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AUGUST 12, 2015
Sales tax holiday means savings By B.C. Manion
bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
Families gearing up for a new school year can get a little help from the state of Florida, during the 2015 Back-to-School Tax Holiday. During the tax holiday, which runs through Aug. 16, shoppers can purchase scores of items without paying state sales tax. For example, no Florida sales tax will be collected on sales of certain clothing, footwear, and certain accessories with a selling price of $100 or less per item. No sales tax will be charged on certain school supplies selling for $15 or less per item. And, no See SALES TAX, page 11A
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Greg Lenners, general manager at The Shops at Wiregrass, said that shop operators were expecting a good back-to-school shopping season. He said the state’s sales tax holiday is a plus.
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Volunteers help Sanders gear up for first day By B.C. Manion
bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
A group of volunteers showed up at Sanders Memorial STEAM Magnet School last week, eager to help the school gear up for its first day of classes as Pasco County’s first magnet school. The Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce sent out a call for volunteers, and people responded. There were chamber members, parents of children who will be attending the school, community residents and other community volunteers. Pasco County School Board member Cynthia Armstrong was among those ready to get to work. “We’re so excited about this school opening. It’s a long time coming, to have a magnet school in Pasco County,”Armstrong said. “Seeing the outpouring of support for it — the number of students that applied to go to this school — just really lets us know that’s what the parents want, and we’re here to make sure that we offer the educational opportunities that they want for their students,” Armstrong added. Sandy Graves, a member of the Central Pasco Chamber and a Land O’ Lakes resident, has a special place in her heart for Sanders. That’s where she went to school for all but one year of elementary school, Graves said. She said she’s excited about the opportunities awaiting children who will be attending the school, which will focus on science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics. Some parent volunteers were at the workday, too. Nicole Bradshaw said her 5-year-old daughter, Emily, is just starting kindergarten. She said her daughter has attended a voluntary kindergarten program that had a STEAM approach to education, and she’s thrilled that she’ll able to continue that approach to education. “I like the immersive learning,” she said, noting that children are learning about the same themes, through different subject areas. “When I saw they (Pasco County Schools) were opening a STEAM school, I jumped on it,” said Bradshaw, who lives near State Road 52 and the Suncoast Parkway. She also likes the hands-on approach to learning. “They need to get their hands dirty. They need to touch stuff and not just be learning
B.C.MANION/STAFF PHOTOS
Sanders Principal Jason Petry chats with volunteer Cynthia Armstrong at a recent volunteer day at the school. Armstrong also happens to be a member of the Pasco County School Board.
Lots of volunteers turned out to pitch in at a volunteer day organized by the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce. The crew included neighbors, parents, chamber members and a school board member, too.
Sanders Open House WHERE: Sanders Memorial STEAM Magnet, 5126 School Road, Land O’ Lakes WHEN: 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., on Aug. 20 WHY: To give people a chance to tour Pasco County Schools’ first magnet school, and to see the school’s new buildings and renovated existing buildings.
Madison will be a fifth-grader and is excited about going to a new school. Michelle Ierna, left, is another volunteer who It was a difficult choice, Debra Wheeler hopes her child will be able to attend said, noting her daughter has attended Sanders next year. She was helping Renee Connerton Elementary until now. Glass staple together maps of the school. “It was a big decision for us, because so many years we’ve been going to the same from a book, or being recited to. They need elementary school,” she said. “So, that was to be in there and doing it,” she said. the debate: Do you stay with something Debra Wheeler and her 10-year-old consistent, or do you try something new? daughter, Madison, were also there to volunSee SANDERS, page 11A teer.
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Following the yellow brick road to Oz By Kathy Steele
ksteele@lakerlutznews.com
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INSIDE, PAGE 1B
Three Dorothys, a pair of witches, a pink munchkin and an acrobatic flying monkey adds up to a trip to the Land of Oz. That is, if the trip is imagined by instructors from Nicole’s Dance Center and 15 young performers, ages 6 to 14, at summer camp. The Tin Man, The Scarecrow, The Cowardly Lion and the “great and powerful” Wizard of Oz also traveled down the yellow brick road. And they were having fun — precisely what Nicole Bouchard wants her students See OZ, page 11A
KATHY STEELE/STAFF PHOTO
Glinda, the Good Witch, far right, tells her fellow performers to ‘break a leg.’ It is a superstitious way of wishing ‘good luck’ right before actors take the stage.