academics, leadership and service accomplishments during his years at Jesuit. This is a full merit scholarship, with summer international experience, service and internships abroad. BC’s Presidential Scholarship was awarded to only 14 students from around the world, representing only 0.2 percent of the Early Action applicants for the incoming freshman class of 2020.
Students were selected based on superior academic achievement and promise, leadership potential and a demonstrated commitment to serving society. They will be prepared to be global leaders.
The school announced, “As Jesuit’s student body president, it’s fitting Sergio Farina would earn a collegiate Presidential Scholarship.” JesuitTampa.org also noted that Sergio won this year’s Charles J. Lashley Award, for outstanding characteristics of student body leadership, “the highest honor Jesuit confers upon a graduating senior.”
The former Jesuit linebacker says that in 2009, he helped co-found with some of his family members in the Dominican “A Smile for a Sole,” a nonprofit organization that grew out of the Farina family’s vacations in the Dominican Republic. Sergio visited schools, plantations, and fishing villages, to distribute clothing, toys, and supplies. But, after six years of “doing the same thing,” he decided to help the Escuela Hermanas Mirabal school in Cucama a little more.
“I had fond memories of seeing kids running around the remains of the basketball court — rims broken and nets long gone, clenching pencils, determined to learn. I decided I would provide the school with its two biggest needs: water and electricity” — at a price tag of $10,000.
After one year, “DJ Svrge” reached his goal. “When I arrived in Cucama, the entire student body, as well as their parents, embraced me, taking photos with me. I was overwhelmed by their gratitude. I was just a kid who felt a strong social responsibility to provide what many take for granted.”
He may be “just a kid,’ but Sergio is a young man who hopes to inspire others to “Piensa Grande” (“Think Big”)!
The Girl Scouts of Troop 966 donated a bike rack to Tampa Palms Elementary as part of their Bronze Project encouraging bike safety. The girls, pictured here with TPE principal MaryAnn Lippek are (l.-r.): Kaitlyn Graulich, Carissa Smith, Mallory Yee, Emory Seay, Lily Scalabrin, Isabella Cruz (in back) and Alexander Dominique. Gina Jasreman is not pictured.
When the eight girls (see photo) who make up Girl Scouts Troop 966 get together every other week, they meet at Compton Park in Tampa Palms. They’ve just completed fifth grade, but they’ve been a group since they were in kindergarten. While a few girls have come and gone over the years, the core group has stuck together.
“Six of the girls started together as Daisies, then moved up to Brownies, then Juniors,” explains their leader, Mieke Caris. “They are Juniors in fourth and fifth grade, and have now bridged to be Cadets, which is the Girl Scout rank for sixth grade girls.”
Now, as they leave Tampa Palms Elementary (TPE) and move on to middle school, they are leaving their mark at the school where all but one girl attended, in the form of a bike rack and a bike safety program that will continue, even after they’re gone.
Throughout this past school year, the girls have worked to complete their “Bronze Award” project, the highest award that can be received by Girl Scout Juniors. They have done all of the work and submitted their application; now they are waiting to hear if they will receive the award from the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida.
Earlier this year, the girls decided they wanted their project to support kids. “The Girl Scout law says to care for our neighborhood,” says Mieke, “so they found a good cause in safety when going to school.”
She explained that their research for the project included interviewing their school principal, local police, the crossing guards, and kids and parents on bicycles. They sold Girl Scout cookies and held other fund raisers to support their efforts.
Ultimately, the girls designed a program of bike safety that was supported by the TPE’s PTA. At a PTA meeting, the local group Bike/Walk Tampa Bay gave a presentation on bike safety, the girls discussed their project, and the PTA gave away bicycles and helmets.
“The Girl Scouts then placed a bike rack for all students to use in years to come to store their bikes safely,” says Mieke proudly.
Land O’Lakes High valedictorian & Wesley Chapel resident Saloni Mehra, with members of the New Tampa Family YMCA synchronized swim team.
Saloni Mehra went into her final year of high school in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at Land O’Lakes High tied with eight other IB students in the academic battle to become Class of 2016 valedictorian.
That’s exactly how she finished, too.
“It’s crazy,’’ she says.
Mehra, a Wesley Chapel resident, finished her high school career with a 4.79 grade-point-average, becoming one of nine – that’s right, we said NINE – valedictorians at Land O’Lakes.
“It’s kind of a first,’’ Saloni said, chuckling. “They (school officials) just didn’t know how to settle it.”
Which Saloni says is fine with her and her co-valedictorians. She says all nine valedictorian Gators are friends, and none minded the fact the school couldn’t figure out a tiebreaker.
As for who gives the traditional valedictorian speech, Saloni says the nine settled that by co-hosting graduation, kind of like presenters at an awards show.
Being co-class valedictorian is, “icing on the cake,’’ Saloni says. She has always been driven to succeed in the classroom, so getting good grades was just what she expected.
