A Quick Glimpse into our Seacrest Community Art, Literature, and Creative Writing

Created by The Students of Seacrest of Country Day School 2007-2008

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Table of Contents

Prekindergarten Loved Charlotte’s Web! ............................................................................................... 5

Our January Beach Day! .................................................................................... 7

The Naples Botanical Gardens .......................................................................... 9

Listen, Did You Know… .................................................................................... 11

Our Teddy Bear Picnic ..................................................................................... 13

The Naples Pier ............................................................................................... 15

A Trip to the Zoo ............................................................................................. 17

The Care Club .................................................................................................. 19

Our Trip to Collier County Museum ................................................................ 21

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary .......................................................................... 23

“Insect Adventure” ......................................................................................... 23

The Bat Lady ................................................................................................... 25

Shiloh .............................................................................................................. 27

My Pot of Gold ................................................................................................ 29

CREW Watershed Management ..................................................................... 31

Cabaret ........................................................................................................... 33

Everglades City and Smallwood Store ............................................................. 35

The Colonial Show .......................................................................................... 37

Sea World ....................................................................................................... 39

Fun, Exciting, Educational, SLEEP OVER!! ........................................................ 39

S.W.A.M.P. Stomp ........................................................................................... 43

Summer Days .................................................................................................. 45

Laws of Life ........................................................................................................... 49

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Prekindergarten Loved Charlotte’s Web!

Our teacher read us the book and we saw the play

And the movie too!

It was a good story but we also learned about friendship,

The cycle of life,

And kindness.

Fern saved Wilbur‟s life first and

Then Charlotte saved his life!

Later, Wilbur saved Charlotte‟s children!

Charlotte said

“Never hurry and never worry!”

We think that is a good thing!

The Class Mrs. Maranto

Prekindergarten

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Our January Beach Day!

We had so much fun that day!

We played in the hot sand with our other Pre-K friends!

We thought it was so funny when the seagull grabbed a Cheeto!

We liked playing in the big water hole with shovels!

We liked running so fast and making the big kite fly high in the air!

We tried digging all the way to the ocean!

We liked eating our lunch on the sand with some of our parents and

Grandparents!

The Class Mrs. DiMieri

Prekindergarten

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The Naples Botanical Gardens

In February, we visited the Naples Botanical Gardens. It was such

a beautiful place! We were able to see plants and animals from around

the world. We also visited the butterfly garden where we saw many

different types of butterflies and their chrysalises. This was our favorite

part of the trip. Later on, we were fortunate enough to experience the

life cycle of a

butterfly in our

classroom. We

released them

into the world.

This was an

experience we

will never ever

forget!

The Class Miss. Jenkins Kindergarten

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Listen, Did You Know…

That the first thing we hear as we enter this large building is the

swish of the electric doors. The next sound we hear is the

beeping of the cash registers. As we walk through this large

building, we hear the sounds of people talking and official

announcements over the P.A. system. We hear the rattle of carts

as they are pushed down the aisles and the low hum of freezers.

Did you know that as we enter deeper into this place, we begin

to smell fresh baked cookies and yummy fried chicken? We pass

by beautifully fragrant flowers.

Our eyes see lots of color as we pass by rows of cans and

boxes, stacks of fruit drinks, and floating balloons.

We touch the round melons to check for ripeness, finger the

toys we wish we could buy, and place our hands against the cool

tanks where lobsters swim.

Did you know that we get to taste the sweet cupcakes made

fresh each day? Our noses are covered with sugary icing as we

eat the cupcake we decorated with sprinkles!

Where are we? On our field trip to Publix!

The Class Ms. Curvin

Kindergarten

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Our Teddy Bear Picnic

Our Teddy Bears came with us for a picnic. We played hide

and go seek with them. They ate lunch with us. We played Teddy

Bear bounce with them on the parachute. We jumped into a book and

went on a bear hunt! We almost saw the bear.“So, if you go down to

the woods today, you’re in for a big surprise! That was the day the

Teddy Bears had their picnic!”

The Class

Mrs. Gardino

Kindergarten

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The Naples Pier

Our class went to the Naples Pier. It was

windy, but the sun was shining. We liked

the pier. We walked all of the way to the

end. We saw pelicans and dolphins. We saw

people fishing. The pier has a food stand.

