Like most siblings, Natalie and Rebecca Helm look a lot alike—both have blonde hair, blue eyes and similar builds, but it’s their smiles that stick out as eerily similar. They also both possess a gift for music. Natalie owns the title of Principal Cellist for the Sarasota Orchestra, Rebecca, who lives in Boston, is an accomplished pianist and music instructor. The two have performed as a duet since they were children, and as adults, they recorded an album of Christmas songs. Regrettably, between their geographic distance, marriages and careers, their ability to connect over music has dwindled. But if the COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated any positive effects, it is the abundance of time the sisters have found to explore new ways to connect.

Just this week, Sarasota Orchestra officially cancelled the remainder of its 2019-2020 season in response to the social distancing protocols recommended by state and federal officials. For Natalie, the free time has been an opportunity to dig into musical endeavors she was too busy for during the season. “Instead of preparing for the week’s performance,” says Natalie, “we’re digging a little deeper into our bookcases of sheet music.” She has taken the time to dive into some Beethoven cello sonatas and some Bach sweets, maybe work on her bow technique. But she has also used her free time to become proficient in a realm of music many classically trained musicians seldom dive into: digital recording.

As part of the Orchestra’s campaign to stay connected with its fans, Natalie familiarized herself with video conferencing and recording platforms so she could, among other projects, create a duet with her sister. The video is part of a series of vignettes many Orchestra musicians are producing in their free time that offer an intimate window into their lives at home during quarantine. It opens with a greeting from Natalie, in good spirits and sharing personal anecdotes like the story of how she proposed to her husband. She also introduces viewers to her sage rescue pup, DeAngelo. It’s a touching moment of candor that reminds Orchestra fans that each musician has a life off-stage and that they too feel the pains of isolation.

The video then cuts to the two sisters in their respective living rooms, Rebecca with her hands poised on her piano, Natalie seated with her cello at the ready. They perform “What the World Needs Now is Love,” an upbeat song they hope will combat the current state of fear and uncertainty. The simple number is delicately expressed by the pair, with Rebecca providing the steady foundation of chords to Natalie’s lilting rendition of the vocal melody on cello. In spite of the distance and circumstances, the sisters’ performance still feels synchronous and immediate. “It’s an interesting time for us in that we’re not able to go to our ‘jobs,’” says Helm, “but for me, continuing to practice and connect has been important to help me remember why I do this.” 

Photo courtesy of Sarasota Orchestra.

To see the video.

Four Sarasota nonprofit organizations are partnering to provide food to children and their families while schools remain closed due to the COVID-19 crisis. Staff teams from Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County, Children First and Girls Inc. of Sarasota County are packing hundreds of bags of food provided by All Faiths Food Bank. Each organization is hosting the food distribution at their respective sites. Participation is restricted and proof of club membership is required. “It will take this kind of collaboration to feed children while schools are closed,” said Sandra Frank, CEO of All Faiths Food Bank. “We are thankful to our partners for this innovative collaboration.” Families in immediate need can also pick up food at one of the Food Bank’s mobile pantry locations and partner agency distributions. Locations and times can be found at allfaithsfoodbank.org.  “We’re thrilled to expand our longstanding partnerships with All Faiths Food Bank, Girls Inc. and Children First to provide thousands of our community’s youth and their families with staple grocery items during this unprecedented time,” said Bill Sadlo, President/CEO at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County. “This collaborative effort has enabled us to enhance our virtual programmatic efforts, too. Our Culinary Arts program is designing delicious recipes for those we serve – using the food items included in each of the distribution bags – on our social media platforms including Facebook.com/BGCSC.”

The organizations are seeing great success with this distribution method due to the relationship between their staff and the families. “Once this situation began, our families turned to Girls Inc. for support and we are so thankful to be able to provide them with food during this difficult time.  Without this partnership, many of our girls would not have access to the nutrition they need,” said Angie Stringer, President and CEO of Girls Inc.  “Children First is honored to be a proud partner as we collectively make sure the most vulnerable children and families in our community have food to eat,” said Philip Tavill, CEO of Children First. “Our families, particularly those facing so many challenges during this pandemic crisis, need to be assured of access to nutritious food as they deal with job loss and many other issues. By our joining together, they can count on us.”  

Pictured: Wayne Ard, Club Director for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County, distributes food to a club member family

Hear the uplifting voices of children as they march with "heads held high" in this scene from Bizet's Carmen. The chorus is sung by members of the Sarasota Opera's Youth Operat, from Sarasota Opera's 2018 Winter Opera Festival. 

Click for the voices of children from this popular scene in Bizet's Carmen.

