Page 11 - Florida Sentinel 10-2-15 Edition

Local
Former Students Discuss Historic Catholic School
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Several members of the community have joined forces for a worthy cause. They are at- tempting to raise at least $50,000 to benefit St. Peter Claver Catholic School. In keep- ing with this aggressive task, the group will host a fundraiser en- titled “Jazz’N At The Ritz,” on Sunday, October 4th. The event will be take place from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at The Ritz Ybor, 1503 E. 7th Avenue.
It will feature such local tal- ents as Ms. Donna Douglas, Ms. Sonja Wise, Rock-It- Rod, and Shawn Brown.
Community activist Mar- vin Knight, one of the organ- izers of the fundraiser said, “St. Peter Claver Catholic School has been in the Tampa community for 121 years. We feel that as a community, we need to step for- ward to help them continue to educate our students.
The school needs mentors, improvements, tuition, scholar- ships, and a pavilion among other things.”
Knight said 8 years ago, the school only had an enrollment of 67 students. Today, there are 216 students enrolled there. The school has increased the grades for students to accommodate the growth.
Joining the effort to improve
Among those helping to raise funds for St. Peter Claver Catholic School are shown seated from left to right: Kendra Goosby, Darlene Johnson, Vivian Heyward, and Rosa Webster. Shown standing are: Reggie Lofton, Paulette Walker, Cynthia Cochrane, Ann Jenkins, Joseph Capitano, Sr., Krystal Davis, Deborah Barr, Marvin Knight, Scott Hardy, and Rev. Willie Dixon.
the school are some of the for- mer students. Ms. Alaina Gib- son, PharmD, MHA, Florida Market Pharmacy Director said, “St. Peter contributed to the strong sense of pride I have for my African American culture and history. Being in a religious educational environment with students that looked like me propelled me to excel even fur- ther.”
Ms. Gibson attended kindergarten through 5th grade there. She later graduated from Florida A & M University Col- lege of Pharmacy & Pharmaceu- tical Sciences.
Alumni LaShawn Austin
Jones said her experience was a normal academics with educa- tional discipline. By attending the school, Ms. Austin Jones followed the path that her fa- ther, DeLeon Austin and his sisters, Jacqueline Austin and Wanda Austin set when they attended.
Knight said this event is the first of many that are planned to help raise funds for the school.
“There are a lot of success stories out of the school and if we rally around this school, we will later be able to help other schools.
“But we have to put some ef- fort into it in order to get some-
thing out of it. We are encourag- ing everyone in the community
to come out and help support this event.”
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 11-A