21 minute read
MEET NURSE JEN
FITNESS AND FUN
So many people find friendships at the gym. Most gyms have been slowly reopening, but some Baldwin Park-area fitness and yoga studios are continuing the connection with live Zoom classes, Instagram feeds and Facebook Live.
n BLUE MOON YOGA is offering free meditation and yoga classes for anyone who has recently lost employment due to COVID. All yoga classes — including classes for couples, families and small groups — follow social distancing outside in shaded green spaces around Baldwin Park. Certified yoga instructor Becca Schmidt has been teaching for 17 years in Orlando. Reach her at becca@ bluemoon.yoga for locations and times.
n CHAMPIONSHIP MARTIAL ARTS — In-person classes are back in action with various safety precautions. Visit championshipmartialarts.com/baldwin-park to learn more.
n MIGHTY GIRLS FITNESS — Offers a variety of classes including Go With the Flow Yoga, Pilates, Barre and Burn, Cardio Hip Hop Fit, Core and Cardio, Restorative Yoga, Self Care and Mighty Mobility. Sign up for classes at mightygirlsfitness. com or on the MINDBODY app.
n 9ROUND FITNESS — Enjoy a 30-minute total body workout in a kickboxing-themed fitness program. For information, visit facebook.com/9RoundOrlandoJakeSt.
n NOVEMBER PROJECT — This group is offering free weekly workouts. Visit november-project.com for more information.
WRITERS’ BLOCK WRITING GROUP
This group will discuss many topics to help writers, such as thinking outside the box, preventing stagnation, practicing new vocabulary words, research and more! Come with a desire to meet other writers and learn to hone your writing skills. Contact Rich at powerofselfentertainment@gmail.com. What kind of Baldwin Park residents’ group would you like to join? Community service? Golf? Single moms and dads? Empty nesters? Sailing? Cigar club? Optimist club? Speakers round table? Wine tasting? Frisbee football? If you don’t see your interests reflected in the groups listed here, consider spearheading a new group. Email lifestyledirector@baldwinparkpoa. com for more information.
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Everyday HERO
Jennifer Bhullar, school nurse at Baldwin Park Elementary, was among the top-five finalists for Orange County Public Schools’ Support Person of the Year award.
DANIELLE HENDRIX ASSOCIATE EDITOR
For Jennifer Bhullar, serving as the school nurse at Baldwin Park Elementary is so much more than just providing ice packs and Band-Aids.
Each morning, she checks students’ hearing aids to ensure they are working properly. Throughout the day, she monitors her diabetic students’ blood-sugar levels, which are sent to her smart watch.
She facilitates feedings for students with gastrostomy tubes, conducts vision and hearing screenings, monitors children for potential COVID-19 symptoms, and puts parents’ minds at ease when health concerns are present. And, yes, she does hand out the occasional ice pack or Band-Aid.
In the three years Bhullar has been the school nurse, the children she cares for — and their families — always know they are in good hands under her watch. It’s one of the reasons she was a top-five finalist for Orange County Public Schools’ Support Person of the Year award.
The Support Person of the Year award honors educational-support personnel for the contributions they make to their schools, district-level sections, units and departments. The district winner was announced Wednesday, Jan. 27, after press time.
Being a top-five finalist is a major achievement. And if you were to ask anyone at Baldwin Park Elementary about the honor, they would agree Bhullar has earned it.
Bhullar’s previous nursing experience was in hospitals. She once worked at Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies before switching over to pediatrics. For eight years, she was a registered nurse in Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children’s emergency trauma unit.
After having her children, she became a stay-at-home mom for a few years, but she always knew she wanted to return to nursing. When her children were getting ready to start school at Baldwin Park Elementary, she asked if the school happened to need a nurse — as it turned out, they did.
“Never in a million years did I ever think I’d work at a school — especially after doing trauma and ER — but then I thought about it and I was like, ‘Well, gosh, I could have their same schedule,’” she says. “I went and interviewed, and that was that. … I think the biggest thing that is very emotionally fulfilling about the job is obviously the children, be-
Courtesy of Lauren Detzel, Baldwin Park Elementary PTA Jennifer Bhullar has been the school nurse at Baldwin Park Elementary for three years.
Continued on page 24
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Continued from page 22 cause that’s what makes our school run.”
At the school, the children make her feel like a local celebrity. She can’t walk down the hallway without a child grabbing her leg and saying, “Hi, Nurse Jen!” It’s knowing the impact she has on their lives that keeps her going and motivates her to advocate for them and their health.
She’s been able to help a child get much-needed glasses when his or her family can’t afford them, and she’s been there to help newly diagnosed diabetic families through the necessary life changes. Bhullar also has formed partnerships with the Winter Park Health Foundation and Kinsa for Schools to aid students and families when needed.
