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LOGAN NEILLStudents Dacia Frye and Cal Everett are firmly grounded in their community activities and good citizenship.
BROOKSVILLE - Anyone who attended Hernando High School the past four years certainly had to know who Cal Everett and Dacia Frye were. From the time both seniors set foot on the campus as freshmen, they were distinctive figures.
Throughout their tenures at the school, both were involved in numerous clubs and organizations. In addition, they ran for office in the student government and took part in many of the school's community outreach efforts. Today, as they prepare to bid farewell to Hernando High during graduation, both seniors express gratification that their education came not just through academics, but also through inclusion as responsible citizens of their school.
During his high school years, Everett served as a representative in the student government association, first as a class representative, then as vice president, and finally being elected president during his senior year.
His involvement in school concerns did not end at the borders of the school grounds. He spent three years as a defense attorney in Hernando County's Teen Court system and helped form a multischool coalition of student government leaders in an effort to allow more student input at School Board meetings.
Everett is a member of the Hernando County Young Republicans and served last year as Senate page for then-state Sen. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Brooksville.
Frye, who served this year as senior class president and treasurer of the National Honor Society, was also active in the school's Student Alliance, an organization dedicated to dealing with racial diversity issues on campus. In addition, she was a member of several community groups, including the Future Business Leaders of Hernando County and the Hernando County Reading Association. Like Everett, she was chosen to participate in the Teen Leadership Hernando program.
Outside school, Frye has been active in the Habitat for Humanity program and other projects through her church, Eden Baptist.
Being involved in such activities not only gained the two seniors a high degree of respect from their peers, it also broadened their appreciation of the responsibilities of adulthood.
"When you get to high school, you have a choice," said Everett. "You can sit back and watch other people make decisions for you or you can make a personal investment in that process. Kids that are part of that want to be able to say to themselves someday that their time spent here had lasting relevance on their lives."
Both students say that an emphasis on responsible citizenship is one of the things most lacking in education these days, and that many schools do not focus enough attention on students' diverse interests.
"Schools tend to put a lot of emphasis on sports and not much else," Frye said. "The thing is, if you're not into sports, you don't have much else to choose from unless you join an after-school club. We were lucky because we had an activity period during the day, so everyone had the opportunity to be part of student government or a club. There needs to be more to school than just schoolwork."
Both teenagers believe they are heading into the world with a greater appreciation of the opportunities that await them.
Frye has decided to pursue a communications degree at the University of Central Florida. Everett is leaving to study political science at Florida Atlantic Honors College next fall with plans to return to Hernando County someday to venture into politics.
"I feel the activities we were part of allowed us to connect more with our community," he said. "That's something that I wish everyone in my class could take an interest in, because we're the ones who people are going to depend on someday to run things."
Graduation for the Class of 2003 at Hernando High is at 10 a.m. today in Imhoff Gymnasium on the campus in Brooksville.