Manatee Academy K8 newlyweds Caleb Bihari and Ashley Drum spent part of their honeymoon teaching impoverished children on the island of St. Lucia.  Their experience was made possible by the Sandals Foundation and their “Reading Road Trip” excursion.  Every Thursday a van leaves the comfort and luxury of the Sandals resort to go to Balata Primary school in Babonneau.  Volunteers sign up in the resort lobby for the opportunity to interact with the faculty and students and see what schooling is like for children in St. Lucia. “When I heard that this was a possibility I absolutely wanted to go,” Bihari … Read More

By Sean Scott and William Benagh, Port St. Lucie High School Three Port St. Lucie High School ROTC Jaguar cadets have been selected to attend Florida’s American Legion Boys’ State and Girls’ State, the starting point for many successful young people. These programs are coordinated by the American Legion, and thanks to Post 318, cadet First Sergeant Troy Conover and cadet Second Lieutenant Jeremy Dardon have the opportunity to travel to Florida State University in Tallahassee. Cadet First Lieutenant Devynn Rhodes will also be traveling to Florida State University to participate in Girls State. She was selected by Rita Woodburn, … Read More

Sixth grade Panther team students at Forest Grove Middle School had the unique opportunity to welcome and honor a returning veteran,  Captain Brandon Joseph Richard Gray, USAF. Captain Gray is the son of Rik Gray at Lincoln Park Academy and Pam Gray at Forest Grove Middle School. Captain Gray has just returned from a six-month tour in Afghanistan. He wanted to visit the school to thank staff and students for all of the cards, letters, and gifts that were sent to him and his troops during his deployment.  Sixth grade Language Arts teacher Ilyssa Greene sponsored the outreach. Students have been thrilled to receive letters as well as several … Read More

The Manatee Academy K-8 Purple Pirate Monkeys Envirothon team, coached by Richard Maller and Judith Nova,  took first place for the Indian River lagoon category at the recent Regional Envirothon Competition. The Envirothon is a nationally based competition for middle to high school teams of students which promotes environmental awareness, science skills and research. The Purple Pirate Monkeys have been working in partnership with local members of the Divisions of Environmental Protection and Forestry, and the Savannas Education Center for the past two years, and have had several division awards during the past two regional games. Pictured, from left, are Samantha Lumbi, … Read More

Fifth grade students in Tekia Montgomery’s elementary art classes at Allapattah Flats K-8 are re-introduced to the concept of enlarging.  They will create enlarged drawings from small pictures using a grid technique. Students will use T- squares and work together to make a large grid where they will transfer their original drawings into a larger scale. This year’s theme is under the sea. This particular project is done every year, and although this project is a bit of a challenge for the students, it seems to be a favorite! Pictured are Calendra Holbrook and Jorge Liberate taking their time with … Read More

The Southern Oaks Middle School Social Studies Department, headed by Christopher Maxon, held its annual Geography Bee recently.  Students first competed in class competitions featuring questions regarding local, city, state, country and world geographical sites until each team had a winner along with a few who were nominated by faculty.  The top 11 students were selected to compete in front of the judges in the Geography Bee.  Upon answering questions about rivers, lakes, mountain ranges, etc. all over the country and world, and allowing three incorrect answers before elimination, sixth grader Eunique Robinson took first place with only 1 missed question.  Eighth grader Kevin … Read More

This week in the Mariposa Elementary School media center, media specialist Charlotte Pennington read to the kindergarten, first and second grade students “Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot” by Dav Pilkey.  Before the story began, Mrs. Pennington brought out a tin can robot she made at home.  She explained to the students how she made it while the students sat wide-eyed.  The robot prop was an excellent introduction to the chapter book.  After the book was read, the students were instructed how to draw Ricky, one of the main characters. Pictured, from left, are Lea Cesiro, Cameron Peterson, Taline El-Khoury, and Stephanie … Read More

Students in Marsha Reese’s sixth grade Language Arts classes at Allapatah Flats K-8 read the novel Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor. After completing an evaluation of the character relationships and their impact on the conflict in the novel, the students used their character analysis to design projects that would show how the novel ‘s characters (set in 1933 Mississippi) would fare in present day society. Projects ranged from journal entries to skits. Pictured, from left, are Faith Rice, Rebekah Peraza, and Gracie Jimenez showing off social network profiles that they created for different characters.

