Bethel Park School District

January 2017 Highlights Please enjoy reading about the outstanding

achievements of our students and staff!

Ninth Graders Study Human-Centered Design Approach In Ninth Grade STEAM Class

Bethel Park High School freshmen who are taking the Introductory STEAM course are gaining hands-on experience in the human-centered design approach.

Projects this year have included inventions, building robotic vehicles with Little Bits electronics, conductive sewing, paper circuitry and virtual reality video recording and editing.

Prototypes and finished designs have included a portable backpack grill, a lunch box that heats and cools food, a school participation reward app, and a smart locker filled with useful gadgets.

The students are team taught by BPHS Teachers Lee Cristofano, Jonathan Derby and Charles Youngs.

BPHS Students Partner with USC Students The 16 students in the Computer Integrated Manufacturing Class at BPHS are partnering with students from Upper St. Clair High School to develop solutions to real-world issues posed to them by the EAFab Corp in Oakdale.

Problems they are working on include:

• Creating an app that will regulate/monitor water through a radiator;

• Creating a virtual reality marketing video that explains the company’s manufacturing process;

• Designing a rigging protocol for the safe maneuvering/servicing of heavy equipment;

• Looking at the factory floor to find inefficiencies and re-design it to make it more efficient.

Students Receive Extra Effort Award from Steel Center

Nine Bethel Park High School students received the Extra Effort

Award for the First and Second Quarters of the 2016-2017 School Year from the Steel Center for Career and Technical Education.

The awards are presented to those students who demonstrate outstanding attitude, work ethic, attendance and dependability.

FIRST QUARTER • Ashley Applegarth

(Protective Services) • Jake Fazio (Medium/Heavy

Truck Technology) • Alex Perdziola (Carpentry) • Rachel Yannayon (Health

Assistant)

SECOND QUARTER • Joshua Guffey (Carpentry) • Cameron McGill (Computer

Information Systems) • Jersey Penrod (Cosmetology) • Jacob Richert (Building

Trades) • Paige Williams (Collision

Repair and Refinishing)

40 BPHS DECA Students Qualify For State Conference

Forty Bethel Park High School students finished in Third Place or higher at the DECA District Conference, and have qualified to compete in the DECA State Conference in Hershey in February. Qualifying for States are:

FIRST PLACE • Tarush Bahl • Sydney Burns • Katie

Bustamante • Lance Chorney • Marissa

Christenson • David Conely • Paige Davidson • Alex Duguid • Sami Dunn • Alyssa George • Rachel Gilliam • Sarah Gilliam • Max Heller • Justin Lesnak

• Rachel McClaine • Zach Sanker • Max Schipani • Tyler Thimons • Maggie Wolf SECOND PLACE • Alyssa Arnold • Emma Beck • Nikki Bello • Gavin Campbell • Hunter Dorfner • Gabriella Hegedus • Sami Huwe • Mark Kozleuchar • Brian Manko • Brett Marquardt

• Tim Nuss • Connor Price • Logan Runco THIRD PLACE • Cassidy DeLeo • Courtney Dunlap • Olivia Greene • Dallas Jones • Emily Kraska • Courtney Manns • Lauren

Mazzacone • Lexi Schanck

Rotary Recognizes BPHS Students For Their Service

The Rotary Club of Bethel Park named BPHS senior Kevin Yost as its October Student of the Month, and seniors Carolyn Cook and Jessica Viehman as its December Students of the Month. Each month the Rotary recognizes a Bethel Park High School student for outstanding commitment to school and/or community.

Kevin was recognized for serving as the Community Service Chair for the National Honor Society and specifically for the work he did to coordinate a group of volunteers for the South Hills College Fair.

Carolyn and Jessica were recognized for the more than 150 hours of community service they each donated to earn the Joan of Arc Medallion at the St. Lucy’s Auxiliary to the Blind Medallion Ball.

Two BPHS Musicians Selected For Honors Jazz

Band Two Bethel Park High School musicians successfully auditioned and were selected to play in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association’s Honors Jazz Band Concert, which was held in December at Moon Area High School.

• Bruce Deal– Bass Guitar • Jakob McCormick– Tenor

Saxophone

Sixteen BPHS Vocalists Performed In District Chorus

Sixteen Bethel Park High School Vocalists performed in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association’s District Chorus Concert, which was held in January at Montour High School.

