Volusia County Schools will observe Spring Holiday, starting with a Teacher Duty Day/Student Holiday on Friday, March 22, which marks the end of the third grading period. Students return to school Monday, April 1.
The last vacation day on the 2023-24 school calendar is Monday, May 27, so all can observe Memorial Day.
The end of the school year is Friday, May 31, for students, and Tuesday, June 4, for teachers.
Early-Release Wednesdays in April will be on the 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th.
Volusia County public-school students participating in athletics, ROTC and band, and firefighting-academy students, are reminded that the needed free physicals will be offered Wednesday, April 10, through Saturday, April 13, at Daytona International Speedway.
Registration for appointments is required, and pre-participation physical paperwork is needed that requires a parent’s or guardian’s signature. For more information, email vcssportsphysicals@groups.volusia.k12.fl.us.
These physicals are presented by AdventHealth and Volusia County Schools.
Have you ever wondered how school cafeteria food is selected? School Way Cafe is breaking the stereotype of icky cafeteria food by ensuring all menu items are student-tested. Only items with an 80 percent or higher student rating are included on the menus.
School Way Cafe is committed to keeping up with new trends and serving delicious, healthful meals, while adhering to USDA nutritional requirements for all VCS students.
During the week of March 11, student blind taste tests took place on different cheese and pepperoni pizzas. School Way Cafe will add the winning pizza choices to menus across VCS next school year.
Those schools on the west side of Volusia County that participated in the blind taste tests were Taylor Middle-High School in Pierson, Southwestern Middle School in DeLand, Citrus Grove Elementary in DeLand, Deltona High School, Heritage Middle School in Deltona and Deltona Lakes Elementary.
There was a groundbreaking ceremony March 18 for the new Orange City Elementary School.
The school was originally constructed in 1878 and will be rebuilt at its current location.
The frontage of the new school campus will pay homage to the existing office building’s Spanish Mission architecture. The design will incorporate new administration offices, a media center, art and music classrooms, a new parent drop-off and pickup line, and on-site parking spaces.
The school will support 750 students, immersed in a 21st-century learning environment with enhanced technology and security systems.
The architect is Schenkel Shultz, and the contractor is Ajax Building Company.
The DeLand Dawgs Youth Football program has 2024 fall registration open, with an early-bird special of $150 for football and $200 for cheerleading.
Visit their website at www.delanddawgs.com, or email DeLandDawgsyouthsports@gmail.com.
Stetson University men’s basketball
The Stetson University men’s basketball program wrote program history on March 10 by winning the ASUN Men’s Basketball Tournament over Austin Peay, 94-91, sending them to the NCAA Tournament. This will be the first time the Hatter men have made the tournament in the 52 years as a D-1 sport.
The team, through the tournament, earned a 22-12 season record, the first time that they have won 22 games since 1974.
In the tournament, the Hats first stopped Queens, 83-71, with Jalen Blackmon scoring 21 points; Aubin Gateretse scoring 20 points with three blocks; Stephan Swenson adding 19 points with 12 rebounds; and Tristan Gross adding 10 points.
The Hats then downed Jacksonville, 88-87, with a 3-point shot by Swenson with 4 seconds left in the game. Swenson finished the night with 29 points and six assists, Gateretse scored 23 with six rebounds and three blocks, Gross added 14 points, and Blackmon finished with 12 points.
Finally in the championship game, Blackmon had a career-high 43 points with five rebounds and one steal. Swenson made 13 points, Gateretse scored 13 points with seven rebounds and one block, and Alec Oglesby finished the night with 10 points.
Selection Sunday was March 17, and the Hats will be participating in the Big Dance of March Madness in the first round today, Thursday, March 21, through Friday, March 22.
The first-round cities are Dayton, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Omaha, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, Spokane and Memphis, and Stetson men’s basketball will be playing in one of them for the first time in program history.
FHSAA wrestling
Four West Volusia wrestling athletes earned points in the FHSAA State Wrestling Championships. DeLand High’s Grace Lashinsky placed second in the female championships in the 115-pound division. She is the first DHS female wrestler to be a finalist in Bulldog history.
MJ Smokes, DeLand High’s 285-pound-division wrestler, took fourth in state and is the only Bulldog wrestler to make the finals three years in a row.
Kyle Yasses, of Deltona, placed sixth in state in the 150-pound division, while Mary Ellen Wingate placed eighth in the 125-pound division in the female tournament.
West Volusia high-school track
There were two meets during the week of March 4 that saw many athletes from West Volusia high schools participating. The first was a meet at DeLand High, with the Bulldogs, Spruce Creek and Orange City University participating.
Those taking firsts for the DeLand squad included Marceles Carey, Anna Vandell, Kylie Neira, Tauren Nicholson, Shamia Allen (2), Antonio Williams, Owen York (2) and Emily Lamb (2).
