By Kyle Coppola
Villages Elementary of Lady Lake Unveils New Counseling Room
Villages Elementary of Lady Lake unveiled a newly renovated student and family counseling room, thanks to funding from the MIKE Endowment. The makeover of an existing space was designed to create a warm, welcoming environment to support students facing emotional and mental health needs.
The new room will also serve as a private space for school staff to meet with students’ families when needed, reflecting an ongoing effort by Lake County Schools to prioritize early intervention in student mental health.
“We are honored to partner with another Lake County school in supporting student well-being,” says Joe Ziler, executive director of the MIKE Endowment, which funded the project through a grant.
(The room has been transformed into a calm and comforting space where students with mental or emotional needs can spend time during the school day.)
District leaders joined school staff and community partners for the official unveiling. Among those in attendance were Superintendent Diane Kornegay, Deputy Superintendent Chad Farnsworth, School Board Member Tyler Brandeburg, Region 2 Director Renee Dudley, Villages Elementary Principal Gregg Dudley, and MIKE Endowment Advisory Board members Tracey Clement, Madison Bach and Marc Robertz-Schwartz.
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.
