Lee County coalition presents Red Ribbon Award nominees

By Staff | Oct 26, 2016

As part of the national celebration of Red Ribbon Week, the Lee County Coalition for a Drug-Free Southwest Florida has announced this year’s nominees for the Al Oerter Award for Athletic and Academic Excellence and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office Service to Our Nation Awards.

The nominees, along with the winners of the School District of Lee County Social Norm Project Poster Award, will be recognized at a ceremony on Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. in the Board Room at the School District of Lee County, at 2855 Colonial Blvd., Fort Myers.

Moderated by WINK-TV’s Chelsa Messinger, the ceremony is free and open to the public.

Red Ribbon week began as a tribute to Kiki Camarena, a dedicated U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent who, just days before uncovering the identities of Mexican drug cartel kingpins, was brutally murdered. Since Camerena’s death in 1985, Red Ribbon Week has become a national observance.

The Red Ribbon Awards Ceremony is part of a week of Red Ribbon Week activities in Lee County Schools and throughout the community promoting the drug free lifestyle that is chosen by most Lee County students.

The nominees for the Al Oerter Award for Athletic and Academic Excellence include:

– Jin Yu Han Burgess and John Stewart, both of Cypress Lake High School

– Julia Da Silva and Laquan Preston, both of Dunbar High School

– Amber Winton and Evan Babitz, both of Fort Myers High School

– Jamie Lee and James O’Connor, both of Ida S. Baker High School

– Journi Northorp and Darickson Gonzalez, both of Mariner High School

– Lexi Graber and Alexander Boyd, both of North Fort Myers High School

– Mary Hess, of Oasis High School

– Autumn Nance and Cole Schneider, both of Riverdale High School

The nominees for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office Service to Our Nation Award include:

– Austin Kish, of North Fort Myers High School

– Caleb Kiss, of Cypress Lake High School

– Yovani Tomas-Cabrera, of Lehigh Senior High School

– Sedona Townsend, of Ida S. Baker High School

The Norm Project Poster Contest Winners include:

– Bret Nutter, of Mariner High School

– Austria Eckenrode, of North Fort Myers Academy of the Arts

– Sophia Holler, of North Fort Myers Academy of the Arts

– Paige Sutphen, of Challenger Middle School

– Heather Nalbach, of Riverdale High School

– Logan Hitchcock, of Florida Southwest High School

– Dakota Goetz, of Mariner High School

– Brittany Hufnagel, of Fort Myers High School

– Carina Reyna, of Estero High School

– Matthew Thomas, of Cypress Lake High School

– Emma Wigington, of Cypress Lake High School

– Michael Morgan, of (Cypress Lake High School

Source: Lee County Coalition for a Drug-Free Southwest Florida