New Tampa’s Teachers of The Year!

Here are the area’s top teachers as selected by their peers. Congratulations!

Stacy Hoffman
Hunter’s Green Elementary
Math & Science, 3rd grade
STEM lead
“Teaching is my passion!  My students become family and together we build a class community.  We don’t see differences, we encourage others, and we understand that we learn from our mistakes.  Through this, I become their biggest cheerleader, encouraging them to be the best they can be.”

Simon Meshbesher
Liberty Middle
Social Studies/History,
8th Grade
  “Teaching is the most exciting and rewarding profession!  The extent of enjoying student achievement, watching students learn, offers unlimited possibilities to influence generations of students, imparting to them the excitement of learning, the passion of discovery, and the magic of an inquisitive mind.”

Michelle Payton
Clark Elementary
Math & Science
4th grade
  “My favorite thing about teaching is making positive connections with my students and showing them that learning can be fun…each time I see one of my students have an “A-Ha” moment, it means success (for both of us).”


Rachael Trent 
Freedom High
ESE
  “The students in my classroom run their own business, have jobs on campus and volunteer at an assisted living facility in our community. I love that I am able to facilitate all of this for them in order to enrich their lives and help them become more independent adults.”

Daniel Sturlaugson
Turner Bartels K-8 School
4th Grade
  “My favorite thing about teaching is empowering students to lead.  Student leadership isn’t something that we are mandated to teach, but it’s crucial in preparing students to be college- and career-ready.  It’s a true opportunity to see students grow and change right before your eyes.”

Shane Moody
Benito Middle School
Subject Area Leader for the Language Arts Department, ELA-3 (8th grade) Honors/Advanced classes.
  “The best thing about teaching is that I get to invest my time in developing young students on a path to success relating to their life goals…I am so proud to say I am a member of the Jaguar Family.”

Kendall Arnold
Heritage Elementary
2nd grade
  “My favorite thing about teaching is making connections with students that last beyond the year they are in my class. I have students who come to visit me years after they leave my second grade class. This is the most meaningful part of my job.”

Carol Lynch
Tampa Palms Elementary
1st grade 
  “Tampa Palms Elementary has an incredibly talented staff of teachers and support personnel, so it really is an honor to be chosen by my peers for this award.”

Dawn Harris
Pride Elementary
Kindergarten
  “My favorite thing about teaching is the growth I see ALL my students achieve. They always make me proud.”

Lisa Keigher
Chiles Elementary
English Language Arts
3rd grade
  “My own children, who are now adults, went to Chiles. Their teachers, some who are still at Chiles…inspired me to go into education. To be chosen from my colleagues is the greatest honor I could have ever gotten.”

Elizabeth Glover 
Wharton High
Social Studies, AP Human Geography (9th grade) and Student Government Advisor.
  “(My favorite thing about teaching?) Working with the students!  Watching them have the ‘a-ha’ moments while explaining difficult concepts to them.  Teaching them tools to perform tasks, then observing them while they self-start and do (them) on their own.”

Stark Reminder About The Threat of Human Trafficking

The Light Up The Night event at the Shops at Wiregrass concluded with a candlelight

It seemed fitting that a classic Florida sunset — vibrant slashes of pink, purple and orange — marked the beginning of Light Up The Night, an annual event created to raise education and awareness about human trafficking,

The free event, held right around sunset on Feb. 1 on the upper level parking garage at The Shops at Wiregrass by the Pasco County-based Human Trafficking Foundation (HTF), featured musical performances, local vendors, refreshments, activities for children and teenagers, and the Pasco Sheriff’s Mounted Posse on horseback.

Also appearing were survivors of human trafficking, including Edie Rhea, who told those in attendance that she was sexually abused and trafficked from age 8-17 by her mother’s boyfriend, after he convinced her mother to move to Tampa from their hometown of Baltimore, MD. 

“Moving us was very smart on his part, because it got us completely away from all our friends and family,” said Rhea, 51, who now lives in North Tampa and serves as Executive Director of Healing Root Ministry, a faith-based nonprofit that assists female trafficking victims over the age of 18 with housing, life skills training and obtaining GEDs.

