Katelyn Whitaker was involved in the recent Environmental Perspectives showcase of Arts and Sciences at Fort Pierce Westwood’s Marine & Oceanographic Academy. Katelyn is shown with her artwork.

St. Lucie County Circuit Court Judge Dan Vaughn recently visited Southern Oaks Middle School. Seventh grade students have been learning about the three branches of government in their civics classes this year. Judge Vaughn spoke with the students about what it means to him to be a judge, and the education needed to become one. The students were eager to ask Judge Vaughn questions about the judicial branch of the government and how it works. Judge Vaughn explained to the students about the history of the robe, which seemed to be a big cause for questions. He also discussed courtroom … Read More

Mariposa Elementary School recently held its Spirit Night at Chick-Fil-A of the Treasure Coast Mall. Chick-Fil-A helped the third grade team raise funds for their upcoming field trip to Legoland. Thank you to Mr. Kiedis of Chick-Fil-A and to all the families who came out and supported the event. Pictured are third grade teachers Monica Almeida, from left, Judy Graham, and Theresa Delancy who manned the Spin-A-Prize booth at the event.

Mariposa Elementary School recently held another Read to Succeed Night. Families came and participated in the activities. Special guest for the night was Bruce Shwedick of the Reptile Discovery Program. He brought with him a 15 pound yellow shelled tortoise from Brazil, a 25-pound Alligator snapping turtle, a nine-foot long reticulated python, and Banana Girl (a 16-foot albino python!), among others. Everyone learned from the information Mr. Shwedick shared about these awesome reptiles! Pictured is Alanna Rivera bravely touching Banana Girl!

Members of Fort Pierce Central High School’s Student Council surprised their valued resource, their teachers. Tillman’s Famous BBQ provided a catered lunch to help the students honor the teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week.

32 middle and high school students from St. Lucie Public Schools competed at the 2013 Florida History Fair in Tallahassee on May 6. All entries were based on this year’s annual theme, “Turning Points in History: People, Ideas, Events.” Students who placed in either first or second place at the District History Fair held on March 2 were eligible to advance to the state competition. Two students from Treasure Coast High School, Faith Percival and Ashlyn Rust, received the Native American Heritage Award from the Florida Governor’s Council on Indian Affairs for their website entry “Spanish Conquest of the Inca … Read More

Southern Oaks Middle School students students were mesmerized by the seriousness of tobacco use and what it can do to your body and brain in a recent presentation. Students were shown half of a human brain and a monkey brain from a tobacco user. The presenter was a former employee of the tobacco industry who shared many funny stories which kept the students interested, and have not stopped talking about it.

Students in Christine King’s and Felicia Cobb’s fifth grade classes at Allapattah Flats K8 have been working hard during their after school tutoring program. They have been working with the Art in History curriculum where they interact with text that explains the historical significance of an important artifact in history. The students shown in the photo were assigned the Terra Cotta Warriors of the Qin Dynasty (pronounced “chin”). They read about the history of the Qin Dynasty and the significance of the warriors. After about two weeks of research, they designed their own unique Terra Cotta Warriors shown above. Pictured, from left … Read More

The cadets of the Jaguar Battalion from Port St. Lucie High School presented the Colors for the Senior Awards Ceremony recently at Indian River State College from three programs — Educational Talent Search, St. Lucie Upward Bound, and Upward Bound Math and science. The ceremony began with the presentation of the Colors, by the Jaguar Battalion, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. The cadets that participated were cadet Staff Sergeant Robert Hopkins as commander holding the National flag, cadet Corporal Lily Durst holding the State flag, cadet Staff Sergeant Cole Herndon and cadet Sergeant Tyrone Salazar as the guards. Pictured, … Read More

Fourth grade students at Allapattah Flats K-8 School have spent the school year learning about Florida’s history as part of their Social Studies curriculum. As a culminating activity, the fourth graders recently took a field trip to St. Augustine. The students were able to visit the Old Jail, Florida Heritage museum, Fort Castillo de San Marcos, Historic St. George Street, and ride on a narrated trolley tour. The students were able to see the pages of their textbooks come alive and learned many interesting facts about our state’s history from the many tour guides and landmarks. This was a memorable … Read More

Students in Marta Almiron’s kindergarten class at WestGate K8 School recently got a presidential-sized surprise recently when they received a response letter from the White House. The students had written letters to President Barack Obama in November, 2012, congratulating him on his victory, and Ms. Almiron sent the letters to the White House. I thought the letters were just too cute to keep them for my self, so I mailed them to the White House. President Obama sent a response, along with his autographed photograph, and a picture of First Dog Bo. Pictured are the kindergartners with their prized letter … Read More

