Congratulations to Chef Gray, Donavin Derrico, and his teammate from IRSC Jay Shemo. They won the Sunshine Kitchen Cook-Off that was held on Tuesday, October 25th. Donavin and Jay both won a $1,500 scholarship! It was a tough competition but clear to see the hard work Donavin, Jay, and Chef Gray put into preparing for this event! We are panther proud!

Culinary Arts students prepped, cooked, and then served the Junior Varsity Football Team a delicious meal before their away game against Port Saint Lucie High School! Go Westwood Panthers! Pictures taken by Commercial Art Students.

Students in Mrs. Brown’s Criminal Justice classes researched and identified invasive species for various states and created UNWANTED Invasive Species posters as part of Westwood Academy’s STEAM initiative.  

Cadets from the Westwood Army JROTC Program participated in a Veteran’s Day Celebration and Charity Fundraiser at Dyer Chevrolet in Fort Pierce. The Color Guard presented the National and State Flags at the beginning of the event. Upon completion of the Color Guard, 3 of our Cadets: Ayden Gardner, Maalik Banks, and Malakii Wheeler participated in the “Operation Bedrock” 5k (3.1 Mile) charity ruck march, to raise money and awareness for Homeless Veterans. Following the ruck march, the Cadets got to spend some time with Congressman Brian Mast, who was the Guest Speaker at the event. Huge praise to the … Read More

Fifty Cadets from the Panther Battalion recently earned their CPR Certification from the Emergency Medical Consultants Company. Cadets received training over a two day period including Infant, Child and Adult CPR and Choking. They also conducted hands-on training with Automated External Defibrillators (AED) which use a controlled “shock” to help restore a victim’s heart rhythm. The Panthers closed out their training with a hands-on and written final exam to earn their two-year certification cards. The training was part of an eight-week first aid course presented during the second semester of their JROTC course.

On January 21st, the Westwood Panthers JROTC Cadets were honored to assist veterans of the Ft. Pierce and Indian River community who have been awarded the Purple Heart Award. The Purple Heart Award is awarded to veterans who have been wounded in action while serving in the United States Armed Forces. The event took place at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum. The Indian River Woodcarver’s, headed by Lloyd Lasenby, designed and carved eagle-head canes. Each cane was personalized to each Purple Heart recipient.

Congratulations to the Ft. Pierce Westwood HS Teams of Cadets who competed in the Junior Leadership and Academic Bowls. The Academic team consisted of Cadets Andrews, Loschin, Soto, Flores, and the alternative cadet Rigsby. The Leadership team consisted of Cadets Payen, Egan, Lovell, Ocampo, Hartley, and Reese. Out of the 1,308 teams that participated across America to include Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Hawaii, Guam, and DOD Schools across the world; they’ve earned the bragging rights to say both teams will be moving on to Level 2.  The next level of the competition will be held February 1-15.

Band students have been practicing non-stop to prepare for Friday night’s debut at Westwood’s first home football game for the 22-23 season. Students have shown serious dedication through summer-long band camp and practices after school with Band Director Mr. Auguste. We look forward to seeing them hit the field!

In conjunction with Black History Month, and the City of Fort Pierce’s Highwaymen Heritage Trail Festival, Fort Pierce Westwood Academy celebrated Highwaymen Week. The Highwaymen were discussed school-wide and to honor their legacy, Ms. Hoots’ Drawing 1 classes researched and executed a series of Highwaymen murals. Drawing 1 students covered a full spectrum of Highwaymen history to better understand who they are and why they are so important to the community. These students discussed the primordial Florida landscapes that the Highwaymen painted and the 13 categories that they fall into: Royal Poinciana, Ocean Shore, Breaking Waves, Fire Skies, Indian River, St. Lucie and inland Rivers, Backcountry, Backcountry Pines, Rivers of Grass, People, Stormy Weather, Moonlight on the Water, and Orange Groves. Students … Read More

Thank you to the Fort Pierce Art Club for hosting its annual fundraiser “Magnificent Miniatures” exhibit and auction. Four FPWA students won awards for their outstanding artworks: Lacy Sampson, Kamara Johnson, Taina Salazar, and Mariah Scordamaglia. The event was a huge success and the FPWA Art Department was awarded $500. THANK YOU to our community for supporting the arts!!!

