The Talladega College Lady Tornadoes women’s basketball team continues to fill their needs. The Lady Tornadoes signed two high school recruits. TC head coach Romeo Lagmay believes that both players can come in and make an immediate impact. Sadie Fleschner signed with the Lady Tornadoes on Tuesday afternoon. The 6-foot-2 inch post player from Kennedale, Texas led her team to a 31-7 record and a trip to the state finals where they fell to Mexia who finished the season with a 38-3 record and won the state championship. “She will be a post presence embracing physical play. Her powerful screen-setting will allow for our guard play to excel. Her academic excellence also allows for our team GPA to continually grow. Defensive play will also play a key role in the paint. I love the fact that she seems to have a willing and determined attitude to do her best for the better of the team’s success.” In her senior season, Fleschner recorded 187 points, 190 rebounds, 39 assists, 38 steals, 14 blocks and she took eight charges. Mary Moyer also signed from Clinton Massie High School in Ohio. She is a 5-foot-11 left-handed point guard that averaged 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals per game. She shot 50 percent from the field. This season, she broke the school record for most starts in four years. She earned the Defensive Players of the Year award. She also broke the record for the most 3-pointers, assists, steals and free throws. She is the second-leading scorer in school history. “She is really good at passing and she gives us a height advantage over her opponents where she can pass or post up,” Lagmay said. ”We can have isolation plays where she can post up in the paint. She is a very good 3-point shooter, which gives her an advantage with smaller opponents on her. She will have to improve a little bit on her lateral defense. She is another good academic student. She has a 3.3 GPA and she made a 20 on the ACT. She broke the all-time record for scoring for boys and girls.” Lagmay believes that Moyer will create a lot of match up problems with her height. “What I like about her is if they (opponents) think that she is coming in as a four or three then what I am going to have that four or three guard her as a point guard,” Lagmay said. “I am not going to have her go in as a three or four.” TC has commitments from two foreign post players and another post player from the Northwest. “From what I understand we have a verbal commitment from a 6-foot-5 post out of Africa,” Lagmay said. “We have a verbal commitment from a 6-foot-3 player out of Spain. I think they are going to be college transfers. I think one will be a sophomore and one will be a junior. The Clearing House will determine how many years of eligibility that they will have. I am looking to sign another four/five post player out of Oregon. She is 6-foot-1 and she is coming to visit the campus. We are pretty much her choice but she is going to come solidify it in June.”

SYLACAUGA – Plans for a new central office are in jeopardy as Sylacauga City Schools face a potential $2.3 million deficit for its various construction projects. In 2011, the system kicked off the first of five planned capital improvement projects totaling an estimated $20 million. Construction began with installation of a new kitchen hood at Indian Valley Elementary School and new gymnasiums at Indian Valley and Pinecrest Elementary that were completed last summer. On the agenda is a four-phase renovation of Sylacauga High School, which is nearing the end of Phase I, and a new central office building. At a Board of Education work session Thursday night, Chief Financial Officer Lisa Dickerson said unexpected expenses and changes to the original plans has left them with $27 million in total estimated construction costs and only $24.7 million in current funding sources, which means the $2.1 million central office building may be on the chopping block. “We have to start making decisions,” Dickerson told the board. “What will we leave off or what will we do to make up the shortfall?” The $2.3 million shortfall accumulated through a number of issues beginning with project cost estimates, which were thought to include furnishings, technology and associated moving expenses, but in actuality only represented the bare buildings. The estimates, from Barganier Davis Sims Architects, also did not account for changes in the economy, most notably a sharp increase in steel prices, Dickerson said. “There’s no way to say (the money) went to one thing or another,” she said Friday. “We can’t peg it on one thing. It’s just all the projects with us not having furniture costs, moving costs, technology, all of that in there, and then the bid goes up too high. We’re just lucky to do what we can, but we’re trying to do first what affects the students, so that’s why the central office has gotten lower and lower on the list.” Documents provided to school board members Thursday outlined the expected versus actual expenses for completed and ongoing projects. Overall, construction projects total roughly $500,000 more than originally estimated at this point. Additional expenses for the SHS renovation and central office are predicted at about $1.4 million to account for furniture, moving services, technology and other items. Other projects totaling $560,315 have also recently been completed using funds designated for the improvement projects, largely to benefit student safety. The schools spent $260,000 for a systemwide computer server switch, $70,000 for door locks and cameras, $52,500 for bus video systems, $157,500 for classroom flooring and $20,300 for several smaller projects. Another $146,000 is set aside for summer maintenance projects. According to the provided documents, the actual cost of the Indian Valley kitchen hood was about $30,900 more than the $150,000 estimate, and the Indian Valley gym was $297,800 more than its $800,000 estimate. The Pinecrest gym came in at about $1.7 million, which is $879,000 more than the original estimate. The drastic increase occurred when the structure was expanded from a half-size gym to a full-size competition gym with softball