Students in Danya Etter’s music class at Allapattah Flats K8 are currently working towards their “black belt” in recorder for Recorder Karate. Recorder Karate is a fun and exciting way to learn all about the instrument and after playing each song, one can earn a different belt color as in karate. This week the fifth graders focused on the popular classic “Ode to Joy” by Ludwig Van Beethoven. Once they master the art of the song, they will begin to test for their black belt. Students are eager to practice in and out of the classroom. Pictured, from left, are Daniel Broland, Jordan … Read More

Allapattah Flats K-8 middle grades students had the opportunity to visit Washington D.C. over spring break. The students visited numerous national monuments and learned about the nation’s history. Students visited the Capitol, the White House, Arlington Cemetery, and the Washington monument. They enjoyed the Jefferson, Lincoln and Martin Luther King Memorials, as well as the Korean, Marine, Viet Nam Memorials and the tomb of the unknown soldier where they witnessed the changing of the guard. The group wrapped up the trip by visiting some of the capitol’s famous museums and spent the last day at Georgetown University checking out the college.

Maria Nunez’s fourth grade class at Mariposa Elementary is working on a science experiment to see how much water an organism can hold. The students in the picture demonstrate how to use a balance and a ruler to determine growth. The students were amazed on how much growth took place in one day.  The experiment will continue for another 7 days to allow for collection of data. Pictured, from left, are Anijah Shuford-Moore and Nazeer Dunn.

Miguel Juarez in Ami Jobson’s first grade class at Mariposa Elementary School made a hardcover book titled “Alligators”.  His book is divided into sections: Table of Contents, Meet the Author and alligator facts. To honor Miguel for his hard work, Mariposa’s broadcasting station, Wings TV, invited him on the show as their special guest. His book was televised for the whole school to see.

For the second year, a team of five Westwood High School students recently earned the opportunity to compete at the national level in the Euro-Challenge, an academic competition on students’ knowledge of the European monetary system. The Westwood team was the only freshman team to earn one of the top three spots in the regional contest in Miami recently, and will go on to New York in April for the national competition with two other Florida teams. The students spent over 45 hours of after school and time during Spring break conducting extensive research, participating in Webinars, and perfecting their presentations.  … Read More

Nationally recognized motivational speaker and education authority Dr. Adolph Brown III continued his commitment to St. Lucie Public Schools with two days of appointments at several schools and an evening community program at East Florida Primitive Baptist Association Temple in Fort Pierce. Dr. Brown’s messages energize, educate, inspire and entertain all audiences. Dr. Brown’s continued association with the school district is part of the five-year partnership with educational publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to transform the school system through instructional practice and excellence in materials. For more information about Dr. Brown’s message, visit http://www.docspeaks.com/.  

Romari Timothee and Raymond Coburn from Morgan Haupt’s kindergarten class at F.K.Sweet Elementary enjoy working together and comparing lengths of cube trains during math centers. Kindergartners are busy working and learning all of the skills that they will need for first grade.    

Each week for the last twelve years, Medical Academy students from St. Lucie West Centennial High School have had the privilege of spending part of their school day at Martin Health Systems-St. Lucie West.  The variety of health professions which they can shadow and glean career information from is unending.  For instance, pictured is Dr. Steven Parr, Martin Health System’s ER physician, instructing medical academy students in examination techniques in the Emergency Room of Martin Health Systems- St. Lucie West.  From left, are Dr. Parr, student-patient, Reinaldo Ramos, and students Marissa Russo and Jo Jo Corsi. Students throughout high schools in the United States may now … Read More

At Mariposa Elementary, first grade students in Ami Jobson’s class are authors!  Each student recently chose an animal to research before the class field trip to the Palm Beach Zoo.  The students researched habitat, eating habits, offspring and what each animal looks like.  The students worked hard to report detailed, accurate facts and the outcome was amazing! Parents were then invited to school for an animal presentation and to celebrate their child’s accomplishment.

Frances K. Sweet Elementary second grade students gather to examine a native plant species during their recent Oxbow Eco-Center field trip.  The students, from Rachel Luhta’s class, also went on a nature hike to learn more about insects and plants while visiting the center. 

Fifth grade students Adriana Edmond, Julia Pacek, and Jakiah Webb in Christy Nuccio’s class at F.K. Sweet Elementary are enjoying ice cream sundaes for earning reading points. Students at F. K. Sweet are all involved in the Scholastic Counts program and are enjoying reading, testing, and earning points. Teachers may set individual or class goals for students.