The Westwood Army JROTC Raider Team competed in an Area 3 Raider Meet at Port St Lucie High School. Raider Meets are very physical competitions that the Cadets train for every week during “Raider Season” (Mon-Thurs 2 pm-4 pm). The team attends 4-6 of these meets per fall. The Westwood Cadets squared off against eight other teams from various high schools located all along the Treasure Coast. For this competition we had (1) male team of ten Cadets and (1) mixed team of ten Cadets representing the Panther Battalion. The events for this meet included: 5k Team Run: All 10 members of … Read More

AICE Environmental Management students, with Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, are involved in water quality sampling with ponds and in the Indian River Lagoon. This study is conducted three times a year to monitor water quality and seasonal biodiversity. After each pond sampling, students listen to guest lecturers share about their research and how they got to where they are.

Forest Grove Middle School welcomed Fort Pierce Westwood Academy to speak to our 8th-grade students. FGMS is a school that is committed to exposing our students to all things that will have an effective and positive impact on their futures. The visit was proactive, purposeful and exposed our students to what is soon to come. On a daily basis we communicate the importance of perseverance, goal setting, leadership, and accountability, and having the Principal of Westwood, Mr. Alfonso, and the Assistant Principal, Ms. Kennedy communicate the exact sentiments was reassuring and presented a powerful message! We hold the futures of … Read More

West Gate K8’s second annual Community Walk for Autism Speaks was a huge success! Over 1,500 community members came out to bring awareness to a condition that affects 1 in 62 children. The event featured West Gate’s former student Mozart Sobrinho performing his song, “Stay with You.” The family fun walk also included bounce houses, DJ Calvo, face painting, information on services for people with autism, and more. Five other schools formed teams to participate in the walk and West Gate alone collected over $1010.00.  Along with the St. Lucie County Firefighters, West Gate’s walk for Autism Speaks raised $18, … Read More

This year the Westgate Adopt-A-Class program led the county in classroom donations. More than $2,450.00 was donated to various classrooms.  The teachers would like to thank our parent community for their generosity. Special thanks goes to teacher Dawn Mealing and SAC member Dana Stonelake for working so hard to spread the word about this wonderful program.

Kelly Koenke, representing the orthodontic offices of Dr. Lee Leglar, recently surprised WestGate K8 fifth grade teacher Yanet Garcia with an Apple I-pad. Fifth grade WestGate students and teachers attended the Education Day events at the Mets Stadium on May 16th, and teachers put their names in a drawing for the IPad, and Ms. Garcia was the lucky winner of the raffle sponsered by Dr. Leglar. Ms. Koenke and Ms. Danny Ormstom also surprised Ms. Garcia’s students with pizza and soda. A sincere thank you to Dr. Leglar for supporting St. Lucie Schools. Pictured are Ms. Koenke, left, and Ms. Garcia.

A group of 42 eighth grade WestGate students and four chaperones recently visited Washington, D.C. They visited the White House, and upon entering the East Wing, the newly appointed Secretary of the Treasury, Jacob Lew, was leaving the White House and returning to the adjacent Treasury Department. They visited the Jefferson, World War II, Grant and Martin Luther King, Jr., memorials. They visited the Kennedy famly gravesite at the Arlington National cemetery, and viewed the solemn ceremony of the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. The students then visited Madame Tussauds Wax Museum and took pictures … Read More

Students in Christopher Calvo’s third grade class at WestGate K8 School have been studying the history of Costa Rica for Hispanic Heritage Month. The students’ main focus was the volcanoes of Costa Rica.  Students created volcanoes constructed using cardboard and plastic water bottles, covered with paper mache and painted. Pictured, standing from right, are Assistant Superintendent Dr. Mark Rendell, WestGate Principal Robert Cranmer, and Mr. Calvo with students watching in awe as the six volcanoes were erupted in the hallway.

Second graders in Kelsey Schumacher’s class explored apples using the scientific method. As scientists, they posed several questions and generated a hypothesis. After gathering the necessary materials, they went to work in the classroom and the science lab to find out if their work supported their hypothesis. After the investigations were over, the students wrote conclusions and shared their findings with each other. Students in Janet Brewi’s middle school science classes then interviewed the younger scientists about their work.