Hello and goodbye Wildcats,

The end of the year is here. I wish you all a safe, relaxing, and fun-filled summer.

Some of you are very happy that summer is here, some of you are not. For those of you who are considering making an impact within the community this summer, I hope you will think about volunteering. Know this though, any hours you volunteer during your middle school time do not count towards your high school and college level hours—BUT they do count towards your character and your humanity.

There could be great opportunities out there for you if you are willing to look for them…animal shelters, vet offices, neighbors, nursing homes, small businesses… Think about what interests you and then determine if there are companies out there that you can contact.

About 600 of you will be back with us on August 10th - your first day of school. We will be joined by about 300 incoming 6th graders. Let’s show them who we are and what being a Wildcat is all about. We are going to have an amazing year.

Thank YOU for being who YOU are. Thank you for being a Wildcat.

Proud to be in the Pride,

Maura Bennington, Principal

Pictured below: Kobe Johnson, Nicole Kasten, Jackson Lowther, Dylan Rivera, Nalah Smith, Mark Southwick, Charles Lincoln Stroup, Chance Taylor, Karina Vega and Caden Warr

They have been selected for membership in the Diplomat Middle Chapter of the National Junior Honor Society. These 7th graders were selected based upon careful consideration of their scholarship, leadership, service, citizenship, and character by our chapter’s Faculty Council.

Natalia Almodovar, Malia Araujo, Kiley Arnold, Natalie Ball, Abigail Beam, Jeremiah Boisseau, Taylor Brown, Sydney Caldwell, Anna Chaudhry, Madeline DeJesus, Jovie Dean, Morgan Dibello,

Ethan Fournier, Lauren Fritsch, Martin Garcia, Nicholas Garcia, Diego Hernandez, Grady Kamphouse, Annika Lee, Aria Maricle, Jake Mazzola, Angel Merino Ramos, Aaron Minore, Piper Moorehead, Martin Morales, Matthew Mullee, Nhu Nguyen, Sanya Nisar, Shana Ostinvil, Mariah Palacios, Taeya Phillips, Sandra Polanco, Madison Punyahotra, Dana Quezada Alvarez, Tatiana Robinson, Alexis Rodriguez, Rihanna Rodriguez, Gabriella Silva, Zoey Sumo, Benjamin Uphoff,

Leilani Urena, Michael Vigoa, Aubrie Whatts, Austin Winiarz and Tristen Wolford.

Congratulations to you all!

The top players definitely have match spots for game days while the bottom players will have to fight each week to get a spot to play each week. I've kept a lot of 6th graders to practice and to help continue to grow the team through the years.

And as always with anyone I'm coaching, please contact me first with ANY behavior, disrespect, or grade issues. I will take care of it and will support the classroom first always.

Girls

Mikyla Mann (who also won a USTA tournament last week in the 18 year old bracket!)

Reegan Renz

Olivia Parker (track also)

Zoey Sumo

Malia Aroyo

Olivia Yates

Boys

Lane Marks

Bradly Milisich

Diego Torres

Aaron Minore

Logan Jagodzinski (track also)

Andrew Valdes

Joe Rakowski

Heberto Santana

Khursheed Moriya

Jesus "JR" Osorio (track also)

And A BIG THANK YOU TO COACH MRS. GROSS!

Our Diplomat Wildcat Golf Team got 2nd place at Regionals and advanced to the Lee County Championship Finals! Their dedication, hard work and hours of practice paid off, and earned them a 4th place overall in Lee County. I am so proud of you Wildcat Golfers and can’t wait to see how far we go next year! Great Job Team!

Lane Marks, Logan Caldwell, Theo Uphoff, Sydney Caldwell and Nora Drake

--Coach Uphoff

A big congratulations to the Boys Track and Field Team. They got 6th Place overall as a team this year at the Lee County Track and Field Finals!

Both the Boys AND Girls teams did better this year than they have in the Lee County Finals since the boys got 3rd in 2013 and the girls got 6th in 2017.

Notable Performances from last night include

Darrien Rodriguez (2nd in 400m; 3rd in 4 x 400m Relay; 3rd in Long Jump)

Magic Benton (3rd in 4 x 400m Relay)

Jesse Duarte-Fredericks (3rd in 4 x 400m Relay)

Bryce Cunningham (3rd in 4 x 400m Relay)

Ryan Johnson (1st Place in Discus)

AJ Philips (1st in Long Jump; 4th in 100m)

Macario Rubicco (4th in 400m)

Alexander Manfredi (2nd in 800m)

Martin Garcia set personal records in both the 100m and 200m sprints. Junior Osorio, Lane Marks, and Jameson Painter all competed with elite competition and represented Diplomat well.

The Girls Track and Field Team got 6th Place Overall at the Lee County Track and Field Finals. They were JUST POINTS away from a Top 5 finish as a team. They had an OUTSTANDING performance altogether.

Notable performances include:

Teagan Lester 2nd Place 100m (6th Grade)

Teagan Lester 2nd Place 200m (6th Grade)

Teagan Lester 1st Place Long Jump (6th Grade)

Leslie Nicles 3rd Place 800m (6th Grade)

Amiyah Green 3rd Place Discus (6th Grade)

Mi’kayla Witter 2nd Place 100m (8th Grade)

Mi’kayla Witter 3rd Place 200m (8th Grade)

Karina Vega 4th Place 400m (8th Grade)

Olivia Parker 4th Place Discus (8th Grade)

Cora Carlblom 4th Place 4 x 400m (8th Grade)

Karina Vega 4th Place 4 x 400m (8th Grade)

Taylor Brown 4th Place 4 x 400m (8th Grade)

Melissa Miguel 4th Place 4 x 400m (8th Grade)

Star’raye Leverson and Kiley Santiago were consistent all season and ran up against some very tough competition. The Lee County Finals is the best competition Lee County has to offer, and we are proud that our Diplomat ladies got to be a part of it.

All athletes did a tremendous job! Way to go Lady Wildcats!

Thank you Coach Welling for all you do!

Diplomat Middle School would like to ROAR out a big Thank You to all of our community partners. Your generosity allows us to reach educational goals, we couldn't do it without you! Please join us in supporting their businesses as well.

​WaWa (Pine Island Road)

Iguana Mia (Cape Coral Pkwy)

7-Eleven (Andalusia & Diplomat)

Super Target (Pine Island Road)

Two Meatballs in the Kitchen (Cape Coral Pkwy)

SAMs Club (Pine Island Road)

BJs Wholesale Club (Pine Island Road)

Stuff a Bagel (Pine Island & Skyline)

Staple's (Del Prado Blvd)

Jason's Deli (Santa Barbara Blvd)

Pelican's ( Hancock Bridge Pkwy)

Chick-Fil-A (Pine Island Road)

Amore Italian Market and Bakery

La Motta's Italian Restaurant

Publix, Kismit and Del Prado

Rosales Flowers

Staples Del Prado