Palm Pointe Educational Research School @ Tradition third graders have been studying character traits and how they affect the sequence of events in a story. The children decorated pumpkins to match the character in their story along with creating thinking maps and writing an essay. Pictured is Jackson Register with his book and pumpkin “Duck for President”.
Northport community was so pleased to host the Riverside Children’s Theater recently for a live production of “The Greatest Invention Never Invented!” Students were in awe of the performance that showcased actors Allison Heinz, Emily Parrish and Wen Powers.
The theme of the production was the history and science of electricity. Students learned how electricity was discovered rather than invented and how that discovery led to other inventions that utilize electricity.
Students were also introduced to autobiographical information about historical figures such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Nicola Tesla and Michael Faraday.The production elaborated how these scientists developed inventions using electricity through a courtroom scenario.
The students listened and laughed enthusiastically throughout the engaging live production.
Students from the Northstar team, Dolphin team and selected fourth and fifth graders reflected on the learning with their instructors following the production by answering probing questions and utilizing exit tickets. Many students also wrote sonnets to process the new information as well as writing thank you notes to cast members acknowledging specific information from the production.
Wonderful and lively educational experience for all involved!
Special thanks to Dr. Laura Woodworth for organizing the event.
Palm Pointe Educational Research School @ Tradition recently held a workshop “Homework Help” for parents. St Lucie County’s Parent Academy came to Palm Pointe to provide parents with the tools to help them deal with common homework problems such as: refusing to do homework, talking, or waiting until the last minute. All parents with students in grades K-8 were invited to come to the event. This workshop was very informative for the parents and was well attended. Pictured is Craig Perry and Nancy Brown from the Parent Academy as they present information at the workshop.
The kindergarten and first grade students at Westgate, completed their studies of Argentina and Mexico with a school wide parade.
Each of the grades at Westgate has been involved with cultural studies of various Hispanic nations to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month.
Zachary Hunt- Bianco (center) and all his friends from Ms. Bean’s kindergarten class, marched through Westgate wearing their Argentina Flag costumes.
Second grade students at Frances K Sweet participated in a vocabulary parade showcasing their knowledge of vocabulary words that were learned in the first nine weeks of school. Mrs. Amy Johnson’s we excited to share their knowledge with the other students in the school. Students Pictured: Jaquez Albury, Omar Andrade-Fernandez, Yaiden Beausejour-Joseph, Christopher Brunson, Javian Gardner, Jayden Leddy, Andy Marin-Ortiz, Wilkens Michaud, Genese Roopnarine, Guinevere Sauveur, Dennis Scott Jr., and Kaylee Uff
St Lucie Public Schools was presented an award by Eric Stern from Action for Healthy Kids at the school board meeting on October 28th. The District earned a Silver level on the Coordinated School Health Assessment that includes the areas of Health Services, Food Services, Physical Education, Staff Wellness, Mental Health, and Community and Family Involvement. Pictured are, Debbie Hawley, Eric Stern, Carlye Fabrikant, and Genelle Yost.
Students in Mrs. Julia Melville’s second grade class have been studying the human body. As a culminating activity to this unit, students created a model of the human skeleton, identifying the bones and their basic functions in relation to the human body. Pictured are Fayth Coley, Carsen Reis, Kanosha Hartwell, and Jonah Dicuia with their skeletons.
Tri-M does the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
By Kaylyn Redway, 8th grade, Southern Oaks Middle
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has been a HUGE hit worldwide! So far the ALS foundation has received over $94.3 million dollars in donations compared to $2.7 million during the same time period last year. If you don’t know, ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis also known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. For more information on ALS, go to www.mda.org.
“I think the Ice Bucket Challenge is important because we are showing that we support anyone and everyone who is effected by ALS,” was Aimee Pezzino’s, SOMS Tri-M co-president, answered when asked why she thinks the Ice Bucket Challenge is important.
S.O.M.S Tri-M completed the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge after school. Tri-M is an organization for people who are in band and chorus to come together and help the community. Tri-M does beach clean-ups, go to help out at animal shelters, and tons more! People join Tri-M because it’s a chance to give back to the community and being able to hang out with friends. Tri-M co-presidents, Aimee Pezzino and Julia Moras, came up with the idea of doing the Ice Bucket Challenge.
