May’s Movers and Shakers are making strides and changing leadership within the Greater Gainesville community
Abigail Dagins and Melissa Li
Two students from Alachua County will be recognized as 2023 Sunshine State Scholars at the statewide conference in Orlando. Abigail Dagins from Eastside High School and Melissa Li from Buchholz High School will be honored for their STEM achievements.
Dagins is enrolled at Eastside’s IB program where she researches ways to reduce waste and pollution. Her award-winning findings are the results of using mealworms and other organisms in recycling plastics.
At Buchholz, Li participates in the CoderGirls, Computer Oriented Mathematical Problem Solving Club and has won numerous STEM-related competitions. Li also teaches competitive math to younger students.
Mike Holloway
Buchholz High School repaved the track surrounding Jesse B. Heard Field and renamed it after Mike Holloway. Holloway, now the head track and field coach at the University of Florida, coached the Bobcats in the 1980s and 90s.
Coach Holloway led the Bobcats to back-to-back cross-country victories in 1989 and 1990. In 1993, Hollway got the Bobcats to their first track and field championship win. A member of the ‘89 and ‘90 team donated $100,000 to renovate the track, and honor Holloway and Greg Schol, a former teammate who passed in 1992.
Ian Fletcher
The Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce COO and Vice President of Education and Talent Alignment, Ian Fletcher received the highest award for Achievement in the most recently completed Dale Carnegie course.
Fletcher has been working with the GG Chamber since 2012, when he started as Vice President of Workforce Development and Education Initiatives. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Telecommunication and Production, with a concentration in Sports Management, from UF.
Tammy Dygert
Having finished her M.Ed. in Educational Technology and Facilitation, Tammy Dygert has accepted a position working with the University of Florida’s Center for Online Innovation and Production. She is moving from startGNV, where she worked as the Director to further the company’s mission of growing the startup ecosystems in GG.
Dygert earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and English Education, and graduated cum laude, from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She was also the recipient of the Maryland State Teacher Certification.
By Harper Warner.