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Feature Stories

Wellington’s Education Committee Provides A Crucial Link To The Local School System

Wellington The Magazine – June 2016                                                Wellington’s Education Committee Provides A Crucial Link To The      Local School System

Story by Ron Bukley  •  Photos by Abner Pedraza

Members of Wellington’s Education Committee provide an essential service as liaisons between local schools and the village to help everyone work together.

The panel also helps dole out $25,000 grants to the elementary schools, plus additional funding for students in middle schools and high schools. The committee closely monitors the spending to get the best uses from the allocations.

As the committee’s liaison, Director of Community Services James Poag tries to provide structure to that interchange.

“I was kind of instrumental in the framework, the guidelines and the process for submitting for payment, and verifying that the money was used for what it was submitted for,” he said, adding that the committee also works to address other educational issues that take place in Wellington.

The committee is the guiding voice for the Wellington Village Council regarding issues that take place in Wellington schools.

“They provide consultation on these issues, and they are a liaison between the council, our schools and the school system itself,” Poag said.

Although grants to the schools may be the most visible work of the committee, they are only a portion of what the committee does.

“They also provide us guidance and direction in terms of my department when we say we’re going to roll out a new youth program,” Poag said. “They provide us with guidance and direction in terms of how effective they feel that program would be, and they help us in terms of recommending individual schools that would benefit most, and put us in the right direction. They can put us in touch with the right people to talk to in order to get students to participate in those programs.”

The committee also provides insight to village leaders on individual issues within the schools.

“The council members are not educators,” Poag said. “So these individuals, with their background and their interaction with the different schools, provide the council information on how we can better support schools so those students can be successful and achieve their goals.”

Looking into the future of Wellington, Poag said that the school system is one of the most important factors to continue to draw individuals to raise their families here.

“If we are going to remain a viable and sustainable community, we have to focus in on education,” he said. “We have to provide additional support to our school system so it remains attractive to individuals looking to move into our community.”

Poag is assigned to help develop strategies to provide support to the schools in areas that may be lacking.

“No community can handle their issues in terms of educational success alone,” he said. “That’s why the partnership between the Village of Wellington and the Palm Beach County School District is so important.”

Wellington’s Education Committee is the lynchpin that keeps that partnership growing.

“The committee has the opportunity to discuss those issues, provide that information to me, the liaison, then I can take those issues back to the council to consider how we provide additional support, or what other strategies can we look at to try to help resolve issues in the school system.”

The committee spends considerable time deciding how money to the schools will be spent to be most effective, on non-consumables such as computers and additional tutoring, rather than paper and pencils.

“I think the committees plays a vital role not only in providing information to my department, but to the council in terms of day-to-day issues,” Poag said. “Without them, we wouldn’t be aware of those issues, and we wouldn’t be able to formulate strategies to help provide the necessary support that the school system needs in order to ensure that our children in Wellington are getting a quality education.”

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Feature Stories, Wellington Education

Student Grades Are Going Up, Thanks To Wellington’s Keely Spinelli Education Grant

images from the january 2016 issue of wellington the magazine. all content ©2016 wellington the magazine

Wellington The Magazine – June 2016                                                          Student Grades Are Going Up, Thanks To Wellington’s Keely Spinelli  Education Grant

Story by Jason Stromberg  •  Photos by Julie Unger

At Binks Forest Elementary School, children are receiving additional instructional time to assist in closing achievement gaps in reading and math. The students’ self-esteem and academic motivation have increased.

In reading, 100 percent of the students in the lowest 25 percentile of test scores improved. In math, 95 percent of the students in that lowest percentile improved their scores.

Somewhere up above, Keely Spinelli, the former principal at Binks Forest who passed away after a long battle with cancer in 2008, is smiling. That’s because the Wellington Education Grant named after Spinelli is working hard to help students across the community.

“The Keely Spinelli Education Grant has positively impacted Binks Forest Elementary School students in the areas of reading and math,” current Binks Forest Principal Michella Levy said. “Binks was able to hire three qualified tutors to serve students in first grade through fifth grade during the school day.”

Since 2013, the Wellington Village Council has allocated $275,000 to provide funding for the 11 public schools in the Village of Wellington to assist students in the lowest 25th percentile in reading and math. The Wellington Education Committee is responsible for monitoring and administering the grant.

At their meeting in August, committee members will hear from all 11 local schools for 2016-17 grant requests.

“Binks Forest is so grateful that we were recipients of the grant,” Levy added.

The other 10 schools that have benefited from the Keely Spinelli Education Grant are Elbridge Gale, Equestrian Trails, New Horizons, Panther Run and Wellington elementary schools; Polo Park, Emerald Cove and Wellington Landings middle schools; and Palm Beach Central and Wellington high schools.

Each school has used the money to provide additional resources and tutoring to students.