During her interview, Aimee was asked what her plans are as co-president of Tri-M, “As co-president, I plan to raise money for our Band and its needs. I also plan to show that we care about our environment by hosting road and beach clean ups. As a whole, I plan to make volunteering a fun and effective thing to participate in.”
The Kindergarten and VPK students at White City ES enjoyed their annual trip to the White City United Methodist Church’s pumpkin patch. The community and school joined together to show the Kindergarten students at WCE a fun fall experience. Students listened to a story about pumpkins while watching the reader carve a real pumpkin to go along with the story. The students toured the pumpkin patch and compared how the pumpkins were the same and different using their five senses. Everyone got to bring home their very own pumpkin to remember our fun day!
Congratulations to all of the AP Spanish Language students who passed with scores of 3, 4 and 5. Ms. Denski’s students had a 100% passing rate! These test takers were among the first to take the newly redesigned AP Spanish Language and Culture course which went into effect in fall 2013. The new curriculum integrates the following five themes: communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities. The Advanced Placement Program enables students to pursue college-level studies with the opportunity to earn college credit while still in high school. AP Exams are given each year in May. Ms. Denski, an AP Reader herself, is very happy and grateful that the new course demands were successfully met.
Northport K-8 School has been providing instruction and a variety of opportunities to expand student knowledge, understanding and awareness of individuals with disabilities, disability history and the disability rights movement recently. Disability and History Awareness Instruction was signed into law in 2008 and Northport K-8 School gladly acknowledges the designation of the first two weeks in October as an opportunity to celebrate Inclusion and Awareness.
One in every five Americans is a person with a disability. A great example of the instruction occurring at Northport K-8 School showcasing Disability Awareness has been in the classroom of Dr. Laura Woodworth. Dr. Woodworth teaches science on the Northstar team. Recently, students experienced what it like to live as a disabled person. Students wore special glasses coated with Vaseline to mimic glaucoma and macular degeneration. They read aloud to a lab partner with the glasses to understand the difficulty of vision impairment. Students also wore large gloves to push buttons, try to write and use their hands to mimic arthritis and neuropathy. Students then wore special headphones to understand hearing loss. All took speech discrimination tests and then reflected on their disabilities, discussing with a learning partner how it felt to have a disability. Following the exercises, students wrote reflection essays on what it was like to have a disability and brainstormed about how the non-disabled could assist the disabled person better. Students cited information gleaned from the Disability Etiquette 101 handout that was derived from the list of resources offered by the Saint Lucie County Student Services Program.
Students all across the campus are reading books from a targeted list sourced from the media center and discussing how a person may be born with a disability, may acquire a disability through an accident or illness, or may acquire a disability as a part of growing older.
Pictured are students from Dr. Laura Woodworth’s class engaging in awareness activities.
What an awesome day to be in first grade! On Friday we got to dress up and show off our favorite characters in the book of our choice!
Everyone in Mrs. West’s first grade class participated by reading their favorite book. Students completed a brown bag book report which included describing the characters, settings, and events of a fictional story. (RL.1.3). Students presented their bags by sharing the characters in their book, a summary they wrote of what happened in the beginning, middle, and end, and showed off the five items they placed inside the bag that represented the book.On top of letting the students get artistic and creating their own character bag, students were allowed to dress up as their favorite character from that book! We had ninja turtles, mermaids, and princesses walk into the class and captivate us into their fictional world.
Hafsa Saeed meets President Obama while attending the Broadcom Masters Science and Engineering competition in Washington DC last month. A true testament of our Greyhound spirit, pride and excellence. She certainly represented us well!!!
Hafsa received a medal, $1000 for her school (LPA), $500 for herself, and she got a mini planet and an asteroid named after her and for her sponsored teacher.
Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars)
Science costumes give a whole new meaning to Science vocabulary. On Wednesday, October 29, 2014, students and teachers at Morningside Elementary dressed up as their favorite Science term. Some of the terms included texture, stars, clouds, the skeletal system, camouflage, atoms and color. The students paraded through the halls showing their costumes to their fellow school mates.
