Despite Short Notice, Pasco Schools Respond In A Big Way

At Pasco school sites across the county, including Quail Hollow (above) and New River elementary schools, more than 1,000,000 meals were distributed to out-of-school students. (Photo: Charmaine George)

In early March, as they do every year, Pasco County schools started putting together plans to feed students who wouldn’t be in school during the 2019-20 spring break.

Little did they know, however, that shortly after they started preparing, the decision to keep students home from school due to Covid-19 fears would come down on April 13
and then be extended
and then, finally, extended right through to the end of the academic year.

“It just came out of the blue,” says Betsy Kuhn, the school district’s assistant superintendent for support services. “We had to pull inventory (to feed students) from all over the county. It was crazy.”

What started as seven sites distributing bags of food to students soon grew to 28 sites and some additional bus stop pick-up sites.

Instead of a few thousand meals for the week of spring break, the ongoing pandemic resulted in more than 1 million meals being handed out to students across Pasco County over two-plus months — by food service employees, school administrators, teachers and volunteers.

The official total heading into the summer: 1,095,537 meals served.

“I definitely could not have imagined we’d get to that number,” says Kuhn. “Every week I would write down the numbers, and then last week I started looking at it and thought, ‘Gosh, that has to be close to a million meals.”

In Wesley Chapel, meals were handed out at Quail Hollow (QHE) and New River elementary schools. At New River, more than 10,000 meals were served on May 19 (which included additional meals for the following week, when there were no pick-ups because of Memorial Day weekend), bringing the total served at that location to 70,942.

That last week, nearly 10,000 meals were served at Quail Hollow — which wasn’t a site the first two weeks — to bring its total to 58,942 meals served.

Kara Smucker, the principal at QHE, lauded the effort by the Pasco School District on such short notice.

“This is a big task, and there has been so much guidance and support,” she said. “I appreciate all the hard work for all the kids in Pasco County.”

In addition to food pick-ups, the District also organized food drives and distributed fresh produce donated by local farmers at impromptu Farm Fresh Pop-Ups.

Some of the food distributed at a Farm Fresh Pop-Up earlier this month at Wesley Chapel High.

At its first pop-up on May 6, more than 30,000 ears of corn were handed out in two hours at Pasco High in Dade City and at Pine View and Chasco middle schools in Land O’Lakes and Port Richey, respectively..

The next week, at pop-ups at sites across the county, including one on May 14 at Cypress Creek High off Old Pasco Rd., hundreds of 10-pound boxes of a medley of vegetables were distributed and exhausted within an hour.

The most recent Farm Fresh Pop-ups were held at Pasco, Fivay (in Hudson) and Wesley Chapel high schools. More than 1,500 boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables were distributed, including all 540 available at Wesley Chapel.

“No matter what we got, people responded,” says Pasco County Schools spokesperson Steve Hegarty. 

Food drives, at the Wesley Chapel Sam’s Club and at the Target in Trinity, produced 500 boxes of nonperishable items to go with donated turkey breasts.

Kuhn estimates that food distribution during the summer, which started last week, will be higher than usual. But after distributing more than 1-million meals and countless boxes of nonperishable foods and produce, the School District is ready for the challenge.

“It’s a good feeling to have done what we’ve done,” Kuhn says. “We have a lot to be proud of. And the people have been very very appreciative. Just really grateful. It’s been great.”

Pasco’s schools were just among the many local organizations and groups distributing food during these economically frightening times. Pasco County Commission chairman Mike Moore and District 38 State Rep. Randy Maggard hosted a drive-through food distribution site in the JC Penney parking lot at the Shops at Wiregrass May 20, with Farm Share — which distributes produce and meat donated by the state’s farmers — providing nearly 35,000 pounds of food to more than 700 cars.

The food included chicken, rice, milk, cereal, granola bars, canned foods and fresh fruits and vegetables.

“It was pretty incredible,” Moore said. “It was very humbling to see the need out there, and it was nice to be able to help.”

