By Kyle Coppola
Lake-Sumter State College Selects Rep. John Temple as New President
The District Board of Trustees of Lake-Sumter State College met Thursday morning and unanimously selected Representative John P. Temple as the College’s next president.
“As the fastest growing state college in Florida, we are looking forward to Rep. Temple’s leadership of Lake-Sumter State College to continue enhancing the quality of the education we provide to Lake and Sumter Counties,” says Bret Jones, Chair of the District Board of Trustees. “He understands the crucial role that the College plays in developing and enhancing the workforce of our area, and we know that he will bring his expertise and experience to this role.”
After a thoughtful search process, that included input from student, faculty, staff, and the community on the desired leadership qualities for the next president, the DBOT opened applications in July. Trustees reviewed the applications and selected finalists to meet with individually.
Trustees highlighted Temple’s strong knowledge and connection to this area, as well as his leadership experience and their agreement with his vision for the future of the institution.
Temple served as Vice President of Workforce Programs at Lake-Sumter State College and is a State Representative for Florida’s District 52. He holds a Master’s in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University and a Bachelor’s in Secondary Mathematics from Southeastern University.
During the meeting, the Trustees also recognized Dr. Elmore Lowery’s student-centered approach to leadership as well as his professional background in both law enforcement and higher education as his strengths.
Dr. James Ross, the third finalist, withdrew his candidacy prior to meeting with the Trustees to pursue another role.
Temple’s official start date will be negotiated as part of an employment agreement that will be approved by the DBOT at a future meeting.
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.
