Members of the North Elementary student council with their newspapers. [Photo by Richard Marion/Lake Okeechobee News]

OKEECHOBEE- The student council at North Elementary held their final meeting of the year on May 14 and celebrated their work launching a school newspaper.

In March student council members published their first newspaper, North Elementary News. The paper featured articles written by students, crossword puzzle, an advice column, sports page and a shout-out section.

The shout-out section worked as a way for students to highlight positive comments about staff or students. In the March edition North secretary Rosa Velasquez was given a shout-out for always helping students sign in at the office and helping make the school a safe place. Dorothy Rainey wrote a shout-out to Mrs. Sims for helping and supporting the student council members tirelessly all year.

The first edition of the North Elementary News. [Photo by Richard Marion/Lake Okeechobee News]

Earlier this year student council members were looking for a project to tackle when Penelope Talas suggested the school start their own newspaper. The kids admitted it was a difficult task to publish the papers, especially juggling deadlines with their other school responsibilities. But they worked together and managed to publish three editions of the North Elementary News.

Penelope wrote an article for the May edition on NES students winning second place at the 2024 Battle of the Books. Gabriela Sims had a write-up about students from North’s gifted program taking a trip to the St. Lucie County Aquarium in the same edition. While Sawyer Pung and Kollin Rucks were regular contributors to the sports page for the newspaper.

The newspaper project was made possible thanks to a donation from the Education Foundation of Okeechobee.

North principal Dr. Tuuli Robinson gathers the student council members for a picture.