Sickened By The George Floyd Situation; Grateful For PPP

Editorial

I would be lying if I said I understood how people of color in this country feel every day about being black or brown in America.

So while, like most white Americans, I personally don’t care if the person who was killed by a police officer kneeling on his neck was black, brown, green or any color, religion or orientation, I completely understand the outrage being felt again by so many of us who witnessed what amounted to a public execution by Minneapolis Police Office Derek Chauvin of George Floyd, whose only crime was, apparently, passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a store.

Yes, I believe all four cops (the others let him be killed) shown in a video thankfully released the day after Floyd was killed should go to jail for murder. But no, I don’t understand why Floyd was targeted by these cops to receive this particular abuse of their power, especially in light of something that happened to Jannah and me only a year ago.

When we got married in March of 2019, some of our attendees gave us gifts of cash, including a few people who each gave us a $100 bill as a gift. 

However, when we tried to pay a tab at a local bar with one of those $100 bills, we were informed that the bill was counterfeit. But, rather than have us arrested — at least in part because the bar owner knew us from previous visits and said it was obvious we didn’t know the bill was no good — all he did was ask us to use an alternate method of payment. I then took the bill to my bank, which told me that all they could do was take the bill out of circulation, which meant that we lost that $100 gift. Oh well.

One thing neither of us lost, however, was our life. No one handcuffed us or held us down to our pleas of “I can’t breathe.” Today, we can’t help but wonder if we were black and strangers to the bar owner, if we’d still be alive.

It’s horrifying to me that black, brown, Asian and LGBTQ people are targeted for this type of behavior so often. Something has to change. And yes, I understand why peaceful protests can and should be part of that solution.

Photo: WFLA.

Unfortunately, looting and setting fire to stores (photo) owned by people who literally had nothing to do with that situation should never be the target of those protests. But, they unfortunately too often are — as seen around the country once again in the aftermath of Floyd’s murder.

Yes, I am a firm believer that this country needs to change. I just think some people make change harder to accomplish by taking advantage of these situations in the name of “justice.”

These are very scary times, indeed.

Changes Abound

I realize that this is now the second Wesley Chapel issue in a row that doesn’t look or feel exactly like your usual Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News, but I know the content — especially managing editor John Cotey’s continuing coverage of local Covid-19 news — is still the same quality you’ve grown accustomed to reading. 

But, now that we were finally able to receive some funding through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and my long-time bank — SunTrust (now Truist) — we are able to continue to pay our staff, our office rent and our health insurance costs with the PPP funding while the local economy (hopefully) continues to recover. 

The fact that this issue is already four pages larger than the previous two Wesley Chapel issues is one indication that things are turning back around — we’re certainly happy to have almost all of our dentists back in the fold — and the number of new businesses calling and emailing us for advertising information is another.

And, I know that our next issue, thanks again to the Times, will at least be printed on a brighter white newsprint while I continue our search for a web printer who can either print on glossy stock or at least a much heavier white paper, so our look can once again be the higher standard that we have, up until now, been able to maintain since 2005. I am hopeful that it won’t take too long to get back to normal…not just for this publication, but for everyone.

Since the first New Tampa and Wesley Chapel issues in 15 years printed on newsprint came out in May, we have received overwhelming support from our readers and advertisers alike — with a few notable exceptions. We’ve even had a few folks tell us they actually prefer the newsprint, “because it feels more like a newspaper this way.”

Unfortunately for us, we have marketed ourselves as a glossy news magazine, not a newspaper, but I do appreciate that not everyone is hating this new look, which may have to stick around for a while. I have promised our advertisers (including the few that pulled out since our first newsprint issues hit in each market) that as soon as we are able to return to glossy (or at least, a much heavier white paper) stock, I will let each of them know.      

Tampa Palms’ Phoebe Funai Is Tops In Her Class

Phoebe Funai’s high school resume is impressive. At Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High on N. Central Ave. in Tampa, the Tampa Palms resident is the captain of the cheerleading team, a member of five honors societies — including the National Honor Society — as well as the founder the Social Studies Honors Society and the student government vice president. And, thanks to her weighted grade point average of 8.72, Phoebe also is the Brooks DeBartolo Class of 2020 valedictorian.