She conducts the vision, hearing and Body Mass Index screenings every year, and has also done head-injury workshops and a seizure first-aid class. Then there is a team that hosts healthy-eating events and promoting healthy habits at school.
That dedication is what landed her among the five finalists for the district Support Person of the Year award. She remembers the day she learned of the recognition.
“I remember it was Boss’s Day and we were eating together — I was eating wings, I remember, from Gator’s in the neighborhood,” she says with a laugh. “All of a sudden, the front-desk clerk comes in and she’s like, ‘Jen, I don’t know how to say this, but (Superintendent) Barbara Jenkins is on the phone for you.’ I was thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, did I give a kid the wrong meds? What did I do?’ I got worried all of a sudden.”
She learned the superintendent was congratulating her for being an award finalist. Bhullar remembers Jenkins telling her she was chosen out of more than 200 employees, each of whom had also earned the Support Person of the Year honor at their individual schools.
“I literally think I went pale and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, thank you!’” she says. “(My colleagues) all screamed, and the principal announced it on the intercom. It was surreal. I was excited when I got it for the school, of course — I didn’t expect that — but I did not at all expect to get it for the whole county. I still am in shock.”
Because of COVID-19, the school year has been different from any other, and Bhullar works as hard as she can to reassure worried parents through emails, texts and phone calls. It’s her job to look out for COVID-19 symptoms among staff and students, recommend quarantines and keep up with the latest news regarding the virus. Bhullar spends much of her “down time” doing everything in her power to keep the virus away from the school. Although it’s an exhausting role, knowing the impact she has on families is a major motivator.
“It’s kind of refueled me — especially this year going all day every day with COVID and everything else going on — and it really makes me appreciate again how much impact I could have, even though I never thought I had that much,” she says.
I know that I have worked hard, and this just proves that I’m where I’m supposed to be. I like my job, I love my students, and I want to help.”
— JENNIFER BHULLAR
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Baldwin Park resident Eric Brown and his first mentee, Isiah Hill, loved to goof off when they could.
Courtesy of the Horizon Scholars Program
Brighter futures
Baldwin Park residents Kelly Astro and Eric Brown are integral in making a difference in the lives of high school students through Valencia College’s Horizon Scholars Program.
DANIELLE HENDRIX ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Throughout her two decades in education, Kelly Astro’s passion always has been giving students the opportunities to achieve whatever educational dreams they have.
When the Baldwin Park resident first began teaching with Orange County Public Schools, she worked as a teacher in Orlando’s Parramore community, where many schools are part of the Title 1 federal-aid program. She also spent time working at the University of Central Florida’s Burnett Honors College.
Now, as the director of the Horizon Scholars Program through Valencia College, Astro and her team have the unique opportunity to reach at-risk high school students — providing life resources, scholarships and hope for a brighter future.
The program is an affiliate with Take Stock in Children, a nonprofit that provides an opportunity for deserving, low-income youth to escape the cycle of poverty through education. The Horizon Scholars Program serves students from all OCPS high schools.
“We are a scholarship and mentoring program for students who are at risk of being kind of left behind because the resources aren’t there for the schools,” Astro says. “We typically target students who are in the academic middle, which is unusual for a lot of programs. … The whole purpose of our program is to open up doors for students to be able to go to college, technical programs, to do something after high school that is meaningful to them.”
Continued on page 28
The thing we hear most from our students when we ask them about their mentor is … they refer to them as, ‘Well, that’s my person.’ … That is something that means so much.”
— KELLY ASTRO
Continued from page 26
The Horizon Scholars Program delivers four pillars of promise: a two-year college scholarship; leadership development opportunities; a caring mentor and college success coordinator; and good citizenship through civic engagement. Students must be living at or below the federal poverty line, and they must go through an application and interview process to be accepted into it.
Each student is asked to complete 25 hours of community service each year as a way to give back. They also participate in various workshops that cover everything from financial literacy and career readiness to health and wellness.
Throughout her nearly five years with the program, Astro has helped grow the program from 100 to 500 students. But she hasn’t done it alone. In fact, the mentors are perhaps the biggest part of ensuring student success, she says.
“The cornerstone of the program is our mentoring program,” Astro says. “Every student is assigned a mentor. I think the thing the students are most excited initially about is the idea of a scholarship, but by the completion of the program, what they have found most value in is the relationship they have with their mentor.”
With about 500 students in the program, that means there also are 500 mentors involved. Mentors and mentees meet 15 times each year in 30-minute sessions. This year, most of those sessions have gone virtual due to COVID-19.
Fellow Baldwin Park resident Eric Brown has been a mentor with the Horizon Scholars Program for nine years. He mentored his first student from freshman year to graduation, and he currently is mentoring another who will graduate this year.
