Naples Hosts Education Incentive Awards Dinner at Sea World

By Tina Marie Osceola

ORLANDO, FL — The storm clouds looked ominous, the humidity was suffocating and the temperatures were soaring. However, nothing deterred the Naples community from celebrating another successful academic year at Orlando’s Sea World. Community elders and parents gathered up their children and descended upon Sea World late in the afternoon on July 31 for an awards banquet.

The Naples PAC President and Human Resources Director Lee Zepeda, and his wife, Cara Zepeda, organized a memorable evening. The banquet was actually held in a private dining area that overlooked the shark tank.

Lee Zepeda kicked off the evening of adventure by welcoming the community to Sea World and by thanking everyone for being good students, parents and community members. Lee invited Tina Marie Osceola, executive director of the Museum department and Naples community member, to present a more serious topic to the students.

She spoke about pride, accountability and responsibility. She reminded those present that to be a Tribal citizen is more than dividends.

“Being a Tribal member is about being a citizen, rather than constantly asking our Tribal leaders, ‘What have you done for us lately?’ We need to ask our leaders and elders what we can do for them,” Osceola said. “It’s about being a good and responsible human.”

Osceola reminded the students, “As you go through life there will be people telling you why you don’t belong and why you can’t do something… you will either be too short, too tall, too white, too dark, or your hair will be too curly or too blonde. I offer you one piece of advice. Keep your head up and remember that we have all been passed a torch. Those people who stand by to criticize, based on how God created you, are basically attempting to stop you from succeeding or prevent you from surviving.”

Osceola played a small game of Trivia to close her presentation by asking what great philosopher wrote the words, “Until the philosophy which holds one race superior, and another inferior, is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned, there will be war...and until the day that the color of a man’s skin is no more significant than the color of his eyes, there will be war.”

That philosopher would be the legendary Bob Marley.

Naples Liaison O.B. Osceola Jr. welcomed the community members and thanked them for attending. In addition, he gave his gratitude to PAC for all their work throughout the year. The PAC consists of: Lee Zepeda, Cory Billie and Tina Osceola. O.B. Osceola also commented on the many hours Cara Zepeda had volunteered on behalf of the community and the students.

“The next time you see Chairman Mitchell Cypress and President Moses Osceola, you should shake their hands and thank them for helping to sponsor this weekend’s events,” he said.

In conclusion, he acknowledged the hard work of Diana Rocha, Cindy Hughes and Louise Gopher for helping the Naples community organize it’s PAC and providing their valuable guidance.

As the night progressed and dinner was served, the students grew anxious for their rewards. The Naples community was proud to have Louise Gopher, director of Education, Diana Rocha, Norita Yzaguirre and other members of the staff present at the awards dinner.

The day before, Gopher had returned to Brighton from the senior awards trip to the Bahamas and immediately drove up to Orlando to attend this event. Although she was a world traveler the past week, she did not wish to miss the opportunity to present the awards to the Naples community students.

In addition, each of the students received a blue denim jacket with the Education Incentive Awards logo embroidered on the front.

The Seminole Tribe is very proud of Jessica Osceola, who after graduating from high school chose to further her education. She is currently attending Florida Gulf Coast University where she is studying art history and fine arts. With a year-and-a-half to go, she is already making plans to go for her master’s degree upon graduation.

Those in attendance were very proud of the students’ accomplishments and excitedly looked forward to the weekend ahead. Staying at the Gaylord Palms Resort, the Naples community spent the weekend visiting Discovery Cove and Sea World.

Some of the highlights for the group included a behind the scenes tour of Sea World, swimming with the dolphins, riding on the dolphin’s backs, feeding the stingrays, petting penguins and of course, watching the whale show. Some of the rides had a few of the participants fitting into the landscape… they were a bit green around the gills!

As this edition of The Seminole Tribune goes to print, the students in the Naples community have once again begun the next school year. And although the Incentive Awards were generous, it’s important to be successful in school and in life because it’s the right thing to do.