This piece was originally printed in Naples Illustrated (January 2022): https://www.naplesillustrated.com/ni-current-issue/
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The Suncoast Credit Union Foundation is partnering with the Champions For Learning to offer 5 of $2,000 scholarship awards to high school graduates in the Class of 2022. Class of 2022 high school graduates in Suncoast Credit Union’s 21-county service territory have the opportunity to apply for financial support to continue their education, thanks to a $116,000 investment in scholarships by the Tampa-based credit union’s Foundation.
Applications will be open now through February 11, 2022 and are available at https://championsforlearning.awardspring.com/.
This year’s Suncoast Credit Union Scholars program represents a continued philosophy of the foundation to support education initiatives and the well-being and potential of children. Since its inception in 1990, the Foundation has contributed more than $33 million including more than $2.4 million in scholarships.
“We believe the best way we can build better communities is by investing in education and health-related initiatives for children,” said Cindy Helton, Executive Director of the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation. “Through the Suncoast Credit Union Scholars program, we have the opportunity to invest in individual human potential, which is particularly rewarding.”
Champions For Learning is proud to announce this year’s honored Champions and Heart of the Apple recipients.
The honorees are being recognized at the Night of Champions Dinner on Friday, February 4, 2022, at Arthrex One for their impact on the lives of students through mentoring, leadership, collaboration and community involvement with educators or students. These honored Champions exemplify what it means to make a commitment to our students and their future. As a partner with Arthrex, sharing a common vision for innovation in our community, we are pleased to be hosting this special celebration at Arthrex One.
The 2021-22 Night of Champions honorees are: Hope Daley and Matt Dykes of Guerilla Media, Guenther Gosch, Angie E. Joseph, Janet Perna and Melanie Rose of the Perna-Rose Foundation for Hope, and Kristy Schoen Pollard of the Schoen Foundation. This year’s Heart of the Apple recipients, Marcelo and Betty Alvarez, are also being honored for their sustained and committed leadership in support of building the culture of learning in our community through the mission of Champions For Learning.
“It is a great honor to be highlighting a group of community leaders who are dedicated to impacting students,” says Susan McManus, President of Champions For Learning. ”The Night of Champions honorees truly embody what it is to be a Champion for our students’ future.”
We would like to thank our generous sponsors:
Presenting sponsor: Huntington Private Bank
Major sponsors include Naples Daily News, Naples Illustrated, Suncoast Credit Union, Stock Development, and scholarship sponsor, Florida Gulf Coast University.
Proceeds will support Champions For Learning student programs. Tickets for this event are $350. To learn more about how you can join in, please visit https://championsforlearning.org/night-of-champions/ or call (239) 643-4755.
Table and event sponsorships are also available. For more information, please contact Champions For Learning at 239-643-4755 or Events@ChampionsForLearning.org.
Champions For Learning is proud to announce the 2021-2022 Glass Slipper recipients. The honorees are Stephanie Lucarelli, Dianne Mayberry-Hatt, and Marty McCune (see below for bios).
Each year, the Glass Slipper event is held to honor female leaders for their dedication and service to the children of Collier County. This event and recognition program benefits young ladies who are graduates of Champions For Learning scholarship and mentoring programs and helps meet their needs as college students. Since the inception of the Glass Slipper event in 2004, $130,000 has been raised, providing 26 young women the funding needed to complete their degrees. The goal for this year’s event is to raise $30,000 to purchase scholarships for an additional 6 young women.
Join Champions For Learning in honoring the Glass Slipper recipients at a reception and luncheon, held on December 9, 2021 at 11:30 am – 1:00 pm at The Club at Olde Cypress. A presentation featuring the three honorees and students will be followed by a silent auction perfect for holiday shopping.
This year’s event is being co-chaired by Gina Lostracco and Dottie Whipple, both previous Glass Slipper honorees. The event is being sponsored by Naples Daily News and Naples Illustrated, and hosted by Stock Development.
Meet the 2021-2022 Glass Slipper Recipients:
Stephanie Lucarelli is a committed advocate for education and Champions for Learning. She has been on the Board of Directors and has helped with various event committees. She mentored for three years, with one mentee graduating last year, and is currently mentoring a 9th grade student. She is involved with the grants committee and serves as a Champions Ambassador. Her passion is an inspiration to many and she is very deserving of this award.
Dianne Mayberry-Hatt has been a “champion” for education for many years. Her commitment to every facet of the mission of Champions For Learning’s mission, along with her significant leadership has distinguished her service. Dianne is a past board chair, has mentored three young ladies, has been a part of the Golden Apple Committee, Connect Now and the Classroom Grants Committee.
Marty McCune has been a committed mentor with Champions for five years and she is currently mentoring her second student. She also serves as a mentor liaison supporting other mentors in their mentoring experience. She has been highly involved as a Champions Ambassador, helping to recruit new people to the organization and raising awareness in the community, along with pitching in to help with office projects, events and teacher appreciation deliveries.
In Immokalee, where Bray has taught for seven years at Lake Trafford Elementary School, she is part of the family, she said.
