Cobra Special Olympics Swimmer Qualifies for Nationals!

Tenth grade Lady Cobra Leah Scheible is all smiles after qualifying for the Special Olympics National Competition. (Photo Provided)

August 21, 2017 - Sebastian, FL - The Special Olympics Area 10 Swim Meet was held at North County Aquatics in Sebastian Saturday August 20 and Sunday 21. Area 10 includes Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, Saint Lucie and Indian River Counties. Saint Lucie is coached by Heather Gray and Carolyn Hancock.  Ten student-athletes competed over two days bringing home seven first place finishes,  six second place finishes and two third place finishes! 

Student Athletes that participated included: Richard Denike, William Denike, Wesley Glass, Stephanie Gomulka, James Jordan, Sabrina McNew, Justin Qualtieri-Terrell, Leah Scheible, Sharon Carr and Easton Santoro.

Although all the student-athletes did fantastic, representing themselves, their  school and the county the day belonged to Fort Pierce Central Sophomore Leah Scheible who won first place in the 200 and second place in the 100 qualifying her for not only the State Championship Series in October but she is the only student-athlete from St. Lucie County to earn a shot at the USA Nationals next summer in Denver.

Player Profile: Bradley Bell - The Cobra's Jolly Purple Giant!

At 6"5" and always wearing a smile from ear to ear is it any wonder why FP Central standout Tight End Bradley Bell has earned the nick name "Jolly Purple Giant?"

Name:		Bradley Bell
School:		Fort Pierce Central
Current Grade:		I’m a Senior dude!
Unweighted GPA:		3.5
What Sport(S) Do You Play?:		Football
What Position(s) Do You Play?:		Tightend
What is your favorite subject?:		History
What are your top 5 college choices?:		FIU Florida Keiser Albright IRSC
If you could spend the day with anyone in the world who would it be? Why?:		Rob Gronkowski Because he motivates me to be a better football player.
If you could be anyone in the world who would you be? Why?:		The Gronk - who else!
Would winning the Powerball change your life? Why or why not?:		Heck yea it would! I would be able to help all my family members out.
Outside of a family member who do you admire most? Why?:		Any person who tries to make the world a better place.
What five words best describe you?:		Joyful Athletic Loving Caring Funny
What are your future goals?:		Go to college and be a firefighter.

Measuring Success

The sweet smell of high school's fall sports season is filling the hot and humid air here in St. Lucie County as teams and individual players measure their success on the fields of play.

August 16, 2017 - St. Lucie County, FL - Well here we are at the start of a brand new school year. This week we will see the first volleyball and football games of the 2017 season. Swimming, golf, cross country and bowling will all start up next week.

The kids are pumped and coaching staffs primed, while athletic directors and high school principals are ready to function on only a few hours sleep. Games will be won, championships will be had and student-athletes will earn scholarships and offers to colleges.

Ah, the sweet smell of high school's fall sports season is filling the hot and humid air here in St. Lucie County as teams and individual players measure their success on the fields of play.

Yet what about the successes off the field, in the classrooms and buried deep within those dreaded school grades that the state assigns each summer? You know, the ones that determine if a child is going to be held back; if a teacher is performing to standards or if a school is going to receive bonus money or be punished.

Yea, those grades, the ones based on the Florida Standards Assessment (formally FCAT), learning gains, graduation rates, and a few other things. The grades based on that one test, given on that one day.

Here in St. Lucie County it is no secret that our schools have struggled over the past several years.  In fact, a couple of our schools were at risk of being taken over by the state or worse - turned into charter schools. 

E. Wayne Gent - Superintendent of
St. Lucie County Public Schools.

But alas, a few years ago the School Board (the same board makeup that is currently in place) decided that it would hire a new superintendent who was not currently employed by the county when the job came open.

Now, don't get me wrong, there is some amazing administrative talent in this school district. The prior Deputy Superintendent went on to become the Superintendent of Indian River County Schools, while the districts current Chief Academic Officer was a finalist for the same job. 

