|
From The Observer News
(www.observernews.net) Top Stories Lennard Grads Garner $90,000 in Scholarships
When he moved to Ruskin from Peru 5 years ago, Renato Barreda spoke no English, and had to learn quickly to integrate with English-speaking students if he wanted to follow his dream to work in human genetics. Quickly he learned to speak- and eventually think- in English, and is finishing this year with a 5.92 grade-point-average; just slightly behind class valedictorian Marcus Graham, whose GPA stands at 5.93
“The class has many good students,” said Maria Gsell, Lennard’s assistant principal for curriculum. “All together, they’ve gotten about $90,000 in scholarships.” The school, located at 2002 E. Shell Point Road, opened just three years ago when the 178 students in this year’s graduating class were sophomores. Last year there were only 120 grads, Gsell said. Led by Principal Craig Horstman, Lennard’s students raised about $1,500 this year for its charity, the Make a Wish Foundation, with a staff-vs.-student basketball game. According to Gsell, students at the school have raised money for this charity every year since Lennard opened its doors. Another memorable event this year was its prom two weeks ago, with the theme A Fairytale Romance. The students will graduate June 1 at the Florida State Fairgrounds at 7 p.m. During the last six months guidance counselors have been hard at work locating scholarship money and helping students apply for it. “Next year, every school in Hillsborough County will have a College and Career Specialist,” Gsell said. “Some schools will simply give that title to personnel who have been doing that type of work with students all along. Here at Lennard, Takia McClendon our Guidance Resource Specialist, has worked all year with students helping them find their path for next year.” Barreda says he’s known a long time exactly what he wants to do as a career. Graham, however, says he is deliberately keeping all options open until he gets into college. I found the class valedictorian and salutatorian completely different, yet both pleasant, bright and easy to interview- unlike so many students who (when interviewed) clam up and give little more than “ums” and “not sures” as answers to direct questions. Graham, a Wimauma resident, lives with his grandmother, and works at the Brandon K-Mart after school and on weekends. He has a Bright Futures Scholarship, as well as several local scholarship awards. Headed for the University of South Florida in Tampa, he isn’t sure what he wants to do yet but is pretty certain it will have something to do with science and math. “I want to find something I’m really passionate about before I make that decision,” he told me, which makes really good sense- especially in this economy. The other side of that decision, however, makes just as much sense for the class salutatorian who is certain he already knows exactly where he wants to go in life. Headed for the University of Florida to study molecular biology so he can focus on human genetics, Barreda says he wants to “study the basis of life, which is the molecules that make us what we are.” The Ruskin resident lives with his mother and father and a younger brother and sister. “It’s funny because my parents speak Spanish at home and I had to learn English very fast. My brother who’s 4 mixes it up and speaks two languages at once.” Barreda went straight from ESOL (classes for non-English speaking students) classes to advanced English; skipping over “regular” English classes altogether. Both of this year’s honorees credited the school’s Guidance Department with helping them find scholarships to help with their college education. Riverview Graduates Led by Polished Achievers By Melody Jameson mj@observernews.net RIVERVIEW – Next week, all 460 members of Riverview High School’s Class of 2009 assemble probably for the last time – to receive diplomas, to acknowledge both an ending and a beginning, then to scatter to find whatever their futures. Not yet 20 years old, they’ve experienced hardship and put it aside, they’ve faced impairment and refused to let it be an obstacle, they’ve been touched by death and committed to life, they’ve struggled and they’ve overcome. To one degree or another, they’ve all achieved: whether the status of graduate or the honors of high scholarship.
