Students and staff at Palm Pointe Educational Research School @ Tradition participated in a school-wide event during Kindness Week as part of the Martin Luther King, Jr., celebration activities.  Everyone wore stickers to promote kindness and were given red ribbons to pass forward to someone showing an act of kindness.  It was a great week with these acts and the school has pledged to continue this all through the school year.  Great job Rockets! Pictured, front row from left, are Lubens Odias, Roger Boulay and Mitchell Ohlrich.  Back row, from left, are Jennifer Talles, Angella Robinson and Marcy Deweese.  

Palm Pointe Educational Research School @ Tradition is proud to recognize this year’s winners in the school’s Spelling Bee for fourth and fifth graders.  Pictured from left are Sidney Scalletti, first place; Miles Garriques, third place; and Alex Gust, second place.  Great job Rockets!

 Third grade students Ricardo Garcia, Da’Shawn West, and Kyara Johnson from Cheryl Salerno’s class at Sam Gaines Academy believe in teamwork in the media center while searching for books on the computer.

 There was a lot of learning about writing skills during the Family Writing Night recently at Sam Gaines Academy K8 School, which included a chicken dinner and ending with a door prize drawing. Pictured is seventh grader Alexis Langel and her father holding the door prize they won.

Take Stock in Children scholarships are awarded to middle grades students after a selection process through the Indian River State College Education Foundation. The recipients will receive mentoring throughout high school, and then will have all four years of college tuition paid!  There were hundreds of applications, and only 10 students were selected county-wide.  Please join in congratulating German Torres from Sam Gaines Academy as a winner, and Cinthya Talbott as an alternate.  

Northport K-8 School is proud and pleased to represent the very best of Dr. Martin Luther King’s message of peace and unity.  Special thanks must go to the school’s MLK committee who designed and decorated the float, to the school administration who supported the endeavor and marched along with the school, the teachers, staff and students who marched with the group.  Northport is pleased to accept the first place honor for overall best K-8 school category.  Northport K-8 truly admires Dr. Martin Luther King as the “Drum Major for Peace” that he is and his inspiration of Remember, Celebrate and … Read More

The annual Martin Luther King, Jr., parade drew thousands on Monday, January 16, lining 25th Street and Virginia Avenue in Fort Pierce. Annie Kate Jackson, pictured at left, and Jay Lundy were the emcees of the televised presentation of the parade which is airing on WLX The Education Channel. Click on the link to the Media Services page for broadcast times. http://www.stlucie.k12.fl.us/MediaServicesVideos/weekly.pdf

White City Elementary kindergartners had a special visitor from the community share about her cultural heritage.  Mrs. Yatabe grew up in Japan near Tokyo.  The students learned about Japanese customs and traditions and compared and contrasted them with American customs and traditions.  The students  also learned about origami and made their own samurai helmet! They tried the origami samurai hat on a stuffed Pokemon beanie baby.   She concluded the lesson by writing the word “dream” using Japanese symbols and helped each student to write their own name in Japanese.

Bayshore Elementary students and staff are excited to be participating in Odyssey of the Mind.  Odyssey of the Mind is an enrichment program that provides participating students with an opportunity to be creative problem solvers.  Pictured is third grade student Kyle Ingleton painting a prop that will be used during the state-wide competition.

Bayshore Elementary third grade students have been learning to play the violin, xylophone and the recorder.   Ariah Davenport (left) and Tayla Belony (right), play the violin during the third grade PTO performance.

Local businessman and philanthropist Larry Lee was recognized at the January 10, 2012, St. Lucie County School Board meeting for his Lighthouse Foundation’s contributions, particularly a specific event where 250 students, 25 teachers and 25 other chaperones and principal D. David Washington from Fort Pierce Magnet School of the Arts were able to go to a Miami Marlins baseball game and meet Marlins player and fomer Westwood High School standout Charles “C.J.” Johnson. Pictured, from left, are Elker Harris of Fort Pierce Magnet, Superintendent Michael Lannon, school board chairman Carol Hilson, Larry Lee, foundation member Olivia Watkins, and principal Dr. … Read More

Students  Zarah Gampp and Taylor Brennan in Ms. Portillo’s sixth grade reading class at Allapattah Flats K-8 read in a cozy corner of the room.  Students are encouraged to routinely read independently upon completion of their classwork.  Way to go Zarah and Taylor!

