Year: 2012

Bayshore Elementary School’s kindergarten students and their families participated in a Thanksgiving feast recently. Students compared children of today with children in the past while learning about their culture. They also learned the importance of national holidays, such as Thanksgiving,  as a way of recognizing our nation’s heritage. Winn Dixie sponsored the event and helped serve students and families. Pictured, from left, are Auralee Golden from Winn Dixie, Jacob Maypole, assistant principal Michael Reed, teacher Annette Hawkins, Bailey McGlynn and Freda Clair from Winn Dixie.

Bayshore Elementary School students and staff members were proud to participate in a recent Stand Up To Bullying day. Staff and students participated in this first annual event for St. Lucie County by wearing pink shirts to support this important cause. Pictured are Bayshore Elementary staff members showing their support.

Kindergarten students from Rivers Edge Elementary recently imagined they were sailing on the Mayflower to America. They measured and blocked out 100 feet in their hallway and all climbed aboard for a more personal experience.

St. Lucie West Centennial High School SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco) Club hosted the monthly meeting of the Tobacco Free Partnership of St. Lucie County recently. Students have been promoting prevention and cessation initiatives as well as all-around tobacco education at Centennial High School and have been asked to reach out to other district schools that may want to start their own SWAT club. If you are interested in getting SWAT started at your own school, please contact Marcella Bianco at 772-785-6135. Pictured, from left, are Leedy Boyle, Keegan Mafiore, and Christina Wilson.

Fifth grade students in Donald Logue’s science class at F. K. Sweet Elementary School recently completed an investigation to determine which objects would create the biggest impact crater when dropped from a height of one meter. Students used two different types of marbles and one piece of sandstone as their variables.  Students first found the mass, then the volume, and finally the density of the objects to use as a basis for their hypothesis. Then students measured the width and depth of each crater and found the average size after three trials of each object. Pictured, from left, are Nate Baker, Justice Anderson, … Read More

The Port St. Lucie High School Jaguar Battalion recently participated in a Veterans Day ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park. The cadets stood along the side of the park in formation to show respect and support for this ceremony. Several of the cadets, led by c/LTC Amanda Mabry, performed TAPS, which is a silent armed drill. Two cadets also participated in the presenting the colors. It was an honor for the Jaguar Battalion to participate in this year’s ceremony.

The St. Lucie County School Board approved a resolution recognizing November as Florida Parental Involvement In Education Month. A proclmation from Governor Rick Scott’s office was read during the November 13, 2012, school board meeting. Pictured, from left, are School Board chairman Carol Hilson, coordinator of Title I programs Yvonne Johnson, parent Lilly Bowe who read the proclamation, and Superintendent Michael Lannon.

ATT was recognized at the November 13, 2012, St. Lucie County School Board meeting for its “It Can Wait” project, an awareness campaign to educate and inform teenagers about the dangers of texting while driving. The national campaign made a stop at Treasure Coast High School (TCHS) recently, with a simulated experience for young drivers what can happen in the split second of texting on a cell phone while operating a vehicle. Pictured, from left, are Assistant Superintendent Dr. Mark Rendell, who shephered the project in the district, Catherine McKenzie of ATT, School Board chairman Carol Hilson, TCHS principal Densire … Read More

The Make a Teacher a Classroom Hero program sponsored by “Little Debbie” was held during the month of August 2012. The area distributor who had the top sales total for the month would choose their favorite K-12 teacher to be a Classroom Hero and award that teacher with a $300.00 Visa gift card to use for their classroom supplies. Andy McNally, a local “Little Debbie” snack distributor, won the contest and picked Palm Pointe Educational Research School @ Tradition because the school is in the area that he delivers to. He contacted the school and wanted to pick a teacher that … Read More

Students in Andrea Logue’s fifth grade science class at White City Elementary completed a real-world engineering project based on the STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) initiative. Students were “NASA engineers” for the day and competed against other engineering teams to design and build a lunar habitat model using only straws, masking tape, aluminum foil, and plastic wrap.  Each model needed to be airtight, have an airlock, and a renewable energy source. Pictured, from left, are Brecia Trejo, Torris Henderson, and Dazia Fernandez.

