By Kelly Barrera
St. Johns County School Board
May is such a fun and exciting time of year as we celebrate, appreciate and graduate!
Our students, teachers, staff and administrators have been working hard all year long learning, connecting and developing. May brings fun celebrations of all that has been accomplished and a bittersweet close to the school year. Our high school seniors are finishing their final exams and graduations are set to begin on May 18.
We are so incredibly grateful to all of our students, families, teachers and staff for their commitment and efforts that continue to make each of our schools successful.
I would like to highlight some special recognitions. In April, students were selected from each high school to represent the junior and senior classes for the American Youth Character Awards. From Allen D. Nease High School Piper Crecco, Lance DAmato, Audrey Jovel, and Luke Porter, Sydney Minx, Kayla Fitzgerald, William Gould, Kael Kincaid – Stewart, Sydney Lewis, Kevin Naranjo, Elizabeth Parker, Willie Thompson and Abigail Turner received awards. From Ponte Vedra High School Rachel Marino, Alexandria Mitisis, Asher Sutaria, Clare Wyant, Jack Bergquist, Aurora Cook, Aiden Cristofono, Olivia Kaminsky, Austin Koziarski, Autumn Natal, Natalia Otero, Ivanka Rodriguez and Marge Scherz were awarded.
Our Valley Ridge Academy Team, coached by media specialist Lisa Barnette, won the Battle of the Books competition. The students competing included Valerie Jones, Keegan McCann, Liam McCallion, Mukil Kannan, Hannah Weirda, Madilyn Wert and Finn Wierda.
Our students and music directors were also recognized for their musical talents and progression during the Florida Allstate ensembles conference, attended by over 10,000 people. In District 4, both Mark Stevens, music director of Landrum Middle School, and Stephen Panoff, music director from Pine Island Academy, were recognized for their hard work and dedication in developing enriching programs for students to thrive.
Congratulations to our St. Johns County Dr. Martin Luther King poster and essay contest winners which included Landrum Middle School students Gabriel Spohn, Noah Olomu and Paulina Tawk, who were awarded first, second and third place respectively in the middle school essay division for the school district. Ponte Vedra High School student Kate Mase was awarded first place in the high school poster contest.
Our teachers, staff and school administrators could not do what they do for students without the help of our many volunteers. And our school district has amazing volunteers that continue to connect with our students, assist our teachers, staff and administrators, supply additional equipment and support and provide real-world experience in our schools. Thank you so much to each of you.
We recently were given the opportunity to share our appreciation to the volunteer of the year from each school. From District 4, these wonderful volunteers were recognized: Jasper Graham, Beatty Muserallo, Zoie Cuevas, Regan Cartwright, Christina Cummings, Jay Herrigwl, Lindsay Carrao, Ashling Gilligan, Francis Houston and Marcy Jolles, Lynne Jansen, Steve Koran and Teresa Lyons.
The St. Johns County Youth Volunteer of the Year was Shreya Sharma who attends Nease High School and in second place Makenna Crim attending Ponte Vedra High School. Our Adult District Volunteer of the Year was Sierra Boyce from Ocean Palms.
Lastly, congratulations to our Nease NJROTC program for another outstanding achievement at the National Championships! Earning a spot among the top 23 teams and finishing third overall is an amazing accomplishment. Their hard work, dedication and teamwork really paid off. It’s a proud moment for the school and the entire community.
