CHS News

Congratulations to the first graduating seniors in the Future Teachers Academy at Creekside High School! These five students are signing their MOUs with SJCSD and we are looking forward to calling them our colleagues in the future.

Erica Kromer placed 2^nd in the state at the FIU Virtual Teaching Conference for her performance in the Job Interview category. Erica had to create a resume for a paraprofessional position and participate in an interview with a panel of judges. Congratulations, Erica!

Julia Blasio placed 2^nd in the state at FFEA’s annual competition held in Orlando, Florida for her original lesson plan for 12th grade on poetry analysis using the B.E.S.T. standards. Congratulations, Julia!

Leah Crenshaw won the St. Augustine City Commission Citizenship award  to represent Creekside High School in St. Johns County. The award is for Leadership and service to your school and your community.

Every year the St. Johns County chapter of the Christian Educators Association International recognize two students from each high school who have lived out their faith during high school.  This recognition is called Honor the Graduate.  Our Creekside Brothers and Sisters in Christ and Fellowship of Christian Athletes clubs have been meeting throughout the year with many students participating.  Ella Diab and Sam Beasley were voted as the very deserving students to receive the Honor the Graduate recognition.

For several years, Creekside High School’s Dreams Come True Club has been raising money and waiting for COVID restrictions to lift so that they could grant a wish and celebrate a child battling a life-threatening illness.

Their dream finally came true when Ja’Mya and her family dropped in for a party, complete with yellow balloons and lemon cake (her favorite), games, and lots of goodies.

The 13-year-old, who has End Stage Renal Disease and is on the liver transplant list, received a magic wand to bring with her on an all-expenses paid 7-day trip to Give Kids the World, which includes Disney Parks, Universal Parks, and Sea World.

Additionally, she and her three sisters received gifts donated by students and teachers. “It was truly a team effort, and this group, led by Andrew Otwell, is amazingly dedicated,” said co-sponsor Heidy Weaver, who wanted to give special thanks to Leia Fixel’s theatre students and co-sponsor Tracey Pitts for helping make this a memorable event for Ja’Mya.

Creekside Best Buddies chapter received the Chapter of the Year award for North Florida!  Our chapter alone raised over $16,500!!!

Karsyn Mosley received Creekside’s American Sign Language Honor Society’s scholarship.  Karsyn has decided to dedicate her life in becoming a speech and language therapist specifically within the Deaf Community.  Her goal is also to “build up society’s perceptions” of deaf individuals and also help with communication barriers.  She has shown strong dedication through her four years of American Sign Language, and we are proud to award her the annual scholarship to help her on her life’s journey.

The Link Crew $1000 Scholarship was awarded to Katie Redway. She is a natural leader whose character is displayed in everything she does. She understands being a leader means you collaborate, listen, and humble yourself to build others up.

The Miss Creekside Pageant was held April 9, and we are so incredibly proud of the talented and dedicated participants. We are also thankful to the Junior gentlemen escorts, guest performers, backstage student volunteers, and faculty volunteers for helping us to make pageant night great.   Please join us in congratulating the award recipients and all of the amazing participants.

AWARDS:

• Most Ads Sold – Melania Carrigan
• People’s Choice Award – Anna Villanova
• Miss Congeniality- Kayla Gibian
• Most Photogenic – Arsheeya Garg
• Most Talented – Anna Villanova
• Most Scholarly – Lily Clarke
• 2nd Runner Up – Lauren Prangley
• 1st Runner Up – Arsheeya Garg
• Miss Creekside 2023 – Lily Clarke

Each year, more than 10,000 students from approximately 1,450 high schools across America participate in the ACE Mentoring Program, an after-school consortium designed to foster high school students’ enthusiasm toward careers in architecture, construction and engineering. Professionals from the “industry” guide groups of students through a simulated “RFP” (Request for Proposal). The students manage a project from conception to virtual implementation and are responsible for all stages of development … from budget analysis and research to materials selection and structure design.

This year, 8 dedicated students from Creekside High School worked on that chapter’s national-level ACE team and were one of only three selected to participate at the national competition in Washington, DC.

On April 25th, William Bass, Alyssa Buckingham, Shaan Chudgar, Ryan Flack, Sydney Lynch, Erin Philip, Kendall Reckamp and Brandon Ruckh will present their project in our nation’s capital and vie for the top spot.

Creekside’s RFP was the highest ranked in the category called “Strong + Sustainable.” As a team they had to decipher the RFP then create a solution based on the request. The students’ proposal, “Concrete Connect” showcased the “smart” aspects of cement and demonstrated the sustainable and carbon-neutral properties of this common building material.

“Concrete Connect” promotes the use of clean energy by integrating rechargeable concrete batteries and renewable resources into the structural features of existing buildings. This “concrete battery” provides a source of clean energy and allows for the storage and distribution of environmentally friendly energy throughout urban, suburban, and rural areas. The Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, proved to be an ideal model for the team. By incorporating concrete batteries in the building’s stairs and under the seats, installing Pavegen piezoelectric tiles at the main entrances and placing a solar canopy atop the parking garage, the students were able to demonstrate just how their idea could be implemented in society’s built environment.

The success of these Creekside students is a testament to months of brainstorming, research, and hard work. The support and guidance they received from their teachers and ACE Mentors was an invaluable part of their journey.

From March 10^th to 12^th, the Creekside Robotics Team 8775 competed in its first ever robotics competition.  The competition was sponsored by FIRST Robotics and was held at UCF. The competition consisted of two main challenges. The first of which was to collect oversized tennis balls on the floor, and to shoot them into a goal eight feet above the ground. The second challenge was even more problematic; get the 125-pound robot to climb a series of bars up to eventual height of more than 7 feet. To overcome these intimidating challenges, the team of students, teachers and volunteers from the Engineering and Cybersecurity Academy worked tirelessly to get the robot up and running for the competition. This hard work was shown in their every match. The Creekside team performed in a tour de force, fooling other teams into thinking that they were a seasoned veteran team. And on the final day, when the dust had settled, the team received a final ranking of 25^th out of the 56 teams – placing higher than every rookie team on the field. What may be even more impressive is that they were able to rank higher than more than half of the veteran teams on field, some of which had been competing for more than 20 years.

This tremendous success was a testament to the two months of demanding work that the Creekside team put into the robot before the competition. Students, teachers, and mentors alike spent long hours after school trying to get to robot up and running for the competition. These hours of CAD, manual labor, and ingenuity eventually paid off with a working robot and a trophy that is sure to stay in the Engineering Academy classroom for a long time.