Riverview’s current crop of grads, in fact, is heavy with achievers. Take Christian Padgett, for instance, the top male student. After four years at RHS, he leaves with a 5.8 GPA, in the top two percent of the class, on his way to the University of Florida and, ultimately, a career planned in nuclear engineering. A member of the National Honor Society (NHS), the science honor society and Rho Kappa, a social studies honor society, Padgett has been highly active in student government, helping organize events from pep rallies to that school year highlight, Homecoming. He was MC for the school’s annual awards program, plus, he operates a lawn care business. But, Padgett also lost a beloved grandfather to heart disease; a man who had a pivotal role in his life, he noted. The student spent hours each week at a Hospice House as his grandfather’s life slipped away. He missed more than a week of school when the family returned to Tennessee for internment. In the words of his guidance counselor, Jama Hoffman, he “bridged the gap from boyhood to manhood as he grappled with the inevitability of death and pledged to live his life” honorably. He will, he said, be a part of America’s nuclear power solutions. Then, there’s Casey Vaughan, with what her teachers call “a passion for theater” and a 6.04 GPA. Vaughan has been active in the school’s drama department for four years, acting, singing, dancing. She, too, is a member of NHS and Rho Kappa, plus president of Thespians and a section leader in the school chorus. To quote her guidance counselor, Louise Fernandez, “She is a natural entertainer.” Vaughan, in addition, has amassed more than 90 hours teaching acting techniques at a local park and recreation center. The student who, her teachers report, challenged herself with “the most rigorous course load our school has offered,” is headed to Florida State University where, it is anticipated, she also will be “a shining star.” And, how about Jasmine Murchison, uprooted in the middle of high school and forced to flee her home in Biloxi, Mississippi, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Her town was in ruins, her home was uninhabitable, her school demolished, her father’s work destroyed. The family made its way to Riverview and Murchison started over. Described as “tiny in stature” but a “dynamo in reality” by Hoffman, her guidance counselor, Murchison competed regionally in track and on cross country teams, was inducted into NHS, Rho Kappa and the science honor society and racked up a 5.08 GPA. She also was named a National Commended Scholar this year, the only RHS student so honored. Yet, more sadness touched her life. Her boyfriend, another academic star as well as track and football standout, was rendered a paraplegic after a collision following a track meet. Murchison responded by raising funds for advanced equipment and home improvements to accommodate the young man who came back to be graduated with honors and, today, is at the University of Florida. Murchison herself is headed to Florida A&M University on a full scholarship where she plans to obtain a degree in pharmacy. Bryn Riede may have been a high school student in a small community this last year, but she thinks globally, according to Hoffman, also her guidance counselor. Riede has traveled to both Nigeria and Viet Nam, returning profoundly affected by the poverty, disease and deprivation she witnessed there, Hoffman noted. It has fueled a drive to make her world better, the counselor added. This young woman has volunteered more than 300 hours of service, benefitting the hungry, the sick, the homeless, as well as the environment. She’s also served her class as student government president where she helped plan and organize a number of school functions plus the annual Relay for Life where nearly $100,000 was raised this year. Riede is ranked in the top two percent of the class and is planning to pursue a career in business. As a young woman, Lindsay Morehouse will be graduated next week in the RHS honors court, but as a youngster she often was so frustrated at school she would flee the building. Ultimately, the reason was diagnosed: an auditory processing disorder. Not willing, though, to let the identified problem hinder her, Morehouse has challenged herself with honors level classes and refused to use the disorder as an excuse. Hoffman calls her simply “a treasure.” Morehouse has accumulated more than 100 hours of community service, most of it with the elderly. Pushing wheelchairs, loading and unloading baggage, listening, encouraging, even chaperoning senior charges on bus trips, she has channeled love for a grandparent taken suddenly by death into affectionate care for the living. Of course, she’s also been a RHS senior class leader: Senior Council President, Future Business Leaders and Fellowship of Christian Students