“I wanted to volunteer in some way, and we do some (volunteer) things at my work, but this one felt a little more personal,” Brown says. “Your scope is narrowed to one student, but you feel part of a community, and the other mentors are all doing it together. … The commitment works out to about twice a month. … It’s really nice to spend that time with the student. They’re excited. I kind of got in a rhythm with Dayquan (current mentee) before COVID hit where I was bringing him lunch, and we’d sit and have lunch. … I’ve always enjoyed it and fully expect when he graduates to pick it up next year with somebody new.”
Astro said mentors also go through an application and interview process, as well as training, before they are matched with a student. Personal interests and professional goals are among the factors taken into account.
“The thing we hear most from our students when we ask them about their mentor is … they refer to them as, ‘Well, that’s my person. I don’t have to share them with anybody, with my siblings or anyone else. When they come, they are here to see me, and they’re interested in me,’” Astro says. “That is something that means so much.”
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Continued from page 28
Astro said 95% of the program’s students will be first-generation college students. Over the last four years, every student in the program has graduated high school, and about 98% of them started college the fall after they graduated. Additionally, the students’ average GPA has risen from a 2.8 to 3.2 overall. She credits much of these achievements to the dedication of each and every mentor.
“The most rewarding part is that they’re excited to talk to you and that they want to tell you what’s going on,” Brown says. “They care that you’re asking them about their grades, and they feel accountable to you, in a way. They just want to do good for you and impress you, and I think that’s fantastic for the little amount of time that we get to spend together. I never had anything like this as a kid and never thought about that as a possibility.”
Brown’s first mentee, Isiah Hill — a 2017 graduate of Edgewater High School — confirmed that. He and Brown were a great team throughout his high-school career.
“Eric is a really awesome and cool guy,” Hill says. “He taught me about being professional, looking at people in the eyes when you talk to them, and how to plan a schedule. We laughed a lot, and I really appreciated his support.”
Astro said Valencia College President Sandy Shugart has supported the program’s growth, and the whole team has worked hard to make the Horizon Scholars Program a meaningful experience for students in need.
“We have many children in our county that are dreaming of going to college, and we are committed to making that dream a reality,” Shugart says. “This program will provide our children with a chance to obtain a higher education and will help them get there with the guidance of a caring mentor through middle and high school.”
HORIZON SCHOLARS PROGRAM
An affiliate with Take Stock in Children, this program supports Orange County Public High School students and helps them chart their path toward a life of purpose. Students come from all OCPS high schools. To be eligible, they must be at or below the federal poverty line, and they must go through an application and interview process. During the program, they will be matched with a mentor and enjoy leadership development opportunities. Upon completion, they earn a two-year college scholarship.
The Horizon Scholars Program needs mentors to continue to be successful. To volunteer as a mentor or for more information, call (407) 582-3008 or email horizonscholars@valenciacollege.edu.
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What’s Selling
Top floor 2bed/2bath plus study/den condo in Baldwin Park. Recent upgrades include new paint and engineered hardwood floors throughout. This updated condo boasts granite countertops, french doors to the lanai from living room and master bedroom, separate study/den and a one car garage. Short walk to the community pool and fitness center, as well as, Baldwin Park’s downtown area.
Sold for $340,000
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Located on one of the few quiet cul-de-sacs in Baldwin Park, this beautiful Craftsman style 3/2.5 home sits on one of the largest lots in the neighborhood. Spacious and open floor plan allows for easy entertaining. Custom designer touches throughout the home with plantation shutters and extensive molding really make this home unique. Brand new roof, two newer AC units, a new hot water heater and the home was recently painted inside and out. The backyard is like nothing you have seen before with plenty of room for a pool and outdoor living space. Amazing location to schools, neighborhood parks, playground, pool and fitness center, as well as, walking distance to downtown Baldwin Park.
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Truly the best condo on the market today! Beautiful first floor unit has been upgraded throughout and is located in the heart of Baldwin Park. Gorgeous condo with a large wrap around porch and just steps away from the Corrine Commons park, as well as, the Grace Hopper pool, fitness area and community room. Open floor plan with 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths plus an inside laundry area. Private driveway leads to attached one car garage. Perfectly located within walking distance to Blue Jacket Park, the neighborhood schools and Baldwin Park’s downtown area with shops and restaurants, as well as, easy access to downtown Orlando and Winter Park.
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Hard to find, this one story, open floor plan home sits on a quiet tree lined street. Kitchen features an island with granite countertops and a wine refrigerator, plus an eat-in area and a breakfast bar. Private study with French doors and a separate dining room really make this home great for entertaining. Spacious family room has pretty built-ins and a wood-burning fireplace and looks out onto the screened rear porch and fenced in backyard. Private master suite includes garden tub, separate shower, dual sinks, and walk in closet. Great den/playroom area in between the two secondary bedrooms, which is perfect for all your guests.
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BALDWIN PARK LIVING | FEBRUARY 2021 31 Makes All the Difference”
