Author: LYNNE Gruszka

Northport student Chyanne Coins, 6th grader, won the district-wide visual art contest and will be representing St. Lucie School District at the state level “The Art in the Capitol” Competition, where 74 school districts will display their top winners. Wonderful job Chyanne and Mrs. Ramirez! ❤ Thank you to Mr. Gent, Dr. Perry and Mrs. Martin for coming to Northport to support the Arts in Education and our awesome student.  

What a wonderful morning at Northport! ?? We welcomed retired Army Sgt. Bill Arnold, our Veteran Partner in Education as well as three retired military servicemen from American Legion Post 318. The gentlemen accepted a poppy collage to honor all veterans made by Northport art students. The collage will hang on the wall at Post 318. Thank you so much to the entire post for coming out to Northport. Veterans and our military mean the world to our school. It was with a free breath that we all smiled through the presentation. ❤ ?? A big Northport salute ❤ ??

Northport is pleased to unveil a beautiful buddy bench in the school courtyard. The buddy bench was made from plastic caps collected by the children at the school. The bench was donated by Keep Saint Lucie Beautiful. The project was organized by ASD teacher, Hannah Licameli and her students. The lessons in recycling have been invaluable to the students. Many thanks to our Parents in Education from First United Methodist church for attending the unveiling.

The Northport 4th grade children enjoyed hearing from a real author recently. Fred Koehler shared his Florida personal experiences as well as author experiences. He also had the children do a step by step drawing and gifted the school with copies of his book “Garbage Island.”  The children were highly engaged through Teams and in awe of participating in this program. The City of PSL and Georgette Beck sponsored this program and talked to the children about keeping our city clean and recycling. Thank you so much to Mr. Koehler and the City of Port Saint Lucie for collaborating with … Read More

What an honor to celebrate some of Northport’s finest staff.  The custodial staff, under the management of Michael Washington, have accomplished superior work keeping the school clean, sanitized and ready to support the children, teachers and staff.  It is a pleasure to be able to work with such a friendly and accommodating group of professionals.  The Northport custodial group has definitely stepped up to the plate to work as a team.  Northport celebrated National Custodians Day on October 2, 2020.

Every October, Northport K-8 School learns about Bullying Awareness.  On October 2, the school’s anti-bullying message was kicked off by celebrating World Smile Day.  White masks were donated for each child by the school’s Partner in Education, Judi Neville.  The students and teachers decorated the masks using glitter, stickers, crayons, colored pencils and other art supplies.  Smiles were valued and celebrated across the school campus the whole day.  On October 5, the school will unite against bullying for World Anti Bullying Awareness Day by wearing the color blue in unity.  Lessons will be taught in classrooms and a poster contest … Read More

Northport is pleased to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Hispanic Heritage is celebrated from September 15 to October 15. Students are learning facts, participating in Governor DeSantis’ writing and art contest, learning about which countries are part of the Hispanic culture and studying about Hispanic people who have contributed richly to our country. What a pleasure to salute our Hispanic American population and tip our hat to their rich culture that enhances our American experience. 

Northport Art students created an American Bald Eagle to adorn the main hallway outside the media center.  The eagle was created by students to promote patriotic education as the school honored 9/11.  The bald eagle is the emblem created by the Founding Fathers to represent our nation.  The fierce beauty and proud independence symbolize the strength of our country.  Students decorated and added messages to each feather.  Many thanks to Northport art teacher, Stephanie Ramirez for her leadership and instruction.

Northport Culinary students have been studying Food Safety. Virtual student, Eric Hoffman-Harris showed his excitement for Culinary Arts with a graphic kitchen safety poster. He went above and beyond on the assignment including pictures of himself in the kitchen. Eric even had his dad drop off the poster so Ms. Savela can hang it in the culinary classroom.

