Student Spotlights – February 2023

Redeemer Lutheran School loves to give back. Every year, they organize a walk to raise money for a worthy cause. This year, proceeds will go to help rebuild and repair Lutheran schools that were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Ian.

Students at Redeemer Lutheran love STEM class. It allows them to combine their newfound knowledge and their creativity. A recent project had them using construction paper, tape, and a little ingenuity to design and build creations strong enough to hold their supplies. Too bad the three little pigs never hired the students at Redeemer Lutheran to build their houses. They absolutely could have made those sticks and straws work.

Sixteen Escambia County Public Schools will receive School Recognition Award dollars from the state based on their school grades from the 2021-2022 school year. Florida School Recognition Program recognizes the high quality of many of Florida’s public schools. As authorized in Florida State Statute the program provides greater autonomy and financial awards to schools that demonstrate sustained or significantly improved student performance. Schools that receive an A grade or schools that improve at least one performance grade category are eligible for school recognition. School personnel develop, vote on, and submit plans for the distribution of funds. The distribution proposals must then be approved by each school’s School Advisory Council (SAC).
“We are proud of the efforts put forth by all of our schools, and particularly of the efforts of those who are now being rewarded with School Recognition Awards,” said ECPS Superintendent Dr. Tim Smith. “We have faced some very challenging times over the past two years, and to show such improvement is no small feat.”
Escambia County Public Schools awarded this year are:
Hellen Caro Elementary School
N.B Cook Elementary School
Cordova Park Elementary School
Navy Point Elementary School
Pensacola High School
A.K. Suter Elementary School
Warrington Elementary School
Workman Middle School
Holm Elementary School
Brown Barge Middle School
Lincoln Park Elementary School
Hope Horizon at Judy Andrews Center
West Florida High School
Molino Park Elementary School
Pensacola Beach Elementary School
Escambia Virtual Academy

St. Paul students from the Spring 2022 Nature Journaling Elective were honored and recognized at the Pensacola and Perdido Bay Estuary Symposium at Bayview Community Center for the nature signs they helped to create along with Mrs. Fink at Fischer Landing. This STREAM based project addressed some of the environmental concerns of erosion, estuaries, and watersheds of the Escambia River. After a hands-on field trip that followed the watershed of the Escambia River, students worked together in small teams to put together their own versions of the proposed nature signs.

Senior members of the Aquinas Chapter of the National Honor Society of Pensacola Catholic High School recently demonstrated their Service and Character through their collection of 100 pairs of glasses and 500 batteries that they donated to the homeless outreach program at the Alfred-Washburn Center. The Society is an organization with chapters across the nation that is open to high school students who are eligible based on four criteria: scholarship, leadership, service, and character. Students who meet the scholarship requirement based on their GPA are evaluated by the CHS faculty for the equally important criteria of scholarship, leadership and service. On November 16, Catholic High held the annual Induction Ceremony that welcomed 32 new students to join their ranks. The Catholic High NHS moderators are faculty members Alexandra Brown, and Chris Gulig, both of whom were members of National Honor Society when they were in high school. Congratulations to the new members of the CHS National Honor Society! Pictured: Five current NHS members–Caroline Struck, Lexi Foland, Aubree Wartman, Zach DeJesus, and Ian Sullivan loading up glasses and batteries to be delivered to the Alfred-Washburn Center.

