By Kyle Coppola
Sonny’s of Eustis Donates Food to Umatilla Cambridge AICE Students
Sonny’s of Eustis donated food for 75 of Umatilla High School’s Cambridge AICE students who had to test in English Language and History in one day. This is one of the most challenging tests these young students have ever taken so it was important for them to eat well.
Ben Nash, who oversees the Cambridge AICE course at Umatilla High, says, “I thought of doing something for the children and gave the Pit Master/General Manager Brian Anderson a call. He was more than happy to donate the food. We are so thankful for his generosity,” says Nash.
The looks on the students’ faces say it all. They were very excited to eat a good hearty meal in between sessions. The Cambridge AICE program is one of the best things to happen to Lake County. Many public schools have adopted the program into their curriculum, and that has allowed students to earn scholarships, earn college credits, and for many of them, they are well on their way to earning a college degree right out of high school.
(Ben Nash oversees the Cambridge AICE Program at Umatilla High School. He has been one of the biggest advocates for the program having witnessed the personal growth of the students within the program.)
“Testing for Cambridge AICE courses lasts all month. There are 13 different subjects that these particular 75 students had. This included a 2 hr 15 minute English Language test in the morning, ate their Sonny’s and had a quick study session and went right back into AICE History for a 1 hr 15-minute test,” says Ben Nash.
(Cambridge AICE Students earn college credits in high school that they can put towards a degree upon graduating.)
These students are so dedicated to their academics. There are so many different types of students who are part of the program but they all have one goal in mind: to further their academic careers at universities around the country. “The students who pass their English Language during this round of testing get credits for ENC1101 English I” says Ben Nash. For many these credits will help towards their Associates Degree.
(Sonny’s donated food for the 75 students to fuel their minds and bodies for the difficult tests that awaited them.)
This right here is the future of America. These students represent just a small fraction of the students who are involved in the Cambridge AICE programs around the state of Florida and the world.
Since Principal Fraizer has come to Umatilla High School, AICE program has received rave reviews from parents, students, and faculty members who have praised it.
We want to thank Sonny’s in Eustis for donating food so these young minds could have the brain strength to go and make us proud! Thank you to Brian Anderson for gifting this to Umatilla High School! We cross our fingers these students did well on their exams!
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.
