North Port Athletic Rewind February 2017 | Page 2

TAMI GARCIA
JEFF WHITE

MEET THE TEAM

In addition to contributing to North Port Athletic Rewind , Megan currently works for the Sarasota-based public relations firm , KSC Inc . She has a master ’ s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and has contributed stories to major publications including Sports Illustrated , Vice and the Chicago Sun-Times . She has also worked as a resident journalist for Highbury Safika Media , one of South Africa ’ s largest media companies and as an Olympics researcher for NBC in Rio . Megan grew up in Sarasota and attended Pine View School before earning an undergraduate degree in art history from Florida State University .
MEGAN HART
MONICA AMAYA
TAMI GARCIA
Monica Amaya was born and raised in Guatemala , a place of many moods and dramatic and inspiring imagery . It was there where she met her husband , Maurice . They are blessed to have three wonderful boys to call their own . In 2003 , they ventured to North Port , where they raised their family and became involved in the community through philanthropy and sports . Before diving into photography full-time , Monica was a stayat-home mom . She has a degree in dentistry , but her heart and soul is photography . Over the last several years , Monica has perfected her craft by photographing families , high school seniors , weddings , and numerous sporting and entertainment events .
Originally from Ohio , Tami moved to Florida in 1984 and eventually became a resident of North Port in 1995 . As a stay-at-home mom of three children ( who are now ages 28 , 22 and 20 ), Tami began freelancing for several different media outlets in southwest Florida including the Sun newspapers ( North Port Sun - since 2001 , Venice Gondolier , The Arcadian , Let ’ s Go , Feeling Fit , Englewood Sun , Charlotte Sun and West Villages Sun ), The Review , Florida Weekly and The Parrot Entertainment magazines . She also provides personal and professional photography services for families , seniors , college graduates , anniversaries , birthdays , and other events . Most of all , she with prefers photographing nature and animals , the beautiful outdoors and concerts . “ I look forward to seeing you all out in the community during my coverage of local sporting events !”
Jeff ’ s love of photography started in the late 1970s as a 12-year-old when he and his father packed up to move from Western New York to Daytona Beach , Florida . His father gave him his first film camera , a Kodak Instamatic 110 , to use on the long car ride down . Many photographers love to talk about their passion and what it means to them . Jeff loves seeing his customers ’ excited expressions when they see his work . That ’ s what motivates him to create and do what he does . “ I teamed up with the NPAR in order to help drive their mission to unify the community through sports , athletes and the stories behind them all .”
JEFF WHITE