Nicky Locascio and Community School of Naples place ninth in State Programming contest

The Community School of Naples'  Programming Team One took first place in the 14th Annual Association for Computing Machinery High School Programming Contest held Nov. 20 at Stetson University. The team solved seven of the nine contest problems in the three hour session to win the competition over a solid field of statewide competitors. In topping the field of nearly 40 teams from Florida, seniors Jon Layton and Jiaqi Li, and junior Jonathan Bunce  won a desktop computer for their school, and each qualified for a $24,000 scholarship to Stetson University.

The other Community School of Naples  team to compete, (team two) took ninth place and also   qualified for scholarships should they attend Stetson. Senior Lucky Hedin, junior Nicky Locascio and sophomore Eric Goodman, each competing for the first time and despite a serious time keeping error, held their own in a large field and won scholarships worth $16,000 each. Congratulations to the teams and their coach, Upper School computer science chair and technology integrator Robert Demarest.

The Community School of Naples is an independent, non-denominational, college preparatory, day school educating more than 700 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12. The comprehensive curriculum reflects the highest standards of American independent schools, emphasizing basic skills in core subjects and providing a rich variety of experiences in the visual and performing arts, physical education, intramural and interscholastic competitions and community service. The school is located in north Naples at 13275 Livingston Road.

The Community School of Naples is proud to announce that 12 of its 76 seniors have been named 2011 National Merit Semifinalists.

Gillian Baseman, Liam Bressler, Angel DeJong, Alexandra Eynon, George Ferguson, Richard Gallo, Tristan Joseph, Jonathan Layton, Lauren Raskauskas, Emma Sager, Megan Schmelzle and Timothy Schwerin now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,400 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $36 million, that will be awarded next spring. Nine of the Semifinalists joined CSN's Lower School in 1997. A special assembly to honor these talented students will be help on Thursday, September 16, at 9:40am in the School's G&L Theater.

Less than one percent of the 1.5 million juniors taking the 2009 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) qualified for the Semifinalist pool.

Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. They must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the high school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student's earlier performance on the qualifying test. Students must also submit an essay and information about their leadership roles in school and community activities.

Established in 1955, NMSC is a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance specifically to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC and by approximately 450 business organizations and institutions of higher learning in the pursuit of academic excellence.

Community School of Naples students donate their time frequently. This year 35 Community School high school students and their teachers went to the headquarters of the Jumpstart Family Literacy Program at the Immokalee Farmworkers Village on State Road 29 in Immokalee, with bags full of Christmas gifts and groceries for 67 families.

When asked what it meant to the families receiving the aid, Jumpstart program manager Dee Siemianowski teared up.

"A lot of these families wouldn't have Christmas if it wasn't for this," she said. "With the economy, they've lost jobs, things like that. We try to be sure everybody gets something, but we have a lot more families this year. These kids have come through in a big way."

Of the families receiving aid, said Siemianowski, about half are Hispanic and half Haitian. Providing presents for the needy began small at Community School five years ago, but has grown to become a school-wide project of holiday giving.

Each class at Community from fourth grade to 12th grade adopted a family, said senior Cambria Rackleff, 17, as she filled dozens of cups with pineapple soda outside the Jumpstart center.

"We had the names of the kids, their ages, and their wishlists," she said. "It's great seeing the kids' faces when they get the gifts – they're so full of joy. Also, I really like wrapping the presents."

The elementary students at Community took care of collecting the food drive component of the donation. Each family received bags of groceries.

Nine-year-old Joshua Joseph was excited even before he saw what was in his bag of gifts.

"Last year, I got a bike and a toy car," he said, having trouble holding still. "My cousin got a PSP. This year, I'm hoping for a Wii. Thank you, somebody."

Sony PSP and Nintendo Wii are video game consoles.

"This is one of my favorite days of the year, to see these kids donating their time and effort," said Community School of Naples biology teacher Christopher Utz, a 14-year veteran of the school. "A couple of those kids will be getting on private planes tomorrow, or flying off to exotic holiday vacations. It's important for them to realize how the other half lives."

Community's high school activities director Jill Rochette was the busiest person at the center, running around with a clipboard, trailed by students, making sure each recipient was matched to the right packages. Some families needed the help of four high schoolers to get their packages to their cars.

Some had no car and loaded the goodies into a baby stroller while an older sibling carried its former occupant.

Along with the presents and the groceries, books had a role in the day's events. A series of tables outside held hundreds of children's books and each child selected one to take home, said freshman Paige Hebble as she supervised the book selection.

Maria Trejo-Cervantes, surrounded by her four children and speaking in Spanish, thanked the Community School students for their generosity.

"I'm very happy. Many thanks for these presents. My family is grateful to the families of those who give us these gifts," she said.

Maria Segura, a lead teacher at Jumpstart, started out in the program as a student, and is now attending college on a scholarship.

Sabina Sandoval turned the tables on the gift-givers, bringing a gift of her own to thank her benefactors. Inside her baby stroller, she had a large gift-wrapped basket of fruits and vegetables, which she presented to program coordinator Jill Rochette.

No matter how much or how little one has, it seems, the impulse to give is strong.