Sun Blaze Elementary School has been recognized as an “A” school by the Florida Department of Education since 2014 for demonstrating a high level of performance on state assessments. Last month, I received a letter of recognition from our governor, Rick Scott. The letter showcased the academic achievements the school had last year. Sun Blaze was in the top 8% among all schools in the state of Florida with 25% or more English Language Learners in English Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics, and Science achievement. This is a great honor for our community.
For more than 60 years, the Modern Woodmen of America School Speech Contest has provided students with a valuable personal and academic experience. Today, the contest is an important event with more than 100,000 students competing. This year’s School Speech Contest asked contestants to imagine a world without the invention of their choosing and speak about how this invention has improved the quality of life. Speeches had to be between three and five minutes long and in the student’s own words. This year, we had nine talented finalists from more than 200 students who participated. I want to congratulate our winner, Rheanna Eltaghriny. Her speech was about the internet and how it has changed the world and improved quality of life. I would like to thank our guest judges – Dr. Jara, Dr. Fritzler, and Ms. Gibson – for their time and involvement.
On Feb. 8, our second- and third-grade students performed A Tribute to Dr. Seuss at the Lake Nona High School Performing Arts Center. What an amazing evening as more than 400 students performed a song and dance for their family and friends. The evening began with all of the classes singing our national anthem and concluded with an encore tribute to Dr. Seuss and our Sun Blaze school song. This was the second of three grade-level performances planned for the year. Our special area teachers have been outstanding as they instruct and prepare our students for these performances. I want to thank these teachers for their commitment, along with the parents and family members who were in attendance.
I would like to invite our Lake Nona Community to Sun Blaze Elementary’s Drama Club performance of The Wizard of Oz. This performance is free and will take place Friday, March 2, from 6-7 p.m.
Our kindergarten students were excited to celebrate the 100th day of school recently. It was wonderful to see many of them participate in the 100th day theme by dressing up, engaging in activities such as counting to 100 by 1’s, 5’s, 10’s, and 20’s, and working on their 100 sight words. It is always exciting to see our students engaged in learning the standards through creative and challenging activities.
I would like to invite our Lake Nona community to follow our social media links to stay connected with all that is happening at Sun Blaze Elementary. The website address is SunBlazeES@ocps.net. You can follow us on Facebook, at SunBlazeES.ocps.net and on our new Twitter account, SunBlazeElem.
Go, Stingrays!