Every Fall during the last week of September and into October, Pensacola Catholic High School hosts multiple Visitation Days to welcome eighth graders from local middle schools. This year’s events were attended by a total of 225 students. Visitation Days start with an assembly in the gymnasium where they are greeted by Student Ambassadors. After a spirted welcome by Cheerleaders and the Crusader Band, Sister Kierstin Martin, Principal, officially welcomes the visitors and summarizes what their half-day at CHS will entail. The middle school students are then divided into small groups and led on tours of the new Athletic Complex and the Science Department where they take part in several scientific experiments. Students then rotate to six different classrooms for a brief “taste” of the curriculum that is offered at Catholic High School ranging from Literature to World History, English, Spanish, Sign-Language, Personal Finance, Religion, Geometry, and Personal Fitness. CHS also offers various levels of Math, Science and Social Studies. In between their six “classes” students are offered a snack while they visit the new Student Life Center. They also visit the school’s Library/Media Center where they are introduced to the technology that is used throughout the curriculum. Students finish their morning with visits to the state-of-the-art Robotics/STEM lab, Music Building, and Art Studio. Students finish their visit at noon and are provided information about the Placement Test before their departure. In addition to Visitation Days that are open to students, Catholic High also hosts an Open House once in mid-October, to allow interested parents and students alike to learn more about Catholic High School. This enables them to consider CHS as a private school that offers not only a rich and quality academic program but also the full high school experience with athletics and many other extracurricular activities. If you missed these visits but are still interested in learning more about Catholic High School, please notify Recruitment Director Nina Blay at nblay@pensacolachs.org. Pictured: Science Teacher, Mr. Tim Meier, demonstrates with a soap bubble – the “Bubble Bomb” – to show a combustion reaction of methane gas as a powerful exothermic reaction, creating the giant flame and releasing significant heat.

Montessori School of Pensacola (MSP) Primary class students excitedly compared their heights to a sunflower plant. In Montessori education, the study of “botany” refers to nature. Students learn the parts of a plant, what plants need to grow, differences in types of plants, and more. In a Montessori classroom, students learn love and respect for nature. They also learn how to differentiate between living and non-living things. Students come to understand that plants, animals and so on all have life, and therefore, we as human beings need to respect that life and value the importance of all living things.

Spartan students love working with our new LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime Sets. These Lego robots are a STEAM learning tool that uses a coding language based on Scratch. Our Lego Robotics elective class engages students through fun learning activities to think critically and solve complex problems while helping students learn the essential STEAM and 21st century skills needed to become the innovative minds of tomorrow.

St. Paul Spartan middle school Schole Scholars took a field trip to Lamar Advertising. The students learned about the history of the company, all aspects of billboard design and even participated in deciding the font for a client of the company.

SPCS held its annual Knighting Ceremony for middle school in September. Sixth graders were sorted into one of four houses: St. Michael the Archangel, St. Joseph, St. Thomas More and St. Stephen. The Knights of Columbus led a bagpipe procession into the church, and students learned their new house as they were knighted by Fr. Craig. Each house has a charitable focus and projects for the year, and students earn points to help their house win a trophy at the end of the year.

Pensacola Catholic High School started a tradition of sending Birthday cards to all alumni for whom a mailing address was available. The first cards were mailed out approximately 5 years ago. Recently, CHS switched to custom-created postcards to convey this message. This year, in preparation for printing the postcards for 2023, Advancement Director, Mrs. Rita Lay, collaborated with the CHS English Department to involve students in writing the postcard sentiments. Teachers were asked to involve students in the creation of the “Birthday Card Greeting.” Student entries were written, submitted and then reviewed and judged independently by a panel. Two poems were selected worthy for inclusion as the birthday sentiment, both from Mrs. Coral Anderson’s English II College Prep Class. Lucas Salazar’s poem will be featured on the 2023 postcard and Ramon Hearn’s poem will be included in 2024. In addition to the standard English courses required for a Florida diploma and/or to qualify for a Bright Futures Scholarship, Catholic High also offers electives in Language & Composition, Creative Writing, and Cinematography. Several courses can also be taken as Dual Enrollment or Advanced Placement. Congratulations to both Lucas & Ramon on their winning poem submissions! Pictured: Ramon Hearn ’25, Mrs. Coral Anderson, and Lucas Salazar ’25.

“Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” – Mark 10:14. In September, St. Paul students came together for the dedication and blessing of our newest addition to campus – a statue of Jesus with the children. The statue is dedicated to our students in memory of Fr. Thorsen. Our prayer is that as the students arrive to school as well as leave for the day, they will see Jesus and remember that Jesus loves them, is always there for them and they can always find comfort in his arms.