But the board wanted a to go in another direction. And, as luck would have it, the Superintendent for the nations 13th largest school district was looking for a new challenge.

Enter Wayne Gent, a former St. Lucie County School District employee who had been off the district's radar for almost a decade. Gent had been passed over for the St. Lucie job several years ago prior. He wanted the job here and he made that known in his interviews and public forums. Of the dozens of candidate's that applied, Gents resume always seemed ended up at the top of the pile.

As a former St. Lucie Public School's teacher, coach, and principal and a current resident of the Treasure Coast, Gent was well seasoned in the dynamics of the county. As the leader of Palm Beach Counties School's, he knew his way around the Florida Department of Education and the state's complex education laws. A lifelong educator, Gent knew what it took to make the gains St. Lucie's School Board demanded. He knew where to find the right talent and how to assemble a team.

School Board Members were looking a gift horse in the mouth - and they knew it, as did the search committee made up of dozens of stakeholders throughout the county.

So, just two short years ago Wayne Gent took the reins as Superintendent of St. Lucie County Public Schools. Quickly and quietly Gent shuffled things around at the district office drawing praise from not just the board that had appointed him but from the union head, teachers, parents and the community as well.

He assembled a dynamic team to lead St. Lucie County Schools with a goal of increasing just a little bit every year. Last year (his first in St. Lucie as Superintendent) saw a small increase in points as the district grade remained a C. But Gent and his team knew the district could do better and they implemented a plan for success.

"We were (are) very targeted and strategic," says Dr. Jon Prince the Deputy Superintendent in St. Lucie County and a Gent hire.

"We don't teach to a test, we teach to a standard utilizing reliable tools that help our teachers focus in on areas in which an individual student may need some extra support. We use unit assessments and chapter tests by grade and by course. And, here in St. Lucie we have some of the best teacher talent anywhere", says Prince.

And that talent showed itself off as the School District cruised to an overall B grade, an overall 9.4% increase in points accounting for the sixth highest overall district improvement state wide.

In virtually every domain measured St. Lucie kids outshined the state and even outperformed the states top rated district - Martin County. In English Language Arts the district saw a 10% point increase compared to 5% for the state and 4% to Martin and Indian River Counties. Math saw our students jump 9% while the state rose 4%. In Science, the district remained the same while the state actually lost 2% points, and Social Studies saw a 5% gain - only 1% lower than the state average. 

Middle School Acceleration  (middle schoolers taking advanced classes) saw an 18% rise compared to 14% for the state, 0% for Martin County and -4% for Indian River County, while college and career readiness recorded a 6% gain compared to 4% for the state and -1% for Indian River County. 

But the kicker - that real measure of success - is the graduation rate, a score that measures the number of students that complete high school in four years. And St. Lucie County kids hit it out of the ballpark leapfrogging from 45th place in the state to 13th - a 246% increase. An almost 20% net gain as compared to 6% state wide while racking up the equivalent of over $8,000 in college scholarships for each eligible graduating senior last year - an astounding $24 million in all.

Is it any wonder that for the first time in history, the average grade of St. Lucie's high schools is a B?

The district has no failing schools, even in the highest poverty area's and in areas in which English is a household's second language, huge barrier's to learning for children. And 23 St. Lucie County Public Schools are high performing A  or B schools.

So, while athletic teams take to the fields this week let's remember that there are a whole lot of kids that don't play sports and teachers that may not coach that deserve just as much attention and praise as those "superstars" under the lights on Fridays. 

Our children's teachers made the difference last year as our kids exceeded expectations. 

And it all started because five school board members, who are often criticized in public, decided to give a guy who was overlooked a decade ago a chance.  

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS DAN VAUGHN?

