Windmill Point Elementary students in Patricia Reardon’s third grade class are engaged in working on reading fluency and vocabulary during their reading station. Working together provides students the opportunity to draw on each others’ strengths, fostering confidence as students collaborate. Pictured, from left, are Kaden Stratton, Harold Velasquez, Iyana Dominguez, and Daejsha Jackson.

Northport K-8 students in Rose Rumer’s K-5 Autism classes have been working diligently for over a year to put together a fabulous work of art! The piece, depicting Egyptian pyramids and a panorama of stars, was created using sand, water and glue. Palm trees made of layer upon layer of tissue paper frame the bottom of the art.  The piece and many others like it will be on display at the Disability History and Awareness Expo on Saturday, September 29 at Indian River State College from 8:15 am until 12:20 pm.  The Expo is an opportunity for the community to learn about … Read More

Students in Maria Nunez’s fourth grade class at Mariposa Elementary School were organized in a cooperative reading group with Kagan structures. There are four to five students in a group and each student has a specific job. One student will read aloud while the others read silently. When the page is read, each student has a task following a pyramid in the middle that says what that job is. Someone will summarize, then another student will predict, and the last student will connect the story to their lives, another book or a movie. After one round, the pyramid is turned … Read More

Garden City Early Learning Academy held its Character Bee of the Month Celebration for Citizenship recently. This event was not only a time to recognize students for being responsible citizens, but was also an excellent opportunity for parents to be involved in a “hands-on” activity with their child. The activity included tracing their child’s hand, discussing and writing the ways that their child had made good choices to become a great citizen. Several students shared what they do to be good citizens. The students were honored with a certificate and pencil. Pictured is Yeraldy Salgado and her mother Liliana Perez working on … Read More

Over 90 cadets from the Fort Pierce Central High School JROTC cadets recently conducted a beach cleanup day at Pepper Park in Fort Pierce. Their mission was to clean up the environment to help the community. After accomplishing their goal, the cadets enjoyed a picnic to enjoy the rest of the day after a morning of hard work. Photo by Cadet Ted Rudzinski, article written by Cadet Veronica Acevedo.

The Palm Point Educational Research School at Tradition Rocket Jazz Band was recently invited to play at the St. Lucie West Elks Lodge during a luncheon held in honor of the visiting state president of The Elks Association. Palm Point Principal Debra Snyder and assistant principal Latricia Thompson joined members of the community as guests at the special event. The band consists of current and former students who now play in local high school bands. The musical selections consisted of jazz, blues,swing,funk and rock selections. After the performance, the president presented a $500 donation to the Rocket Jazz Band. Pictured … Read More

Students in Tekia Montgomery’s first grade through fifth grade classes at Allapattah Flats K8 School have been learning how to create different animal faces using Origami, the Japanese art form of folding paper. Students read about and saw examples of things such as animals, puppets, masks and geometric shapes, then took on the challenge of creating their own. They created a variety of shapes and added their own flair by drawing on faces and detail. Students were engaged, excited, and had a lot of fun creating these animal faces and working as a team at all grade levels! Pictured are … Read More

Students in reading classes at Allapattah Flats K-8 have been working diligently on setting personal and academic goals for the school year. Students will focus on specific reading comprehension skills and track their progress towards mastering those strategies on a weekly basis.  In November, they will participate in student led conferencing where they will share their progress towards their goals with parents, guardians and teachers. Pictured, from left, are Santiago Torres, Gianni Lancaster and Victoria Joseph working together to set personal and academic goals.

Pictured are Carolina Ponce, left, and Gaby Almendarez were the first students at Southern Oaks Middle School this year to win a prize for participating in lunch time book buddies. Reading teacher JoAnn Conard’s fourth period class came to the media center three weeks ago and selected books to read with a partner. The students could read at home or during silent reading time at school. After the students read a chapter, they would meet at lunch time with their partner and discuss the chapter. Students are encouraged to talk about connections they have with the story, characters, likes and dislikes, etc.  … Read More

Palm Pointe Educational Research School @ Tradition recently participated in the Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser for students in kindergarten through fifth grade. This fundraiser helps teach students to value their health and to help those less fortunate and don’t have healthy hearts.  The top three student fundraisers from each class earned the opportunity to slime the physical education coaches. The middle school Hoops for Heart will be in February with the proceeds also going to the American Heart Association. Palm Pointe would like to thank Nicole Perez, the school representative from the American Heart association, for all her help. Pictured, from left, are … Read More

Media specialist Elsie Garber, right, and media clerk Kathy Ferguson from Palm Pointe Educational Research School @ Tradition introduced the book “Mr. Wiggles” to Melissa Bonet’s kindergarten students. Ms. Ferguson read the book, which is about how to take care of the books in the library, to the students in the class. This lesson will be very helpful for these kindergarten students when they go to the library to check out books.

