Crusader for children

A woman known for her contagious enthusiasm is chosen to head up a local board overseeing the state prekindergarten program.

TEMPLE TERRACE - Jenni LeBlanc barely knew of Mel Jurado when they first met about two years ago at a political event.

They came because of their shared affection for Temple Terrace mayoral candidate Joe Affronti Sr., and started talking just to pass the time. The two became instant friends.

"It was as though we had known each other for years," recalls LeBlanc, who now considers Jurado as close as a sister. "She makes you want to be part of something."

Gov. Jeb Bush expects Jurado's infectious enthusiasm to work equally well for Hillsborough County's launch of the fledgling state prekindergarten program. That's why he appointed her to chair the county Early Learning Coalition through 2009.

"She's a very dynamic business leader, and a very compassionate and motivated individual," said Susan Pareigis, Bush's director of the Agency for Workforce Innovation. "I think she's wonderful."

Jurado's resume speaks volumes.

A onetime Tampa Bay Young Businesswoman of the Year, Jurado has worked with several state and county agencies as an organizational consultant and trainer. She served on the University of South Florida Athletic Association board of directors for nine years, including one as president.

This year, she is membership chairwoman for the fast-growing Hillsborough County Republican Executive Committee.

She also volunteers with the YMCA, her church youth group, PACE Center for Girls and the Children's Home. Every few years she travels to Romania with her husband, Rod, and other church members to work in orphanages.

"A lot of people think she's a workaholic," Rod Jurado says. "But she's amazingly balanced."

Sometimes, Jurado will just sit and read, mostly nonfiction, cats at her side. She enjoys riding her tandem bicycle around Temple Terrace with Rod. She also takes chef courses, tends an herb garden, teaches Sunday school and takes Tae Bo classes at USF.

"I feel like, as long as I can do the master (90-minute) Tae Bo classes with the 18-year-olds and keep up, I'm not old yet," she says with a laugh.

To mark her very committed time, Jurado keeps a thick planner that she simply shudders at the thought of losing. The world, she says, would change as she knows it without the book. She shuns the thought of a slim electronic version: Checking off each completed item with a pencil offers a contact high that a computer just can't provide.

Jurado says she keeps such a busy schedule because she does not want to simply do things for herself. She learned from her parents the importance of charity, humility and service, and wants to honor their teachings.

"The nicest compliment someone could pay me is, "You're a Christian, I could tell,' without me ever saying it," Jurado said.

LeBlanc sees it.

"She has a passion for people," she said of Jurado. "She is a wonderful Christian lady who I can talk to about anything. She puts everyone at ease."

Martha Sue Skinner, Jurado's Bible study teacher at First Baptist Church of Temple Terrace, calls Jurado "spiritual."

"She comes in and just wants to receive. She adds much," Skinner said. "She has much knowledge of the Bible and she shares that. And she has a very giving spirit."

For years, Jurado focused much of that giving on raising scholarship money for University of South Florida athletes.

Having received a partial cheerleader scholarship from Kent State University, the former Cleveland ballerina knew firsthand that any financial assistance makes a big difference in whether a young adult can afford college.

Yet an offhand conversation with U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, prompted her to aim younger.

"He said, "If we have children who can't read, they're not going to be able to avail themselves of scholarship dollars,' " Jurado recalls.

So when Bush began looking for early learning coalition leaders, she applied.

"The most important thing is, do we have good quality programs that are causing young children to love to learn?" she said. This also has a direct effect on the community, she adds. Business leaders want to know that if they bring jobs here, she says, the schools will produce graduates to work them.

Hillsborough Early Learning Coalition executive director Dave McGerald admits being nervous when he learned of Jurado's appointment. The fear among many longtime Florida school readiness leaders was the emergence of political appointees with no experience.

First, McGerald "Googled" Jurado. She looked good in clips. Then he met her.

"I said, "Oh, what a relief,' " he remembered. "Here's a woman who really cares about people, and she brings the neat perspective of the private sector, too."

LeBlanc, for one, isn't surprised by the reaction, or the governor's choice of her friend.

"I would have been surprised if the governor had chosen anyone else," she said. "This is exactly right. She has it all together. This is a perfect place for her to be."

- Jeffrey S. Solochek can be reached at 813 269-5304 or solochek@sptimes.com

Age: 46

Family: Married to Rod Jurado, a management consultant, for 22 years.

Her appointment: Gov. Jeb Bush named Jurado, an independent industrial-organizational psychologist, to chair the Hillsborough County Early Learning Coalition through April 2009. The coalition sets local policy for the new state prekindergarten program.

Favorite pastime: Cooking and reading. She's recommending Whale Done: The Power of Positive Relationships by Kenneth Blanchard to friends. Allowed one book on a desert island, she'd pick the Bible.

Sports fan: Jurado played a key role in bringing football to the University of South Florida as president of the USF Athletic Association. She regularly attends the annual NCAA basketball tournament and enjoys going to boxing matches.

Why she thinks pre-K is important: "These little people are going to be the work force of 2020."