Members of the Russian Youth Swim team are finishing up their visit to Pine Crest this week. The delegation of 12 boys and seven girls (ages 13-16) enjoyed nearly two weeks of early morning and late evening practices under the direction of Pine Crest and USA Swimming National Team Coach Jay Fitzgerald. The visit to Pine Crest is part of the U.S. – Russian Bilateral Presidential Commission’s Swimming Exchange, organized by the U.S. Department of State’s Sports United Office and the U.S. Olympic Committee. 

Out of nine German III students, six received outstanding achievement on this year’s National German Examination which tested students on vocabulary, grammar, and knowledge of culture. These students scored above the 90^th percentile: Sarah Brody ( 98^th percentile), Calvin Winchell (97^th percentile), Mickie Fernandez-Guckes (95^th percentile), Elizabeth Perkaskaya (93^rd percentile), Lauren Geilen and William Weihe (91^st percentile).

Pine Crest students scored among the Top 10 in the nation on this year’s French National Exam:  Amy Morrison (3^rd place), Roy Lederman (5^th place), Alexandra Galel (6^th place), Samuel Kortner (6^th place), Jessica Pancer (6^th place), Caroline Soto (6^th place), Paul Zammit (7^th place), Brittany Hammond (9^th place), Chelsea Hartney (9^th place), and Blake Halim (10^th place). On the French National Exam, 448 students sat for the exam. Our students, entered by French teacher Christina Leps, ranked 23^rd or higher.

This year 146 students took the Spanish National Exam and 96 of them received National recognition!          

On Tuesday, Elizabeth Whittington's ninth-grade English classes and several additional faculty and staff members had the opportunity to participate in a video conference with Nikki Giovanni, a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech and a world-renowned poet.

This year’s Fort Lauderdale Eighth-Grade Talent Show was a huge success!  Our talented students brought American Idol and America’s Got Talent to Pine Crest, featuring everything from singing to musical performances. It was a great representation of the caliber of our students. What a way to end the school year!

They entered as sixth graders with an ice cream social and a “get to know” your teachers welcome. This week the Fort Lauderdale Class of 2014 said goodbye to middle school with a celebratory graduation breakfast and awards ceremony. Faculty praised the entire class for its perserverance during a tough year.

This year’s Fort Lauderdale Lower School awards ceremony  recognized our outstanding fourth and fifth-grade students for the 2009-10 school year. What a great class!  Students were saluted for athletics, safety, math, science, spelling and geography bees, keystroke, music, and reading (library). 

The fierce Fort Lauderdale third-grade kickball championships ended this year with Nancy Lynn Kidwell’s class taking the gold over formidable opponents Kathy  Andres' class. The powerful morning game was played in the full spirit of fun and great team competition.

Our Boca campus held two recitals last week: a Lower School piano recital on Wednesday afternoon and a seventh-grade voice rectial on Thursday morning.

There were two evening concerts recently in Boca. On Tuesday, our Middle School Orchestra played in the Bernstein Family Commons Room and all three of our bands played Thursday in the Parents’ Association Performing Arts Center.

Under the direction of Fort Lauderdale Lower School teacher Charlotte Schumacher, this year’s Drama Showcase did not disappoint. Through dance and song, Pinocchio came to life on stage. It was a delightful performance.

Congratulations to both Boca’s boys’ and girls’ Middle School tennis teams for winning their league championships last week!

Congratulations to varsity lacrosse player Emily Becker and the team’s head coach, Eileen Pliske, for their recent accomplishments.

More than 50 Fort Lauderdale Annual Fund volunteers and their children celebrated the end of the year with an ice cream social complete with ice cream, all the toppings, and cookies.

Many hold professional degrees, work full-time jobs, yet have time to bring their care and expertise to our classrooms and corridors. They are our parent volunteers - individuals who play such an important role in the daily life of Pine Crest.

The Middle and Upper School Parents’ Association recently held its Spring Luncheon at the Lauderdale-by-the-Sea home of Dr. James and Janet Jordan.

Honor and Appreciation

In Appreciation of Mary Mathews fondly, Kari Angelo

In Honor of Lee Banks from Hal Ornstein, DPM

In Honor of Walter Banks from the American Academy of Podiatric

Practice Management

In Honor of Walter Banks from Hal Ornstein, DPM

In Honor of Marianne Eisner from Alisa Karten
In Honor of Richard Palmaccio from Riccardo and Raquel Di Capua