In high school, Mehra thrived in an IB program regarded for its tough schedule of projects and homework. She says that balancing her schedule became one of the more important survival skills she learned.
“It was pretty brutal,’’ Saloni says. “There were a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of work. But, it taught you how to manage your time. Sometimes, the work just piles up and you have to prioritize, so you meet your deadlines…lots of deadlines.”
How many all-nighters did Saloni pull in four years of high school?
“I lost count,’’ she says.
Her frenetic schedule did not keep Saloni from being involved in the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) at Land O’Lakes, competing in state competitions all four years with the club, nor did it stop her from swimming for the Gator varsity team, where she advanced to Regionals twice.
She says her greatest love, however, has been synchronized swimming, where Saloni was one of the first members of the New Tampa Family YMCA in Tampa Palms program as an 8-year-old when that program began a decade ago.
With a background in gymnastics and dance — which she did for 13 years, learning everything from Classical Indian to Bollywood to Jazz to Hip-Hop, with a little ballet thrown in — Saloni became an exceptional synchronized swimmer, the Summer Olympic sport which is often referred to as water dancing.
“My Mom came home from the YMCA one day and told me they were starting this team for this sport, and we had no idea what synchronized swimming was,’’ says Saloni. “I decided to try it out and I loved it.”
Saloni, who does solos, has advanced to Junior Olympics, where she will be competing nationally for one of the last times June 24-July 2 in East Meadow, NY. She also competed for a spot on the U.S. National team during tryouts in Arizona in April.
Although she says she once had Olympic dreams herself, next year, Saloni plans to swim with the Florida Gator synchro club team. Saloni picked the Gainesville school, which she will attend on a Presidential Scholarship, over 10 others, including the likes of Boston University, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Until then, she says she plans on putting all of those all-nighters and daily swimming practices on the back burner for a bit. The IB program definitely taught her a little bit about time management.
“I’m going to take some time off and enjoy the summer,’’ Saloni says.
Jared Bell, the Class of 2016 valedictorian at Paul R. Wharton High has advice for those striving to finish at or near the top of their class.
Relax.
Have fun.
“Not too much fun,’’ he says. “But, don’t get too caught up in all the technical stuff and GPAs. It is important, but you should try to enjoy your time in high school, too.”
Sage advice from a guy who was following in the footsteps of his brother, 2014 class valedictorian Earl, and the son of two Wharton teachers — math teacher Dave and English reading teacher Diana Bell.
Pressure?
What pressure?
Jared, who will attend the University of Florida next year, finished high school with a 7.49 weighted grade point average.
“I didn’t really decide to be (class valedictorian), but after my freshman year I was first and my dad just said, ‘let’s try to stay in first,’” Jared says. “And we did.”
Having parents as teachers helped, although Bell says there really wasn’t any added pressure. But, he says the right frame of mind was instilled in him early on.
“We started at a young age with their education,” Dave says.
That included math games played in the car on long trips, no volume and closed captioning subtitles when they watched their favorite television shows, and plenty of reading time with their mother.
“They get their smarts from their momma,’’ Dad says.
Obviously, Jared not only had his parents as examples, he also had his big brother. Following in Earl’s footsteps certainly put a little charge into the process.
“I would say I put more pressure on myself than he did,’’ Jared says. “But my brother definitely helped me a lot.”
Earl was able to help Jared avoid some of the “prep pitfalls,” while also steering him clear of classes and teachers he didn’t think his brother would like.
Dave says both boys were, “typical teenage boys. They didn’t want to do homework. We pushed them a little bit. We stayed on them.”
Jared modestly declines to run down the list of all of his high school accomplishments, but says he was “active” in school. He joined several clubs, and was president of Mu Alpha Theta, a mathematics honor society.
He wrestled for three years, and says he worked with 15-20 clients as a private tutor to make a little spending money. He recently completed his final credits and will graduate with an Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree in Business from HCC this summer.
For fun, he says, he enjoys exercise and working out, hanging out with friends, and playing ultimate frisbee.
Jared only makes being class valedictorian sound easy. He does describe it as “very, very tough,” and said the biggest key, and struggle, is time management.
A typical high school day his sophomore and junior year would generally start at 6 a.m., with school until 3 p.m., then wrestling practice until 6, and home by 7, where he would do homework for a few hours before going to sleep.
“Then, repeat,’’ he says.
Jared is undecided about what he will study at Florida. He is attending the university in Gainesville on a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship, and will serve four years in the Army following his graduation. He said he will probably focus on the sciences for a major.
And, he and Earl will live together in Gainesville.
“Both boys worked very hard,” Dave says. “We are proud of both of them. Super proud.”
And, while two class valedictorians from one family is impressive, consider that the Bells may not be finished.
Earl and Jared’s sister Victoria is wrapping up her freshman year at Wharton.
