May Newsletter - Northside Middle School

B l a c k h a w k To d a y
M a y 2 0 11
BIS students learn at Camp Kon-O-Kwee
From April 25-29, fifth grade students from Blackhawk Intermediate
School attended Camp Kon-OKwee in Fombell, PA for a funfilled week of outdoor activities and
education.
niques, practiced archery skills,
and canoeing and boating.
After the students complete these
activities over the course of their
three day stay at Camp Kon-OKwee, they receive a string of
While at the camp, students partici- beads at the bead ceremony. The
pate in a variety of outdoor educa- beads signify the accomplishments
tional activities such as botanical/
that the students made at camp.
Each bead represents a different
geological walk, water ecology,
land ecology, and ecology in action. task or skill they completed.
They observed, collected, and iden- The outdoor education at Camp
tified various plants, insects, and
Kon-O-Kwee increases students’
animals and organized, recorded,
respect for nature, fosters their inand discussed their findings with
dependence, and enhances their
each other. During the ecology-in- abilities to work together to
action lesson, students realized the achieve a goal. In this case, the
dangerous effects of litter and pollu- goal was to spend time working
tion on the ecosystem.
outdoors and having fun!
Students also enjoyed activities
See photos from Camp Kon-Osuch as climbing the wall of courKwee below and right.
age, learning outdoor survival tech-
Page 2
Blackhawk Today
Primary Schools celebrate “Grand Days”
On April 1 and April 8, Northwestern and Patterson Primary students celebrated Grand Day. Grand Day honors
the students’ grandparents, by inviting them into the schools. For those students whose grandparents were unable
to attend the event, the Little Beaver Lions volunteered to be “grandparents” for those students for the day. The
students showed their grandparents around the school, explained what they were learning in their classrooms, and
provided them with handmade gifts.
After the students were done showing their grandparents around the schools, the grandparents took their seats for
a Disney themed musical performance. The students sang for their visitors under the direction of Mr. Chad
Toporski, and the proud students and grandparents were able to spend time together.
See pictures from the Northwestern and Patterson Grand Days below.
Page 3
Blackhawk Today
BIS Students “Read with the Stars!”
Blackhawk Intermediate School
students participated in a “Reading
with the Stars” themed storywalk
on April 8. The theme was developed by a committee of students.
replaced “Mr. Falker” with “Mr.
Chismar”. The book is actually an
From there, students went back to
their classrooms where they were vis- autobiography, in which Polacco is
truly thanking a teacher named Mr.
ited by various presenters who read
books about heroes, historical figures, Falker for helping her learn to read,
The event was kicked off by
athletes, and current stars. Presenters since she was dyslexic, disnumeric,
Blackhawk’s rising vocal starlet,
were encouraged to dress up like the and disgraphic, and for combating a
bully who teased her about her disVanessa Campagna, who read to
characters in their books, while stuabilities.
the entire student body. She read dents were dressed as their favorite
the book I Knew You Could by
stars too. One student was deemed
During the storywalk, students heard
Craig Dorfman, and explained how the winner for best costume in each of stories about many different stars
who each shined in a different way.
she persevered in her quest to be- the aforementioned categories, and
coming a successful singer. She
3rd grade teacher Mrs. Peggy Graham The event was organized by Reading
answered students’ questions and won best costume amongst the preSpecialist Miss Mandie Cline and it
offered encouraging words, which senters for dressing up like 5th grade was funded by the Beaver County
went along with the theme of her
teacher Mr. Wes Chismar. When she Educational Trust. See photos from
read her book, entitled Thank You
the event below.
Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco, she
book.
Left: The student costume
winners with Miss Mandie Cline
and Vanessa Campagna.
Right: Miss Lauren
Weinheimer reads to students
dressed as a cowboy.
Right: Mrs. Amy Black
reads a story about Happy
Valley dressed as Penn State
Football Coach Joe Paterno.
Left: Mrs. Peggy Graham
won best costume for
dressing up like 5th grade
colleague Mr. Wes Chismar.
