Middle School Visual Arts students collaborated with the St. Lucie Cultural Alliance, St. Lucie Environmental Resources Department and Oxbow Eco-Center to create up-cycling sculptures for the St. Lucie Earth Day Festival. Students learned facts about recyclable materials and being good stewards of our natural resources and environment.  Students were provided recyclable items by the St. Lucie Environmental Resources Department and created their up-cycled sculptures by integrating objects like metal clothes hangers, plastic water and soda bottles, bottle caps, plastic beads, foam, textiles, and paper products to help create their animal forms.  Students also used stones to create different pieces of … Read More

CAST kindergarten and first grade students attended a virtual presentation put on by UF’s Family Nutrition Program. The presentation was part of 6-week series focused on handwashing, healthy eating, and gardening. These lessons are a great complement to our own gardening outside!

Thank you to everyone who came out for our Title 1 Annual Meeting Presentation/Literacy Night! We had a great time!

In third grade, Mrs. Roti’s class completed a Scientific inquiry activity. Students observed how vascular tissue within plant stems move water, minerals, and nutrients throughout the plant.

Kindergarteners at CAST enjoyed a picnic with their teddy bears while they read bear read- alouds, counted bears, and wrote about bears! Students also completed a design challenge where they had to make a chair for a baby bear. Spending the day with our furry friends made our learning so much more fun!

Andrew Gekoskie, Instrumental Music Teacher at Creative Arts Academy of St. Lucie (CAST) was recently selected as a Conn-Selmer VIP by the Conn-Selmer Education Division as one of the leading music educators in the country. The six music educators selected from throughout the country were able collaborate regarding techniques and current music education practices.  In addition, the VIP’s were able to tour the factories of Conn-Selmer which make brass, percussion, and woodwind instruments, all still handmade to this day.  The artisans making the instruments shared their techniques and displayed their pride in making exceptional musical instruments for students and professionals … Read More

Announced nationally by Conn-Selmer Education on April 1, 2019, CAST Music Teacher Andrew Gekoskie was chosen as a Conn-Selmer Educational Clinician!  Andrew Gekoskie is also the Music Director of The Gardens Pops Orchestra and Artistic Director/Conductor of The Orchestra X Project – a professional chamber orchestra located in South Florida. Read more: http://bit.ly/2HN9sFu Mr. Gekoskie is honored to be recently chosen as a National Educational Clinician for Conn-Selmer Education.  SLPS is proud! https://education.conn-selmer.com/en-us/education/educational-clinicians https://education.conn-selmer.com/en-us/education/Educational-Clinicians/clinician-profiles/andrew-gekoskie

CAST sixth and seventh graders in Mr. Reiher’s Media Arts class worked on their technical writing skills. They are working on crafting the structure of a segment – the introduction, story, conclusion, and sign-off. They are also practicing how to use punctuation to control their breathing while reading, perfecting penmanship, and defining and using vocabulary words in a unique sentence. All of these skills aid in the production of our amazing CAST Studios morning announcements.

After much anticipation and excitement, the Peacock Arts District team selected the winning artwork for the “PAD Banner Contest” which is displayed throughout the Peacock Arts District in downtown Ft. Pierce. Over 100 entries were received from all ages sharing their own unique design for the PAD.  The contest highlighted the incredible talent in our community, including young aspiring artists from our public schools. Out of 14 elementary and middle school finalists, ten were CAST students. Winners of the 2019 PAD Banner Contest: Amaya Cordero Ben Shahan Brian Nava Caren Akers Chris Allison Darly Mersier Emily Giron Ortiz Marquis Fields … Read More

The students at CAST participated in the international peace poster contest held by the Ft. Pierce Lions Club.   The theme for this year was “Journey of Peace”.  Our students were able to express their vision and interpretation of peace through their drawings.  Their artistic interpretations were remarkable!  All of our students’ artwork were displayed in the Zora Neale Hurston Library and winners were announced at the Lions Club December meeting. 1st place -Angelina Miller 2nd place-Jessica Perez 3rd place -Andrew Peters Honorable Mention-Naomi Kazama Congratulations to all of our participants and our winners!

Sixth grade students at CAST used recycled materials, like the used pages of their consumable science book, to create posters to raise awareness about Earth Day! 

To kick off literacy week, students at CAST shared their favorite book and explained why they enjoy reading it. The book recommendations encouraged learners to have conversations about different genres.    

                      5th-grade students in Mrs. Murphy’s dance studio are rehearsing their choreography for an upcoming Flash Mob performance on campus. Meanwhile, in Ms. Swabon’s art class, students are creating Brazilian Carnival masks as a part of the Flash Mob costumes.  

Our second-grade students had so much fun on their first field trip this year to the Sunrise Theatre to watch Steve Trash. Thank you for teaching us all about recycling! Remember to always reduce, reuse, and recycle!

Sixth graders at CAST created catapults using a variety of objects for a Stop and STEAM event on campus. They practiced the Nature of Science standards as they understood how to make adjustments to their catapult designs to reach the desired effect. “I was really impressed that many of my virtual students were able to build great catapults with items found in their home!”- Mrs. Albers

Third-grade students at CAST researched famous female poets such as Amanda Gorman, Rupi Kaur, and Mary Ann Hoberman and recorded important facts. Students selected their favorite poem and illustrated how the poem made them feel. These pictures came together into a beautiful “poet-tree”! Fourth-grade students learned about female Highwayman artist Mary Ann Carroll and collaborated to make a landscape portrait. They also listened to railroad songs from Zora Neale Hurston and dissected the lyrics to better understand this period in Florida History.

Seventh-grade students in Mrs. Battle’s Language Arts class debated over driverless cars and their safety. Students read an article “Are Driverless Cars a Good Idea?” and used evidence from the article to support their stance. Students had the opportunity to make their case and defend it. Students are now using this experience to write an argumentative essay on the topic.

Congratulations to Sienna Lawrence, sixth grader and Mr. Cruz, Visual Arts teacher at Creative Arts Academy! Sienna placed as a runner-up in the “Art in the Capitol” contest. This annual contest for middle school students is designed to bring attention to the arts in education. Sienna’s artwork will be placed in State Representative Dana Trabulsy’s office in Tallahassee. Mr. Cruz encouraged Sienna to use this contest as an avenue to create a piece centered on social consciousness.