activist, plus a server at teacher appreciation events as well as willing helper to any teacher in need of her assistance. And, look out US Air Force, here comes Erin Endres – but she’s not planning to stop there. Endres leaves RHS with a 5.4 GPA, a string of academic memberships – NHS, Mu Alpha Theta, the national math honorary society, and Principal’s Honor Roll, time and again. Of course, there’s also that perfect SAT score. Her goal is nothing short of America’s astronaut corps, after earning that Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering degree at Colorado Springs. She’s also gotten a head start on the training. An active member of Venture Crew, a coed Boy Scouts of America program for adventurous young adults, Endres already has experience rock climbing, whitewater rafting, scuba diving and co-piloting private aircraft. But it hasn’t all been light stuff. She’s also been first chair violinist in the RHS orchestra and captained the varsity volleyball team. Another achiever is Jessica Alleyn, whose 6.12 GPA puts her among the top three academically in the class of 2009. Alleyn, another leader in student government, also has inductions into NHS, Rho Kappa and Mu Kappa Theta to her credit. And, with some 200 hours of volunteering - much of it tutoring middle and high school students – along with part-time work in a Publix Supermarket, she is noted for her ability to focus, maximize time and meet objectives. It’s good preparation for her chosen field of endeavor. Alleyn is not going far to begin her college career: she’s bound for the University of South Florida. But her long term plans may take her untold distances. The student that Counselor Bernita Jones describes as “a role model for all teenagers today” and “an investment in the future” for scholarship backers plans to become a pediatric plastic surgeon. When Danielle Grams was just 12 years old, she began experiencing bouts of nausea and excruciating muscle spasms. Only after two years were doctors able to diagnose a rare blood disorder and ultimately treat it with removal of the spleen. Six months later Grams lost hearing in one ear. None of it, though, has obstructed this teenager now determined to enter the field of medical research; to study the causes of – and therefore identify possible treatments for – infectious diseases. She talks of eventually taking her knowledge and determination to the Peace Corps – and through it to poorer nations on the planet. In the top five percent of the class, she leaves RHS with a 4.9 GPA and a solid record of achievement, including leadership in the school’s Best Buddies Program, an international organization which brings disabled students and general educational youngsters together to share common interests. This year, with Grams as president, Best Buddies was able to give a number of disabled students the experience of high school achievement otherwise denied them, including a karaoke performance at a pep rally that guidance counselors say inspired the entire student body.
Those who know Lauren Mayo talk about a teenager with the head of a leader and the heart of a giver. She proves this rare combination on a regular basis. Ranked academically in the top four percent of her class and anticipating a career on the cutting edge of veterinary medicine, Mayo’s focus has been on agriculture, both leading and mentoring. Serving this year as president of the school’s Future Farmers of America chapter, Mayo both raised her own animal for show at the state fair and the Florida Strawberry Festival and spent hours assisting mentally challenged students with their show stock, teaching, grooming, transporting. The result was several awards. And when the shows ended, Mayo continued to prepare the exceptional students for FFA competitions involving fruit and vegetable identification and mastering a tractor driving obstacle course. A life-long Girl Scout, Mayo has been a National Session Council delegate and visits elementary schools to encourage younger girls in scouting. She also volunteers at a Ronald McDonald House, bringing meals to families staying there and helping with their required chores so they can spend more time with their seriously ill children. In addition, she has organized an area-wide convening of NHS members to aid the homeless and has developed a directory of local services for the homeless to be distributed at shelters. She also holds down a part-time job and has competed on the school golf team. Her next stop is the University of Florida’s College of Agriculture where she’ll work on an animal science degree aiming eventually to specialize in dairy cattle veterinary medicine.
These are among their fellow students that Shelby Register and Molly Belz will address next week when they deliver their valedictory and salutatory addresses at the 2009 graduation ceremonies.
