Frapwell Is Pasco’s Volunteer Of The Year; WRH Senior Wins Regeneron Award! 

The Pasco County School District recently named Gretchen Frapwell, whose kids attend Veterans Elementary, the District’s Adult Volunteer of the Year. 
(Photos: Pasco School District) 

Gretchen Frapwell, a volunteer at Veterans Elementary, has been named the Adult Volunteer of the Year by the Pasco County School District. 

According to a Facebook post released by the School District, “Gretchen is the definition of a volunteer. She has been volunteering at Veterans Elementary School for five years and has logged in 220 volunteer hours so far. With two children attending Veterans, she serves on the SAC committee and is a PTA member which supports (the school’s) 91 staff members and 675 students. The PTA recently provided recess equipment for each grade level. She is there for every school event, including book fairs, school carnivals, science nights and holiday shops. Gretchen has shown her creativity by planting a pumpkin patch in the courtyard for the teachers and students to utilize. It was a great idea for learning purposes, but also brought beauty to the school. We appreciate everything she does for Veterans Elementary to improve overall morale for the teachers and students.” 

Sharon Zurita, of the Veterans Elementary PTA, says that, “Gretchen in amazing. She’s everywhere and does so many things at our school. She’s not only willing to do things we ask, but also suggests things we can do to help the school.” 

Among those things, Gretchen says, was that she “Organized closets, planted gardens, ran a carnival last year…Trunk or Treat event, where we handed out actual ice cream, book fairs…anything and everything. My kids are only going to be this young for so long, so I show them, by taking time off from my job, how important their school is. I guarantee that once you (volunteer) for an hour, you’ll want to do more. The kids are just awesome.” 

Other Volunteer winners this year are Ann Birch, Gulfside Elementary (Senior Volunteer) and Avery Hoskins, Anclote High & Gulfside Elementary (Youth Volunteer). 

Congratulations, Meghna! 
Wiregrass Ranch High senior Meghna Manjith was named a Regeneron STS Scholar for her project, winning $4,000. 

Our sincere congratulations go out to Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) senior Meghna Manjith, who has been named a Scholar in the Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) for 2024. She received a $2,000 award for herself and $2,000 for WRHS for her project, “Preventing Surgical Site Infections: Designing a Novel Post-Surgical Treatment Using Silver Nitrate & Ayurvedic Extracts in Combination with DNA Sequence Analysis.” Amazing! 

According to SocietyforScience.org, “Regeneron STS is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science research competition for high school students. Started in 1942 as the Westinghouse STS, Regeneron STS recognizes and empowers our nation’s most promising young scientists who are developing ideas that could solve society’s most urgent challenges.” 

Only 300 Scholars were selected from more than 2,000 entrants nationwide, with only 40 finalists selected for an opportunity to win the $250,000 top award, which was scheduled to be announced on Mar. 12. 

What an accomplishment, Meghna!

Wiregrass Ranch High Senior Named National SADD President

Wiregrass Ranch High senior Shaina Finkel is the SADD National Student President for the 2021-22 school year.

Shaina Finkel was only four years old when she started going to Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) events and campaigns with her father. 

Now 16, the Wiregrass Ranch High senior will represent all 7,500 SADD chapters as the organization’s national student president for the 2021-22 school year. 

In this position, Shaina will be expected to be a spokesperson for SADD nation, oversee the Student Leadership Council and advise the SADD national Board of Directors, which is comprised of adults.

Above all, she says she is focused on improving the mental health of students across the nation. 

“I’m just really looking forward to being able to bring my ideas and the things my chapter has worked on to a bigger stage,” Shaina says. 

Shaina is the first person ever from Florida to serve in this position, and SADD CEO Rick Birt says her passion is what made her stand out. 

“Shaina is truly the embodiment of the word passion,” Birt says. “In everything she does and in every interaction you have, you see that she is truly the embodiment of this word and we are so honored and excited to have her (serving) in this role.”

Shaina has been president of Wiregrass Ranch’s SADD club since her sophomore year. She said the club opens students’ eyes to the dangers of making destructive decisions, especially driving under the influence, and the need to maintain good mental health. 

“We have English, we have history, but we don’t have a class about how to save your life,” Shaina says. “So, the fact that we have a club for that or a chapter for that, and we as peers are able to help our own peers, that’s just honestly the most beautiful thing.” 

Shaina’s father, Gregory Finkel, is the advisor of Wiregrass Ranch’s SADD club and also the school’s driving teacher. He said he can’t wait to see where her role as national student president takes his daughter.

“I’m super excited for everybody that’s going to see her, because she’s going to make a huge difference,” Gregory Finkel says. “As long as everybody listens, they will see that she’s got a true heart.”

