St. Petersburg is celebrated for its fabulous weather, beautiful vistas, world-class food scene, and thriving cultural atmosphere, but the people of St. Petersburg truly make this city something special. In appreciation, each month Green Bench shines a light on one of the many people who make our town unique.
Rising Up
A lifelong St. Petersburg resident, Deneen Wyman has been an important part of the Pinellas County school system since her 2001 graduation from St. Petersburg High School. Starting as a part-time cafeteria worker at Campbell Park Elementary School, she steadily rose to her present position as a human resources specialist for the county school board. She credits her grandmother and mother for teaching her the value of hard work and commitment. She’s also the proud parent of two boys, 2-year-old Jace and 14-year-old Jordan.
The Girlfriends of Melrose
A toddler, a teenager, and a full-time career might exhaust the energy of most people, but Deneen is not most people! When presented with an opportunity to be part of an existing district program designed to help young girls recognize their value and potential, she grabbed it. In 2016, she became the chairperson for the mentoring program for fourth-and-fifth-grade girls at Melrose Elementary. As with everything else in her life, she approached the task with a mind-set that asked, “Can I do more?” She gave the “Girlfriends of Melrose” program added value. She recruited more volunteers so that each girl had a school-based mentor. She added monthly community service requirements and a visit to a college each semester. She expanded the existing twice-monthly lunchtime “girl talk” sessions to include outside speakers and topic-based discussions.
Good Experiences
Wyman’s goals for this expanded program are twofold. She wants to provide the girls “good experiences,” she said, and she wants to “show them more,” so they can expand their opportunities. They’ve been volunteer helpers for Earth Day and Science Day at the University of South Florida and water girls for breast cancer awareness runs. They visited Bethune- Cookman University in Daytona Beach, which was founded in 1904 by a young African-American woman, Mary McLeod Bethune, as a school for African-American girls. Girlfriend participants saw the film Hidden Figures and then visited the Kennedy Space Center. (And to my great joy, demanded to know “Where is Katherine Johnson’s plaque?”) They took a Looper tour of downtown and visited the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg. For Black History Month, they all attended the Martha Reeves show at the Mahaffey Theater, and two essay-contest winners got to go backstage and meet the performer. Wyman knows that these “good experiences” are helping to build a foundation of confidence.
Once a Girlfriend, Always a Girlfriend
Wyman would like to see her vision of this program expand to other schools and higher grades. For now, as the girls age out of the program, she reminds them they will always be a “Girlfriend of Melrose.” And she hopes that she’s helped them to envision bright futures. She made a believer out of me, and I look forward to seeing what they envision next.
