Author: MARY ROTI

Shark Nation’s Yearbook Staff has worked tirelessly to create our stunning SLWK8 Yearbook. Throughout the school year under the guidance of their incredible advisors, Mr. ” Jessie” Steckler and Mrs. Quiles, they worked to set the creative tone through capturing incredible photos of our school events. This school year, they were awarded Leonard’s Rookie of the Year Award for their exquisite job done on the 23-24 yearbook. The Yearbook Staff is hard at work on the 24-25 yearbook. We are so excited to see the finished product. Thank you for all you do to encapsulate the spectacular things happening at … Read More

Mrs. Boham’s STEAM students designed and built bridges to test the efficiency of failure points. SKWK8 STEAM Sharks brought the bridge down this week! Sharks explored careers in construction and civil engineering to design and build bridges from balsa wood as a concept for a future bridge over the Indian River Lagoon.  They spent time analyzing the environmental and structural requirements needed for location, climate, and population. After learning bridge terminology, they applied the terms to design a bridge that would hold up under compression and tension forces. Teamwork triumphed to complete the preplanning including thumbnails of truss bridges. They … Read More

Every year, St. Lucie West K8 has the incredible privilege to recognize our employees who go above and beyond to educate and support our students. Shark Nation is exceptionally proud to honor and celebrate our exquisite employees of the year. Thank you, your passion, dedication, and expertise are truly inspirational. We look forward to spotlighting you at The Night of the Stars event. Congratulations to our St. Lucie West K8 Shark Nation Stars! Distinguished Minority Educator of the Year: Shawna Portee School Related Employee of the Year: Susan Dippolito Teacher of the Year: Lindsey Harris Outstanding First Year Teacher: Nathan … Read More

Shark Nation’s Color Run was a very bright success! St. Lucie West K8 students participated in the 2024 Annual Color Run and had an absolute blast. The fundraiser helped raise funds for teacher, staff, and student incentives. Students designed their Color Run flags to proudly represent their class! Students were able to enjoy this colorful event with friends, teachers, and staff. We would like to thank all of the teachers, staff, students, parents, and families who participated and helped to raise funds. Shark Nation is so truly thankful and could not do it without the support, teamwork, and spirit of … Read More

St. Lucie West K8 celebrated our 3rd Annual Friendsgiving with a thankful heart. The amazing administrative team prepared and served a full Thanksgiving feast for the entire faculty and staff. Our admin team is truly grateful for all the hard work and dedication they put into Shark Nation. It was a wonderful opportunity for our staff to gather for a delicious meal and fellowship by spending time with one another. Our hearts and stomachs were full of gratitude. Thank you for all you do to support our students and staff!  From our family to yours, we wish you a wonderful … Read More

Our third graders did an outstanding job with their annual Living Wax Museum. The creativity and research they put into their projects to embody Influential Americans was exceptional! Kindergarten, first and second-grade students cheered as the students made their way to the parent pick-up area. When they arrived, parents were able to drive through and cheer them on. Way to go 3rd Grade!  

In Mrs. Quiles’s vibrant 3rd grade class, math came to life with a glow-tastic area and perimeter activity! Students lit up their learning with glow lights and highlighters as they tackled real-world problems involving composite figures. With the visual models and essential formulas, students illuminated their understanding of area and perimeter, making math both fun and memorable. What a colorful journey where creativity meets critical thinking!

Congratulations to our Girls’ Volleyball A-Team and Coach Velazquez! They made it to the Top 10 Finals. They will be playing Palm Pointe at 8:30 am at Fort Pierce Central on November 16th. Come show your support Shark Nation!

Students in Ms. Dahm’s gifted 5th grade utilized the Thinking Classrooms framework to work through a performance task to help them understand algebraic reasoning. Way to get those brains working hard!  

SKWK8 STEAM Sharks shook hands mechanically with the hands they built. Students learned about the design challenge and terminology to flex their construction muscles. They analyzed their hands, joints, and fingers and designed prototypes to accomplish two tasks. First, they had to grab an object and move it to a target, next they had to flex and extend the fingers to push an object to the target. Students timed each other rolling the object and then compared results to find the fastest and slowest times. Students walked through the design process, anticipating potential cons of their design so they could … Read More

Mrs. Cothern’s second-grade class was proudly promoting Red Ribbon Week! Every year, from October 23-31, more than 80 million people – both kids and adults – show their support for a healthy, drug-free life by wearing or displaying the red ribbon. Red Ribbon Week is a great reminder of why living a drug-free life is important. It’s a chance for parents, teachers, and communities to unite and reinforce the drug-free messages they share with kids all year. The eight-day celebration is an annual way to show that we won’t accept drugs in our schools, workplaces, or communities.

Students in Ms. Harris’s class learned about the advantages of Capitalism and the free market over other economic systems using an interactive simulator activity. Students compare various aspects of capitalism, socialism, and communism, allowing students to experience how different economic models function.  

Thank you to our National Junior Honor Society and Yearbook members for bringing a little Halloween fun to our day! Members came to school early today to add some interactive sidewalk chalk fun to our hallways! It was great to see our students and adults doing hopscotch down the hallway and on their way to and from class!

Mrs. Boham’s STEAM class designed and built a piece of furniture that would hold 2-5 lbs. Middle school STEAM students in Mrs. Boham‘s class learned about cardboard, its history, and recycling it to build a piece of furniture that would hold a 2-5 lb. weight.  Researching the concept of cardboard furniture, asking questions like who the demographic would be for this product and what are the multiple uses this furniture could provide? Students examined assembly and attachment techniques as well as the strengths and weaknesses of their materials. Using the design process, students collaborated to share their individual concepts, and then they … Read More

Shark Nation’s Annual Vocabulary Parade was Jawsome! Kindergarten and First-grade students were given a vocabulary word and were thoroughly excited to dress up and embody their word!   

Third-grade students in Mrs. D’Andrea’s gifted class were exposed to a step-by-step hands-on tutorial for the functions of PowerPoint. Students are able to use these skills in current and future project-based learnings!

Our October PBIS Event was a slam dunk! SLWK8 students were excited and thoroughly enjoyed the Cen10 Coed Basketball game. Shark Nation would like to thank and shoutout St. Lucie West Centennial High School and their amazing basketball players and cheerleaders!

Students from Mrs. Schettini’s 3rd-grade math class identified lines of symmetry in various figures. One strategy they utilized was using a mirror to ensure that they were seeing “mirror images ” on the other side. It was a fun way to practice a new skill!  

A sweet and engaging math adventure with our Candy Corn Marshmallow activity! Ms. Quiles’s third graders explored geometric reasoning by using colorful candy corn and marshmallows to create points, lines, line segments, and rays. Through hands-on building and problem-solving, students strengthen their understanding of geometry in a fun, interactive way. Make learning math a treat!

Mrs. Boham’s STEM students used their creativity, math, art, entrepreneurship, and cooperation skills to design sweet new candy bars! Middle school STEM students in Mrs. Boham’s class showed off their sweet tooth design skills to create innovative candy bars. Working as cooperative groups they used pros & cons to pick the groups best idea to develop into a new product on the market. They sourced nutrition facts for ingredients, researched the market for eye catching wrapper designs, flavors, and prices. They found their audience demographic, tagline, and name through discussion and collaboration. Culminating in group presentations of their new sweet … Read More