“The students really enjoy the non-fiction, high-interest Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) books that are on their specific reading levels,” Levy said. “Leveled Literacy Intervention is used with small reading groups.”

Equestrian Trails Elementary School Principal Michele Johnson is also thankful for the Keely Spinelli Education Grant.

“The teachers and parents have been greatly impressed with the growth of these students and grateful that this generous grant has been given to these students to succeed,” Johnson said. “I personally did not know Keely, but I can only imagine how much it would mean to her, knowing a grant in her name and honor, made such a difference for struggling readers.”

Things weren’t easy at Equestrian Trails before the Spinelli grant was created.

“As a non-Title 1 school, we don’t get the teachers to work with our lowest 25th percentile scored students,” Johnson said. “It’s hard. To pull out the small group for instruction is a tough task. These students are now getting the instruction they need that we couldn’t afford previously without the grant.”

Spinelli worked as a teacher in the western communities before becoming a principal. The grant is a fitting tribute to an educator who was so dedicated to her craft. Reading and math were near and dear to her heart.

“I knew Keely very well,” Elbridge Gale Elementary School Principal Gail Pasterczyk said. “She had a true passion for literacy and was an expert in the field. She would be thrilled to know that her legacy is living on in the community of Wellington. She has truly made a difference in the lives of so many children, and that’s what it’s all about. It was an honor for me to know her and work with her.”

Pasterczyk was assistant principal at Manatee Elementary School when she met Spinelli’s husband, Peter, who was a teacher at Manatee. At that time, Spinelli’s son Andrew was in kindergarten at Manatee, where Spinelli volunteered for special events — like the time she came in dressed as Cruella de Vil for Storybook Character Day and thrilled the students.

At that time, Spinelli was principal at Belvedere Elementary School.

“When I opened Elbridge Gale 11 years ago, Peter Spinelli was one of my original teachers,” Pasterczyk said. “I recall her sitting on the floor of his classroom helping him sort and set up his leveled library.”

Spinelli served on the board at Palms West Hospital and led the West Area Literacy Training Center. Due to her passion to teach children to read, her colleagues created a library in her honor for children at Palms West Hospital.

“After she left Binks Forest, Spinelli was in charge of the West Area Literacy Project for two years on the campus of Elbridge Gale,” Pasterczyk said. “She trained teachers on the components of Balanced Literacy. She demonstrated lessons. Then they observed teachers in classrooms and, finally, they practiced what they had learned with a group of students, all under her watchful eye.”

Students in the lowest 25th percentile at Elbridge Gale have made tremendous gains, Pasterczyk said. “Last year, and the year before, we only had one third-grade retention,” she said. “We are extremely grateful for the Keely Spinelli grant, as it has provided funds to provide tutoring for our students. We have also been able to purchase Leveled Literacy Intervention kits, Reading A to Z, Reading Plus and technology to assist our struggling students.”

Pasterczyk is very thankful to the Village of Wellington for the program.

“There aren’t words that could ever adequately express our gratitude for these funds,” Pasterczyk said. “We don’t receive any funds for tutoring and materials, since we are not a Title 1 school, so this is a true blessing for our students.”

At Panther Run Elementary School, the Spinelli grant has allowed the school to provide students with tutors in the primary grades to supplement its reading program. This year, Panther Run added a math tutor.

“I have had teachers in primary grades who have expressed overwhelming appreciation for the extra help that they have received from quality tutors to raise student achievement,” Panther Run Principal Pamela Strachan said.

With the Leveled Literacy Intervention kits, Panther Run students in the program are given books to take home on a daily basis to read with their parents.

“We have had the opportunity over the last three years to purchase reading materials for reading interventions,” Strachan said. “These Leveled Literacy Intervention kits are not provided to non-Title 1 schools by the Palm Beach County School District, so the Wellington grant gave us the opportunity to purchase the kits. We have been able to purchase more kits each year to supplement our reading intervention program.”

Strachan taught with Spinelli at H.L. Johnson Elementary School in Royal Palm Beach.

“She was that special teacher who we all wanted our children to have as their teacher,” Strachan said of Spinelli. “When she became the principal at Binks Forest, she had an incredible effect on her staff and students. Her passion was reading, and passing her love of reading to her students. I feel honored that her spirit lives with us today through this grant honored in her name.”

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Feature Stories, Wellington Health

Vargas Girl Gives Patients A More Youthful Look

Dr. Patricia Allen and Dr. Damaris Vargas of Vargas Girl: Beauty by the Aesthetic Doctors.

Wellington The Magazine – June 2016                                                             Vargas Girl Gives Patients A More Youthful Look

Story by Jason Stromberg • Photo by Abner Pedraza

Girl Power is female empowerment, independence and self-sureness. The Spice Girls, the British all-female pop group, brought the phrase into the mainstream lexicon. Dr. Damaris Vargas and Dr. Patricia Allen, board-certified emergency medical doctors at Palms West Hospital, love that phrase.