We had our snack on the pier. It was fun!

The Class

Ms. DelMauro

First Grade

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A Trip to the Zoo

The First Graders take an exciting trip to the Naples Zoo each spring to culminate

their study of African Animals. From comical monkeys to the majestic lions, from the

colorful birds to the “tickling” butterflies, from the amazing snakes to the fearsome

alligators, a day spent at the Naples Zoo is a day filled with exciting things to see and new

things to learn!

Here are some observations from the students in Ms Burchett and Miss Drury‟s First

Grade class:

Avery: My favorite animal is the koala. I like them because they are so soft.

Brooke: I love monkeys!! They do funny stuff and swing around. They are so cute!

Bridget: I love polar bears. They are so cute!

Johnny: My favorite bird is the parrot. They are so colorful!

Lilly: I love monkeys because they love bananas.

David: My favorite animal is the turtle. I really like their shell.

Reilly: I like sea turtles. They live in the water and have cool shells!

Jonathan: My favorite animal at the zoo is the snake, because they are so cool.

Cameron: My favorite zoo animal is the snake because they are slithery and cool.

Julia S: I really love the butterflies because they have so many different colors!

Austin: I like giraffes because they are SO tall!

Julia T: I like the lions. They have a pretty mane.

Cooper: I like the elephants. They are funny and have great big ears!

Melanie: I love pandas, because they eat bamboo and they are so cute!

Emily: My favorite zoo animal is the seal, because they bounce balls on their nose.

The Class Mrs. Burchett

First Grade

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The Care Club

Our class went to the Care Club. The school bus picked us up at

school and took us there. When we got inside the building there were

lots of people there. They were sitting around in chairs. They were

happy to see us. We stood in a circle in front of them and sang some

songs. The people really liked it. They laughed and clapped their

hands. Some cried. Some sang with us. Hannah stood on a tall chair to

sing her solo. We all helped her sing „A Magic Song‟. They really liked

that song! When we left there was a REALLY fat cat on the desk!

The Class Ms. Sahli

First Grade

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Our Trip to Collier County Museum

Our visit to the Collier County Museum was fun! We saw a boat

that was used to carry people to their island homes! We learned a lot

about the Native American tribe, the Calusa Indians. We saw their

houses called chickee huts. They were built on shell mounds, so they

wouldn’t collapse. The Calusa slept on wood shelves that were built in.

We learned that sugar is made from a plant called sugarcane.

We saw a machine that is hooked up to a horse to squeeze the sugar

out.

We even saw a wax museum, an army tank, and a big train. The

train had a light to see in the dark. Some people were going to crush

the train, but the museum saved it. We saw some cats living under it.

We saw a fort that was made for attacks. They stored a cannon

and ammunition there. There was a big lookout tower in the fort.

The museum was fun! We hope to go there again.

The Class Mrs. Tadlock

Second Grade

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Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary “Insect Adventure”

We had fun on our field trip to Corkscrew Swamp

Sanctuary! We did a lot of fun activities, and we learned a lot

about the insects that live in Florida.

First, we used a net to scoop insects from a pond. Then,

we took a fun Insect Adventure Quiz. We went on a hike in

the woods and found the insects that were hiding in the

bushes. The best part was when we got to wear compound eye

goggles and buzz around like bees. It was a fun field trip!

The Class Mrs. Raffaldini

Second Grade

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The Bat Lady

On February 7, a magnificent “Bat Lady” came to speak to us

about bats. She brought a couple of real bats into the classroom and

showed us a slideshow. She taught us about micro bats and large bats.

Micro bats live in the United States. Large bats live in other parts of the

world. We learned that the biggest bats in the world live in Australia.

Their wing span is 5 feet!

We also learned that the smallest bat is the Hog-nosed bat. This

bat is as small as a bumble bee and is very beautiful! It looks like the

bat in the book, Stellaluna. The Bat Lady also said that it is against the

law to keep a bat as a pet. If you want to see a bat in your backyard,

then you should put up a bat box! These boxes can hold up to 300

bats! So, save up your money!

If you were to find a bat in the wild, you may see that each bat

may have a different colored rubber band so that scientists know which

bat is which. We also learned not to be afraid of Vampire bats because

they are so small, even though they do carry a disease called rabies.

