BY TONY TUSSING
The Florida Department of Education recognizes the Cambridge Program, as does Volusia County Schools, as an official acceleration mechanism. It is included in the Bright Futures Scholarship Program as an additional means to earn scholarship monies. Select schools in Volusia County have this program offered to their students.
The Cambridge Program, also known as AICE (Advanced International Certificate of Education), provides challenging courses that are equivalent to Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) classes.
The program emphasizes critical thinking, research skills and academic excellence. Students who earn the AICE Diploma, and have 100 community-service hours, receive Academic Scholars Awards. A student can earn up to 45 hours of college credit before even stepping onto a college campus.
Volusia County Schools has reported some honors that students in the program have earned. These include one student at Deltona High School receiving the highest rank in the USA, while also placing sixth in the world-rank category.
Two students from New Smyrna Beach have earned the Cambridge Scholar Award With Distinction. Three students from Deltona High, 11 from Seabreeze High in Daytona Beach and five from New Smyrna Beach High have earned the Cambridge Scholar Award With Merit.
Also, four students from University High in Orange City, eight students from Deltona High, 16 students from New Smyrna Beach High and 35 students from Seabreeze High have gained the Cambridge Scholar Award.
On March 2, the 2024 Volusia County World Languages Festival took place at Seabreeze High School. World-language students displayed their linguistic skills and cultural knowledge by participating in poetry and impromptu speaking competitions, art displays, talent shows, world language karaoke, traditional world dress, Japanese cultural experience, entertainment and food booths. This column will try to supply the names of the West Volusia winners at the festival in later columns.
Earlier this year, many students participated in Superintendent Dr. Carmen Balgobin’s Winter Reading Challenge. More than 677 students read 500-plus minutes each between Nov. 18 and Jan. 2. Family Fun Town supplied awards.
Nine students gained a big shoutout for their efforts. Three of those students are from West Volusia: Andrew Fodrie of Heritage Middle School in Deltona, Kristen Desmond of Pine Ridge High School in Deltona, and Trent Stine of DeLand High School.
Recently, The Daytona Beach News-Journal listed the Volusia/Flagler high-school athletes who became the Fall Sport Nominees for Outstanding Honors, which will be announced in late spring. Those nominated from DeLand High are Sebastian Baldwin, Jesse Barger and Tyler Sprague in bowling; Connor York in cross-country; Caleb Oliver and MJ Smokes for defensive football; Wyatt Darlington, Zyon McRae, TJ Moore and Javon Ross for offensive football; McKenzie Coody for golf; Massimo Brunacci, Timothy Dobyns, Carlos Mize, Gavin Thomas, Toma Vedder and Piper Jemison for swimming; and Erynn Gotsch, Ella Pringle and Emma Van Deusen for volleyball.
Orange City University High has Morgan Harvill and Hannah Judge for cross-country; Jaeden Franco for defensive football; and Jermane Hayes and Malachi Walters for offensive football.
Pine Ridge High in Deltona has Chris Boddie for offensive football and Aly Rosa for volleyball, and Deltona High has Carlos Cerrud for cross-country.
Those students in DeLeon Springs who are interested in the DeLeon Springs Community Association Inc. scholarship have until March 31 to submit their forms. For more information, go to www.deleonspringscommunityassociation.com and look under “Info.”
Freedom Elementary School
Principal Dr. Paul Nehrig of Freedom Elementary School in DeLand has been presented with a 30-year-service pin.
Volusia Pines Elementary School
Each month, the Volusia County School Board honors students and staff who exemplify the theme of the Schools of Character Campaign. The character trait for February was kindness, and school counselor Sarah Smith of Volusia Pines Elementary School in Lake Helen received the February honor. She is known as the “Kindness Queen” on the Volusia Pines campus because she makes every student feel loved and valued.
Galaxy Middle School
The Science Olympiad team from Galaxy Middle School in Deltona placed second at the regionals held on the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University campus. The team now moves on to the state competition.
