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Fasano Makes Return Visit To School

Klint Lowry/SUNCOAST

Seven Springs Middle School students Zoe Pappas, left, and Danielle Kuehner greet State Sen. Mike Fasano on behalf of their Lead the Pack class. The young women invited Fasano to come to their school to talk about how they could go about trying to get sidewalks installed along the section of heavily traveled Little Road near their school.

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By KLINT LOWRY | The Suncoast News

Published: January 30, 2009

Updated:

TRINITY - Students in Seven Springs Middle School's Lead the Pack program learn a great deal about how the real world works by performing community service projects.

Zoe Pappas and Danielle Kuehner had a big idea for their project but no clue on how to make it happen. So they employed a tried-and-true adage: go with what works.

In this case, they turned to state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey.

"Last year, he helped us get the signs put in," Danielle said. "We thought he could help us with this."

The signs Danielle mentioned warn drivers to watch out for sandhill cranes crossing the roads near the school. Last year, Lead the Pack students Matt Nuzzi and Jake Ponce de Leon initiated a project to get the signs installed along Mitchell Boulevard.

While researching the project, Matt figured why not take their case directly to their state senator.

Even though road signs aren't within his purview, Fasano was impressed with the students' initiative. So he guided them to Pasco County Administrator John Gallagher.

Gallagher, who had a brief teaching career before getting into public administration, was also impressed with the students and their idea.

Fasano visited the school last year so he could compliment the students in person for the work they had been doing in all their projects.

This year, Zoe and Danielle decided to push the safety idea further. They want to have sidewalks installed along Little Road, between Mitchell Boulevard and S.R. 54.

The section of Little Road near Seven Springs Middle School lacks both sidewalks and crosswalks for students who might walk or ride bicycles along the major north-south corridor.

In other places she's lived before moving here three years ago, it wasn't considered safe for young people to walk around alone, even in areas with sidewalks, Zoe said. Now that she is living in a nicer neighborhood, she wants to be able to make the most of it.

Like Matt and Jake last year, Zoe and Danielle weren't sure Fasano was the right person to go to for the sort of help they were seeking. Since, however, he represents them in Tallahassee and knows his way around government bureaucracy, the young woman figured Fasano's office would be a good place to start.

As he did last year, Fasano wanted to show he appreciated the students' civic spirit and the school's Lead the Pack program.

As described by Zoe and Danielle's teacher, Cindy Tehan, Lead the Pack is a "service-learning" program. It gets funding from Florida Learn and Serve, a federally funded grant program that supports service-learning educational programs across the state.

Students are taught the concepts of public service and then apply those concepts in real-world projects. Students create their own public service programs or select existing programs they want to assist. They learn how to write grant proposals and then implement their plans.

The program has earned a fan in Fasano, who since last year has ascended to the Senate's No. 2 leadership post, president pro tempore. The veteran lawmaker was happy to visit the school for the second year in a row to hear about all the students' projects and to encourage the work they do.

"I've kind of adopted this school, I guess," Fasano told the students. He applauded them in their efforts.

"We all have a responsibility to get involved," he told them.

Sometimes that involvement can be as simple as contacting their representatives about the things they care about, Fasano said. This helps remind legislators how they got to Tallahassee and why they went there in the first place, he said.

"I'm very impressed with them and their teacher," Fasano said after hearing the students' presentation. "You can see they're very committed."

As he listened to each of the teams describe their projects, Fasano said, it struck him what conscientious choices they had made in choosing projects that ran a gamut of public service needs.

Whether it's a service project or a piece of legislation, Fasano told the students, it all starts with ideas.

As for Danielle and Zoe's sidewalk quest, that is a matter for county government, Fasano said. The girls made a compelling case, and he agreed sidewalks along Little Road near the school would be an excellent idea, he said.

Although he couldn't do anything about it himself, he would offer assistance guiding them in the right direction, Fasano said.

Klint Lowry can be reached at 727-815-1067 or klowry@suncoastnews.com.

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