Congratulations to third, fourth and fifth grade Math Bowl teams from Gaines Academy for their representation at the first ever St. Lucie Schools Math Bowl. The Math Bowl was a team academic competition in which four students worked collaboratively to solve math problems in less than 5 minutes. Gaines Academy’s third grade team placed third, the fourth grade team placed first, and the fifth grade team placed third. Pictured holding their trophy are Lopez Bourjolly, left, and Gabriela Armendariz, students in Kimberly Masters’ third grade class.

Samuel Gaines primary teachers presented at the Florida Reading Association Conference on Oct. 17. Mission Possible: Helping Younger Readers Access Complex Text was well received by the audience of primary teachers from across the state. Participants learned about text complexity, interactive notebooks and close reading strategies during this engaging session. Pictured from Left to Right: Tina Eaker, Jennifer McCluskey, Kimberly Mallard and Lenaiah Wood

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.

Kudos for Sam Gaines Academy AVID students for volunteering to tutor struggling students during seventh period, two days per week, for three weeks prior FCAT Writes! The awesome student tutors are, from left, Jesus Gill, David Osorio, Wayne Farmer, Allison Schiavi, Dana Bennett, Sherneice Robins, Bianca Castillo, and Shania Farmer.  Without the one-on-one tutorial ESE and ESOL student received by these outstanding and unselfish students, these struggling students would not achieve the writing scores they will achieve when test score come back.  Pictured, Sherneice Robin and Shania Farmer tutor Kenia Santizo Guerra, an ESOL student for the FCAT Writes test.

Students and families recently visited many countries while traveling around the world at Gaines Academy. Pictured with passports in hand are second grade student Jason Jacques in Mikki Greer’s class, and his sister Jennifer, a kindergartner in Leigh Chesney’s class upon arriving in Egypt, where they encounter a camel created by eighth graders in Paul Small’s class. They also saw a pyramid with mummies inside and hieroglyphic prints.

Fifth grade students at Gaines Academy have worked really hard constructing amazing ecosystems. They were studying biomes and plant/animal adaptations.  Pictured with a diorama of the Savannas are Ydori Torres and Rossmirline Feneliace from Chrystal Bonowicz’ class.

First grade students at Gaines Academy enjoyed a recent field trip to Ric’s Garden World.  The students explored the garden and learned about plants and insects after studying plants in the classroom.  Pictured from Margot Williams’ class, from left, are Guadalupe Acosta-Carrasco, Karla Castro, Andrew Reeves, and Jerry Dexpreux.

Through heart-warming stories and eye-opening pictures, students from Zambia were able to share their stories with Samuel Gaines Academy students. Students learned that at a particular school in Zambia, due to lack of funds, teachers have little resources to utilize. With an eagerness to serve, members of the school’s chapter of the National Elementary and Junior Honor Societies, along with students from Katie Ludwig’s seventh grade Critical Thinking class, worked relentlessly and passionately for weeks to create educational books and posters for the students in Zambia. Thanks to faculty member Chelsea Hartz, NEHS sponsor, students were also able to send a video of the … Read More

Samuel Gaines Academy offers an after school tutoring program called A+ Tutor U.  Participating students were recognized with medallions and gift cards for the academic growth they have made in the program throughout the year. Pictured, top row from left, are Matt Roy, Yohan Purkiss, Jesus Cuevas, Kemmy Brianvil, and teacher Kimberly Masters.  Bottom row, from left, are Jesicca Pena-Altamirano, Tomarrow Flucker, and Tom Flucker.

Fourth grade Samuel S. Gaines Academy students, from left, Adrian Zarate, Jaelyn Aguilar, and Megan Kelchner practice for the school’s final musical of the year, “Freddie the Frog and the Mighty Meter Gnome,” presented by the 21st Century after school program. Thank you to all who helped make this musical a success.

