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School Honors Reddick

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By LIZ BLEAU, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 24, 2007

WIMAUMA - The area's newest elementary school will bear the name of former school board member Doris Ross Reddick.

The new $14.2 million school, scheduled to open in August, is being built along West Lake Road. It will serve students from areas in the Wimauma and Cypress Creek school districts.

"This is the icing on the cake of my life and career; I'm very honored," said Reddick, 80, from her Tampa home.

At a meeting this month, the school board voted to name the school after Reddick who left the school board in 2004 after 12 years of service. During her terms, she was the only black member of the board.

Reddick's name was among 42 submitted by students, faculty and parents of Cypress Creek and Wimauma elementary schools and the public. Some of those suggested are Paul Dickman, a member of a pioneer Ruskin family; Jeff Eakins, former Cypress Creek principal; the late Perry Curtis Harvey Sr., a Tampa-based community advocate; Delia P. Sanchez, a retired school district administrator; and the late Ellsworth Simmons, a former school board member and county commissioner who lived in Ruskin.

Other suggestions included Bull Frog Creek, Manatee, Orange Blossom, South Bay, South County, South Lake, Valencia, Valencia Lakes, West Lake and Wimauma Lakes.

In one of her last acts on the school board, Reddick fought to have a Tampa school keep its name after its relocation. The school was named for George Washington Carver, who rose from slavery to become a renowned scientist.

The school will have room for about 1,000 students.

Reporter Liz Bleau can be reached at (813) 865-1557 or lbleau@tampatrib.com.

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