Rhea, who at age 12 was impregnated and then forced into having an abortion by a man who had purchased her, found herself on the street at 17 with no education or basic skills after her mother had kicked out her and her trafficker.

She met up with a man named David, who used to buy drugs from her mother, and the two began a relationship. 

Today, 34 years later, they are happily married with five children, three adults and two under the age of ten they recently adopted.

“When we were first married, I had lots of affairs, because I really believed that every time a man spoke to me, I had to have sex with him,” said Rhea. 

A few years ago, Rhea met up with her former trafficker. They prayed together and she said she forgave him. Weeks later, he passed away, and the experience inspired Rhea to form Healing Root Ministry, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, faith-based organization that provides shelter for those who were once enslaved, as well as “hope, help and healing,” according to its mission statement.H

Several organizations, including Healing Root, received beneficiary funds from HTF at the event.

“The whole idea of Light Up The Night was simply that this is such a dark crime,” said Cpl. Alan Wilkett, HTF chairman and commander of the Pasco County Human Trafficking Task Force. 

“This criminal activity is probably the darkest crime that I’ve ever investigated,” said Wilkett, 58, who has been in law enforcement for 27 years, “and I’ve had the opportunity to investigate just about everything you can imagine.”

Wilkett described human trafficking as a “relatively young crime,” pointing out that there was no official charge against it for victims like Rhea until the year 2000, when Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. 

“Some of the cases we’ve seen over the years, and especially having children myself, have been very impactful on me,” Cpl. Wilkett said. “It’s a broad, encompassing crime that directly affects the fabric of who we are.”

Cpl. Alan Wilkett, HTF chairman and commander of the Pasco County Human Trafficking Task Force, with human trafficking victim Edie Rhea.

Indeed, said both Wilkett and Rhea, human trafficking is a much more widespread issue today then ever before. 

According to HTF, it is the second-largest criminal enterprise in the world, behind drug trafficking, with an estimated 40.3 million current victims worldwide. 

Between 15,000-18,000 are trafficked annually into the U.S. alone, and Florida currently ranks third in the nation for calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

The Tampa Bay area, says the foundation, is usually in the top three cities in the state for trafficking.

In 2017, Pasco County became the first “Trafficking-Free Zone” in the country. This distinction, given by the U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking, intends to send a message to traffickers that they are being watched, thereby reducing the demand for their victims.

“A lot of people believe that this only happens overseas, but it’s also happening here, now, in our own backyard,” said Rhea, who spends 65 hours every week running Healing Root pro-bono.

Even as the temperature dropped into the low 50s with chilly winds at the event at the Shops, attendees talked with vendors, pledged donations, and enjoyed hot cocoa, popcorn and cotton candy to the backdrop of performances from the Northwest Community Church band and Vessels 360, a Christian-based dance team from Hernando High.

Vessels 360 performed a visceral interpretation of human trafficking, prompting tears from many in the audience, before Cpl. Wilkett handed out checks ranging from $2,000-$5,000 to various organizations who help trafficking victims.

The evening came to a close with a candlelight vigil (photo on previous page) led by Cpl. Wilkett, honoring survivors and offering prayers for current victims. Those without their own battery-operated votive candles thrust their phones in the air, having downloaded candle apps for the occasion.

“”The strongest thing you can do against hate is bring love,” said Cpl. Wilkett as attendees circled the stage. “And the strongest thing you can do against darkness is bring in the light.”

For more information about Light Up The Night or to donate or volunteer, go to HTFoundation.us. For more information about Healing Root Ministry, go to HealingMinistry.com. If you suspect human trafficking or are or have been a victim yourself, please call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at (888) 373-7888.

Sports Campus Has ‘Wow’ Factor!

In the past, Wiregrass Ranch developer JD Porter had been so frustrated by the failures of Pasco County to figure out what to do with the 80 acres of land of S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel donated by his family that he quipped they might just take it back.

However, these days, Porter is all smiles.

He was among a group of local dignitaries and media on Jan. 28 invited to tour that 80 acres of land, or more specifically, the still-under-construction $44-million Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County that now stands tall upon it.

“It’s really good to see it actually come to fruition and come out of the ground,” said Porter, who has championed some kind of athletic facility on the property for nearly two decades. “Sometimes, patience is required.”