Girl Power is what their new business — Vargas Girl: Beauty by the Aesthetic Doctors — is all about: a woman on a journey to look her best at any age.

Vargas and Allen give women that better look and feel through their practice, which is based on concierge aesthetic medicine.

“Every woman wants the best version of themselves,” Vargas said. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Please yourself so that you feel good. You want to feel better.”

Vargas Girl is all about glamour and beauty redefined.

“We realized that we both had intentions of branching out from emergency medicine to give treatment to those who are looking to improve their skin,” Allen said. “We’re trying to get people to feel better about their appearance.”

Vargas Girl was Vargas’ dream.

“I thought of the paintings,” said Vargas, referring to Joaquin Alberto Vargas, a famous Peruvian painter of pin-up girls. “I thought of it as a prime play on my name. Aesthetics is the image I wanted to portray.”

Aesthetic medicine is about maintaining a youthful, natural appearance. Everyone should feel good and naturally healthy in their own skin. That is their goal for every patient.

“Patient care is number one. I feel like the patients and I can take that journey together,” Vargas said. “That feeling of being more beautiful, stronger, confident. Feeling more empowered as the days go by, as you age. You can be 60 years old and start a new chapter in your life. That confidence you had in your 20s and 30s, you can carry through for the rest of your life.”

At their practice, Vargas and Allen provide services that include chemical peels, microdermabrasion, fillers, micro-needling with the MicroPen and Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP), which uses the patient’s own blood to stimulate and release growth factors that help to rebuild the skin.

“We are starting this business in Wellington and letting it catch on to the rest of South Florida,” Vargas said. “We are two women in South Florida who are going to empower other women.”

You feel empowered because you feel beautiful. Taking ownership of your beauty is the message that Allen is trying to send.

“In this field, the patient leaves smiling,” Allen said. “I get to leave the Vargas Girl business feeling good. It makes me feel I did something good at the end of the day.”

In January, Vargas Girl opened its doors at 1043 S. State Road 7, Suite 125, in the Wellington Reserve. “We aren’t sitting in our clinic waiting for people to come in,” Allen said. “It’s all appointment-based, unless we are having an event day.”

Already, there are Vargas Girl success stories.

“One of the nurses I know very well in the emergency department at Palms West Hospital had work done by us,” Allen said. “Through a combination of multiple procedures, we were able to help rejuvenate her skin.”

The nurse’s reaction didn’t surprise either doctor.

“Our nurse said she felt beautiful for the first time in many years when she looked in the mirror after the procedure,” Allen said. “I hadn’t seen her smile like that in years. That made me smile.”

Vargas and Allen trained extensively through the American Academy of Aesthetic Medicine.

“Our practice is based on medicine and artistic savvy,” Vargas said. “The best part is seeing the smiles, the tears that well up in each patient’s eyes when they like what they see. It can be as minimal as erasing a wrinkle. We want to make sure that our patients leave the office a better version of themselves.”

That includes men. “Our goal is to empower men,” Vargas said. “We do some procedures for men, such as taking care of balding. Anything we do for women, we do for men. We aren’t gender-specific, despite the name.”

For more information about Vargas Girl, call Dr. Damaris Vargas at (561) 292-5266 or Dr. Patricia Allen at (561) 292-5253, or visit www.facebook.com/vargasgirlaesthetic medicine.

 

 

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Feature Stories, Wellington Real Estate

Second-Generation Realtor Ryan Jennings Grew Up In The Wellington Area

Realtor_RyanJennings

Wellington The Magazine – June 2016                                                          Second-Generation Realtor Ryan Jennings Grew Up In The      Wellington Area

Story by Matthew Auerbach • Photo by Abner Pedraza

An extensive knowledge of the area is a Realtor’s greatest advantage; a secret weapon that gives an edge over the competition. Ryan Jennings of Keller Williams Realty knows this well — and his expertise in Wellington comes from a lifetime in the community.

“I grew up in Wellington,” he said. “I moved here with my family (mom, dad and two older sisters) back in 1980, and went to preschool, Wellington Elementary School, Wellington Landings Middle School and Wellington High School.”

After graduating in 1995, Jennings attended Florida State University, majoring in hospitality management. He moved to Atlanta for a while, but returned to Wellington after three years and began his real estate career. That move surprised no one.

“I’m a second-generation Realtor,” Jennings said. “My mother, Nancy Jennings, has been selling real estate in Wellington since 1985, so real estate was always in my blood, and I grew up around it. Coming from the hospitality industry, it was a seamless transition into the service-based industry of real estate.”

Jennings’ ties to Wellington and the surrounding areas are at the core of his real estate team.

“We specialize in the western communities of Palm Beach County: Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee, The Acreage and West Palm Beach,” he said. “We have a strong focus on Wellington and love serving the community and receiving referrals from friends and past clients. We know the value of living in Wellington.”

