Island Montessori Academy hosts Community Heroes Week

By Coastal Breeze News Staff 

Coastal Breeze News was honored to be a part of Island Montessori Academy’s Community Heroes Week. The Academy’s annual event invites different members of the Marco area to share how their jobs benefit the community. Students, ages three to nine, listened intently each day as a new guest speaker shared the importance of community involvement.

Coastal Breeze was invited to speak with students on Thursday, May 3. Publisher, Val Simon, shared the different aspects of the newspaper with the students. As each child ruffled

through papers, they were asked to pick out areas that featured stories, photographs, advertisements and more.

Val also discussed the different types of news covered in a typical newspaper. She expressed that any interest you may have, there is an area to write about it in the paper. Coastal Breeze covers topics such as sports, art, music, fishing, tennis, environmental concerns, travel, cooking, biking, astronomy, book reviews, jewelry, sailing, fitness and more. Students enjoyed hearing about all the the different topics the news can cover.

Features Editor, Natalie

Strom, shared how her job, writing stories, is just like being an adventurer. Not only does she have the chance to meet new people and try new things, but from time to time, she gets a chance to make a difference. Natalie shared her articles about Seymour, the local Marco Island dolphin whose tail was entangled with fishing line. Through her article, Coastal Breeze helped spread the word that Seymour was in danger and many people in the community phoned in sightings of Seymour. This led to a tremendous rescue effort, where members of Sea World and other large marine mammal organizations came out and removed the line from Seymour’s tail. He has since been spotted and is doing very well.

The students were very excited to learn that they could share in these same types of adventures if they decided to choose journalism as a career.

Throughout the week, students at Island Montessori Academy were treated to a number of other guest speakers. Officer Al Schettino, of the Marco Island Police Department, spoke

to the students on Monday, April 30, about what it’s like to be a police officer.

Natalie Lahnan of Naples Adventure Bootcamp was the Community Hero Speaker on Tuesday, May 1. Lahnan spoke about the importance of health and fitness and staying active.

Wednesday, May 2, brought Marco Island Environmental Specialist, Nancy Ritchie, to the Academy. Nancy discussed important environmental issues, specifically burrowing owls and gopher tortoises. Nancy even brought a live gopher tortoise and different shells as a part of her speech.

The Marco Island Post Office visited the

students on Friday, May 4. A mail truck was brought over and students were allowed to tour the truck, learning the importance of the United States Postal Service.

Guest speakers were presented with a Certificate of Appreciation for sharing their knowledge and skills with the students.

Island Montessori Academy’s Annual Community Heroes Week is a great way to instill early on, that there are endless career opportunities and ways to make a difference within your community. It really is true – you can be, and do, anything you want if you put your mind to it.