“Banking 101”
On May 3, students in Mr. Bill Bacu’s Personal Finance class
were visited by Vikki Kertes and Renee Bosworth from PNC
Bank. The women presented a course entitled “Banking 101”
which provided information about checking accounts, savings
accounts, writing checks, using debit cards, and many other services offered by financial institutions. The “Banking 101”
course reinforces many of the topics taught in the Personal Finance class while presenting students with information about
banking and managing their money.
See a photo of the speakers right.
Page 4
Blackhawk Today
Lion Listeners volunteer to help students
Northwestern Primary School is
full of Courageous Cougars, but on
Tuesdays and Thursdays, it is also
visited by the Lion Listeners.
fifteen minute sessions to kindergarten,
first, and second grade students, which
is the equivalent of over 200 volunteer
hours.
In addition to their outstanding service
to Northwestern Primary School, the
Lions Club is very active in other areas
of our community as well. The Little
Beaver Lions Club is a service
The Little Beaver Lions Club has Northwestern Primary teacher Mrs.
“adopted” the Northwestern
Heather Pastor commented that, “Our organization that was founded in 1947.
For the past 64 years, the club memPrimary School, providing
Lion Listeners know our students by
bers have been serving our community
volunteer services such as vision
name and have seen the children
screening, Grandparents’ Day,
improve their reading skills. The Lion in a variety of ways. Currently, the
club is comprised of about 56 members
Student of the Month, “Red
Listeners are very patient, encourage
Ribbon” drug awareness poster
our children and help them prepare for and they complete nearly 50 local
fundraising and service projects.
contest, grants for clothing,
their Accelerated Reading Tests.”
Christmas expenses, purchase of
The Little Beaver Lions Club has
Mrs. Jodi Borroni, Northwestern
eyeglasses for needy children, and Primary teacher, also commented that become one of the most active clubs in
reading mentoring.
“I have found that having the Listeners Pennsylvania, and was designated a
“Model Club” in Lions Clubs
Approximately 15 Lions Club
not only benefits the students but the
members listen to the students read staff as well. The Lions are always so International’s Campaign SightFirst II
due to their service to the blind and
and help them with their reading
complimentary and supportive of the
skills. The volunteers were trained teachers. The Lions aren’t just volun- other impaired individuals.
by Northwestern’s Reading
See photos of the Lion Listeners
teers. They are friends.”
Specialist before they worked with The Lion Listeners have truly made a working with Blackhawk’s Cougars
the students. Each year, the Lion very positive impact on both the
below.
Listeners provide more than 800
children and staff at Northwestern.
Left/Right: Photos of the Little
Beaver Lion Listeners reading
with second grade students.
Primary students raise money for Japan
Northwestern and Patterson Primary
students raised money for the relief
efforts after the earthquakes and
tsunami that devastated Japan.
schools with a map of Japan and the
American Red Cross Symbol.
By the poster was a 5 gallon water
bottle.
Ms. Vesta Bates, a student at the
Community College of Beaver
County, organized the fundraising
campaign. Students were asked to
bring in loose change donations.
A poster was displayed in both
Students and visitors were asked to
place their loose change donations
in the water bottle and sign the
poster signifying their donation.
Northwestern Primary School raised
an outstanding $540.40! Patterson
Primary School raised an impressive
$150.50 for the relief efforts as well.
That makes the primary schools’ combined fundraising total $690.90!
The students should be commended
for their hard work and their
fundraising efforts!
Page 5
Blackhawk Today
Northwestern holds Career Day
Students at Northwestern Primary School
were visited by professionals from a
variety of career fields on April 6. The
event was organized by Guidance
Counselor Mr. Bob Abel and it provided
the children with a look at many different
career choices.
The career professionals that volunteered
to speak to the children included three
engineers, a financial advisor, two
doctors, a math teacher, a flight
attendant, a gas industry employee, a
college soccer coach, a life skills coach,
and a vision technician.
See photos from Career Day right.
Right clockwise: An engineer from Ellwood
Quality Steel wearing his heat suit, a financial advisor from Wells Fargo, a flight attendant from American Airlines, and a life
skills coach from BC LAUNCH each spoke
to students at Northwestern’s Career Day.
BIS Students excel at exercising
ball-handling workshop.