Tag on along as well follow FP Central Quarterback Dan Vaughn on his summer college tour

Friday, June 16:  Yale University in New Haven, CT  
Nickname: Bulldogs (It must be a Vaughn thing)
Mascot: Handsome Dan (Figures, right?)
Applied for Admissions (2016):  31,455
Accepted (2016):  1,972  (6.3%)
SAT Average:  2,265
ACT Average: 34
Annual Tuition & Fee's: $49,500 (Includes health care. Does not include Room and Board)




Saturday, June 17: Columbia University, NYC
Nick Name: Lions
Mascot: Lion
Notable Alum: Lou Gehrig (Baseball Hall of Fame), Sid Luckman (4 time NFL MVP), Ruth Bader Ginsburg (US Supreme Court), Warren Buffett (Multi-Billionaire), Robert Kraft (Owner NE Patriots), and United States Presidents Barack Obama, Theodore Roosevelt & Franklin D. Roosevelt




Sunday, June 18: Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Nickname: Big Read
Mascot: Touchdown, the Bear
Acceptance Rate: 12.5%

• One of only three land granted Universities in the USA and the only one in New York
• Ranked fifth in the world for student who go on to receive their  PhD
• 31 Marshall Scholars & 28 Rhodes Scholars

Notable Alum:  Lee Teng-hui - former president Taiwan, Mario García Menocal - former  president of Cuba, Jamshid Amuzegar - former  prime minister of Iran, Stephen Friedman - Chairman of Goldman Sachs, Andrew Tish - Chairman of Lowes, James McLamore - founder of Burger King, Myra Hart - Founder of Staples, Robert Adkins - devolped the Atkins Diet, Henry Helmich - developed the Heimlch maneuver, Wislon Greatbatch, invented the pacemaker, C. Evertt Koop - Sormer Surgeon General of USA, Jon Rubinstein, created the iPod, Thomas Midgley, invented Freon, Glenn "Pop" Warner, founder of American Football.


Tuesday, June 20: Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Nickname: Tigers
Mascot: Princeton Tiger
U.S. News & National Report Ranking: #1 College / University in USA

• 41 Nobel laureates
• 21 National Medal of Science winners
• 14 Fields Medalists
• 5 Abel Prize winners
• 10 Turing Award laureates
• 5 National Humanities Medal recipients
• 209 Rhodes Scholars
• 126 Marshall Scholars

Albert Einstein, though on the faculty at the Institute for Advanced Study rather than at Princeton, came to be associated with the university through frequent lectures and visits on the campus.

Thursday, June 22: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Nickname: Quakers
Endowment: $10.715 Billion (5.7% increase from the prior year) Seventh largest endowment of 815 ranked colleges and universities.

• Bosts 25 billionaires, which is the most of any university in the world at the undergraduate level
• 33 US Senators
• 42 US Governors
• 14 Heads of State
• 2 US Presidents
• 158 Members of US House of Representatives
• Benjamin Franklyn was primary founder
• First US Medical School and first university teaching hospital
• Home of Wharton School of Business considered the best overall graduate business school in the world.
• First University in the world to award a PhD to an African-American woman.

Sixth most selective school in the country accepting 7.7% of applicants in the regular admissions cycle.

Sunday, June 25: Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Nickname: Harvard Crimson
Mascot: John Harvard, the pilgrim
Endowment: $34.541 Billion Largest in the world. Has regained all losses from the great recession as of 2011. 

• Oldest University in the world, established in 1636
• Acceptance rate of 5.2%, second lowest in USA
• 32% of students are undergraduate while 64% are graduate students.
• Harvard Library system contains 80 branches, holding 18,000,000 volumes and is considered the largest academic library in the USA
• Ranked first in business, education and medical research for postgraduate schools by US News and World Report.
• 27% of students are international students
• The forward pass in American football was legalized in 1906 at the suggestion of Walter Camp and is considered perhaps the most significant rule change in sports history according to "The History of American Football", published in 2006.

Notable alum include former US Presidents: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklyn D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, George W. Bush, Barack Obama; Microsoft Founder Bill Gates; Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg as well as Ban Kimoon, Secretary-General of the United Nations and other world leaders.

