SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS — Love Like Lyndsey Loved, a nonprofit that supports the special-needs community, recently honored two DeLand High School seniors with $2,000 scholarships to pursue a college education that will start a career in special education or other therapeutic areas. From the left are scholarship recipient Sydney Neira, Love Like Lyndsey Loved Board Members Kristin Garcia and Teresa Logsdon, scholarship recipient Kaia Horn and Board Member Mindy Nadeau.
Volusia County Schools has announced that to cover the gap in food service following the end of the regular school year, School Way Cafe, a department of Volusia County Schools, will provide meals to children age 18 or younger during the summer at no charge. This is supported by the USDA Summer Food Service Program and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
The program started June 12 and will run through Thursday, July 27. Select school sites will offer breakfast and lunch Mondays-Thursdays. Some select sites will run through Thursday, Aug. 3. All sites will be closed Tuesday, July 4, in observance of Independence Day.
Students attending VCS summer programs in person will receive their breakfast and lunch at no charge at the school they are attending. Children age 18 and younger who are not on campus during the summer may also participate in the meal program. For security and preparation purposes, parents or guardians of children not participating in a school program will need to place an order for meals 24 hours in advance by contacting the front office of the participating school site. During the designated mealtime service, the registered families may check in at the office. Children must eat their meals on-site.
Below is a list of the participating program sites in West Volusia, with dates of operation: DEBARY – DeBary Elementary (through Aug. 3); DELAND – DeLand High, Starke Elementary (July 5-27), Freedom Elementary (through Aug. 3), George Marks Elementary; DELTONA – Deltona High, Deltona Lakes Elementary, Deltona Middle, Discovery Elementary (July 5-27), Friendship Elementary (through Aug. 3), Pine Ridge High (July 5-27), Pride Elementary, and Sunrise Elementary (July 5-27); LAKE HELEN – Volusia Pines Elementary (through June 29); ORANGE CITY – Orange City Elementary and University High (July 5-27); OSTEEN – Osteen Elementary; and PIERSON – Pierson Elementary (July 5-27) and Taylor MiddleHigh.
For additional information, call Karen Mazza at 386-734-7190, ext. 50740, or Evan Haagat 386-734-7190, ext. 50832.
Now that graduation is complete, Volusia County Schools has shared the following information: This spring, 4,139 students graduated, of which 629 had scholar designations and 1,771 had merit designations.
Two hundred ninety-three students received the Florida Seal of Biliteracy and 150 earned associate degrees through dual enrollment.
More than 200,000 community-service hours were supplied by graduating seniors. More than 120 students entered military service upon graduation.
The last of the six free Special Kids – Special Families monthly installments in the Empowerment Series presented by Easterseals will be at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 11. The final offering is titled “I Need Help With Community Resources.” In this presentation, participants will learn about various community resources and how to sign up. This will be at the Easterseals office at 125 N. Ridgewood Ave. in Daytona Beach. Email Donna Dwyer at ddwyer@esnecfl.org for more information.
During the year, The Daytona Beach News-Journal has listed the high-school athletes in the Volusia, Flagler and St. Johns districts who have been nominated for Player of the Year in numerous sports. West Volusia athletes named include Softball Player of the Year – Katie McCaw of Deltona High; Kylie Neira of DeLand High as the Girls’ Track and Field Athlete of the Year; and Mia Rhodes of DeLand High as the Girls’ Weightlifting Athlete of the Year.
The paper also named University High’s band as the Band of the Year, along with the University High mascot as the Mascot of the Year.
Just prior to the naming of these athletes, the following athletes were nominated from West Volusia: Baseball – Nicolas Morrissette, Pine Ridge High; Christian Morales and Josh Vinciguerra of University High; Anthony Ruocco and Lamar Edwards of DeLand High. Softball – Morgan Davis, Katie McCaw and Veronica Puckett of Deltona High; and Annalyn Duncan of University High.
Deltona High School
Deltona High School had 377 graduating seniors, with 61 receiving Scholar Designations and 322 Merit Designations. Four graduates received the Silver Florida Seal of Biliteracy, and eight received gold. Nine graduates gained an A.A. or A.S. degree, while seven entered the military upon graduation. The senior Wolves supplied more than 32,000 community-service hours.
Pine Ridge High School
Pine Ridge High School in Deltona had 372 graduating seniors, with 27 gaining Scholar Designations and 136 Merit Designations. Three seniors earned an A.A. or A.S. degree, while six were Florida Seal of Biliteracy recipients. Sixteen members of the class entered the military upon graduation, and the seniors supplied 12,587 hours of community service.
Taylor Middle-High School
Taylor Middle-High School in Pierson had 172 graduates, with 10 gaining Scholar Designations and 44 Merit Designations, and 11 earned the Florida Seal of Biliteracy. Two graduates also had A.A. or A.S. degrees, while four entered military service. The seniors supplied 4,000 community-service hours.
University High School
University High School in Orange City had 560 graduates, with 204 gaining Scholar Designations and 219 Merit Designations, and 31 earned the Florida Seal of Biliteracy. There were 18 earning an A.A. or A.S. degree upon graduation, with 14 entering the military. The Titan seniors earned 11,402 community-service hours.
Volusia Online Learning
This group had its first graduation service hosted by Volusia County Schools. There were 97 graduating seniors in the program, with four earning Scholar Designations and 46 gaining Merit Designations. Two received the Florida Seal of Biliteracy. Six members of the class earned an A.A. or A.S. degree, with one entering the military. This group of seniors contributed 3,885 hours of community service.
DeLand High School Athletics
It’s time to plan for high school football. The DeLand High School Bulldog football schedule is as follows, with all games played at 7 p.m. and all home games played in Spec Martin Memorial Stadium:
The Bulldogs open on the road with the Kick Off Classic preseason game at West Orange on Friday, Aug. 18. The regular season opens Friday, Aug. 25, when Mainland comes to town, followed by a road trip to Port St. Lucie Centennial on Friday, Sept. 1. The Bulldogs welcome Lake City Columbia on Friday, Sept. 8, followed by Seabreeze coming to DeLand on Friday, Sept. 22. On Friday, Sept. 29, the Bulldogs go to Spruce Creek, followed by the “Battle of the Bone” game with Deltona in Spec Martin Memorial Stadium on Friday, Oct. 6. On Friday, Oct. 13, the Bulldogs go to Sanford, followed by the Bulldogs going to Orange City to face University on Friday, Oct. 20. Homecoming is the next game up for DeLand, with New Smyrna Beach on Friday, Oct. 27, followed by a road trip to Bunnell to face Flagler Palm Coast on Friday, Nov. 3.
Stetson University Athletics
The Stetson University women’s tennis team has been honored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. The ITA named the Lady Hatters as the recipients of the Community Service Award. The team compiled more than 450 individual volunteer hours during the year by volunteering at the Champions for Life Reunion Weekend, Derbyshire Place Community Park, Hammock Beach Golf Resort and Spa Pro-Am, Monsters on Main Street at Halloween, and at Daytona International Speedway during Speedweeks.
College honors
Brooks Chandler, of DeLand, was named to the spring 2023 dean’s list for exemplary academic performance at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri.
Jacob Zuluaga, of Deltona, and Sydney Healy and Paul Troxler, both of Orange City, were named to the dean’s list for the fall 2022 semester at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Christian Bernabe, of Deltona, was named to the dean’s list for the spring 2023 semester at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
— Send school news to Tony Tussing via email: at flacoach43@hotmail.com.
