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Efforts underway to encourage tourism
By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
It’s no secret that Florida’s tourism economy has been decimated from impacts of COVID-19, and Dana Young, president and CEO of Visit Florida, recently detailed tourism losses the state has suffered during a Zoom breakfast meeting with the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce. At the same session, Young outlined ef-
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forts that have started to spur a tourism rebound. “Prior to the pandemic, Florida tourism had just capped off our 10th consecutive year of record visitation.We welcomed over 130 million visitors to our state in 2019,” Young said, during the Oct. 6 meeting. “And, these folks contributed $91 billion to our economy and supported 1.5 million jobs,”Young added. In fact, she reported that Florida’s State
Economist Amy Baker warned last year that tourism-related revenue losses posed the greatest potential risk to Florida’ economic outlook. “A little over a year later, that prediction has come true. In the long-range financial outlook released last month to the Legislature, the economists reported that the pandemic’s fiscal impact on tourism acSee TOURISM, page 11A
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Local chiropractor keeps Lightning fit for ice
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After 42 enjoyable years of serving the chiropractic needs of our community, and taking care of many of you, I have finally decided to retire. Dr. Michael McClure will be joining the clinic as new owner effective immediately. My wife and I felt that now was the right time for us to move on to the next stage of our lives and take the time to enjoy our family and travel. I wish all of you a heart-felt farewell and Godspeed. We cannot thank you enough for your friendship and your support.
Dr. Michael Craven CRAVEN CHIROPRACTIC CLINIC
5420 Land O’ Lakes Blvd. #105 www.cravenchiropractic.com
813-996-9800
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INSIDE, PAGE 1B
Dr. Timothy Bain dreamed of someday hoisting the NHL’s Stanley Cup, as he grew up in the Northeast and played and watched hockey. Little did he expect, however, to actually get that rare opportunity. “Who knew at 53 (years old) that this would happen? I thought it’d happen at like 23,” Bain quipped, in reference to hoisting the Cup, after the Lightning’s Stanley Cup win after six games against the Dallas Stars. The Wesley Chapel resident has been the Lightning’s team chiropractor since 2011. He also runs his own practice, B3 Medical, with locations in Wesley Chapel, New Tampa, Carrollwood and Riverview, and works with a sports performance facility at Saddlebrook Resort & Spa designed for elite-level athletes. Bain assists Lightning players on injury prevention and body maintenance. The scope of work includes neurological-based adjustments, post-concussion therapy, craniosacral therapy, plus other exercise therapies to help improve muscle tissue on extremities, such as feet and ankles. “Ultimately, it’s about getting the athlete better,” Bain said, describing his role with the team. The chiropractor’s work to enhance
COURTESY OF DAVID MILES
Tampa Bay Lightning team chiropractor Dr. Timothy Bain celebrates the organization winning its second Stanley Cup in franchise history. The Wesley Chapel resident spent 65 days with the team in the NHL playoff ‘bubble’ in Canada from late July through late September.
