Our Future Relies on Quality Education

One of the great benefits of writing this column is being able to speak about many of the great assets offered to our residents by our community and our nation. As such, I get to cover numerous special events as part of my responsibilities at the Coastal Breeze News. 

As many of you know, when I first graduated from college, I had the privilege to teach high school history for a short time. It was one of my life’s most rewarding opportunities. The chance to sit with young men and women and stimulate their desire to learn was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.

If you’ve done your job right, you can see it in their eyes as you send them off on their own journey to explore and learn. For me, that is what education should be about. It is not about taking a funnel and just indiscriminately pouring information into their minds. Instead, it is about motivating them to learn more about the subject matter you are teaching, and not just “lecturing” them.

Our children’s minds are like sponges, and they absorb the world around them. That is why at a young age they can quickly learn a second language. I remember speaking to my sister and asking her how as she grew older, she was able to pick up foreign languages so easily while teaching school overseas. She told me it was through immersion into the culture that she was teaching. Going out into the villages and cities gave her a great opportunity to assimilate into those cultures and learn from the people around her.

When I traveled internationally for business, I spent little time around foreign speakers, even though I tried. Many of the people I met were proficient in English from their education in their formative years or from attending college in the United States.

Today, I write about education because of the many opportunities afforded to our children on Marco Island. We have a wonderful elementary school in Tommie Barfield, as well as an excellent public charter middle school in the Marco Island Charter Middle School, and charter high school in the Marco Island Academy. All these schools consistently perform to the highest standards in Collier County. 

Tommie Barfield Elementary School was established in 1956-57, the Marco Island Charter Middle School welcomed its first students in August 1998, and the Marco Island Academy in August 2011.

At the 2022-2023 welcoming orientation for incoming 6th graders, Principal Michelle Wheeler welcomed parents and some very nervous students to their first of three years of middle school. She announced during that ceremony that this school year the Marco Island Charter Middle School will celebrate its 25th year in existence. 

Starting in 1997, families on Marco Island embraced the concept of charter schools and began working diligently to seek the Collier County School District’s approval of a plan to develop a middle school on the island.

That hard work resulted in the School Board granting a three-year contract in March of 1998. That vote took vision, trust and courage. It reflected the desire of Marco Island residents to provide an opportunity for their children to learn without having to leave the island early in the morning and return as the sun began to set over the Gulf of Mexico.

The school today hosts between 350 and 400 students. Only seven years after receiving their original charter in 1998, students no longer attended classes in the original trailers, and were moved into a modern state-of-the-art facility. The school, its administration, its staff and parents earned the trust and respect of the Collier County district staff and administrators, demonstrating the wisdom of their original vote in 1998.

The success of that school is directly related to the resolve and dedication of the parents who first stepped forward to follow a dream of providing a public charter middle school. The school is open to all students in Collier County and is rated as one of the top charter schools in the State of Florida, consistently receiving an “A” Rating throughout its existence.

The school has an independent board that oversees its operation. Parents volunteer time and treasure to ensure its students and staff receive the support necessary while they attend middle school. Students will then make their choices as to which high school they will attend after moving on from 8th grade.

Yes, the Marco Island Charter Middle School board, staff, educators, students, parents and our community have a lot to be proud of. Happy 25th Anniversary Marco Island Charter Middle School.