Volume 18 Issue 4
WESLEY CHAPEL Inside:
Romance? Think Don CeSar!
NEWS
See page 27!
February 13, 2010
The Direct-Mail Newspaper Serving Wesley Chapel & New Tampa Since 1993! THIS INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER IS DIRECTLY MAILED TO: WESLEY CHAPEL: Aberdeen • Belle Chase • Brookside • Chapel Pines • Country Walk • Lexington Oaks • Meadow Pointe • New River • Northwood • Pinewalk • Pine Ridge • Saddlebrook • Saddleridge Estates • Saddlewood • Seven Oaks • Lakes at Northwood • The Villages of Wesley Chapel • Wesley Pointe • Westbrook Estates • Williamsburg NEW TAMPA: Arbor Greene • Cory Lake Isles • Cross Creek • Grand Hampton • Heritage Isles • Hunter’s Green • Hunter’s Key • K-Bar Ranch • Lake Forest • Live Oak Preserve • Pebble Creek • Richmond Place • Tampa Palms • West Meadows
WCH’s Sean Gaudet Named Pasco’s Teacher Of The Year! By Michael Smith Wesley Chapel High (WCH) drama teacher Sean Gaudet is one of an increasingly rare breed these days. While more and more teachers are expressing dissatisfaction with the demands of their profession — the long hours, the low pay, the pressures of being held accountable for their students’ success — Gaudet, who recently was named Teacher of the Year by the Pasco Education Foundation, seems genuinely happy spending his days in the classroom. Before joining the WCH faculty 11 years ago, the 40-year-old Massachusetts native was a customer service team leader for a grocery store that was bought out by the Whole Foods Market chain, and, while the harsh winters of his home state were one of his reasons for heading south, Gaudet says he had another dream in mind as well. “I always had this romantic vision of being a teacher in a small town in
Florida, where people would recognize you at the grocery store and that kind of thing,” he says. “It just seemed to me like a good life.” After receiving his Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 1992, Gaudet became certified as a teacher, but he says the system in Massachusetts is very hard to break into, so, after spending nine years in the grocery business, he just up and moved to Tampa, where his father lives, “to get back on my track,” as he says. He came to Florida with no job and no home of his home, and at first found that it wasn’t much easier to get work as a teacher here. But, he eventually was hired to head up the drama department at WCH, mainly, he says, because no one else wanted to. Now, however, even though he himself had limited theatrical experience in his own days as a student, performing in one production of “Hello, Dolly!” as a senior in high school,
Wesley Chapel High drama teacher Sean Gaudet has been named Teacher of the Year by the Pasco Education Foundation. Gaudet says he is now living his dream. who they really are, rather than simply “I love my job,” he says. “I feel on studying and passing tests. fulfilled, and I love my students. It’s “It’s less of a forced march,” he very rewarding, and I don’t know why says. “Unlike in, say, math, where if I’d ever want to change that.” you flunk a test, it’s just another test, Gaudet, with his easy-going attibut here, when you’re working on a tude and neat ponytail, could almost play or film and you flunk, it also pass for a high school student himself, affects a lot of other people who are and he seems to enjoy a great rapport counting on you. So, [drama] really with those in his classes. Part of that, teaches cooperation and accountability, he says, is because of the nature of his and how to play together nicely, and class, which allows students to focus on there are quite a few adults I know expressing themselves and finding out See “Gaudet” on page 4.
Wesley Chapel Man Receives Life Sentence For 2008 Shooting
NEIGHBORHOOD MAGAZINE!
Local Dealer Responds To Toyota Recall, A Visit To The Fabulous Don CeSar Resort & Spa, Valentine’s Gift Ideas From T’s A Look At The New FHZ Orthopedic Boutique At The Grove & Other V-Day Institute, High School Soccer & Recommendations & More! Basketball Updates & More!
See pages 3-26!
See pages 27-36!
ECRWSS
LOCAL NEWS, BUSINESS & SPORTS UPDATES
Abrams had advanced towards him. Several prosecution witnesses testified, however, that it was Stoddard who had brought the gun to the fight, and that he had shot Abrams first in the leg, and then two more times after Abrams fell to the ground. Stoddard was originally charged with first-degree murder, but after deliberating for 90 minutes, the seven-woman, five-man jury reduced the charge to second-degree murder. Circuit Judge Pat Siracusa then handed down the life sentence, which See “News Briefs” on page 4.
Postal Customer
Also Inside This Issue!
who Stoddard believed had broken into his home and stolen some of his belongings, including a TV, DVD player and a Playstation video game console. Edward K. After the shootStoddard ing, Stoddard went on the run and was finally arrested on May 7, 2008, after a brief standoff with police at a residence in Dade City. During his trial, Stoddard claimed that it was Abrams who had pulled the gun while the two were arguing in the driveway of a home on Mangrove Dr., where the two men lived, and that he had only shot the younger man after
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID TAMPA FL PERMIT 2801
Two years ago, Edward K. Stoddard kept authorities guessing as to his whereabouts for more than two weeks, as they sought him for questioning in connection with a deadly shooting in the Angus Valley area of Wesley Chapel. Anyone who wants Stoddard now
will know where to look for him for the next 25 years, however, since he was sentenced in January to life in prison after being found guilty of second degree murder. The shooting took place on the afternoon of April 23, 2008, after Stoddard, who is now 30, confronted a neighbor, 26-year-old Doug Abrams,
Dated Material Please Rush!
By Michael Smith
For Advertising Information Call 813-910-2575 • Volume 18, Issue 4 • Februar y 13, 2010 • www.WCNeighborhoodNews.com
1