Finkel’s mother Jessica couldn’t stop smiling when she heard the news that her daughter would be the next SADD national student president. She says Shaina is always so excited when it comes to SADD-related topics and is constantly participating in a variety of SADD events. 

“I’m so proud of her for accepting it and taking on the challenge,” Jessica says. “I’m not concerned. I know she can do all of this. She always takes on a lot, and she’s very successful at everything she takes on.”

Shaina says that SADD is already a big part — and will continue to be a big part — of her life. She is excited to represent her community on a national level and uphold the mission and vision of what SADD stands for. 

“Not only does this position give me a voice, I think it gives Wiregrass SADD a voice,” Shaina says. “It gives Wesley Chapel a voice, and it gives Florida a voice.” 

For more information about the national Students Against Destructive Decisions organization, visit SADD.org. 

Wesley Chapel Spring Football Recap

Bulls Fall Short In Spring  Game 
It was a tale of two halves for the Wiregrass Ranch High football team in their 36-28 spring game loss to Berkeley Prep on May 20.

In the first half, Iowa State University commitment Rocco Becht completed four touchdowns to three different receivers as the Bulls jumped all over the Bucs.

Rocco Becht threw four touchdown passes in the spring game loss to Berkeley Prep. (Photo: Charmaine George)

In the second half, the Bulls were outscored 20-0. Head coach Mark Kantor, however, didn’t care as much about the score as he did about having a spring game, which no one played last year due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

“For me, it was about getting back to being competitive, and we accomplished that this spring,” Kantor said. “I don’t care if we win or lose a spring game. I saw some good things from the guys and they definitely competed; now we need to work on closing the deal.”

As is usually the case, Kantor spent the spring looking for depth on the offensive and defensive lines. Offensively, he has rising senior tackles Logan Ridolph (6-4, 275) and Christian Loaiza (6-5, 315) protecting Becht, and hopes to strengthen the other spots on the line. Defensively, he is searching for another interior lineman to pair up with rising junior Thomas Pehek (6-2, 210), especially after Berkeley Prep had success running the ball in the spring game.

Kantor is excited about the scoring potential of his 2021 Bulls. Becht threw for more than 200 yards and, of his four TDs, two were to rising senior transfer Malachi McLaughlin and one each went to rising junior running back Kenny Walker and rising senior Abram Breer.

Kantor says rising sophomore Izaiah Williams and rising junior Elijah Westbrooks, both WR/DBs, had outstanding springs.

“We’re excited about the fall,” Kantor said. “It’s going to be fun getting back in front of 1,200-1,300 fans at the Ranch cheering us on again.”

Back To Basics For Coyotes

After a 3-7 season in which games were cancelled and/or rescheduled and consistency was unattainable due to Covid-19, Cypress Creek High coach Mike Johnson eagerly welcomed the 2021 spring campaign.

“We just wanted to get back to basics,” Johnson said. “Last season was like a mish-mash of pickup games. You’d lose a game, pick up a game, it was just hard to get anything established.”

This spring, the Coyotes were able to put in 90 percent of their offensive and defensive schemes, and hope to refine them by the start of the 2021 season.

Rising junior linebacker Logan Falk closes in on a Land O’Lakes ball carrier in the spring game. (Photo: Charmine George)

In their spring game on May 19, they tied Land O’ Lakes 21-21 on a last-second field goal by rising senior placekicker Colton Corrao.

Operating in a different offense this year, promising rising senior quarterback Owen Walls completed 19 of 31 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns. However, he also threw three interceptions.

Walls did engineer two scoring drives in the final six minutes to earn the tie. He found rising senior Merrick Simmons for a TD with just over a minute remaining and, after a defensive stand by the Coyotes, the offense was able to get in position for Corrao’s FG.

Johnson said the spring allowed him to find some depth on the offensive line, where he has 9-10 players to choose from. 

He says rising junior Niko Huitz, who transferred in from New Mexico, was a spring revelation. He had an exceptional spring game and “was all over the field,” Johnson says, and rising sophomore Jaelen Collins impressed enough that Johnson expects big things from him this season.

“We have the guys, now we just have to put the pieces of the puzzle together,” Johnson says.

Wildcats Split Halves In Spring Clashes
The All-Conference football teams in Pasco County aren’t announced until after each season, but Wesley Chapel High football coach Tony Egan feels confident that he can fill in the linebacker positions on those teams right now.

That’s how impressed he was this spring with the play of rising junior Jorden McCaslin (photo) and rising seniors Ayden Roysdon and Josh Poleon. Egan feels that all three linebackers have not just All-Conference high school talent, but Division I-A or I-AA college talent as well.

“I have to say the linebackers impressed me every day,” Egan says. “Every day, one of them did something that jumped out at you. It’s a really good group.”

