School Notes: A Homecoming For The New Wesley Chapel High Principal

New Wesley Chapel principal Matt McDermott.

Matt McDermott is the new principal at Wesley Chapel High (WCH), replacing Dee Dee Johnson.

Johnson was selected to take over as principal at Pasco Middle School, where former principal Jeff Wolff was removed in September amid concerns about low teacher morale at the middle school in Dade City.

“I’m super excited,” McDermott says. “I’ve lived in the community since about 2000, and I was briefly an assistant principal there from 2009-2010, before I opened Fivay High (in Hudson).”

Some of the young Wildcats approve.

“The kids who live in my neighborhood have been by to say congratulations and tell me they’re excited to have me as their principal,” McDermott says.

McDermott has worked for Pasco County Schools since 1996 and has been a teacher, coach, athletic director and school administrator. He started as an AP environmental science and biology honors teacher and football and wrestling coach, and became the athletic director at Sunlake High in 2007 before a brief stay as assistant principal at WCH in 2009. He helped open Fivay in 2010, and returned to Zephyrhills as an assistant principal in 2015.

This is McDermott’s first appointment as a principal.

“You always think you’re ready to be a principal,” McDermott says. “I have good mentors and people I can reach out to if I need something. I’ve been in the principal pool for a while and prefer the southeast part of the county because that’s where I live. This is one of my dream jobs and I’m excited to be given the opportunity.”

Judy Choinski is a parent of two students at WCH, and a member of its School Advisory Committee (SAC). She says she’s happy for Johnson, the school’s now-former principal. “It’s a huge compliment to her that she was chosen to bring [Pasco Middle] back up to where it needs to be,” Choinski says. “She’s going to turn that school around.”

Choinski acknowledges that there’s disappointment in losing Johnson, and in having yet another new principal. But, she says there is just as much excitement about McDermott.

“His reputation is really good,” she says. “Some parents and teachers I talked to said they were hoping he would be selected, that he would be the perfect fit for Chapel.”

At our press time, McDermott had been recommended as principal by Pasco School Superintendent Kurt Browning and was expected to be approved by the School Board on October 16, with a start date of October 17.

“It’s a win-win for everybody,” Choinski adds. “Hopefully, everything will stay solid for a while.”

Good As Gold
At a Pasco County School Board meeting on Oct. 2, Browning and members of the Board were presented with the Florida Healthy School District Gold Flag by Florida Action for Healthy Kids.

The county received the Gold Flag “for establishing a culture and climate in which students and staff can reach their personal potential and for continuing to serve as a leader in the state in reducing and eliminating the barriers to learning, resulting in increased academic achievement.”

Pasco County Schools earned the Silver award in 2016, but this year is its first-ever gold. The district will hold the Gold award designation through 2020.

To earn the Gold designation, the district demonstrated high scores in areas like creating a healthy school environment, contributing to employee wellness and excellence in counseling, psychological and social services and health education.

The Florida Partnership for Healthy Schools is a grassroots partnership that advocates for school health issues and recognizes excellence among Florida school districts.

PTAs Honored Nationally
Double Branch Elementary and John Long Middle School have both earned recognition as a National PTA (Parent Teacher Association) “School of Excellence,” with a designation that lasts from 2018-20.
The National PTA School of Excellence recognition program “supports and celebrates partnerships between PTAs and schools to enrich the educational experience and overall well-being for all students,” according to the National PTA website.

Schools apply to be recognized, then complete a series of steps designed to improve relationships between schools and families, which are individual to each school. If they meet their goal, they earn the designation.

In addition, the county-wide Pasco County Council of PTAs (PCCPTA) was recognized for having the highest increase of membership in Florida for the 2017-18 school year. PCCPTA representatives Mahalia Surin, Denise Nicholas and Andria Roscart presented the trophy they received to Pasco School Board chair Cynthia Armstrong and Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning (photo above).

Teachers Wanted
Want to work as a teacher in Wesley Chapel? Pasco County Schools will host a fall instructional job fair on Wednesday, November 14, 4 p.m.-6 p.m., at Sunlake High in Land O’Lakes.

The district is looking for teachers in math, science, emotional and behavioral disorders/autism spectrum disorders (EBD/ASD), exceptional student education (ESE) and elementary education. They also have openings for guest teachers, behavioral analysts and school nurses.

All education interns, teachers, student services employees, and those who have a Bachelor’s degree and are interested in becoming certified educators are invited to attend. Applicants can meet with administrators and hiring managers for on-the-spot interviews and job offers.