Keller Williams Realty provides Jennings with the latest technological tools, affording him the opportunity to do his job at the highest possible level. This isn’t something he takes for granted.

“I have a deep appreciation of technology and how it can help my clients in their home search,” Jennings said. “We also utilize it when selling our clients’ homes. We offer a complete marketing solution that was developed from more than 12 years of experience that is customized for each property. Our slogan is ‘Buy with Confidence… Sell with Trust.’ We strive to exceed our clients’ expectations every day with great service and outstanding results.”

Although Jennings and his team specialize in all of the western communities, he can’t help but have a particular soft spot for Wellington.

“Wellington is so special,” he said. “It has always been a family-friendly community since I moved here in 1980 with my family. As a Realtor for 12-plus years, I have been in every area of Palm Beach County, and I can truly say that Wellington is the best value in the county when it comes to an affordable place to live, great schools, excellent location and great family environment.”

So what does this self-professed “Wellington boy” see for the future of the local real estate market? Let’s just say the outlook is good. “It’s a healthy market,” Jennings said. “It’s definitely a market where price is king. Buyers will often have to compete for the homes that are priced right, and a seller can sell their home quickly if they have it priced right. One thing we always make sure to tell our buyers: If you see the right home, don’t wait… it could be gone tomorrow.”

Keller Williams Realty is located at 12008 South Shore Blvd., Suite 201, in Wellington. To contact Ryan Jennings, call (561) 313-2627.

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Feature Stories, Wellington Home

Large Olympia Home Features Many Upgrades And A Sophisticated Look

WellingtonHome

Wellington The Magazine – June 2016                                                                Large Olympia Home Features Many Upgrades And A Sophisticated Look

Story by Deborah Welky
Photos courtesy Jacqueline and Paul Morris

This well-kept, pristine home in Olympia’s Shaughnessy Village area features upgrades and extras that are both clearly seen and perhaps less visible to the casual observer. The four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath home is built with concrete-over-steel-joist construction, offering hurricane protection for its inhabitants. The home’s open, spacious floor plan includes an oversized, state-of-the-art kitchen and a user-friendly design, such as a laundry room with a washtub sink conveniently located upstairs near the master bedroom, bathrooms and closets. Gorgeous marble flooring downstairs and beautiful bamboo flooring upstairs add to the sophisticated look.

 

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Feature Stories, Wellington Table - Signature Dish

Salmon Tartar At Tub Tim Thai & Sushi Restaurant

Table_TubTim

Wellington The Magazine – June 2016                                                           Salmon Tartar At Tub Tim Thai & Sushi Restaurant

Story and Photos by Julie Unger

Tub Tim Thai & Sushi Restaurant — a popular choice in the Wellington area for 12 years — moved to its current location near Trader Joe’s in the Village Green Center on State Road 7 a year and a half ago.

Jib Meeudon, the owner’s daughter, is proud of the restaurant’s authentic Thai decorations and dishes. The name Tub Tim means Red Ruby, which is Meeudon’s mother’s name.

Originally located in the Marketplace at Wycliffe, Tub Tim moved to the Village Green Center when it was built.

“It has been good,” Meeudon said. “We have the same phone number, and people have known us for a long time. They know we moved from the old location to the new one.”

Meeudon offered advice for those who have never tried Thai food or sushi. “Thai food is spicy. If you like spicy, just come try it,” she said. “Our sushi is very fresh. If you like fish, try something new. Thai is not the same as Chinese. Chinese is very different from a Thai dish. Thai is very tasty.”

Tub Tim offers many dishes, including its current special, not found on the regular menu, Tub Tim Salmon Tartar.

Sushi Chef Gary Mawu explained this special dish. The plate features salmon with a miso aioli sauce and cucumber with salmon, lettuce, radishes, avocado, onions, scallions, dried apple and an edible orchid. “The salmon really goes well with the avocado, of course, the texture,” he said. “Then we have to add a little crunchy and the detail of the flying fish roe inside there, and the onions give a little crunchy to it. It’s not only the taste, but the texture.”

The crisp and sweet apple chips meld well with the soft salmon and avocado. The cucumber at the bottom of the plate, Mawu said, acts as a garnish and boosts the flavor of the dish. The radish slices add a decorative element and an extra crunchy blast of mild spiciness. Although miso sauce is more of a Japanese item, it lends itself well to the dish, fusing together the culinary arts of different cultures.

The wonderful food at Tub Tim is accompanied by a comfortable atmosphere. Handmade wooden artwork that adorns the walls was brought in from Thailand, where Meeudon’s parents are from.

The family lived in Germany before moving to the U.S., where they started Tub Tim Thai. At the time, there weren’t many Thai restaurants, but Thai food has been gaining in popularity.

“Many different restaurants, with different recipes and flavors, are available,” Meeudon said, pointing out that that there are many flavors within Thai cuisine, and often, even if customers try Thai food somewhere else, they come back to Tub Tim.

