Author: LYNNE Gruszka

Northport K-8 School students in June Wilson’s seventh grade math class exercised their creativity by reproducing scale models of furniture in their classroom.  Students learned proportion, similarity, scale drawing, perimeter and area of similar figures. Students utilized bridge maps for clarification of similarities.  At the completion of the project, students were able to compute the perimeter and areas of their models to the actual objects by using the scale factor. Mrs. Wilson stated that students were thrilled to be learning math skills with a hands-on approach and social interactions were a positive influence on student output.

Northport K-8 lower school students proved their domination over hundreds of words by participating in a vocabulary parade recently. Students poured over lists of words from their texts and chose words that appealed to each, then made posters, signs, decorations and costumes declaring the definitions, the synonyms, antonyms, correct spelling and use of the words in sentences. All students used the book “Miss Alaineus” by Debra Frasier as a road map to comprehension. Northport K-8 School reading coach Deb Mock led the parade with an excellent costume of “Miss Alanieus” herself! Northport K-8 particpated fully in the Just Read, Florida initiative, “Celebrate Literacy!” … Read More

Northport K-8 School teachers, reading coach Deb Mock, and media specialist Lynne Gruszka utilized a variety of means and modes to get students involved in the Just Read, Florida initiative “Celebrate Literacy!” Students from grades K-8 appeared on the morning announcements to talk about their love of reading and to recommend good books. Students worked on posters for a display themed, “Take the Lead and Read” and buddied up with students in other classes to hone reading skills and encourage the joy of reading. Students also were offered the opportunity to show off their writing skills by penning an essay titled, “What … Read More

After much preparation and studying, Northport K-8 School declared Northstar eighth grade student Jordan Gray as spelling bee champion of the school.  Also, Northport will send fifth grade student Matthew Zoll from Valerie Niewieroski’s class as first place student in grades four and five.  Students asked for definitions, words to be used in  correct sentences, parts of speech and language of origin.  After seven grueling rounds with 29 students participating, the winners were declared and prizes awarded.  Participating students were: Sabrina Kim, Brian Chamizo, Alex Peraza, James Crowhorn, Jason Derilus, Christina Lambert, Radravious Williams, Mayra Solarte, Shawn Outer-Johnson, Matthew Zoll, … Read More

Northport K-8 seventh and eighth students on the Clownfish team, under the direction of instructor Dru Dehart and with the support of her team of teachers have been raising much needed dollars to support Relay For Life in a variety of meaningful ways.  Clownfish boys previously sported high heeled shoes for a cost to raise funds. Recently, students participated in a pie eating contest to support cancer research. Students paid three dollars to participate and five dollars to make their own pies using pudding, vanilla wafers and whipped cream. Students raised well over three hundred dollars. Pictured, from left, are Christina Lambert, Paul … Read More

Northport K-8 kindergarten students who are enrolled in the school’s 21st Century after school program received a special visitor recently to confirm their belief that Santa does really exist.  Students were thrilled to visit with Santa Claus who gave each child the gift of a coloring book and crayons and did indeed confirm the belief that “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!” Santa listened as each child express wishes and instilled in each child the real meaning of the holiday season. Local Civil War re-enacter Alyn Bryant played the role of Santa.

Northport K-8 School third graders received a special visit from Sunset Rotary club member Joe the Biker recently. Joe Wojcik, known as Joe the Biker, gave a dynamic introduction in the use of the dictionary integrating words and information from a bullying presentation that has made his name synonomous with an anti bullying message. Joe the Biker demonstrated how to look up words and information in the dictionary and also donated a class set of a books written by Joe the Biker called “Call Me Yubby!” The students were thrilled with the presentation and many thanks go to the Sunset Rotary Club.

Northport K-8 kindergarten students in Melody Nieves’ and Megan Castiglia’sclasses enjoyed a special holiday story time in the school’s main media center recently. Students listened to a rendition of the beautiful story  “The Polar Express” by Chris Van Allsburg, and then sang holiday songs together. Students sang Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and other holiday favorites. Students each received a candy cane pencil and held teddy bears. Pictured are Northport media specialist Lynne Gruszka and media clerk Pam Crum with students in the beautifully decorated media center.

Northport K-8 School sixth grade students in Georgia Stone’s class learned the six types of persuasive techniques and put each to good use making their own commercials in the classroom. Students created commercials selling items such as a magic Santa hat that grants wishes to a “spectacular sponge,” and an “extreme latreme” face cream that keeps users young and beautiful. Students portrayed techniques such as testimonials, repetition, bandwagon, snob appeal and name calling in the unique lesson. Students learned the techniques, viewed examples of the different techniques, then made the commercials. The lesson was very effective and extremely engaging! Pictured at left is Mrs. Stone … Read More