University track athletes taking firsts were Nyrania Barr-Miller (3), Payton Rosamilia, Sarah Arroyo-Canalis, Hannah Morgan, Anthony Lebron, Jermane Hayes and Veronica Meyer.
The next large meet, the George Janan Memorial at Spruce Creek, had 11 schools involved. Carlos Cerrud of Deltona High won the 1600 at 4:37.18, while Elijah Thompson won the 200 meters at 23.32 for Pine Ridge.
DeLand High found Jesse Pack winning the 3200 at 10:54.30; Antonio Williams winning the triple jump at 40 feet, 3.5 inches; Savannah Hatfield winning the 1600 at 5:45.13; and Anna Vandell scoring highest with a high jump of 4 feet, 7.75 inches.
Kylie Neira won the pole vault at 12 feet, 1.75 inches; Shamia Allen in the long jump at 17 feet, 6 inches; and Emily Lamb in the discus at 98 feet, 11 inches, and the javelin at 113 feet, 4 inches.
DeLand High School Athletics
The DeLand High School Bulldog baseball team downed West Port, 2-0, and Deltona, 1-0, with the winning run coming in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The Lady Bulldog flag-football team defeated Taylor, 6-0, but was topped by New Smyrna Beach, 12-6.
The DeLand softball team beat Taylor, 10-3, with Payton Mathis hitting a home run. They then lost to Matanzas, 3-0.
The beach volleyball team lost to Middleburg, 4-1.
The DeLand spring sports calendar on Saturday, March 23, sends the beach volleyball team to the Spruce Creek Tournament.
On Tuesday, March 26, the JV baseball team is at DME in Daytona Beach at 5 p.m., while the varsity baseball team is at Windermere at 6 p.m.
Wednesday, March 27, has the boys weightlifting team participating in the FHSAA District Tournament.
On Thursday, March 28, the JV baseball team returns to DME at 5 p.m.
The Bulldog track teams will be at the Florida Relays in Gainesville on the University of Florida campus Friday and Saturday, March 29-30.
Stetson University
Katy Webb has been named Stetson University’s new Betty Drees Johnson dean of the duPont-Ball Library and Learning Technologies. Webb comes from Yale University, where she was the director of Yale Access Services and Bass Library. She also has been at East Carolina University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Stetson University Athletics
Stetson University’s women’s basketball head coach Lynn Bria has been named Coach of the Year by the ASUN Conference. Two Lady Hatter players were named to ASUN Conference All-Conference teams: Jamiya Turner was named to the Second Team, while Khamya McNeal was named to the Third Team.
Stetson golfer Dominic Clemons was named ASUN Men’s Golfer of the Week. The Stetson golf team won the 2024 Daytona Beach Intercollegiate, with 14 schools competing. Stetson finished with a score of 871, while Troy was second at 885. Clemons placed first with a 3 under 213 (73-70-70).
Hatter pitcher Anthony DeFabbia was named the ASUN Pitcher of the Week after going 2-0 for the week, with wins over Brown and Florida. He held batters to a .152 batting average.
The Stetson lacrosse team defeated Youngstown State, 21-13, with Jordyn Humphrey setting a program record with eight goals and 11 points.
The beach volleyball team defeated Louisiana-Monroe, 5-0, but lost to No. 16 Georgia Southern, 5-0, and No. 4 FSU, 5-0, but they downed No. 20 Tampa, 3-2.
The Lady Hatter basketball team lost in the ASUN Tournament to Austin Peay, 49-45, with Jordan Peete scoring 15 points, with Jaelyn Talley scoring 15 points along with 10 rebounds.
The Stetson softball team lost to UCF, 4-2, and split with Robert Morris, losing, 6-5, and winning, 8-3.
The Hatter baseball team defeated Brown, 14-2, and lost to Georgia, 11-5, with Logan Hughes hitting two home runs for the Hats, accounting for four RBIs, and Daniel Labrador hit a homer. The Hats also defeated Bradley, 14-5, 6-4 and 7-1, with Evan Griffis and Yohann Dessureault hitting four-baggers in the last game.
On Saturday and Sunday, March 23 and 24, the Hat baseball team greets Lipscomb at 6:30 p.m. for both games. Then Thursday-Saturday, March 28-30, they play at Eastern Kentucky.
The Lady Hatter softball team faces Bellarmine Saturday, Sunday and Monday, March 23-25, at 5 p.m., 2 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. They play host to FAU at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 26.
The minor sports home calendar for Stetson has the lacrosse team hosting Jacksonville at noon Saturday, March 23.
On Monday, March 25, the women’s golf team plays host to the Babs Steffens Invitational at the DeBary Golf and Country Club.
The lacrosse team greets Brown at 3 p.m. Monday, March 25.
On Thursday, March 28, the men’s tennis team faces Kennesaw State on the Stetson courts at 5 p.m., while the women host the same school at 10 a.m.
On Friday, March 29, the lacrosse team faces Liberty at noon on the Stetson campus.
— Send school news to Tony Tussing via email: at flacoach43@hotmail.com.
