WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
In a town where baseball and football are the dominant youth sports, two Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School seniors are overcoming challenges and defying stereotypes to put Manatee County girls’ lacrosse on the map.
Sienna Cassella and Ashling Marshall have put in an unbelievable amount of effort throughout their youth, especially at the high school level, to earn scholarships to play lacrosse at separate Division I …
WORDS: Sheri Roca
PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Did you know that there is a magical place right here in Manatee County where you can not only get up close and personal with elephants but help in the global conservation of these majestic creatures? Just east of Lakewood Ranch, you will find the Myakka Elephant Ranch. This facility is a family-owned and operated nonprofit conservation center that offers once in a lifetime, …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Hailing from Delaware, working in management at Walmart, longing to sell snow cones on the beach somewhere, Stephanie Edwards made her dreams a reality in 2015.
Stephanie worked for Walmart for 23 years. She sat on the board of directors for a food bank and the local chamber of commerce through her management position with the company, as well as served in various local reading …
WORDS: Sheri Roca
PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
There is a safe haven for the inner-city kids of central Bradenton to grow, learn, be creative, and play ball, and it is called 13th Ave Dream Center. For the last 86 years, the United Community Center (UCC) in Bradenton has been building dreams, changing lives, and strengthening families.
The many dedicated volunteers, or “Dream Builders,” work tirelessly to encourage about 1,500 kids yearly …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
The 2nd Annual Stand for Children Day Luncheon debuted the finished look of the Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County’s newest mobile classroom: the ELC Explorer! The Explorer is unique to the ELC’s fleet of buses in that it is equipped with a special tailgate that allows wheelchair access onto the bus.
Adorned with images of cartoon children exploring, reading, and playing along with …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Florida’s Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program (VPK) is a free educational program that prepares four-year-olds for kindergarten and beyond. Participating in VPK sets a student’s educational success for life. There are early literacy skills being taught as well as social-emotional skills that are being acquired.
In order to enroll in VPK, a child must live in Florida and be four on or before September 1st…
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Oftentimes, we don’t realize how much of a lasting impact a stranger can have on our lives, especially as a child. But most of us can recall at least one teacher or mentor who positively influenced us over the years. You can be that person to a child!
The Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County (ELC) offers the ReadingPals program to VPK children at local …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
From being a guitarist in a moderately successful punk rock band in England to becoming the Chief Executive Officer of The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature, Andrew Sandall has had quite the assorted road to his current role.
Beginning his museum journey in 1992, Andrew started as a curatorial assistant at his local history museum in Boston, England. At that time, he had no …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Imagine living in a community where language barriers are broken, creating a common ground where we’re able to see ourselves as more the same than different. ¡HOLA! Elementary at Manatee School for the Arts is striving to do just that.
As an arts-infused dual-language public charter school, ¡HOLA! Elementary is the first and only school of its kind in Manatee County. It opened its doors …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Have you ever wanted your child to be enrolled in an afterschool care program but worried about lack of transportation? Would your child benefit from free tutoring that’s done on at least a 3:10 teacher-to-student ratio? What about being secure in knowing that your child is in a safe, positive, and life-affirming environment?
Avenue941 is a local initiative that does all of these things and …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
April 7th marked the 75th De Soto Children’s Parade sponsored by the Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County (ELC). Children from all over gathered in Palmetto to watch a slew of handmade floats, performance acts, and conquistadors march down 10th Street to Sutton Park. The winning float for “Best Use of Theme” was designed by Palma Sola Elementary School.
It featured students …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
After one of the most unprecedented times in our country’s history in 2020, D C’s Child Care Center was at a loss for what to do. Short-staffed, unable to find anyone to hire, and about to close their doors for good, they reached out to the Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County.
“We called, said we’re about to shut down, and we didn’t know what …
WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
Our local community has a plethora of established clubs and organizations that work hard every day to make Manatee County a better place to live. The Rotary Club of Bradenton especially strives to bridge the gaps in early childhood education to set young students up for educational success.
Rotary International focuses on six specific issues: teacher training, fighting diseases, saving mothers and children, supporting education, …
By almost any conceivable standard a school district can be measured, Superintendent Saunders’ five-year tenure as superintendent has been a rousing success.
Since being sworn in as superintendent on June 26, 2018, she has been a difference-maker.
Leadership in a Crisis
When the COVID-19 global pandemic broke out in early 2020, Ms. Saunders presided over one of the most challenging periods in the school district’s history.
Working …
WORDS: Sheri Roca
PICTURES: Whitney Patton
Ms. Tracey Vita is a name you may recognize. She has become something of an icon in Manatee County, touching the lives of more than 200 families each and every year, for more than 42 years, through the art of dance.
At Tracey Vita’s School of Dance, the kids don’t dance for trophies, medals, or ribbons. They don’t dance to prove they are the …