While the indoor/outdoor sports complex won’t be completed until July, it is beginning to take shape. With a little imagination, you could almost hear the squeaking of shoes and swishing of basketball nets as Ajax Building Corp. project manager Marshall Quarles led a dozen or so media members through the massive, 98,000-sq.-ft. structure.

Although he sees the facility quite frequently, Richard Blalock, the CEO/founder of RADD Sports, said it never gets old to him.

“I couldn’t sleep last night,” said Blalock, whose private company is managing the complex, which is a private-public partnership with Pasco.

RADD Sports CEO Richard Blalock, Pasco County tourism director Adam Thomas, District 2 Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore and RADD Sports marketing director Jannah Nager unveil the new logo for the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County on Jan. 28, prior to giving the first-ever hard-hat tours of the new sports facility to local media and VIPs.

RADD Sports beat out three other companies in 2016 for the right to develop the property, ending years of frustration.

However, what was originally earmarked to be a national tennis center back in 2001, and after that, a failed attempt headed up by former Major League Baseball star Gary Sheffield to build 19 baseball fields with on-site dormitories in 2015, is now just months away from opening as potentially the premier sports complex in Florida.

The state-of-the-art indoor sports facility primarily will be home to basketball (the building can be configured as eight regulation-sized courts), volleyball (up to 16 courts) and cheerleading, although Blalock says it can be configured to accommodate as many as 14 different sports.

The building also will house a large fitness area, kitchen, concession stand and various meeting and training rooms.

To the left (and south) of the main entrance into the indoor facility will be two outdoor soccer fields, and there also is room for an open-air amphitheater, playgrounds and can host concerts and other outdoor events.

As part of the project, Mainsail Development Group, Inc. will build a four-story, 128-room Residence Inn by Marriott just a few feet from the sports campus’ main entrance, according to site plans filed with the county on Jan. 22.

Another hotel, a Fairfield Inn, opened on adjacent Wiregrass Ranch property in 2018 and is within walking distance of the facility.

The sports campus is expected to be a huge boon for Pasco’s growing sports tourism, which was re-branded as the “Florida Sports Coast” last year.

Adam Thomas, the county’s tourism director, said that Pasco drew more than one million tourists last year, and 87 percent indicated they would return for future vacations.

Thomas also said he believed that once the facility has been completed, people will be lining up from all over the country to get their youth sporting events hosted there. The campus is scheduled to host a volleyball tournament in September to kick things off, with a half-dozen more tournaments already on the schedule.

“The wow factor is definitely there when you walk in,” Thomas said. “It’s not even done, and you can see the magnitude of this facility.”

The $17-billion youth sports market in the U.S. continues to grow, and the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County is poised to grab its share of that market on the weekends. However,  Blalock also said that the local community will also be served by the facility, especially during the week.

“We’re excited to have it open at 6 a.m. with local seniors, all the way to 10 p.m. with the kids, and then the weekends (with youth sports events),” Blalock says. “We’re excited about all of it.”

Blalock, the former recreation director for the city of Newberry, FL, said this is the biggest project RADD Sports has tackled. He also said that architects and engineers developed a facility in Alachua where the basic design is similar, but the Wiregrass Ranch campus is almost three-times larger. In fact, he hopes the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County will become the model for future projects, and he envisions building four more in Florida.

“This is the prototype,” he said. “We hope these plans can go on the shelf (when we’re done) and we can just pull them and keep going.”

From tennis courts to baseball diamonds to basketball, volleyball and cheerleading, the journey has been a long one. Porter, however, says it couldn’t have ended any better. He looks forward to seeing how the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County impacts the area, and is glad the final product didn’t just focus on singular sports, like the previous tennis and baseball projects, but rather became a facility that offers something for everyone.

“It’s probably one of the most rewarding projects to come out of the ground here,” Porter said. “We took this project and said, ‘Hey, how can we retool this to make it benefit everybody?’ We came back (with something) that is probably much better than what anyone envisioned 10-15 years ago.”

For sponsorship and other information about the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County, email Jannah@RADDSports.com or visit RADDSports.com.