Each year at Northport, our school prepares and presents a huge and unified presentation to commemorate September 11, 2001. This year, unfortunately, due to social distancing and mask wearing, our program will not be the same meeting in the media center that we have done every year. We will never forget how important it is to teach the children though. Our lessons will continue. The Northport media center is dedicated to the eight children who lost their lives on 9/11. We will post student work, songs, dedications and promote unity, love and patriotism in the honor of the nearly 3000 … Read More

Thank you for the beautiful gift to our Northport K-8 School media center from our art teacher, Stephanie Ramirez. A Frida Kahlo design! We can’t wait to show the piece off to our students. Frida is an expressive artist of Mexican descent. Frida believed in open self expression and so do we. It is perfect for the theme for the media center this year…”It’s All About the Kids!” Mrs. Gruszka and Mrs. Majors are so excited to see the kids and start talking about good books. ❤

Flattening the emotional curve: Elasticity and Resiliency During COVID-19 was the theme of a webinar offered in late April. Recently, Mrs. Elizabet Flores participated in the webinar that helps with strategies and tools to identify those students that need motivation for distance learning and how to deal with the stressful situation of COVID-19. She came away from the webinar with excellent tools to share.

As we are wrapping up a tumultuous yet extremely productive school year…we want to give a big SHOUT OUT to the students and parents who worked on their Young Authors books. At Northport, the learning never stops. We are a traditional school and we preserve our customs..no matter what! Your children are lucky to attend Northport because you can depend on our fortitude yearly. It is the parents and teachers that preserve our uniqueness. We thank you for helping us keep on the path. #NorthportStrong ❤ ❤ Good Job everyone! ?

Teacher Janine Wiecks made a delivery to every student in her class recently. She was able to see almost the entire class. It was so hard to not give hugs and keep her social distance. Each goodie bag has a copy of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with a personalized note; some Wonka bookmarks, a golden ticket, and scrumptious candies. AWESOME gestures and gifts Mrs. Wiecks. ❤

Many teachers and staff members from Northport have made special home deliveries to students who are meeting or exceeding expectations for Distance Learning, but students are also being recognized for many other reasons.   A great day, a great week, a great hour, being kind or just going that extra mile to be a great kid deserves a celebration in Northport’s book.  The celebrations never stop for the Northport community.  The school has kept the ball rolling and the students and families are engaged now more than ever.  Keep up the awesome work!

Penny Arbuckle’s 4th grade class got to participate in a Fun Friday Scavenger Hunt. The students wrapped up a big week of Distance Learning by taking ten minutes to search for items in their homes. The kids were thrilled and Mrs. Arbuckle delivered prizes to students’ doorsteps. ?

Mrs. Tredor’s 5th grade gifted class had a special visitor today in their weekly Science Teams meeting. Mr. Tyler Earll, a Patient Care Technician (PCT) and EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) at Cleveland Clinic stopped in to answer student questions about the body system they had been studying prior to Spring Break. Students had wonderful questions for him, such as “What color is our blood really?” and “How do they tell what blood type you are?” They were also curious to know why medical professionals need to take so many viles of your blood when we can tell so much from … Read More

Online Learning is Heating Up! Northstars’ STEM teacher, Kevin Fess, would love for his students to be at Northport creating their own Geothermal Energy projects. However, he is not letting distance hinder the learning process! Sixth-grade students joined Mr. Fess virtually in his kitchen for a live demonstration showing how heat from the earth’s core can help power generators.

Principal Rustay joined the 7th-grade Stingrays planning last week. The Stingrays are nearly at capacity with check-ins and attendance. The team is organized for maximum Virtual Learning. The teachers are hard at work and have their students online and checking in daily. Next, teachers are making sure that students are completing work.  Now they are working on ensuring that students are serious about their work and are humming along and that they understand the vitality and importance of completing assignments.  Work ethic mixed with care, concern, and understanding is the trademark of the Stingrays team. That trademark can be viewed … Read More

What a wonderful experience! Darryen Noel from Mrs. Wilson’s class called Mrs. Gruszka, Northport Media Specialist and Young Authors Program Coordinator on TEAMS recently. They discussed his Young Author’s book and how much he is enjoying using his imagination and developing his writing skills. His book is titled “Lana and the Hidden Gem.” Lana is the main character. Lana is a spirit along with her teacher and two shape shifting dogs who are battling against evil sorcerers. “As the Northport media specialist, it is a pleasure and a joy to continue interacting with our students through both books and writing. … Read More