Recently retired United States Army paratrooper Kenneth Frech came to visit students in Sandy Pagliughi’s fourth grade class during a Social Studies lesson Saluting Heroes, September 11, 2012 at Floresta Elementary School. Students were shown a PowerPoint presentation that included pictures from Operations Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. There was also time for a question and answer period following the presentation. One students asked Mr. Frech if he was injured during his service. He answered that unfortunately he now has to wear a hearing aid in one ear because of damage to his eardrum during … Read More

Kids at Hope founder Rick Miller recently made a surprise visit to Catie Smith’s fifth grade class at Gaines Academy. The class had written Mr. Miller a letter during their language arts class stating how much they loved the way Kids at Hope has made a difference for them. Rick decided to respond in person!

Northport K-8 students work diligently to achieve common core standards and the bar for student expectations has been set high. Students are rewarded for results with high grades, good behavior and cooperative learning. Positive Behavior Support, or more commonly known as PBS, is utilized every day at the school. Students recently were rewarded with orange wrist bands and tee shirt day on the sixth grade Dolphin team and the eighth grade Mariners team held a PBS field days event. Students were rewarded for achievement in their behavior and willingness to cooperate with teachers and other students. Pictured is Northport eighth grade Mariner Javonte … Read More

After reading “Pizza at Sally’s”, students in Kristin Griffin’s kindergarten class at Frances K. Sweet Elementary helped complete a sequencing map of the story using just graphic clues. After they were finished with the sequencing map, they then used a portion of it to help make their own pizzas. Alex Sgouris, left, and Huberle Syril cannot wait until these little pizzas are cooked and ready to eat.

St. Lucie Elementary School students Manuel DeLeon, third grader, left, and big brother fifth grader Mario, support their teachers by making home-made signs to show that teachers are valued at St. Lucie Elementary!

Manatee Academy pre-veterinary science teacher Lisa Friend and Port St. Lucie High School biology teacher Michael Mimnaugh spent their summer conducting STEM related research at formal research institutions. Ms. Friend spent six weeks at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, actively experimenting with superconducting magnets and spectral equipment to test crystals for magnetic properties. She co-authored a published scientific article as a result of the experience. “Bringing back insights into how scientific inquiry is conducted to the classroom will result in my students having more realistic and beneficial learning experiences,” she remarked. Mike Mimnaugh spent eight weeks at … Read More

Windmill Point second grade students commemorated Patriot Day by making a special “thank you” for the Port St. Lucie Police Department. The students have been learning about the roles of community members and the importance of first responders. Officer David Caniello was presented with a “thankful wreath” during a visit to Caryol Hallahan’s classroom on September 11th. He discussed the roles and duties of police officers with the class. He also took time to read the story, The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, by Mordicai Gerstein.

Northport K-8 second grader Breanna Guillaume and her classmates learned an excellent lesson in character development recently. One day, U. S. Army veteran Bill Arnold was visiting the school, and he lost his keys.  Breanna found the keys, and ran up to Mr. Arnold to return them. Mr. Arnold was so overwhelmed with gratitude that he returned to the school to award Breanna with an American flag pin and a good lesson that character counts to the students in Denise Fields’ second grade class.  Pictured are Mr. Arnold, Breanna,and Ms. Fields.  Northport students are rewarded for good character as well as … Read More

An article about the accomplishments of Southern Oaks Middle School food service assistant Patricia Johnson will be published in the Florida School Nutrition Association Magazine Fall edition. Ms. Johnson has worked with St. Lucie County Public Schools for five years. In 2008-2009, she successfully completed all requierements for the district’s Management Intern Program, in 2009-2010 served as president of the Florida School Nutrition Association and received the President’s Gold’s Award at the FSNA state conference. In 2011-2012, she received a scholarship from FSNA, in 2012 received the Train the Trainer Certification and assisted at the 2012 Foodservice Employees Summer Training … Read More