News and Communications for St. Lucie Public Schools
Students in Toni Baptiste’s first grade class at Mariposa Elementary School researched a zoo animal and made a cereal box report about their animal. Boys and girls were excited to share their animal habitat, diet and fun facts to the class. In addition, students were able to share information they learned about their animal to a chaperone on a field trip to the Palm Beach Zoo.
The St Lucie County Schools Facilities and Maintenance Department has identified seven scholarship winners from 2011 Summer Youth Internship Program. They include John McDonald, Ft. Pierce Westwood, $2,000; Sandra Luxama, Ft. Pierce Central, $1,500; Tedra Turner, Port St. Lucie High, $1,000; Austin Fountain, Ft. Pierce Central, $500; La’Metria Bivens, Ft. Pierce Central, $500; Iman Hall, Ft. Pierce Central, $500; and Rafael Chavez, Ft. Pierce Central, $500. For the past four years the Facilities Department has raised all funds needed to support the Summer Internship Program, primarily through their biggest fundraiser, their Annual Golf Tournament. Through the dollars that are raised, not only are student … Read More
Outstanding volunteers were honored recently at Southport Middle School. Pictured is Youth Volunteer of the Year Jervana Graham-Record with her parents Ansel Graham-Record, left, Ann Graham-Record, center, with volunteer coordinator Pat Christian-McFadden. Not pictured are senior Volunteer of the Year Kathy Pritchard, Senior Volunteer of the Year, and Adult Volunteer of the Year Ruth Altvater.
Kaitlyn Deverson, a fifth grade student at Oak Hammock K8 School, came in first in her category at the Braille Challenge, a national program of the Braille Institute® hosted by regional schools and agencies that serve blind and visually impaired children. It is the only national braille literacy competition of its kind in the country, and is specifically designed to challenge and reward blind students for their study of braille, which is essential to their future academic and employment success. There were four regional events throughout Florida; Kaitlyn competed recently in the Ft. Lauderdale event which includes five age levels who compete in catagories such … Read More
The Port St. Lucie High School Jaguar Battalion Color Guard opened the school baseball team’s first season game, presenting the flags during the National Anthem. The Color Guard was led by cadet Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Jacobson, accompanied by cadet Second Lieutenant Jeremy Dardon, cadet First Sergeant Troy Conover, and cadet Corporal Robert Hobkins. A moment of silence was held during the presentation to honor the late Mr. Mike Picano, one of the original Jaguar teachers, who recently passed away. Following the baseball game, the Color Guard presented the colors during the National Anthem for the Jaguar Softball Team. The cadets performed … Read More
The Port St. Lucie High School Junior ROTC Jaguar Battalion recently held the third Outstanding Cadet Board of the Year. The board is a competition between cadets on two levels. The first consists of junior cadets in their first year of JROTC. The second level contains senior cadets who have been in the program for two to four years. Two winners are selected: one from the junior cadets and one from the senior cadets. Every cadet competed well, but the two that came out on top were cadet Corporal Cole Herndon, right, and cadet Sergeant First Class William Benagh. Congratulations to … Read More
White City Elementary School’s JBN Society (“Just Be Nice”) spread some happiness a little further down the street recently. JBN’s seven members and two chaperones took a walking field trip from White City’s campus about a half-mile down Oleander Avenue to Divine Senior Care, an assisted living facility that is set up like a cozy home for its nine residents. The students spent about an hour with their new friends, learning about their families, hometowns, and memories from elementary school years ago. Beatriz Ortega, a fifth grader at White City Elementary and one of the founding members of the JBN Society, chatted … Read More
Fairlawn Elementary competed in the regional Odyssey of the Mind competition recently in Palm Beach County. Four teams, which included 28 Fairlawn Elementary students, competed in four different problems. Odyssey of the Mind challenges students to write a play, design costumes, props and sets, and perform the play to an audience of judges. Then, they are evaluated based on the creativity and quality of their performance. While all the teams performed well, Fairlawn’s “To Be or Not To Be” team placed first and will be heading to the state competition in Orlando, and, in a separate problem, Fairlawn’s “Weird Science” team placed second.
As a part of their study of how magnets can be used to move objects without touching them, Jennifer Ingersoll’s second grade students at Fairlawn Elementary School designed, constructed, and raced magnetically powered boats. After studying the effects of magnets on different materials, the students were asked to draw and label a boat design that could be pulled with a magnetic wand. Then, the students were provided building materials and were able to test their designs by participating in boat races with their fellow students.