We Have You Covered: 2019 Oscar Picks

The 2020 Academy Awards will be handed out on Sunday, February 9 (on ABC-TV), and for those of us who haven’t been to see a movie since “Finding Nemo” was released in 2003 (Thanks, kids!), we have enlisted the help of local movie buff Matthew Hunter to guide us through this year’s 92nd annual event with his picks in some of the biggest categories.

Best Animated Feature Film

THE NOMINEES: “Klaus,” ”How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” “I Lost My Body,” “Missing Link” & “Toy Story 4.”

THE PICK: Nine times out of ten, Disney usually reigns supreme in this category. But, not this year. I’m picking “Klaus,” a passion project from director Sergio Pablos. His  unique origin story about Santa Claus and the Christmas holiday is great. In a world of 3D animated features, Klaus stands out from the crowd by being mostly a hand-drawn animated film. Bonus: It’s on Netflix, so you can (and should) check it out.

Best Original Song

THE NOMINEES: “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from “Rocketman” – Music by Elton John; Lyrics by Bernie Taupin; “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” from “Toy Story 4” – Music & Lyrics by Randy Newman; “I’m Standing with You” from “Breakthrough” – Music & Lyrics by Diane Warren; “Into the Unknown” from “Frozen II” – Music & Lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez; “Stand Up” from “Harriet” – Music & Lyrics by Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo.

THE PICK: There were some pretty great films songs this year, such as the fun and jazzy “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away,” or the big grand ballad that was “Into the Unknown.” But I’m picking “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from “Rocketman.” The song manages to work perfectly as a catchy pop song in the context of the movie.

Best Supporting Actress

THE NOMINEES: Florence Pugh – “Little Women,” as Amy March; Kathy Bates – “Richard Jewell,” as Barbara “Bobi” Jewell; Laura Dern – “Marriage Story,” as Nora Fanshaw; Scarlett Johansson – “Jojo Rabbit,” as Rosie Betzler; Margot Robbie – “Bombshell,” as Kayla Pospisil.

THE PICK: My money is on Pugh, who is the best of the many brilliant performers in “Little Women.” Watching her evolution from selfish sister to her own person was terrific, and she probably brings the most emotion and bitterness to her performance of all the nominees.

Best Supporting Actor

Brad Pitt (Photo: Glenn Francis)

THE NOMINEES: Brad Pitt – “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” as Cliff Booth; Tom Hanks – “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” as Fred Rogers; Anthony Hopkins – “The Two Popes,” as Pope Benedict XVI; Al Pacino – “The Irishman,” as Jimmy Hoffa; Joe Pesci – “The Irishman,” as Russell Bufalino.

THE PICK: Hanks, Pacino and Pesci were all terrific, but I think Pitt picks up the award for his performance as Cliff Booth in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” What makes Pitt so great is that he is the epitome of cool, and his character is charismatic and awesome at the same time, already earning him a Screen Actors Guild award in the same category.

Best Actress

Scarlett Johansson

THE NOMINEES: Scarlett Johansson – “Marriage Story,” as Nicole Barber; Cynthia Erivo – “Harriet,” as Harriet Tubman; Saoirse Ronan – “Little Women,” as Josephine “Jo” March; Charlize Theron – “Bombshell,” as Megyn Kelly; Renée Zellweger – “Judy,” as Judy Garland.

THE PICK: While there were some great performances delivered by Ronan, Theron and Zellweger, I thought Johansson’s Nicole Barber was the best. The wife of the main character (played by Adam Driver), Johansson has the difficult task of trying to divorce him while remaining part of her son’s life. The film delves into the hardships of divorce, and Johansson puts everything into the role.

Best Actor

Joaquin Phoenix

THE NOMINEES: Joaquin Phoenix – “Joker,” as Arthur Fleck/Joker; Antonio Banderas – “Pain and Glory,” as Salvador Mallo; Leonardo DiCaprio – “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” as Rick Dalton; Adam Driver – “Marriage Story,” as Charlie Barber; Jonathan Pryce – The “Two Popes,” as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

THE PICK: Banderas was great, and Pryce was superb. However, this is a one-sided competition as far as I’m concerned, because Phoenix in Joker was simply just better. His performance carried the movie, eschewing the usual hammy Joker played by previous actors. Instead, Phoenix played the troubled Fleck as a real person, albeit one with very realistic mental issues — a clinically insane villain, who is creepy, dangerous, and only seeks to make other people’s lives as bitter as his. Outstanding.