Keyshawn Johnson Yanks Son From Nebraska Football Team After Weed Bust So He Can ‘Mature’ For Six Months

Keyshawn Johnson (left) was the number one pick in the 1996 NFL Draft

20 June 2017 - LINCOLN, NE — Keyshawn Johnson Jr. — one of the most touted wide receiver recruits in recent Nebraska football history — is taking an extended leave of absence from the Husker program in hope of returning in January, his father, Keyshawn Johnson Sr., said Tuesday night.

The younger Johnson had enrolled at NU in January, a semester early, in hope of playing in 2017. He returned home to Calabasas, California, Tuesday after what the elder Johnson called a joint decision among himself, Nebraska coach Mike Riley and the Huskers’ athletic department. Keyshawn Johnson Sr. wants his son to “mature” for six months before considering a return to the school.

“You’re in college now,” Johnson Sr. said. “You’re an adult. You’re not a kid. You take a look at it from afar and let me know how important it is to you.”

Riley confirmed via text the younger Johnson’s leave of absence.

The elder Johnson, who had an 11-year NFL career, said he’s on the same page with Riley, who used to be his offensive coordinator at USC. That relationship — forged more than two decades ago — helped Riley and Nebraska start a “Calibraska” recruiting movement in Los Angeles. Johnson Jr. — a four-star recruit in the 2017 recruiting class from Calabasas High School — was a centerpiece, but hardly the only recruit.

Calabasas quarterback Tristan Gebbia also enrolled early and has drawn raves from Husker coaches and teammates for his work ethic and preternatural grasp of the game. Husker safety Marquel Dismuke is from the same school. NU’s top 2018 recruit, cornerback Brendan “Bookie” Radley-Hiles, played his junior year at Calabasas, too.

Johnson Sr. said he’s in “full support” of Riley, receivers coach Keith Williams and the rest of NU’s staff. He wants to see more maturity from his son.

“One thing you will not do as my son is you will not embarrass Nebraska, you will not embarrass Mike Riley and you will not embarrass this family,” the elder Johnson said. “If you mature and you’re ready to resume your football career and academic goals, then Nebraska will be ready to embrace you.”

On Twitter, Johnson Jr. wrote the words “bounce back.” He had a rough start at NU in January. He was struck with an illness that set him back physically and caused him to miss some time in spring practice. He appeared in the spring game, catching one pass for 7 yards. He lost a fumble at the end of that play.

In June, Johnson was cited on suspicion of marijuana possession after, according to a University of Nebraska-Lincoln police report, a dorm hall director detected marijuana use coming from a dorm room. Johnson was reportedly found with less than an ounce of marijuana and drug paraphernalia on a Friday afternoon.

Less than two weeks later, he’s back at home with his dad, the No. 1 pick in the 1996 NFL draft and longtime pro football analyst. Johnson Sr. said he wasn’t sure about his son’s opinion on the leave of absence.

“I never asked him,” Johnson Sr. said. “At the end of the day, I don’t think that decision was in his hands. He squandered that decision. He still wants to play football, and he still wants to play for Nebraska. But if you don’t do the things you’re supposed to do, under the guidelines of me, it’s not going to happen.”

Because of the illness and slow start, Johnson wasn’t necessarily a candidate to burn his redshirt in 2017, but his departure for this season thins the receiver room. Nebraska now has seven scholarship wideouts on the roster, and one of those is technically Zack Darlington, the extra-point and field goal holder who’s thrown more career passes as an emergency quarterback than he’s caught passes. The others are senior De’Mornay Pierson-El, juniors Stanley Morgan and Keyan Williams and freshmen JD Spielman, Jaevon McQuitty and Tyjon Lindsey, and all six may have to log significant snaps. Walk-ons Bryan Reimers, Gabe Rahn, Conor Young and others should be in the mix, too.

NU has had a number of receivers leave the program or be dismissed in the last 24 months. Kevin Gladney, Jariah Tolbert and Glenn Irons left in 2015. Derrion Grim enrolled early in 2016, impressed coaches in spring practice, and then abruptly left just before fall camp in 2016. He’s now at Fresno State. Lavan Alston left the program before the 2016 Music City Bowl. None of that quintet logged a career catch at NU.

This story is from www.omaha.com