Pledge: Kindergarten
December Character Words – Caring & Kindness
Our Key of Excellence for December is Caring and Kindness and we will be focusing on three behaviors to celebrate this character trait, showing concern for others, being helpful, and making the world a better place. Be kind to those around you even if everyone around you seems to be in a hurry. When you are kind to others, you feel better about yourself. To start our recognitions for this term, I would like to bring up two brothers who embodied our December character trait:
Erfan and Arman Razavi
As part of a self-directed Boy Scout Community Service Project, the Razavi brothers decided to make an extra effort this past Veteran’s Day to honor those who serve our nation.
They began their project by collecting over 30 “thank you” notes addressed specifically to marines who are currently in boot camp and just beginning their journey of service. The boys requested the notes be delivered to all those servicemen and women who had not yet, or ever, received any mail from family or friends during their time in boot camp. During class, the boys handed out “Home of the Brave” notecards to their classmates for them to write their own thoughts of appreciation. In addition to collecting thank you cards for new service members, the boys also participated in the second annual ‘Walking with Warriors’ prayer brunch held Saturday, November 9. We are very proud to see these young men give back to those who serve our country. Thank you Erfan and Arman for your great work!
Other Recognitions:
Kindergarten:
- Charlotte Love scored her 1st soccer goal.
1st Grade:
- Kai Johnson won the national championship this weekend in Las Vegas in the Micro Class (7-11-year-olds). He is the youngest winner in history at 6 and won a new set ($650) and $2500 in cash. He did great!
3rd Grade:
- Zachary Rodgers just got his Tae Kwon Do Bo-Black belt 2 weeks ago and received an award from the TKD Star Student award for doing well in school at the TKD annual awards ceremony.
- Max Salebra is an American Ninja Warrior. He’s won 1st place in his last 5 National ninja competitions. He is currently ranked 4th in the country. All competitors have a ninja name and Max is known as The Cadet Ninja…a nod to Admiral Farragut Academy! Max will compete in the world championship in Feb 2020. Max will be submitting to be on the show American Ninja Warrior Junior for 2020!
4th Grade
- Roman Koschil has read over 3,500 pages since starting to read Harry Potter in mid-Sept! That’s almost enough to say, “You’re a (reading) wizard, Roman!” as Hagrid would say.
5th Grade:
- Jacob Singleton was asked over the summer to play on a select hockey team that was competing in the Sunshine State Hockey tournament in Wesley Chapel. His team won the tournament, winning the championship game 4-0.
6th Grade:
- Carlos and Cassandra Bonilla – In October, 3rd-grade student Cassandra competed in the Tropicana Dance Challenge. She danced the Waltz, Viennese Waltz, Tango, Fox Trot, Jive, ChaCha, Samba and more. She received many first places and won her division, bringing back many gold medals. In November Cassandra, and her 6th-grade brother, Carlos, competed in the Blitz Ballroom Competition in Orlando, a youth competition with competitors from all over the country, and both Cassie and Carlos won scholarships for Smooth Dances and Rhythm Dances. In addition, Carlos won the top male competitor trophy for his age group for the entire competition.
- Marin Lewis also participated in the Tropicana Dance Challenge at the end of October and placed 1st in 10 of her heats. She competes against adults and children at the silver level. Next Saturday Marin, Carlos, and Cassandra will be competing in the Ballroom Winter Showcase, where they will be dancing all day.
- Sophia Preston was part of the University of Kentucky Confucius Institute Education Program in China this summer. She was able to spend time in a rural classroom helping students with their English. The instructors asked where she learned Chinese because her tone and dialect were incredible. They said that was the hardest part of learning the language. She was proud to share what she learned.
- Alexander Grimaldi got a chance to compete on the varsity golf team this year, which was overwhelming at times, but he completed his season as the youngest on the team and even got a shout out on his performance during the final match play against St. Pete Catholic.
7th Grade:
- Jacob Arias was a participant this summer in the Crisis program for academically gifted students conducted by the Duke University Talent Identification Program. He was selected from an applicant pool representing the top elementary and middle school students in the United States. Also, Jacob participated in the International Martial Arts Festival held at ESPN in Orlando and earned 4 gold medals in Taekwondo for 2 different types of Poomsae forms, board breaking, and a sword weapon form.
- Hazel Alevok recently made the St. Pete Club Volleyball Elite “Teal” Team for her age group 13U. They compete now through mid-summer.