When classes resume Monday there will be new principals taking the reins at several elementary schools around the Manatee School District.
They are Michele Danowski (Moody), Scott Flynn (Oneco), Natalie Jadid (Willis), Todd Richardson (Lake Manatee), Ashley Terry (Abel), Samanatha Webb (Samoset), and Nicole Williams (Bashaw).
And then there’s Hayley Rio, principal since 2019 at Barbara Harvey’s Copperstone campus (grades K-3) who will now also oversee its new North River Ranch campus (grades 4-6).
Good luck to them all.
· Larry “Skeeter” Rhodes, the county’s Mosquito Control director for 33 years, is 93 years young.
· Well done to Buffalo Creek Middle’s Ava Boyd, Madison Carlton and Kenslee Craig. They represented Manatee at the recent Florida Vocal Association All-Star Treble Honors Chorus, a selective choir for outstanding sixth-grade singers statewide, in Altamonte Springs.
Their proud music teacher is Malissa Baker.
· That’s 19 years of wedded bliss for Beth and Jim Borgen.
· Happy trails to Officer Eric Williams, retiring after 20-plus years with the Bradenton Police Department. Sugg Middle’s SRO for 13 years and a skilled narcotics detective, he was also a longstanding member of BPD’s Honor Guard and regular volunteer with community organizations like Toys for Tots and Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Before joining the BPD, Williams was a Bradenton Public Works employee.
· Good luck to Southeast’s Jamarri Bivens, a guard who scored over 900 points for Noles hoops and is headed to Brewton-Park Christian University in Mount Vernon, Georgia.
· A bow to Rosa Davis Lovell, a surgery assistant at Manatee Memorial Hospital, for a remarkable 50 years of compassionate service.
· Linda Boone is 39. Again.
· Jennifer Young, too.
· And Jayne Romine.
· Belated props to Braden River High’s Technology Student Association team, which had seven top 10 finishes at the 2025 National TSA Conference in Nashville.
First-places came in Biotechnology Design: Sheena Kurakula (captain), Miguel Fernandes, Malia Ho, Chloe Russell, Hannah Thai, Lauren Wade; Engineering Design: Addison Hartley (captain), Hailey Carter, Sheena Kurakula, Francisco Martinez-Lopez, Jaxson Pate, Alisson Perez; Promotional Design: Joyce Chen.
Then there was a second in Chapter Team: Callum Wilford (captain), Chaitanya Kurakula, Sheena Kurakula, Samuel Nowicki, Jaxson Pate, Kyra Wright; fourth in Dragster Design: Callum Wilford; and fifth-places in Board Game Design: Riley Harris (captain), Sriya Boggavarapu, Hailey Carter, Joyce Chen, Ayva Culp, Kyra Wright; and Drone Challenge: Jack Phillips (captain), Gabriel Samuell, Mason Smithers, and Allan Tran.
· And salutes to new Manatee County Sheriff’s Deputies Austin Oberne, Dylan Leppek, Manuel Reyes, Cynthia Stillings, and Abby Schmitt.
Vin’s People runs Sundays. Email Vin Mannix at vinspeople@gmail.com. Or call 941-962-5944.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: VIN’S PEOPLE: A salute for new principals at Manatee County elementary schools
Reporting by Vin Mannix / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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