Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 8-13-21

Features
Tampa Tech History Teacher Retires
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
When the school bells rang Tuesday morning (August 10th), one face that was missing from Tampa Bay Voc-Tech High School was that of educator, Andre Walker. Walker ended an official 23-year career with the Hillsborough County School District.
His wife, Dr. Brenda Walker, J. D., hosted a retirement celebration in his honor just recently with family, friends, co-workers and col- leagues in attendance. The event was held at TPepin Entertainment with more than 300 guests.
Walker, a history teacher at Tampa Bay Tech, spent several years sub-teaching at Tech before he was officially added to the staff.
The Tampa native, who attended Middleton High School and graduated from Leto High School, expresses that he is a devout Rattler of Florida A&M University, where he joined the renowned Marching 100 Band.
Musically inclined, Walker is still an active musician. As a matter of fact, his retirement will start with him preparing to release new music later this month (August 23rd). There are more than 40 songs waiting to be released. He credits Nelson Griffith with getting him started back in the 1970s as he has played professionally with the Montereys and Dolls, Trama with Donna Allen.
Later, he joined the band, the Sheiks at Busch Gardens, where he played trumpet.
When that portion of his career was put on hold, Walker joined the Tampa Fire Dept. as a Fire Inspector (1980), a position he held for 10 years. However, at the age of 35, Walker re- ceived a medical release and could no longer do the strenuous work the Fire Dept. called for.
He did a bit of touring musically around the world, wrote songs for different artists and did some recording himself.
Around the 1996-1997 school year, there was a shortage of substitute teachers. It appears as though Mrs. Jackie Davis at Tampa Tech had him on speed-dial. Whenever there was a need for a sub, he’d get the call.
“Once I was called to sub in this EMT-1 class. I saw the lesson plan the teacher had left and I began to teach the students. The principal hap- pened to be in the next classroom and overheard me teaching and inquired about me coming on board. I said, ‘ma’am I appreciate that, but I’m a musician.’ She said that I had a gift.” That was in 1999.
Mr. and Mrs. Andre (Dr. Brenda, JD) Walker at his retirement celebration. (Photo by Lomax McIntyre)
In 2000, he was called, interviewed, and started as a permanent instructor on the first day of school. In the 2001-2002, school year, he was called to serve at Howard W. Blake High School. Afterwards, it was back to Tech. Walker has been a teacher of U. S. History, Government, Economics and African American History. In his African American History courses, Walker said he tried to introduce the students to local his- tory; introducing them to what and where Cen- tral Park Village was, Blanche Armwood, Jose Martinez, Italian Graveyard, The Scrubbs, and take them on trips to visit some of the sites.
At his retirement celebration, Walker had written a song for his wife of 14-years, “We Made It,” and introduced it at the event. Currently, his band is MG&S, (back in the day that was Mighty, Good & Strong, updated to My God & Savior) has been doing outdoor events, during the pandemic of COVID-19.
His retirement assignments will also include updating the home, “and I’ll be back in the yard and taking care of the pool,” he says with a chuckle. As President of the Tampa Bay March- ing 100 Alumni Association, Walker says he’ll spend more time fundraising to purchase instru- ments for students, recruiting students for the Marching 100 and mentoring, “actually, sup- porting the 2 historically Black colleges in Florida – encouraging more students of color to attend HBCUs.”
Residents Invited To Take Part In Virtual Town
Hall Meetings
MAYOR JANE CASTOR
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Next Tuesday, Mayor Jane Castor will kick off a se- ries of Virtual Town Hall Meet- ings. The Town Hall meetings will give residents the opportu- nity to learn what is planned for their respective communi- ties, ongoing initiatives and proposed projects. Residents can also share their ideas and to provide feedback.
Mayor Castor said, “Our diverse neighborhoods define our city and are critical to our success, so it makes sense to bring City Hall to our residents rather than expecting them to always come to City Hall.”
The first Virtual Town Hall Meeting will take place in Dis- trict 5. It will begin at 6 p.m. and end at 8 p.m.
City Council Chairman Or- lando Gudes, who is the Dis- trict 5 Council Representative said, “We have a lot of things happening here in my district. This town hall is an opportu- nity for District 5 residents to not only hear from me and the mayor, but to also express con- cerns or ask questions about what is taking place in their
ORLANDO GUDES City Council Chairman, District 5 Representative
neighborhoods. These meet- ings are virtual so individuals can participate from any loca- tion.”
The series of meetings will take place in each Tampa City Council district, giving resi- dents an opportunity to hear from Mayor Castor and their corresponding City Council representatives.
The remaining meet- ings will take place on Monday, August 23, in District 6; Tuesday, Au- gust 24, in District 7; and Monday, August 30th, in District 4.
No meetings are slated for Districts 1, 2, and 3 be- cause they are at-large dis- tricts.
The City Council represen- tative for each district will be present for that Town Hall Meeting. Each of the meeting will begin at 6 p.m. and con- clude at 8 p.m.
In order to participate in the Town Hall Meetings, resi- dents are required to register. They can do so at www.tampa.gov/community- partnerships.
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