Anyone interested in attending should register at https://pascofalljobfair2018.eventbrite.com, visit http://www.pasco.k12.fl.us/hreq/ or contact work@pasco.k12.fl.us.

2018 HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEW CAPSULES

Wiregrass Ranch and Wesley Chapel are gunning for the postseason, while Cypress Creek looks to improve.

WIREGRASS RANCH BULLS
Head Coach: Mark Kantor
2017 record: 9-3 (4-2)Tonight’s season opener:
@ Zephyrhills
Returning players: Grant Sessums (Sr., QB, #10) Dylan Ridolph (Jr., LB, #40), Kasean Ridgel (Sr., DL, #52), Connor Lenczden (Jr., OT, #62), Mason Buie (Sr., RB, #24), Cameron Lee (Sr., LB, #30).
Impact newcomer: Keith Walker (Jr., ATH, #7)

THE SKINNY: The Bulls are arguably the class of Pasco County, but only only play three games against county competition because Class 7A, District 8 is Hillsborough County-based. Kantor touts his linebacking corps as being his best unit on either side of the football. Dylan Ridolph is emerging into an elite linebacker, while Lee and juniors Nick Gaziano and Tyler Hayes will bolster the 3-4 defensive front.

Ridolph and Gaziano led the team with 89 tackles last year. Ridgel isn’t a mammoth at 5-foot-10, 275 pounds, but Kantor claims he creates more disruption than anyone on the team. A re-vamped secondary will feature sophomore Noah Biglow and junior Julian Gonzalez on the outside.

Senior Dorien Green, a defensive back with an offer from Northern Illinois, will likely take over at safety. Walker adds a bit of homerun speed that graduated when Jordan Miner left for Penn State. Mason Buie will also work the backfield. Sessums (pictured above) completed 56 percent of his passes last season for 1,483 yards and eight touchdowns.

The experience will go a long way to helping the Bulls get back to the playoffs for a third straight season.

CYPRESS CREEK COYOTES
Head Coach: Mike Johnson
2017 record: 0-10 (0-0)
2018 preseason opener 8/17:
vs. Citrus Park Christian
2018 regular season opener 8/24:
@ Gulf
Returning players: Devin Santana (Sr., WR, #2), Logan Bercaw (Sr., OL/DL, #75), Trevor Maxwell (Sr., QB, #8), Jehlani Warren (Jr., ATH, #9), Jalen Warren (Jr., LB, #3), Tim Ford-Brown (Sr., RB, #5), Quinton Spears (Sr., UT, #1)
Impact newcomer: Cedric McBride (Sr., ATH, #18)

THE SKINNY: There were little to no expectations for the Coyotes in 2017, their first year. They won their first game against Gulf, but it later had to be forfeited due to an ineligible player and the Coyotes were outscored 470-28 the rest of the way.

There are, however, a few expectations in 2018. It looks as though Maxwell is going to be the guy at quarterback, and he’s going to have plenty of talent around him. Santana (pictured) is a top-flight receiver, and newcomer McBride is a nice pass-catching complement. Tim Ford-Brown, the Warren twins (Jalen and Jehlani), as well as Colorado transfer Jovanni Addison, make for a talented and crowded backfield.

The question marks, typical for young teams, are up front and on defense. Bercaw is a solid defensive end with good size and will swing around and play tackle on offense, but the Coyotes are going to need more to be successful in 2018. Coaches are pretty excited about their linebackers in Jalen Warren and Addison, but the spots in front of and behind them need to be solidified. There are definitely a few winnable games on Cypress Creek’s schedule this year.

WESLEY CHAPEL WILDCATS

Head coach: Tony Egan
2017 record: 6-4 (4-3)
Tonight’s season opener: vs. Sunlake
Returning players: Jelani Vassell (Sr., ATH, #10), Fletcher Martin (Jr., PK, #36), Owen Libby (So., QB, #12), Seth Petty (Sr., C, #68), Kiaus Collins (Sr., RG, #50), Tyler Wittish (Sr., TE/DE, #9)
Impact newcomers: RT #70 Sean Hunter (Jr.) & RB Kris Chandler.

THE SKINNY: The Wildcats lost a lot to graduation, AND even more to Cypress Creek when it opened two years ago. The team’s numbers dwindled down to bare bones in the spring but have rebounded slightly, heading into fall.

Athlete Jelani Vassell returns for his senior campaign and he likely will not come off the field. All-Conference senior Seth Petty moves over to center from tackle and is the leader of the group and its best blocker. He’ll have some help, however, as senior Kiaus Collins returns at right guard and Apopka transfer Sean Hunter sets up at right tackle.

