Frances K. Sweet kindergartners recently celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday! Students in Melanie Francisco’s class loved having Frankie Lott read “Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now?”  Mr. Lott is the president of the Kiwanis group who sends guest readers to Frances K. Sweet every year.  The students enjoyed activity packets and goody bags.

First grade students at Palm Pointe Educational Research School @ Tradition enjoyed a Super Science Day with the help of the Manatee Center. Students were able to wear lab coats as they did experiments. They created their own lava lamps by putting an Alka-Seltzer tablet in oil and water and the water bubbled up through the oil, and made “flubber.” The students were excited to take the things that they made in class home to show their families. 

To help celebrate Read Across America and Dr. Seuss’s birthday, Garden City Early Learning Academy was visited by over 40 guest readers. Some classes had up to 3 readers at once! The volunteer readers came from various areas of the community, including Indian River State College, the Supervisor of Elections’ office, Fort Pierce city manager, Board of County Commisioners, Children’s Service Council, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Fort Pierce Mayor, and St. Lucie County Fire Department. Thank you to everyone for supporting the school and making a difference in the lives of students.  Pictured is Susan Geen, from the Supervisor of Elections office, reading to VPK students.

As part of Black History month, Joseph E. Smith, Clerk of Circuit Courts for St. Lucie County, spoke with second grade students at Garden City Early Learning Academy about his life and how they, too, can reach their goals and be successful. Mr. Smith is a native to Fort Pierce and graduated from Lincoln Park Academy. He worked in Washington, D.C., and then came back to St. Lucie County to serve the community. Smith is the first African-American Clerk of Circuit Courts in St. Lucie County, and is tireless in his efforts to give back to the community.

Students from Fort Pierce Central’s aerospace program, along with their instructor Dr. Kevin Adkins, recently visited the eighth grade students at Palm Pointe Educational Research School @ Tradition. They shared data they had collected from a wind tunnel they had designed at Central. The students shared information about factors that affect flight and the impact of wind moving over an airfoil. After the presentation, the students were able to use the data collected and make graphs that recreated what was expected in the experiments that Dr. Adkins and his students had conducted. This was a great lesson for the students. Pictured is Dr. Adkins … Read More

On Friday, March 1st, West Gate K-8 welcomed Ms. Alicia Kohanski as  guest reader for our annual celebration of Read Across America. Ms. Kohanski is a Children’s Program Specialist with the St. Lucie County Library System. Her programs are literacy based and include the use of books, stories, music, flannel boards, puppets and props. During two exciting 45 minute performances, Ms. Kohanski thoroughly engaged students in all of West Gate’s first grade classes. West Gate would like to thank Ms. Kohanski and the St. Lucie County Library system for sharing our love of reading.

As February comes to a close and March rolls in, kindergartners at Allapattah Flats K8 reflect back on their favorite events from the month. One of their most tresured was the 100 Day Celebration that kicked off the month of February, celebrating their 100 days of school since August. The students had a great time participating in an outside celebration that included 10 fun stations that the students moved to in 10-minute increments. There was hopscotch 100, 10 minutes of hula-hoops, sack racing, counting by 10s jump rope, and many more fun activities. Everyone had lots of fun and even … Read More

As part of Northport K-8 School’s response to the Florida Department of Education’s “Celebrate Literacy” initiative, students were given the opportunity to write an essay sponsored by local American Legion Post 318 Auxiliary and the Northport media center. The topic of the essay was “What Freedom Do I Enjoy The Most?” Over 40 students from grades three through eight responded with excellent, well formulated essays. Students reviewed what freedoms really are with parents and guardians as well as grandparents and then wrote thoughtful and meaningful essays in response to the topic. Three students’ essays were chosen to be sent to the Department of American … Read More

Northport K-8 Community Book Fair promotes positive interactions with students and teachers in an atmosphere filled with resources to fit the needs of every learner. Media specialist Lynne Gruszka and clerk Pam Crum are able to offer accessibilty to great books to encourage students to want to read. The book fair gives parents and grandparents an opportunity to shop with their children to select books directly with the teacher to fit students’ literary needs and likes and offers a great outlet for development of reading skills. The book fair has materials appropriate for all learners in the K-8 school. The fair offers … Read More

A local Burger King restaurant recently helped White City Elementary fourth grade students celebrate their hard work in preparation of FCAT Writes. The store manager has donated this treat to White City Elementary for three years and the students of Karen Maxwell, Brenda Newman, Heather Ricksecker, and Adam Seal show their appreciation!