The authentic Thai flavors, creating by using ingredients such as fresh Thai chili, make Tub Tim’s food special.

Culture is an important part of Tub Tim, where Meeudon and the staff will happily help newcomers learn about the different types of Thai foods available.

Tub Tim offers a vast array of dishes, with six curry meals, along with duck, squid, shrimp, lobster, fish, snapper, chicken, pork, beef and tofu entrees. Specialty meals include Pla Saam Root, Tub Tim Crispy Duck and Gung Saam Rot.

The sushi menu features more than two dozen types of rolls, such as the Tub Tim Roll, the Macky Roll, the Black Dragon Roll and the Kentucky Roll, as well as sushi and sashimi made with conch, yellowtail, tuna, salmon, bluefin toro, octopus, surf clam, eel, spelt roe, salmon roe, sea urchin and many other delicacies.

“The customers love it,” Meeudon said. “Come and try it.”

For those with less adventurous palates, and children, there are French fries, sweet potato fries, baked brie, cheese and margarita pizzas, salads, steak meals, chicken meals and even a black angus burger on the menu.

Located at 2815 S. State Road 7, Suite 100, in Wellington, Tub Tim offers delivery with Delivery Dudes and is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 11 p.m. Tub Tim is open on Sundays from noon to 10 p.m. For more information, call (561) 641-5550 or visit www.tubtimthaisushi.com.

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Feature Stories, Wellington Real Estate

May 2016 Wellington Real estate

Realtor Ann Cook

Wellington Real estate

Ann Cook Of Illustrated Properties Loves Horses And Real Estate

Story by Matthew Auerbach

Photo by Abner Pedraza

When you grow up in New York City and are drawn to all things equestrian, you might have a hard time making your dreams a reality. Ann Cook, a Realtor with Illustrated Properties, had to wait a while, but she eventually found herself in the right place to satisfy both her love of horses and real estate.

“Although school and college took me to the Boston and San Francisco areas, it was not until I settled on Martha’s Vineyard that I was able to incorporate riding and my professional career as a Realtor,” she said. “Then I was invited to spend the winter of 2000 here in Wellington and found the perfect home to follow my two passions: dressage training and successful real estate transactions.”

Cook has come to specialize in Wellington’s unique real estate market, working with seasonal equestrians and year-round residents dealing in farms, luxury homes, villas and investment properties.

“I provide a full service of representing sellers, buyers, rentals and property management,” Cook said. “There is so much satisfaction in knowing that my work has led to a successful transition, whether for a first-time homebuyer or my sellers, and in finding just the right property for my buyers. My approach is very hands-on — I like to attend every showing of the homes I have listed for sale to ensure that all the property features are highlighted, and then give my sellers immediate feedback.”

Cook isn’t new to real estate. She marvels at how far the industry has come from the days of no cell phones or internet. However, she’s not nostalgic for days gone by and realizes how much modern technology has affected and improved her profession.

“For today’s buyers, sellers and investors, immediate access to property information is essential,” she said. “My property listings are all represented with professional HDR photography, video tours and aerial photos. Personal color brochures are given to all prospective buyers and include information about the neighborhood, survey and floor plans.”

The fact that Wellington is known around the globe as “horse country” continues to propel its popularity as one of the world’s most unique destinations. Cook will be the first to tell you that’s very good for business.

“We are the winter equestrian capital of the world, and we will keep growing,” she said. “The Wellington Equestrian Partners’ plan to purchase the International Polo Club and further expand the Global Dressage Festival and the Winter Equestrian Festival is great for our economy. Wellington continues to attract new visitors. An increasing number of my clients are European professional riders and their clients here for our winter months.”

Cook’s lifelong love of horses continues to this day. For the past two winters, she has presented the People’s Choice Award at the Global Dressage Festival for exemplary horsemanship, sportsmanship and performance.

“It is another way I am involved with the equestrian community and give a little something back,” Cook said.

Illustrated Properties is located at 11924 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 18, in Wellington. The reach Ann Cook, call (561) 301-4626 or visit www.annlouisecook.com.

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Feature Stories, Wellington Health

May 2016 Wellington Health

Dr Michael Rathjens

Wellington Health

Dr. Michael Rathjens Provides Patients With Psychological Support

By Jason Stromberg

Dr. Michael Rathjens developed a passion for helping those in need while attending Oglethorpe University in Atlanta. The Wellington resident was drawn toward the study of psychology.

After graduating from Oglethorpe in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, Rathjens completed his master’s and doctoral degrees at Nova Southeastern University in 1990. He then completed his internship and residency training at the University of Miami.

“I worked for the first 10 years of my practice as the chief psychologist at a physical rehabilitation hospital in Fort Lauderdale, where I was the program director of spinal cord injuries, chronic pain, oncology and traumatic burns,” recalled Rathjens, a clinical psychologist who has been practicing for 20-plus years.

