Thursday, May 9, 2013
The Patriots battled days of rain delays and extra innings to reach the championship game.
Playing in their first ever post season, the Freedom High School Patriots lost 1-0 to St. Thomas Aquinas in the 7A state championship game. St. Thomas Aquinas' starting pitcher only allowed one hit to the Patriots. Freedom finished their best season in school history with a 22-4 record. The Patriots battled through two days of rain delays against Chamberlain and extra innings in the semi-final game in order to reach the championship game. See Also: After 2 Days of Rain, Freedom beats Chamberlain Freedom High Girls Win, Will Play for State Championship Were you at the game? Be sure and add your photos to this story!
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and School Board are teaming up to apply for a federal grant that might help pay for at least 24 new law enforcement positions for local campuses.
The question of whether or not to post deputies on Hillsborough County elementary school campuses has been a hot-button issue ever since the Dec. 14, 2012, Newtown, Conn., massacre rocked the nation. While Hillsborough has never witnessed an attack that compares to Newtown’s slaying of 20 children and six adults, fears have run high that it could happen here. Bullets found on Hillsborough buses in the wake of the attack and other subsequent lockdown situations, including Brandon’s recent pepper spray incident, have given rise to a desire to see security increased. Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee thinks he has a solution that could bolster the security measures already put into place by the school board. In addition to the $1 million …
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
The dream postseason continues after tonight's big win.
Playing in their first ever post season, the Freedom High School Patriots will now play for the state championship. The Freedom High Patriots beat Tallahassee Chiles in the 7A girls softball state semifinals 1-0 at the Vero Beach Sports Village tonight, May 8. The game required extra innings after being scoreless through 7. Then, Ashley Wilson hit a walk-off home run in bottom of the eighth inning to give Freedom the 1-0 win over Chiles. Freedom will play for the state championship on Thursday night against St. Thomas Aquinas, who needed extra innings as well to beat Harmony in the other semi-final game. The game will be at 7 p.m., Thursday and will be broadcast in Lutz on the Brighthouse Sports Network for Brighthouse cable customers. See…
The Patriots are playing in the semifinals of the class 7A girls softball state championship.
The Freedom High Patriots play Tallahassee Chiles in the 7A girls softball state semifinals at the Vero Beach Sports Village tonight, May 8. The winner will play for the state championship on Thursday night against the winner of the Harmony vs. St. Thomas Aquinas game. Last week, the Patriots made a 4-2 lead stand up after two days of rain delays against the defending state champion Chamberlain Cheifs in the Class 7A regional semifinals. The game started on Tuesday and bad weather postposted the game until Wednesday night. Similar bad weather caused another stoppage on Wednesday night. The game finally came to end on Thursday, May 2. Are you headed to the game? We'd love to hear from you! Email Chris.Taylor@Patch.com.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
The two local high schools joined 113 other Florida campuses on the magazine’s 2013 list.
Lutz area parents and students have reason to be proud. Both of the area’s high schools made it on Newsweeks’ Top 2,000 list of the best high schools in the country. Schools selected for the honor are “those that have proven to be the most effective in turning out college-ready grads,” the magazine’s website says. Honorees are judged on such factors as graduation rate, college acceptance rate and test scores. George M. Steinbrenner was 958 on the list of 2,000. Freedom High School just made the list at 2,000. The top school in the state is the International Baccalaureate School at Bartow High. The No. 1 school in the nation, according to Newsweek, is in Bowling Green , Ky. Other area schools on the list include Chamberlain, Gaither, Plant …
The Tampa Bay Rebels basketball team handily defeated the Florida Flight on Cinco de Mayo.
Tampa Bay Rebels, the area’s semi-pro basketball team, is now 2-0 this season after handily beating the Florida Flight 124-107 on Cinco de Mayo. The matchup was held on the Rebels’ home court at Freedom High School. These were the Rebels’ top scorers, according to the team: The Flight, now 2-1, were led by guard Ernest Jones during Sunday’s battle. The Rebels will travel next weekend to play back-to-back games against the Palm Beach Knights but will host another home game at Freedom High May 18 versus the Knights. If you go: Home games are played at Freedom High School, 17410 Commerce Park Blvd. Tickets are $10 at the door or can be purchased at R-sole in University Mall. Children ages 13 and younger are free. Visit www.tampabayrebels.com…
It's Teacher Appreciation Week! What do you want to say to that educator who meant the most to you? To the teacher who makes your child's year the best ever?
The first full week in May, every year since 1984, has been designated as Teacher Appreciation Week by the National PTA, which this year is holding a contest for parents who deliver thank-you letters to teachers May 6-10 (See contest note below). Signs at schools throughout the area give a nod to this year's appreciation celebration, as PTA volunteers, school administrators, students and parents gear up to recognize teachers who make a difference. As noted on the National PTA Web site, Teacher Appreciation Week is "a special time to honor the men and women who lend their passion and skills to educating our children." PTA events at the national, state, and local levels celebrate the outstanding contributions teachers make. Is your school, …
Thursday, May 2, 2013
The game started back in April, and was finally completed with dark clouds still threatening much of Tampa Bay.
Freedom High School, playing in its first girls softball postseason, made a 4-2 lead stand up after two days of rain delays against the defending state champion Chamberlain Cheifs in the Class 7A region semifinals. The game started on Tuesday and bad weather postposted the game until Wednesday night. Similar bad weather caused another stoppage on Wednesday night. The game finally came to end on Thursday, May 2. “We are definitely super excited,” Patriots coach Autum Hernandez told Tampabay.com. “Chamberlain’s a great team, they have a great tradition, they played us great all three days. We were just excited to be able to pull that off.” Freedom will play the Sarasota Lady Sailors on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Sarasota. Want to wish the …
Monday, April 29, 2013
One Florida County has given elementary school principals the green light to paddle misbehaving students. What do you think about this, Tampa Bay?
A trip to the principal’s office in Marion County elementary schools might mean more for misbehaving students than a call to parents and possible detention detail. Principals there have been given the green light to paddle unruly pupils. The county’s school board decided April 23 that it was high time this once banned practice was brought back into the educational system. Citing repeat disciplinary problems with students where nothing else worked to get kids on track, board member Carol Ely, a retired principal, put the idea on the table. While the measure passed, principals don’t have carte blanche to paddle kids. Principals must first obtain standing written permission from parents, and they must get verbal permission before each …
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
The school is collecting umbrellas for a special project.
The students at Martinez Middle School have big plans for their 8th grade dance. It involves spray painting 40 umbrellas to use for decorations. No, they won't be reinacting Singing In The Rain. The school has plans to decorate the umbrellas to use as decoration for the event. The school is taking all colors and sizes of umbrellas. And they don't have to be new, according to PTA organizers. If you have an umbrella donation to make, drop them off at Ierna's Heating and Cooling at 18843 US Hwy 41 North in Lutz. Pick-up can also be arranged. For more information, contact Martinez Middle PTA 8th Grade Chair Dancy DeSimone by e-mail at dancydesimone@yahoo.com.
Diana Smith
11:49 am on Monday, May 13, 2013
Get the dope out of schools. There would be less problems. I have heard of kids selling drugs in middle and high school, and even students have told me there are needles in the bathrooms of the high school. Thankfully, my grand daughter is against drugs of any kind. She is disciplined at home, and has chores she has to do and maintain good grades which she does. I really don't see where paddling … more ›