Ivy Hawn Charter School
The middle-school track team of Ivy Hawn Charter School of the Arts in Lake Helen competed in the third developmental meet at Mount Dora Christian Academy. Mateo Isaac took two firsts in the high jump at 5 feet, 3.50 inches, and the triple jump at 34 feet, 1.5 inches. Alice Acuna won the girls triple jump with a 26-foot-5.50-inch effort.
DeLand High School
The School Advisory Council at DeLand High School will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 21.
Deltona High School
The Deltona High School Science Olympiad team took first place at regionals and will be moving on to state, with sights set toward going to nationals.
Deltona High band students participated in the regional solo and ensemble competition. The school had three superior ratings and two excellent ratings. Those gaining superior were Isaac Parrish on bass trombone, Oliver Vazquez on piccolo, and Jaidyn Kelley on trumpet, while Isabella Daza-Bejarano earned the two excellent ratings on the clarinet and bass clarinet.
Taylor Middle-High School
Three staff members of Taylor Middle-High School in Pierson have received service pins: Roberta Mondelli for 35 years, and Tracy Warren and Jacqueline Waldon, each for 30 years.
High-school track
The first full week of high-school outdoor track started Feb. 26. A Deltona High meet took place, with the New Smyrna Beach boys winning, while Pine Ridge was second, Orange City University was third and Deltona was fifth out of eight teams competing.
The Father Lopez girls won the meet, with Orange City University taking third, Deltona fourth and Pine Ridge fifth.
Those winning first-place individual events for Deltona’s Pine Ridge were Tyler Haywood, Elijah Thompson (2), Rolan Yagual, Kheron Duprat (2) and Ethan White. Firsts for Deltona High were posted by Lailane Greene, Shania Joe, Asilia Slew and Carlos Cerrud.
Orange City University athletes taking first were Cato Stuart, Nyrania Barr-Miller (2) and Hannah Judge.
DeLand High participated in the Mainland Invitational, which was shortened due to rain and cool conditions. The Mainland boys won, with DeLand taking a close second out of six teams, while the Lady Bulldogs took first.
The DeLand boys 4X800 team took first with a time of 8:31.61, with Diego De La Vega, Michael Mandell, Connor York and Jesse Pack doing the running.
For the DeLand girls, Addison Leonard won the 1,600 with a time of 6:14.61, while Shamia Allen won the long jump with a leap of 15 feet, 7 1/2 inches.
DeLand High School Athletics
The DeLand High School Bulldog baseball team beat Pine Ridge, 5-0, but lost to Flagler Palm Coast, 1-0, and to Deltona, 5-3.
The softball team topped Mainland, 7-1, Atlantic, 8-2, and Seabreeze, 23-1. In the Atlantic game, Tameeya Hill had a triple and two RBIs, while Payton Mathis tripled, with Emily Fantone earning the win on the mound. In the Seabreeze game, DeLand scored 14 runs in the top of the sixth inning.
The boys tennis team lost to University, 5-2, but beat Pine Ridge, 7-0. The girls beat University, 4-3, and Pine Ridge, 5-2.
The Lady Bulldog flag-football team lost to Mainland, 13-6, with Tashia Williams gaining 78 yards running on eight carries, with one carry going for 46 yards and a touchdown. Alicia Robinson had seven flags.
The DeLand team bounced back with a 19-0 win over Pine Ridge. Williams gained 82 yards running, with Kaysha Hill scoring two TDs, and Kayla Hill scoring one off of passes. Dejah Mitchell had four flags and two sacks.
The beach volleyball team opened its 2024 season with a 3-2 loss to Spruce Creek.
The DeLand High spring-sports calendar has the track team hosting the Big D Relays at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 16, while on Monday, March 18, the flag-football team greets University at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. The JV baseball team plays at Spruce Creek at 6 p.m.
Tuesday, March 19, the baseball team plays at Bartram Trail at 6:30 p.m., the softball team at New Smyrna Beach at 5:30 p.m. and the JV baseball team hosting DME at 4:30 p.m.
