As the District gets ready for the Winter Break, a look back at the 2009/10 school shows some amazing accomplishments.

“Each year we realize so many accomplishments, honor and recognitions,” said Dr. James Browder, Superintendent of Schools. “Our students, faculty, staff and schools continue to show they are truly outstanding.”

Some of the honors and awards from the 2009/10 school year (so far) include:

Dana Thomas, the librarian at Cypress Lake Middle School in Fort Myers, was named a winner of the 2009 I Love My Librarian Award recognizing her as one of America’s Top 10 librarians of the year! What makes this achievement even more amazing is that this year more than 3,200 library users nationwide nominated a librarian.

Lt. Colonel Thomas Madigan, who oversees Lee County Public Schools JROTC programs, was unanimously elected as the President of the Florida Association for JROTC Personnel. In his 12-year career with Lee County Public Schools, the JROTC program has seen membership rise from 700 to more than 2,800 and every high school now has a JROTC Unit.

Three Lee County Public Schools teachers were honored with the 2009 Excel Award from former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and the Foundation for Excellence in Education. The teachers honored are: Andrea Garber from Tropic Isles Elementary School and Kathy Himes from Fort Myers High School, who were honored in the area of reading for achieving the greatest gains with students from low income families; and John J. Plesa from Cypress Lake High School, who was recognized in the area of math for achieving the greatest gains with students who are learning English.

Four students – Carlos Marin and Sally Thompson from Fort Myers High and Miska Latura and Rebecca Laube from North Fort Myers High were named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists. These students are among 16,000 Semifinalists in the 55th Annual National Merit Scholarship Program and now have an opportunity to continue on in the competition for around 8,200 National Merit Scholarships totaling approximately $36 million.

Tangi Perry, a fifth-grader at J. Colin English Elementary School, was named the Florida winner of the WalkSafeTM program poster contest. The statewide program teaches children the benefits of safely walking to and from school. Her winning artwork will be the program’s logo next year.

Through the hard work of teacher James Moss and administrators, South Fort Myers High School is the first high school in Lee County to earn the esteemed Automotive Service Excellence Certification through the National Automotive Technical Education Foundation. This process took four years to accomplish and required the use of specific mechanical tools and a variety of processes had to be demonstrated and verified in order to earn this unique certification.

The Financial Accounting Department received the Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting Award from the Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO.) This award honors excellence in school system comprehensive annual financial reporting and promotes high quality financial reporting.

The Financial Accounting Department also received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Award from the Government Finance Officers Association. This is the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and the program is designed to encourage the best accounting and reporting procedures and principles.

The District successfully debuted The Game of the Week by TV99. This program identified one Lee County Public Schools high school football games each week and covered it from kickoff to the final play to be broadcast on the District’s TV99 Comcast Cable Channel and streamed in the Internet.

The Florida Music Educators Association (FMEA) Awards Committee selected Mariner Middle School’s Reading Comes Alive with the Sound of Music as the 2010 FMEA Secondary School’s Innovative Project Award recipient. The FMEA Innovative Project recognizes individuals or groups for meritorious, innovative programs or projects completed in the field of music education.

The Head Start Program was awarded a Head Start Body Start National Center for Physical Development and Outdoor Play grant to enhance the outdoor play space of the Early Childhood Center. The goal of the grant is to increase physical activity, outdoor play and healthy eating for Head Start children and their families.

Successfully partnered with the Lee County Health Department and the Lee County Emergency Operations Center to implement an H1N1 Vaccine Clinic Program using high school across the county as location to vaccinate thousands of residents.

Lehigh Elementary School received the State Farm Insurance “Good Neighbor Award.” This award recognizes students who exemplify the qualities of being a “good neighbor.”

Information released by the Florida Department of Education show that Lee County Public Schools has its best graduation rate in history 77.6%, which is higher than the state average of 76.3%. In addition, Lee County Public Schools has its lowest dropout rate in history 1.3%, which is lower than the state average of 2.3%.

Source: Lee County Public Schools