This video performance features 34 international string students (ages 12-20+), who study in The Perlman Music Program and play violin, viola, cello and bass, under the baton of internationally acclaimed concert violinist and conductor, Itzhak Perlman. — This rehearsal was presented as part of the 16th Annual PMP Winter Residency in Sarasota-Bradenton, in preparation for the January 4, 2020 Celebration Concert in the Sarasota Opera House. For more information about this and other mission-driven programs, visit PerlmanSuncoast.org. 

Click for the performance video.

The Sarasota County School District is seeking a visionary individual to lead one of Florida’s, and the nation’s, highest performing school districts. The district is located on Florida’s beautiful southwest coast and serves a diverse population of more than 43,000 students. The district has been A-rated by the Florida Department of Education every year since the grading system was introduced in 2004, and has achieved an 89.4% graduation rate. The district has 41 traditional public schools and 12 charter schools. Technical colleges offer advanced career preparation for those not pursuing college opportunities. Sarasota County Schools is strongly supported by the community, as evidenced by continuous passage of additional millage and sales tax; the school district also benefits from actively engaged philanthropic individuals and organizations. The school district’s current priority of addressing the impact of COVID-19 (the Coronavirus) on the district and community required the School Board to temporarily pause superintendent search activities. Adjustments to the timeline and advertisement period, if any, will be announced as soon as possible. The School Board intends to fill the position before the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year. 

Qualifications for the position of Superintendent are: Master’s degree required from an accredited institution; Doctorate preferred, 10 years of educational, or equivalent business or governmental, experience with at least 5 or more years in an executive leadership position, 
Associate Superintendent or equivalent experience preferred; and, Florida experience preferred. The formal process for applying is forthcoming. 

For additional information, please contact the Florida School Boards Association team:

Andrea Messina, Executive Director: messina@fsba.org,  850-414-2578, 850-566-1860 

Dr. Bill Vogel, Consultant: b2vogel@gmail.com, 321-299-2452

John Reichert, Consultant: jlreichert9@gmail.com, 321-363-7909 

During these challenging times, an important component of promoting brain and body health, and fighting brain and body illness is finding healthy ways to cope and stay connected. There are many tools and resources available for managing stress and building resilience as you adapt to the temporary changes in the way you live, learn, work, and spend time together.

Here are five tips for staying connected and building resilience.

1. Get five daily Brain Health Boosts. Good-for-you foods, a good night’s sleep, thinking positive thoughts, writing down something you are grateful for, and a good amount of exercise every day, for example, can help manage stress while protecting your brain and body health. Next week join the Brain Boost Challenge.
2. Stay connected with technology. Reach out to family and friends, colleagues, and community groups in whatever way you can—calls, texts, video chats, and more.
3. Spend time in spaces where COVID-19 is not the focus. Don’t let the pandemic take over what you read, watch, or talk about. Turn off the TV and don’t be afraid to ask friends and family to talk about something else.
4. Reduce anxiety by reducing your risk. Stay safer at home. Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds. Cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze. Stay at least 6-feet apart while running essential errands at the store, pharmacy, or gas station. Knowing you’re doing everything you can to stay healthy can help you worry less and boost your brain and body immunity.
5. Monitor your anxiety levels. Everyone’s reaction to stress is different. Normal reactions to stress may include difficulty concentrating or sleeping, irritability, fatigue, and even stomach pain. But if you find that persistent anxiety is overwhelming your ability to cope with everyday life, reach out to a medical professional for help. 

Remember, you are not alone. We are all in this together. By working together, we are resilient. 

Join the Keep Calm and Carry on Community Meditation.

Operation Patriot Support (OPS) is launching a gift card challenge. Their mission with the Gift Card Challenge is twofold: first, to support local first responders, law enforcement and medical personnel that are selflessly working each day to help those affected by the COVID-19 virus while exposing themselves to the risk of contracting the virus and secondly, to support local restaurants and their employees that have been severely impacted by the local and State wide closures. Op’s will match every dollar donated up to $750. Each time our donations reach $750 for a total of $1,500 (including Op’s matching portion), Op’s will purchase $1,500 worth of gift cards from local restaurants and distribute the gift cards to local first responders, law enforcement and medical personnel. 

For more on donating to Operation Patriot Support.