Since that time, Rathjens has moved on to provide support for patients at his own practice, located in the Lake Wellington Professional Centre.

“Biology and psychology go hand-in-hand with the psychological adjustments to people’s physical problems,” Rathjens said. “The primary focus of my private practice for the past 20 years has included helping people who have had difficulty with relationships, substance abuse and parenting, which has led to symptoms of depression and anxiety.”

Rathjens relishes the opportunity to help patients understand their feelings and solve their problems.

“Once the patient begins to focus on what he can control, or in other words, if we can put our energy on the focus on what the person has control over, that makes them feel so much better moving forward,” Rathjens said. “We answer for ourselves only. If we stay focused on what we have control over, and what is truly worth our energy, it makes it easier for us to accomplish our goals to be a better parent, or someone who can stop using substances, or can have a better relationship.”

Rathjens tells patients, regardless of what they face, not to internalize everything or blame themselves or carry guilt for things for which they’re not personally responsible.

A common issue that Rathjens deals with involves an adolescent coping with his or her parents’ divorce.

“They need to adjust to the fact that their parents are separating despite the fact that they want things to be what they once were,” he said. “This can affect school, work and social things. Typically, people need to get their perspective back.”

All of this can depend on the age of the child. “You still need to do your job, get your work done in school, and be with your friends,” Rathjens said. “These are things we can’t lose sight of. You can’t control your parents’ decisions, but you can control the way you live your life.”

Rathjens’ favorite success story is when parents apply a consistent way to help their children cope with what they are dealing with and see the improvement in each child’s life through everyone’s efforts. “It’s very rewarding. I’m very impassioned by that,” said Rathjens, who noted that married couples having trouble in their relationships make up about a third of his practice.

He also works with people who have been through traumatic situations.

“What I feel most satisfied and passionate about is when a person has had a traumatic injury and is able to regain a sense of independence,” Rathjens said. “For example, when someone is paralyzed from an automobile accident, or someone is diagnosed with a chronic medical condition, through their efforts and therapy, they are able to become independent, when they once felt that this was never going to be possible.”

The cornerstone of Rathjens’ profession is the importance of confidentiality and the respect that he holds for a person who is willing to work with him on his or her concerns.

“You can always go for an initial consult just to see if this doctor can be helpful to you,” Rathjens said. “I practice cognitive behavioral therapy, which is problem-specific, with focused treatment goals. So, in that initial consultation, you’ll know whether the treatment that is being proposed to you is going to work.”

A comfort level between the psychologist and the patient is crucial.

“Everyone has something to work on, but not everyone needs therapy,” he said. “If you’re suffering from those issues, at least have a consultation to see what direction you should take.”

To contact Rathjens, call (561) 790-7975 or e-mail him at drrathjens@bellsouth.net.

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Feature Stories, Wellington Education

May 2016 Wellington Education

Nicholas Palmieri

Wellington Education

Palm Beach Atlantic’s Nicholas Palmieri Helps Adult Students Achieve Their Full Potential

Story by Chris Felker

Photos by Abner Pedraza

Professor Nicholas Palmieri is nearing his 30-year anniversary in the field of guiding adult students who are seeking more meaning and fulfillment out of life after devoting decades to nurturing careers and families. To this day, he is still is thrilled when such a student succeeds.

“When a student realizes that he or she has something important to offer in this world, and she finds the courage and the means to express all of what she has to offer through her unique set of gifts and talents, that is extremely rewarding,” Palmieri said.

Palmieri is an instructor at Palm Beach Atlantic University. He lives in Royal Palm Beach with his wife, Tress. The couple celebrates 40 years of marriage this month.

Palmieri is a professor of adult education, teaching in the Catherine T. MacArthur School of Leadership. He gives classes both there and at the main campus in West Palm Beach. He has also served as a faculty development coach.

For 16 years before he joined Palm Beach Atlantic in 2004, Palmieri was on the faculty of the University of South Florida in Tampa. He grew up in the Pittsburgh area, earning a bachelor’s degree in counseling from California University of Pennsylvania, then continuing his education at Penn State to get his master’s degree.

“I began my career working in social services,” he recalled. “I was providing professional development training for people who wanted to be foster and adoptive parents.”

That experience got him interested in teaching adults, rather than primarily young adults, at the undergraduate level. He decided to get his doctorate at USF while working at the Florida Mental Health Institute.

“It was there that I provided professional development for police officers and for public and private social service agencies that helped protect children,” Palmieri said.

While there, he worked with a small group to develop a statewide instructor certification program, and earned his doctoral degree in educational program development with a specialty in adult education.

Right now, Palmieri is teaching many empty-nesters who are transitioning, in many cases, toward second careers that more closely reflect their true passions.

“Quite a few of my students are already in leadership positions — with the [Palm Beach County] Sheriff’s Office, fire-rescue services, with hospitality companies, with nonprofit organizations,” he said.