Best Director

THE NOMINEES: Sam Mendes – “1917,” Martin Scorsese – “The Irishman,” Todd Phillips – “Joker,” Quentin Tarantino – “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Bong Joon-ho – “Parasite.”

THE PICK: I’m picking “1917” for Best Original Score and Best Cinematography, so it’s only natural I like Mendes for Best Director. The movie is presented in one shot, though obviously it wasn’t. While you may be able to tell where there are cuts, you hardly notice them because of how good the editing is. War films are hard enough to expertly deliver, but Mendes took an already difficult and expensive production and put a unique and challenging twist onto it. That sealed the deal for me.

Best Picture

THE NOMINEES: “Parasite,” “Ford v Ferrari,” “The Irishman,” “Jojo Rabbit,” “Joker,” “Little Women,” “Marriage Story,” “1917,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”

THE PICK: I agree with the Screen Actors Guild — “Parasite” was the best film of 2019.. 

Many people like to overlook foreign movies. In fact, “Parasite” is only the 11th  foreign-language film to be nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award, and none has ever won. I think this South Korean film makes Oscar history. The movie has a little bit of everything — the story of a poor family that ends up working for a rich family is dark, suspenseful and sometimes funny.

“Parasite” parallels the different viewpoints of economic classes without ever being too preachy. The intensity builds throughout the film, with surprises that keep you engrossed. However, it never loses its grip on realism. For being entertaining, nuanced and bold, “Parasite” absolutely deserves to be remembered as the Best Picture of 2019.

Matthew Hunter is a senior at Wharton High, a budding journalist and aspiring movie critic who has loved going to the movies since he saw “Robots” in 2005.

Aldi Grocery Approved For New Tampa!

Aldi is officially coming to New Tampa.

The petition to re-zone the property of the former Ruby Tuesday restaurant on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. was unanimously approved earlier today by the Tampa City Council on the second reading.

The city’s Development Review & Compliance staff had already found the petition, which requests to be reclassified from a PD-A (Planned Development, Alternative restaurant) to PD (Planned Development, retail sales, shopper’s goods), to be consistent with applicable City of Tampa land regulations.

The proposed Aldi store, which will be located at the corner of BBD and Highwoods Preserve Pkwy. in front of the AMC movie theater, will be 19,160 square feet — almost four times the size of Ruby Tuesday — with 106 parking spaces.

Leon Capital Group, the owners who purchased the 2.36-acre lot for $2.82 million in 2018, were represented at the first reading on Jan. 16 by Scott Stannard of Commercial Site Solutions.

Stannard said the plans include not only replacing the vacant restaurant, but enhancing the surrounding area.

“We feel it’s an improvement, actually,” Stannard told the council members. “We’ve had arborists go out and we’re going to be taking down some of the dead trees and replacing them with new landscaping and beefing that up. It will be a nice fit for what’s out there.”

Stannard also said as that, as part of the new development, a sidewalk will be built on Highwood Preserve Pkwy., to aid pedestrians who are shopping, as well as those using the bus stop at the same corner.

“It’s really surprising there’s not one there already,” Stannard said.

Aldi, a German discount grocer, will be the third supermarket to open along a less-than-one-mile stretch of the west side of BBD. It would join a Publix at the corner of BBD and New Tampa Blvd. and Sprouts Farmers Market, which will be open by this summer in the new Village at Hunter’s Lake development across from the entrance to the Hunter’s Green community.

While Publix is the largest of the three and Sprouts is a “green” grocer, Aldi is a hugely popular German discount chain that carries brands that many shoppers here in the U.S. may not recognize, including their own. More than 90 percent of the brands Aldi carries are exclusive brands.

One unique aspect of Aldi is the quarter charge to rent a shopping cart at the store, to prevent stray carts from being left in the parking lot where they can dent cars.

Users get their quarter back when they return the cart.

Another Aldi is just weeks away from opening on S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel, right in front of the Costco.