IN PICTURES: CORAL SHORES GRADS RECEIVE NEARLY $5.7 MILLION IN SCHOLARSHIP AID

a man standing at a podium in front of a group of graduates

Coral Shores High School Principal Laura Lietaert stood at the microphone quite proudly when reading off statistics during Senior Night inside the Performing Arts Center. Of the 165 students in the Class of 2022, 91% are continuing their education. Seventy-two percent of the class is heading off to college, 18% to vocational school, 8% to the workforce and 2% to the military (two to the U.S. Army and the other two to the U.S. Marines). Scholarships awarded to the class were approximately $5.7 million. That includes $637,000 of locally-funded scholarships, $530,000 from Take Stock in Children, $3.6 million from college scholarship offers and $868,000 from Bright Futures. Salutatorian is Felicity Rodriguez, with a 4.64 grade point average, and Valedictorian is Gage Cooper, with a 4.67 grade point average.

Jim McCarthy
Jim McCarthy is one of the many Western New Yorkers who escaped the snow and frigid temperatures for warm living by the water. A former crime & court reporter and city editor for two Western New York newspapers, Jim has been honing his craft since he graduated from St. Bonaventure University in 2014. In his 4-plus years in the Keys, Jim has enjoyed connecting with the community. “One of my college professors would always preach to be curious,” he said. “Behind every person is a story that’s unique to them, and one worth telling. As writers, we are the ones who paint the pictures in the readers minds of the emotions, the struggles and the triumphs.” Jim is past president of the Key Largo Sunset Rotary Club, which is composed of energetic members who serve the community’s youth and older populations. Jim is a sports fanatic who loves to watch football, hockey, mixed martial arts and golf. He also enjoys time with family and his new baby boy, Lucas, who arrived Oct. 4, 2022.