• Natalia Antkowiak-- Alto 2 • Angelina DeFelice – Soprano 1 • Kayla Dell – Soprano 1 • Garrett Hoffman – Bass 2 • Michaela Isenberg – Soprano 2 • Sebastian Leis – Tenor 2 • Anthony Lucchitti – Tenor 2 • Patrick McCall – Bass 1 • Geoffrey McKain – Tenor 1 • J.D. Measures – Tenor 2 • Brian Pauley – Bass 2 • Tyler Petrossi – Tenor 1 • Daniel Sedor-Franzak – Bass 1 • Cam Sillman – Tenor 1 • Adriane Slater – Soprano 2 • Jerry Varghese – Tenor 1

Eleven BPHS Musicians Selected For District Band

Eleven Bethel Park High School musicians were selected to participate in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association’s District Band Concert, which will be held on February 11 at Mt. Lebanon High School.

• Ken Barnhart – Horn

• Bruce Deal -- Tuba

• Carly Kaminski – Clarinet

• Casey Hammer – Horn

• Maria Jay – Horn

• Jonathan Lucchitti -- Tuba

• Shayaan Meyers – Bass Clarinet

• Jakob McCormick – Tenor Saxophone

• Joe Mueser – Trumpet

• Tyler Petrossi -- Percussion

• Connor Remington -- Tuba

Seven BPHS Musicians Selected

For District Orchestra

Seven Bethel Park High School musicians successfully auditioned and were selected to perform in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association’s District Orchestra Concert, which will be held on Saturday, January 28 at Moon Area High School.

• Emily Cowser – Viola

• Alexandra DeRose – Clarinet

• Madison Newman – Violin

• Tyler Petrossi – Percussion

• Connor Remington -- Tuba

• Ethan Tabler – Cello

• Jenelle Wu -- Violin

Fall Sports Season Was A Success!

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

• Qualified for the WPIAL Playoffs and played in the WPIAL Championship Consolation Match.

FOOTBALL

• WPIAL Playoffs

BOYS SOCCER

• WPIAL Playoffs

BOYS AND GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

• Qualified for the WPIAL Championships.

GIRLS GOLF

• Erin Cavrak qualified to compete in the WPIAL Individual Finals.

BPHS Cheerleaders Are State Champions

The Bethel Park High School Varsity Competitive Spirit Squad won the State Championship in the Small Varsity Category, competing against 44 other squads. The girls will travel to Orlando, FL in February to compete in the National Cheerleading Championships, where they will defend their 2016 title.

IMS Spanish Students Complete Community STEAM Project

Spanish students at Independence Middle School worked in groups of four on a Spanish Community STEAM project, that involved selecting a Spanish speaking city and putting together a presentation about the city that included a Google slides presentation, a weather forecast video, conversion of temperatures between Fahrenheit and Celsius, using a 3-D printer to create a monument for their city’s plaza, making a grid of their city and placing 10 different buildings on the grid, and giving an oral presentation to their classmates.

Three IMS Students Are Finalists In Patriotic Essay Contest

Independence Middle School eighth graders Emily Carter, Olivia Tabler and Alyssa Vetere were three of the 15 Finalists in the Veteran’s of Foreign War’s Patriot’s Pen Essay Contest.

This year’s theme was “The America I Believe In,” and the students were recognized at a ceremony at the Library Volunteer Fire Company, where they were presented with a certificate and $50.

60 Students Are Participating In NAMS

Science Club

There are so many students participating in the NAMS Science Club this year that the group had to be broken into two!

Projects the students are working on include: tasting Jell-O that glows in the dark, exploring currents, electricity and lighting, and using Play Dough as a wire substitute.

Students are also participating in Physics Quest, a middle school science competition, and exploring the science of their senses, optical illusions and solar science.

Students Participate In Hour Of Code Activities

Students at Memorial Elementary School, Lincoln Elementary School and Washington Elementary School participated in Hour of Code activities during Computer Science Education Week.

Students participated in age-appropriate activities that had them writing code for popular video games. The activities taught them 21st century skills such as problem analysis and algorithmic thinking.

Franklin Students Enjoy Career Fair

Franklin Elementary School students started thinking about what they want to do when they grow up, thanks to a Career Fair organized in their school by Franklin Principal Teresa Doumont.

