Author: Nancy Spooner

The month of February is dedicated to celebrating and honoring the many achievements and contributions made by African Americans to the economic, cultural, and political development of America. On February 19th, Donna Washington joined Gaines Academy in celebrating African American culture through the art of storytelling. Ms. Washington is a renowned story teller and author who had student and teachers of all ages captivated with her narratives. Thank you, Ms. Washington! She provided the talent on a storytelling tape that was so successful for Children’s Press that the tape was used to make four wordless picture books. It was at … Read More

Congratulations to Gaines Academy students: Lorena Ramirez-Garcia, Sedre Wright, Brandon Davis, and Nira Troublefield for being selected to the Indian River State College’s Four County Honor Band.  The Four County Honor Band is comprised of students from St. Lucie, Indian River, Martin, and Okeechobee Counties.  These students will spend roughly 15 hours over the course of three days in rehearsal with guest clinician Dr. Shelby Chipman, Associate Professor of Music at Florida A&M University, and perform a concert at the end of the clinic.

Special guest readers stopped by the Gaines Academy kindergarten classes on Friday, November 20th. Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat mesmerized the students as they read their story, Curious George by H.A. Rey.  After the reading, Curious George led both students and teachers in an energetic game of ‘George Says.’ What an engaging, fun time for all! Thank you, Ms. Barenborg, for helping to arrange this event.

Awesome! Fantastic! Fun! Just some of the adjectives used to describe the Gaines Academy First Annual Turkey Bowl. Thursday evening’s night of family fun featured games, arts and crafts, face painting, cake walks, relay races, cheerleading instructions, and a Scholastic Book Fair. All of this took place while guests were serenaded by the impressive SGA Band. The featured event of the evening was a chance to win a turkey. Thanks to the generous donations of the following individuals there were NINE turkeys to give away:  Superintendent Gent donated two turkeys, Mrs. Ena Stewart donated one turkey, Ms. Yanet Garcia and family donated one turkey, Mr. Mike … Read More

On Friday, October 23rd, NASA Engineer George “Gabe” Gabrielle, came to Samuel Gaines Academy to speak with our students about space travel.  He taught Mr. Davino’s AVID classes about the NASA facilities, preparing them for their upcoming 8th grade field trip to Kennedy Space Center in November.  Mr. Gabrielle also had a chance to speak with the students in SGA’s 21st Century Program. Both groups enjoyed the presentation and had many questions for him about the wonders of space travel.

More pieces to the puzzle… At Gaines Academy, Mr. Davino’s 8th grade AVID students work with Ms. Calandra’s and Ms. Madalena’s classes during Autism Awareness Month. What a wonderful experience for all!

Gaines Academy students enjoyed sharing the Good News of Gaines at a community meeting held at New Destiny Family Worship Center on the evening of October 15th. Pictured are Delisha Pressley, sponsor of the National Junior Honor Society, and the students who spoke eloquently about the NJHS program, citizenship and their service projects: Abriyana Baboram, Tehilim Rodriguez, Bianca Mendoza, Alysha Josue, Gonzalo Villalta and John Metilus.

Gaines Academy is proud to announce the results of the Student Council elections that were held in the Middle School on October 15th. Newly elected 2015-2016 officers will serve as: Danisha Paul – President, Yasmine Gatlin – Vice President, Amethyst Scott – Secretary, Zakiyah Paul – Treasurer, and Abrianna Minjares – Public Relations officer. Congratulations ladies!  

Hear the Good News of Gaines. Join us for a School Advisory Council/PTO meeting at New Destiny Family Worship Center on Thursday, October 15th at 6PM. New Destiny is located at 1801 North 27th Street in Fort Pierce.     

On Thursday evening, SGA parents attended the “A Day in the Life of an SGA Scholar” Parent Night. Parents began their journey in the audeteria where they learned about the Title I program.  Also, they were excited about the announcement of the principal’s reading challenge. When the SGA students reach 250,000,000 reading steps, Ms. Wilke will do a cheer leading routine. After the initial session, parents made their way to their student’s pod to experience what their scholar does during their academic day.  Students were excited to showcase their work.  

Gaines Academy will host a Doughnuts with Dad Day this Wednesday September 30th at 8am in the SGA Auditeria. Students will have doughnuts with Dad (or any honorary dad or male role model). Then, they will create a special project with Dad for a school-wide display. Come on out, Dads!

The SGA Red & Gold Tie event was an amazing success. Gentlemen from around the county supported Sam Gaines Academy middle school students at the event. These community leaders provided practical tips to the young men on how to tie a tie and offered professional advice on being a successful person. Great relationships were formed and positive expectations were established.  

Gaines Academy is honored to announce our new Assistant Principal, Alex Oge.  Mr. Oge is an exceptional Assistant Principal with eight years of experience at Port Saint Lucie High School.  He has served in the capacities of Dean and Science Teacher at Treasure Coast High School and in New York.  He is married and has two school-aged children.  His wife, Guermithe Oge, is also an educator at Weatherbee Elementary. Staff hosted a breakfast and extended a warm welcome to Mr. Oge as he joined our Colt Family our September 21st.

The September COLT of the month was held on the afternoon of September 17th in the Gaines Academy audeteria. The program started with a welcome message from Principal Wilke. Then, the SGA guidance staff led both parents and students in a fun activity that explained the month’s character trait. After the activity, the giving of the certificates ceremony began. Audience members were thrilled to hear why their child had been chosen by their teacher to represent their class in the power-up trait of RESPONSIBILITY!

On September 11th, SGA paid tribute to our heroes by hosting a grandparents breakfast and dedicating a mural to law enforcement and firefighters. Art Teacher Jordan Emerson along with SGA students created the mural, SGA Stands United, to let first responders know that we appreciate and support them. (Pictured are: Principal Wilke, Assistant Principal Smith, SRD Horowitz and SRO Captain Scavuzzo)

The recent county-wide Bowl for Kids Sake event was great fun for an important cause, as funds raised are used to help support such worthwhile programs as the AmeriCorps volunteer reading program. A big Gaines Academy K8 thank you to, from left pictured, Lisa Bollinger, Traci Wilke, Christen McCray, Mike Clarke and Duane Turner for their support.

Students in Christen McCray’s class at Gaines Academy K8 wrapped up a Nature of Science unit in which they investigated airplanes. Students flew airplanes made from various types of paper to see which would fly the farthest. Students applied the scientific method as they developed a hypothesis, collected, recorded, graphed, analyzed data, drew a conclusion and shared the results. Pictured is Johnnie Velasquez.

Constitution Day is not going unnoticed at Samuel Gaines Academy. Mr. Robert Plowden’s  8th grade students joined this celebration by displaying thinking maps and art work. The students also have entered the “Constitution Day” poster contest and a group of attorneys from the Tri-County area came to speak with them about constitutional amendments.