Academic achievement, donations and more: Good news in Ocala/Marion County | May 22, 2022

Area students excel in higher education

University graduate

Aleigh Papagno, Belleview, Summa Cum Laude, BMus in Keyboard Performance, Bob Jones University

Paul Marsters, Ocala, Dixie State University

Rheanna Lee Standridge, Ocala, Master of Science, University of Southern Mississippi

President’s List

Aleigh Papagno, Belleview, Bob Jones University

Safe dining:Marion County restaurant inspections for May 9-14

'This means a lot':Ocala Salvation Army reopens dining hall after two-year COVID closure

Marion school board member Don Browning:My KKK remark to school worker wasn't insensitive

Grace Episcopal Church raises $51,367 to help Ukrainian refugees

Grace Episcopal Church met the goal of raising more than $50,000 to help Ukrainian refugees at Serenissima Church in Italy, where Ocala locals Micah and Victoria French attend church, according to an email from Eleanor Simons.

Micah, son of Fr. Jonathan French, is serving in the Air Force in Italy. Serenissima Church has been turned into a refugee center, with church members providing everything needed to help with the transition to a new life in a new country, the email said.

Simons expressed thanks in the email to Grace Church members, Ocala Star-Banner readers and other Episcopal churches in the diocese who donated to this effort.

Fr. Jonathan and his wife will be visiting Micah and Victoria this summer and will meet the pastor at the church there. In August the Italian pastor is planning a visit to Ocala, the email said.

OMCAR members serve lunch to Hillcrest School teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week

Members of the Ocala/Marion County Association of Realtors recently participated in Teacher Appreciation Week at Hillcrest School, Toni-Ann Burke, communications specialist for OMCAR, said in an email.

“Thank you to the OMCAR Members that participated in Teacher Appreciation week by providing and serving lunch to the teachers at Hillcrest School,” OMCAR President Virginia Wright said in the email.

North Marion Middle School wins national 'Say Something' award for
second consecutive year

For the second consecutive year, North Marion Middle School has won the Sandy Hook Promise Annual Say Something Week awards, according to a press release from Marion County Public Schools.

"Sandy Hook Promise is a national non-profit organization with a mission to end school shootings and create a cultural change preventing violence and other harmful acts that hurt children," the release said.

Members of North Marion's Students Against Violence Everywhere Club created and submitted their award-winning video, available at https://vimeo.com/694040758. 

Lake Weir Middle School art students create three murals on campus

Lisa Russo, an art educator at Lake Weir Middle School, led students in her spring art classes as they created three murals on campus. Among those working on the project were Jacob Johnson, Rayvon Bell, Dankeria Robinson, Keenyah Paddyfote Logan King, Caleb Young,  Novah Haynes Ungerathen, Lucas Toste, Mason Hartley, Neveah Mike and Crista Alvarado.

The work started in January and is just about complete. The murals include a representation of the past (a Versailles garden-like scene), the present (hot air balloons) and the future (a space landscape.)

"Many of these students would get their work done in other classes, come before school and miss lunch to work on" the project, Russo said. "I am very proud of what they accomplished and hope they use these skills in their future careers."

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