Volusia County Public Libraries are offering the third Teen Winter Reading Challenge through Beanstack. The contest is open to those in grades six through 12 and takes place between Monday, Dec. 18, and Sunday, Jan. 14.

Beanstack is a free digital platform designed to help users track reading and log activities. In the challenge, teens will complete reading and other activities to earn prizes. Registration and more information will be available at www.volusialibrary.org/teens and in all library branches as of Dec. 4.

The Florida High School Athletic Association has announced that Bally Sports is the new exclusive home of the Florida High School State Football Championships. The network will broadcast and stream all nine of the 2023 championship games statewide as part of the partnership.

The championship games will air on Bally Sports Florida or Bally Sports Sun, and all will stream live in the Bally Sports app and at BallySports.com.

These nine games will be played Thursday, Dec. 7, through Saturday, Dec. 9, at Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium, on the campus of Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. Games are scheduled to kick off at 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. daily. For more information about the streaming service and subscription options, visit BallySportsPlus.com.

This column has been previewing information about Standard Response Protocol dealing with an all-hazards approach in the Volusia County Schools. Some of the key words or actions include hold, secure, lockdown, evacuate and shelter.

The term “hold” means stay in your classroom or area. Students are trained to clear the hallways and remain in their area or room until the “all clear” is announced. Adults and staff are trained to close and lock the door, accounting for students and adults.

“Secure” means get inside and lock outside doors. Students are trained to return to the inside of the building. Adults and staff are trained to bring everyone indoors, lock the outside doors, increase situational awareness, and account for students and adults.

Five schools in the Volusia County School District hosted the Great American Teach-In. Two of these schools, Woodward Avenue Elementary in DeLand and Forest Lake Elementary in Deltona, participated in this program.

This event allowed community members and partners to come on campus to talk to students about their occupations, while encouraging the students to explore their own hopes and dreams.

Throwback Thursday has been offered by Volusia County Schools in reference to some Volusia County school history. One of these was in reference to Deltona Lakes Elementary School.

Deltona Lakes Elementary opened in 1982 and was the first elementary school in unincorporated Deltona. It was built to relieve the overcrowding at Enterprise Elementary. The students buried a time capsule, which was opened June 4, 1999, in the presence of former principals and local officials.

The school has won numerous awards, including the Sunshine State School Public Relations Association first-place medal, the Golden Spoon Award and the Florida School Recognition Award.

FHSAA football playoffs

On Nov. 11, DeLand High defeated Orange City University High, 31-13, to advance to the Final 8 in the playoff system for 4S Florida schools. DeLand faced off against Treasure Coast in Port St. Lucie in the regional-championship games Nov. 24, and DeLand won 37-6. Next, DeLand will play against Venice on Dec. 1.

The other schools making the final eight were Gainesville Buchholz, Bartram Trail, Lakeland, Lake Minneola, Venice and Sarasota Riverview.

The DeLand Bulldogs, in their victory over the Orange City University Titans, led 14-7 at halftime and 21-7 at the end of the third quarter. University closed out their season with a 10-2 mark, with both losses coming at the hands of the DeLand Bulldogs.

Advancing to the final four along with DeLand and Venice are Lakeland and Gainesville Buchholz, both top-ranked teams in their region.

DeLand High School Athletics

The DeLand High School Lady Bulldog weightlifting team recently defeated Matanzas High in both Olympic- and Traditional-style weightlifting. During the match, the Lady Bulldogs highlighted the five seniors on the team, Emelina Nasah, Pepper Riley, Katyah Ross, Ana Soto and Hollee Brady. Those taking first-place finishes were Mattie Washington (2), Ashleigh Mina, Addison Ruocco (2), Abby Schrier, Ross (2), Brady, Riley and Nazaria Milfort.

Those earning second-place finishes were Katherin Rodriguez (2), Charity Rank (2), Riley, Payton Mathis, Mina, Paige Underwood, Schrier, Milfort and Brady. Third-place points were gathered by Bayleigh Couch, Cayce Hughes (2) and Elena Cruz.