Representatives from insurance, banking, event planning, government, police, sports management, medicine and talent management gave age-appropriate, hands-on, interactive presentations to show the students about their careers.

Super Sock Drive Nets 330 Pairs Of New Socks!

When Letter Person Ms. S visited Lincoln Elementary Kindergarten, the students welcomed her with a school-wide Super Sock Drive. The drive collected 330 pairs of new socks, which were donated to the South Hills Interfaith Movement (SHIM).

Third Graders Receive Dictionaries From Rotarians

The Rotary Club of Bethel Park recently delivered copies of A Student’s Dictionary to all Bethel Park Third Grade Students.

These copies are the students’ personal books to keep.

They will come in handy as students begin to prepare for the Fifth Annual Bethel Park Rotary-sponsored Third Grade Spelling Bee on March 2!

Two BPSD Teachers Honored As Finalists In The 2017 PA Teacher Of The Year Program

Franklin Fourth Grade Teacher Katherine Meucci and Bethel Park High School Marketing Teacher Emily Smoller were honored in Hershey as two of the 12 Finalists for the 2017 PA Teacher of the Year.

Mrs. Meucci has been teaching in Bethel Park since 2014. Mrs. Smoller, a 1997 BPHS graduate, has been teaching at the high school for 10 years.

They now join a group of six other Bethel Park Teachers who have been recognized as either Semifinalists or Finalists in this program since 2008.

Two Franklin Students Receive Apple Awards

Franklin Second Grade Teacher Brittany Cook and Franklin Third Grade Teacher Lindsay Crowley received Apple Awards from the PA Chapter of the National State Teacher of the Year for their exceptional efforts in teaching, coaching and other efforts that support educational excellence.

They were nominated by 2017 PA Teacher of the Year Finalist Katherine Meucci.

Mrs. Jones Earns $250 Classroom

Grant

Franklin Kindergarten Teacher Lisa Jones received a $250 Kickline Cash for Classrooms Grant from Kickline Dance Studio. She will use the grant money to create a Discovery Station in her classroom, providing students with activities that will foster their creativity and problem-solving skills. She was eligible to receive this grant because one of her students, Raegan Foote, is a student at the Kickline Dance Studio.

Memorial Library

Receives $600 STEAM

Equipment Grant

Memorial Librarian Cathy Oczkowski received $600 worth of STEAM equipment, thanks to a grant from the Society of Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh. The equipment will be used in the new Makerspace area in the Library, where students can participate in STEAM-related activities.

BPHS Science Teacher

Featured In D.O.E. Video

Bethel Park High School Science Teacher Barbara Eisel was featured in a video recently made by the United States Department of Energy. The video will be shown to teachers in Hawaii, encouraging them to form teams of students to compete in the National Science Bowl Competition. Mrs. Eisel was selected for this video because she is the female teacher in Southwest Pennsylvania with the longest tenure coaching a Science Bowl Team. Mrs. Eisel has been coaching Bowl Teams at Bethel Park High School for 10 years.

Kindergarten Registration Begins In February

Kindergarten Registration for the 2017-2018 school year begins in February. Students who will be age five on or before September 1, 2017 are eligible to begin Kindergarten in the Fall.

Parents should bring their child to Registration and have the completed Kindergarten Registration Packets (found on-line on all elementary schools’ websites or they can be picked up at any elementary school), their child’s original birth certificate and proof of Bethel Park residency with them.

• Washington – Tuesday, February 7 from 9:30 to 11 AM and 1:30 to 3 PM

• Lincoln – Wednesday, February 8 from 9:30 to 11 AM and 1:30 to 3 PM

• Franklin – Thursday, February 9 from 9:30 to 11 AM and 1:30 to 3 PM

• Penn – Tuesday, February 14 at the Community Center from 9:30 to 11 AM and 1:30 to 3 PM (Call the school at 412-854-8522 to schedule a time.)

• Memorial – Thursday, February 16 at the Community Center from 9:30 to 11 AM and 1:30 to 3 PM (Call the school at 412-854-8506 to schedule a time.)

The Mission of the Bethel Park School District is to lead an educational partnership with the community, maintaining an environment that challenges all students to reach their potential as lifelong learners and responsible members of

society.

The Bethel Park School

District Where Futures Begin