The biggest question mark for the Wildcats is at quarterback. Sophomore Owen Libby is the guy getting the call and, while he’s completely unproven and inexperienced, he has great size, especially for a sophomore, and coaches like what they’ve seen through the summer and fall.

The guy to keep an eye on for Wesley Chapel is Wittish (pictured), who will line up at tight end and defensive end. He’s the team’s best blocker, probably their best tackler and their fulcrum of leadership. The Wildcats are still likely going to be looking up at River Ridge and Zephyrhills in the Class 5A, District 8, but it only takes upsetting one of them to put them in the playoff picture.

Making The Grade

Wesley Chapel High senior Kris Chandler wasn’t sure he’d ever see the football field. But, fortitude overcame frustration and he’ll start Friday’s season opener for the Wildcats.

Hidden in what could very well emerge as one of the top rushing attacks in Pasco County is a back that you’ve probably never heard of.

Hitting the holes has never been a problem for Wesley Chapel High (WCH)’s Kris Chandler. Hitting the books, however, has.

But, no longer.

After three years of high school, with each of those football seasons spent practicing with the Wildcats but unable to compete because of academic requirements, Chandler will start tonight’s season opener against Sunlake in a great comeback story.

Chandler originally attended Wharton High in New Tampa, but transferred to Wesley Chapel (WCH) after a semester. That first year in high school after moving from Alabama, however, put him in an academic hole he thought he’d never climb out of.

“My first semester at Wharton was hard,” Chandler said. “We had just moved from Alabama and I didn’t like it here. I was resentful, mad, my whole focus was on going back.”

There was no going back, however. So, Chandler had to move forward. He came to WCH with a 0.7 GPA, making him ineligible to compete in high school sports. While he was still allowed to practice with the team, he could not suit up on Friday nights for games.

Head coach Tony Egan took an interest in Chandler, because he saw enough raw athletic ability that he thought the running back could one day play his way into a college football scholarship.

“I’ve always thought he was good enough to play D1 football,” Egan said. “Athletically, he’s a little raw but he’s as strong as can be. You should see him in tackling drills, he’s just a beast.”

First things first, Egan told Chandler. The coach got with his player’s teachers, sat down with Chandler in front of guidance counselors and helped put him back on track to attaining eligibility.

Egan admits that it was an uphill climb from 0.7. Chandler’s sophomore year went by, but his grade-point-average slowly climbed.

He took summer classes, online classes and retook classes through Apex, an online virtual school. He was still ineligible as a junior, but he kept showing up for practice, and kept showing out in the classroom.

Halfway through his junior year, he had raised his GPA to 1.78. By then, the Chandler project was taken up by his teammates and teachers. He credits science teacher Susan Cullum and SSAP/graduation enhancement counselor Celeste Richter for helping turn things around. Then-teammates Dexter Leverett, Malik Melvin and Isaiah Bolden encouraged him. Assistant coaches Nelson Vazquez and Delroy Lewis worked with him after school.

It turned Chandler’s attitude toward schoolwork on its head.

“I would turn my work in early, so my teachers could check it and make sure I had done everything right,” he says.

This past June, at the end of his junior year, Chandler nervously awaited his grades.

“I went in to the library to check with Ms. Richter, to see if I would have to take summer school again,” he said. “She was sitting there behind the computer, smiling. She told me I had done it. I asked her, ‘Are you sure?’. She turned the computer around and showed me.”

He had climbed all the way out of his hole. The computer monitor displayed a 2.3 GPA.

Chandler left the library and immediately sent his mother a text with the good news. He also sent texts to his sister, older brother and dad. He ran over to the weight room to tell his coaches.

Chandler was cleared to play in 2018, so he could take the summer off and focus on conditioning with the football team.

“It took a lot of weight off my shoulders,” Chandler said. “I think about it every day. I promise you, there’s no danger of sliding back now.”

It’s no secret what Egan likes to do on offense — run the ball down your throat, and Chandler could be his battering ram in 2018.

Egan coached offensive line at River Ridge High when the Royal Knights rushed for more than 3,000 yards in both 2014 (3338) and 2015 (3166). As head coach at WCH, Egan guided Leverett to consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, with Melvin serving as a dangerous complement in the rushing game, building one of the area’s most productive ground attacks.

Chandler’s one year of high school football will be a big one, as he steps into the role vacated by his former teammates.

Egan says that Chandler squats 450 pounds, bench presses 320 and can power clean 285. He also runs a 4.4-second 40-yard dash. Chandler looks like a high school version of former Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin — short, with a compact frame and tree trunks for legs. What’s more, Chandler has an awful lot to prove, not just to himself but to all of the people who helped him get to where he is.

