Steinbrenner Principal Brenda Grasso was all smiles as she was presented with the third annual Ryan Allen Raines Energy Conservation Award and a $1,000 check from the School District of Hillsborough County on Feb. 29.
The award is dedicated by Ryan’s father, Dr. Dwight Raines and his mother, Laurie Raines on behalf of Ryan’s work with the school district as an energy conservation mentor until his passing in 2009.
“This is something that (Laurie and I) decided to do when he passed away, because we wanted to be sure that his name continued in the district,” Dwight said. “He was extremely passionate about energy management and loved what he did as an energy mentor. … (This) being a school of his at Steinbrenner was even more special.”
The award is based on the 2010-11 school year energy data from the county and Steinbrenner dropped its usage 35 percent. It was the only school to receive the award, something Grasso takes pride in.
“I’m very proud of it. It means that out of all of the schools in our district, at all levels, ours did the best job at reducing the cost of energy within our facility,” Grasso said.
Dwight says that his son’s spirit and enthusiasm for his field of work resides with the award, something him and Laurie want to keep it going every year.
“This is what my wife and I came up with to honor his memories,” Dwight said. “It’s to be able to give back to the community and to this school district, (and give) a little bit of money to continue his legacy.”
Steinbrenner will be starting a campaign in the next few weeks to continue the “going green” process according to Grasso. She adds that it will be centered on the student population and surrounding community.
“I really believe that when we earn money, it’s great to put that money right back into that effort to continue at the very least maintain that status and hopefully even improve upon it,” Grasso said. “I thought it’d be a really good thing to do, is to give students an opportunity to create a campaign where the students can create a slogan, as a reminder of energy efficiency and a poster campaign.”
She then added, “We like winning at Steinbrenner, we like being the best and this is just one more of those accolades that our school has earned and I’m very very proud of it.”
Jeff Odom / Sports Editor