Second grade students Victoria Shiver and Gonzalo Villaltafrom in Ashley Steward’s class at Samuel Gaines Academy show off their successful contraction “surgery.” Students worked in pairs to perform “surgery” on words. The students started with two words and had to create one contraction by correctly cutting the words apart and adding a band aid (apostrophe) in the precise spot.

Students in Karen Madalena’s class at Samuel Gaines Academy participated in the recent St. Lucie County Special Olympics Track and Field event at Lawnwood Stadium. This event is part of the new Young Atheletes Program (YAP) that helps children with disabilities develop motor, social, and cognitive skills as well as giving the students the opportunity to learn and have fun! Pictured is Ezekiel Simmens jumping the hurdles as he completes the obstacle course.

During a writing lesson, second grade teacher Mikki Greer from Gaines Academy became aware that some of the students had never made a fort out of blankets.  The next day the class looked at pictures of different types of forts and even created a few of their own. The forts were used for quiet reading during 100 Book Challenge. The students reading in their fort, from left, are Anthony Aguiniga, Jesus Andrade, and Jason Jacques.

Students in Catie Smith’s science resource class at Samuel S. Gaines Academy have been exploring energy while learning about conductivity and electricity! Students learned content with the use of interactive notebooks, and then explored energy through this inquiry lab. Pictured, from left, are Shawn Vega, Grayvon Compere, Shanell Sullivan, and Keishon Polycarpe.

Samuel S. Gaines Academy proudly inducted its first class of students into the National Junior and Elementary Honor Societies. Twelve middle school students and 14 elementary students met the national criteria for membership in the areas of scholarship, citizenship and volunteerism. Teachers April Jones and Katie Ludwig will serve as faculty sponsors for these students as they accept their new leadership roles. Congratulations to these student leaders. Pictured, from left are Ms. Ludwig, Ebony Young, Nicole Thomas, Edgar Carrasco, Cristian Hernandez, Michaela Kelly, Adriana Claderon, Daniela Hernandez, Hailey Griggs, Edith Raya, and Julia Barrett.

Seven seventh grade students from Samuel S. Gaines Academy impressed the judges at the recent districtwide Project Citizen event hosted at Samuel Gaines Academy. With the assistance and support from their civics teacher John Davino, these students were able to impress the judges and represent Samuel Gaines Academy with their proposal that “Suspension should be Suspended!” Pictured, from left, are Mateo Rubio, Adriana Calderon, Ashley Dean, Ebony Young, Yanet Guzman, Tatiana Wilks, and Aide Aguilar as they prepare for their group’s four-minute speech, “Solutions, Solutions, Not Suspension.”

Juding and ceremonies for Project Citizen, 2012, at Sam Gaines Academy was held recently.  As the hostesses, students and staff members were extra excited to impress the judges and community.  After several weeks and months of grueling work, it was finally time for students to present their projects. There were three groups from Gaines Academy — one group was from Mary Gokcen’s seventh grade civics class, in which students created a project that focused on the problem of bullying.  The other two groups presented their projects on FCAT.  The first group was from John Davino’s first period civics class, and included, pictured from left, … Read More

 The anxious, edge-of-seat reaction from my students when Kevin Moore,  Alan Damisse , and Kevin Parkes volunteered their free time to speak to 7th graders at Samuel S. Gaines Academy in Fort Pierce was a proud moment. Keeping the undivided attention of thirteen- year –olds is quite the daunting task. Most people would be intimidated by ninety teenagers gawking at them, but these confident, accomplished young men definitely played it cool. Not only were they well-spoken, but they were charming, funny, and engaging. Kevin Moore, a paramedic student at Indian River State College, was the first to take the floor. … Read More

Members from the Samuel Gaines Academy’s National Honor Junior Society are packing food for the Elks Weekend Backpack Program, a project to provide meals on the weekends to children in need. Pictured, from left, are Edgar Carrasco, Edith Raya, Adriana Calderon, Ebony Young, and Michaela Kelly.