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Volusia County Schools has set high-school graduation for June 2021. All rehearsals and ceremonies will be at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach. The quantity of tickets allowable per family will be based on the most current CDC guidelines at time of graduation. Dates are subject to change.
Rehearsal dates and times for West Volusia schools are as follows: DeLand High at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 1; Pine Ridge High (of Deltona) at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 1; Taylor High (of Pierson) at 10 a.m. Thursday, June 3; Deltona High at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, June 3; and University High (of Orange City) at 10 a.m. Friday, June 4.
The following are the dates and times for graduation: DeLand High at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 3; Pine Ridge High at 4 p.m. Saturday, June 5; Taylor High at 8 a.m. Sunday, June 6; Deltona High at noon Sunday, June 6; and University High at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, June 6.
The Consortium of Florida Education Foundations (CFEF) has awarded FUTURES Foundation for Volusia County Schools $102,824 through the Florida legislatively funded School District Education Foundation (SDEF) Matching Grant Program.
Through an annual school-grant-application process facilitated by FUTURES, 14 projects featuring tutoring and/or literacy programs for at-risk students within 10 Volusia County schools will be funded within the SDEF Matching Grant Program.
Participating schools on the west side of the county are Citrus Grove Elementary in DeLand, DeBary Elementary, and Starke Elementary in DeLand.
The Volusia County School Board last week honored community leader Forough Hosseini, founder and chair of Food Brings Hope, for her support of public education and the nurturing of underprivileged students. The local businesswoman, civic leader and philanthropist has dedicated her life to fulfilling her dream that all school-age children in our community will be free from hunger, and given hope for their future, and opportunities to discover their full potential by providing the necessary programs and service to them.
In 2007, Hosseini founded the nonprofit Food Brings Hope, and today, the organization serves more than 1,700 students at 30 schools in Volusia and Flagler counties. The program includes KidsZone for elementary students, TeenZone for middle- and high-school students, and the FBHonors program, which concentrates on STEM for high-performing students.
The Volusia County Middle School Cross Country Championship meet will take place at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, at DeLand Middle School. Twelve middle schools have had four meets in preparation for the championship. The squads from Southwestern Middle School in DeLand and New Smyrna Beach Middle School are at the top in the boys’ competition, while Ivy Hawn Charter School in Lake Helen leads the way for the girls.
Highland Park Fish Camp in DeLand is hosting a Kids’ Fishing Rodeo Saturday, Dec. 5. There is no charge for children age 12 and younger to compete.
Sign-up is 8-9 a.m., with the tournament taking place 9-11 a.m. There are prizes for all.
Entrants must purchase live bait from Highland Park Fish Camp. All children must be accompanied by an adult.
The Volusia County Schools calendar shows the Thanksgiving Holiday beginning Monday, Nov. 23, and ending when classes resume Monday, Nov. 30.
The Winter Holiday begins Monday, Dec. 21, and ends when classes resume Tuesday, Jan. 5.
The second grading period ends Jan. 22, with midterm on Dec. 9.
Volusia Pines Elementary School
Volusia Pines Elementary School in Lake Helen participated in the annual Red Ribbon Week festivities. The school had a kickoff “Rally in Red” against drugs.
On Tuesday, all students wore their best smile for school pictures. Wednesday, the school
while Thursday, the school had Pinktober, with evteamed up against drugs, eryone wearing pink for breast-cancer awareness and to pink-out drugs with the “Think Pink, Drugs Stink” logo.
On Friday, to end their observation of Red Ribbon Week, everyone said “boo” and “socked it to drugs” with Halloween and fall attire of crazy socks and crazy hats.
The following week, the school started its state-mandated substance use/abuse lessons.
Galaxy Middle School
Lowell Cummings, a seventh-grade cross-country runner at Galaxy Middle School in Deltona, took third place in the most recent race in the Volusia County Middle School Cross Country Program. His time was 13:06.58.
Heritage Middle School
Roman Miller and Luke Wilder, cross-country runners at Heritage Middle School in Deltona, placed eighth and ninth in the latest meet, running the 2-mile course in 13:43.48 and 13:46.18, respectively.
Ivy Hawn Charter School
The girls’ cross-country squad at Ivy Hawn Charter School in Lake Helen took first place for the third time this season in the Volusia County Middle School Cross Country Championships. Ivy Hawn outscored DeLand Middle by 30 points.