Support local healthcare workers, locally owned restaurants and the realtor community... all at the same time. When you DONATE, restaurants CREATE, and realtors DELIVER! One-hundred percent of all monies raised will be passed on to the local restaurant providing quality meals for that day to help keep our locals employed and our restaurants alive. Confirmed recipients include: Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Doctors Hospital, Lakewood Ranch Medical, Manatee Memorial, Blake Medical and Venice Regional. Local restaurants benefit from the orders and revenue. Realtors & affiliates benefit by supporting their community and spreading the word. Healthcare workers get fed quality local meals at no cost. Everyone benefits. Organized by Brian Loebker. They welcome larger donations of course—just remember they are putting the value of each meal at $25. Each time they accumulate a set of 10 donations, they will place an order with that day's local restaurant. Restaurants will be allowed full discretion in the meals they create via the honor system to ensure value at the $25 price. For restaurants who are interested in participating, they need to haveSarasota, Manatee and/or Venice locations. Registration is required. Restaurants will receive 100% of the monies donated. Orders will be placed in increments of 10 based upon donation volume with at least two days prior notice. Participating restaurants will be rotated on an equal basis to spread the love, and divided by your regions. Click here for more information on the project. 

Click here to register your restaurant.

Need more ocean and science content for your at-home learning? Look no further! Each week, Mote Marine will share new interactive lessons and activities to their Google classroom page. Every age group (pre-k - adult) can find something to spark their interest! Mote will be sharing new content every day so bookmark the page and stay tuned.  THey are proud to bring their Mote Education programs and activities into your living and learning spaces. There is something for everyone! Check out all of their free virtual program offerings below and click on the linked titles for more details. THeyare adding new programs daily, so be sure to bookmark this page and check back often.

Examples of online programming include:

Backyard Explorations and Science Techniques - The BEST Time of Day

(BEST) encourages participants to get outside and get to know their natural spaces. In this series, we’ll learn observation skills, how to evaluate biodiversity, and finally, how we can best take care of our natural spaces to positively impact wildlife and the oceans. Click the link above to access our FlipGrid group to leave us a video of your backyard explorations. 

Ask Us Anything About the Ocean on Flipgrid

Leave us a free, video voicemail and ask us anything about the ocean. Our educators and researchers are available to answer your deep questions with a personalized video response. Consider Mote Marine Lab your virtual pen-pals whenever you have an ocean science question! 

Virtual Story Times 

Ready to have storytime come to life? Well then dive into an ocean storybook for engaging interactive tales on sharks, dolphins, sea turtles, and other underwater critters with one of our educators! Pre-registration required (click on Virtual Story Times link above). Mondays and Tuesdays.

Mote SEAtrek

Mote SEAtrek lessons are live, two-way, interactive virtual experiences between you and our laboratory in Florida. We can see and hear your learners and they can see and hear us. Award-winning lessons are based on the 60+ years of marine research at our lab. Lessons are available in 25 and 50 minute lengths for PreK-12th + Lifelong Learners. Find more information here and book your program today! (some programs are fee based) 

Visit Google Classroom and Search for Code CVVRCVF for Mote Marine.

CenterPlace Health, a non-profit, Federally Qualified Health Center in Sarasota County provides Primary Care Services in Adult Health, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dental and Behavioral Health has received a $20,000 grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation and the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation.  The grant will help develop telehealth services as part of the COVID-19 Response Initiative in Sarasota County.  Expansion of telemedicine will allow CenterPlace to create virtual visits with our clients who are experiencing symptoms or reside in outbreak areas.  The use of telehealth potentially reduces infection risks for vulnerable populations.  Our mission is to provide all patients including the underserved and uninsured access to quality primary care and preventative health education regardless of race, sex, disability, or economic status. A recent bill was passed which allowed the government to waive telehealth restrictions to help deal with the public health emergency created by the coronavirus outbreak.  It also could open the way for more lasting changes in patient treatment strategies through virtual health care. 

 “Telehealth is becoming instrumental in containing and treating disease, particularly in a public health emergencies such as Covid19 and will allow us to continue providing care to all our patients  especially our pregnant Moms and Babies”  said from Melissa Parker, CEO of CenterPlace Health. Telemedicine cannot take the place of a swab of the throat to collect a sample for scientific testing. But it can help doctors make special arrangements to safely receive a patient who is sick and suspects the virus may be involved. Perhaps even more important, telemedicine would offer a way for patients with ongoing medical issues such as diabetes and other chronic illnesses  to still get the care they need without having to go to the doctor’s office and risk coming into contact with someone who is sick. Many CenterPlace Health patients have multiple, chronic health conditions, making them part of the vulnerable populations susceptible to the Coronavirus, COVID-19.  We want our patients to know we care, and we are here for them. CenterPlace Health is Sarasota County’s safetynet health care provider and has been actively involved in COVID-19 testing  and treatment.  

For more information.