players’ bodies for the ice was deemed so critical that he was included in the team’s 52-member traveling party (including players and coaches) to the NHL’s quarantine “bubble” for the postseason tournament in Canada. “They were really great at saying, ‘We need you there, we want you there, you’re a big part of our team,’ and it made me feel really good and proud of that,” Bain said. The traveling party spent a combined 65 days at hotels in Toronto and then
Edmonton through the team’s lengthy title run, from late July through late September, where all games were played without fans in attendance.The great measures were put in place to safely complete the NHL playoffs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. For Bain and other Lightning personnel, being away from family and home for so long was quite challenging. So, too, was being cooped up in a hotel room, ice rink or See CHIROPRACTOR, page 11A
Embracing the changing world of education By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
When people arrive on the campus of Sunlake Academy of Math & Science, in Lutz, they are greeted by a place that sets a positive tone. “Welcome back Ravens, we missed you,” proclaims a sign near the school’s driveway. “We support our students. We support teachers.We support our administration.We love our school,” a sign on a fence declares. “Go Ravens!” a third sign encourages. Sounds of children — playing outdoors— fill the air. And, near the front door of the public charter school, there’s a reminder of today’s COVID-19 times.A sign informs those entering that they must wear a face mask and maintain social distancing. Inside, there are other clues regarding the ongoing pandemic. There’s hand sanitizer on the counter, plexiglass separating office staff from visitors, and social distancing signs. Children seem to be taking it all in stride as they walk down a corridor in single file, dressed in school uniforms and wearing their masks of various designs. They wave to Principal Judy Moore, as they make their way to Spanish class. Finding the balance between safety and normalcy has presented new challenges, but Moore said that adapting to change is part of an educator’s way of life. As it relates to COVID-19, she said,“I think, like everybody else, you just take it as it comes, do the best job that you can. “The challenge with COVID, all of the way back to March when it started — the information changes every 10 minutes.Whatever the standard is right now, is probably not going to be the standard tomorrow, or the day after,” she said. That’s been a frustration for everyone, but the school has proceeded — giving parents an option for their children to learn at home or at school. The children are assigned to a specific class, wherever they’re learning. “If they happen to be at home, they’re basically on the screen and the teacher is interacting with the kids that are at home and the kids in the class, at the same time,” the principal said. Teachers sometimes will group kids, so one teacher is working with the kids at school, while others instruct the online kids.
B.C. MANION
Principal Judy Moore came to Sunlake Academy of Math & Science last year, after a lengthy career leading schools in North Carolina.
And, then they will swap. Some teachers feel they are better able to serve both groups that way, Moore said. But, other teachers are teaching both groups, simultaneously. Moore knows that’s difficult to do, and she’s impressed. Adapting to COVID-19 has required changes, but the school also is getting ready to embark on another big change — this one, of its own making. Parents have raised $30,000 to pay for a new STEAM lab. Initially, the hope was to open it at the beginning of this school year, but that was thrown off by COVID-19. Now, plans call for opening it within the next couple of months. A space initially that was designed for a media center is being converted into the STEAM lab. (The acronym stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.) A group, which Moore calls the STEAM Team, led the planning efforts. Moore joined that team, the executive area director from Charter School Associates and one of CSA’s math coaches during visits to STEAM labs at Corbett Prep, Jesuit High School and Academy of the Holy Names to glean ideas. The lab will be equipped with Virtual Reality headsets, which individual classrooms can check out. It will have 3D printers, a 3D laser printer, tablets, and other devices and programs aimed at unleashing new ways of
learning. Children in kindergarten through fifth grade will visit once a week, and the technology will be incorporated into middle school classes. The idea is to harness the power of technology to broaden learning experiences. “You kind of have to change up the way you think, and the way you teach,” said Moore, who did her doctoral work in technology integration. “It’s about higher order thinking skills. It’s about problem-solving. It’s about teamwork, creative thinking and creative problem-solving,” said Moore, who worked in the Gaston County school district in Charlotte, North Carolina, for 21 years before arriving last year at Sunlake Academy. Educators must connect how they teach with how students learn, the principal added. “For me, it became not so much about technology, not so much about how we teach, but it’s about how kids learn — and how they’re wired these days,” the principal added. Today’s students are part of the digital native generation. They live in a world of Google, digital on-demand, virtual reality and other technical advances, Moore said.
EDUCATION MUST GO DEEPER
“How do you make the students think through the problems versus the teacher just giving the question and the answer?” Moore said. Students are challenged to consider:“How do you use your creativity to come to more than one solution, to the same problem? “The truth of the matter is the jobs that we’re trying to prepare them for, don’t exist. And, they’re not going to exist anytime soon, Moore said. The principal and her husband moved to the area because he was offered a new job opportunity, and she set out seeking the right match for her interests and skills. Moore said she was attracted to Sunlake Academy because she’s been interested for years in differentiated instruction and higherorder thinking skills. “We’re (Sunlake Academy) very data-driven. Our teachers are constantly checking in on where kids are in terms of their proficiency and growth, on different curriculum strands and skill sets. “We have differentiated groups,” she said, See EDUCATION, page 11A