However, her most impressive feat might be this:

She goes to the gym six days a week, and hadn’t missed a single 45-minute workout in a year and a half until everything shut down due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Every! Single! Day!

“She would go on Sunday too, if they were open,” says her mother, Maryanne.

It’s really no wonder, then, that Phoebe has an abundance of the dedication and commitment it takes to be a class valedictorian at any school.

“I would say it takes a lot of work, a lot of personal motivation and always staying focused towards your goals,” Phoebe says. “But, it’s something I enjoy. I love school.”

Born in Ohio, Phoebe’s family moved to New Tampa in the middle of her seventh grade year. She attended Liberty Middle School, but when it came time for high school, instead of enrolling at Freedom, Phoebe decided she wanted to attend a smaller high school like Brooks DeBartolo, which has roughly 600 total students across its four grades.

She signed up to be a cheerleader, and dove right into her studies. She had already earned some high school credits at Liberty, and her freshman year, she noticed she was second in her class.

“Phoebe had her eye on the prize from day one,” Maryanne says.

Phoebe started taking dual enrollment classes at Hillsborough Community College her sophomore year. Every semester, she took at least three dual enrollment classes, and will graduate with 109 college credits. She also took eight AP classes, joined student government and, in her junior year, started a local chapter of the Rho Kappa Social Studies Honors Society at Brooks DeBartolo.

Under Phoebe’s leadership, Rho Kappa members at the school recycled American Flags, volunteered at Metropolitan Ministries and Feeding Tampa Bay, and read books and made Valentine’s Day cards for the residents of Discovery Village at Tampa Palms, an assisted living facility.

“I took as much as I could take without being too overloaded,” Phoebe says. “Class valedictorian wasn’t about just being first in the class, it was about developing a work ethic and seeing how much I could accomplish in my four years of high school.”

She says her favorite class was AP psychology; her strongest classes were math — she took eight math classes at HCC, and plans to major in finance to study things like data analysis in college.

Choosing a college was a hard decision, she says. She went back and forth between the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, where her father Edmund, a high risk-obstetrician/gynecologist, went to school, and the University of Florida in Gainesville.

She decided to become a Gator, and says through the school’s combined degree program, she’ll be able to earn both her undergrad and Master’s degrees in four years.

The last five years she has volunteered teaching dance at the New Tampa Recreation Center in Tampa Palms, and hopes to join a dance team in college.

When Phoebe says she is going to do something, you can rest assured, says her mother, that it will get done.

“Honestly, she has a really positive, outgoing personality,” Maryanne says. “Challenges don’t scare her. She likes to try new things, she’s very dependable, and she’s one of those people that just shows up, no matter what. She always shows up.”

Parades Celebrate Graduates (with photo gallery!)

Wesley Chapel seniors celebrated their graduation on June 1 at The Grove.

As the Covid-19 pandemic took hold, the 2019-20 school year was forced to come to a premature end.

Senior year, which can be the best and sometimes most eventful year of a teenager’s life, ended with a whimper, instead of a bang.

High school sports, proms and Grad Bashes were canceled. Yearbooks were passed out through open car windows by folks wearing masks. Graduations were postponed until August. Final goodbyes among classmates would have to wait.

As the mother of a Wiregrass Ranch High senior, and the president of the Pasco County Council PTA, Denise Nicholas found it all to be a shame. So, she decided to do something.

With the help of all the PTAs across the county, a host of volunteers and the determination to give all of Pasco’ seniors a sendoff, Nicholas and a team of helpers organized a car parade for the outgoing seniors for every school in the county.

“I brought the idea to my (PTA) board and they were very excited about it,” Nicholas says. “And, we found people to help at each of the schools that do not have PTAs. The schools that do not have PTAs, we found people to help at each of those schools. We really wanted to give the same experience to every senior in the county.”

Here in Wesley Chapel, The Grove shopping center enthusiastically stepped up and offered a parade route in front of its shopping plaza after a few other sites declined.

