With six different garden beds to prepare and care for, the student council members at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School don’t mind getting their hands a bit dirty.

Starting in April, the students head outdoors to start preparing their garden, which they hope will be filled with plenty of vegetables by the end of the school year. They start by weeding and raking the beds to get ready for a schoolwide planting day in May. 

The imitative started about four years ago, according to adviser and Mt. Pleasant Elementary teacher Stephen Jackowski. The six garden beds were donated by local Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops. The student council cares for the beds, planting beans, tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, corn and other various vegetables. All of the vegetables are then donated to the local food pantry in June and during the summer months.

While the beds are cared for weekly by the student council, which consists of third, fourth and fifth grade students, the schoolwide planting initiate gives all the students an opportunity to help give back to their local community.

The district has named its 2019 Torch Award recipients. The Torch Award is presented to Smithtown teachers who have significantly contributed to the growth and professional development of their teacher colleagues. The Smithtown Teacher Center hosted a reception to honor all Torch Award recipients and nominees. The 2019 Torch Award recipients are, from left, Tracy McAlvin, Christa Braunreuther, Jonathan Ferrante, Christina Cone, Jeanmarie Wilson, James Schiraldi and Barbara DiSalvo.

Mrs. Kohilakis's class celebrated the start of spring by writing a beautiful poem about what “spring is” to them.

Author Brooks Gibbs, a social skills educator, visited Mt. Pleasant Elementary School to speak to students about emotional resilience. He shared different ways students can manage their emotions, such as laughing in a tough situation. Mr. Gibbs offered tips on how to make friends, following the Golden Rule and confronting bullying.

First-graders at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School joined together for a community service project with Splashes of Hope on March 27. Splashes of Hope is an organization whose mission is transforming clinical to colorful. Their artists paint murals that get installed in pediatric hospitals, veterans affairs homes, and even in bedrooms for children with terminal illnesses.

One of the programs done by Splashes of Hope is the Friend on the Mend, which delivers goodie bags to hospitals. The Mt. Pleasant first-graders teamed up to decorate and stuff the bags with coloring books, activities, crayons and a puppet of their choice. They each colorfully decorated their individual bag.  

These are hand delivered to children in the hospital for various reasons to help brighten a child’s day. Splashes of Hope mascots Vincent Van Monkey and Alice the Elephant also made a special guest appearance.

The district’s elementary and middle schools have been selected as Project Lead the Way Distinguished Schools for 2018-2019 school year.

For a second consecutive year, all seven of the district’s elementary schools have been designated as Distinguished Launch Schools based on their PLTW Launch implementation and participation in the 2017-2018 school year. Smithtown’s elementary schools represent seven of the 11 schools identified in New York State, and seven of the 216 Launch schools being recognized nationally.  

All three of the district’s middle schools have been designated as Distinguished Gateway Schools based on their Gateway implementation and participation in the 2017-2018 school year. Smithtown represents the only three schools in New York State, and three of the 148 Gateway schools being recognized nationally.  

“This recognition is certainly representative of all of the hard work that has gone into our successful implementation on the part of the many staff and faculty members involved,” said Paul Strader, executive director of curriculum. 

Goldilocks was put on trial for the crimes of trespassing, criminal mischief and petty larceny on March 5 by the fifth-graders at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School. More than a dozen storybook characters were called to testify in the trial to explain the break-in at the home of the Three Little Bears.

This program introduces fifth-graders to the basic elements of the legal system, constitutional rights and the inner workings of the courts. Fourth-graders served as the members of the jury.

Goldilocks was charged with entering the Three Little Bears’ house, eating their porridge, breaking a chair, rummaging through Mama Bear’s clothes and stealing $100.

Characters such as Chicken Little, the Big Bad Wolf, the Three Blind Mice and the Wise Owl – as well as Goldilocks’ parents and cousin Dreadlocks – were all called to the stand. After hearing all the testimonies, the jury deliberated on its ruling and sentencing for Goldilocks.