Task One
Objective: To Beautify T.B. McPherson park
September 30, 2004

Competing Teams in 'The Intern' Improve Local Park

Gainesville, Fla. - Hurricane Jeanne didn't stop contestants in "The Intern" from making a park in southeast Gainesville a little greener last weekend. By daybreak on Saturday teams were planting shrubs and spreading mulch at T.B. McPherson Recreational Center for the first of seven tasks in an intense competition to be Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan's newest intern.

"We worked together, and we worked real hard," said Team LEAD task leader Timothy Hicks, whose team had T-shirts made to help raise their team spirit.
"(The T-shirts) helped us get in the team spirit we needed to get really excited about this project," said Team LEAD member Amy Keyser.
The first task in "The Intern," presented by Student Government at Santa Fe Community College, created a stronger partnership with the East Gainesville Initiative.
"I'm really pleased that SFCC students are committed to a project in East Gainesville, especially since our mission is to enhance and empower residents," said East Gainesville Initiative Executive Director Karen Cole-Smith, who came out to the park to cheer on the teams.

Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan also made a visit to see how the two teams of four competing against one another were doing. She said she was impressed with both teams' work.
"I was expecting to see some great progress," Hanrahan said of the improvements made to the front of the center, "but this actually is a much bigger landscaping project than I expected. It has made a tremendous difference." John Weber, operations supervisor for the city's Recreation and Parks Department, was one of the mentors assigned by Mayor Hanrahan to oversee the task. Weber helped Hanrahan determine the winning team and decide which contestant would be eliminated from the losing team. "For the winning team, I was looking for the team that meshed the best," he said, "The team that seemed to be best organized, the ones that had the best laid plans before starting." Weber said the most difficult part was eliminating an individual contestant."(The contestants) are a very motivated group of people," he said.


"All of them worked very hard." Hanrahan agreed: "I was hoping there would be someone who would sick out as a real loser," she said. "It's going to be tough to make a decision, but you know, somebody's got to "Stay in School!" Mariano "Mario" Corcilli from the team Honor Incorporated was the first to officially hear Mayor Hanrahan's catchphrase last Wednesday inside city hall. Corcilli will receive a six-credit scholarship at Santa Fe Community College for participating.

This Saturday, the teams will have a yard sale at SFCC's Northwest Campus, 3000 NW 83 St., starting at 7 a.m., where they will compete to raise the most money for Shands Children's Hospital. Apart from the usual yard sale bargains, both teams are raffling non-traditional items including: a used car and two used computers, a 24-inch television, five one-month memberships to Gainesville Health and Fitness Center, Merle Norman cosmetics, restaurant gift certificates, and an hour with Hanrahan, SFCC President Jackson N. Sasser, or SFCC Student Body President Laura Mccormick.