ARTIST HONORED — The West Volusia Artists awarded Roycee Scott “The Young Artist Award” during the fourthgrade end-of-year assembly. Roycee is a student at Turie T. Small Elementary School in Daytona Beach. Standing with her are club Treasurer Kay Caldwell and club President Melinda Cummings.
Earlier this year, this column reported that Sean Hyacinth of Palm Terrace Elementary School in Daytona Beach and Karilis Sanchez of Pine Ridge High School in Deltona had been named the Elementary and Secondary First-Year Teacher of the Year honorees, respectively. This column is now able to list the teachers who were the nominees for this honor.
Those who teach on the elementary level in West Volusia are Mercedes Davis of Citrus Grove Elementary in DeLand; Julie Griffin, DeBary Elementary; Ericka Baca, Deltona Lakes Elementary; Jessica Fuentes-De Jesus, Discovery Elementary in Deltona; Ashley Ehlinger, Enterprise Elementary; Nicolle Cabret, Forest Lake Elementary in Deltona; Emily Sedgwick, Freedom Elementary in DeLand; Katherine Buley, Friendship Elementary in Deltona; Lindsey Dean, George Marks Elementary in DeLand; Carla Dixon, Manatee Cove Elementary in Orange City; Amanda Turner, McInnis Elementary in DeLeon Springs; Cheyenne Shephard, Orange City Elementary; Samantha Murray, Osteen Elementary; Danielle Hardy, Pride Elementary in Deltona; Emma Barcena, Spirit Elementary in Deltona; Madelynn Perone, Sunrise Elementary in Deltona; Daisy Cordine, Timbercrest Elementary in Deltona; Ashley Diegel, Volusia Pines Elementary in Lake Helen; and Nicole Snyder, Woodward Avenue Elementary in DeLand.
The secondary-school nominees who teach in West Volusia are Christina Lambert of DeLand High; Stacey Norman, DeLand Middle; Cortney Torres, Deltona High; Sandra Castro, Deltona Middle; Keri O’Connell, Galaxy Middle in Deltona; Maggie Claiborne, Heritage Middle in Deltona; Alaina Cianchetti, Taylor Middle-High in Pierson; and Joshua Skula, University High in Orange City.
The valedictorians and salutatorians for the graduating classes of the Volusia County high schools have been named. Those gaining valedictorian honors from high schools in West Volusia are named first, followed by the salutatorian: DeLand High – Chloe Caven and Alexandria Beekman; Deltona High – Jimmie Stone and Chase Cerroni; Pine Ridge High in Deltona – Katherin De La Caridad Ruiz and Alex Cosentino; Taylor Middle-High in Pierson – Jocelyn Aguirre and Isabela Cosio; University High in Orange City – Olivia Hargreaves and Reese Flaherty; and Volusia Online Learning – Marcos Garcia and Cheyanne Williams.
The USDA Summer Food Service Program and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services through Volusia County’s School Way Cafe will be providing free breakfast and lunch meals for students age 18 and younger during the summer this year.
Students who are attending in-person summer programs through Volusia County Schools will receive meals at the schools they are attending. Students who are not on campus during the summer months can also participate.
Parents and/or guardians must place a meal order 24 hours in advance by contacting the front office of the participating school site. Registered families must check in at the office upon arrival. Students must eat meals on school sites.
The program began Monday, June 10, and ends Thursday, July 26. All sites will be closed Wednesday, June 19, for Juneteenth and Thursday, July 4, for Independence Day.
Additional information can be found at www.vcsedu.org under departments with the listing of School Way Cafe.
The following West Volusia schools will be participating in the program: Pierson Elementary and Taylor Middle-High in Pierson; Orange City Elementary and University High in Orange City; Deltona High, Deltona Lakes Elementary, Discovery Elementary, Forest Lake Elementary, Friendship Elementary, Pine Ridge High, Spirit Elementary, Sunrise Elementary and Timbercrest Elementary, all in Deltona; Volusia Pines Elementary in Lake Helen; and Blue Lake Elementary, DeLand High, Freedom Elementary, and Woodward Avenue Elementary, all in DeLand.
DeLand High School
The DeLand High School girls weightlifting team, under the direction of coach Damion Dunn, has named the captains for the 2024-25 team: Payton Mathis, Ashleigh Mina, Addie Ruocco, Katie Hulsman and Elena Cruz.
The Florida Department of Education has recognized academic excellence at the 27th annual Sunshine State Scholars Conference. During the conference, the state’s outstanding 11th-grade students in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) were recognized. The only Volusia County student to be recognized out of the 37 honored was DeLand High’s Noah Isaacson. Each of the 37 received a one-year scholarship to attend Florida’s top-ranked higher-education institutions.
Pine Ridge High School
At the end of spring football practice, most teams participated in some form of jamboree with other schools. Pine Ridge High School faced Flagler Palm Coast and came up on the short end of the 38-7 score.
Stetson University Athletics
In the first game of the earlier rounds of the NCAA tournament, the Stetson University Hatters baseball team lost to FSU, 7-2, in this double-elimination tournament in Tallahassee. In Stetson’s second game in the Tallahassee NCAA regional, Stetson shut out Alabama, 4-0, and then in their third game, the Hats lost to UCF, 5-2, bringing an end to the 2024 Stetson baseball season. They closed out the year with a 41-22 record.
Many local fans of Stetson’s women’s basketball program are very familiar with the name Jama Sharp. She played four years for the Lady Hats and then later returned as an assistant coach. She, once again, will be leaving the Stetson program. This time she heads off to her home state of Indiana, where she will become the head coach of the women’s program at the University of Indianapolis.
The Stetson volleyball program has hired Daniel Omi Fuentes as an assistant coach. He comes to the program from Windermere High School in the Orlando area, where he was the head coach.
The Stetson football program also has a new addition. They hired Sheldon Cross to the coaching staff. He will serve as the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. Cross comes from Cal Poly, where he held the same position.
College honors
Lauryn D’Amato, of Lake Helen, graduated “with distinction” from the University of Florida. She earned a Master of Arts in communication sciences and disorders. Her summer employment is with Brooks Rehabilitation as a speech and language pathologist, treating a diverse patient population.
Briana Eads, of Orange City, received a master’s degree in social work from the University of North Alabama at the spring graduation. Eads was a scholar-athlete, and a starter on the women’s soccer team.
Ronaldo Walker, of DeLand, was recently initiated into the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society. Walker was initiated at the University of North Florida.
Tyler Michalak, of DeLand, has been named to the dean’s list at Shenandoah University for the spring 2024 semester. Shenandoah University is in Winchester, Virginia.
Alex Petzold, of DeLand, has been named to the dean’s list for the spring 2024 semester at The University of Rhode Island in Kingston.
Lauren Jacobs, of DeLand, has been named to the dean’s list for the spring 2024 semester at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia.
Eric Madgett, of DeLand, recently earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas.
