March School Board Meeting
Teacher Report
There are many things going on throughout the school.
The classes have been attending Mass on Wednesdays and Stations of the Cross on Fridays. Mrs. Egan’s 5C did the first Stations of the Cross. Mrs. Houseman’s 5A did a Living Stations on March 5. The school attended Mass on Friday, March 5, in memory of Bishop Dattilo. On Monday, March 15, we had a memorial prayer service in his honor.
Mrs. Carr’s Kindergarten has learned about the season of Lent and what we can do and what we can give up to show God we love Him. They also celebrated Mardi Gras by making masks and floats and then going on a “parade” through the lower grade classrooms. They celebrated Eric Carle week by reading books and becoming “grouchy ladybugs” from one of Eric Carle’s famous books. They have started a Space/Solar System unit and will be learning about the sun and the different planets. Of course they have learned about Saint Patrick.
In Learning Support the 7th grade alternative math class has switched from a Life Skills text to a wonderful math series published by Saxon Publishers. This math series approaches math in a different way than other publishers. Each lesson introduces a new concept, and provides practice for the skill just like the other series. The main difference is that each lesson begins with a timed drill of facts, a quick “mental math” set of problems that are done without the use of paper. The series also includes problems from the very beginning of the book in the homework assignments. These problems have the lesson number so the students can refer back to the lesson if they need help. It teaches the students to be responsible for their own learning if they forget something. The unit test is formatted the same way as the homework so skills are always being maintained. The first test the students took was a big success- all A’s and B’s. This from a student was a D/F student no matter what had been tried before. Parents have also commented on the difference they have seen. Thanks to Title 1 money Mrs. Kissinger was able to purchase $700.00 worth of valuable materials that are providing an alternative way for our students to be a success in math.
Miss Roos’ 2 C are learning about the Stations of the Cross and Lent. They are crating stories and making crafts about St. Patrick’s Day and Lent. They are learning about graphs in math.
Several 4th grade students entered an Environmental Poster Contest entitled “Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful…. Our Future Depends on it”. One of our student’s poster was chosen to represent our school as a finalist. Her poster will be on display at the Capital City Mall from March 12-21. An awards ceremony will be held at the mall on March 20 where the top three winners from the area will be announced.
Students in Mrs. Foote’s 4A invented a tool of their own. All the tools were submitted to the Craftsman/NSTA Young Inventors Contest. Students have the opportunity to win up to $10,000 in U.S. Savings Bonds. Keep your fingers crossed.
Mrs. Chubb’s 7th Grade Geography students have created their own projects for their study of Russia and the surrounding countries. These projects include detailed timelines, travel brochures and plans with a skit in a created travel agency, historical diaries, board games, architectural models, historical “reenactments”, fact sheets, cultural analysis, maps, and a restaurant featuring ethnic food and an explanation of the economy of Uzbekistan. The students are working to enhance their understanding of this area of the world. The 8th grade American History students are working on a project in conjunction with Language Arts. They are writing research essays with topics from our current history studies. They have almost completed the essays and will then create an educational and entertaining presentation for Social Studies class. These presentations include some PowerPoint presentations, debates, games and even some puppet shows. The students are excited, as am I, about sharing the information they have learned. It is exciting for them to have prior knowledge as we cover these topics in class—they are able to enrich our discussions and add to the understanding of the class (and the teacher) about the assigned historical events and people.
Mrs. Wall’s math classes are celebrating PI Day. They will bring in a pie and calculate PI. They can’t eat it until they come close to the actual PI number.
Mrs. Bosso’s math classes will celebrate PI Day on Tuesday this year, since the actual PI Day lands on Sunday. The students will bring in anything circular and the class will measure, measure, measure. Usually the circles brought in are edible and shared by all. There is a contest to see who can recite the most digits of the number Pi; an award will be given for that. They may join the different Pi clubs by reciting, 25, 50, 75 digits.
Mrs. McCarthy’s and Mrs. Bosso’s Confirmation classes did a saint project by making trading cards with the saint’s picture and information. Kids did a great job. They will be on display during curriculum night. The students are in the process of Confirmation interviews with Msgr. Richardson, Mrs. Barrett, and Mrs. Duff.
Math classes finished taking the MathFax contest. Look for the latest results. The STS kids are scoring extremely high this year.
Under the direction of Mrs. McCarthy the school is going to participate in the National Prayer Week beginning March 22 in association with Holy Childhood. Mrs. M will tally the number of people that prayed this year’s prayer and send the total to the national office of Holy Childhood.
The 1st grade students collected more than 60 pairs of used eyeglasses last month. The glasses were donated to Musselman’s Funeral Home for the Lion’s Club to recycle and distribute to needy individuals all over the world. They received a very nice thank you note from Musselman’s. The next first grade community service project will take place during the month of May. Old or damaged United States flags will be collected by the student’s for retirement.
Mrs. Pinamonti’s 1B enjoyed the fruit Loops internet project in January so much that they decided to participate in another one on St. Patrick’s Day. The children will sort, count and compare the marshmallow charms in Lucky Charms cereal. The results will be posted online and compared to counts of students all over the Untied States.
Three students have had poems sent to the Teacher’s Selection of the 5th Grade Anthology of Poetry.
Mrs. Houseman’s 5A just completed a project on St. Patrick’s Day including information about the saint as well as Irish legends. On Pancake Tuesday we enjoyed pancakes, sausage, and hot chocolate. After researching Lent we found that in some countries pancakes are eaten the day before Ash Wednesday to clear out the cupboards. As part of our Social Studies unit on the Revolution, the students took on the persona of either a Patriot, Slave, or Tory and wrote about their feelings of the Revolutionary War. Some students wrote diary entries and some wrote letters to friends. While learning about matter in Science, the students learned the chemical symbols for 40 of the elements on the Periodic Table of Elements. They used this information to learn about molecules and how the elements combine to make other things. The students made models of atoms and made models of molecules. On April 2, our class will do another Living Stations of the Cross.
Three of our teachers have been nominated to the Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers by former students. Mrs. Banks (Middle School Science), Mrs. Bosso (Middle School Math) and Mrs. Houseman (5A) were honored by former students who have been included in the Who’s Who Among American High School Students and the National Dean’s List. They are permitted to nominate one teacher from their entire academic experience who has made a difference in their life.
It’s clear to see that we are a very active and successful school.