The Collier County SSTRIDE Program is located in the rural town of Immokalee. Immokalee is a small community in Southwest Florida that is an agricultural hub, known as America’s “tomato capital”. Immokalee’s name is derived from the Mikasuki language, and means “our home”. Most of Immokalee’s residents are migrant farm workers. It is a federally designated Health Professional Shortage Area. The patient population is made up of primarily Latinos, Haitians, and African Americans. Immokalee is situated approximately 30 minutes from Naples and Fort Myers. The SSTRIDE Program started in Immokalee in 2016 through a generous grant from the Naples Children and Education Foundation (NCEF), and currently resides in the Immokalee Middle and High School in partnerships with Collier County Public Schools as well as the FSU College of Medicine Immokalee Health Education Site.
2025 Promising Youth Medical Scholar
Diana Martinez-Juarez
Diana, an 11th-grade recipient of the Promising Youth Medical Scholar Award, exemplifies the values of compassion, service, and leadership upheld by the FSU College of Medicine. At her school, she serves as Captain of the Varsity Lacrosse Team and is active in the National Honor Society, National Beta Club, and the Special Olympics Track and Field Team. Her commitment to service includes tutoring through the Immokalee Readers English Tutoring Program and volunteering with The Immokalee Foundation, Take Stock in Children, Toys for Tots, the Lipman Family Farms Backpack Giveaway, Hurricane Helene Relief, and more. A graduate of Youth Leadership Collier and a full-time early admission student at Florida SouthWestern State College, Diana is pursuing higher education with vision and purpose. She aspires to become an occupational therapist to help restore dignity and independence to others—an ambition that reflects the heart of SSTRIDE’s mission. She maintained straight A's in all her classes and earned many awards for her dedication to her studies, such as the SSTRIDE Academic Excellence award.
2024 Promising Youth Medical Scholar
Faustina Andres Francisco
Faustina has been awarded the Promising Youth Medical Scholar Award for the 2024 school year based on her academic achievements, involvement in her community, and her determination to pursue a medical career. Faustina was awarded as a Junior at Immokalee High School. Moreover, Faustina stands out as a hardworking and ambitious student, who has managed to maintain a 4.0 GPA and near perfect attendance while balancing academics, sports, work, and community service. She has donated many service hours to her church, the Shelter for Abused Women and Children, as well as the Cypress Run Senior Living Community. Faustina is a member of the Guadalupe Tutor Corps Program, where she cares for and tutors second grade students every day after school. She is also a member of the Interact Club, the Junior Executive Board, National Honors Society, and represents Immokalee High School as a member of the tennis team. While in college, Faustina plans to study nursing and hopes to become either a labor and delivery nurse, or a forensic nurse.
2023 Promising Youth Medical Scholar
Jazlynn Sanchez
Jazlynn was in the 11th grade when she was awarded. She maintained straight A's in all her classes that year and had earned many awards for her dedication to her studies, such as the SSTRIDE Academic Excellence award. Jazlynn has been very involved with the Guadalupe Tutor Corp and at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catechism, which is a local Catholic Church in Immokalee. She also worked with kindergarteners from Highlands Elementary reading and tutoring everyday afterschool. Helping younger students grow in their love of learning has been a passion of Jazlynn's for a long time and she has always enjoyed giving back to the next generation through service in her community. Jazlynn is proud to be part of the Certified Nurse Assistant (CAN) Program at Immokalee Technical College as well as being a dual enrollment student at Florida Southwestern State College, all while still earning her high school diploma at Immokalee High School. She has also started a small business selling desserts around town to help save money for college. Jazlynn is not sure what college she will attend yet, but she knows she would like to continue her nursing path to one day become a Neonatal Nurse.
2022 Promising Youth Medical Scholar
Juana Segura
Juana was in the 11th grade when she was awarded. She had all A’s and near-perfect attendance. She earned many awards for her hard work and dedication to SSTRIDE such as the SSTRIDE Academic Excellence award since her start in the program. Juana was ranked Top 5 out of 494 students at her high school at the end of the 2021-2022 school year. Juana has been very involved with her high school, the Guadalupe Tutor Corp, a member of BETA, President of National Honors Society and Drum Major for Band. In the summer of 2022, she attended the FSU Summer Institute which added fuel to her fire to attend medical school at FSU and become a Doctor.
2021 Promising Youth Medical Scholar
Stephanie Robert
Stephanie was in the 11th grade when she was awarded. She has all A’s and near-perfect attendance at school. She has earned many awards for her hard work and dedication to SSTRIDE such as the SSTRIDE Academic Excellence award and SSTRIDE Outstanding student Award. Stephanie is able very involved with her high school. She is part of the Immokalee Foundation, Take Stock in Children, Youth Leadership Collier, Young Life Community Leadership Council, American College of Cardiology Youth Scholars, and CROP. Stephanie keeps busy while in and out of school staying involved in her community. She hopes to attend FSU and would like to become a Neonatal Nurse.
2020 Promising Youth Medical Scholar
Alyssa Iraola
Alyssa was in 12th grade when she was awarded. She has all A’s and near-perfect attendance at school. Alyssa has earned numerous awards for her hard work and dedication, SSTRIDE Academic Excellence award, SSTRIDE Outstanding student award, and the National Beta Club silver medal of service. Alyssa not only is able to focus on her studies, but she is having been able to stay involved at the high school. She is an active member of the Beta Club and varsity cheerleading. She plans to attend FSU and would like to become a Pediatrician.
2019 Promising Youth Medical Scholar
Dieulerne Deceus
Dieulerne was in 10th grade when she was awarded. She has all A’s and near-perfect attendance at school and in her SSTRIDE Chemistry Class. She volunteers at the Taste of Immokalee and participates in the afterschool Beta Club at Immokalee High School. She always has a smile on her face and steps in to help other classmates whenever needed. She plans to attend either FSU or USF and would like to become a Pediatric Surgeon.
Collier County SSTRIDE is funded by:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
-
@SSTRIDECollier
