The Volusia County School Board has announced the latest administrative appointments, with four newly appointed principals and four county-level appointments.
The appointment of new principals affected three West Volusia schools, with Carrie Ann Devaney being named principal of Pride Elementary in Deltona, Christopher Mertz as principal of Discovery Elementary in Deltona, and Dr. Tai Swift as principal of Southwestern Middle School in DeLand.
The countywide administrative appointments include John Cash as chief of staff – operations, William Ryser as director – secondary schools, Jessica Duncan as coordinator – early learning, and Stephanie DeGrazia as coordinator – secondary exceptional student education.
During the Administrative Institute at University High in Orange City, several schools were honored for their improvement in assessment scores. Those located in West Volusia included Freedom Elementary in DeLand, Southwestern Middle School in DeLand, Deltona Middle School, Deltona High School and Pine Ridge High School in Deltona.
30-year honors
Two more Volusia County Schools staff members have been honored with their 30-year pins. These are Maureen Taylor, a teacher at Sunrise Elementary in Deltona, and Marjorie Sack, a School Way Cafe manager at Pride Elementary in Deltona.
Galaxy Middle School
The Florida State Science and Engineering Fair has announced that Galaxy Middle student, Lily Downs, took first place in engineering and a top position in the State Science Olympiad.
Deltona High School
The Deltona High Junior ROTC Color Guard presented the U.S. and Florida flags at the Memorial Day Celebration at Veterans Memorial Park in Deltona.
Stetson University
At the conclusion of the academic year at Stetson University, several faculty awards were made. These include include Rajni Shakar-Brown, PhD, as Faculty Advisor of the Year; Wendy Anderson, PhD, Hand Award for Community Impact; Carol Azab, PhD, Hand Award for Research, Creative and Professional Activity; and Jean Smith, PhD, William Hugh McEniry Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Stetson Athletics
The Stetson men’s tennis team has been ranked 10th in the southeast region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
The Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association has named six Lady Hatter rowing athletes as scholar-athletes. In order to qualify, a student must have a 3.5 cumulative GPA and participate in 75 percent of the season’s races in an NCAA boat, or compete in an NCAA boat at their conference championship.
The Lady Hatters earning this honor are Katrina Early, Asia Erickson, Julia Hickey, Mallory Holland, Cailin Mitchell and Maia Starrwalker.
Dominic Clemons, a member of the Stetson golf team, won the Scottish Men’s Open Championship. He led by 17 strokes to claim the title, while playing the four-round tournament at 24 under par. Clemons is a sophomore at Stetson, who hails from Cambridge, England. The tournament was played at Muirfield in Gullane, Scotland.
The Hatter men’s tennis team has added two transfers to their roster. They are Xavier Sarda Marti from Jacksonville State, who hails from Barcelona, Spain, and Christian Kuehne from the University of San Diego, hailing from Lugano, Switzerland.
Even though Stetson did not make it out of the NCAA Regional Tournament at Tallahassee, two members of the team were honored for their play there. Kyle Jones and Johann Dessureault were named to the 2024 NCAA Tallahassee Regional All-Tournament team.
While FSU had the most named, Stetson outnumbered UCF and Alabama, who both had one.
The MAAC (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) has also announced its Women’s Rowing All-Academic Team. Stetson had 13 Lady Hatters named to the team.
To make the team, a student must compete two semesters at their institution and hold a cumulative grade-point average of 3.20 on a 4.0 scale.
Those earning the right to be named were Cassandra Bradley, Savannah Clarke, Katrina Early, Asia Erickson, Julia Hickey, Mallory Holland, Sadie Jensen, Tess Menten, Cailin Mitchell, Caley Petersen, Jayline Santiago, Eileen Self and Maia Starrwalker.
College honors
The University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, announces that Paul Troxler, of Orange City, has graduated with a Bachelor of Science in education, and Katherine Yelvington, of DeLand, has graduated with a Master of Science in nursing. Also, for the spring 2024 semester, Ava Flaute and Samantha Flaute, both of DeBary, were named to the dean’s list, as was Paul Troxler, of Orange City. James Gorman, of Deltona, was named to the President’s List.
Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas, announces that Lisa Hall, of DeBary, has graduated with a Bachelor of Science in business education, and Asny Phillips, of Deltona, has graduated with a Bachelor of General Studies.
Katherinne Rodriguez, of DeLand, has been named to the President’s List for the spring 2024 semester at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire.
Megan Drake, of Deltona, has been named to Kennesaw State University‘s spring 2024 dean’s list. Drake is majoring in software engineering. Kennesaw State is in Kennesaw, Georgia.