“Immokalee is like my second home,” Bray said. “I love it here.”
For Bray, she wants to make proud those families who made her welcome.
Bray was one of 60 teachers representing 58 schools in Collier County to be recognized Tuesday with a Teachers of Distinction award from Champions For Learning. From this list, a selection committee will pick six teachers for a Golden Apple Award.
Every school in Collier County can nominate a teacher and that teacher’s best practice. Teachers receive a $250 prize, a nomination for a Golden Apple Award and participate in networking to share practices with other teachers.
Who is your school’s Teacher of Distinction? Collier’s education foundation released the list
In her classroom, Bray transforms her space into different experiences, like Multiplication Inc. based on Disney’s Monster Inc., because she wants her students more involved in learning.
“You learn more when you have a memory that goes with it rather than just memorizing things,” Bray said. “I try to always make my classroom memorable for the kids.”
At Eden Park Elementary, Monica Drew is creating leaders in her first-grade classroom.
One of those leaders is 6-year-old Jason Gomez. He takes his role as teacher’s assistant seriously.
He sharpens pencils, writes the date and mission on the board and plugs in their class laptops.
“I have to do my job,” Gomez said.
Her students, like Gomez, are motivated to be responsible for themselves, so Drew utilizes her best practice that keeps leadership exercises at the forefront.
“They all have those little incentives inside themselves, and that’s what I want to bring out,” Drew said.
Drew said she hopes her students will take what they are learning and bring what they learn home.
“Yes, they’re only six and seven years old, but they are capable of so much and if they can do that here, imagine what they can do when they get older not just in school and the community and in their homes,” Drew said. “That’s why I do it.”
“They can disagree with their opinions, but they always come prepared and it’s nice to see them self-motivated,” Wippel said.
Wippel, who started teaching in Collier schools eight years ago, said she tries to empower her students to be confident in their own abilities.
Wippel said she loves to teach in Immokalee so much that she wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
In his more than 20 years in career and technical education, Immokalee Technical College’s executive director Dorin Oxender said he had never met a better instructor than Robert Boyle.
“He’s a rock star,” Oxender said.
Boyle started teaching Immokalee Technical College’s heavy equipment service technician program three years ago.
In the program, which has a 100% job placement rate, Boyle said he expects excellence from his students.
“I try to teach them that to get ahead in this business, to actually do well in this business, you have to continuously learn,” Boyle said.
His practice starts his students in the classroom working on reading, quizzes and open discussion about practices, and then he starts hands-on labs, like tearing apart engines.
“We do practical hands-on labs using all of the tools and equipment that they would normally use in the field,” Boyle said.
Boyle, who worked as a heavy equipment technician for more than 35 years, said he was “deeply, honestly moved” by the recognition.
“It means a lot to me to be recognized for what I do,” Boyle said. “But more importantly, for my program to be recognized for what it does because this is not just me, it’s the school. It’s the students. It’s all of my sponsors, my sponsoring employers. I mean they all have a big piece of this.”
Rachel Fradette is an education reporter for the Naples Daily News. Follow her on Twitter: @Rachel_Fradette, email her at rfradette@gannett.com.
Champions For Learning Announces Collier County Teachers of Distinction
(October 26, 2021) Champions for Learning is excited to announce the 2021-2022 Teachers of Distinction for Collier County. As part of the Golden Apple Teacher Recognition Program, each school in Collier County Public Schools has the opportunity to nominate a teacher and best practice to highlight on behalf of their school. From this group of 60 Teachers of Distinction from 58 schools (Click Here for full list), Champions For Learning’s community-based selection committee identifies the Golden Apple recipients. Last year, Champions For Learning honored all teachers throughout Collier County for the extraordinary work they did despite ever-changing circumstances to keep our students moving forward, proving that teachers truly are the heartbeat of every community.
Today, each Teacher of Distinction received a $250 cash award, and now have the opportunity to share their ideas and practices across the county with their colleagues and the community through the Golden Apple process. With a vision of a community that is 100% engaged in support of student success, Champions For Learning creates opportunities for educators that support high impact learning experiences for every child.
Thanks to Presenting Sponsor, Suncoast Credit Union, for the support provided to educators. Generous support is also provided by Golden Apple Major Sponsors: Conditioned Air, Mary Ingram, Moorings Park, Naples Daily News, Naples Illustrated, NBC-2, and Stock Development.
The Teachers of Distinction and the Golden Apple recipients will be honored at the Annual Golden Apple Celebration of Teachers Dinner, presented by Suncoast Credit Union, on April 22, 2022 at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.
Several highly visible sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information on event sponsorships and ticket sales go to https://championsforlearning.org/golden-apple/.
About Champions For Learning™
Champions For Learning™, the education foundation in Collier County, is an independent, community-based, non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization that strives to create life-changing learning experiences for every student. With a vision of a community that is 100% engaged in support of student success, Champions For Learning serves a unique role in bringing the community together to support a culture of learning and innovation. Our organization has been awarded the GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency and Charity Navigator’s highest four-star rating, both demonstrating our commitment to sound fiscal management, accountability, and transparency, as well as achieved the highest distinction as an exemplary Local Education Foundation. Become a Champion for Learning and visit www.ChampionsForLearning.org.
