Reggie Dufrenne

An East Lee County High School and student tutor at Florida Gulf University says he is really excited after being told he was one of four winners of the Hillmyer-Tremont Student Athlete Foundation’s this year.

The scholarships is $16,000 spread out over four years and Reggie Dufrenne, of Lehigh Acres, couldn’t be happier.

Usually students are surprised by visitors of the Hillmeyer-Tremont Foundation, based in Fort Myers, but this year, the planned visit didn’t come about. School officials had set up a microphone in the front entrance of the school and two fellow students were prepared to tape the presentation.

The school’s career counselor, Mark Dietzler said the group couldn’t get to the school by closing time, so the presentation was put off a day.

But Reggie, who says his first name is Karl, said he figured it out before he went home that day last week.

Scholarship winner with track coach: Reggie Dufrenne is shown with his track coach at East Lee County High School, Stephanie Minihan. Photo by Mel Toadvine

“I saw a podium in the front area of the school and the way everybody was acting made me think I may have been one of the winners.

“The award sure made my mom and dad happy, too,” Reggie said. The award is given to an outstanding student in both athletics and education.

Judges probably didn’t have to look too far after they learned that Dufrenne, who competes in the 300 hurdles and the 400 meter run, spends hours mentoring younger athletes and tutoring high school and college peers. Third in his class with a 4.72 GPA, he has already earned an associate’s degree from FGCU.

“I’ve loved track since middle school, but I was not sure I would be able to get into it in high school with my marks and some problems I had,” Reggie said.

Athletics Director Coach Anson Robinson said he remembered Reggie when he was a freshman and was happy to see how the young student turned himself around.

“He’s like a different boy today, Robinson said.

Reggie said that his marks were not that good when he started high school and that he was hanging around with the wrong kind of kids.

“I wanted to get into track and field and one day, it was like a light bulb went off and I knew what I had to do,” he said. “I put myself into my studies and got my marks up and when I became eligible for track, I was selected for the team,” he said.

“That was my sophomore year when I decided to make some changes,” he laughed.

He plans to go to the University of Florida in Gainesville and major in engineering. He loves higher mathematics and spends time at Florida Gulf Coast University tutoring much younger students than himself. He received his associate’s degree because of his dual enrollment at FGCU.

Track Coach Stephanie Minihan said she couldn’t be happier that Reggie got the scholarship.

“It was well deserved,” she said. “He’s great in track and an all-around great student,” she said.

“He is just a wonderful young man. He competes in the 300 hurdles and the 400 meter run, spends hours mentoring younger athletes and tutoring high school and college peers,” she said.

His parents are Julien and Marie Dufrenne of Lehigh Acres. His dad is a supervisor in agriculture and his mother is a certified nurse’s assistant (CNA) at HealthPark.

He has always wanted to go the University of Florida at Gainesville and even though he had everything going for him, his grades, his community service and tutoring in a four-year college, he was anxious until he found out he had been accepted.

“I found it on the Internet and when I saw my name, I was really happy,” he said.

In addition to the $16,000 scholarship, he is looking for other funding, too, including around $2,800 from the Bright Futures Program in Florida.

“I’ve got housing to pay for, books … I’m trying to get all the figures down to see what more I may need,” he said.

All the students learned of his award the following day. A presentation was taped and transmitted throughout the school on its news program.

And ever since, he’s been getting congratulatory shouts from fellow students in the halls.

The Hillmyer -Tremont Student Athlete Foundation Inc. was established in 1997 to continue the tradition of community service and assist the area’s young men and women, as demonstrated by Monk Hillmyer and Coach Elmer Tremont throughout their lives. Since 1998, the Foundation has awarded more than $600,000 in scholarships to Lee County student athletes. The Foundation’s partners include Florida Gulf Coast University and The State of Florida Ethics in Business Program.