Awards for school displays at the 2013 St. Lucie County Fair were presented at the April 9, 2013, St. Lucie County School Board meeting, and the Kiwanis Sunrise Club also presented annual monetary awards to schools. The theme of the 2013 fair was, “500 Years of Florida Heritage.” For the elementary division, first place went to Lawnwood Elementary, $500; second place went to Windmill Pointe Elementary, $250; and third place to Village Green Environmental Science School, $100. Honorable mention and $50 went to F. K. Sweet and Weatherbee elementary schools. In the middle school division, first place and $500 went … Read More

Palm Pointe Educational Research School @ Tradition recently held its second CSI Night. The case was to solve the mystery of the missing goldfish. The school had purchased a goldfish and had just named it “Rocky” in a contest when the goldfish was found missing from the front office. Students were asked to come to a special CSI Night to run forensic type tests to figure out who took the fish. There were five suspects from the Palm Pointe staff: bookkeeper Dana Schang, instructional coach Kathleen Melrose, fourth grade teacher Jada Jolie, fifth grade teacher Juliet Murray, and second grade teacher Lorri Rudzinski. After … Read More

The kindergarten students at F.K. Sweet Elementary School were surprised with a visit from Kauff’s Towing while studying about Community Helpers. Teachers and students learned all of the responsibilities that the drivers have. Quiana Lundy, from left, Shanyla Osby, Jeffery Stephens, Josiah Fullwood, and Dennis Scott from Melanie Francisco’s class loved listening to kindergarten parent Dennis Scott explain the tools on the huge “wrecker” truck.

The kindergarten students at F.K. Sweet Elementary School have been studying plants and seeds during the season of Spring.  Trenton Hogan, pictured left, was so excited to gather the soil for his cup while Harmony Davis held the bag open to help him as each student prepared to plant sunflower seeds. The students have loved watching the cups each day and oh the excitement when some of them sprouted!  We can’t wait to see how they change into beautiful sunflowers.

Northport K-8 School Media Center is always alive with students, teachers, staff and community members buzzing in and out completing tasks that require information, information technology or conversation, but the week of April 14 – 20 is extra special. Northport K-8 School is celebrating with the theme ” Communities Matter @ your library!”  Fully funded libraries will continue to be valuable resources in our communities far into the future. Only fully funded libraries will be able to teach and collaborate with teachers to enhance dynamic 21st century skills and nuture the love of reading in young people that will serve them … Read More

At Southport Middle School, students in Adrianne Mendoza’s seventh grade math class from the Panthers team review for the upcoming math FCAT by playing math Jeopardy. Students had the opportunity to “buzz” in using the eggspert game buzzers to test their knowledge and skill level. Students worked as a team in order to earn points as they competed with the other groups within the classroom.

Bayshore Elementary School’s third, fourth and fifth grade students were surprised with a Tunnel of Hope in recognition of their hard word in preparation for FCAT. Students in grades pre-K through second lined the hallways, created posters and cheered for students and teachers as they paraded through the school. Pictured, from left, are fifth grader Christian Conklin from Christine Mueller’s class, fifth grade teacher Doreen McKinnie and her student Sasha Castro.

Port St. Lucie High School held a candlelight ceremony recently in honor of fellow student and ROTC cadet Hunter Henry, who tragically died earlier this month. Hundreds of Jaguars came together to share stories about Hunter and to help each other through this difficult time. Several of Hunter’s peers and friends said a few words about him to his family. It was a beautiful ceremony that touched everyone’s heart. The ceremony ended with Cole Herndon playing taps.

First grade students in Ann Hartman’s class at Allapattah Flats K8 are excited to explore their garden in the warm sun. Students are checking the progress of their peppers, cucumbers, carrots, peas, and many other plants. Each child has a “plot” to grow their plant of choice, beginning with just a seed that has resulted in beautiful plants! The students are responsible for watering and weeding the plants, too.  The garden is a huge hit at Allapattah Flats K8! Pictured, from top left, are Jacob Garcia, Marc Cohen, Henos Yonas, Caylie Harris, Jordan Fernandez, Claudia Jolivert, Chinhayi Evans, Kaleb Whitehouse, Maximo Mendoza, and … Read More

Eighth grade student Sophie Phillips, at Palm Pointe Educational Research School @ Tradition, just returned from Tallahassee, where she went to lobby legislative officials for Pulse Oximetry Screening for Critical Congenital Heart Defects.  She met with Senators Grimsley, Negron, and Ring, and Representatives Hudson and Harrell. She also met with the Governor’s Director of Deputy of Legislative Affairs, Danielle Scroggins. The session ends in the next few weeks and Senator Grimsley verbally approved to find funds in the budget to support the screening. Pictured is Sophie seated in Governor Rick Scott’s office.

