By Kyle Coppola
South Sumter HOSA Students Qualify for Houston Leadership Conference
It was history being made for South Sumter High School as for the first time in the school’s HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) Chapter that they will be sending students to the International Leadership Conference in Houston, Texas!
This past week the students and their advisor Ms. Lyden did an amazing job at the HOSA State Leadership Conference in Orlando. The event was attended by some of the best HOSA leaders in the state of Florida and South Sumter did an incredible job.
(From left to right – Makiah Caine, Nathalie Williams, Skylar Valles, Destiny Barnes, Naomi Reed, Makiah Isom, Andreya Castle, Lexi Pinion, Emily Sclafani, Bella Meindl and Austin Kirby. )
For the first time in school history two students placed in their event and have qualified for this summer’s International Leadership Conference in Houston, Texas. Destiny Barnes finished 1st place in Sports Medicine while Naomi Reed finished in 3rd place for Medical Law & Ethics. Both girls will be headed to Houston in a few months to represent South Sumter High School.
We also want to congratulate all the other HOSA members who attended the event including Makiah Caine, Nathalie Williams, Skylar Valles, Destiny Barnes, Naomi Reed, Makiah Isom, Andreya Castle, Lexi Pinion, Emily Sclafani, Bella Meindl and Austin Kirby.
This is a big moment for South Sumter and their HOSA Chapter. We continue to see school’s in our community focus on academics and it’s paying off in big ways. Lake County school’s averaged around a 92% graduation rate and Sumter County school’s are also on the rise.
South Sumter’s school montra is Tradition Never Graduates. We are so proud of these students and we look forward to seeing them in compete against the world’s best competition. This is an International Leadership Conference meaning there will be students from all over the globe competing for top honors. This is a huge deal and we are thrilled for these South Sumter students who will get the chance of a lifetime!
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