locker rooms, bathrooms, special education classrooms, storage and an asphalt drive around the softball field. Phase I of SHS, a 31-classroom addition, actually bid $631,600 under the estimate and is still within its $7.8 million budget. The school system is now seeking ways to reduce costs for Phases II – IV (Phase III was recently split into two, making it a four-phase project) without affecting the quality of the renovated areas that are promised to be state-of-the-art. The lowest bid for Phase II, which entails renovating the front entrance and administrative offices, was about $200,000 over the $2.3 million estimate. BDS has asked the low bidder, Zedot Construction, for suggestions on what could be changed or eliminated to reduce the bid. Because student-centered improvements are the priority, the central office has been pushed to the bottom of the list, despite the deplorable condition of the 61-year-old building, which has extensive roof and ceiling damage, mold and other serious issues. The BOE initially planned to replace the building’s roof, estimated at $375,000 in 2010, but instead decided to construct a new office after it was decided repairing the current building is not worth the investment. Now, it is considering moving into an existing building, which would save about $400,000, and possibly refinancing its $16 million bond through the city to net about $295,000 more without extending the 30-year term of the bond. Funding sources that were acquired for school construction are as follows: $16 million through a city bond issue; $5 million through a federal school construction bond; $250,000 in local capital project funds; $3.1 million in public school funds for fiscal years 2010-2015; and $445,000 in PCSA funding. During the BOE work session, board member Steve Marlowe said his biggest concern is meeting the public’s expectations of the renovations with the money available. “I don’t want us to say we took something out so we could make the budget,” he said. “Whatever we told the people, I really think we need to make sure we deliver that product.” The BOE decided to continue discussions about possible funding options after its called meeting May 30 at 5:30 p.m. at the central office. Contact Emily Adams at eadams@dailyhome.com.

Staff members from Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center recently visited Jacmel, Haiti to assess and prepare for their summer mission trip in August. Buster Taylor, executive director for the center, will lead 17 members of the staff, including 12 college-aged members of the summer staff, hosting a Vacation Bible School for Haitian children at two churches in Jacmel, assisting at an orphanage during their down time and helping to build benches for the churches. “Our purpose is to provide an overseas mission opportunity for college students working here during the summer,” Taylor said. The day-to-day events during the VBS project consists of a morning Bible school, lunch for the children, and activities and games during the afternoon. “We’re trying to see if we’ll be able to organize a game of soccer with the children,” Taylor said. Of course, the trip doesn’t come without challenges. Those who are participating are required to raise their own funds by seeking donations from their respective churches or by participating in self-organized fundraising endeavors. “The cost to go on the mission trip to Haiti will be roughly $1,200 per person,” center recreational manager Elizabeth Cook said. “People who would like to donate to support the trip can do so by mailing a check to Shocco Springs and including ‘Haiti Mission Trip’ in the memo block.” Once the group arrives in Haiti, they’ll have to overcome the language barrier. The primary languages spoken in Haiti are French and Creole. “The majority of the people we will be working with speak Creole,” Taylor said. “We will be fortunate to have interpreters available to help us communicate with the people and spread the word of the Lord.” According to Taylor, the religion statistics for Haiti are vastly skewed because even though 90 percent of Haitians are considered Catholic and 10 percent are considered to be Protestant, an overwhelming number of their citizens still practice Voodoo. “When I think of Voodoo, I think of the little doll with the pins you stick in it,” Taylor said. “That’s not what they do. Basically, when someone approaches a Voodoo priest with a problem, the priest will tell them what they need to do or what you need to give him. Sometimes that can mean the sacrifice of an animal or the sacrifice of a family member.” Precautions also must be taken in regard to temperature as Haiti transitions from its rainy season to its hot season, Taylor said. Taylor learned of this mission opportunity from Baptist leaders assisting relief efforts when Haiti was devastated by an earthquake in January 2010. “Some of our leaders were in-country surveying the damage and looking for ways our volunteer groups could go over and assist the country,” Taylor said. “During the process, they met a man named Samuel who was caring for 16 children who were orphaned in a tent. He was scrounging however he could to find food for them and used his tent to shelter them.” The story of Samuel led to the creation of an orphanage on the same site as the tent. “When we visited, we were very fortunate to be there for the dedication of the girl’s dorm and the director’s residence,” Taylor said. The orphanage, named Children’s Hope, currently houses 23 children. During the visit, Cook met a girl named Esterline, who had been rescued from her life as a restavec, or child slave. Though the trip is a few months away, Taylor seemed to be focused on the task at hand. “Shocco Springs has been blessed by God and we want to bless others,” Taylor said. “There are certain countries and parts of the world who are much less fortunate than we are, and this gives us an opportunity to give back and be a blessing to these people. We will share Jesus Christ and a relationship with Him as well as a relationship with us to help impact these people’s lives for eternity.” Contact Shane Dunaway at sdunaway@dailyhome.com