May 4, 2012
Dear Parents, Grandparents and Friends of PBMA,
May 7-11 is Teacher Appreciation Week! Since we have the best Faculty ever, please remember to acknowledge all their hard work, patience and dedication. Here are some suggestions…flowers, plants, notes of appreciation, sweets and treats (store-bought, not home-made), cards, etc. Thank you in advance for showing our teachers how special they are!
The Lantana build-out is progressing quite rapidly and we anticipate an on-time delivery in July. We will keep you posted through our website (www.palmbeachmaritimeacademy.org) and a summer mailer which should arrive at your home sometime in late June.
Mr. Allen’s 8th grade classes honored Law Week, April 30 – May 4, 2012, by hosting a mock trial on Tuesday, May 1st in PBMA’s school cafeteria. The mock trial script provided by the Palm Beach County Bar Association was “Pocahontas” and featured John Smith as the defendant on trial for criminal trespass on Native American lands. Palm Beach Maritime Academy would like to thank John Pauly for volunteering and the wonderful job he did as the attorney assigned to the school. His expertise and insights were invaluable to the proceedings.
This year’s student cast of characters was as follows: Meeko (the bailiff) – Samantha McCollum; Judge Grandmother Willow – Amber Manuel; Prosecuting Attorney Cocowam – Leslie Castillo; Prosecution’s 1st Witness Chief Powhatan-Alex Diaz Salgado; and Pocahontas played by Cindy Gomez. For the defense, Musammat Uddin played Lady Raleigh, the Defense Attorney; the Defendant, John Smith was Ricardo Torres; and Matt Wilson played Governor Ratcliffe, the Defense’s first witness. Following riveting opening statements, the testimony and closing statements, not to mention a little flirtation by Pocahontas toward John Smith, Judge Amber (Grandmother Willow) instructed the jury with the rules for choosing a verdict. Judge Amber issued a short recess while the jury deliberated. This segment of the trial proved to be the most exciting as 12 student jurors took their task seriously and deliberated for over a half hour. Despite convincing and heated argumentation from both sides in the jury, Madison Ondush, the jury foreperson reported that the jury could not come to a unanimous decision on the verdict. Throughout the deliberation and the proceedings, students were given a firsthand look at how U.S. courts work. And, with the “hung” jury, they were shown that the presumption of innocence is fundamentally at the basis of our system. Thanks again to Attorney John Pauly and to all who were involved.
What do you get when you mix middle school enthusiasm, generous marine industry sponsors, great faculty mentors and a cool, two day event called the Dania Beach Plywood Regatta? You get 7th and 8th grade students working together to make an impressive plywood boat and the excitement of racing it.
On Saturday, April 21st and Sunday, April 22nd, a Palm Beach Maritime Academy student team participated in the 16th Annual Dania Beach Plywood Regatta sponsored by the Marine Industries Association of South Florida. Team members included 8th graders Samantha McCollum, Anthony Pena, Venecia Perez, and Lourdes Valdez. Seventh graders included John Sellepack, Anthony Pologruto, and Dylan Valitalo, and his brother Chase. This year marked the third year of PBMA’s participation in this great event. The Plywood Regatta is a two-day boat building event that introduces young marine enthusiasts and the community to the craft of boat building and the excitement of recreational boating. With the help of faculty mentors Yvette Pearson, Carlee Consagra, and Steven Allen, students designed and built a plywood boat, including paddles, capable of holding two students. On Sunday, PBMA’s team, called “Save Our Seas,” returned to race the boat against the other teams in the Junior Division. While “Save Our Seas” did not take home any trophies in this year’s race, their boat design was outstanding and one of the fastest and most stable designs in their division. Everyone involved had lots of fun and are extremely proud of their accomplishments. If you would like more information about the Dania Beach Plywood Regatta visit http://www.plywoodregatta.org/
We are still collecting Box Tops for Education. Please send these in; we receive 10 cents per Box Top. It’s free money, and helps us purchase items we might not otherwise be able to buy.
We are trying to establish bus routes next year to conveniently service the largest amount of people without having students on the bus for more than an hour. Please watch your mail; a survey will be coming home asking where you live, what the closest main streets are near your home, etc. Please fill it out only if you wish to have bus service next year and return it to school by the deadline so we can route our transportation accordingly. Although the stops will not work for everyone, we will try to make them as centralized as possible. There will also be a stop in the current school’s parking lot or across the street; please indicate if that is the stop you plan to use. PBMA parents do not need to complete the District survey, just the survey you receive from us.
Title I surveys went home on May 1st. Please fill them out and return them to school no later than May 8th, 2012. Surveys MUST be filled out in #2 pencil only.
On May 8th, we will be holding a series of Internet Safety Assemblies for students in grades K-8. This is a District initiative on a topic we at PBMA take very seriously. Please ask your children what they learned and help them understand the possible dangers on line.
Please check your child’s backpack for Parent Connections, which is full of great ideas to help your child with reading.
Congratulations to our April Students of the Month! They and their parents are invited to a special breakfast on June 6, 2012, at 8:45am in the cafeteria. They are:
KG Mishica Misael Valdes KG Hochenbaum Llaila Sa-Ra
KG/1 Ward Angel Mandon-Gonzalez 1st Fischer Markus Jacques
1st Regan Emily Lavin 2nd Grade Roxana Puac
2nd / 3rd Grade Honesty Thomas 3rd Grade Kira Corneille
4th Blanton Genesse Acevedo 4th Borghese Jaden Yager
5th Donlon Devin Speropoulous 5th Consagra Brook Rossi
6th Cooke Gabriella Llanos-Deyounks 6th Trussell Samantha Bosco
7/8 Reading Justin Vicari 7/8 Lang. Arts Cindy Gomez
7/8 Social Studies Tiffany Workman 7/8 Math Leslie Castillo
7/8 Science Camron Mason
For your planning…
May 7-11 Teacher Appreciation Week
May 8 Internet Safety Assemblies
Ms. Dennett and Ms. Regan to Lake Worth Playhouse
May 9 Grade 8 Art Students to FAU Art Exhibit
May 10 Grade 7 Art Students to FAU Art Exhibit
May 11 Progress Reports 6-8
Out of Uniform Day
May 14 Grade 8 to Currie Park
May 15 Grade 7 to Currie Park
May 16 Grade 4 to Currie Park
May 17 Kindergarten Round Up (incoming Kindergarten parents ONLY)
Grade 5 to Currie Park
May 19 Lantana Open House
May 21-25 Scholastic Book Fair
May 21 Grade 6 to Currie Park
May 22 Grades 2/3, 3 to Currie Park
Grade 2 Dennett and Grade 1 Regan to Loxahatchee River Center (make-up trip)
May 23 Grades K/1 and 1 to Currie Park
May 24 Grades K to Currie Park
May 25 6th Grade Field trip to Jupiter Lighthouse
May 28 No School
May 29 National Junior Honor Society Induction 9:30am in the cafeteria
Grade 6 Science Fair 4pm-5pm
May 30 Grade 2, 2/3 and 3 to Gumbo Limbo
May 31 Grade 6 to Skate Zone
June 1 Prom Grades 7/8 5:30pm – 9:00pm in the school
June 2 Lantana Open House
June 5 Grade 8 to Busch Gardens
June 6 Students of the Month Breakfast for April and May
South Olive “Fun Day” Grades K-3
8th Grade Graduation 6:00pm Riviera Beach Marina
June 7 Last Day of Classes for All Students
K-5 Report Cards Go Home
June 14 or later Grades 6, 7, 8 report cards mailed home
Have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Marie A. Turchiaro
Principal
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