Two students in the Health Occupations program at Port St. Lucie High School won first place in the team event of Career Health Display at the recent regional SkillsUSA competition. Pictured are Kathy Cher-Aime, left, and Faneshka Charite. They will go on the state competition the end of March in Jacksonville.
Thirty-three St. Lucie West Centennial High School HOSA competitors attended the recent 2012 Region IX Winter Leadership Conference, where several students were recognized with a medal or a ribbon. Congratulations go to: Michael Riley, first place in Dental Spelling; Dru’ Curtis, second place in Medical Terminology; Lisa Pressendo, second place in Medical Assisting; Iris Santa Cruz, fourth place in Healthy Lifestyles; Mary Hartley, fifth place in Home Health Aide; Katie Roge, Recognition Category for Chapter Newsletter; and Courtney Powell, Recognition Category for Outstanding HOSA Chapter. Students placing first, second or third,or in a Recognition Category, will advance onto the state competition to … Read More
Students in Leigh Bretherick’s fifth grade class at St. Lucie Elementary have been working on precise measurement and accurate note taking while conducting science experiments. Pictured, from left, Michael Swartz, Pedro Escobedo and Hakem Jean-Baptiste use a trundle wheel to measure the distance a javelin was thrown.
White City Elementary students enjoyed a recent schoolwide PBS activity. Students earn ROARing Riches whenever they demonstrate our schoolwide expectations: Respectful to Others, Always safe, and Responsible. For a cost of 10 ROARing Riches per cookie, students were able to choose from a variety of toppings to decorate their cookies including icing, M&Ms, cinnamon red hots, and hearts. What a “sweet” way to celebrate excellent behavior!
Gaines Academy K8 Girls A Basketball team beat West Gate K8 Girls B team with a score of 29 to 12, going undefeated in the regular season. Savannah Houle and Michaela Kelly were the high scorers with 13 points and 9 points, respectively. Pictured, top row from left, are Antonnette Boothe, Savannah Houle, Tashonna Deval, Breanna Williams, and Stephane Destile. Bottom row, from left, are Duvy Hurtado, Sharmane Saunders, Michaela Kelly, and Cherise Johnson.
During a writing lesson, second grade teacher Mikki Greer from Gaines Academy became aware that some of the students had never made a fort out of blankets. The next day the class looked at pictures of different types of forts and even created a few of their own. The forts were used for quiet reading during 100 Book Challenge. The students reading in their fort, from left, are Anthony Aguiniga, Jesus Andrade, and Jason Jacques.
Students in Julia Melville’s second grade class at F.K. Sweet Elementary have been studying different types of landforms and bodies of water in Social Studies. Pictured, from left, Yasmine Joseph-Beausejour, Armani Richardson, Emma Brosnihan, and Megan Kriska are building models of landforms, using salt dough, and then painting the landforms and bodies of water. Students were excited to be able to use the knowledge they had gained, to represent the landforms in a physical state.
St. Lucie Elementary sponsored an ELL Parent Council Workshop and family spaghetti dinner. Parents and students participated in “make and take” activities in reading, writing, and math. Fifth grade student Kaylee Cendejas, pictured at left, is working on a project as teachers Leigh Bretherick and Theresa Brown, and Kaylee’s sister Stacy, watch her progress.
Kristie Wuycheck and Vanessa Solomon’s kindergarten classrooms at Fairlawn Elementary School have became virtual butterfly gardens of learning! Boys and girls from both classrooms learned about the butterfly’s life cycle, then participated in a live butterfly cycle project. The students were able to follow the full life cycle from a “hungry” caterpillar, to fascinating chrysalis, and finally into beautiful Painted Lady butterflies!! Watching this remarkable transformation helped to give the students a profound understanding of the delicate life cycle of the Painted Lady butterfly.
Morningside Elementary fourth grade students enjoy a presentation using puppets of prehistoric animals provided by Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research Institute. Along with their presentation they had the opportunity to interact with learning & development facilitator Indria Sukhraj from the institute.
Pictured, from left, are Morningside Elementary School fourth grade students Alexa Portillo, Kate Cook, Serra Aims and Jaquelin Cruz engaging in activities preparing for FCAT writing. Students had the opportunity to engage in various activities led by Deb Hitsman related to FCAT writing.