Q & A with St. Johns County School Board Member Kelly Barrera, District 4

Q: Can you share the names of the students who were recently named National Merit Semifinalists?
A: We had 26 National Merit Semifinalists in St. John County, and 19 of them were from District 4 schools. Congratulations to Nease students Manas Adepu, Arnav Ajay Jadav, Parker Anderson, Abriham Bommineni, Tyler Covell, Peyton Cravasse, Anuraag Gandepalli, Tianyu Jiao, Nora Menon, Benjamin Prohofsky, Allison Roggen and Andrew Ryan. Congratulations also to Ponte Vedra High School students Tucker Dimberg, Lamia Festic, Luke Hargitai, Matthew Hurford, John Kelly, Roberto Lachner and Matthew Sides. 

Q: Who are the recently announced Teachers and Rookie Teachers of the Year?
A: Each school has recently named the school-level Teachers and Rookie Teachers of the Year, who will advance to the county level. Congratulations to the following from District 4:

Landrum Middle School, Trisha Kee and Emily Gray

Nease High School, Kasey Mietzner and Margaret Bell

Ocean Palms Elementary, Stella Della Porta and Rodney Korn

Palencia Elementary, Martha DeVane and Danielle Hoffman

Palm Valley Academy Elementary, Sarah Lombardi and Nadia Sher

Palm Valley Academy Middle, Katie LaCoste

Pine Island Academy Elementary, Cindy Anderson and Lexi Leitman

Pine Island Academy Middle did not select

Ponte Vedra High School, Linda Green and Daniel Lezcano

PVPV/Rawlings, Matt Sparks and Amy Pattison

Valley Ridge Academy Elementary, Leah Davis and Brooke Lovelace

Valley Ridge Academy Middle, Andrew Burk

Q: Is the St. Johns County School District still hiring?
A: Yes, especially in light of the new high schools that are opening. We are hosting a virtual teacher recruitment fair on Dec. 4. There will be another recruitment fair at Nease High School from 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Feb. 26, 2022.

Also, our Come Drive the Bus with Us event held in October was very successful and we recruited two classes of bus operators. At this family friendly event, there were pumpkins to paint, music, and refreshments. Adults were able to practice driving a school bus.

Q: Do you have any upcoming events to announce?
A: Our County Spelling Bee will be held at the First Coast Technical College auditorium on Dec. 15 at 4 p.m.

Q: How can our readers contact you?
A: They can email me at kelly.barrera@stjohns.k12.fl.us or call me at (904) 547-7510.