Volunteer Pescatrice gets top local and state honor
If you saw the amazing “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” show at North Fort Myers High School, you would know just part of the work of North High’s top Volunteer of The Year, Paul Pescatrice.
He not only works with the theater department at the school, but with homecoming and other student government activities as well.
Pescatrice was recently awarded one of the state of Florida’s top honors – top adult volunteer for our region – while he was accepting Lee County Public School’s Outstanding School Volunteer/Adult Volunteer. He received the honor from Florida State Department of Education Commissioner Eric Smith.
Both the county and the state hand out several awards for volunteers, a top youth, adult and senior volunteer, said Parent Involvement Specialist and District Volunteer Coordinator Linda Montgomery, but this was special. “It was at the Lee County School Board Recognition Ceremony that named Paul the Adult Outstanding School Volunteer for all of Lee County, and the top for District 4.”
District 4 stretches from Hernado County to Collier County as one of five regional areas noted for this type of honor in the state.
Selections are made from a large field of extremely deserving nominees, said Montgomery. “Last year we had over 22,000 school volunteers,” she said. “That really tells you the pool they were selected from. This is all schools, including charter schools.”
The final decisions are based on the dedication of the time and energy and the wide spectrum of activities in which the volunteers are involved. “That’s in addition to all the wonderful things the school says about them. It is a very difficult process just to select one in each category.”
The School District of Lee County, together with the Florida Department of Education, designates each February as School Volunteer Month.
“Paul Pescatrice is absolutely amazing,” said North High Principal Kimberly Lunger. “He is truly a jack of all trades and never hesitates to help us here at North. He can be found building a set for our musicals, providing sound and music for our pep rallies, organizing playlists for homecoming and prom, building floats, you name it, he can get it done!”
North Fort Myers High School drama teacher Michele Whitener has a special bond with Pescatrice.
“What to say about Paul Pescatrice?” said Whitener. “First and foremost, I remember him as a high school student at Cape Coral High School in my speech class,” she said. “I actually taught him my first year in teaching at Cape Coral. He was delightful and very resourceful then.”
She said she didn’t realize then he would have children in her drama department, and volunteer to that end. “He loves working with the students, and the students love working with him. He’s a wonderful man.”
Pescatrice comes from a family of volunteer-minded educators, and takes the idea of parent involvement to a new level, officials said.
His father Joe retired as an administrator from High Tech North and his step-mother Michelle is currently principal at Orangewood. His sister Tina is an educator in Orlando.
“I started volunteering when my oldest was in kindergarten and she’s in college now. My parents have always been involved in the community, and their parents as well. Currently my father is one of the directors at the Red Cross as a volunteer. So I was raised in a volunteer family, and I just started volunteering in the schools because they can always use help. Without volunteers at the schools, they can’t do everything they can do.
Both of his daughters went to Pelican Elementary, where he volunteered for 10 years, and won Volunteer of the Year there. “Both of my daughters, Brittany and Chelsea, went to North Fort Myers High, so I stated volunteering here. Brittany is going into education, and Chelsea is graduating this year from North, also going into education. They’ve been members of National Honor Society and Key Club and been volunteers in the community as well.
“The thing that has always attracted me to North High is how they welcome parent volunteers. They are very open, and it is a very friendly school. I believe they have the concern of the students as a top priority.”
He has helped with musical theater at many local schools.
He and fellow volunteer Kevin Ostrowsky engineered the incredible show-stopper for last year’s stellar production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
They wanted a grand exit gesture for the show.
“We wanted it to be above and beyond. Kevin and I came up with the truss that carried the chariot down at the end of the show, doing all the special effects including the confetti drop. The finale brought a whole new dimension to the types of shows they do.”
“I’d like to thank Donna Agostinelli, the class sponsor for my oldest daughter’s class. After that, she took on my younger daughter’s class, and Amanda Sanford, who is the Student Government Sponsor. Without their support, there would not be the motivation that is there. Taking on a sponsor role is huge,” he said.
“We all do this for the kids,” he said, of volunteers and teachers at North.
Pescatrice also wanted to thank his wife Julie for her support of his volunteer activities. “When I’m here I’m not doing work around the house.”
He owns and operates his own lawn service, Paul’s Perfect Cut, based out of Cape Coral.
Assistant Principal Ken Burns said the entire campus was delighted with Pescatrice’s local and state honors.
“I was excited because I could not think of anyone in this state that contributed to the heartbeat of a school as much as Paul Pescatrice.
“It was a well deserved honor, and we could never repay or reward Mr. Pescatrice for all he does. The best thing about it is that he never questions and always has a smile on his face. The students all love him; they know him and his work. It’s the quality of work he does, and he is always there when anyone needs him.”