30th Anniversary History Book

Eileen Marinakis said after visiting the campus she saw evidence of what she called the three P’s: passion , perseverance and partnership .

Plymouth Sundance with white racing stripes. Along with his newfound friends, he went on numerous road trips, the group pooling money for gas, allowing them to travel to restaurants or theme parks. “We were each other’s buddy- buddy system,” he said. “My opinion was everyone seemed to be on the same page.” He came to Beacon because his parents, Eileen and George , were looking for a place where the faculty had high expectations for the students, regardless of their learning difficulties. Eileen Marinakis said after visiting the campus she saw evidence of what she called the three P’s: passion, perseverance and partnership. After meeting with professors and students, the Marinakis family were convinced they had found the correct school for their son. “We knew this was a step in the right direction,” said Eileen Marinakis, who would end up serving on the college’s board for 12 years, including five as the chair. The main conference room in Beacon Hall bears the couple’s name.

Leave it to Mother Nature to make the launch of the Beacon College Navigators 5K Run/Walk memorable. The inaugural event — staged to raise funds both for the college’s intramural sports program and also to help fund the Mitchell Pospyhalla Memorial Scholarship — originally was scheduled for October 2016 in conjunction with Beacon’s Parents Weekend. Hurricane Matthew, however, scuttled that plan. Rescheduled for February 2017, runners and walkers over the 3.1-mile course trod over sidewalks, slalomed around Lake Harris, huffed past scenic historic homes, and slogged up Florida molehills that a couple of miles into the race seemed like mountains. In the end, Ortelio Bosch enshrined his name in the record book as the overall winner of the college’s inaugural middle-distance race. Bosch, 48, from Savannah, Ga. finished in 21:50.17. Brienne Sharff, 34, of Eustis, Fla., earned the top female finish (sixth-best overall). She clocked in at 25:39.42. The Fourth Annual Beacon Navigators 5K Run or Walk, helmed by director of fitness and athletics Steven McDaniels, is scheduled during Parents Weekend during the 30th Anniversary week-long celebration. BEACON COLLEGE NAVIGATORS 5K HIGHLIGHTS

By the time Christopher Marinakis graduated, Beacon had undergone another series of incremental steps that enhanced the college, including leasing an education building, buying property for a future administration building, enlarging the library and moving into a renovated learning resource center, which also housed computer and academic mentoring programs. Around that time, Dr. Terri Ross came to Beacon to teach anthropology and environmental studies. “I just loved it,” she said. “It was challenging, but rewarding, and never boring.” Total enrollment was inching toward 50, with the average class size between seven and ten students.

Unless Mother Nature has other plans.

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