Rosa Harwell, mathematics teacher and middle school coach, has always been dedicated to the Tampa Prep community, most recently through contributions of service.
Harwell helped Tampa Prep reach its 1,000 can goal for student body president, Tomas Alvarado’s canned food drive and gathered toys for the Graham Elementary Toy Drive.
Harwell has been a devoted staff member for 11 years. This year she teaches AP Calculus AB and Honors Algebra 2. Not only does she teach, but she also organizes the national testing for Prep, oversees the planning of prom, and coaches multiple middle school sports.
“It sounded like something fun to get involved with, to spend time with students, and have a better opportunity to connect with more kids,” said Harwell regarding her reasoning for running the prom committee.
Harwell has been planning prom for around 6 years, and her goal is to get more students to buy in. For the future, she hopes that all Tampa Prep students are able to enjoy prom.
In terms of her coaching ideology, Harwell says she “[she] tries to help [her athletes] see there is a bigger picture.”
Harwell has been a middle school coach for about 8 years and has coached basketball, volleyball, track, and softball. Each year she coaches all seasons of middle school sports. She likes to tell her athletes that they need to acknowledge growth, regardless of a loss.
“Eventually we can get there,” said Harwell on reaching the skill level of other teams.
In Tampa Prep middle school sports, it can sometimes be the first time the student has ever played that sport, whereas other middle school teams are filled with past players. Harwell’s goal is that with time and training, her teams can match the skills of other schools and put up a competition.
“When Tomas got up there in front of 800 kids and 100 faculty members and asked us to bring 200 cans, there was no way that could be an okay goal for me,” said Harwell.
During Harwell’s time as a teacher at St. Pete Catholic School, students once brought 20,000 cans, so Harwell knew Tampa Prep could get 1,000.
“I like to see us use our powers for good,” said Harwell.
Harwell believes that with her role as a teacher, she can influence students in the classroom.
So, in recent months when Tomas announced he can drive, she incentivized students to donate for a chance to retake a test. Harwell mentioned that with so many cans her in classroom, it created a nice visual where other students were influenced to donate as well,
“More people in the community need our support,” said Harwell.
Harwell did the same retake incentive for Graham Elementary’s toy drive this past Christmas. As a result, Graham had so many toys that the excess was given to children in the neighborhood near Graham Elementary.
“Incentivizing their participation, unfortunately, is a good way to get teenagers to come around and say hey, this is something I want to do,” said Harwell.
Harwell hopes that all teenagers can find an interest in community service.
“[There are] a lot of opportunities to give,” said Harwell about her vision for Tampa Prep.
