Nationally Renowned Doctors at St. Luke’s Mentor B.E.S.T ...MyHealtheVet. My Healthe Vet is a...

Volume 1, Issue 4 Fall 2008

Nationally Renowned Doctors at St. Luke’s Mentor B.E.S.T. Students

Mapping Your Path for Success and Service

Dr. Brian Phillpotts

wo ophthalmologists at the world renowned St. Luke’s Cataract & Laser Institute participated as stu-dent mentors for our B.E.S.T. students during this past summer. Both Drs. Brian A. Phillpotts and Grace A. Levy-Clarke allowed students from the Brain Expansions Scholastic Training program

(B.E.S.T.) to shadow them one day a week for five weeks as they treated patients at St. Luke’s. Students were able to observe Dr. Phillpotts during surgery at St. Luke’s, where he specializes in vitreous and reti-nal diseases. Students were able to observe Dr. Levy-Clark, a board-certified, uveitis-trained comprehen-sive ophthalmologist take care of patients. The B.E.S.T. Program would like to take to heart the old adage that says, ‘to be is to do’. Students throughout the Tampa Bay Area have and will continue to be given opportunities and exposure in an en-vironment in which they see themselves in ten to fifteen years from now. The B.E.S.T. Program hopes that it can capture the hearts of our talented youth and make their dreams a reality. Presently, the B.E.S.T. Program is looking for additional mentors, like Dr. Phillpotts and Dr. Levy-Clark. We are hoping that other professionals (dentists, psychologists, chiropractors, etc) in the Tampa Bay Area can turn their operating rooms and medical offices into a classroom of learning, igniting dreams that will not only benefit them but society as a whole. So Health professionals of Tampa Bay - Get On Board.

Dr. Grace A. Levy-Clarke

Dr. Brian Phillpotts shows Andy, a BEST Stu-dent, what the inside of the eye looks like.

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Tuesday,June 27 Chess, Memory, Health Wednesday.June28 Erwin Technical Center Thursday, June 29 MOSI: The Bodies Tuesday,July 4th OFF: Holiday Wednesday,July5th

Shriner’s Hospital

Thursday,July 6th

Pinellas Technical Educa-tion Center

Tuesday,July 11th Chess Class Memory Classes Health and Anatomy Classes Wed. July12th Pasco Hernando Comm. Col Thursday,July 13 First Aid Class Tuesday,July 18 Chess, Memory, Health

Wednesday,July 19 Tampa General Tour Thursday,July 20 USF Tour Tuesday,July 25 Chess Class Memory Classes Health and Anatomy Classes Wednesday,July 26 Guest Speakers Chess

Thursday,July 27 Mercury Medical Supply Co. All Children’s Hospital

Tuesday, August 1 Graduation Keynote Address: Earl Davis 6:30 – 8:00 P.M.

Wednesdy, July 11th Tampa General Tour

Adrianna and Laura USF Volunteers

Jenny, Angel, Valerie and Ricci

Dear Friends and Students, The B.E.S.T. Program is blessed to have a special group of young, talented, motivated, energetic, and enthusiastic students that allows this Program to be all it could be. This group of students hails from none other than the University of South Florida. They are quite diverse in ethnicity, academic majors and professional goals. This diversity is an important part of our mission and it has proven to be a benefit for many of our middle and high school students.

A Letter from the President and Board of Directors


Dr. Dexter Frederick, President and Founder of

the B.E.S.T Program

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dexter Frederick, M.D. Chistina Mathis, M.S

President and Founder of B.E.S.T. Area Health Education Center

Phildra Swagger, Ph.D. Gwen Lewis, B.A.

Executive Director—Brooks DeBartolo FMQAI Diabetes Specialist

Collegiate High School

Debbie Garcia, BSN Tampa General Hospital

Jeffery Haynes, Ph.D.

Haynes Services Nicolas Pavouris, M.D.

Community Health Care Provider

Suzanne Jackson, M.P.H.

University of South Florida School of Medicine Margaret Butler, M.S.

Retired Tampa Police Department

Tony Bland, B.A. Henry Thomas, Esq.

Executive Dir. Of Protential Sports State Department Atty.

USF Student Mentors VANESSA ROSA JEAN WILLIAMCEAU DANIEL JOSEPH REMY MOORE CHARLOTTE URUGOMA CHRIS JACKSON SHANA WILLIAMS KIMBERLY UDOM NIKITA GREEN JESSICA ARDON SHARA GIBSON TIFFANY SMITH AJAYPAL GILL WENDY ROUSE LATOYA CLARK CHRISTINA OWENS JESSICA FONSECA ZALIKA NISBETH ELIZABETH ASSAD AMIR MORADIAN EMMANUELLE ADRIEN TARAH LAWSON NATASHA MADANI BRITTNEY BARROW MORISSA KIDD MARANATHA GABAUD VANESSA ARDON KRIST BOWMAN ARLEY ALEXANDRE ANGELA BARBOT

B.E..S.T.

