In her welcome remarks April 18 at Belmont Elementary School, fifth-grader Olivia Hamm talked about being nervous about the pandemic and how the school year would go, but now says the 2020-21 school year, Belmont’s first, “has been one of the best experiences of my life so far.” Photos by Linda Chion Kenney

Belmont Elementary dedication marks a remarkable pandemic-year opening

By LINDA CHION KENNEY

Among the speakers at Belmont Elementary School’s dedication ceremony this week were two students who spoke about the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on their lives and education.

“This pandemic was hard on all of us,” said fifth-grader Olivia Hamm, before asking the masked and socially distanced audience in the school’s cafeteria and multipurpose room to rise for the presentation of colors by the Jule F. Sumner High School JROTC.

“Life has not been the same as we had once enjoyed,” Hamm said. “I know for me, I lost family members, I could not play outside with friends or even see some of my family members for awhile. Fortunately, for us, we were able to establish ourselves as a family quickly here at Belmont.”

As for her year of learning, Hamm said she was “nervous about how the pandemic and school” would play out in her upended life. “To be honest,” she added, “this school year has been one of the best experiences of my life so far.”

Fourth-grader Gisele El Abed, in her remarks of introduction for Belmont principal, Alan Black, issued a similar sentiment.

“I can say this is a place where we have felt safe to be kids in the middle of a pandemic,” El Abed said. “With the pandemic and this being the first year at Belmont, Mr. Black and the staff have helped make this school year fun because we have learned while having fun.”

And so the tone was set at Belmont Elementary on April 18 for its dedication ceremony. The event was another chapter in the growth of the Hillsborough County school district, which, by tradition, holds that each new school community in its first academic year present a dedication ceremony in the spring.

Belmont’s afternoon ceremony followed a morning ceremony at nearby Jule F. Sumner High School, which also opened is doors for the first time in August, five months after the COVID-19 pandemic caused a lockdown that altered forever how today’s youth will remember their schoolhouse days.

“Little did we know how much Zoom would impact our lives and our students’ lives,” said third-grade teacher Adetola Shokunbi, Belmont’s first-ever Teacher of the Year and a top-five finalist for Hillsborough’s top-teacher accolade. “Even though this was new to us, we didn’t shy away from the challenge that was to come.”

Shokunbi said she was proud to speak on behalf of her colleagues, noting the importance of teaching flexibility and being “ready to modify and respond to altered circumstances and conditions without panicking or breaking.”

Situated in Lennar’s Belmont subdivision, the 93,000- square-foot, $23.1 million Belmont Elementary School campus includes six buildings and room to grow on an 18-acre spread off U.S. 301. The school sits in Ruskin, as Lennar advertises, has a Sun City Center mailing address but is considered by long-time area residents as a part of Riverview.

Sumner High, in the Balm/Riverview community at 10650 County Road 672, is roughly two miles east of Belmont’s 14150 Gate Dance Road address.

There, on April 18, superintendent Addison Davis contrasted today’s Belmont to his own days as a child going to school.

“When I walked through my classrooms, we had wood paneling on the wall,” Davis said. “We had wooden desks you couldn’t move. We had an old playground with maybe a rope and a tire. But when you see how far education has come to be able to create beautiful structures, this is truly a state-of-the-art facility for our children.”

Davis said he was impressed by the culture of “care,” “cooperation” and “collaboration” that quickly took root at Belmont under Black’s leadership.

In an interview before the ceremony started, Black said it was challenging opening a new school in pandemic times and figuring out how to teach children three-years-old up to fifth-grade with social distancing.

“It’s been challenging, but our kids have been great and teachers have been great with the flexibility of what it all means,” Black said. “We’ve all kind of adjusted.”

As for the day’s ceremonies, “I’m excited to kind of show off today,” Black said. “From where we were a year ago to now, it’s amazing the amount of work that’s been done.”

Visit Belmont Elementary School at www.hillsboroughschools.org/belmont/, or call 813-378-8001.

All smiles is Alan Black, charter principal of Belmont Elementary School, who takes a pose at the school’s April 18 dedication ceremony with his parents, Jim and Sandy Black, left, and his fiancé, Sarah Deweese. At right is Black’s first-grade teacher, Barbara Franques, a Plant City High graduate who started her 38-year career with the Hillsborough County school system as a Springhead Elementary School teacher. Franques retired in 2009 as one of seven area directors under school superintendent Earl Lennard. Photos by Linda Chion Kenney