Cypress Creek and Wiregrass Ranch high schools had their parades — which featured decorated cars and large groups of friends and family cheering along the parade route — on May 19 and 20, respectively, while Wesley Chapel High’s parade, which was delayed by rain, was held June 1.

“Obviously with the pandemic, the (way school ended) was very saddening for our students and their families,” said Monica Ilse, Ed.D., assistant superintendent for Pasco Schools. “But, Denise reached out and wanted to do something to provide some community support for the seniors, which we appreciate beyond words.”

Nicholas had no shortage of volunteers to pull off the project. Pasco County Commissioners Mike Moore and Ron Oakley agreed to introduce the seniors and serve as the parade emcees, local professional photographers Jess Montgomery and Paul Gigante took pictures, Makayla Gulash (aka DJ Night Mixer) provided the music, Troy Stevenson (of Acme On The Go multimedia) also contributed video trucks at each event, and former Tampa Bay Bucs tight end (and father to a Wiregrass Ranch sophomore) Anthony Becht also donated time and services.

Ilse said the county hopes to be able to hold traditional graduations in August at the Yuengling Center on the campus of the University of South Florida, but that will depend upon the CDC and the status of the pandemic. If they can’t be held, she thinks the car parades made a nice send off.

“I took my niece to the Wiregrass Ranch one, and she had a great time,” Ilse said. “It was a lot of fun.”

Nicholas said the smiling senior faces across the county helped end their final years on a happy note, which was her primary goal. “Bryce (her son) thought it was a great idea, but he had no idea how much he would enjoy it,” Nicholas says. “Seeing how his face lit up, to be able to drive in the parade and hear the horns and the cheering and see the signs
.it was worth every second.”

Godbold Chooses Gators

Wharton High’s Zach Godbold, the top-ranked javelin thrower in the state, is headed to the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Godbold announced his commitment on May 9. He had narrowed his decision down to Florida and Florida State (in Tallahassee).

It was during a visit to Gainesville in December that Godbold says he began to lean towards becoming a Gator. He said seeing where he would be living, as well as the training facilities and new weight rooms, was impressive.

“It was as you would imagine for a Division 1 school, but it was really top-notch,” Godbold says.

Godbold has been one of the country’s top javelin throwers for his age since finishing second at the AAU Junior Olympics in 2014.

Two years later, as a 14-year-old and prior to his freshman year at Wharton, he took home the gold at the Junior Olympics.

Although the state didn’t have javelin as an official event his first two years of high school, the Florida High School Athletic Association added it as an experimental event at the state championships for Godbold’s junior season. Competing against the seven best throwers in the state across all classifications last spring, he won with a throw of 52.40 meters (171.75 feet).

Javelin was made an official event for the 2020 season, and Godbold was cutting a clear path towards winning the first state championship in the event.

He establish personal bests in  back-to-back meets with throws of 54.62 meters (179 feet) on Feb. 20, and 55.15 meters (181 feet) a week later at the Wharton Invitational, the best throw in the state and third best in the U.S.

With the postseason just around the corner, Godbold was a big favorite to win gold at the state meet, but school was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It was definitely upsetting,” Godbold says. “I was ranked No. 1 in the state for high school since my sophomore year, and last year was kind of not really an event. This year would be my only chance to win an actual state championship. But, I look at (the cancellation) now as motivation for the future.”

A scholarship from one of the country’s best track and field programs isn’t a bad consolation prize for Godbold, who also was a starting kicker on the Wildcats football team and starting defender on the school’s soccer team.

The U-F men’s track and field program has won nine national titles. Steve Lemke, the Gators’ associate head coach in charge of throwers, was an All-American himself in the javelin and has mentored seven Olympians, including javelin throwers Oliver Dziubak (2014) and Pal Arne Fagernes (1996, 2000).

Godbold would like to be the next one to be in that company.

“I’ve been playing soccer and football, but all my focus will be on the javelin now,” Godbold says. “The Olympics is definitely a goal.”