Fourth graders at Allapattah Flats K8 have been working together on Social Studies projects based on Florida history. They spent time researching their topic, as well as creating a timeline and poster board, complete with a description, pictures and an oral presentation. From left, Riley Franklin, Gabriella Maimone, Alexis Allen, and Chyna Nazario proudly display their work.

The St. Lucie County Nutrition and Food Services department has been the driving force for eight local schools to earn grants from the Florida Dairy Council and the NFL’s Play 60 initiatives. The schools must be committed to healthy eating plus activity promoting exercise. The schools include Mariposa, Lakewood Park, F. K. Sweet elementary schools, Manatee Academy K8, St. Lucie West K8, and Port St. Lucie, Treasure Coast, and St. Lucie West Centennial high schools. Pictured is the team from F. K. Sweet with their mock check.

Congratulations to Jonathan Burgos, eighth grade St. Lucie West K8 student who was selected as a recipient of the 2012 President’s Challenge/Take Stock in Children Scholarship. The Deerbrook Charitable Trust, St. Lucie County Education Foundation, Fort Pierce Sunrise Kiwanis Club, Indian River State College Foundation and many other local businesses and organizations sponsor this program to recognize and encourage student achievement. The scholarship covers two years of study at IRSC and two years at a Florida public college or university.

Students visiting the media center at Mariposa Elementary School are learning how to use Powerpoint to help present their research projects.  Students are taught by media specialist Charlotte Pennington on how to create powerful slide presentations by using photos, clipart, music, audio recordings, text, and animation to help make their research project come alive.  Many of the projects created in the media center will be used in the morning news show, WingsTV, for all to view.   

Gifted teachers in St. Lucie County schools went to Saturday school recently at Morningside Elementary to learn how to solve the Rubik cube and utilize it in their classrooms. Morningside Elementary teacher Brad Culbertson, whose lessons have been featured in US News and World Report magazine, shared the engaging standards-based curriculum with 10 fellow teachers as they learned how to harness the cube for b ehavior management, creative problem solving, logical thinking skills, and that relic — delayed gratification! Lessons were discussed and modeled, and teachers were given opportunities to develop lesson plalns utilizing the cube in math, science and in classroom … Read More

Eight St. Lucie Public Schools have been recently recognized by the University of South Florida and Florida Department of Education as outstanding Positive Behavior Support (PBS) Response to Intervention B model schools by meeting specific criteria and utilizing innovative, creative, and functional ways of supporting PBS behavior approaches in their respective school. The PBS process results in the creation of effective intervention plans that will impede problem behaviors, teach new skills, and create support systems for the student. The PBS process is a team-based approach that relies on a strong collaboration between families and professionals from a variety of disciplines … Read More

The Windmill Point Elementary School kindergarten classes enjoyed holidays from around the world.  Each class “traveled” to a different teacher so that they could learn about a specific country.  Shown in the photo are students from Carmela Innamorato’s class, from left,  Adrian Andrade, John Paul Gorman, Thomas Coleman, Omari Fenn, and Nirayana Rodriguez.

Second graders in Lisa Green’s class at Mariposa Elementary School invited parents and family members in for an annual Multi-Cultural Feast.  After students presented a reader’s theatre, recipes from across the globe were shared by all.  It provided the unique experience of trying foods from other cultures without actually going anywhere!  It was fantastic to see that so many parents were able to attend or send in authentic cuisine from their culture!Pictured, are Carmen Mendoza (William’s mother), William Biffle, and Ashley Mendez-Hernandez.