BLOOMINGDALE’S CHURCH NAMED WRESTLING COACH OF THE YEAR

By Jane Owen

exciting to watch him turn a really good program into a great program. He challenges the boys to be better wrestlers every day, and they have responded,” Bogue said. The wrestlers have benefitted from his strong work ethic.

HANDYMAN MILLER INC. OFFERS QUALITY SERVICE TO THE RIVERVIEW COMMUNITY

By Libby Hopkins

Bloomingdale High School wrestling coach Mark Church was named this year’s Joel Medgebow Memorial Wrestling Coach of the Year. He was presented the award at the Hillsborough County School District meeting on March 30. The award is given yearly to honor the memory of Robinson High School wrestling coach Joel Medgebow.

Church took over as head coach this year at Bloomingdale after serving as an assistant for the last five years. He decided he could not leave the athletes after the previous coach, Dennis Kitko, moved overseas.

He not only didn’t leave them, but he also led them to victory. Ten wrestlers competed at regionals, six wrestlers competed at states and four wrestlers finished the season as state medalists. Church is also the assistant girls’ wrestling coach.

Sara Bogue, Bloomingdale High School’s athletic director, said Church teaches resilience.

“Coach Church has done a phenomenal job with our wrestling team. It has been

“Coach Church is a great coach because he is always there for us ready to work. He always pushes us to our limits, and he helps us learn from our mistakes,” said junior wrestler J.R. Singer.

Coach Church focuses on conditioning and teaching basics. He credits the wrestlers, administration and parents that believed in him.

“None of it would have been possible if it weren’t for the kids who believed in me as much as I believed in them, especially as a first-year head coach. I was honored from day one that the admin, coaches, wrestlers and parents all entrusted me, which allowed me to keep it simple and just focus on wrestling,” Church said.

“It was definitely humbling to receive such an award from my fellow coaching peers. It’s also really cool to have my name on the same trophy with my mentor and coach — the legendary Russ Cozart,” Church added.

He wrestled under Cozart at Brandon High School. Church was the 1995 state champion for 112 lbs.

Jason Miller, owner of Handyman Miller Inc., was born and raised in Ruskin, and his wife is Amy, who is from Apollo Beach. The couple lived in Temple Terrace for a while and then lived in North Carolina for four years before moving to Riverview, where they currently live. “I have always worked in construction and technology and have experience in many diferent fields of construction, including aluminum, screening, steel buildings and wood-frame homes from the ground up,” Miller said. “I have worked in Southern Hillsborough County most of my life.”

Miller started doing side work in addition to his full-time job to make extra money as a teen. “After many years of learning many diferent trades and perfect timing, I decided to trust God and take a leap of faith and go full time with my own business in 2012,” Miller said. “I planned to keep it small, but my quality of work grew my business. I needed help. So, I slowly decided to add two employees that I know well and trust. The work we put out and the type of people working for me is very important. The reputation of my company is everything.”

If you ask Miller what makes his business diferent from others in the area, he’ll tell you about his quality of work and the level of customer service he gives his clients. “I truly care about my customers and the quality of work that we do,” Miller said. “My employees have to give quality work. I only have two employees that I have carefully vetted, and I know they do the same quality work that I do and expect. We also do not take payments for jobs until they are complete. We do our best to make sure we run a legit and completely legal business.”

Miller also loves the variety his business brings him. “It is something diferent every day,” Miller said. “I also get to meet many very interesting people. I love working with my hands, building and fixing things, along with being able to get creative and fix issues that are uncommon or odd.”

Keeping things local is very important to Miller and his team. “Local is very important to me,” Miller said. “When companies are local, they usually care about the people they serve even more. I have grown up working in diferent construction businesses in this area. I love to help when elderly customers have been taken advantage of and then call me to come fix what another person has either ruined or not fixed correctly.”

If you would like to learn more about the services Miller and his team ofer, visit their website at www.handymanmiller. com. Call Jason for a free estimate at 813-503-5774.

