Trish Johnson, sophomore at Pasco High School, was recently selected for the 2004-2005 Teen Trendsetter Reading Mentors Program. Gov. Jeb Bus h announced Johnson's name along with nearly 200 other high school students from across the state who have been selected to participate in the program. The announcement was made at the third annual summit meeting for Teen Trendsetters.
The program is aimed at getting more high school students involved in mentoring, while at the same time, helping under-performing elementary school readers. The program pairs qualified high school students with low-performing third graders to serve as reading mentors.
"Mentoring a child helps build a foundation for learning. The work these Teen Trendsetters are doing with children in third grade year is having a positive impact on student reading gains," Bush said in a news release. "I applaud these young leaders for their valuable time commitment and for making a lasting impression in a child's life. I challenge all Floridians to reach out to our youth, as these high school students are, by becoming involved in local mentoring programs."
The Teen Trendsetters Reading Mentors Program is a partnership with the Governor's Mentoring Initiative, the Volunteer Florida Foundation, and Florida Trend's NEXT magazine.
The program was honored as the 2004 recipient of the national Harris Wofford Award from Youth Service America. This national award is bestowed to an organization for its exemplary work in engaging youth in service. Currently, 50 of the state's 67 school districts are participating in the Teen Trendsetter Reading Program, including half of Florida's public high school.
During their recent trip to Orlando the nearly 200 Teen Trendsetters received training on a specialized reading curriculum created to teach the high school students effective teaching strategies for third grade readers. Students also received training on effective mentoring practices and leadership development training provided by Golin/Harris International. After the training, these students will go back to their high schools, recruit and train other students to become mentors, and establish a reading mentor program at an elementary school in their area.
Coordinator for the Pasco Teen Trendsetter Program is Dick Tauber, supervisor of volunteer programs for Pasco County schools. For information about this program call Tauber at (813)794-2207, (727)774-2207 or 352-524-2207.
Alford named to dean's list
Dewey Alford of Dade City has been named to the president's honor roll for the spring 2004 semester at Dodge City Community College, Dodge City, Kan.
To qualify for the president's honor roll, students must earn a grade point average of 3.80 or above and complete a minimum of 12 hours.
Alford is a freshman at the college.
Mroczkowski to compete in Quarter Horse Championships
American Quarter Horse enthusiast Britney Mroczkowski of Lutz will compete in the American Quarter Horse Youth Association World Championship Show in Fort Worth, Texas, which began Friday and runs through Saturday.
Mroczkowski will be among 2,000 youths ages 18 and under, from the United States, Canada and several other countries participating in the show. She will compete with her American Quarter Horse Easily Confided, an 8-year-old chestnut mare, in equitation over fences and working hunter categories. She will compete with There Goes Bubbles, a 9-year-old sorrel gelding, in equitation over fences, working hunter, hunter hack and jumping categories.
The AQHYA World Championship Show is an invitational event that serves as a showcase for top American Quarter Horse youth exhibitors.
Britney, 15, is the daughter of Mark and Cindy Mroczkowski of Lutz and is a sophomore at The Academy at the Lakes in Land O' Lakes.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Cheer Champs to host tryouts
Cheer Champs Gym in Land O' Lakes is conducting tryouts for competitive cheerleading teams on Saturday.
During the five days prior to the tryouts cheerleaders will be divided by grade level into three sections to participate in tryout clinics. The participants of each section will attend two clinics to learn a 30-second all star jam, including a dance, as well as tumbling, jumps and stunts.
On Friday, Cheer Champs will hold open gym for mock tryouts and extra practice. There is a $25 fee for the clinics and a $5 fee for open gym. The fees for the clinics will be applied to August tuition.
The final results of tryouts will be posted on the gym doors by noon Sunday.
Cheer Champs also has a mini-team for children in kindergarten through second grade. There are no tryouts for the mini-camp.