As the class’s academically top rated student and valedictorian, Register will direct the audience’s attention to the four-year history and progress of her peers, emphasizing the meanings of friendship, she said. It’s a role that fits the student who led the school’s mock trial team to first place on the county level and to a New York invitational competition where the team placed third and she was named Outstanding Attorney. She’s also walked away with numerous other recognitions in history, law and math. In addition, she not only was tapped for but also had leadership roles in Rho Kappa, NHS and Mu Alpha Theta. Register, however, is not entertaining a career in law, but rather is headed to USF, aiming either for a degree in chemical or in biological engineering that can be applied in the field of medicine. On the other hand, Belz, whose GPA ranks her just second in a class of 460, has balanced her academic achievements with dedicated participation in the school’s drama program, with swimming as a fillip. Enthusiastic about the Drama I, II, III and IV coursework she has enjoyed and the school productions she’s participated in, Belz, though, is not dreaming of Broadway. Instead this NHS and Rho Kappa scholar, who worked eagerly in the 2008 mock presidential campaign at the school, envisions for herself a career ahead in finance, possibly as a corporate chief financial officer or in financial institution management. She’s taking a $10,000 scholarship to the University of Florida. And that’s the direction – ahead – where she will point her classmates on graduation day in her salutatory address. She will, she said, trace where they’ve been as a means of charting where they’re all going now. ©2009 Melody Jameson Scholarships Aid a Variety of EBHS Students By Julie Ball news@observernews.net GIBSONTON – The 2009 senior class at East Bay High School raked in heaps of scholarships from both local and state organizations.
“This group of graduating seniors is just incredible. We have some exceptional students that impressed at the local as well as the state level,” said guidance resource specialist Kayzee Weaver. “The community’s connection with our students is amazing. Our students are very lucky.” “This year has been interesting. We have the most sports scholarships ever given including ones in swimming, soccer, football and girls softball. We have students going to school for art, ROTC, technical careers- everything,” said Weaver. Students were able to benefit in different ways from local scholarships including EB senior, Joshua Craig, who will be attending Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL.
“I would love to get into movie making for Disney or Universal. All the comic book movies that have been coming out have inspired me. Now I get to take what’s on my mind to the big screen,” said Craig. He used to get into trouble for drawing in class and now is majoring in motion design at Ringling. “I have always had an artsy side. I get it from my father who also had the artsy gene,” said Craig. “He ended up joining the Navy and is now disabled. He never got to pursue his creative dreams and I feel lucky that I am able to pursue mine,” remarked Craig. “The local organizations have really helped me out. The South Shore Marauders gave me $1,000.” He will also receive a 4 year scholarship from Ringling and a yearly Foundation Scholarship. Valedictorian, Lauren Verbosky, and salutatorian, Lindsey Rankin, prove how exceptional the students this year are with grade point averages well over 4.0. Verbosky will have a 6.4 by the end of the school year. Both will be attending the University of Florida in the fall. “I hope to go into pre-pharmacy at UF however that gets expensive after undergraduate,” remarked Rankin. Verbosky was the Wendy’s Heisman Award recipient for the State of Florida in late 2008. “Even though I received a swimming scholarship from FSU I still needed more for college. FSU only gave me a 1% scholarship. That covers my swimming gear- bathing suits, bags and warm ups,” said senior Tyler Ball who will be attending FSU for sports medicine in the fall. “It was the local scholarships I received that made the difference for me. I can use that money for my food, housing and tuition.” Ball received scholarships from the “Mom” Taylor scholarship fund, Joseph LaBarbera M.D. fund, TECO- Big Bend and The Apollo Beach Women’s Club.
Senior Taylor Hardin is up for two prestigious state-wide awards for his agri-business. The Florida FFA Association recently considered 200 applicants with only 20 being finalists for the Stars Over Florida recognition program. The program recognizes students with outstanding Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE). Taylor will be interviewed by the State FFA president, State FFA Advisor and an Agricultural Industry Representative. His extensive nursery and landscape SAE will hopefully earn him a State Star come June when the awards are announced at the state convention. He is also up for a Proficiency Award in Landscape Operations from the FFA continuing his success from last year when he earned one for Nursery Operations. Taylor plans to attend Florida Gulf Coast University this fall and major in Environmental Engineering. He also hopes to attend the University of Florida to study biochemistry in graduate school. “It is inspiring to see people who can take something from nothing. It is amazing to get a job with barren land, a rusty fence and trash littered everywhere and remake it,” said Hardin. “I am hoping to win the state-wide awards but it’s also nice to be recognized in your own community,” Hardin pointed out. He also received a scholarship from the Apollo Beach Women’s Club © Copyright 2008 by The Observer News Publications and M&M Printing |