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MOSAIC PARTNERS WITH THE CONFIDENCE & LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION TO SUPPORT GIRLS & BOYS WITH CONFIDENCE TO TITLE I SCHOOLS

The Confidence & Leadership Foundation was recently selected by Mosaic to be a community partner for its commitment to supporting diversity and inclusion. Through this partnership, they will be able to ofer free programming to several Title I schools in the Tampa Bay area.

“We were honored to be selected by Mosaic and look forward to making an impact on the populations we serve through this partnership,” said Nancy Lemon, executive director for the foundation. “We can now ofer our programs after school to kids that can really use the additional tools, guidance and support.”

The foundation supports programs offered by Girls & Boys With Confidence that focus on the development of positive self-esteem and strong character. The programs help elementary-age children learn life skills and strategies for managing through the challenges they might experience, such as exclusion, bullying, distorted body image, diversity, friendships, perfectionism, etc.

“We understand the impact of the foundation’s work for girls and boys in under-resourced communities within Hillsborough County. Mosaic is committed

Grand Opening Of First Florida Location Of Let There Be Rock Music School In Riverview

to supporting that impact by providing financial support and resources to increase the capacity and reach of the Foundation,” said Sarah Fedorchuk, Mosaic’s vice president of government and public afairs for North America.

Currently, Girls & Boys With Confidence is offering free programming through The Confidence & Leadership Foundation to several Title I schools, including McDonald, Mintz, Booker T. Washington and Burney elementary schools, with more to be added later this spring and in the fall.

The Confidence & Leadership Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was formed in the fall of 2019 to help support Girls & Boys With Confidence in two main areas: scholarships and Title I school programming.

Its mission is: “Providing all youth the opportunity to grow their self-confidence to become tomorrow’s leaders.”

For more information on The Confidence & Leadership Foundation, email info@ confidenceandleadership.org. Girls With Confidence and Boys With Confidence are located at 10540 Browning Rd. in Lithia; visit www.girlswithconfidence.com for additional programming information.

If you or your child have ever dreamed of being a music star, Let There Be Rock School, a combination music lesson facility and after-school rock ’n’ roll center, is here. It recently celebrated its grand opening in Riverview with a ribbon-cutting and family activities.

Whether you or your child wants to be a musician, singer, recording engineer or songwriter, this unique school has something for all ages and skill levels.

Behind the Florida debut of the Let There Be Rock School franchise are business partners Kevin Sitaras and Dave Cortino. The school ofers guitar, bass, drums, piano, ukulele, mandolin, voice and audioa production instruction with four vetted instructors. Both Sitaras and Cortino have invested heavily in providing their students with the best guitars, amps, drums, sound production software and more, and the school proudly features vintage ’80s to the most modern musical equipment.

In addition to lessons, students can join a band and even opt to perform an original song at a real concert venue every two to three months. The school will also feature a summer camp geared toward songwriting.

The antithesis of stufy, Let There Be Rock School boasts an arcade with six machines and a seating area for guests to relax or play video games on the 65-inch TV. In the lobby, walls are covered with Sitaras’ show posters and memorabilia, along with posters of bands the school has gotten signed to labels.

“The biggest concept behind this school is community. We wanted to build a community around a school. Rather than a company fueled solely by profit, we wanted to create a place where people can come and hang out and feel fully welcomed for their lessons or band rehearsals,” explained Sitaras. “We look forward to building a home for as many people as possible.”

Cortino said, “We want to create a safe, inclusive space where musicians of all ages can gather and be encouraged to play music, write and network.”

Sitaras and Cortino know life is hectic. That is why Let There Be Rock School ofers a flexible schedule where students can take weekly 30-minute lessons or 60-minute rehearsals on weekdays after school and on weekends.

Let There Be Rock School’s grand opening even featured beignets compliments of the Daily Beignets truck, beverages and live performances by local bands from three diferent school locations. There was also a 50/50 cash rafe to support Habitat for Humanity.

Let There Be Rock School is located at 9366 Balm Riverview Rd. in Riverview. Its hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 3-9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; and Sunday by appointment. Enrollment is open for ages 4 to adult. Vvisit https://ltbrsriverview.com/ for more