Principal Leslie Gunderson in her office at Pinewoods Elementary School behind a table full of paper flowers students made to celebrate her retirement.

Treating people with grace” is how Leslie Gunderson puts it, but you still have expectations for them. Pinewoods Elementary School is known for its high achievement rates. Ms. Gunderson contributes that result to a “Great team at the school; without them, it could not have been done.”   She says she will miss all the trusting relationships she has made at the school.

After 34 years working in the School District of Lee County and discussions with her husband, Tom, a local attorney, she decided the end of this school year was the right time. They bought a house in Wild Blue three years ago, and her husband has slowed down a little bit, but he is still working full-time, so they plan to stay in the area.

She has a granddaughter, soon to be three, and two daughters working in the medical field in Florida. She hopes to spend more time with her family and take a break from responsibilities. She and her husband are also planning a bicycle trip through Vermont and up to Montreal, Canada. She is excited and wants to continue her downhill winter skiing out west.

Leslie grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, but her family moved to Captiva just as she entered her first year at Bishop Verot High School. She graduated with a degree in Elementary Education, returned to Southwest Florida, and began her teaching career at Tropic Isles Elementary in Lee County. Her first principal was Sharon Benner, a great mentor and “100% the reason” for her commitment to education.

Looking back over the last few years, Ms. Gunderson notes, “Expectations and accountability for teachers are greater than ever. Thank goodness we (at Pinewoods) have a good Parent Teacher Organization. We have lots of parent support.” She believes housing costs for teachers are a problem, and teachers need better pay, but the district is aware of that and working on it.

(In recent years, Florida has allocated approximately $2 billion to raise starting pay and bonuses for teachers throughout the state.)

Today “highly effective and committed teachers do so much more than just an 8-hour day. It is not the punch in and punch out the job that it used to be,” notes Ms. Gunderson. As a principal, she relates that every day has its unknowns.

You are dealing with Elementary School age children, and the pandemic created chaos. Online teaching does not allow this age student to develop social skills. She continues, “Starting this past school year, we thought we would have the pandemic behind us, and then Hurricane Ian hit on September 28. We did not get back to school until late October. And we lost another day with a storm in November.”

Engage Estero respects all the work teachers and administrators have done this past year. Leslie Gunderson deserves a special tribute for 11 years committed to students at Pinewoods Elementary School here in Estero. Engage Estero thanks Leslie Gunderson and wishes her the best in her retirement.

Akiya Maston, currently the Assistant Principal at Veterans Park Academy for the Arts in Lehigh Acres, is the new Principal. She has 17 years of experience in education and is a published author on Education. Her assignment technically begins July 1, 2023. However, she is already participating in some school meetings. Engage Estero looks forward to working with Akiya Maston and wishes her the best on her new assignment.

High School

2023 Estero Essay Scholarships – Three $1000 awards for High School seniors. //

Congratulations to Estero High Students

Engage Estero, the Estero Historical Society, and the Greater Estero Chamber of Commerce presented $1000 Scholarships on May 4, 2023, at the Seniors Awards Night at Estero High School Auditorium. Winners were based on student-submitted essays.

There were 95 Estero High School Seniors who participated in the eight (8) week Junior Achievement program on Personal Finance. The content was taught by six (6) Engage Estero volunteers with the support of two high school teachers in four separate class periods, each for eight weeks.

The program included budgeting, credit/debit card usage, debt/loan management, credit scores, insurance, risk management, and investing. Classes had videos, interactive slides, and student discussions. At the start of the 2023 / 2024 school year, high school students must complete a financial literacy course to receive a high school diploma.

The Senate Bill 1054, titled the Dorothy L. Hukill Financial Literacy Act, signed in March of 2022, will require high school students to earn one-half credit in personal financial literacy and money management, including instruction on types of bank accounts, credit scores, taxes, and managing debt.

Engage Estero (formerly the ECCL) has worked with Junior Achievement and Estero Schools on Personal Finance programs since 2018.

JA Inspire is a new program for Junior Achievement, and this is the first year it has been held in Southwest Florida. Junior Achievement offered the program to all the Lee County School District 8th graders.

The JA Inspire event provided over three hundred students from Three Oaks Middle School an opportunity to gain experience about the many career options after high school. The 8^th-grade students participated in firsthand activities such as CPR and other medical procedures, building electrical circuits, hosting a news broadcast, making sushi, and assembling plumbing fixtures.