Students Assist Community Needs in Diverse Ways
December 07, 2009
Over the fall semester, Saint Leo
University students took on several noteworthy projects in support
of local community needs. Students are encouraged in these efforts
as they grow into mature citizens whose lives reflect the
university’s core values of community, excellence, respect,
integrity, responsible stewardship, and personal development.
To highlight just a few
activities:
Kristen Preseault ’10, who plays midfield for the women’s soccer
team, inspired 100 fellow student-athletes and coaches from eight
different teams to travel to St. Petersburg and cheer on runners
and walkers during the 2009 Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk. The
participants in the event cover 60 miles to raise money from donors
to benefit breast cancer research, education, and patient care.
They are exhausted and sore by the end, if not before. Kristen
decided Saint Leo athletes could help lift walkers’ spirits by
assembling a cheering section. The students were out on the route
Sunday morning, November 1, creating a human "tunnel" of supportive
Lions to praise the walkers as they passed. The Lions, many of whom
were clad in pink, came equipped with coolers filled with water and
freeze-pops for the thirsty walkers. Coach Erika Brennan praised
Kristen for organizing the entire project. "She was a rock star in
this whole thing," Coach Brennan wrote of Kristen.
Basic Human Health
The Saint Leo baseball team held a holiday food drive in November
to benefit the local Catholic Charities office. And, for the second
fall semester in a row, the team organized a round-up of players to
donate to the local blood bank, Blood Net USA.
A Different Kind of Teen Clothing
Shop
Delta Upsilon, the Saint Leo chapter of Alpha Sigma Tau sorority,
adopted as a service project an effort at local high school to
collect dress clothing for students who can’t afford such attire
for graduations, job interviews, and other special occasions. The
idea is to collect donated clothing, and establish a little
“boutique' at the school where students can borrow the clothing,
with the option of keeping the outfits. The effort is called the
Pirate Angel Project at Pasco High School in Dade City, just a few
miles from campus. This is only the latest service project for the
sorority chapter, which encourages community involvement throughout
the year.
Experienced Coach
Needed
Graduate student DeeDee Castro, who is pursuing a master’s degree
in educational leadership at Saint Leo, was called upon this year
to help a sports program at her old high school, where the Castro
family name is held in high regard. Castro was a standout soccer
player on the girls team at Zephyrhills High School from 1997 to
2000, and her dad, Phillip, had coached the boys team in the past.
DeeDee went on to play college soccer at her undergraduate
institution, Florida Atlantic University, and after graduation
returned to coach the ZHS girls’ team for awhile. But she grew busy
with her own career in teaching and education, and left the field
for a time to concentrate on her graduate studies, which are now
nearly complete. A few months ago, she was asked to make time for
high school soccer. The boys team faced a coaching void and needed
a strong leader to motivate the players for the fall season. The
boys team had never had a female coach before, but several players
personally asked her to lead them. When she agreed to take the
part-time job (with modest pay), local newspapers reported
positively on the development. “I felt that I should help them
out," Coach DeeDee Castro told a sports reporter for The Tampa
Tribune.
