Author: Dana Caputo

Teachers - (Changed 3/30/2026 1:17:21 PM)

Westwood FFA Sweeps Competitions

December 18, 2023 By Dana Caputo

Congratulations to West Prep FFA students who swept the local FFA contests in Okeechobee, winning every category! 1st place Creed- Laila Chastine 1st place Prepared Public Speaking- Berkley Barnes 1st place Extemporaneous Speaking- Anna Paige Cruse 1st place Safe Tractor Driving- Reed Blankenbaker 1st place Parliamentary Procedure- Lilly Revels, Berkley Barnes, Elizabeth Rufo, Laila Chastine, Jayden Weil and Alyssa Coppock Best wishes as these students move on to district competitions in late January.

Sunshine Kitchen Cook-off

October 30, 2023 By Dana Caputo

St. Lucie Public School Culinary Programs competed at the Sunshine Kitchen in Fort Pierce.  Five outstanding high school culinary students along with an Indian River State Culinary Institute student formed teams and competed at the Sunshine Kitchen Cook-off. Judges included Chef Mike Febre, True Roots Catering, Guytano D’Anna, Bonefish Macs, Leslie Moyers, Sunshine Kitchen, Jacques Larson, Cathy Townsend, St. Lucie County Commissioner.  The winning team was Aristhene Thelisnort, Fort Pierce Central High and Justin Stolaj, Indian River State Culinary Institute each winning a $1,500 scholarship.  Big thanks to Gina McCants, St. Lucie County Tcerda Research Park, Chef Deb Midkiff, IRSC Culinary Institute, … Read More

Port St. Lucie High School’s Technical Design Students Meet Architects

October 23, 2023 By Dana Caputo

Students in Mr. Picchiarini’s Technical Design class met Guest Speaker, Carlos Luis Flores Blancaneaux RA, Project Manager at Spiezle Architectural Group, Inc. The students were engaged in seeing designs turn into buildings. Aline Mar, Architectural Designer at Spiezle Architectural Group, Inc. is an alumnus of Treasure Coast High School and spoke about courses to take, the challenges of the job, studying overseas, and loving architecture.    

Port St. Lucie High Culinary Arts Hosts Virtual Field Trip

September 26, 2023 By Dana Caputo

Port St. Lucie High School Culinary Arts students hosted a virtual field trip for middle school students. Students from Dan McCarty Middle, St. Lucie West K8, Southern Oaks Middle, and Oak Hammock K8 stayed in their classrooms and via Microsoft Teams were able to meet Chef Foerster and his Culinary Arts students. The students saw and heard about the culinary program, met students, toured their commercial kitchen, and saw them in action as they prepared and served a Latin Lunch, pizzas, and expresso, plus asked questions about the program! Big thanks to Mr. Frost and his students in the Port … Read More

Culinary Cooks at Cinco de Mayo

May 15, 2023 By Dana Caputo

Culinary students from St Lucie West Centennial, Port St Lucie High, Fort Pierce Westwood Academy, and Northport K8 cooked up a storm at the Cinco de Mayo event hosted by Monarch Country Club. Students researched the recipes, created the ingredient lists, prepped, cooked and worked with Monarch’s Chef James and Sous Chef Don to create a delicious Mexican dinner. Recipes included: from Centennial, Mexican Fruit Skewers, Fish Taco with a variety of toppings and freshly made salsas, Mexican Hot Chocolate Trifle topped with whipped dulce de leche; from Port St Lucie High, Carne Asada Skewers, with Pico de Gallo, and Cilantro Crema, Seared Shrimp … Read More

Treasure Coast High Students Visit Local Manufacturers

May 1, 2023 By Dana Caputo

Mr. Phil Depuy and his Treasure Coast High School Manufacturing and Engineering students visited Bill Wilcox at Phoenix Metal Products Inc, and Tim Fischer at Southeast Elevator in Fort Pierce. At the first stop, the students were welding to get a hands-on taste of the job. At the second stop students saw what goes on behind the scenes of building an elevator. The business partners shared the skills needed for entry-level jobs and the students were making plans for what comes next after graduation.

PSLHS Culinary Students Compete at SkillsUSA

April 24, 2023 By Dana Caputo

Three Port St. Lucie High School culinary students participated in the SkillsUSA State Competition. They each prepared, cooked, and presented a three-course meal all in a timed setting while competing against high school students from across Florida in the SkillsUSA States in Jacksonville, FL Chef Roland Foerster, PSLHS Culinary Instructor was beyond proud of the trio who went far above expectations.

