Naples~It's My Town!

Naples is a place like no other.  It is a town that appears to all that visit or live in it to be clean, well maintained and manicured throughout with beautiful beaches of white sugar sand that you can walk for miles just listening to the relaxing sound of the tide washing in.  I love taking long walks on the beach with no worries or concerns about anything at all.  It is a great place to relieve stress and just let your thoughts wander.   The the selection of fine restaurants, shopping and entertainment is vast.  I have always enjoyed living in Naples as an adult but when I was a teenager I remember I couldn't wait to escape.  So what changed? 

Naples has grown in many ways since I was a teenager.  Many would admit that some are good while others bad.  I guess I would say I found
Naples to be a rather small fishing town when my parents first moved our family here when I was eleven (41 years ago) but each year we were here we saw the town experience growing pains~ Fast food restaurants opened around the high school first McDonalds then Burger King (now gone);  the opening of Kmart was once a big deal since Walmart, Target or the mall were nonexistent at that time; influx of people crowding the roadways from many different origins which brought on the local housing boom beginning with Park Shore then moving first north, then northeast, then southeast with our first true towering condominiums coming down on Vanderbilt then all along the North-Central Naples coast line; the state owned park providing paved parking and beach access at a price; hotels and condos cutting off direct beach access; road expansion; stop-lights galore and the never-ending golf courses that were developed.  Some of this growth took place in my absence when I was attending FSU in Tallahassee earning my degrees, making new friends, and trying to find my place as a young career-minded adult.   Once again believing Naples was not a place I planned to return to but then came marriage, responsibilities, a slowing job market in North Florida and here we were newlyweds in Naples with the original intent of always returning to North Florida.  We made our family here; were gainfully employed in jobs we enjoyed; and found ourselves wanting to stay for the services, amenities and schools which we felt benefited our young family and children.  We became part of the community as adults.  Love the beach, the parks, the amenities, the restaurants, old friends and new . . .  So we grew into the community as adults and lost that immature attitude we had as young people.  But don't get me wrong there are many things that we have lose through the growth of Naples that will never be returned- the freedom to drive right up to the beach without a permit; the hunting grounds  now known as the estates or even subdivisions east of 951 (Collier Blvd).  But most of all we lost the small hometown fishing village feeling; the closeness of the community; the securities often found in small towns; and the familiarity of all of our neighbors.  When I went to school there was one Naples High School and now there are six with people living in all the areas that we once viewed as undisturbed. 

I remember the days when life was carefree; school was fun; friends were many; and you could drive on the road without finding yourself backed up in traffic . . .  I remember the old roller rink; driving around town with little to no traffic; parties at the beach; camp outs at the beach; and the relaxed nature of this area.  I remember when the mall was in Ft. Myers or Miami not across the street from the high school which was once just a vast area of trees for students to escapes in for one reason or another.  It's been a long time since my family first moved to Naples and it has definitely changed.

When I was a teenager I thought living in North Naples in Palm River was like living out in the boondocks, so far from everything.  I rode a school bus for the first time since we moved from a city in which I could once walk to anything.  But that city is no longer a good place to raise a family now with all the places I once freely wandered as a child full of gangs and those who no longer welcome the pure joys of just living.  Naples however is a place and will always be a place I can enjoy those pure joys of living with the freedom to travel only to find myself appreciated all the amenities and progress that Naples has.  I haven't found another place that can compare and I am still young compared to the average age in this paradise, HaHa!

Kamela Patton- Collier's New Superintendant of Schools

Official Ceremony of New
Collier County Superintendent,
Dr. Kamela Patton taking office

Collier Public Schools has a new leader, Dr. Kamela Patton who believes communication is the key to building trust.  I am confident that the Dr. Patton will be quite successful in Collier if she can rebuild the collaboration and morale of many stakeholders that suffered a the hands of the former superintendent, Dr. Dennis Thompson.  Thanks to the current School Board we are not experiencing the same Sunshine Law controversy over a superintendent termination that was 'hot news' in Collier for quite some time when Dr. Thompson first took leadership.  Unfortunately that entire situation tarnished Dr. Thompson's perception from day one.  It was the untimely demise of Ray Baker and the contract settlement that ended the reign of former School Board member Linda Abbott since many believe she was instrumental in the poor handling of the superintendent situation at that time.  Now that three years have past and the board has new life and leadership, the school district may now move forward with hopes of redefining itself as a force among school districts in this state.  At her swearing in to the office of Superintendent of Collier County Public Schools, Dr. Kamela Patton stated "I am so excited to be your Superintendent. As I have said right along, this district isn’t broken – it is a great district and I’m happy to be here to enhance it in any way I can.Communication is what it is all about for me and I pledge to communicate regularly with you – staff and members of the community – hopefully in fresh, innovative, and perhaps some unexpected ways.
I have hit the ground running, as they say, already meeting with staff and various community groups. In the weeks and months ahead, I will continue to reach out to you. In the meantime, if you need to reach me, I invite you to do so."(collier.kk12.fl.us)
Dr. Patton claims to want to engage all stakeholders in collaboration building trust and an open relationship with them.  She also believes in multi-level management, meetings and input from everyone.  This is quite encouraging since from my experience and knowledge of the last administration communication was not open, collaboration did not include everyone and morale was down district wide.  Although Dr. Patton stated that this district is not broken, it will be up to her to pick up the pieces that have not been interactive or working in the past few years and put them back together into an efficiently working model.  After reviewing her application and resume, it is apparent to this writer that she does have extensive experience with legislative platforms, budgets, accountability, technology, community involvement, statutory compliance, team-building and diversity.  She believes in testing and evaluating realizing that everyone working in this district must focus on closing the achievement gap between the underachievers and overachievers.  But that is easier said than done.  Anyone who has worked with children knows that is the goal.  Now is her chance to help Collier County use the data they have to achieve those goals while meeting the demands of our state and federal governments. 
I want to commend Dr. Patton for taking the first step towards helping those underachieving schools by changing leadership.  I believe all the principals relocated are excellent at what they do whether school was and "A" school or not.  Some schools in our district have more disadvantages as other which influences the grade (unfortunately).  Hopefully a shift in management will help.  It's good for schools to get new management periodically anyways.  It helps to integrate new ideas from new perspectives where steady management can become stagnant.  I also hope that Dr. Patton takes a really close look at all the leadership in Collier reviewing all aspects of their successes and failures.  It's great that Dr. Patton believes Principals should hold people accountable; have data charts for teachers; reach out to the community; and manage the  operation and maintenance of their site but I can only hope she will have close oversight over these Principals.  Every once in a while a little house cleaning needs to be down especially if Principals become too comfortable, cocky or dominant.  We shall see if the morale in all schools improves, the grades in schools improve, and if Dr. Kamela Patton is really a "people person" who will connect with the students, community, employees, businesses, foudations, universities, unions, and all other stakeholders in Collier County Schools.  I wish her luck but I know many are anticipating her changes and management style.