Shanna Fortier
My everyday work, doing what I love
Mark Gerling: Adventure Man
Photo by Shanna Fortier | Mark Gerling has done his share of adventurous traveling. Now, as owner of Gerling Travel, he is sending people on their own adventures.
By Shanna Fortier | Staff Writer
This story and pictures were originally published in the Jan. 20 issue of the Palm Coast Observer.
The year was 2000, the city Pamplona, Spain. Mark Gerling ran for his life in what he called the most intense two minutes he has ever experienced, as six 2,000-pound bulls ran behind him through the narrow streets on a hot, humid July morning.
“I wasn’t worried about the bulls as much as I was worried about the person in front of me,” Gerling said. “If they turn to look back at the bulls and fall, you’re in trouble.”
Running with the bulls is not the only adrenaline-driven vacation Gerling has taken. He has also been cage-diving with great white sharks off the coast of Africa, caught a 375-pound blue marlin in San Salvador, Bahamas, and stared a silverback gorilla in the face in Uganda, from 30 feet away.
Photo by Mark Gerling | Mark Gerling set out to disprove the tale about staring a gorilla in the eye when he took this photo of Mwirima, a silverback gorilla in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in southern Uganda.
“They say that you should do what you love and love what you do,” Gerling said. “I like to travel and experience places. Then I like to encourage other people to go.”
Setting up shop
Gerling was first introduced to the world of travel as a child. His father was a pilot, and as a kid they did a substantial amount of traveling in the U.S. and Canada.
“That was probably my first introduction to seeing, learning and being around different environments and cultures,” Gerling said.
Then in 1996 he traveled to Africa to visit a friend who was serving in the Peace Corps.
He spent 30 days in Mali, West Africa, a place the size of Texas, and California, combined. It was a desolate, poor area that Gerling said he called a fifth-world country because it was so far below the poverty level.
It was an eye-opener for Gerling. The influx of disease and lack of food and water shocked him — that a lack of everyday essentials Americans don’t think about were killing people there.
He was also impressed by the love people had for their land and heritage. “That spurred my passion for wanting to pursue a journey to a travel business, looking more at Africa as a destination to pursue and explore because it’s so vast,” Gerling said.
Photo by Mark Gerling | The Yangtze River is known for its three gorges. The Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest dam project. When traveling down the Shennong Stream, a branch off the Yangtze River, Gerling said, “You feel like you’re back in the medieval days of China’s dynasty era.”
Since 2003, Gerling has been running a travel company — Gerling Travel, in Flagler Beach — focusing on the adventure side of travel with exotic destinations — bucket-list trips.
Vacation vs. Adventure
But adventure is not the only reason Gerling travels. He sees visiting thirdworld countries as an opportunity to donate, build and learn. It’s a reminder for him to appreciate what he has.
“That’s what keeps the flame lit,” Gerling said. “When you can go to Africa and bring clothing, you light up smiles on hundreds of kids’ faces. Tennis shoes that are used to me are new to them. They’ll wear them until the soles fall off — and then they’ll duct-tape them.”
“It’s very humbling to be in the presence of others who have less,” Gerling
Photo by Mark Gerling
said. “We were born with cold water, hot water, clean water, vaccines against diseases … These other people don’t even have a fighting chance.”
Life is a gift, Gerling said. And experiencing life together with people and animals in their surroundings and their cultures is beauty.
To him, going to Africa, or another exotic locale, is not a vacation, it’s an adventure. The kind that can change your life.
Ty’Neka Addison – FPC Basketball
Do you like high school basketball? How about girls? If not, you should re-consider. Ty’Neka Addison is awesome, and recently reached the 1,500-point plateau. I got the chance to photograph her and sit in on an interview recently. Read her story written by PCO Staff Writer Andrew O’Brien.
Photo by Shanna Fortier / Palm Coast Observer
Both photo and story originally published in the Jan. 6 issue of the Palm Coast Observer.
