Randall Teacher Authors Holiday Horror Tale

"The Coal Elf" is about the darker side of Christmas.

This time of year, children around the world fall asleep to joyous tales of Santa and his merry band of toy-making elves. But what about the other side of Christmas -- the darker side? It's this aspect of the holiday season that Maria DeVivo of FishHawk Ranch explores in her book for teens and tweens, "The Coal Elf." A Randall Middle School seventh-grade language arts teacher since 2005, DeVivo said she came up with the concept for the book while teaching at a Catholic school in Long Island. "I'm not your conventional teacher," she admitted. "I have tattoos, I wear lots of black and I'm into horror movies." The Catholic school was hosting its annual Christmas party. DeVivo found a black Santa's hat and wore it to the party in 2004. "The …

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Randall Middle School Musicians Spread Holiday Cheer to Shoppers

Student musicians performed for shoppers at Barnes & Noble Booksellers at Westfield Brandon Dec. 8.

As harried shoppers scurried to find the perfect gift and then stand in long lines to purchase it, the holiday chore was made a bit more tolerable by string musicians from Randall Middle School. On Dec. 8, the musicians performed at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Westfield Brandon, filling the story with the sounds of holiday music.

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Local Schools Remember Sept. 11 Terrorist Attacks

For the fourth year, Randall Middle School students will plant markers in front of the school, representing the 2,986 victims of the terrorist attacks.

Although they were only toddlers when the planes crashed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, students at Randall Middle School on FishHawk Boulevard, are determined that the 2,986 victims will never be forgotten. For the fourth year, members of teacher Kristy Verdi's Randall Area Youth Service Council will pay tribute to those who perished on 9/11 by creating a memorial in front of the school. The students have created markers for each victim that the student body will plant on the school grounds to create a giant American flag. Throughout the day today, every class at the middle school will spend time inserting the markers in the ground. This year, after the flag has been finished, a lift truck will be used to …

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Lennard: With Randall's Death, Hillsborough Loses 'Another Legacy'

Earl Lennard, Hillsborough County's supervisor of elections and former school superintendent, remembers James D. Randall Jr., who will be laid to rest July 17 at Hillsboro Memorial Gardens after funeral services at Southside Baptist Church.

Funeral Services Set for Randall Middle School's Namesake

The namesake of Randall Middle School, James D. Randall Jr., will be laid to rest July 17 following funeral services at Southside Baptist Church in Brandon.

  Funeral services for James David Randall Jr., a legendary past principal of Brandon High School, a former president of the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce, and the namesake of the middle school in FishHawk, are scheduled for July 17 at Southside Baptist Church in Brandon. Randall, 82, a Korean War veteran, died July 13 at home, according to his online obituary at Southern Funeral Care. The Valrico resident, born Feb. 5, 1930 in Alabama, moved to Hillsborough County in 1955, where he started his long and illustrious career with the Hillsborough County School District as a teacher at what was then known as the Pinecrest School. He later taught and served as dean of boys at Plant City High School. In 1959 he served as assistant …

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Randall Students Rally Against Transmission Lines

Members of the R.A.Y.S. Council joined the campaign to keep power lines out of their neighborhoods.

Amidst the hundreds of concerned FishHawk Ranch and Channing Park residents attending a meeting last week on plans to run transmission lines through the area were two Randall Middle School students on a mission. Sugriva Forsyth and Grace French of the Randall Area Youth Service (R.A.Y.S.) Council sacrificed an evening to sit through the lengthy meeting to learn more about Tampa Electric Co.'s proposal to run transmission lines between The Bridges subdivisions and Channing Park. "I read about the power line issue and realized how close to home this issue was," said Randall teacher Kristy Verdi, service learning coordinator of the R.A.Y.S. Council. "I showed the students the path of the power line and asked if any of them wanted to get …

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Randall Students Win Making An Impact Award

The students won the award for their Sept. 11 10th anniversary project.

News Report Students from Randall Middle School won one of the three Making an Impact national awards announced by Kids Voting USA. Randall students Madison Dowdy, Hunter Harvey, Elizabeth Hoepner and Alisa Reneau won the sixth through eighth grade Making an Impact award for the Randall Area Youth Service Council (RAYS) 2011 project on the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11. They involved the entire school in creating a display in the shape of a flag, made up of individual markers bearing the names of each 9/11 victim. RAYS is an elective course initiated by the school’s service learning coordinator, Kristy Verdi, as a service club in 2007. RAYS members have participated in a number of service projects since then. The winners and sponsors are …

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R.A.Y.S. Shine During Environmental Cleanup at Lithia Springs Park

Members of the Randall Area Youth Service Council spent Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day cleaning up trash around Lithia Springs Park.

Members of the Randall Area Youth Service Council were talking trash on Monday, Jan. 16. That is, the students from Randall Middle School were discussing the bounty of bottles, cans and paper they collected during their environmental cleanup at Lithia Springs Park on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. "We found a lot of clothes and shoes," said student Grace French. "I saw a lot of champagne and beer bottles and plastic bottles," said student Katie Jones. The 38 students, age 12 to 14, spent their day off from school combing the woods around the park in search of litter as part of their continued commitment to serve their community. Headed by Randall teacher Kristy Verdi, the R.A.Y.S. participate in a number of community service projects …

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Randall Middle's R.A.Y.S. Council To Host Environmental Cleanup

The Randall Area Youth Service Council has organized an environmental cleanup for student volunteers in Lithia Springs Park for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr.'s commitment to service, student volunteers from Randall Middle School will be doing their part to clean up the environment next week. The R.A.Y.S. (Randall Area Youth Service) Council has organized an environmental cleanup for student volunteers at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 16, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Fifty pre-registered students will head out that morning for a day of work in Lithia Springs Park along the banks of the Alafia River. For more information, contact service learning coordinator Kristy Verdi at 813-740-3900 or kristy.verdi@sdhc.k12.fl.us. Know of other MLK Jr. Day service projects happening around the community? Email editor D'Ann White at dann.white@patch.com or post the info in a …

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Randall Middle School Students Pay Tribute to 9/11 Victims

The school created a giant American flag on the front lawn of the campus using red, white and blue placards bearing the names of the victims of the terrorist attacks.

Their memories, if any, are hazy of that day. After all, they were only toddlers when the planes crashed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. But now, at age 12 to 14, the students at Randall Middle School in FishHawk Ranch know there were exactly 2,986 victims of the terrorist attacks including one service dog. And they can recite many of the names of the people who perished that day. That's because, for the past two weeks, the students have been printing out lists of names of the victims and applying them to markers, decorating them with stars and laminating them. Then, on Friday, the students planted the markers in the ground of the front lawn of the school campus, 16510 Fishhawk Blvd., Lithia, to create a giant …

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