Author: Barbara Whellams

To celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss and Read Across America, community members visited F.K. Sweet Elementary to read to primary grades students.  Local attorney and former parent Steve Hoskins is having fun reading to students in Sandy Picano’s kindergarten class.

Former F. K. Sweet Elementary School parent, community leader, and cancer survivor Aileen Pruitt spoke to the annual Circle of Hope gathering recently. She empasized to the audience the importance of taking good care of one’s body and “listening” to it for any signs of trouble. Aileen’s inspirational talk preceded the release of white doves and songs by the school chorus and fifth graders.

Students Willie Whitehead, Julian Nunez, Kayla Jungjohan, Morgan Busby, Olivia Sperber, Stoney Braynen, James Coriolan, Justin Adrian, and Wes Varn are just a few of the students who earned Star Reader shirts at F.K. Sweet Elementary. Jeanie DuPell, media specialist, awards students who have either grown a hundred points, or, are reading at least one grade level above their current grade. This program is sponsored by Scholastic, Reading Counts.

Third grade students in Barbara Whellams’ class at F.K. Sweet Elementary were highly entertained by Assistant Superintendent Dr. Kevin Perry’s reading of “Follow the Drinking Gourd”, an actual song used by the Underground Railroad to help slaves escape north to Canada. Although February is Black History Month, students learn about the contributions of African Americans throughout the entire year. 

First grade students Willdarion Adams, Anaiah Armah, Lorraine Zimmerman, Ariel Major, and Makia Cooper in Deanna Scotto’s class at F.K. Sweet Elementary enjoy working within their small math group. This  lesson consisted of using candy hearts to reinforce graphing skills. Edible treats are always a favorite manipulative for young learners.     

Students in Tammy  Davis’ second grade class at F.K. Sweet Elementary display candy apples they created after observing a hands-on demonstration by a candy company. Students made various colors of red, green, and yellow.  Afterwards they wrote a how-to paragraph on making their delicious treats.  

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.

F.K. Sweet Elementary is very fortunate to have former teacher Tom Filipkowski return to volunteer his time in continuing the ever popular Chess Club on Thursday mornings. The Chess Club has always been a favorite with intermediate students. Not only are the skills of the game and high level thinking covered, but the love of the game and sportsmanship is also stressed.

Educator and accomplished musician Ossie Wright visited F.K. Sweet Elementary School recently to give students some background information on the origin of Black music. Students enjoyed his music and guessed song titles and composers. This is one of the  favorite activities for intermediate grades during Black History Month.

The fifth grade members of the F.K. Sweet Elementary camera crew meet each morning in the media center to produce and facilitate the morning announcements and news. Crew members are recommended by their teachers based on citizenship and academics. If a scheduled presenter is absent, they are also always ready and able to take their spot to ensure that the daily news goes on without a hitch.

F.K. Sweet Elementary teachers Michelle O’Keefe, Morgan Haupt, and Kristin Griffin are all smiles as they prepare to hand out ribbons to the winners of the annual Sunrise Stampede 5K Run/Walk, held recently in Ft. Pierce. The Sunrise Stampede is a cancer awareness and fund raising event that involves community members, and is sponsored by the school and other contributors.

The faculty and staff of F.K. Sweet Elementary recently recognized their honored employees, including School Related Employee of the Year David Morales, Teacher of the Year Michelle O’Keefe, and Distinguished Minority Educator of the Year Belinda Buckley at a before school ceremony recently. All of the “stars” also received gifts and plaques.

F.K. Sweet fourth grade students enjoyed a gorgeous Saturday in St. Augustine to relive and experience history.  The day included Castillo de San Marcos,  Spanish Hospital, free time on St. George Street, an hour trolley ride through the historic district, and the Old Florida Museum.  The students were also treated to a reenactment of a canon fired by the “Spanish”.

Students from Nardi Routten’s fourth grade class at F.K. Sweet Elementary recently enjoyed an unique  learning experience at Blind Creek Park. Students rotated through four different activities: seining, beach clean-up, water testing, and mangrove planting/measuring.  Jennifer Fleschner, a  parent volunteer helped Jason Moore and Annamarie Brosnihan test the river water for oxygen levels.  The students concluded that the deeper the water level, the higher the oxygen levels.

Aamar Black, Sarah Bartowiak, Annika Huhtamaki, Greyson Cripps, and other first graders at F.K. Sweet Elementary celebrated the 100th day of school by doing math activities with 100 items.  Students practiced different ways to make 100, different ways to skip count to 100, and came up with 100 words that they learned this year.  

Bobby Kemp, a senior at Lincoln Park Academy, was recently chosen as Youth Volunteer at F.K. Sweet Elementary. He has volunteered in Marla Liberatore’s third grade classroom for the last couple of years. Bobby enjoys spending time with the students and does a little bit of everything, from assisting with math and reading, to teaching them the rules of fair play and basketball.

Recently third grade students in Barbara Whellams’ class at F.K. Sweet Elementary celebrated with a how-to event. Students were given a how-to book of their choice to read. Upon completion, students were asked to write down the directions sequentially and in their own words. Kayla Jungjohan, Julian Nunez, and Ajeya Adams take a break to enjoy punch and snacks before getting back to work.

Junior volunteers and former F. K. Sweet Elementary students Callie Zheng and Amelia Nelson are ace librarians when it comes to working in Barbara Whellams’ classroom library after school. They check book tubs to make sure books are returned correctly, sort out duplicates, and then lexile each book. With well over 5,000 books, lots of assistance is needed and appreciated.

Pictured from left, Abbie Newbern, Mylee Moreno, Shinese Saintil, and Maryanne Logsdon, students in Donald Logue’s fifth grade class at F. K. Sweet  Elementary, display the vocabulary posters they created.  The posters illustrated the meanings of various vocabulary words from their unit on solids, liquids, and gases.

Students in Kasey Ascani’s second grade class at F. K. Sweet Elementary are using their knowledge gained from a field trip to the Fort Pierce Historical Museum to construct dioramas for the St. Lucie County Fair’s school exhibit. During the trip, students learned about life in St. Lucie County during the 1800’s. James Ewing, Samia Ahmed, and Luis Herrera are working together in creating Fort Pierce’s P.B. Cobb general store.