About Suncoast Credit Union
Suncoast Credit Union is the largest credit union in the state of Florida, the 10th largest in the United States based on membership, and the 10th largest in the United States based on its $14.3 billion in assets. Chartered in 1934 as Hillsborough County Teachers Credit Union, Suncoast Credit Union currently operates 75 full-service branches and serves more than 979,000 members in 40 Florida counties. As a community credit union, anyone who lives, works, attends school or worships in the counties Suncoast Credit Union serves in Florida is eligible for membership. In 2021, Suncoast Credit Union’s field of membership was expanded to include public K-12, college educators and support staff from all of Florida’s 67 counties. Since its founding in 1990, the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation has raised and donated more than $32 million to organizations and initiatives that support the health, education and emotional well-being of children in the communities that the credit union serves. For more information, visit: suncoastcreditunion.com or follow us on social media.
Champions For Learning grants fund teacher projects focused on students’ needs, innovation
By Rachel Fradette, Naples Daily News
Media specialist Tiffany Weeks had to find a way to hear from her younger students at Lavern Gaynor Elementary even behind the veil of a mask.
A solution to the problem came to her — and eventually funding came with it.
Weeks found that a ball with a wireless microphone could help her more quiet students find their voices and confidence in the classroom, especially during literary discussions in the library.
“It’s hard enough to hear them as it is. They talk very softly. They’re afraid to communicate. Then you put a mask across their face it makes it even more difficult because sometimes you can’t even tell if they’re talking,” Weeks said.
Weeks, who has applied each year for more than 11 years, said she noticed the microphone during a training course and decided to do more research and go for a grant.
“This should allow me to hear what they have to say and should also help encourage them to want to speak,” Weeks said.
Fifth-grade students Aiyanna Bustillos, 10, and Rachelle Joseph,10, said they are happy for Weeks and excited to see what happens with all six of her grants, including the microphone ball.
“She earned it,” Joseph said. “She’s wonderful and kind.”
Weeks’ six grants are among more than 200 grants totaling about $101,747 being awarded by Champions For Learning to teachers at 50 schools, a record for the education foundation.
The Collier-based organization that hand-delivers teachers’ grants annually brought back in-person visits to schools this year after COVID-19 altered deliveries last year.
Teachers throughout Collier County were celebrated Thursday outside their schools with grant checks and recognitions.
Janet Perna, who volunteers with Champions For Learning, said she became more involved to help make a difference even in a modest way.
“Education to me is where it all starts,” Perna said. “We have challenges in the country in terms of our educations levels, quality of the workforce for new jobs, and it really starts in elementary school.”
Perna has served on the foundation’s grant selection committee for six years. As a former IBM executive, Perna said she wants to see more young girls enter the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.
Perna said she noticed as educators began to ask for funding for character education.
“How do we help these kids learn about what’s appropriate behavior, how to respond when they’re frustrated and how to respond in a healthy way?” Perna said.
Community members interested in researching and funding grants for teacher projects can do so through an online grant portal where teachers also submit their applications.
See the list:Here’s the full list of grants delivered by Champions For Learning
Golden Gate Middle and Golden Terrace Elementary teachers picked for grants
Band director Ashley Crosby led her students into Golden Gate Middle School’s courtyard to hear that some of their old instruments would finally be replaced. 
“We have a big need for instruments in our program,” Crosby said. “And some of our instruments have seen better days, and they are needing to be replaced.”
More than 220 students participate in the school’s band program, which received $2,000 to purchase six clarinets, five trumpets and five flutes.
“We’re going to use this money to replace some instruments that we use,” Crosby said to her students.
Three of her colleagues at the school also received grants.
Down the street in Golden Gate, Golden Terrace Elementary teachers Stephanie Irish and Joyce Cordell stepped out of their classrooms to hear their projects had been funded.
Cordell said one of her three grants will engage more students in reading through graphic novels that combine visuals and plot.
“They’re like comics,” Cordell said. “So speech bubbles and it’s bright and colorful.”
Cordell said classics are transitioning to a graphic novel style, and her kids are biting.
“They are reading them like crazy,” Cordell said.
Irish, who started at the district 15 years ago, said she still has former students who recall when her class watched chicks hatch in an incubator.
Irish requested funds for the project this year in one of her three grant proposals to Champions For Learning.
“They’ll be like, ‘Remember when you did that project with us,’ and it wasn’t, ‘Remember when you taught us how to take a test,” Irish said.
Rachel Fradette is an education reporter for the Naples Daily News. Follow her on Twitter: @Rachel_Fradette, email her at rfradette@gannett.com.
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Champions For Learning™, The Education Foundation of Collier County, was founded in 1990 by the community and is a 501 (c)(3) organization that creates life-changing learning experiences for every student.
3606 Enterprise Ave, Suite 150
Naples, Florida 34104
(239) 643-4755
(239) 643-4799
info@championsforlearning.org
