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Stowers opens without a hitch

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By PAUL CATALA THE FISHHAWKER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 30, 2009

Dick Stowers wanted the school bearing his name to have the latest technology, an innovative teaching curriculum and teachers and staff focused on making learning fun for pupils.

Now open and in its first year, Stowers Elementary School staff, parents and children say that what Stowers wanted, he got.

Serving about 550 pupils from around eastern Hillsborough County, including about 85 from FishHawk Ranch, Stowers elementary, 139145 Barrington Stowers Drive, opened Aug. 25 without a hitch for the 2009-10 school year. Its administration said things couldn't be better for the home of the Stowers' "Cowboys."

Built to relieve overcrowding at Boyette Springs Elementary School, which fed about 300 pupils to Stowers, the 50-member faculty said they're proud of the school's focus on innovation. The remaining students came primarily from FishHawk Ranch Elementary School.

Strolling around the campus, Stowers' Assistant Principal Julie Hasson chatted with pupils and teachers, just prior to dismissal for the day. As she walked, Hasson said the new school year at the new school has been smooth and fun, as well as slightly challenging.

Hasson, who grew up in Brandon, said that she knows Stowers personally and said the school is focused on his principals of excellence. She said what makes the school unique is its next-door proximity to Barrington Middle School, also in its first year.

That physical relationship, said Hasson, allows the two schools to share cross-campus, cross-age student mentoring and tutoring.

"That was figured in the school's planning stage, how to benefit from sharing the campuses," she said.

As children lined up to be picked up, Hasson, who spent three years as assistant principal at Lithia Springs Elementary prior to Stowers, said the school has already begun a "Girls on the Run" program.

This program is a national character development program for girls in third-, fourth- and fifth-grade, ages 8 to 12, that uses the power of running to teach them about the importance of being healthy and active. Hasson said about 20 girls are already enrolled, from pre-kindergarten to fifth-grade and Stowers is the only school with the program in the Lithia area.

According to Hasson, it is programs like "Girls on the Run" and the school's involvement with the Ophelia Project, which serves youth and adults affected by non-physical forms of aggression, that make Stowers an all-encompassing learning and growing experience.

"We (staff) have a vision of what the school should be and we're excited to be on board," she said,

As Hasson kept an eye on children waiting for their parents or getting on buses, FishHawk resident Paige Rhinehart helped her daughter, fourth-grader Abigail, 10, load her belongings into the car. Rhinehart, who has a son at Barrington and a son at Newsome High School, said she's happy to have a new elementary school open so close to home.

"It's awesome. I'm not zoned for here, but I run a business around the corner, so she goes here," she said. "I like the fact there seems to be a real sense of community here already. The school is functioning so well, you wouldn't know this was its first year."

A formal Stowers school dedication ceremony is scheduled for May 2, with Dick Stowers attending.

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