Stewart Maxcy – 11 in ’11
By Shanna Fortier | Staff Writer
Stewart Maxcy is a well-known face in the school community, and in 2011 he will be using his experience in the system to build Race to the Top.
Photo by Shanna Fortier
While they were fishing years ago, Stewart Maxcy and his long time friend, Carl Laundrie, anchored their boat under the Flagler Beach pier. When they were done fishing, Laundrie was oaring away, rowing and rowing, but they weren’t going anywhere.
Finally Maxcy called out to another friend on board: “Did you pull up the anchor yet?”
Of course, he hadn’t. Once the anchor was lifted, it was smooth rowing.
Maxcy is prepared to lift all anchors in his new position with Flagler County Schools as project director for Race to the Top, a four-year grant that will bring $860,000 into Flagler County Schools over a four-year period.
Maxcy will be working with a team of teachers, administrators and district employees on educational reform, which means a lot of changes.
“While I’m hoping its smooth, anytime there’s change there is controversy,” Maxcy said.
The program will change the evaluation system and salary structures. Instead of being paid based on how many years a teacher has taught in the district and the number of extra degrees and certificates, the primary salary increases will be based on individual student gains, Maxcy said.
“Everything will be geared toward increasing student achievement — which in education, is how it should be,” Maxcy said. “ … I have always been interested in personal growth rather than comparative growth.”
Maxcy said he is looking forward to the challenge of his new position and sees it as a team effort of working with teachers and union members to design and implement the changes.
He is also concerned with the state and federal mandates that might come into effect in the future.
“I prefer that we design the program using (the government’s) money, rather than it becoming an unfunded mandate that we’ll have to do anyway,” Maxcy said.
Maxcy started in the district 33 years ago as an art teacher at Bunnell Elementary School. He used to roll his art cart around the school to teach students about the importance of creativity.
Since then, Maxcy has held several positions throughout the county, including principal. Maxcy believes that his creativity is one reason he was appointed to his new position.
“The new position is good for him because he’s done a little bit of everything in the system,” Laundrie said.
When Maxcy returned as principal to Wadsworth Elementary a few years ago, he recognized that the staff needed to come together after a number of administrative changes in a short amount of time.
In one of his first acts as returning principal, he sent out a memo with the theme of “sharing the love.” He circled this theme throughout the year when he created and designed T-shirts and coffee mugs for his staff.
“Sometimes with tough economic times and administration changes, it’s hard making connections with staff, but he was trying to create a community within his school,” Superintended Janet Valentine said. “ … We’re looking at him setting the tone for the next 10 years.”
This story was originally published in the Jan. 6 issue of the Palm Coast Observer.
J.J. Graham – 11 in ’11
By Shanna Fortier | Staff Writer
J. J. Graham opened Hollingsworth Gallery in 2009. In 2011, he plans to expand his space and create a real art community in Palm Coast.
Photo by Shanna Fortier
Today, J.J. Graham owns Hollingsworth Gallery, but in 2002, he was an artist in Mississippi without a space. When Denise Dengler listed her downstairs studio as a space for rent, Graham jumped at the opportunity.
He helped fix up the space and together Graham, Dengler and another artist set up a temporary gallery.
“The show looked good, very professional,” Dengler said. “The comment when people came in was, ‘This reminds me of a real art gallery in New York.’ It was a big space — each piece has its own space to breathe. It didn’t look like a bargain basement art sale.”
Graham sold quite a few paintings that night, but the gallery had to shut down because of fire codes.
“This proved to him that he can survive with his art,” Dengler said of Graham.
After the big show, Graham stayed and painted in Dengler’s basement studio for a while and eventually began teaching with her at a college-for-kids program.
Dengler said: “John lost his mother, and I lost a son so we had a joke: I was his art mom, he was my art son.”
Graham is hoping to bring the kind of creative space he had in Mississippi to Palm Coast in 2011, when he expands his gallery space to include studios available for artists to rent.