Third, fourth and fifth grade students at Palm Pointe Educational Research School @ Tradition investigated, examined and studied various artists and their work.  After creating their own original works of art based on the artist they researched, students digitized their work and then used Adobe Photoshop to enhance their images. The work was framed and hung in the newest gallery at the school.

Fairlawn Elementary School teacher Shirley Helton was recently presented with the 2012 “Excellence in Teaching History Award” for the state of Florida. This prestigious award is presented by the Florida Council for the Social Studies to recognize a teacher who encourages an appreciation and respect for history, involves students in the historical process, and evidences mastery of the subject matter. Congratulations to Ms. Helton for earning this distinction.

St. Bernadette Church in St. Lucie West supported a Project Children’s Literacy book drive to allow Garden City Early Learning Academy students to take a few books home with them during their Thanksgiving break. Father Victor Ulto and the church’s Stewardship Committee sponsored Project Children’s Literacy, and 15 stewards and literacy committee members regularly enjoy working with students at Garden City during their literacy block. Pictured, from left, are literacy Coach Lexi Laoutas, principal Traci Wilke, with stewards and volunteers George Lambert, Marilyn Faria, and Cilla Vitagliano, with St. Lucie Public Schools Early Childhood coordinator Mary Huffstetter. Seated is steward … Read More

An exciting enrichment reading group activity was held in the Media Center at Mariposa Elementary. Third grade students assigned to Charlotte Pennington enjoyed reading a folktale titled “The Paper Crane” by Molly Bang. While reading the story, the students were encouraged to use various reading strategies taught by Charlotte Pennington:  phonics, word decoding, clarifying, story mapping, predicting, questioning and summarizing.  The story taught the students about the nature of gift giving and caring for others that are less fortune then themselves. As an activity, the students learned how to fold their very own origami cup following Mrs. Pennington’s directions.  Before the students returned to … Read More

At Southport Middle School, students in Jessica Allen’s seventh grade science class from the Panthers team work with students from the Hornets team. The students had the opportunity to see the different types of volcanic eruptions with different types of sodas (regular and diet) and mentos. The students estimated the distance of the height of the eruption after putting the mentos into the soda bottle and graphed the results to determine the reaction of each type of soda.

In light of the recent presidential election, students in Caryol Hallahan’s second grade class at Windmill Point Elemnentary researched information about many of the prominent symbols of freedom and democracy. Students learned about the Statue of Liberty, the AmericanfFlag, the White House, and the bald eagle, among other symbols. Pictured here, students share a presentation for parents that they wrote and created based on their research.

After weeks of research and debate about the candidates, the students in Pam Bryant’s fourth grade class at Windmill Point Elementary School voted for President. Students enjoyed learning about the voting process, the terminology, and the significance of elections in our country. With this experience happening only every four years, it was an excellent teachable moment about history. The students really enjoyed learning about the voting process and all that it entails and are looking forward to the day that they will get to cast their votes.

The Port St. Lucie High School JROTC Raider team recently competed in the District Raider meet. Forty-five teams with eight cadets per team from 16 schools competed in five physical and academic events. The raiders’ male A-Team placed second overall in the 3-mile run with a time of 19:26. Mixed team placed second overall in the cross country rescue course. c/CPT Devynn Rhodes placed third overall in the individual female P.T. test with a total of 51 push-ups and 86 sit-ups. Congratulations to all of the Jaguar Battalion Raiders for competing in the Area III Raider Meet and thanks to … Read More

Northport K-8 School welcomed 23 local veterans into classrooms recently to listen to stories about their military careers, wars served, medals won and battles lost. Students asked an abundance of questions and were thrilled to be educated with primary source information. Students in Sandra Tyndale’s seventh grade class served as ambassadors to walk the veterans to classrooms and introduced the honored guests. Veterans were welcomed in the Media Center by principal Glenn Rustay and media specialist Lynne Gruszka. The importance of veterans’ service to America could not have been stressed enough as eighth grader Moriah Weir welcomed each veteran and Grace Buzziz, eighth grader … Read More