This program was designed to
improve basketball ball-handling
skills and to exercise! This
program concluded with a
choreographed ball-handling
Fourth grade students were invited exhibition performed at an all
to participate in an aerobic exercise school assembly. The BIS
class based on Cardiovascular Fit- dribblers did a great job!
ness Test results. The goal was to Mrs. McMillen is proud of the
improve cardiovascular fitness.
students for their commitment to
Activities included jogging, jump- exercise!
ing rope, riding spin bikes, playing See photos of the students’ ballactive Wii games and more. The
handling exhibition at the all
participants received a certificate,
school assembly below and right.
stickers and more importantly they
all improved their 9 minute lap
scores!
BIS students were offered two
“Winter Workout” opportunities
this year. Both classes were offered
in the mornings before school and
taught by Mrs. Carol McMillen, the
physical education teacher.
Fourth and fifth grade students, who
are interested in basketball, were
invited to participate in a
Above/left: Students from BIS
showcase their ball-handling
skills in a choreographed routine. With the help of Mrs.
McMillen, these students
worked hard and as you can
see, their hard work paid off!
Page 6
Blackhawk Today
TSA students attend state conference
Blackhawk TSA students attended the State Technology
Student Association (TSA) Conference at Seven Springs
Mountain Resort on April 13-16. A total of 28 students
qualified at the event, and 3 students earned first place
titles. See the list of placements below.
Level 1 (8th and 9th grade) Event Placements:
Savanna Whalen: 9th place Multimedia Production
Alex Devic: 9th place Transportation Challenge
Victoria Wegman: 1st place Write Now! Technical
Writing
Alex Devic, Kate Fierens, Nick Pagani, David Early,
Savanna Whalen, Victoria Wegman: 9th place Chapter Team
Alex Devic, Nick Pagani, Noah Thayer: 9th place Robot TOBOR
Alex Devic, Kate Fierens, Savanna Whalen: 9th place
Tech Bowl
Kate Fierens, Megan Pettner, Victoria Wegman: 8th
place Leadership Strategies
Kate Fierens, Savanna Whalen: 7th place TSA Cup:
Marine Design Challenge
Megan Pettner, Victoria Wegman: 4th place Techno
Talk
David Early, Nick Pagani: 3rd place Medical Technology Issues
Level 2: (10th-12th grade) Event Placements:
Dan Warnaka: 10th place Technology Bowl Written
Matt Pulleo: 3rd place Extemporaneous Speech
Russell Diehl: 2nd place CAD-3D Engineering
Jim Andrascik: 3rd place Future Technology Teacher
& 2nd place Prepared Presentation
Melody Funkhouser, Dan Warnaka, Caitlyn
Glover, Crystal Glover, Jim Andrascik, Matt
Pulleo: 10th place Chapter Team
Russell Diehl, David McCormick: 10th place PA
Computer Systems Troubleshooting
Dan Warnaka, David McCormick, Matt Pulleo: 9th
place Technology Bowl
Kelsey Cade, Savanna Durr, Emily Watterson: 8th
place Construction Renovation
Patrick Hogue, Matt Barto, John Musser, Jacob
Gibson, Brad Sloppy, Nick Rome: 6th place Animatronics
Jared Balik, Caitlyn Glover, Crystal Glover, Matt
Pulleo: 5th place Biotechnology Design
Patrick Hogue, Nick Rome: 5th place Video Game
Design
Brad Sloppy, John Musser, Emily Watterson: 4th
place Video Game Design
Dan Warnaka, Jared Balik, David McCormick,
Blake Dulick, Kayla Dulick: 4th place Webmaster
Blake Dulick, Dan Warnaka: 2nd place PA Computer Systems Troubleshooting
Jim Andrascik, Melody Funkhouser: 1st place Debating Technology Issues
In addition to these outstanding achievements, David
Early, Nick Pagani, Victoria Wegman, Melody Funkhouser, Jim Andrascik, Mia Vinceguerra, Phil Plevel,
and Matt Pulleo each qualified for the National TSA
Conference in Dallas, Texas on June 21-June 26.
See photo of TSA students and their trophies from the
state conference above.
Page 7
Blackhawk Today
Coaches vs. Cancer Fundraiser Update
The District wide Coaches vs. Can- Mr. Wes Chismar, who received two
cer fundraising campaign is slowly pies, and third was Mrs. Amy Black
who received one pie. The teachers
drawing to a close for the year.