Palm Beach Atlantic caters to people working full-time, offering a one-night weekly evening program. “It’s at both campuses, and master’s classes start back up again in the fall at the Wellington campus,” Palmieri added.

The leadership school, which has had enrollees associated with Leadership Palm Beach County, aims to hone these adults’ altruistic instincts.

“Our Master of Leadership program is distinctive in that in addition to equipping students to cast vision, conduct thorough organizational assessments, develop strategic plans, and coach and consult, it helps them establish their own virtue-based foundation for leading with integrity, wisdom, courage, humility, altruism, hope and perseverance,” Palmieri said.

He instructs multiple generations of students.

“We have an undergraduate degree in organizational management, and we also offer a psychology degree, and those are specifically tailored for adult students who are working during the day,” he said. “We have quite a few students who are raising families, who are supervisors in healthcare facilities and things like that, and they want to earn the degree, and many go on for an advanced degree.”

Palmieri is proud to work with many local undergraduate and graduate students.

“This is something that’s unfinished business for them,” he said. “What’s happening is they’re coming into a new chapter in their life and they want to explore some of their deep interests and passions, look for a meaningful life, and create a life that is in sync with their deepest intentions.”

In about two years, Palm Beach Atlantic’s leadership school will host a groundbreaking event for the county.

“We have a connection with some of our students working with the organization that has the World Leaders’ Conference, which will be at the convention center, and we’re also going to be partnering with the International Leadership Association for 2018,” Palmieri explained. “There’ll be leaders from all over the world coming into Palm Beach County to have their 2018 Global Conference, and we’re going to be the partner school.”

It’s for both governmental and private-sector leaders, and there will be many different workshops and networking opportunities, he said.

Palmieri, who turns 64 this month, isn’t ready to start contemplating retirement, but his interests outside education will be enough to keep him busy indefinitely. Last year, he took a sabbatical and began an initiative to help bring character development into secondary school curricula in El Salvador. That involved trips to Bogota, Colombia and Peru, and along the way he became enamored with Latin music.

Now, Palmieri, who plays guitar, is also studying music online with the Berklee College of Music in Boston, taking songwriting classes, and has his own music publishing company called Suavoro Music Co.

So, is he contemplating his own second career? “I love that question. I’m going into a new chapter in my life, and it has to do with elevating the quality of life for children and families in Central and South America. That’s one part of it. And the other part is [doing] the music to generate funds for my travels,” Palmieri explained.

Palmieri is interested in having his music used in other genres as well. “I’d like to play one or two of my Spanish songs in a Latin film, as background music for different themes,” he said. “I’ve also been doing some Christian music that I hope to bring to the Gospel Music Association.”

It seems that the dreams of his students have rubbed off on him.

For more information about Palm Beach Atlantic University, visit www.pba.edu.

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Feature Stories

Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg

Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg

Story by Ron Bukley

Photos by Abner Pedraza (?)

After three and a half years on the job, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg is proud of the successes he has achieved.

“When I ran for this office, I was concerned about the low conviction rates,” said Aronberg, who previously represented the western communities as a state senator. “This office had the lowest conviction rate in Florida among state attorney offices. Out of 20 offices, we were ranked 20th. Our conviction rate in county court was around 52 percent and, in felony court, it was in the 70s. Now, I’m pleased to say, our county court conviction rate is 85 percent, and for felonies, it’s 92 percent.”

That puts Palm Beach County eighth out of the 20 state attorney offices in overall conviction rates.

“At the same time, the direct-file numbers have gone down. That refers to the number of juvenile cases being tried as adults,” he said. “We continue to take violent crime very seriously, whether it’s committed by adults or juveniles, but when it’s a nonviolent juvenile who would be better served in the juvenile system, but is thrown into an adult court, we have done a better job of treating them with the right proportionality.”

Aronberg added that his staff has gotten quicker in their prosecutions as well, noting that when he took over, it took an average of 123 days for a case to go from filing to final deposition. “Today, it takes 88 days,” he said. “Justice delayed is justice denied, so we’ve done a better job of creating efficiency in the criminal court system.”

The office has reverted from the federal model put in place by former State Attorney Michael McAuliffe, to a horizontal system that had been in place under McAuliffe’s predecessor, longtime State Attorney Barry Krischer.

Aronberg brought Krischer in as an adviser, and also brought back several key leaders from the Krischer administration, such as Chief Assistant State Attorney Alan Johnson, a longtime Wellington resident, and Mike Edmondson, Krischer’s former executive assistant who now serves that role for Aronberg, and Craig Williams, who leads the felony division.

“We brought back some really strong prosecutors with experience, and I think one reason we had an increase in our conviction rates is that Al Johnson, along with [Assistant State Attorney] Sherri Collins, created an emphasis on teaching and continual training to make sure that the prosecutors are at the top of their game,” Aronberg said.

