Class dismissed
By PAULETTE LASH RITCHIE
Published March 29, 2007
Most of you have heard by now that the final issue of the Citrus Times will be Sunday. (Although the local section is going away, the St. Petersburg Times will still circulate here.)
This will be the last Top of the Class page. I thought it might be a good idea to reminisce a little about some of the stories I have covered during the past 11 1/2 years.
I came to the Citrus Times in late August 1995, and my first Top of the Class page was published Sept. 7, 1995.
I began my career with the Times talking with brand new sixth-graders about leaving the sheltered comfort of elementary school and being thrown into the confusing world of impossible-to-open lockers, independent class changing and, perhaps most frightening of all, eighth-graders.
Through the years it was a lot of fun visiting student classrooms in all grades to see goings-on that featured students and guests. I saw chefs fashioning flowers out of vegetables. I saw ducks, veterans, authors (both students and professionals), Native Americans and manatees.
I saw students posing as "wax" historical figures and others dressed in other clever costumes, such as homemade space suits. I got into a cage with a Florida panther.
I talked to high school students who had to care for electronic baby dolls for 48 hours to get an idea of what it would be like to have a real one.
I've asked thousands of students questions for my "Say It" column, including everything from the normal ("What do you want to be when you grow up?") to the ridiculous ("If we could turn the tables and munch on mosquitoes instead of them on us, how would you fix them in a tasty dish?").
I really enjoyed the times I followed school employees all day to show readers what it is like to work in the school system. School lunchroom workers and some custodians, I learned, begin their days really, really early.
I remember fondly the story about the school bus drivers' rodeo. It was about how much training goes into being a safe bus driver.
They gave me a chance to try driving one of the huge vehicles on an obstacle course. After an unfortunate encounter with an orange cone (things did not go well for it), I realized it was best for all the living and inanimate objects that line Citrus County streets that I not drive a bus.
Perhaps the most memorable thing I inherited when I joined the Times was the "Class of 2000" series.
During the 1989-90 school year, the Times chose to follow six students who would graduate in 2000 through elementary, middle and high school. The original children were Trent Van Allen, Nicole Diehm, Megan Algeo, Bret Biance, Michael Himmel and Glenn Wilson.
In fourth grade, another student, Tiffany McMichael, was added to the group. I got to know the students the same year I began at the paper. They were in middle school.
In eighth grade, Trent and Megan were interested in becoming physical therapists. Nicole was thinking about being a veterinarian or marine biologist. For years, Glenn and Michael wanted to be baseball players, but in eighth grade Michael was considering becoming a sales representative.
Tiffany wanted to eventually live in Germany and teach kindergarten or be a fashion designer. Bret wanted to be a plastic surgeon.
I managed to locate six of the seven to find out where they are now, nearly seven years since they left Citrus High School.
Megan, 24, graduated from the University of Florida in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in marketing and had her master's degree in international business by 2004. She now does marketing for American International Group Inc. She lives in Tampa with her adopted beagle and is in the Big Sister program.
Bret, 25, earned a bachelor's degree in criminology from Florida State University. He is working at a staffing company in Tampa. He plans to return to school in the fall and work on his master's degree in student services. He would like to work in the Florida university system. Bret is engaged to Kristen Callihan and lives in Brandon.
Nicole is 24 and is married to Gene Perrino. She has a 10-month-old daughter and lives in DeLand. Nicole earned her bachelor's degree in English education from Florida State University, taught for a couple of years and is currently at home caring for her daughter, Alexis.
Tiffany, 25, has a 5-year-old daughter, Brianna, who attends Inverness Primary School (interestingly, Megan's mother, Chris Algeo, is Brianna's teacher). Tiffany has been working at Sonny's Real Pit Bar-B-Q for the past nine years. She has worked her way up to assistant manager at the Inverness store. She lives in Inverness.
Trent, 25, attends Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton and majors in civil engineering. He lives in Fort Lauderdale.
Michael, 25, earned his bachelor's degree in risk management insurance at Florida State University. He works as a financial services representative for State Farm Insurance. He has a second job at Southwood Golf Club, where he has worked for 4 1/2 years. He is an operations manager there. He lives in Tallahassee.
I was unable to reach Glenn Wilson.
When I spoke to Michael, he reminded me that the Class of 2000 was also known as the Smoke Free Class of 2000. None of the six of these young people currently smokes.
So, there it is. Eleven and a half years in a nutshell. I hope I have kept you informed and maybe even, sometimes, entertained. Thanks for reading Top of the Class.