Earlier this year, kindergartners through fifth-grade students across Florida were offered the opportunity to submit an art piece inspired by the theme “Time Travel to 2123: Florida’s Future as the Space Capital.” The Department of State’s Division of Arts and Culture reviewed more than 1,500 submissions and selected the top 60 entries, which were sent on to Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, who picked the top 12 finalists. There were two grand-prize winners, along with the Romero Britto Award recipient.
One of the 12 finalists was a student from West Volusia. The West Volusia finalist was Ankie Shi, currently a student at Deltona Middle School. She was attending Spirit Elementary School in Deltona when she submitted her artwork. The other finalists were from Martin, Madison, Brevard, St. Johns, Miami-Dade, Broward, Hillsborough and Orange counties.
The Romero Britto Award went to Chloe Barry of St. Johns County, while the two grand-prize winners, who will have their work flown into space on an upcoming SpaceX mission, were Rafael Kleiman of Miami-Dade County, and Ailynn Chen of Orange County.
Visit FloridaSpaceArt.com to see the artwork of the finalists. Sponsors of the event included SpaceX, Space Florida, the Florida Department of State Division of Arts and Culture, and the Florida Department of Education.
On Oct. 3, Volusia County Schools unveiled its state-of-the-art STEM bus, a mobile learning lab created to help students develop 21st-century skills by providing innovative experiences that bui ld upon classroom learning in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields.
The STEM bus will travel to elementary schools throughout the district to engage students in modules about virtual reality, robotics, electricity, microscopes and more. The bus was unveiled at Beachside Elementary in Daytona Beach.
The Florida High School Athletic Association has announced that the Florida nine classifications state football championships will be played on Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium on the campus of Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. The championships will be played Thursday, Dec. 7, through Saturday, Dec. 9. This will be done in partnership with Visit Tallahassee and Florida A&M University.
There will be no school for students Monday, Oct. 16. It is a Teacher Duty Day, marking the end of the first grading period.
Early-Release Wednesdays are Oct. 4, 18 and 25.
West Volusia high-school football
Games on Sept. 22 found DeLand soundly defeating Seabreeze, 50-3, while Deltona Pine Ridge lost for the first time to Lake Howell, 21-20, and Deltona Trinity Christian lost to Keswick, 40-12.
Orange City University, a day earlier, defeated Flagler Palm Coast by blocking a lost second field goal, 29-28. Deltona and Pierson Taylor had the night off.
On Friday, Oct. 6, DeLand goes to Deltona, Deltona Pine Ridge travels to Mount Dora High School, Pierson Taylor goes to Interlachen, and Deltona Trinity Christian is at Bronson University. All games are at 7 p.m., except that the Taylor game is at 7:30 p.m.
DeLand Dawgs football
The DeLand Dawgs play host to the Celebration Storm on Saturday, Oct. 7.
DeLand High School
The School Advisory Council at DeLand High School will have its next meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, in the media center.
DeLand High School Athletics
The DeLand High School swim teams were crowned as the champions of the Record-Breaking Swim Meet at the Port Orange Family YMCA, with 11 teams competing for the crown. DeLand accumulated 754.50 points, which was more than 100 points over second place.
Seabreeze was second; Spruce Creek, fourth; Father Lopez, sixth; New Smyrna Beach, seventh; and Orange City University, ninth. Following the win, the team swam against Mainland, with the boys winning, 146-12, and the girls winning, 143-14.
The Lady Bulldog volleyball team defeated Seabreeze, 3-1, and lost to Timber Creek, 3-0.
The DeLand girls’ golf team topped New Smyrna Beach, 172-193, with Evie Cohen shooting a 38. They then defeated Father Lopez, 163-186, with McKenzie Coody being the low medalist at 39.
The Bulldog golfers placed 12th in the Winter Springs Invitational, and then defeated University, 177-211, with Stanton Bonk carding a 40 for the nine-hole round.