Graham and the gallery will not only provide art space for the community but will strive to help keep City Marketplace alive.
“From a socioeconomic point of view, where the artists are producing people will follow,” Dengler said. “Where people go, businesses will thrive.”
And Graham is already laying the foundation. On any given day, there are teenagers hanging around the gallery creating art.
“They just showed up one day, so then I had to make a decision: Do I let them stay?” Graham said. “The kids here need a place to hang out. I really think that it’s meaningful to me because if I were their age, I would be hanging out here.”
Graham has also had success teaching adults.
“He has been a tremendous friend to me,” said Betty Joe Sansbury, who took one of Graham’s painting classes. “I was not excited about living here, and J.J. encouraged me and opened me back up to painting. He made Palm Coast become a place that I’m really excited to live now and be a part of.” Graham said he never set out to be a gallery owner, but he saw a need for an art center in Palm Coast.
Graham said: “It’s a miracle what happened here — every month that we stay alive.”
This story was originally printed in the Jan. 6 issue of the Palm Coast Observer.
Former Problem Solver shares success
By Shanna Fortier | Staff Writer
When Flagler Palm Coast High School alumna Kristen Hadeed wanted a pair of expensive jeans, she did what she had always done: She asked her parents. But to her surprise, they told her those three words college students dread most: “Get a job.”
Kristen Hadeed
With no real work experience and a tough course load at the University of Florida, Hadeed needed something flexible to work around her demanding schedule. She put an ad on Craigslist to clean houses and soon branched out to hire four employees.
Her big break came when she approached Paradigm Properties, in Gainesville, about doing the company’s move-out cleanings. In one month, the cleaning team went from four to 60.
“I decided to make a 3.5 GPA requirement in order to attract students who were dependable, disciplined and goal oriented,” Hadeed said.
But when move-out season ended, Hadeed found she did not want to stop. “I saw a need for a reliable cleaning service in this community — one that only employs individuals of the highest caliber,” Hadeed said.
And that’s how Student Maid was born. Hadeed recently spoke at FPC about how the Future Problem Solving Program helped her start her business.
“I am amazed by how much I used the Future Problem Solving process in my journey as a young entrepreneur,” Hadeed said. “The skill set I gained from this program is incredibly valuable and hard to find, and is the reason I was able to start a successful company, at 19 years old.”
Hadeed said her goal when talking to the students was to motivate them to do something innovative.
“If someone told me at 16 that the things I was learning in the classroom would follow me into my adult life, I would have never believed them,” Hadeed said. “My goal was to prove that it will be used, and that they should be refining that skill set now so that they come out ahead of the game.”
This story was originally published in the Dec. 23 issue of the Palm Coast Observer.
Project delivers 3,100 gifts
By Shanna Fortier | Staff Writer
The Flagler Christmas Angels Project combined efforts of agencies and individuals in Flagler.
Christmas is a time of giving, but for those who have been struck by the bad economy, it’s not always easy to give.
This year, the Christmas Angels Project, coordinated by Flagler County Schools, brought together partners from all over Flagler County to provide toys for more than 3,100 children in the area.
PHOTOS BY SHANNA FORTIER
Two days before last Christmas, Katrina Townsend, student services director for Flagler County Schools, sat in her office with a struggling family with crying children.
Townsend said she thought, “There has to be a different way to work this — to take less resources a lot further in a needy community.”
With 56% of students in Flagler County receiving free or reduced lunch, Townsend knew this would be a challenge. And that’s when the Flagler Christmas Angels Project began.
Townsend and her team asked Flagler agencies, churches and groups to list all Flagler County families who needed assistance for the holidays into one central, countywide database, with the goal to provide each child with Christmas gifts and prevent abuse of the system.
The new database allows for each individual group to register families in need and the Angels Project to find a provider for them through partners or individuals.