Some of the final fundraising activi- even had to draw the winning name of
ties included a miniature quad raf- the student who would get to throw
fle. The quad was donated by Trac- the pies at them!
tor Supply Company and the winning ticket was drawn at the end of
Grand Day at Patterson Primary
School by Principal JaneAnn Fucci.
The final fundraiser of the year is a
ticket raffle to win a week’s stay at a
condo in Myrtle Beach plus $500
spending money. The drawing for the
At Blackhawk Intermediate School, condo stay is based on the May 30
tickets were sold to win a chance to lottery.
“Pie a Teacher in the Face.”
Since Blackhawk began the Coaches
Students purchased tickets and put vs. Cancer fundraiser campaign in
their name on the ticket. The three January 2011, Blackhawk has raised
teachers with the most tickets in
over $10,000 and there are still raftheir name were destined to receive fle tickets being sold. The fundraising
pies in the face. The top ticket win- for this effort will begin again at the
ner was Mr. Steve Lodovico, who
start of the 2011-2012 school year.
received three pies. Second was
Left Top: Mrs. Black wipes the whipped cream pie off her face.
Right Top: Mr. Chismar stands and proudly displays his pie covered clothes.
Bottom: Mr. Lodovico wipes his face before receiving his third pie.
BIS third graders map out the Earth
The students in Miss Weinheimer’s and
Mrs. Bailey’s third grade classes enjoyed
a great hands-on experience to wrap up
their studies on Earth’s physical features.
With the help of Miss Janel Newswanger,
a college student from Geneva College,
the students created their own salt dough
maps. They included many of the landforms that they learned about including,
mountains, plateaus, plains, coasts, hills,
valleys, peninsulas, and islands. The students also incorporated waterways and
bodies of water.
Along with the maps, the students acted as
cartographers, and created a two dimensional map, using a map key, symbols,
and compass rose! See if you can identify
the landforms in the photographs!
Left: Geneva student
Miss Janel
Newswanger helps
Miss Lauren
Weinheimer’s students
complete their salt
dough landform maps.
Below: Two photos of
completed salt dough
landform maps.
Page 8
Blackhawk Today
M s . S h i l d t ’s S c i e n t i s t s s t u d y A f r i c a n c a t s
First graders in Ms. Erica Shildt’s
class at Patterson Primary School
took a break from being students and
became scientists studying cheetahs
and lions!
The students have been studying African cats through the Disney website, and they completed some exciting activities as “scientists”.
footprints at a watering hole, watching
a video and identifying the roars of
different cats, and identifying the different markings cats leave.
The students have also color coded
maps of Africa where lions and cheetahs live and held an African Cats
Olympics as part of this lesson.
See photos from these lessons below
The students watched a video clip
and right.
from Disney’s upcoming film
African Cats and they had to observe
the cats to see how many times they
were eating, playing, stalking prey,
walking, resting, scent marking, and
other behaviors.
The students then broke into groups
and attended three stations. At the
stations they completed activities
such as locating and identifying
A m b r i d g e S t e e l D r u m Te a m Vi s i t s B I S
To celebrate the students’ hard work on the PSSA tests that
they took during the month of April, Blackhawk Intermediate School enjoyed a performance by the Ambridge Steel
Drum Team. The team was a group of students from Ambridge High School who played steel drums, percussion instruments, and a variety of other non-musical items like barrels, trash cans, plastic buckets, and much more. Mr. Todd
Hartman, the Drum Team Instructor, explained the origination of the steel drum during the performance and the reasons why they use non-musical items in their performances.
BIS students participated in the event by drumming on plastic buckets and shaking other percussion instruments (see middle right
photo), and BIS teachers participated by joining in a conga-line (see
bottom right photo). See photos of the performance below/right.
Page 9
Blackhawk Today
Blackhawk at a Glance
Patterson Primary School Students attended
an assembly about helping dogs for people with
disabilities. The students then raised funds for
the PAWS for a Cause organization by making
donations to wear daily themed clothing like
pajamas, hats, neckties, and other items. The
fundraiser was one week long and the students
raised an outstanding $639.00. Great work!
Highland Middle School students Alex Mauldin and CJ
Burawa attended the Beaver
County 6th Grade Spelling
Bee on April 15, 2011 at
New Brighton Middle School.