The beach volleyball team hosts Seabreeze at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 20. The softball team competes at Ocala Forest at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. The boys weightlifting team will greet Deltona, while the JV baseball team hosts University at 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 21, brings Atlantic to DeLand to play beach volleyball at 4:30 p.m. The tennis teams host Father Lopez at 3:30 p.m., and the JV baseball team plays at New Smyrna Beach at 6 p.m.
On Friday, March 22, the track team competes in the Astronaut Invitational at 3 p.m., while the baseball team travels to New Smyrna Beach for a game at 6 p.m.
Stetson University
Stetson University has named Dr. Erin Doggette the new director of diversity and inclusion. She comes from the University of Central Florida and Andrews University, with a doctorate in higher education administration, focusing on leadership.
Stetson University Athletics
Both the Stetson University men’s and women’s basketball teams finished second in their conference standings and played host to the first round of the ASUN Conference Tournament. The Hatter men defeated JU, 86-73, with Jalen Blackmon scoring 36 points, his career high. Alec Oglesby added 18 points with one blocked shot, while Stephan Swenson dropped in 16 points with eight assists, making him the all-time assist leader for Stetson, with 582.
The Hats then lost their last regular-season game to North Florida, 78-59, with Blackmon scoring 22 points. Aubin Gateretse added 12 points, with nine rebounds and one block shot. Swenson scored 10 points.
The Stetson women finished their regular season with two wins, defeating JU, 55-51, and North Florida, 59-56.
In the JU game, Jamiya Turner scored 14 points, while in the North Florida game, Jaelyn Talley dropped in 18 points with 10 rebounds. Quentarra Mitchell scored 10 points with seven rebounds.
The Stetson men’s golf team took fifth out of 22 at the Fifth Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate Tournament, with a 854 score. Dominic Clemons tied for fourth with a 210, 6 under. Virginia Commonwealth won the tournament, with South Florida taking second, followed by Long Beach and Arkansas State, with Stetson tying with Kansas City.
The Stetson baseball team beat Fordham, 9-1, Florida, 7-4, and Brown, 7-2 and 4-2.
In the Florida game in Conrad Park, Stetson scored five runs in the first inning, while Florida marked four in the fourth, with Stetson coming back with two in the eighth inning for the win. The winning pitcher was Anthony DeFabbia.
In the game on the Florida team were Brandon Neely from Seville, who played high-school baseball at Spruce Creek, and Dale Thomas from DeLeon Springs, who played his baseball at Bishop Moore and Coastal Carolina.
The men’s tennis team at Stetson defeated Georgia Southern, 5-2, moving them to a 64th ranking in ITA standings.
The Lady Hatter softball team stopped Maryland, 2-1, but lost to USF, 4-0, Longwood, 9-6, and Tennessee, 8-0.
On Friday, March 15, the baseball team goes to JU, as well as on March 16 and 17, with the first two games at 7 p.m. and the third at 1 p.m.
On Tuesday, March 19, they travel to FSU at 5 p.m. and are back home Friday, Saturday and Sunday, March 22, 23 and 24, against Lipscomb at 6:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
The softball team on Saturday, March 16, is at Kennesaw State, with games at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., and on Sunday, March 17, at 1 p.m. The team returns home for games with Bellarmine March 22-24, with games at 5 p.m., 2 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
The minor-sport spring home calendar has the rowing program hosting the DeLand Duals at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 16. The beach volleyball team hosts North Alabama at 8 a.m. and the College of Charleston at 2 p.m.
On Sunday, March 17, the men’s tennis team plays at 2 p.m. and the women’s tennis team plays at 10 a.m. against Lipscomb.
College honors
Abigaile Endiryas, a psychology major from Deltona, was named to Biola University’s dean’s list for academic excellence. Biola University is in La Mirada, California.
— Send school news to Tony Tussing via email: at flacoach43@hotmail.com.