Northport K-8 School third grade students in Melanie Polascak’s and Glenda Taylor’s classes have been working on a combined unit of study to determine learning data and to evaluate the effectiveness of class rotations on the study of Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Students and instructors used a variety of resources to bring the unit of study full circle. Culminating activities to bring resolution to the unit occured recently in the teachers’ classrooms such as making pinatas from Mexico, making moose antlers from Canada and learning to play dominos and how to do the limbo from the Caribbean. Students also enjoyed a variety … Read More

Northport K-8 school’s entire fifth grade team as well as seventh and eighth grade students from three teams attended the 12th annual Raid on Ft. Pierce at the Savannas Recreation Area. Northport students have attended the re-enactment for 11 of the past 12 years. Students, under the direction of classroom teachers and Social Studies chair Bob Burdge witnessed first-hand the life of a soldier in the 1860s. Students learned about weaponry, outdoor cooking, clothing making and blacksmithing as well as a number of other Civil War memorabilia. It was thrilling for the students to experience a re-enactment of a primary source of information. Over … Read More

Northport K-8 Volunteer of the Year Suzi Scott, pictured, received a very special congratulations for all her efforts and hard work on behalf of the teachers and students of Northport K8 School recently. The letter, from Florida State Senator Joe Negron, congratulated Mrs. Scott for being a “vital thread in the fabric of our community!” Negron thanked Mrs. Scott for her dedication and commitment to the students and teachers and he expressed a shared pride with her family, friends and everyone at Northport.  Mrs. Scott is diligent in her work on behalf of all children at the school and she is … Read More

Northport K-8 students in Susan Matteson’s eighth grade reading class and young students in Lorri Lamm’s second grade class have been cultivating learning relationships to benefit each learning level and style. Students and teachers have been meeting twice a month since the beginning of the school year to bond and integrate learning systems. Students recently met to select words from second grade student lists, review the definitions and pronunciations and then to make costumes to portray the meaning of the words selected. Students will participate in a vocabulary roundup parade in January. Pictured are learning buddies from both classes, from left, Karla Montoya, … Read More

Northport K-8 community of teachers, staff, administration, parents and students recently celebrated the schools’ traditional Breakfast With Santa on an early Saturday morning. The PTO-sponsored event featured a homestyle breakfast, children in holiday pj’s and Santa Claus. It was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate community and to thrill children. Other Northport PTO-sponsored pending events include a Stevie B’s school fundraiser family dinner and a catered holiday luncheon for teachers and staff in the media center. The Northport K-8 School PTO is an integral piece of the school pie and the group offers strong support to the instructors and students at the school.

Northport K-8 students joined Treasure Coast High School senior Rebecca Cowan and empowered each other against the harmful effects of bullying recently. Students in grades K-5 read stories, discussed bullying issues and worked in activity books designed by Rebecca. Students in all grades worked together to bring the powerful message by wearing the color pink! Students donned pink shirts, pink headbands, pink jewelry, pink socks and pink ribbons to show their support for the special project. Rebecca joined all the Northport 8th grade girls in the media center for a discussion and an open and frank talk about the effects of bullying and … Read More

Northport K-8 School middle grades instructors Amanda Sartain and Kalyn Nova received an innovative and exciting grant from Lowe’s Toolbox For Education called Gardening For Grades. The students and teachers are beginning the garden at the school using the Florida Ag program which provides a positive learning experience for students to develop leadership skills, responsibility and community pride through organized gardening activities. The program is designed to incorporate science, math, language arts, geography and a plethora of other subject area disciplines. Students will experience growth observation from seed,  measurement of growth, design experimentation and growing plants found in historic novels. Research has … Read More

Northport K-8 students from all grade levels participated in a district wide initiative called “Movers For The Military” just in time for Thanksgiving! Students and their parents collected nine moving boxes filled with new items for the kitchen and bathroom, blankets, new pillows, new sheets, clothing, personal care items and even a brand new prosthetic leg to fit a homeless veteran. Northport K-8 School partnered with local moving company, Two Men and a Truck to collect the items benefiting Big Hearts Homeless Shelter in Ft. Pierce. The drive for the homeless veterans instilled in students the knowledge that they have the … Read More

Northport K-8 kindergarten students in Melody Nieves class recently participated in an impressive lesson using the story, “The Legend Of The Indian Paintbrush!” The kindergarteners listened to the story and then talked about describing words. Each student identified a list of words that described characteristics about themselves and created a Native American name for themselves using their describing characteristics. Each then made a special headband with their Indian name enscribed on the band. Students proudly wore the bands all day long and called each other by their Indian names. The lesson engaged the kindergartners and provided each with an opportunity to share information about … 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

Northport K-8 fourth grader Cierra Yuhas knew she was having difficulty with reading comprehension. She spoke to her teacher, Carissa Provencher, who provided some valuable advice: select your favorite book, contact the author and get some tips on how to better understand concepts from books. Cierra took her teacher’s words to heart and wrote a letter explaining the situation to Cynthia Lord, author of “Rules”, Cierra’s favorite book.  Lord wrote Cierra a very special letter with some words of advice to keep reading, to look closely at everything because it becomes more beautiful. The author also advised Cierra that her book was … Read More