Hometown pride is shining as Braden River High alum Myles Straw (Class of 2013) takes the field on baseball’s biggest stage. The Toronto Blue Jays center fielder joins his team in the World Series on Friday night.
His former coaches weighed in:
“Myles has always stayed grounded and humble,” said Matt Bowling, Manatee High AD. “The Myles we coached years ago is still the same Myles today.”
“He’s shown that hard work and perseverance pay off,” added Erik Nelson, BRHS teacher and former coach.
Southeast High Assistant Principal Craig Page said, “He was undersized and overlooked, but he never stopped working — and he never forgot where he came from.”
Your hometown is proud of you, Myles! 💙⚾️ #ManateeSchoolsGoodNews
Drumroll, please! 🥁 The results are in for the 2025 Manatee County School Bus Rodeo, and the winning team is The Roadrunnerz (Beep Beep)!
Led by longtime route supervisor Gina Miller, who has dedicated 26 years of service to transportation, this team proved that even our newest drivers can rise to the challenge.
The four drivers who skillfully navigated the challenging obstacle course on Wednesday are all fairly new to our district:
🚌 Edinson and Nicholas – both joined in August
🚌 Don – celebrating one year of
service
🚌 Zeke – proudly driving for five years on and off
All the participating teams were celebrated by Director Jamie Warrington and Asst. Director Melanie Johnson.
We’ve tagged the schools whose routes they drive — please join us in congratulating them and sharing this #ManateeSchoolsGoodNews! 🎉👏
Teen Volunteers in Action: (L-to-R) Meet Conor (Parrish Community High School) and Alessandro (Manatee High School). These high school juniors, who are best friends, have teamed up to serve at The Soar Lab to help inspire passion and help kids develop a love of learning! They’re both involved in service and community organizations at their schools, including Key Club and Student Government. Bright futures ahead!
The Soar Lab
Open Friday, October 10th - 9AM-1PM
FREE for children (infants to 3rd grade) with an adult
📍6413 9th Street East, Bradenton
#ManateeSchoolsGoodNews
🎉 National Merit Scholar Semifinalist Spotlight — Part 2 of 3
We are thrilled to continue our celebration of the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists with Richard Lay, a standout student from Manatee High School!
He is among the top students in the nation and part of a select group representing less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors who earned this prestigious honor based on their exceptional PSAT scores.
Richard plans to attend the University of Florida to study Chemical Engineering.
👏 Congratulations, Richard. We can’t wait to see what your future holds.
Stay tuned as we highlight our final National Merit Semifinalist on Thursday! #ManateeSchoolsGoodNews
We are thrilled to continue our celebration of the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists with Richard Lay, a standout student from Manatee High School!
He is among the top students in the nation and part of a select group representing less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors who earned this prestigious honor based on their exceptional PSAT scores.
Richard plans to attend the University of Florida to study Chemical Engineering.
👏 Congratulations, Richard. We can’t wait to see what your future holds.
Stay tuned as we highlight our final National Merit Semifinalist on Thursday! #ManateeSchoolsGoodNews
Please join us in congratulating Manatee High School custodian Lucas Dechelbor on his incredible achievement at the Special Olympics swim meet in St. Petersburg last weekend!
Lucas brought home the silver medal 🥈, and we couldn’t be more proud! He practiced all summer in the pool at G.T. Bray Park, and told us it was lucky lane #3 that brought the fast magic for him at competition.
His hard work, determination, and positive spirit shine both in and out of the pool. Lucas is not only a valued member of the Manatee High community, but also an inspiring example of perseverance and passion.
He graduated from MHS in 2017, where he received on-the-job training. Principal Shannon Fleming said he’s one of the most hard working custodians in the Hurricanes’ history!
Way to go, Lucas – we’re cheering you on! 🏊♀️ #ManateeSchoolsGoodNews
Security Screening at Secondary Schools – Beginning Monday, August 11, 2025, all students and visitors at district middle and high schools will be screened each school day using a high-tech security scanner system.
For more information on this enhanced security screening procedure, visit https://www.manateeschools.net/securityscreening.
School Board Seeks Civic-Minded Citizens to Join Audit Committee –
The School Board of Manatee County is seeking civic-minded citizens to serve as members of the Audit Committee. The Committee, which meets six times a year, recommends the appointment of the internal and external auditors; reviews the scope, plan and reports of the internal and external auditors; and assists in maintaining open communications between the selected auditors, the School Board and the District’s financial management. The Committee also reviews the collection and proper use of the funds raised through the one-half cent sales surtax for school capital outlay expenditures. Membership on the Committee requires an average of five-to-eight hours per month, with meetings scheduled every other month for three hours. The term is approximately three years.
Those interested in serving must:
• Live in Manatee County.
• Be a CPA (active or retired) or had employment experience in school district financial operations.
• Submit a letter expressing interest, provide contact information and provide a brief summary of their work experience.
Responses must be sent to the Manatee County School District, Attention: School Board Agency Clerk, P.O. Box 9069, Bradenton, Florida 34206-9069.
Interested individuals may obtain additional information about the Committee by emailing the School Board Agency Administrative Associate at cox3l@manateeschools.net.
The Florida Department of Education released the Florida Value Added Model (VAM) Fiscal Transparency Tool, a web-based fiscal transparency tool that identifies public schools and districts with high academic achievement based on the ratio of classroom expenditures to total expenditures. VAM is intended to help taxpayers evaluate the financial efficiency of a school district with other similarly situated school districts. View the VAM for the School District of Manatee County at
https://floridavam.org/e/vamPublic.html?w4=54#/entityId=262385.
Family Empowerment Scholarship – Parents interested in applying for either FES-EO or FES-UA may review the eligibility requirements and application instructions at https://www.manateeschools.net/FES.