The DeLand High girls soccer team outscored Wekiva, 4-1, with Avigain Ramirez scoring two goals, while Chloe Caven and Yasmin Rios each scored one goal and one assist.

The DeLand Lady Bulldog volleyball team finished its 2023 season at 16-8, with a Max Preps Florida ranking of 53rd out of 748 teams, a 14th ranking in 7A competition and 14th in the Orlando area. The team won the district, but was eliminated by Lake Brantley, who lost to Winter Park, which ended up as state runners-up to Tampa Plant.

Some of the individual stats supplied by Max Preps were Emma Van Deusen with 231 kills for the season with an average of 3.3 per set, total blocks by Emily Lamb with 49, total digs for the season by Ella Pringle with 349, aces for the season led by Alison Bierwagen with 37, assists for the season by Victoria Stoltzfus with 351, and receptions for the season by Elisa Stoltzfus with 378.

The DeLand High sports calendar has the boys basketball team at home Friday, Dec. 8, to face Sanford at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. That same day, the girls soccer team will be at Bellview at 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., and the boys soccer team will be at home against Orange City University at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. The boys wrestling squad will go to the Osceola Danny Byron Memorial Invitational through Saturday, Dec. 9, and the girls wrestling team will be at Deltona at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.

The girls soccer team greets Winter Springs at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 11.

On Tuesday, Dec. 12, the boys basketball team will be at Spruce Creek at 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. The boys soccer team plays host to Crescent City at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. The girls weightlifting team will be at University for the Five Star Tournament through Wednesday, Dec. 13.

Also on Dec. 13, the wrestling team will be at the District Duals in the Bulldog gym at 11 a.m. The girls soccer team will be at home against Crescent City at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The girls basketball team greets Matanzas at 7 p.m., while the competitive cheerleading squad gathers at Seabreeze for the Battle at the Beach.

On Thursday, Dec. 14, the JV wrestlers will host New Smyrna Beach, Mainland and University at 5 p.m., while the girls basketball team plays at Atlantic at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

The boys soccer team plays host to Pierson Taylor at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15, while the wrestlers are in the Lyman Christmas Tournament starting at noon.

Stetson University Athletics

The Stetson University Hatter basketball team won the championship crown at the Sunshine Slam in Daytona Beach. The Hatters first defeated Milwaukee, 85-67, with Aubin Gateretse scoring 26 points with 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Jalen Blackmon added 22 points, Stephan Swenson scored 11 points along with 10 assists, and Tristan Gross added another 11 points.

The Hats then defeated Central Michigan, 71-61, for the title, with Blackmon scoring 20 points. Swenson added 18 points with eight assists and three steals, and Alec Oglesby added 14 more points. Stetson shot 50.9 percent from the floor in the second game.

The Lady Hatter basketball team picked up its first win of the season over Iona, 71-62, with Jaelyn Talley scoring 15 points. Jamiya Turner scored 14 points with six rebounds, Diawna Carter-Hartley scored 12 points, and Jordan Peete added 11 points.

The team lost to FAU, 50- 39, after leading 37-31 at the end of three quarters of play. Promise Keshi scored 10 points.

The Stetson football team was stopped by San Diego, 47-20, to close out their season with a 3-8 mark.

The Lady Hatter volleyball team, ranked seventh in the ASUN Tournament, faced second- ranked Lipscomb in the first round of play. Lipscomb won the match, 3-2, with match scores for Stetson being 25-23, 20-25, 23-25, 25-21, 10-15.

The Stetson baseball team has announced its 2024 schedule, with the team opening at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, against West Virginia, whom they will play at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, at 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 18, and at 1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 19. Some of the home games will feature the University of Maine, Army, Fordham, Brown and Bradley, USF and FSU, and the Stetson team will travel to Georgia, UCF, FSU, Florida and Bethune- Cookman.

The Stetson athletic calendar has the women’s basketball team at Denver Saturday, Dec. 9, and the men’s basketball team hosting Johnson University Sunday, Dec. 10.

— Send school news to Tony Tussing via email: at flacoach43@hotmail.com.