CJ was the HMS winner and
he represented Blackhawk at
the Spelling Bee while Alex
was the alternate.
They are seen right with 6th
grade ELA teacher Mrs.
Barb Mallozzi.
Blackhawk High School Senior Travis Gallagher and Sophomore Frantzi
Schaub were contestants in the 5th Annual Mr. Beaver County competition. The competition was held on April 1 at Central Valley High School.
The event is sponsored by the Beaver County Teen Leadership organization through the Prevention Network and it highlights student leaders
from schools throughout Beaver County. Travis was the first runner-up
in the competition, which earned him a $200 scholarship towards his education at Slippery Rock University. Frantzi won best swim suit. The boys
were selected from the 10 competitors and this is the first time that Blackhawk has had two event winners. Congratulations Travis and Frantzi!
On April 18, 2011, Blackhawk High School Nurse Susan
Hullihen competed in the 115th Boston Marathon. She
said the race was awesome and it was one of the neatest experiences she has ever done. She finished the
marathon with a time of 3:55:06. This was 10 minutes
faster than her first marathon time and she also qualified for next year’s Boston Marathon. She has become
part of the elite group that has competed in the marathon, and the first Blackhawk employee to ever run in it.
See a photo of her medal below!
Blackhawk High School
Senior Angelica Peck
signed her letter to attend
Syracuse University. She received a full
scholarship for cross country and she will become
a part of the Syracuse Orange in the fall.
Congratulations Angelica!
Page 10
Blackhawk Today
Blackhawk at a Glance
On April 7th, a group of seventh grade
English students under the direction of
Highland Middle School teachers Mrs.
Sarah Shuleski and Mrs. Dana Cox
participated in the 33rd Annual Youngstown
State University English Festival.
Participation in this prestigious event
requires students to read several young
adult novels to prepare for discussions,
writing seminars, and writing contests on
the day of the event.
Blackhawk’s students competed with over
600 students in various writing activities
and competitions. Those students winning
awards were: Marissa Connors, 8th place
Impromptu Writing, Jordan Lampus,
2nd place Not So Trivial Pursuit, and Cory
Steinle, 1st place Not So Trivial Pursuit. In
addition, the students had the tremendous
opportunity to meet one of the authors,
Megan Whalen Turner.
Highland Middle School student Mason
Auman’s artwork “Rinsed Purple” was
selected as the Middle level winner in the
Sargent Art Contest as part of the 2011
Youth Art Month Exhibit, held in the
Honors Suite Gallery at the Pennsylvania
Department of Education in Harrisburg.
The exhibit was displayed until April 30,
2011. Mason and his art teacher, Mrs.
Leslie Kunkel, will receive prizes, and
Mason will receive a special certificate.
Way to go!
We are very proud of all of the students who
attended the festival!
Students from Mrs. Anita Mensch’s
Anatomy class attended a
videoconference where they viewed
the anatomy of the brain, heart, and
lung. The videoconference was
broadcast from the University of St.
Louis University Hospital in St. Louis,
Missouri. The students were able to
interact and speak with the doctor
from St. Louis as he discussed the
human body parts using a human
cadaver.
Students from Mr. Brandon Smith’s Applied Engineering and Technology
class have been gaining some hands on experience building a motorized
“reversed tricycle”. The reversed tricycle has two wheels in the front and one
wheel in the rear. The design utilizes variable-cambering front wheels, which
allows it to handle like a motorcycle with the safety and balance of an ATV.
James Hiltz, one of the students in the class, said the tricycle will actually
have the ability to lean into turns like a normal motorcycle.
The students in the class brainstormed for project ideas when they came up
with the idea of a reversed tricycle. Blackhawk supported their project with
parts and materials. The class also received a $200 donation from Advance
Auto Parts, $25 from Tractor Supply Company, Cycle Motion donated a 600
c.c. engine, Cycle Recyclers donated the frame and rear wheel, and Feezle’s
Auto Wrecking donated a 4-wheeler front clip.
According to Mr. Smith, the community support has been great and the
students are getting an excellent course full of problem-solving. The students
also mentioned that Mr. Smith would be the first one to “test drive” the
finished product!