The trio will anchor a defense that Egan says should be pretty good in the fall. The Wildcats surrendered 14 points in a one-half 14-7 loss to Dixie Hollins on broken plays in the spring jamboree, and then just one TD in a 28-8 win over Fivay in the other half.

While the Wildcats return their quarterback, top rusher and a bevy of talented receivers, Egan is concerned about the offensive line. He returns four starters, but they are young. “The offensive line will make us or break us,” Egan said.

Athletically, Egan thinks this is the best team he’s had since taking over in 2016. Even the offensive line is the biggest he’s had. He believes the 2021 team has the potential to be his best yet.

“The toughness and accountability is lacking,” says Egan, as the Wildcats head into an important summer of training. “But, if we get those things right, we’re going to be really good.” 

Wiregrass Ranch Valedictorian: Timothy Kovacs

WRH’s Kovacs Takes A Well-Rounded Approach To School

Timothy Kovacs’ love of reading and writing — and hard work — led him to become the Wiregrass Ranch High Class of 2021 valedictorian. (Photo: Charmaine George)

Timothy Kovacs says he hasn’t begun preparing the speech he will give to the Class of 2021 at graduation, but the Wiregrass Ranch High valedictorian isn’t too worried. After all, he took a public speaking class as a requirement for his Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree from Pasco Hernando State College (PHSC) and passed his toughest test — singing the “Baby Shark” song while dancing in front of a class of 30 students.

He says it was terrible, and he lost coordination midway through the dance, but he is no longer leery of public speaking.

And he got an A, for effort.

“So, if I can do that,” he says, “I hope I can present a speech in front of my classmates.”

Getting As is no problem for Kovacs, so it would be a surprise if he didn’t nail his speech. The Bulls’ senior finished his high school career with a 4.71 weighted grade point average, and picked the University of Central Florida in Orlando over the University of Florida in Gainesville and the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill for college.

It wasn’t easy, he says. He moved to Wesley Chapel from Orlando, where he attended Hagerty High as a freshman. There, he was No. 14 in a school of 4,000 students, and when he got to the smaller Wiregrass Ranch, he started his sophomore year in the top 3. While he says it hadn’t crossed his mind before, it was at that point Kovacs decided to try to become his class valedictorian.

“I’ve always found competition among my classmates ever since I was in the third grade,” Kovacs says. “I always wanted to get the highest grade, and when I didn’t, I just studied harder.”

At Wiregrass Ranch, that entailed giving up every class (other than those that were graduation requirements) that wasn’t an honors or AP course. 

Last semester, he took nine classes, most of those at PHSC, sprinting across the academic finish line. His toughest challenge was the havoc caused by Covid.

“It really mucked up my AP exams,” he says, especially in classes like AP Chemistry that aren’t best suited for online study. Reviewing for exams was more difficult, and chemistry was not one of his better subjects. 

“When chemistry went virtual…that put me in a more precarious spot than I’ve been in,” he added.

However, Kovacs, also a National Merit Scholarship Finalist, says it was just a matter of finding a way through the new challenges, and finding the positive in Covid’s disruptions by “turning lead into gold.”

Kovacs, who says his favorite class was AP computer science and whose hardest were chemistry and biology, is happy to be valedictorian, although he says it doesn’t make him any smarter than anyone else. In fact, he says there are plenty of students who easily could have become valedictorian, but they chose to pursue music, sports or technology and didn’t have as much time to put into school as he did.

Not that Kovacs is a one-dimensional bookworm. In fact, he’s something of a Renaissance man, who has dabbled in fencing, loves playing the guitar, is a devoted writer and published author who works for two magazines and has a deep interest in politics.

When he wants to relax, he plays his favorite songs from his childhood on his guitar — although he really wishes he had learned the piano as well — and had a story about the pandemic published in the literary magazine Unlimited Literature last summer.

Politics, though, is his passion. 

“I love to read about how countries interact with each other, and why the world is the way that is,” he says. “It’s always such an interesting field to see how the decisions of government officials affect us in daily life. And, the results of diplomacy are fascinating. It’s incredibly cool and I always have a blast learning about it.”

Now that the “Baby Shark” song has prepped Kovacs for his speech, he will tell his fellow classmates at graduation that after years of traveling the same road together, a million different paths now await them. It’s a brave new world, and it doesn’t matter where you are going as long as you are doing what you want to be doing.

Kovacs will be doing just that in college, where he will double major in computer science and political science at UCF. Where that leads him he doesn’t know. He has multiple dreams — becoming a politician, an author or a software engineer are all among them — and is eager to see where his road takes him.

“My goal right now is to go with the flow,” he says, “and make the most of whatever opportunities come my way.”

The Wiregrass Ranch High graduation ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, June 3, 7 p.m., at the school’s football stadium.

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.”