Student Spotlights – May 2025

Congratulations to Escambia High School senior Payten Sims. She was presented with Escambia County’s very first 2-Year Florida Prepaid College Scholarship. Congratulations to Payten and family.

One of the beautiful aspects of the Montessori School of Pensacola experience is the opportunity for meaningful, hands-on learning outside the classroom—especially through our Middle School field trips.
Our middle school students enjoyed a week-long adventure to Palm Harbor, where they dove deeper into their studies of Marine Biology and Ecology. Throughout the week, students explored natural habitats, studied local plants and animals, and experienced the wetlands and estuaries firsthand. This immersive experience was hosted by Nature’s Classroom Institute, a Montessori-inspired organization that aligns perfectly with our approach to education. We are incredibly grateful for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity our students had to connect learning with nature in such an impactful way.

Each year, Escambia County School Library Association recognizes one school media specialist for their commitment to excellence in their library program.
Nominees were asked to complete an application to describe: leadership roles within our district and state-wide professional communities; how they support digital citizenship within their school; and contributions to support information literacy for students and staff. Those applications are reviewed anonymously by a committee of past award recipients. This is a difficult decision because there are many amazing librarians in this county who go far above and beyond to support their schools.
This year we are proud to announce that Inette Gardner, Beulah Middle School Media Specialist, is the recipient of the 2025 Dr. Paula Gleason Award. Ms. Gardner has been a media specialist at Beulah Middle School since 2023. Students, staff, and administrators appreciate the many roles she fills and her commitment to creating a welcoming school library. As one of her nominators noted, she is “a true champion of education, and her dedication and impact on her students’ growth and love for reading make her a truly deserving nominee for this prestigious award.”
Congratulations, Ms. Gardner. Thank you for your dedication to our profession and the students and faculty of ECPS.

Isabelle Jenkins, who attends the Pensacola High School IB program and is a member of the Florida Virtual FFA chapter, was the only local student to be named a finalist.
The program symbolizes the highest competitive recognition for FFA members and their Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) program(s) in seven different categories. Each candidate will be interviewed by a team of FFA, industry and agriculture education representatives to determine the winner in each area. Each finalist, their family and agriculture instructor(s) will be recognized at the Fourth General Session of the 97th Florida FFA Convention to be held at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando.

Every spring since 2014, students in Escambia High School’s Engineering Academy have competed in NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC). This is an international engineering competition held at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama each spring. It attracts teams from universities, colleges, and high schools from around the world.
This competition exists to motivate aspiring engineers by challenging them to create and develop new ideas and designs for manned rovers on the moon and Mars. Each team designs and builds a vehicle driven, or piloted according to NASA, by two students who attempt at least one run on a punishing track that mimics Lunar and Martian terrain.
This was another year where a team of our engineering students represented Escambia High School and Escambia Public Schools phenomenally. This event is the culmination of a lot of work throughout the school year. Some of them gave up their time early before school and late after school. Some worked Saturdays fabricating parts like carbon fiber wheel rims and spokes. Some learned to weld. Others learned how to create molded parts based on 3D prints from CAD models. Some led STEM outreach to middle school students, teaching them engineering principles based on their work with the rover.
They all contributed to approximately 100 pages of technical report content spread throughout the year. That began with writing a proposal that NASA accepted just to get into the competition. They planned. They designed. They created. And they tested their work against the 49 other teams accepted into the competition. In the end, they finished as the number two high school in the world!
These were the students involved: Jackson Domholdt, Gabrielle Gholston, Chayce Grant, Schyra Gray, Jordan Jacobson, Samari Johnson, Connor Luu, Rhyleigh Meyers, Kain Miller, Aiden Niau, Gabrielle Osten, Jayla Pearson, Ella Pittenger, Presley Richert, Clayton Sanders, Julian Smith, Sean Smudde, Jeremiah Tyson, Tyler Uher, Regan York and Zachary Yost.

At a recent School Board Workshop, students from Booker T. Washington High School’s Marketing and Entrepreneurship Academy, along with their teacher, Ms. Evans, shared the real-world applications associated with the skills they’ve developed in this academy. From digital marketing, to business planning, to financial literacy, these fine students are learning skills which will serve them well as they matriculate.

On Saturday, March 29, members of the United States Navy, The Point Baptist Church, West Pensacola Elementary faculty, staff, and students participated in a spring cleanup. The concrete was pressure-washed, edging and weed-eating were done, and the garden beds were replenished as students begin their spring planting. West Pensacola appreciates the community’s support.

In April, ECPS Teachers of the Year were recognized before the Blue Wahoos game. Our ECPS Teacher of the Year, Kelly Reed, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. We are so proud of Ms. Reed and all of our Teachers of the Year.

Montessori School of Pensacola’s 3rd-year students experienced the true meaning of learning, giving, and creativity. These 21 incredible students kicked off the day with a trip to Bailey’s Produce, where they shopped for fresh fruits and veggies—donating an amazing 203 pounds of produce to Manna Food Bank.
After their grocery mission, they headed to First City Arts to experience the magic of glass blowing and clay work on the wheel. Inspired by spring, each student sculpted their very own clay bunny. The day ended with a meaningful stop at Manna, where they personally delivered their donations, helping support roughly 40 families in our community.

The entire McArthur Elementary family recently came together to celebrate custodian Mr. Anterio as a hero. He stood up, stepped in and saved a choking student by performing the Heimlich maneuver.
The Florida FFA Association recently selected 25 student members — including one from Escambia County — as finalists in the highly coveted “Stars of Florida” award recognition program.

What an amazing night at Kingsfield Elementary. Literacy Night on 4/10/25 was a huge success with an incredible turnout from the community. Families enjoyed a fun-filled evening packed with exciting activities like interactive games, guest readers from the community, and a special visit from none other than Bullwinkle from Splash City. Kids got to stretch and move with Cosmic Kids Yoga, get creative at the bookmark-making station, explore at our hands-on STEAM booth, and enjoy a fantastic performance of Reader’s Theater by the talented students of Tate High School. And that’s not all— there were snacks, smiles, and a whole lot of love for reading! Thanks to everyone who came out and made the night so special. Together, we’re building a community of strong, joyful readers.

In a culmination of five months of research and experimentation, the annual Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fair took place at Pensacola Christian Academy in March. With over 200 entries from students in grades 9-11, judges deliberated to select winners in seven categories: Engineering, Microbiology, Botany/Zoology, Math and Computers, Chemistry, Physics, and Earth and Science. During the STEM fair, students discussed their projects with friends and family who attended to view their displays. The top finishers were awarded a trip to the Hyundai Plant in Montgomery, AL, for a guided tour, as well as an adventure to the Montgomery Zoo to explore the wildlife.

Juliana Pearce, fifth grade science teacher at Sherwood Elementary School, recently won a “STEM classroom makeover grant” from Florida Power and Light. Pearce has a long list of items she plans to buy for her classroom, including VR goggles, a 3D printer, robots for the students to program and a hydroponics table for growing plants.