“I’m really excited that Flagler County started the Christmas Angels program this year because it allowed all providers to work together on one database,” said Roseanne Stocker, founder of Project Share. “Everyone working from the same system creates less stress for families, who can register once with the schools and be assured they’ll be provided for.”
Project Share, which was founded 11 years ago, originally provided for children in the Pearson area. As the project expanded, it began to provide Christmas toys for children in Flagler County, also. Project Share provided gifts for 1,300 children this year in the two counties.
With 70 locations around the county, Toys for Tots also joined the project to help coordinate the charitable efforts.
“The whole move toward cooperation has been so good,” said Dorothy Sperber, coordinator for Toys for Tots. “It’s what the county had needed for a long time.” Not only did Christmas Angels provide for needy families through agencies, but families and individuals throughout the county also adopted groups.
One Flagler schools cafeteria worker adopted 10 teenagers and provided them each with gift cards, Townsend said.
“There was an enormous outpouring of support of the project from the community,”
This story was originally published in the Dec. 23 issue of the Palm Coast Observer.
Cappy the Clown
PHOTO BY SHANNA FORTIER: Cappy the Clown paints faces Saturday, Dec. 11, at the Holiday Fantasy Fest in Palm Coast
VOICE gives teens an artistic outlet
By Shanna Fortier | Staff Writer
As a kid, A.J. Neste tagged along with his father, Tony, to his Sports Illustrated photo shoots. At the time, A.J. had no clue he was learning a skill that would fuel his future career.
When A.J. Neste picked up a camera, he did it for the fun of documenting. His passion landed him a job with Surfing Magazine and eventually the USA Surf Team.
Photo by AJ Neste
“I never knew I was good at photography — just something my dad did, and something I did for fun,” Neste said.
When Neste moved back to Flagler Beach last year, he had hopes to pass his passion along to others.
“All these kids take pictures for Facebook,” Neste said. “I wanted to show them that they can find a career in the industry.”
And that is what he is doing through Florida Endowment Foundation’s VOICE program.
The program
VOICE is a multimedia youth center concept designed to give young people ages 11 to 18 real-world, work-based learning opportunities.
Through a grant, Neste was able to purchase digital cameras and encourage his students to go out, meet people and expose them to things through their own creative expression.
“I love watching them work,” Neste said of his students. “I learned more than I ever thought I knew by teaching them — and their photography is really good.”
The student
Flagler Palm Coast High School student Justin Evans, 16, who has always been interested in photography, has been involved in VOICE for two months.
Photographer: Justin Evans, 16
He said when he learned about the opportunity to learn from a professional, he knew it would be a great experience.
“We learned how attitude and personality affects the quality of your photos,” Evans said.
When Evans began his photography adventure, his interest was in action and sports, but through VOICE, he said he was able to diversify his photographs.
Neste emphasizes to his students how different perspectives allow viewers to see through the photographer’s eyes and that each photo should tell a story.
The gallery
VOICE participants will be able to share those stories 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 16, in a one-night gallery show, at Hollingsworth Gallery.
“The goal with the gallery is to show them that there is a business side to your work,” Neste said. “It’s great to shoot and get ideas, but there has to be a focus point.”
Photographer: Daylee Willis, 16
Each student, 15 in total, will show one 16-by-20 framed print and four 8-by-10 matted prints, all of which will be for sale. The gallery is an opportunity for the student photographers to not only sell their work, but also to share the story behind the photograph.
“We’re more than a class, more than a club — we’ve become kind of like a little family.” Neste said.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Photography’s VOICE Student Gallery
WHEN: 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17
WHERE: Hollingsworth Gallery, 160 Cypress Point Parkway, Suite 210B
This story was originally published in the Dec. 16 issue of the Palm Coast Observer.
Frozen in Florida
The trees and bushes at Waterfront Park in Palm Coast all sported icicles. Sunshine state, maybe… but it is officially freezing temperatures in Florida. Too bad it’s not snow…
Photo Copyright Shanna Fortier