Manufacturing/Engineering Career Day

April 24, 2023 By Dana Caputo

St. Lucie Public Schools’ Manufacturing and Engineering Program Advisory Board hosted a hybrid Career Day at Treasure Coast High School.  Colleen Gill from CareerSource Research Coast as well as Bill Wilcox and Brooks Price from Phoenix Metals spoke to students in person while Eric Linero from Jenoptik spoke to the students virtually via Microsoft Teams. A great day for seniors to learn about career options available on the Treasure Coast. Mitch Kloorfain from CareerSource Research Coast took the photos. Following the meeting, Treasure Coast High School Culinary Arts Program served a delicious breakfast to the Advisory Board. Big thanks to Chef … Read More

Florida FFA Selects Westwood Students as Proficiency Finalists

April 10, 2023 By Dana Caputo

Congratulations to Fort Pierce Westwood’s Agriscience Program Instructor Jenna Blankenbaker and her students, Paige Cruse and Reed Blankenbaker on being selected as Florida FFA Proficiency Finalists! The Agricultural Proficiency Award program recognizes and rewards FFA members for exceptional accomplishments and excellence in a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) program. These supervised programs are planned, practical activities conducted outside of class time that help students develop and apply agricultural knowledge and skills in a real-world environment. Anna Paige Cruse’s award was in Agricultural Communications while Laurence Reed Blankenbaker’s award was in Agricultural Services! Way to go, Panthers! Good luck at FFA State … Read More

Economic Development Council Hosts High School Counselors Bus Tour

March 27, 2023 By Dana Caputo

The St. Lucie County Economic Development Council (EDC) took high school counselors and teachers on a tour of three employer sites.  Stops included Twin Vee PowerCats boat manufacturing facility, Amazon distribution center, GHO Homes building site, and Courtyard by Marriott where Superintendent Prince and Pete Tesch spoke to the group while they were served lunch prepared by the Recovery Sports Grill. It was a great day of seeing current career opportunities available for St. Lucie Public Schools high school graduates.  Big thanks to the EDC’s Jen Dubey, Rachel Savela, Pete Tesch, and the Porch Factory’s Jim Brann.

CTE Month, February 2023

March 20, 2023 By Dana Caputo

Thank you Career and Technical Education Teachers, Coolest Teachers Ever! CTE Month is observed to recognize the accomplishments of students and educators and highlight the collaboration among local leaders, businesses, and industry partners that contribute to the success of CTE programs across Florida.   Florida has nearly 800,000 K-12 CTE students – the highest in the state’s history – more than 380,000 postsecondary CTE students, and over 17,000 registered apprentices.

Culinary Students Serve the Community at Port St. Lucie Citizen Summit

March 20, 2023 By Dana Caputo

Culinary students from Port St. Lucie High School and Northport K8 made the community smile with their chef jackets and conversation.  The food was delicious and many came back for seconds of the ham pickle roll-ups, Key Lime cheesecake dip, banana bread, coconut rice crispy treats, Caprese skewers, and Port St. Lucie High’s signature wontons with ginger dipping sauce, and Caribbean shrimp with fruit salsa.

Allapattah Flats Ag Students Prepare for Fair 2023

March 6, 2023 By Dana Caputo

After school is a busy time for Allapattah Flats’ middle school students in Mrs. Dru Thompson’s Agriscience class.  Students are raising cattle, swine (pigs), goats, and chickens to show at the St. Lucie County Fair.  Good luck Gators!

St. Lucie West Centennial Culinary Arts Hosts Junior Achievement

March 6, 2023 By Dana Caputo

As part of Junior Achievement’s Global Entrepreneurship Week, St. Lucie West Centennial High School Culinary Arts students, along with Chef Chris Gedke and Chef Evan Fraum, hosted Mr. Kyle Greene of Kyle G’s restaurants.  Mr. Greene shared his entrepreneurship story and the hard work that goes into owning successful restaurants.  The students were professional, polite, and engaged.  After the presentation, one of the students shared the following thank you message for Mr. Greene- “Thank you for coming to our school. We learned a lot from the visit that will help us in the future. I learned that for entrepreneurship we need … Read More

Northport Culinary Students Make Treats

March 6, 2023 By Dana Caputo

Culinary Arts students at Northport K-8 are following kitchen safety protocols by creating rice crispy treats.  Some chose to drizzle melted chocolate or add mini M&Ms while others formed shapes such as hearts and snowmen.  The delicious treats were sold at the Northport K-8 Winter Band Concert!

St. Lucie Public Schools at Chart Your Course!

February 27, 2023 By Dana Caputo

St. Lucie Public Schools middle and high school students participated in the Chart Your Course, Marine and Maritime Career Expo hosted at the Fort Pierce Yacht Club.  Local marine businesses demonstrated equipment and spoke about skills needed in the field.  Students were able to plan for their future and make connections to local career opportunities in the marine industry!

Port St. Lucie Jaguars Compete at SkillsUSA Culinary

February 21, 2023 By Dana Caputo

Port St. Lucie High School Culinary Arts students competed at the SkillsUSA Culinary Competition in Kissimmee.  Good luck to participants; Vasilios Koumoundouros, Mikalah Christman, Calvin Diebold, and volunteer Kelvin Gonzales.  Go Jaguars!

Northport K-8 Culinary Students Make Pizza

February 21, 2023 By Dana Caputo

Culinary Arts students at Northport K-8 were visited by Chef Damiano, a professionally trained Pizza Chef from Fresh Market.  The students were wrapping up their studies on pizza and used Chef Damiano’s dough.  The students made sauce with the Chef’s tomatoes imported from Italy and made pizza with fresh ingredients.  Delizioso!

Culinary Students at Northport K8

February 13, 2023 By Dana Caputo

Culinary Arts students at Northport K-8 are learning how to be safe while cooking, and how to make better nutritional choices.   Students competed in a salsa challenge where each added a secret ingredient that was then judged by the school staff! The winning salsas were served at their school-wide Hispanic Heritage month event.