School foundation hosts annual Collegium on island

In partnership with the School District of Lee County, The Foundation for Lee County Public Schools spent a week on Captiva from June 19-24 for the 34th Annual Collegium for the Advancement of Education

Twenty-eight teachers representing several county public schools, five of the six 2023 Golden Apple Teachers, a current district administrator and two previous Golden Apple teachers attended The week was packed with learning, collaborating and teamwork The foundation reported that the purpose was to celebrate and appreciate the hard work and dedication of the community's teachers, while also giving them an opportunity to learn about and acquire new skills and strategies to better engage their students in the learning process The participating educators had opportunities to network and share best practices with other teachers and business partners

“The teachers who attended this year truly represent all of the outstanding educators in the School District of Lee County,” foundation President and Chief Executive Officer Marshall T Bower said “The learning and sharing of best practices and collaboration that took place was palpable Our students are in good hands ”

Each attendee received 40 hours of service learning to be applied to their professional development requirements In addition, they spent their evenings enjoying the beach, social- izing at the pool and being wined and dined at restaurants, including Boops By The Bubble Room, Cantina Captiva, RC Otter's Island Eats and The Mucky Duck

“I learned strategies during Collegium, such as not allowing others to 'admire' problems but instead brainstorm real solutions Collegium taught me that a manager who ignores is even more detrimental than a manager who primarily focuses on weaknesses,” middle school teacher Andrina Dennison said “Collegium truly helped me feel more prepared to lead a team of teachers into an amazing new school year ”

L a n d Innovation Officer Cindy McClung was the lead trainer for the week A previous Golden Apple Teacher, she has over 30 years of experience integrating the Baldrige/Sterling framework and Glasser’s Choice Theory into the workplace

“Working with this group of distinguished educators was a joy The learning and networking that took place this week will lead to great benefits for students,” McClung said “The commitment from the foundation and our business community to provide this unique opportunity for teachers to come together to sharpen their craft and to share best practices illustrates the importance our community places on education Collegium is a true partnership, dedicated to building our future ”

Fire Chief Jeff Pawul

A t t h e J u l y 1 1 meeting, the commission voted unanimously 3-0 to approve a resolution accepting the f i n a n c i a l s t a t e m e n t s for the district's fiscal year 2021-22 as audited and prepared by the firm CliftonLarsonAllen Prior to the vote, principal Chris Kessler with the firm presented the final report.

“It was an unmodified opinion, which is a clean opinion,” he said

Kessler noted that it is the highest standard achievable

He also explained that the report is really a snapshot of 99% of the fiscal year pre-Hurricane Ian

“This was a big year prior to Sept 28,” Kessler said

He added that the firm had no finding, which means the district was in compliance.

Also at the meeting, Fire Chief Jeff Pawul reported that the beach utility vehicle will have to be replaced The district applied for a grant to help cover the replacement cost, but was denied

He estimated the price for a similar vehicle to be about $30,000

“It is an item that was budgeted for this year,” Pawul said

He also reported that he has been talking with Lee County officials about a new location for the district's fire rescue boat in order to get it out of the water and onto a lift He is looking for a marina that is close to the fire station that already offers a boat lift or would allow for one to be installed

“Long-term we just shouldn't keep this boat in the water for the life of it,” Pawul said

He also recommended that the district c o n s i d e r h i r i n g a f u l l - t i m e h u m a n

The proposed plan for The Green Flash on Captiva