Northport K-8 School’s youngest authors share their secrets to publishing a well planned, revised, edited and  well written, illustrated book as they meet in the Media Center with their classes. Kindergarten student Isaac Muniz, from Melody Nieves’ class, and Fabian Allen from Lorri Lamm’s second grade class, sit together to share their stories. Isaac’s book, titled “SpongeBob” and Fabian’s book, titled “The Day I Was A Super Hero,” were instant success stories with students as they moved from buddy to buddy sharing their stories and their secrets to effective writing! The promotion of positive interactions can be attributed to a school culture … Read More

Second grade students at Savanna Ridge Elementary School in Kristi Collins’ classroom who reach their reading goals earned dog tags to show how many points they earned on Scholastic Reading Counts. The students are given the opportunity to read and take assessments online to show their progress. Each time students take the assessment, they earn more points and are awarded the next level dog tag. The points start at 25 and go up to 250. Many students are at the 100 point level and some have even reached the max of 250! The students look forward to getting the dog … Read More

The Port Saint Lucie High School JROTC Jaguar Battalion conducted a Color Guard at Sportsman’s Park for the annual Caribbean-American Festival. The festival is a friendly competition between Caribbean-American residents in Port St. Lucie. The Color Guard, led by cadet Second Lieutenant Tyler Lynn holding the National flag, followed by cadet Corporal Travis Moberly carrying the State flag, and cadet Corporal Brandon Shriver and cadet Staff Sergeant Jaffery Murankus posted as the guards. The Caribbean-American participants greatly appreciated the excellent performance by the Jaguar Battalion Color Guard. Pictured, from left, are cadet Corporal Brandon Shriver, cadet Corporal Travis Moberly, cadet … Read More

Northport K-8 School is kicking off Young Author season this year in a big way! Each year, the Northport K-8 media center is decorated to showcase the terrific Young Author books at the school. This year, the theme is “Take Me Out To The Ballgame!” Teachers selected a table or counter space and decorated with items that incorporate the theme. Tables this year are decorated with themes of the Miami Heat from Juliette Thelusma’s fourth grade class, Chicago Cubs from Jennifer Gomez’s fourth class, kindergarten has a Mets theme and many, many other teams and sports are represented as a backdrop for … Read More

Northport K-8 School Media Services program, under the direction of Lynne Gruszka, along with students, faculty, administration and staff are assisting Northport alumnus Sgt. Xiovani Guanill of the U. S. Army. Sgt. Guanill, who administers Morale, Welfare and Recreation at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, requested  assistance for the 80 men and women in his company. His request included shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shaving cream, magazines and other items. Not only did Northport students and families assist as a school community that filled 20 boxes, but many teachers offered  with a generosity of spirit that included mailing all 20 boxes to Afghanistan. Special thanks to Dr. … Read More

The Fort Pierce Central High School Fishing Club held its monthly Bass Club Tournament at Lake Okeechobee recently with 10 student anglers entered on five boats. It was a picture postcard morning that proved to be a great day on the lake for the competitors. Eight of the 10 student anglers weighed in, and the total for the day was 20 bass weighing in at 34 lbs 12 oz! the largest catch by a 5.77 pound fish caught by Will McKee, pictured. Thanks to the East Coast Bass Anglers Fishing Club out of Fort Pierce, which provided boat captains for … Read More

Students in Kelita Singleton’s third grade class at Windmill Point Elementary created their own comic strip “storyboard” to help them sequence and summarize information for their Young Author’s book. In addition, the students utilize the comic strips to determine appropriate transitional words to enhance their stories. Pictured, from left, are Adrian Colon Coss, Meraaz Mahmud and Marlee Wells.

Recently, 31 cadets from St. Lucie West Centennial High School Navy Junior ROTC unit toured the national Navy UDT-SEAL Museum located in Fort Pierce. Upon arrival, cadets viewed multiple Navy patrol craft, two underwater SEAL delivery vehicles, and two Apollo Spacecraft training capsules. After entering the building, the cadets were guided through a World War I exhibit by a tour guide and then toured the rest of the exhibits on their own. They saw the actual 10,000 pound, fiberglass lifeboat where Captain Richard Phillips, of the Maersk Alabama, was taken hostage by Somalia pirates and saw how the SEALs rescued … Read More