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Balm Teen Gets Car For Perfect Attendance

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By LOIS KINDLE The Tampa Tribune

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 11, 2008

RUSKIN - On the last day of school at the South County Career Center, six students sat anxiously in the Bobcat Bistro.

Jonathan Delgado Guzman, 18; Victor Figueroa, 18; James Pennington Jr., 17; Steven Serra, 16; Juan Vazquez, 18; and Martin Aguerre, 18, waited for Principal Cleto "Sundy" Chazares to select one of their names to be awarded a "new" car.

All six achieved perfect attendance for the year - a feat few students accomplish at the alternative high school - and as a reward, one of them would get a set of wheels.

"The idea of giving away a car accomplishes three things," Chazares said. "One, it gives us the schoolwide goal of perfect attendance, which is something that's not always the best here. Two, it's a morale builder that hopefully creates healthy competition. And three, it's a way for us to reward students for achieving the goal."

Chazares said studies have shown that students who come to school every day have a better chance for overall success.

"This wasn't easy. I wish I had a car to give each one of you," he said.

The giveaway, held June 4, was the brainchild of Melissa Sawyer, assistant principal of curriculum. On Oct. 8, Hillsborough County public school officials gave permission to the career center to use the idea as an incentive.

Sawyer's parents, Noah and Rosa Carter of Brandon, donated a 1993 Chrysler New Yorker, which was serviced by students in the automotive program and found to be in "operable" condition. The contest was on.

At the ceremonial breakfast, Chazares acted as though he was announcing a game show and randomly selecting envelopes containing the names of the six students who qualified. As he called out Valdez, then Serra, Pennington and Guzman, the boys walked up to receive their consolation prizes: gift bags containing T-shirts, sports bottles, mugs, mouse pads and memory sticks.

Finally, with two envelopes left, Chazares announced Figueroa as the runner-up, leaving Aguerre as the winner. Each boy received a gift bag, but Figueroa was handed a portable radio, while Aguerre got the keys.

"It's great to win," Aguerre said.

Having just graduated, he's going to use it to look for a job as a mechanic, he said. But first he has to get a driver's license.

"We're hoping this will start a tradition," Chazares said. "The career center doesn't get some of the incentives other schools do, so this is something we want to continue. Another vehicle is on the way for next year."

Students at the career center must be at least 16 years old and at least one year behind in school, have no record of severe discipline problems, want to focus on a chosen technical specialty and be willing to commit to workplace training. The school offers three graduation options: a standard high school diploma, a special diploma in exceptional student education and a workplace standards skills certificate.

In 1994, the Legislature approved the construction of Adam Paine Academy, a $30 million project named after a Seminole Indian who won the Medal of Honor. The academy was intended to house 500 to 800 juvenile offenders on its 359-acre site and operate as a reform school without bars. Community concerns bought the project to a halt in 1997.

Two years later, then-Gov. Jeb Bush deeded the property and partially constructed buildings to the school district and the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute. Under an agreement with the state, the district assumed ownership of about half the acreage to build a career center. The school opened in August 2002.

Reporter Lois Kindle can be reached at (813) 731-7459 or lkindle@tampatrib.com.

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