Beverly Bidney

Workers attach thatch to the roof of the newly constructed chickee at Wonder Gardens in Bonita Springs on Dec. 22, 2025. (Photo by Beverly Bidney) BONITA SPRINGS — Chickee builder Jimmy Wayne Holdiness and his crew built a 40 foot by 20 foot chickee at the Wonder Gardens attraction in Bonita Springs in December, which will give the attraction a place to hold educational and other events.

BIG CYPRESS — Four Ahfachkee students will attend the Ahfachkee School and Florida SouthWestern State College in the fall. When they graduate from high school, they will have earned a high school diploma and an associate’s degree. The students are juniors Aiyana Crespo, Curmya Smith and Shakur Williams and senior Curtis Smith.

Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum educator Cypress Billie recently completed the Project Zero program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, where he learned more teaching methods he can integrate into the tours he gives at the museum. “It was an honor to be sent to Cambridge by the Ah-Tah-Th-Ki Museum,” Billie said.