Collier County school news in brief

TV special focuses on Ivy League college admissions

Families with students who have an eye on an Ivy League education will want to watch a special TV show – A Closer Look: The Ivy League Admissions Process.

The Vice Dean/Director of Admissions from one of the eight Ivy League institutions, Quenby Jackson Mott, is the featured guest on the show produced by the School District of Collier County.

Jackson Mott represents the University of Pennsylvania, but the information she imparts should be helpful for students interested in attending any of the eight prestigious Ivy League colleges and universities, and will probably be helpful for any college-bound students.

On the show, Jackson Mott answers questions posed by four Ivy League-bound student panelists, all juniors: Christine Mansour of Barron Collier High School, Andrea Guerrero of Immokalee High School, Haris Demond of Naples High School, and George Camp of Palmetto Ridge High School. Superintendent Dennis L. Thompson serves as moderator and host.

A Closer Look: The Ivy League Admissions Process can be seen many times over the course of the summer on The Education Channel, Comcast cable 99. To check The Education Channel schedule at any time go to http://www.collier.k12.fl.us/dcio/tvschedule.asp. The show is also posted as a TV Special Webisode at http://www.collier.k12.fl.us/dcio/tvspecials.htm. And anyone requesting a free DVD copy of the show should send an e-mail to 99@collier.k12.fl.us or call Communications Services at 377-0180.

DVD copies of the school district’s original A Closer Look: The College Admissions Process TV show are still available. It featured FGCU Director of Admissions Marc Laviolette fielding student questions. To obtain a free DVD, simply send an e-mail to 99@collier.k12.fl.us. Superintendent Dennis Thompson has called this show the “how to guide for college admissions,” suggesting it should be viewed by all college-bound students and their parents before they apply for college admission.

Reading winners named at East Naples Middle School

To increase independent reading across the sixth grade at East Naples Middle School (ENM), teacher Magali Diaz set out with a challenge in her Intensive Reading classes. The challenge, named the Intensive Reading Challenge, rewarded students who read the most books with a special surprise.

To up the ante, the class of the student who read the most books would be rewarded with an end-of-the-year pizza party to celebrate the student’s accomplishment.

The school is proud to announce the following winners of the Intensive Reading Challenge:

Daniel Lopez – 76 books read,

Sienna Steele – 74 books read

John Meek – 42 books read

Overall, the three winning students and their three classes read 347, 363, and 542 books respectively. Each student received a certificate of achievement and a gift card to Books-A-Million bookstore for future book purchases.

Naples’ Iamurri earns national coaching honor

Congratulations are in order for Naples High School (NHS) varsity head softball coach Robert Iamurri. Coach Iamurri has been selected by the National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) as the National High School Softball Coach of the Year for 2010.

Iamurri is a product of The School District of Collier County, graduating from Lely High School. He has been with NHS as the varsity head softball coach for the past 25 years, compiling a long list of accomplishments along the way.

He has amassed an overall career record of 723-77-2, good for a winning percentage of .904. Of his 723 wins, 703 have come while at NHS (Iamurri coached his first year at Barron Collier High School). He has won one National Championship, 12 State Titles, and appeared in 16 State Championship games.

While at NHS, Iamurri has never lost more than five games in a single season, never won less than 23 games in a single season, and has never had a losing season.

The NHSCA Coach of the Year is selected by a national committee and honors the coach that serves as a role model for all coaches throughout the country at all levels of coaching. The coach must exemplify a person of good moral character as well as achieving the highest level of success in their sport.

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