x
Breaking News
More () »

Pinecrest Elementary is our 10News School of the Week

The school originally opened in 1936 with grades 1-9. They chose the Pilot mascot to honor several of the school's first graduates who served as Air Force pilots during World War II.

LITHIA, Fla. -- Pinecrest Elementary School is our 10 News School of the Week powered by Duke Energy Florida!

The school originally opened in 1936 with grades 1-9. They chose the Pilot mascot to honor several of the school's first graduates who served as Air Force pilots during World War II.

Today, it's an elementary school serving grades K-5. The mission at Pinecrest Elementary goes along with its mascot: Provide Instructional Learning Opportunities To Succeed.

Teachers implement STEAM, or Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math concepts into many lessons. Fourth graders get to design and build solar cars and then use them in competitions. This type of hands-on experience gets the kids excited about learning.

Janet Correll is the gifted teacher at Pinecrest. She says adding the 'art' into STEM lessons has been a key to getting everyone interested. "They seem to remember things better by adding that art into it. It seems to get everybody interested."

Pinecrest also has a number of clubs that kids participate in each Friday during the last period of the day. It gives them a chance to learn creative writing, sports, encrypting, crocheting and several other activities.

The school gets a lot of support from the surrounding communty. A local program called Seeds of Hope provides backpacks of food for migrant students to take home over the weekend. It's also a Relay For Life campus.

Pinecrest is known for it's school spirit, strong academics and community involvement. On any given day, several generations of Pinecrest students are at the school. Several teachers who went to that school, now teach there. Many student grandparents and parents support the school because they also attended there as children.

Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the 10 News app now.

Have a news tip? Email tips@wtsp.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.

Before You Leave, Check This Out