The Class Mrs. Huy

Second Grade

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Shiloh

Shiloh is a good book to read. It won

the Newbery Medal. This story is about a

boy that finds a dog because the man who

owned the dog was very mean to him. He

would kick and hit his dog. So, the boy is

trying to hide the dog.

Missy Third Grade

Mrs. Swift

Shiloh is a fantastic book. It won the Newbery Award! This story is about a

young dog named Shiloh, It has a very bad owner. So, a boy named Marty started

taking care of Shiloh. Can he keep him a secret from its bad owner? The bad

owner’s name is Judd Travers. He is so bad, he almost shot Shiloh! Shiloh is a cute

young beagle. Judd is trying to teach him to be a hunting dog, but he is doing it

the wrong way. We all have to find out if Shiloh’s going to be alright.

Madison Third Grade

Mrs. Swift

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I liked Shiloh because it was very interesting. I couldn’t wait to read the

next chapter! Marty and Shiloh are the main characters. Marty loved animals and

loved Shiloh a lot. Shiloh was a dog. He was loving and he sometimes got hyper

just like my dog! I loved to read Shiloh, It’s exciting to see what‘s going to happen

next. There are funny parts, sad parts, and just normal parts. Shiloh is a great

book.

Morgan Third Grade

Mrs. Swift

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My Pot of Gold

To me, what is more important than gold is my family and what

belongs to us. I love our conversations and all the care and love. That’s

because gold might be important to some people, but I don’t

care….because I don’t have to care about insurance and taxes and all

that other grownup stuff. So, that is why family is more important than

all the gold in the world.

Georgia Mrs. Wannstedt

Third Grade

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CREW Watershed Management

The fourth grade went on a field trip to CREW. We saw many cool

animals and plants that are special to our area. When we went on the

boardwalk we brought our cameras and took a lot of pictures. The

people there were very nice and took care of protecting the local

environment. It was a lot of fun!

Robert Mr. Murphy

Fourth Grade

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Cabaret

The fourth grade class went on a great field trip to the

Sugden Theatre in March. We got a backstage tour of the

show “Cabaret” and got to see the workshop where they

make the sets. Our class also saw the props and costumes

as well as the pit where the music comes from.

One of our tour guides was Ms. Megan McCombs. She

took us upstairs to the third floor where we got to see how

they bring the backdrops up and down with a huge rope and

pulley. She also took us to the second floor to see where

they shine the lights and change the colors on the stage.

Mr. Craig Price practiced vocal warm-ups with us.

“Lion” is where you make your body real big and roar, and

“lemon” is where you get real small and pucker up like

you’re eating a sour lemon.

We practiced our lines from a Shakespeare play called

“Twelfth Night” that we performed in May. Ms. McCombs

and Mr. Price gave us tips to help us perform better. They

said we needed to talk louder and clearer, because “the first

rule of theater is to be heard.”

Blake, Danny, and Pierce Mr. and Mrs. Steer

Fourth Grade

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Everglades City and Smallwood Store

The fourth-grade class enjoyed a wonderful visit to Everglades City,

Florida. This city was once the most important place in Collier County.

Presently, the old Courthouse is City Hall. What was once the Laundry

Building is now the Museum of the Everglades. It has historic artifacts,

books, and Greeters, who provide interesting information about the

history of Southwest Florida.

This year, we met Mr. Ken. He is a “knapper.” He carves knives from

meteorites and makes arrowheads.

One of their favorite stops was the Smallwood Store in Chokoloskee.

This historic “Ole Indian Trading Post” was established in 1906 and sits on

stilts near the water. This was a busy meeting place that served as a

trading post, post office, and store. Smallwood Store provided a place for

the pioneers, settlers, and Native Americans to trade farm produce and

furs, send and receive mail, and purchase goods. Today, the Smallwood

Store is a museum and gift shop that takes its visitors back in time.

The Class Mrs. Rich

Fourth Grade

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The Colonial Show

elcome ladies and gentlemen to the show of a

lifetime.”The fifth grade worked hard to put together a

show to blow your mind. In this show we had musicals,

and much, much more. Something you really would have enjoyed is the

fabulous play “Paul Revere’s Ride” played by Ricky, Jack, Austin, Dylan,

Kaliegh, Cameron, R.C., Drew, Luke, Niko, and the star of the show,

Carson! After the show, you could visit our exhibits, for each one of us

were Colonial workers or family members back in the colonial days.

