Page 47 - Florida Sentinel 5-17-19

Congratulations
Educator Chosen As Finalist For ‘Teacher Of The Year’
DR. DAKEYAN GRAHAM
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Last week, Dr. Dakeyan “Dre” Graham received a huge surprise. He was chosen as the Hillsborough County fi- nalist for “Teacher Of The Year.” And, if the news wasn’t enough, he was even more surprised by the manner in which he learned about it.
Dr. Graham is the Direc- tor of Instrumental Studies at King High School, his alma
Dr. Dakeyan (Dre) Gra- ham, is shown with his wife, Mrs. Casey Graham at the an- nouncement.
mater. He has been assigned to the school for the past ten years.
The surprise was so well guarded that his wife, Mrs. Casey Graham, didn’t know about it. She was called an hour before the event, and left Mort Elementary, where she teaches to be on hand for the event.
On that fateful day, a large
group of people visited Dr. Graham in his music room. Among the visitors was Jacob Oliva, Florida Department of Education’s Division of Public Schools Chancellor, Superin- tendent Jeff Eakins, Ms. Tamara Shamburger,
Chairperson of the Hillsbor- ough County School Board, Ms. Arlene Costelli, Princi- pal at King, Ms. Anna Brown, a school administra- tor, and Michael McCul- lum, from the Hillsborough Education Foundation.
The five finalists were cho- sen from more than 176,900 public school teachers throughout the state. The “Teacher of the Year” for the State of Florida will be an- nounced at the Gala in Or- lando on July 18th.
Several individuals, including Division of Schools Chancellor Jacob Oliva, were on hand to congrat- ulate Dr. Graham on his being chosen as a finalist for “Teacher of the Year.”
B. E. S. T. Program Influenced Nurse’s Interest In Medical Field
BY JOURNALISM STUDENTS AT BIBLE TRUTH MINISTRIES Suzette Dean, Principal
Brianna David, a 27- year-old Registered Nurse in the Tampa community, cred- its the Brain Expansion and Scholastic Training (B. E. S. T.) Program with influencing her interest in the medical field.
She enrolled in the B. E. S. T. Program at age 15.
“The shadowing opportu- nities at local hospitals really solidified my desire to enter the medical field. I was ex- posed to many of the differ- ent roles in healthcare and I knew instantly that this was the field for me,” she said.
It was Dr. Dexter Fred- erick, B. E. S. T. founder, who was the influencer.
“His love for and dedica- tion to his community drew my attention. He definitely inspired me to give back and ensure that I am doing my best to prepare those after me for success,” she stated.
A 2009 graduate of Tampa Bay Christian Acad- emy, Brianna matriculated into an accelerated direct- entry MSN Program, which
BRIANNA DAVID
required a lot to be learned in 4 semesters, and one 6-weeks summer program. She says the B. E. S. T. Program taught her how to memorize anatomical structure, disease processes and more by asso- ciating them with other things that she was directly
familiar with.
Ms. David earned her
Bachelor of Science degree in Health Sciences and Master’s of Science degree in Nursing from Florida Hospital Col- lege and the University of Maryland, Baltimore, respec- tively.
“I have so many career goals! I legitimately love everything. Throughout graduate school, however, I discovered I really love sur- gery, specifically, Cardiotho- racic Surgery...I plan to become a Registered Nurse First Assist and work as the surgeons’ ‘right hand gal’,” she explained.
Ms. David taught high school Biology for a year and a half and witnessed many of the issues that young people experience, in addition to a lack of general knowledge about higher education/med- icine.
“While I’ll primarily be working in the acute setting, I want to dedicate some time to providing young people with the assistance that they need to further their educa- tion, cope with many of the difficulties they’re facing and live happier, healthier lives over all,” she concluded.
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