Eighth-grader Veronica Meyer was fifth overall for the team with a time of 15:01.40.
Devin Buster was the top runner for the boys’ team with a clocking of 13:39.32 in sixth place, while sixth-grader Connor York was 10th.
Southwestern Middle School
For the second week in a row, Southwestern Middle School in DeLand claimed first place in the Volusia County Middle School Cross Country Championships. This time, the boys were tied with New Smyrna Beach Middle School, with each school scoring 56 points. The tie was broken by each school’s sixth runner, with Southwestern’s being 19th, while the NSB runner was 25th.
Sajid Chowdhurry took fifth overall with a time of 13:22.31. Southwestern’s Kylie Neira placed fourth in the girls’ race with a time of 15:00.66.
DeLand High School athletics schedule
Friday, Nov. 20 — The DeLand Bulldogs football team plays host to Sanford Seminole in the second round of the FHSAA football playoff series. Game time is 7:30 p.m. in Spec Martin Memorial Stadium. The DeLand Bulldog boys’ soccer team travels to University High in Orange City, with the junior varsity playing at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity at 7 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, Nov. 20-21 — The Bulldog boys’ basketball team travels to DME Sports Academy in Daytona Beach for a two-day tournament. Game times have not been determined at this writing.
Monday, Nov. 23 — The Bulldog boys’ basketball team travels to Maitland Orangewood for a junior-varsity game at 6 p.m. and the varsity matchup at 7:30 p.m.
Pine Ridge High School
Pine Ridge High School in Deltona wishes math teacher Scott Warren the best as he retires after 20 years at the school.
The Pine Ridge Healthcare Academy has selected Maria Berard, payroll/SEMS clerk, as its “Positive Panthers Strike Again” selection.
The Pine Ridge Red Cross Club and the Pee-Wee Panthers, a young children’s group, joined forces and had a Halloween/Career Event. Each Red Cross member represented a career and informed the Pee-Wees on what they could be in the future. Goody bags were prepared and presented by the Red Cross members.
Taylor Middle-High School
Taylor Middle-High School in Pierson is having its annual Thanksgiving Fundraiser by selling wreaths and table pieces for the holiday season. The wreaths cost $35, and table pieces cost $15.
For more information, call Debbie Willis at 386-749-6800, ext. 23706, or email her at dlwillis@volusia.k12.fl.us. You can also contact Jaime Davis by email at jmdavis1@volusia.k12.fl.us.
West Volusia high-school football
The DeLand High football squad shut out Orange City University High, 35-0, to move on to the next round of the state playoffs. DeLand (4-2) plays host to state-ranked Sanford Seminole as noted above, while University (4-4) retires for the season.
Pierson Taylor Middle-High (5-3) defeated Winter Park Trinity, 42-10, and will host Ocala Trinity at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20.
Deltona High (3-4) downed Tampa Freedom, 19-13, and will host Largo at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20.
Deltona Trinity Christian Academy was defeated, 55-0, by Orangewood. The Deltona Trinity Christian Eagles ended their season with a 4-6 record.
Stetson University Athletics
Stetson University Hatter men’s basketball players Rob Perry and Mahamadou Diawara were unanimously selected to the Atlantic Sun Conference Preseason All-Conference Team.
In preseason voting by head coaches, the Hatters were selected to finish third. Lipscomb University was selected to be first, followed by Liberty.
The Stetson men’s basketball program is currently in isolation and following state and CDC guidelines, as well as those outlined by the university’s Safer Stetson Plan, after a positive COVID-19 test of one of the student-athletes.
Luke Brown has signed a National Letter of Intent to continue his basketball and academic career at Stetson University. Brown, a two-time Indiana high-school scoring champion, plays at Blackford High School in Hartford City, Indiana. As a junior, he averaged a state-best 32.3 points per game.
Stetson baseball coach Steve Trimper made a pair of appearances at the National All Sports Coaches Summit, which was held virtually this year. His two sessions were “Base-Running A to Z” and “Walk-Off Winning.”
Josh Wathen has been named director of basketball operations for the Stetson women’s basketball program. He is a former U.S. Army Reserve veteran and a Purple Heart recipient, and has worked in the basketball programs at the University of Miami and the University of North Florida.
— Send school news to Tony Tussing via email: at flacoach43@hotmail.com.