This was our fifth grade Colonial Show that represented our knowledge

about the Colonial Time Period.

Ricky Miss. Mulligan

Fifth Grade

W

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Sea World Fun, Exciting, Educational, SLEEP OVER!!

When the fifth grade found out we were going to Sea World the first thing that came to

mind was the sleep over. We knew we were going to have fun. With some scared and some

ready the bus pulled away from the school. The famous marine park was four hours away!

When the bus finally got to Sea World everybody was cheering. We unloaded our things

into boys’ and girls’ vans which took our things to the areas we would be sleeping in later that

night. It was time to hit the park with a long day ahead of us.

We looked at the displays, various marine animals, took some pictures and went on

some rides. Some of our favorite attractions were the Sea Lions sunbathing on the rocks,

watching various penguin species diving into the water, and seeing sea horses up close. Several

of us even went on their first “upside down” ride, the Kraken!

After a full day of exploring the park, all of us got together to enjoy the Shamu Show in

the “Splash Zone.” Luckily, we wore our ponchos to keep us kind of dry. The last showing of the

Shamu Show would ordinarily have been the end of an exciting day for most of the visitors that

day, but we had a lot left to our Sea World adventure. We got to eat pizza with our park

counselors, made fun crafts, and got a special tour of the park after hours!

We went to shark and stingray touch tanks, observed manatees, sea turtles, and many

other forms of marine life. We finally settled into our sleeping bags arranged by the dolphin and

barracuda tanks later that night, talking to our friends and ready to dream of all the great things

we had done that day.

The next day we ate breakfast and headed back to Seacrest to share the “tales” of our

Sea World adventure with our families and friends. Our trip to Sea World was exciting and fun.

It will be a trip we will remember for a very long time!

The Class Mrs. Costantino Fifth Grade

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TIGER TAIL BEACH

During October, the 5th grade class went to Tiger Tail Beach. Tiger

Tail is no ordinary beach. It’s a special beach with little and big critters

swimming around in their habitat. We caught so many sea creatures

and learned a lot about each one. We saw fish jump, and we observed a

dolphin at a distance. Some of the creatures we caught were egg sacks,

pipe fish, and horseshoe crabs. We used a seine net to capture

specimens and analyze their unique characteristics. I think Tiger Tail

Beach was an important field trip to go on because we had so much fun

and brought much of what we learned back to the classroom. Tiger Tail

was one of my favorite field trips.

The Class Mrs. McFadden

Fifth Grade

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S.W.A.M.P. Stomp

SPLASH! We fell into the solution pits laughing and screaming with mud up to our ankles. This

was how the annual sixth grade SWAMP Stomp in Big Cypress National Preserve began. While there we

learned about the three different environments found in the Everglades: the swamp, the prairie, and

the pine forest.

Our first stop on this journey was the swamp. We reluctantly waded through clear water up to

our knees flinching as the cold penetrated our sneakers. Clear? Yeah, right! Our doubts were put to

rest as we began to wade deeper and started to see the flora and fauna of this beautiful preserve.

While there, we conducted water tests, depth tests, and soil tests, and recorded the results in our data

books. We had a chance to skim nets through the water to see all the different kinds of creatures living

in the water. We could see clearly how much the water level had dropped in the past few months.

Next, we visited the prairie. To get there we had to trudge through a few more solution pits

(a.k.a. mud pits). Luckily, nobody lost a shoe! In the prairie, we used tracking equipment to track a

panther. It turned out to be a stuffed animal, but then we tried to track a real one. That was really cool!

There was one in our area that seemed to be on the move. While there, we did some weather

experiments, soil tests, and recorded the different plants and animals we saw.

Lastly, we visited the pine forest. There we saw some animal scratches on a tree and the

skeleton of a small deer. We used a GPS machine to record our exact coordinates on the earth and

learned how to use a compass to tell direction. Once again, we had to record the different plants and

animals we saw.

When you think of the Everglades, you usually think of it as being a swampy area. We never

realized that there are actually three different types of regions. We learned a lot about the different

plants and animals in each region and had fun at the same time. Many students expressed an interest in

taking their families back again some day.