He got to pull a game jersey over his head on August 7 for the team pictures. On August 17, as we were going to press with this issue, he saw his first live game action in a preseason matchup against Land O’ Lakes.

But tonight, it’s for real.

Tonight, Chandler officially makes it all the way back.

Fears Felt Miles Away From Parkland

Students at Wiregrass Ranch (above) were some of many in Wesley Chapel who took part in a national walkout to honor those slain at Stoneman Douglas High. (WTSP)

As students across the country react to the Valentine’s Day school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, Florida, about 13,000 people participated in Tampa’s “March For Our Lives” on March 24.

Students at schools in Wesley Chapel came out to the event, after many also attended candlelight vigils on February 19 and walk-outs on February 21, remembering and honoring the victims, while showing solidarity with those affected by the shooting and calling for changes to make schools safer.

At Cypress Creek Middle High School, a lockdown caused by an announced “active threat on campus” on March 13 inspired sophomore Brina Gutierrez to write this opinion piece for the school’s newspaper, the Cypress Creek Howler. As it turns out, there was no threat to the campus, but police responded after a student reported seeing a suspicious person walking near the school with what might be a firearm.

Here’s how one student reacted to what might have been a routine procedure just a month before (this piece has not been edited):

The way I thought I was going to react was not how I reacted.

March 13, 2018, almost exactly a month after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre occurred when 17 precious lives were lost. I was working on a memorial for the lives lost for a commemoration event our school had plans for the next day when on the intercom I heard the bone-chilling words:

Brina Gutierrez

“Teachers, we have an active threat on campus.”

My mind went blank. Panic began to overwhelm me. I wasn’t in my normal classroom, so the teacher whose room I was in rushed to make sure the door was locked, and cover the windows with paper we had just gotten twenty minutes earlier for the use of the memorial project we were working on, unaware, this was about to happen.

I could feel tears begin to rush down my face and didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t react. I didn’t know where to start or what to do. Everyone seemed to be moving sluggishly as if it were a drill. It just didn’t seem as if we were acting quickly enough. I was both mentally and physically unprepared for this such event.

The day had been normal, besides the slight chill that the air held, which was unusual from Florida’s normal weather. I had recently become more comfortable with the idea of school being safe again and suddenly, that idea shattered into a million pieces for me.

There was nothing I could do to be emotionally or physically ready for this. Time slowed down, seconds felt like minutes. My mind became slightly more coherent as I snapped into action, adrenaline coursing through my veins. I was flipping a table over to act as a barricade and shoving the usually heavy desks with such force that I’ve never had before.

After blockading the room, I immediately began texting my sister, who was in the other building. The fear I felt for her was so immensely palpable I could almost taste it. I didn’t know what was going on or if she was even alive. I didn’t know what was happening. I quickly texted her to see if she was okay and you can not imagine the relief I felt when she texted me back she was alright.

I was quickly ushered into a supply closet and in an attempt to make more room for people, I squeezed myself into a cabinet that was barely a foot high. In that room, I felt every emotion go through my body, but the most dominant was the absolute terror I felt. That terror gripped my soul. It dawned on me at that moment, I wasn’t ready to die.

I had no certainty of what the threat was, but I knew this wasn’t the way or day I wanted to go.

The moment I found out there was no active shooter, I felt like a million pounds lighter. From there, slowly the terror began to let up. Though people were returning to their normal attitudes and actions from before the lockdown, I still couldn’t fathom the idea there was even a potential threat at my school. I still can’t.

The moment I was reunited with my sister and family was a euphoric experience.

Whether or not the threat had merit or not, we need to be proactive with school safety. I can’t continue to have the fear that the place I go to ensure a good future, could also so easily end my future.

This isn’t about whether or not we should have more strict gun control laws. Take the politics out of it for a minute, what all of this is really about is us as students, and you as parents ensuring we are safe at school.

I just want to feel like I can go to school without the threat that I may not go home that same afternoon. I’m supposed to feel safe at school and somewhere along the line, someone failed us. Never again.

We got lucky this time, but what if next time we aren’t as lucky? 

Wesley Chapel High Hosts 2014 Special Olympics

*DSC_0577By Gary Nager

Although I’ve been doing my job for 20 years, I’m embarrassed to say that I had never attended a Special Olympics competition before I visited the 2014 Pasco County Special Olympics “Summer Games,” which were held on March 4 on the campus of Wesley Chapel High (WCH). And, what I saw was that the Special Olympics is more about love and friendship and the true spirit of competition than it is about winning medals.Continue reading