Student achievement, volunteering and more: Good news in Ocala/Marion for July 31, 2022
Editor's note: This story has been revised to reflect a different source for the item about the Ocala/Marion County Association of Realtors (OMCAR.)
A local search and rescue team recently assisted in finding the remains of a missing man in Jacksonville.
According to Chief Samuel J. Matychak of the Whitlacoochee Regional Search and Rescue Team, members, joined by Independent Human Remains Detection Dog Handlers Stephanie and David Hollingsworth of Live Oak, Tjasa Landes and Juli Wilkison of Tallahassee, and other dog handlers and volunteers, went to Jacksonville on July 9 to look for John McNamee, an Irish man who had been missing since May 25.
The man's family asked Matychak and his team to search for McNamee, Matychak said.
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The handlers and their dogs went one way while Matychak and his group went another way, Matychak said.
Matychak said he and his crew located clothing and later human remains. Matychak said McNamee's family told him that the remains McNamee's.
On its Facebook page, the rescue team describes itself as "a fully functional volunteer wilderness search & rescue unit which includes mounted, K9, divers and much more that serves Marion, Citrus, Levy, Lake, Sumter, Alachua, Pasco, Polk and Hernando counties."
Area student excels in higher education
Dean’s List
Sydney Warren, Belleview, Palmer College of Chiropractic's Florida campus, Port Orange
Ocala native earns degree while serving in the Navy
Petty Officer 1st Class Sarah Horne, a 2011 graduate of Forest High School and a 2022 Rutgers University-Newark graduate, is serving at Navy Region Southeast Reserve Component Command, Jacksonville, according to a press release from Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Bryan Niegel of the Navy Office of Community Outreach.
Horne, an Ocala native, joined the Navy 11 years ago. "I joined the Navy because I wasn't sure what to do after high school," Horne said in the release.
While attending Rutgers, Horne maintained a 4.0 GPA and was on the Dean's List every year. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the National Society of Leadership and Success. Horne also was awarded the Rutgers-Newark English Department's Louis R. Zocca award, the release said.
Horne serves as a mass communication specialist. "The best part of my job is my love of writing," Horne said in the release. “I love writing about others' achievements because they teach me that anything is possible.”
"My proudest accomplishment in the Navy was coordinating the sponsorship and mentorship programs for three different commands," said Horne in the release.
"Also, because of my efforts, I am proud to say that I was missed when I left each command, which says to me that I was helpful, and that's all I really want to be in life.”
OMCAR and Stellar MLS participate in Clean Up Florida Waters
The Ocala/Marion County Association of Realtors (OMCAR) teamed up with Stellar MLS on July 20 for the Clean Up Florida Waters event, according to a blog on the OMCAR website.
More than a dozen OMCAR members and Stellar MLS employees spent the morning at Silver Springs State Park clearing the grounds and flower beds.
Florida Realtors hold the event every July.
IHMC Robotics Camp inspires aspiring engineers
The Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition Robotics Camp, Ocala campus, is one of IHMC’s signature community outreach efforts for students, which also includes Science Saturdays, a school-year science enrichment program, IHMC's Laurie Zink said in a press release.
IHMC staff led 40 students in grades 8-10 through the basics of robotics, coding and problem-solving.
“If Luis Agustin-Sanchez grows up to be an engineer, IHMC might be able to claim a little credit,” Zink said in the release. “Robotics Camp is one of the best times of year at IHMC. It is when the doors open wide – and the next generation of scientists walk through.”
Agustin-Sanchez, a sophomore at North Marion High School, has had an interest in robots since he was a kid, the release said. Thanks to the robotics week he has an idea of what he might want to study.
“I liked building and testing the robot,” Agustin-Sanchez said in the release. “This camp is also much more hands-on than most other camps.”
That chance for hands-on learning is a key part of IHMC’s 2022 summer camp experience.
Dr. Ursula Schwuttke is the director of educational outreach for both IHMC’s Pensacola and Ocala campuses. She organizes Robotics Camp and the Science Saturday series, which both are meant to spur a love of science in students, the release said.
“Fun science gives kids the ability to discover their interest and ability in science, and to develop self-confidence,” says Schwuttke in the release.
“Opportunity is vitally important for kids. Without the opportunity to discover their interest, they can’t know that it’s something they should pursue.”
Robotics Camp is sponsored in Ocala by Lockheed Martin, CareerSource Florida, Cox, Renasant Bank, Mid-Florida Regional Manufacturers Association, Ocala Electric Utilities and the Ocala Mac Users Group.
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This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: List of good news in Ocala, Florida includes student achievements