The Class Mrs. Eddleman

Sixth Grade – Language Art

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Summer Days

I wake up,

And feel the breeze upon my body.

Warm, cool, and refreshing

All at once.

I get out of bed

And feel like I have been sleeping on a hammock,

Shaded by tall, majestic trees,

Their long, multiple arms are looking down upon me.

Smelling the salty air,

Oh, so refreshing,

Calming,

Relaxing.

Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll hear a splash,

A magnificent creature,

Glossy and graceful,

Frolicking around happily in its own paradise.

I’m running towards the sea.

On my way I spy a treasure,

It’s large, full, glistening in the sun,

Its radiance expressed in bright orange, white, and interior pink,

Shaped kind of like a cone,

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Or a horn.

I want to pick it up,

But I don’t

Because I don’t want to disturb its natural beauty.

Next, mysterious creatures,

Half a dozen of them,

Grayish, but not dull.

Their round, flat bodies skim the sandy bottom,

As if they were flying.

Peaceful and quiet,

Yet armed if something would go wrong.

I look up at the sky,

And I see a bright yellow light,

The most beautiful thing I have ever seen,

A perfect match for the scene right in front of me.

I look further towards the endless separation of the sky and the sea

And see a large, beautiful object,

Brown, with an immense bill.

With wings like angels,

It carelessly soars across the heavens,

Yet remains on earth.

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It sees a fish,

And swoops down,

Down

Down

Splash!

With the fish in its mouth,

It gracefully flips its head back,

And swallows.

Satisfied with the catch, it flies back to the place it calls home.

I watch it until I can no longer see it.

I’m exhausted from the excitement,

Of palm trees, dolphins, conch shells,

Stingrays, and pelicans,

And I am as red as a lobster.

I walk back to my hammock,

And dream about summer days.

Jennifer

Mrs. Garbo Seventh Grade - English

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Laws of Life

Not only are the three Laws of Life that I chose are important, but all of these Laws of

Life are still important today. All of these Laws of Life have many different purposes. First, they

help individuals to succeed in the present and the future, as in a career or educational

opportunities. These Laws of Life also help our community become better and stronger, by

creating individuality within people and helping them to become better citizens. Recently, I

went on a school trip with 50 of my peers to Black Mountain, North Carolina. This was definitely

a life-changing experience for me. I tried and succeeded in many challenges didn’t think that I

could, or would ever, do. While there, I learned to use the values of courage, responsibility,

and cooperation. On this trip, these values became very important and useful, as well.

North Carolina was a great experience for me. The reason for this is because there were

many opportunities for me to try new activities; things that I would never thought it would be

possible for me to succeed in. These opportunities consisted of many ropes courses, a seven-

mile hiking trail, and mountain biking. All of these activities took a little bit of courage, for me,

because I had never tried them before. I was not alone; many other classmates had the same

feeling. Courage was important on this trip because at times I doubted myself. I didn’t think I

wanted to climb a ropes course or was brave enough to move up higher, but I developed

courage, and it helped a lot.

In addition to personal tests of courage, North Carolina had many team-building and

partner activities. I learned to count on my teammates and friends for help when I needed it.

There were certain ropes courses where we had teams or partners. So when we had to balance

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against each other or hold on to another person for balance, it took cooperation. In North

Carolina, we all lived in a lodge and had to learn to cooperate with our peers. I had to learn to

cooperate by sharing a dorm room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. On this trip, I learned to respect

the rights and feelings of other people, and I also learned to compromise with someone else to

reach a common goal.

In North Carolina, I learned a lot about responsibility. We had to keep all of the rooms

clean, including our dorm rooms, bathroom, and kitchen. This included making our beds,

keeping our belongings in order, cleaning up the wet towels, and bussing our own tables in the

dining hall. We also had to make sure that we were with the group at all times. When we were

in our groups, we also had responsibility of using all the ropes course climbing equipment, and

we were responsible for using it properly and putting it back correctly.

In conclusion, I used three of the many important Laws of Life on my recent trip. I

learned that all of the Laws of Life are still important and help us daily. They helped me, and

they will help others as well. This trip taught me how to use the Laws of Life, and to think about

them and what they do for our community.

Bianca Mrs. Garbo

Eighth Grade - English

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