B.E.S.T. Program Gives Opportunity For High Achieving Student

By Koven Glover, B.E.S.T. Student

his summer I was accepted into the Junior Internship Program at the James A. Haley Veterans’

Hospital. This program was for anyone who applied, but especially for those who were interested in pursuing medical professions. Beginning in June, the program had a training session in which

the interns learned about each of the departments we may be working. That following week, I was assigned to SCI (Spinal Cord Injury). While in SCI my duties included transporting, feeding, and interacting with patients. One of the patients I worked with was a quadriplegic: a person who is paralyzed from the neck down. Despite his disability, he and I worked together to organize a registration day for a program called MyHealtheVet. My Healthe Vet is a government program created to promote more pro-active management of veterans’ health by the veterans themselves. By having this registration day, we hoped to have healthier veterans in the long-run, by motivating veterans to use this program to take charge of their health. In preparation for this day we posted posters and set up registration centers. On the actual day, we reached over 300 people and we were recognized nationally for our efforts.

Another activity I participated in was a musical show that included singing, dancing, and musical playing.

The patients that attended the show were very grateful and appreciative for our performances. The program also offered the opportunities to observe surgeries. I decided to take advantage of this by viewing two sur-geries. The first was an open heart surgery, where the patient had a tumor in his left atrium, which was ob-structing blood flow into his aorta. As a result, surgeons removed the tumor, only after the anesthesiologist manipulated medications to stop his heart. The second surgery I saw was a surgery to remove a tumor in the intestines of a veteran. They, basically, cut his abdomen and pulled the intestines out of the body and operated on the outside of the patient’s stomach! All in all, the Junior Internship Program was a very re-warding experience for its exposure to medicine. Watching different patients have to go through different therapies or take various medications is a humbling experience and I now feel blessed to be able to per-form everyday activities such as getting dressed or even feed myself. I would recommend this program to anyone who is interested in medicine as their profession because this program brings you really close to a medical environment.


Name: Koven Glover Parents: James & Patricia Glover School: Hillsborough High IB Future Goal: Neurobiological Science

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B.E.S.T. Partnering with the Know How 2 Go Campaign

he B.E.S.T. Program was given an opportunity to partner with Know How 2 Go. This campaign was specifically initiated to help young students navigate their way through and to college. The cam-paign was particularly designed for low-income, first generation college students. During our six week summer program we were able to increase our students’ awareness about the resources that are available to students like themselves interested in going to college. We officially got started on June 23rd and ended with an inspiring graduation ceremony on August 5th,2008. We were able to success-fully enroll 25 students in the program. Three quarters of them were in middle school and the other quarter were in high school. One of the things that the B.E.S.T. Program is most proud of is our students’ participation in the Know How 2 Go Summer Creative Contest. During that contest, they tried to display the complex process of preparing for college. Our students felt like they were able to display all the activities, lec-tures and seminars in a venue that supported their efforts. They ended up taking first place in crea-tivity and design.

Summer Creative Contest. 1st Place Grand Prize BEST Program and Total Package They created a maze showing different artistic representations the 'Four Steps’ in preparing for college. The winners received iPods, basketballs and plaques. Special Thanks to Mr. Daniel Dean, Olivia McAnuff, Courtney Smiley for their assistance.

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Our children face unacknowledged prejudices from some of their teachers, negative peer pressure, and distractions at home, in the streets, and at school. Many teachers look at a minority boy and assume that he is a troublemaker and frankly not very bright; our girls do not fare much better once they reach junior high school and high school age. In either event, neither gender is expected to achieve much. On the contrary, they are expected to fail. Successful Blacks and minorities are considered the rare exception, not the rule. Fortunately, there is a lot that we can do to change our child’s outcome in school. With careful planning, constant supervision, and unwavering support, we can ensure that our children excel in school. The following are some methods that can be used to foster any student’s success.

BE INVOLVED: Go to school; meet your child’s teachers and administrators. Help your child with their homework by setting study

times and encouraging good study habits that will be beneficial throughout their lives. Assist them in completing school projects in elementary school. Most of the other parents do, and this will affect both your child’s self-esteem and their grade. (Do allow your child to do most of the work, even in elementary school; your involvement should mostly be assistance in implementing their ideas. Use these opportunities to teach your child how to search for useful ideas and information to assist him or her in completing their projects.)

Communicate your positive and high expectations for your child clearly and often to your child and everyone who is involved with him/her, especially his/her teachers.

Volunteer: consider being the homeroom or phone mom in elementary grades if possible; at least join the PTA/

PTSA and/or School Improvement Team. These groups allow parents to have some say over the school’s policies and activities. Teachers, when aware of a parent’s concern about their child’s success will often make an effort to pay more attention to the child. This also pays off other times: when decisions could go either way, your child benefits.