Lincoln Park Academy sent three high school teams to this year’s Odyssey of the Mind state competition. Odyssey of the Mind, often referred to as OM (although the official acronym is OotM), is a creative problem-solving competition involving students from kindergarten through college. Team members work together at length to solve a predefined problem (the long term problem) and present their solution to the problem at a competition. They must also generate spontaneous solutions to a problem they have not seen before in the spontaneous competition. In an unprecedented turn of events, all three teams earned first place trophies and … Read More

Northport K-8 School is celebrating 27 years of educational growth and community connections. The doors opened to accept students on April 8, 1986 with John Townsend as the supervising principal of the school. The school began as a junior high school accepting students in grades 7 and 8, then moved into the middle school concept bringing in sixth graders. In 2005, Northport became a K-8 school with Eric Seymour as principal overseeing those dramatic changes. Currently, Glenn Rustay is the principal of the school assisting in keeping those community connections vibrant and the education of students top notch. The school held a wonderful reunion … Read More

Northport K-8 fifth grade students in the classrooms of Judy Fowler, Charlotte Tombline, Tracey Healy, Nichole Robinson and Valerie Niewieroski deepened their knowledge and insight of the horrors of the Holocaust and scaffolded new information about World War II, Hitler and the Nazi Occupation by listening and interacting with speaker and Holocaust survivor, Peter Feigl, who was one of the children who was saved by the 5000 French villagers from Chambonne who assisted countless homeless children. Students were enthralled by the information and asked many questions including heartwrenching questions about the loss of Feigl’s family. Feigl recommended a book called “Weapons of … Read More

It’s no wonder why brothers, fourth grade student Grayson, left, and second grade student Noah DiBernardo, have earned Star Reader shirts from the Media Center at Frances K. Sweet Elementary. They obviously practice reading as much as they can. Star Reader shirts are awarded to students who show academic growth on the SRI test or is already reading above grade level.

Northport K-8 students and teachers on the Northstar and Starfish teams collaborated on a critical lesson using new and intriguing information recently. Teachers Mala Woessner and Georgia Stone, along with Media Specialist Lynne Gruszka, worked together to present indepth information on the shocking assassination that changed America. Students read the student version of Bill O’Reilly’s “Killing Lincoln,” a realistic and historical best selling account of the last two weeks of Lincoln’s life and the conspiracy that brought a nation to its knees. The student version called “Lincoln’s Last Days” is filled with pictures, timelines and enrichment sources. The book is very student reader friendly … Read More

Fort Pierce Central High School freshman Andrew Caputo has been selected by the Stuart chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) for a $1500 scholarship to attend and study at the EAA’s Air Academy at Oshkosh, Wisconsin for one week in June. Andrew is presently in the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University/St. Lucie County Aerospace Academy located on the Fort Pierce Central High School campus. Andrew was nominated by the Institute’s director, Professor Kevin Adkins, and selected by the Stuart EAA chapter president Eric Ingraham based on “his past academic performance and general interest in aerospace, science, and engineering, along with his … Read More

Seventh and eighth grade students on the Northport K-8 Clownfish team combined a great lesson on literacy with a powerful antibullying message in the school Media Center recently. Students read the book “Call Me Yubbie” written by Joe Wojcik, better known as Joe The Biker in their reading classes. Each student then wrote an essay putting themselves in the shoes of one of the characters in the book. Some students took on the persona of the bully and others took on characteristics of the victim as displayed in their very poignant writings. Joe Wojcik then visited with the students discussing his life story, … Read More

Second grade students at F. K. Sweet Elementary participated in a presentation by Captain Citrus hosted by the Florida Department of Citrus. Students were taught about the health benefits of Florida citrus, and had a question and answer session with a local citrus grower. Students learned how citrus fruit goes from the tree to the store and their juice glasses. All the children got to sample Florida citrus fruits and Florida orange juice. After the presentation, students had their picture taken with Captain Citrus.