For more information on any of the Cheer Champs activities or programs, including competitive team tryouts or for classes beginning in August, call John Annarella at (813) 948-6506. Cheer Champs Gym is located at 2427 Cypress Creek Road, next to JN Electric at the corner of State Road 54 and State Road 56 in Land O' Lakes.
Commissioners designate Family Day
The Pasco County Commission wants you to eat dinner with your kids. So much so that commissioners approved a resolution on July 13 designating Sept. 27 as Family Day - A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children.
The resolution came after attention was drawn to the use of illegal drugs and the abuse of alcohol and nicotine as constituting the greatest threats to the well-being of America's children. Surveys by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University have consistently found that the more often children and teenagers eat dinner with their families the less likely they are to smoke, drink and use illegal drugs.
The survey also found that teenagers who rarely eat dinner with their families are 72 percent more likely than the average teenager to use illegal drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. The correlation between family dinners and reduced risk for teen substance abuse are well documented. Parental influence is known to be one of the most crucial factors in determining the likelihood of substance abuse by teenagers.
Commissioners commend Clowners Alley No. 242
Town Clowners Alley No. 242, a local entertainment group, recently received a commendation from the County Commission, which designated Aug. 1-7 as National Clown Week.
Town Clowners Alley No. 242 has been in existence for more than 10 years. The group performs at many community events such as Little League, YMCA, Relay for Life, Chasco Parade and the Spouse Abuse Shelter. The group was recognized for its contributions to the community in helping to lift spirits and boost the morale of Pasco residents.
National Clown week was declared in 1970 when Congress requested President Richard Nixon to designate Aug. 1-7 of each year as a time when clowns are recognized and honored for their role in bringing happiness to communities throughout the nation.
Writer's Camp Benefits Teachers and Students.
More than 120 Pasco County elementary teachers, many of them from schools in the central and eastern part of the county, took part in a writer's camp recently at Cypress Elementary School in Port Richey. The four-day camp was offered to provide concentrated information on the best techniques for teaching writing to elementary age children.
Writer's camp participants convened each morning in a large group with a summer camp atmosphere. Then, participants broke into smaller groups with names such as Snakes, Frogs, Spiders, Ants, Dragonflies and Ladybugs. Each group focused on one of six specific skills: organization, ideas, conventions, word choice, voice and fluency. Teachers also learned how to score student writings using a tool called Six Traits of Writing.
The Six Traits is used throughout Pasco County schools with writing instruction for primary and intermediate students.
The Six Traits of Writing program was developed by Northwest Regional Educational Laboratories of Portland, Ore., with southeastern regional offices in Greensboro, N.C.
Now in its fourth decade, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratories is a private nonprofit corporation that provides research and development assistance to education, government, community agencies, business and labor.
Trainers for the camp are Pasco County reading specialists or teachers who have received extensive training in the Six Traits of Writing and Writer's Workshop. Those teaching during the camp were Ardis Christensen, reading specialist at Sanders Memorial Elementary School; Patty Hughes, reading specialist at Wesley Chapel Elementary School ; Rachel Powers, reading specialist at Quail Hollow Elementary School; Theresa Joiner, reading specialist at West Zephyrhills Elementary; Nancy Reichert, reading specialist at Sunray Elementary School and Evangel Hernandez, intermediate teacher at Cypress Elementary School.
Teachers from central and east Pasco who participated in the camp were Lisa Baniszewski, Kathy Cutler, Christine Biannetti, Janice Humphrey, Michael Jensen, Jennifer Jones, Kelly Keene, Jane Swartz, Priscilla White, Helen Williams, and CareyAnne Yager, all from Quail Hollow Elementary School; Chip Baldwin, Gretchen Rudolph-Fladd, from San Antonio Elementary School; and Aimee Allen, Becky Brown, Linda Harris, LeAnne John, Christina Twardosz, and Beverly Philipsen from West Zephyrhills Elementary School.
