Category: School News

Northport K-8 Media Center is busy promoting books, programs and initiatives, but the one most special to media specialist Lynne Gruszka and principal Glenn Rustay is the “Building American Pride, One Flag At A Time” program. The program was kick started immediately following the Northport annual 9/11 Remembrance program in September. Guest speaker, retired New York City Detective and 9/11 First Responder Albert Hickey, spoke to the students about his experiences and noted that few homes had American flags waving on his drive to the school. Many students expressed that they would like an American flag flying from their homes … Read More

At Mariposa Elementary, Cynthia Deal in Maria Nunez’s fourth grade class was engaged in finding 12 different types of angles. The activity included having a great deal of fun during the learning process. Cynthia used mini-marshmallows and wooden toothpicks to create these various angles.

Northport K-8 School has been buzzing with super spellers recently as 35 students in grades four through eight practiced using flashcards, spelling buddies and parent support to help make the annual Northport Spelling Bee a phenomenal success. Parents, fellow students and staff cheered as the school based winner was announced on the afternoon announcements. The spelling bee went eight intense, very professional rounds. The winner of the bee is Ashley Quijada, a seventh grade Northstar student. Ashley will participate in the Scripps Regional Spelling Bee held at the Port St. Lucie Civic Center on Saturday, March 8, 2014 at 9:00 … Read More

Students and staff at Palm Pointe Educational Research School @ Tradition celebrated literacy recently by participating in a Literacy and Linguini evening event.  Families were invited to come and enjoy a free spaghetti dinner and watch students and staff members act out skits from books. Over 600 people came out for the event. Students all received a free book and bookmark and adults were also able to participate in a free book exchange. Several staff members dressed up as storybook characters and took pictures with students. Pictured, from left, are staff members Matthew Kovach, Summer Kuba, Emily Bokhart, Debbie Iseman, Dana Schang, Tina Ruybulid, … Read More

Lincoln Park Academy and St. Lucie West Centennial High School cheerleading squads recently competed in the regional cheerleading competition held in Tampa. Under the direction of coaches Traci Krencik at Lincoln Park Academy, and Sara Connell at St. Lucie West Centennial, both squads practiced very hard for the regional competition and the upcoming state competition to be held soon in Kissimmee. In the regional competition, the Lincoln Park squad came in third place out of five teams in their category, and the Centennial squad placed fifth out of the eight teams in their division. Good luck to both teams at … Read More

Students in Edward Albert’s fifth grade class at Lakewood Park Elementary recently performed a tasty science lesson. They were doing a lab where they made a model (out of chocolate) learning how the three different types of rocks are formed. Pictured are Adonay Ayala-Garcia, left, and Nick Rowse.

Kindergartners in Molly Hartley’s class at Oak Hammock K8 School recently jumped into a story in the media center! Using an iPad app and an amazing book, students got to see the pages of “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” by William Joyce come alive on the SmartBoard! Pictured, from left, are Amarion Johnson, Benjamin Spencer Taylor, Presley Spencer, Ethan Riggs, Clifford Pierre, Deanna Romero, Brianna Monroig, Isaiah Ocasio, Richard Lucas III, Zachary Kaes, and Chloe Caldwell.

The Fort Pierce Central High School (FPCHS) JROTC recently celebrated its 29th Anniversary Military Ball, which was a culmination of all the hard work the cadets have put into the program over the past semester. The event was nearly totally planned and executed by the cadet staff, headed by the Cadet Battalion Commander Nicole Geldmaker and Cadet Executive officer Leandro Troncoso. The event consisted of a formal diner and ceremony as well as a dance. The guest speaker was FPCHS Assistant Principal Mimi Hoffman. The cadets enjoyed themselves while still remaining respectful of the organization and the venue of their … Read More

Parkway Elementary School students pictured, from left, Charline Julien, Alexandria Lee and Jody Louis represented Parkway Elementary in the recent MLK Commemorative Committee Grand Parade with the theme, “The Vision Makes Their Future Bright!”

Northport K-8 School was delighted to host retired United States Navy Lt. Commander Jerry Padrta recently as a guest speaker for students in Nick Carey, Georgia Stone, Carla Caldwell, Mindi Slater and Tracey Healy’s fifth and middle grades classes. LCDR Padrta spoke to the students about his upbringing as a child in Northern Minnesota, the hardships and the driving cold weather. He spoke about his school and college experience and perhaps most intriguing to the students and teachers, his naval career spent in a submarine. Padrta gave an eye opening talk about the history of the submarine. The first sub … Read More

Floresta Elementary School recently hosted Family Math Nights. Kindergarten through second grade and third grade through fifth grade students and parents attended two special presentations explaining the new Common Core State Standards along with an overview of what students are expected to become fluent in with regards to mathematics. Parents and students participated in math tutorials that included double-digit multiplication using partial product and long division using partial quotient. Parents learned math games to use at home with their students as well as tricks and tips on how to talk with their children about math. Family Math Night at Floresta … Read More

The Port Saint Lucie High School Jaguar Battalion showed their pride at the annual Martin Luther King Junior day parade in Fort Pierce.

Staff and faculty from Samuel S. Gaines Academy participated in the recent Grand Parade to celebrate the Martin Luther King, Jr., Day festivities. Representing the school, from left, are district employee award nominees, Teacher of the Year nominee Christen McCray, Distinguished Minority Educator nominee Robert Plowden, and and School Related Employee of the Year nominee Cequila Terry.

Northport K-8 students, parents, teachers and staff joined hundreds of other Florida schools to celebrate literacy this year during “Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida!” The week of January 13 through 17, 2014 was themed “Reading Accelerates Success!” The week long celebration at Northport K-8 School included fun and intriguing activities that helped students connect with all kinds of careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The activities helped celebrate the success that Northport has accomplished. Some of the activities included “Get Caught Reading” tickets for prize drawings, Title Mash boards where students decorated their favorite book title, “Chew and Read” activities, … Read More

Students in Elizabeth Butterworth’s second grade class at Lakewood Park Elementary recently had a COOL blast constructing snowmen. The STEM math project introduced a money unit by students purchasing each piece of their snowman and keeping the cost below $25.00.  Students were required to do a purchase order and write a sales pitch. The students experienced a “snowman cool time” while writing and doing math. Pictured are Ms. Butterworth and her students with their snowmen displayed on the bulletin board.

A number of Northport K-8 School administrators, teachers, students and parents supported the community and the St. Lucie School District by marching and riding in a float during the annual Martin Luther King, Jr., parade in Ft. Pierce recently. The Northport community was glad to help promote the theme “Continuing the Vision Through Education and Advocacy” and encouraged the community to remember Dr. King’s dream. The Northport K-8 School middle grades band, under the direction of instructor Brian Hoce, marched in the parade and played the song “Stand By Me,” originally performed by Ben E. King. Northport third grade student … Read More

Members of the Fort Pierce Rotary Club recently visited Samual S. Gaines Academy and presented all third grade students with a free dictionary. Pictured is Rotarian Stephen Neil with students receiving their very own dictionaries!

Dale Cassen Educational Complex (DCEC) student Jesus Dominguez was recognized by the St. Lucie County School Board at its January 14, 2014, business meeting for being honored as the Very Special Arts Florida (VSAFL) November Student of the Month. The VSAFL program is designed to increase public awareness and recognize the impact arts make on students with disabilities statewide. Students who participate in the arts develop creativity, have increased self-confidence, understand teamwork, have increased language and math skills and are generally more engaged. DCEC art teacher Dan Galloway, who recognized Jesus’ talent and vivid imagination, and his utilization of art … Read More