At the School Board Meeting on October 14th Dr. Judi Miller, Big Brothers Big Sisters, recognized winners from the Bowl For Kids Sake event. 100 % of all monies collected go to Big Brothers Big Sisters Reading Mentor Program. In fifth place was St. Lucie West K-8, Susan Seal and John Keelor. In fourth place was Palm Pointe Educational Research School, Debra Snyder and Beth Wuycheck. In third place was Rivers Edge Elementary, Kerri Walukiewicz and Ashley Easom. In Second place was Frances K. Sweet Elementary, Juanita Wright and Barbara Bennett; and First Place went to Floresta Elementary, Bernadette Floyd and Linda Menikheim.
Pictured are, Debbie Hawley, Christy Nuccio, Barbara Bennett, Mike Fitzgerald, Andrew McIntosh, Ashley Easom, Kerri Walukiewicz, Christine Hill, John Keelor, Susan Seal, Genelle Yost, Bernadette Floyd, and on the front row are, Linda Menikheim, Cemera Clancy, and Judi Miller.
St. Lucie Public Schools were recognized at the School Board Meeting on October 28th who achieved the Silver School Award for 2013-14. The Silver School Award is presented to recognize secondary schools that provide exemplary services to elementary and secondary schools that meet the following criteria: the sending school must have a school volunteer who provides coordination of the program, placement of students, orientation/training for the receiving staff, student/program evaluation, and student volunteer supervision; student volunteers and the receiving faculty must both receive orientation and training; the composite student volunteer hours must equal at least one half the total number of students (FTE count) in the sending school; and elementary schools are not eligible for this award.
The awards were presented to the following schools: Fort Pierce Central High, Fort Pierce Westwood High, Forest Grove Middle, Lincoln Park Academy, Northport K-8, Oak Hammock K-8, Port St. Lucie High, St. Lucie West Centennial High, St. Lucie West K-8, Southern Oaks Middle, Southport Middle, Treasure Coast High, and West Gate K-8. Congratulations!
The Golden School Award for 2013-14 were presented to St. Lucie Public Schools at the School Board Meeting on October 28, 2014. The award went to all schools who had 80% of the school staff participate in training for a school volunteer; a volunteer coordinator designated for recruitment, placement, training and supervision of school volunteers; and, school volunteer hours that equal twice the number of students enrolled in the school. The schools that achieved this award were: Allapattah Flats K-8, Bayshore Elementary, Chester A. Moore Elementary, Fairlawn Elementary, Floresta Elementary, Forest Grove Middle, Frances K. Sweet Elementary, Lakewood Park Elementary, Lawnwood Elementary, Lincoln Park Academy, Mariposa Elementary, Northport K-8, Oak Hammock K-8, Palm Point Educational Research School, Parkway Elementary, Savanna Ridge Elementary, Southern Oaks Middle, St. Lucie Elementary, St. Lucie West K-8, Village Green Environmental Studies School, Weatherbee Elementary, West Gate K-8, White City Elementary, and Windmill Point Elementary. Congratulations!
Five Star School Awards for 2013-14 were presented to St. Lucie Public Schools at the Board meeting on October 28, 2014. In order for a school to qualify for this prestigious award they must have a grade of “C” or above for the school year; achieve 100% of the criteria in the categories of Business Partners, Family Involvement, Volunteers, Student Community Service and School advisory Councils; and have a portfolio that documents the achievements of each criteria. The awards were given to: Allapattah Flats K-8, Bayshore Elementary, Fairlawn Elementary, Forest Grove Middle, Frances K. Sweet Elementary, Lawnwood Elementary, Lincoln Park Academy, Mariposa Elementary, Morningside Elementary, Northport K-8, Palm Pointe Educational Research School, Parkway Elementary, Savanna Ridge Elementary, Southern oaks Middle, Southport Middle, St. Lucie West Centennial High, St. Lucie West K-8, Treasure Coast High, Village Green Environmental Studies School, Weatherbee Elementary, West Gate K-8, and White City Elementary. Congratulations!
Chandler Snowden, Wyatt Clayton, and Cory Rendell are future Electric Engineers who are trying to determine how to effectively increase the strength of an electromagnet at Allapattah Flats.
Florida Fish and Wildlife (FWC) gave a presentation for second grade at Samuel Gaines Academy. Students learned about what these officers do, how they help the community, and how laws and consequences are carried out. Students were able to see a demonstration with the K-9, as well as, a close look at the trucks and boats FWC uses.