First grade students at Allapattah Flats K8 recently enjoyed had a up-close look at Florida wildlife.  Cheryl Wise of Busch Wildlife brought an opossum, turtle, corn snake, and an owl to the school. First graders learned facts about Florida wildlife and their habitats. Pictured are Tyler Garren,right, and Henos Yonas from Ann Hartman’s first grade class. They were brave first graders to touch “Sweet Potato” the corn snake. What a great visit!

Kindergartners at Mariposa Elementary enjoyed a hands-on presentation about how to care for their teeth. They were shown the importance of flossing and the correct way to floss, discussed foods that make their teeth happy and foods that make their teeth sad. They also were shown how to brush their teeth properly to make sure they removed the plaque. Every student left with a tooth brushing kit that included all the tools they needed to ensure successful brushing. Pictured, from left, are Jamarion Riggins, Sabrina Swayne, Kaitlin Taylor, Abigayle Conner, Analisa Bermudez, Maria Roman, Jade  Mayberry, Lillian Baber, and Khaleel … Read More

Students in Dannielle Cason’s eighth grade reading class at Allapattah Flats K8 School took the opportunity to view text from different character perspectives.  Using the short story “The Cat Who Thought She Was a Dog and the Dog Who Thought He Was a Cat” by Isaac Beshevis Singer, the students first identified plot structure and then chose six events from the story to retell from on of the characters’ perspective. The students rewrote the event as if they were the particular character from the story. Finally, they constructed a storyboard of events to visually illustrate how the character “saw” each event. Pictured is … Read More

Northport K-8 Principal Glenn Rustay and Media Specialist and volunteer coordinator Lynne Gruszka, and the entire school community are proud to honor Senior Volunteer of the Year Kay Egan and Adult Volunteer of the Year Suzi Scott. The two women were honored at a reception at the St. Lucie County School Board recently along with many other volunteers who work diligently to support students, teachers and schools’ staff.  Mrs. Egan and Mrs. Scott assist teachers in any way possible, including cooking, mentoring students, running copies, purchasing supplies and goodies as well as assisting the PTO and the school administration. Special thanks and accolades … Read More

Students in Jessica Allen’s seventh grade science class from Southport Middle School learned about how plants convert light energy to chemical energy and store it in the bonds of sugar (photosynthesis). Pictured are Delsin Pillay, right, and Althea Charles at a recent field trip to Savannas State Park as they conduct the experiment by creating their own version of the process that plants take by recreating the light reaction that occurs within plants.

First grade students at Windmill Point Elementary enjoyed a Black History presentation. Students participated in African American dance, listened to African folktales, and got up close and personal with artifacts brought from Africa. As students listened to a poem about famous African Americans, they got a feel for what their daily life would be like without inventions created by many of those influential people. Pictured are students in Allison Weicheck’s class as they explore the African wood artifacts.

A team of students from Ft. Pierce Westwood’s Marine Oceanographic Academy (MOA) placed second in the 15th annual Manatee Bowl, an annual, regional ocean science competition. A team from St. Lucie West Centennial High School joined in the competition against 20 teams from 14 schools from the east coast of Florida. The teams are tested through quick Jeopardy-style questions and thought-provoking team challenge questions. Questions are drawn from the scientific and technical disciplines used in studying the oceans — physics, chemistry, geology, atmospheric science, biology, national and international economics, history and culture. The regional competition alternates annually between the University … Read More

Floresta Elementary School recently hosted its first CSI night to help solve the riddle of who removed the ice cream freezer from the cafeteria. Throughout the week prior to the event, students were informed of the curious incident, and were given information each day on the morning announcements. This information allowed them to formulate a hypothesis regarding who would do such a thing, and why. The suspects were coach Adam Schwimer, music teacher Jaclyn Kraus, media specialist Gerri Wills, media clerk Cemera Clancy, and custodial services’ Doug Abbhul. Pictured, from left, are Jaclyn Kraus, Adam Schwimer, Doug Abbuhl, Cemera Clancy, … Read More