He credits interim State Attorney Peter Antonacci, who was appointed by Gov. Rick Scott in 2012 to fill out final few months of McAuliffe’s term, with changing the way charges are filed to a committee system. Antonacci is now executive director of the South Florida Water Management District.

“When Pete came in, he immediately saw the problem with the filing process,” Aronberg said. “I continued what he started on that.”

Aronberg explained that Krischer had a horizontal intake system in which felony charges were decided by a committee of experienced prosecutors, rather than a vertical model used by the federal system where the same prosecutor takes a case through the entire process.

“The problem with that model is it really doesn’t work at a state level because at the federal level you have many fewer cases,” he said. “Here, we had 126,000 cases last year, so it’s impossible to have that system work.”

The office now has a committee of experienced prosecutors that decides how to charge defendants. “That’s a unique specialty, and you want to have the right people doing it, because the consequences of getting it wrong are enormous,” Aronberg said.

As a constitutionally elected officer, Aronberg is on the equal footing with the other countywide officers, including Sheriff Ric Bradshaw. A good working relationship with Bradshaw and his office is essential, but Aronberg noted that there are occasional differences of opinion.

“We are all human beings, and so you’re always going to have disagreements along the way, but we have an excellent professional relationship,” he said. “The community expects its law enforcement agencies to work together to keep our streets safe.”

As a directly elected representative, Aronberg answers only to the voters. “My only boss is the people of Palm Beach County,” he said.

Of specific interest to the western communities, Aronberg has put more of a focus on animal cruelty cases. It has been shown that animal cruelty often escalates to human cruelty, and that’s one reason Aronberg has strong feelings about the issue.

“We’ve made animal cruelty a priority in this office, and in fact, my first case that I tried myself as state attorney was a felony animal cruelty case,” he said. “We got a conviction in that case, and I want to send a message that cruelty to animals will not be tolerated in Palm Beach County.”

A recent animal slaughter case in Loxahatchee Groves has drawn one conviction, while some defendants agreed to a negotiated settlement. Some of the cases are still pending, which limits what Aronberg can say on the issue.

“One of the frustrating things… is that because we cannot discuss pending cases, [people] send me nasty e-mails saying, ‘Hey, how dare you drop this case.’ I can’t respond to it even if the allegation is completely untrue,” Aronberg said.

He has also continued his work from prior to his election as state attorney to shut down illegal pill mill operations. He worked on that issue with Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“I was proud of our work to shut the pill mills, and it was a team effort,” he said. “We couldn’t do it alone, it had to be a bipartisan, total commitment from many different agencies and individuals to shut down the pill mills that contributed to seven deaths a day here in Florida.”

Aronberg’s current staff of 400-plus handle more than 126,000 cases annually, from driving with a suspended license (DUS), all the way to high-profile murder trials.

“By far, the most common charge we have in this office is DUS,” he said. “That also includes driving without a license, so that whole [area is] something we’re working with the public defender on, trying to create some kind of system where we can more efficiently dispense with these issues.”

Aronberg said he is trying to get funds to establish a DUS diversion program.

“We’re going to continue to find ways where we can more efficiently handle this enormous amount of cases that have come in,” he said. “In fact, a third of all our misdemeanors is DUS, which is around 33,000 cases a year.”

He also is an advocate for victims’ rights, which he believes is not addressed sufficiently, and why his office has shown solidarity with National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, observed every April.

“There is no one in the criminal justice system to speak up for them except for us,” Aronberg said. “Part of our job is to stand up for victims. Victims are not mentioned anywhere in the United States Constitution, although the U.S. Constitution protects the rights of defendants and suspects in the Fourth Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, the Sixth Amendment and the Eighth Amendment.”

However, victims are mentioned in the Florida Constitution, which gives them more rights here than in other states. “It’s incumbent upon us to speak up for victims when otherwise they may not have any voice in our criminal justice system,” Aronberg said.

Aronberg will celebrate his first anniversary with wife Lynn this month. They live with their basset hound Cookie, adopted four years ago from Big Dog Ranch Rescue.

“I was so grateful for being able to serve in the state senate for eight years. I loved the job,” Aronberg said. “This job is very different. It’s apples and oranges, because this job has a lot more responsibility. In my senate role, I was 1/40th of one half of one of three branches of government. Here I’m one of one, and my only boss is the people of Palm Beach County. Our decisions have great weight to them, because it’s the ultimate power of government to deprive someone of their freedom.”

He strives to use that power with humility. “When you get it wrong, you can destroy someone’s life in the process,” Aronberg said.

Currently, Aronberg does not face a challenger in his bid for re-election later this year, but there’s still some time before filing closes.

“I don’t want to be presumptuous to assume that I will be re-elected,” he said. “It’s up to the people to make that decision, but I love this job. It’s like an ongoing job interview. I have to keep proving myself every day.”

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