The DeLand Bulldog bowling team defeated Seabreeze, 5-2, handing the Sandcrabs their first loss of the season. The Bulldogs rolled a four-man game 944 in the win. They also downed Mainland, 7-0. The girls’ team defeated Mainland, 7-0, but lost to Seabreeze, 7-0.
The DeLand JV football team defeated Seabreeze, 36-6.
The Bulldog sports calendar sends the volleyball team to the Dig Pink Tournament Friday and Saturday, Oct. 6 and 7, at DME Sports in Daytona Beach.
The New World Fall Spectacular Cross-Country Meet has the DeLand cross-country team attending in Jacksonville at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, while the swimmers compete in the Five Star Conference Championships at the Port Orange Family YMCA at 7 a.m.
Monday, Oct. 9, has the boys’ golf team competing in the Volusia/Flagler Tournament at 9:30 a.m., with the location to be determined, while the bowlers go to Seabreeze.
Tuesday, Oct. 10, has the Bulldog swimmers at home against Seabreeze at 4 p.m., with the volleyball team welcoming Seabreeze for Senior Night at 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.
On Wednesday, Oct. 11, the boys’ golf team competes at Atlantic at 3:30 p.m., and the bowling teams go to Flagler Palm Coast.
Thursday, Oct. 12, has the Bullpup JV football team playing host to University at 6 p.m.
Stetson University
Richard and Mary McMahan, longtime supporters of Stetson University, had enjoyed attending concerts by the School of Music. They created the Richard and Mary McMahan Scholarship for Volusia County students in 1997, and provided funding for Mary B. McMahan Hall for the School of Music in 2009.
Mary Blount McMahan passed away in June and has bequeathed $15.4 million to the university, which will be split between their scholarship program supporting Volusia County students and an endowment for the School of Music.
Stetson University Athletics
The schedule for the 2023-24 Stetson University Hatter men’s basketball team has been announced. The team will open play Saturday, Oct. 28, against Mercer in Gainesville at 1 p.m. The Hatter men’s first home appearance will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1, against Florida Tech.
The team will compete in the Sunshine Slam Tournament in Daytona Beach on Nov. 20 and 21, against Milwaukee and Central Michigan or Siena. They have road trips to UNLV, the University of Houston, the University of Nebraska Omaha, Chicago State, Charlotte, Cincinnati, FIU and Central Florida, before starting conference play.
The Stetson Hatter soccer players defeated UNF, 4-0, and FAU, 4-3. Defensive player Alvaro Gabancho and goalie Nicolo Radaelli have been selected as ASUN Players of the Week for their positional skills.
The women’s soccer team lost to UNF, 2-1, and North Alabama, 2-0.
The Hatter football team was stopped by Butler, 28-18.
The Stetson men’s golf team placed third at the VCU (Virginia Commonwealth) Shootout with a 23-under score of 885. Dominic Clemons tied for second with a 13-under score of 203, with rounds of 66, 67 and 70.
The Lady Hatter golfers were seventh at the Hoover Invitational in Alabama. Filippa Jansson tied for sixth with a 224.
The Lady Hatter volleyball team opened conference play with a 3-2 win over UNF.
The Hatter sports calendar has the men’s soccer team hosting Queens at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, while the volleyball team greets North Alabama at 6 p.m.
On Sunday, Oct. 8, the women’s soccer team greets Austin Peay at 1 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 9, has the women’s golf team at FAU, while the men go to USF.
On Wednesday, Oct. 11, the men’s soccer team plays host to Embry-Riddle at 6 p.m.
On Thursday, Oct. 12, the women’s soccer team plays at Eastern Kentucky at 4 p.m.
College honors
Abigail Crevoiserat, of Deltona, and Paige Scuro, of DeBary, have been named to The Citadel’s spring 2023 dean’s list. Scuro was awarded gold stars for achieving a 3.7 grade-point average.
William Penney, of DeBary, was one of 178 cadets who began their time as University of North Georgia’s Military College cadets by completing Freshman Recruit Or i entat ion Group (FROG) Week. FROG Week marks the transition from civilians to cadets for incoming freshmen.
— Send school news to Tony Tussing via email: at flacoach43@hotmail.com.