7th and 8th grade students from Montessori School of Pensacola give their time each year at the Great Gulf Coast Arts Festival in downtown Pensacola. The MSP students spend Friday of the arts fest volunteering at booths open to children with special needs from selected area schools.
The children’s art area is just south of Seville Square in Bartram Park. There are a variety of great art projects for kids to get their hands on, all provided free of charge, including face painting, clay play, a flower shop, button creations, sand art, and sidewalk art. MSP Middle Schoolers help the visiting students with glitter, glue, sequins and the like to make things like masks, crowns, magic wands, and jewelry. This was the 50th anniversary year of the Great Gulf Coast Arts Festival. Volunteering there has been a part of the MSP Middle School community service project curriculum for years.

Creative Learning Academy’s Fall Festival was back in full swing after 2 years of cancellations due to Covid. CLA’s Fall Fest was fortunate to have plenty of sunshine and blue skies for the event, which was organized by our Family Association and helps to fund many activities for the students throughout the school year. We had over 230 students, friends and family members participate in various fun activities, which included Pensacola’s Knockerball, sink an 8th Grader dunk tank, inflatable obstacle courses, inflatable slides, Malibu mechanical surfboard, face painting, Animal Tales live animals, Balloon Pop, Pick a Pop, Go fish, CLA’s famous Cake Contest, Rock your Photobooth, and our very own mysterious Fortune teller! Delicious food was provided to festival goers by Texas B’s BBQ, Chick-fil-A, and Local Boyz Hawaiian Shaved Ice. Fall festival is such a great way for CLA to celebrate the season—and take advantage of the educational opportunities that stem from the weather getting cooler. Full of delicious smells and tastes, autumn is a wonderful time of year and one of the most recognizable seasons. Autumn offers opportunities to learn across the curriculum and is a wonderful way for everyone in kindergarten through grade 8 to enjoy the many great activities that the fall season brings our way. CLA’s Fall Festival is an annual tradition and the most successful Family Association event of the school year. This is FA’s major fundraiser that helps them continue to provide engaging activities and faculty recognition luncheons throughout the school year. All proceeds from the Fall Festival are used to enhance the students’ learning environment and help support our faculty and staff.

At East Hill, we prioritize the development of critical thinking skills which are anchored in the Word of God. It is our belief that East Hill Christian School needs to encourage the development of the students by planting seeds of godly wisdom. One way this is achieved is through monthly Huddle Groups. Huddle Groups provide the opportunity for upperclassmen to lead younger students in a small group setting. Together they are able to encourage, minister, and grow in their faith together.

Little Flower Catholic School’s Spanish teacher, Mrs. Hernandez, created a beautiful display to celebrate our students lost loved ones for Dia de Los Muertos. Thank you to all of the families that have supported this event. Many of the students really enjoyed seeing their family members and sharing stories.

The first ever volleyball team at Montessori School of Pensacola (MSP) made it to the playoffs with the Catholic Youth Sports League (CYSL). Upper Elementary and Middle School students at (MSP) are part of the MSP Mantray team. MSP plays against other independent private schools in the area. In addition to volleyball, MSP now has a flag football team. MSP thanks the amazing parent volunteer coaches for all their time and energy.

Little Flower students enjoyed a Halloween Bash last month hosted by our Student Council. Thank you to our Student Council and teachers who worked to have this event for our students.

The Lady Eagles Volleyball team finished their 2022 season this month with their best record since the ’90s. While taking home first in the Eastern Pensacola Christian Conference and second overall in the PCC, this team remained diligent, committed, and driven. We can’t wait for next season.

This past month we had our Fall Pep Rally to not only recognize the season’s sports teams and players, but to come together and show off our EHCS pride. The afternoon included a routine from the Lady Eagles Cheer team, a faculty versus senior volleyball game, and student relay races. To close it out, the Spirit Stick was awarded to the Senior class.