Establish two-way communication with everyone who is responsible for your child during school. Kindly insist on being informed. You should form a partnership with his/her teacher.

Carefully look over your child’s mid-term progress reports and report cards. Be sure to question any discrepancies or unexplained entries. In high school, ask to see their Student Permanent Record Worksheet every year to make sure that all courses that they have taken appear with the proper weight. Regular courses receive a 0 - 4 weight, with 0 being an F and 4, an A. Honors courses receive an additional .04, AP courses, .08, and IB courses, a .12. This is subject to change, but you should be aware of the advantages of taking the harder courses. Most schools now have an Ed-line which allows parents to check on their child’s progress whenever they care to. Talk to the school’s guidance counselor for more information on how to access this program.

Pearl #2 and #3 to be continued in the next issue

Thank you for supporting B.E.S.T. Program!


Just For Parents Tips on How to Foster a Successful Student: Pearl #1

By Kathy Browne, B.E.S.T. Supporter and School Resource Assistant at Blake High School

Summer Student , Scherika Jarvis and her sister Reschika won the Hula-Hoop competition in style.

n July 1, 2008 the B.E.S.T. Program was pre-sented at the National Area Health Education Or-

ganization (NAO) Conference held in Denver, Colorado. Christina Mathis, Treasurer of the B.E.S.T. Board sub-mitted a proposal and was selected by the NAO commit-tee to present the program as a successful practice for recruiting underrepresented students into health careers. Over 50 individuals from all over the United States at-tended the breakout session and enjoyed learning about the innovative ways the B.E.S.T. Program motivates stu-dents and increases their memory skills by utilizing the game of Chess and teaching the students memory tech-niques. Suggestions made by the attendees were to pilot

the project in additional public schools and share techniques with teachers so they can use them in their classrooms. Overall, participants thanked us for expanding their horizons and providing activities to use within their recruitment programs.

n August 21st, ABC Channel 28 news did a featured presentation on the B.E.S.T. Program. Two of our stu-

dents, Resea Grandberry and Jared Agee were shown shadow-ing Dr. Brian Phillpotts, an ophthalmologist at St. Luke’s Cataract and Laser Institute. Dr. Phillpotts stated the follow-ing, “It’s like a mini-clinic rotation experience that medical students might get in their medical training. We are trying to provide this to middle and high school students early on so they can generate more interest in health care. Hopefully that grabs a hold of them and carries them through so they don’t give up prematurely”.

Visit: http://www.abcactionnews.com/mediacenter/[email protected] to view the video on B.E.S.T.

B.E.S.T. Goes National By Christina Mathis, B.E.S.T. Board Member


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“The Next Wave of Doctors and Nurses”

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Generous Supporters:

Dr. & Mrs. Brian Phillpotts Pastor. Daniel Dean Mrs. Antonio Barber Ms. Olivia McAnuff Ms. Courtney Smiley Mr. Fred Hearns Ms. Kathy Browne Mr. Frank Flores Mrs. LaToya Clark

Mrs. Debbie Devine Mrs. Veronica Vega Mrs. Jackie Hunter

10006 Cross Creek Blvd Tampa, Florida 33647

Phone: 813-892-2182 Fax: 813-889-9566

E-mail:

[email protected]

Web Site: www.brainexpansions.org

OUR SPONSORS The B.E.S.T program is about helping our children. But we would be nowhere without the aid of our dedicated sponsors. The B.E.S.T. program is deeply appreciative of the corporations, founda-tions, governmental agencies and individuals that sponsor us. These generous entities contribute money, time and corporate space to help us as we help our children. The children and volunteers would like to acknowledge them for all their assistance.

B.E.S.T.


I am pleased to enclose my contribution of :

$_______ $ 100 $75 $50 $25 $10

BEST gladly accepts gifts by credit card. If you would like to make your gift by credit card, please complete the following:

I am pleased to enclose my contribution of :

Visa Mastercard Discover American Express

Card # _________________________________________________________________

Expiration Date:__________________________________________________________

Signature:______________________________________________________________

To learn more about how you can become involved with B.E.S.T. please call (813) 892-2182

Visit our website at www.brainexpansions.org

Thank you for your tax deductible donation. The B.E.S.T. Program is a 501C(3) non-profit organization (public charity) and donations are deductible under Section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Brain Expansions Scholastic Training

10006 Cross Creek Blvd

Box 406

Tampa, FL 33647

OUR MISSION

B.E.S.T. is dedicated

to mapping a path of

success for every

student and preparing

them for academic

e x c e l l e n c e a n d

community service.

B.E.S.T. promotes a

high level of academic

distinction by learning

skills taught in

memory training and

chess education.


Nationally Renowned Doctors at St. Luke’s Mentor B.E.S.T ...MyHealtheVet. My Healthe Vet is a...

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