Friday Updates - Panther Valley School District

Friday Updates
February 20, 2015
Dennis R. Kergick
Panther Valley School District
I personally cannot wait for the month of March to arrive. I have had enough of the winter weather.
Between the snow, blustery winds and zero temperatures it has been harsh to say the least. Last
evening, as I was driving home from a meeting at CCTI, a DJ from a Philadelphia station mentioned that
today would be the coldest day in the past 21 years. Wow! Hopefully, March will bring somewhat more
reasonable conditions and we will receive a respite from the cold and able to enjoy warmer weather.
We all need it!!!
“There is no harder task for adults than changing our behavior.”
-Author Unknown
This may be classified as one of those do as I say not do as I do moments, but one of the many
weaknesses that I have is procrastination. I always say that I will do a certain thing and somehow the
day goes sideways and I do not get the item done that I had planned to do. I always respond with the
idea that I will make my mind up to change and I make a set of promises to myself regarding how I need
to change. Change is difficult. By now there are probably two words that you have heard enough of
from me, “two-hour delay and change.”
I know that I have been a victim of this miscalculation a number of times throughout my life. For many
of us, change is impossible because we are so optimistic (and delusional) that we try to change
everything at once. We quickly overwhelm ourselves with becoming the “new Me”, and when it doesn’t
happen as quickly as we’d like, people don’t notice that we’ve made a change, or some obstacle
presents itself, we give up.
Discouraged by our failure, overwhelmed and disheartened, it’s hard to commit to change again. So, we
become geniuses at coming up with reasons to avoid change. We make excuses. We rationalize. We
harbor beliefs that trigger all manner of denial and resistance—and we end up changing nothing. We fail
to become the person we want to be.
Ultimately, we all need to see that these change initiatives don’t belong to any one person; that they are
not the sole creation of those in charge. Rather, they belong to all of us, not only because it’s through
our collective efforts that we’re able to make this vision a reality, but because we’re the ones who will
first experience the outcomes of the change we’re now helping to create.
Seen from this light, it becomes all the more clear why certain change initiatives fail while others go on
to transform not only what we work on, but how we view the contributions we make to our
organization.
As a team we need to make sure that we’re not simply viewing these change initiatives from our
perspective, but that we’re getting out of our heads to understand the realities of those we serve – the
real drivers and champions of the change we see as necessary to our ability to achieve our shared
purpose.
Change certainly elicits some emotions; but we can serve as an example of how our emotions don’t have
to weigh us down with fear, regret, and concern, but can lift us up to see the potential around us. And
we can use these moments to remind our colleagues that they’re not facing these difficulties alone
because we care about them succeeding in their efforts.
So I guess that the main question for all of us would be; who is it that we want to be?
Some excerpts were taken from media sources---Heck I can’t be this creative all of the time!
Panther Valley Elementary School
Ms. Autumn Gilbert reports, that her students did a surprise Valentine's Day project for their parents,
grandparents, or aunts and uncles. They told them one reason why they love them!
Also, here is a picture of our very own "Chef Luke" serving up the kids healthy snack! He enjoys being
our classroom snack assistant.
Also, my students are starting to work on some science inquiry in the classroom experiments. The one
we started last week is "What will happen when colored marshmallows are dissolved in water?" "How
long does it take? And what observations and hypothesis' can the students come up with based on
observation and doing. They are having a blast with these!! :)
Panther Valley Middle School
Mrs. Mace reports, that the Panther Valley Middle School held class meetings and awards for the second
marking period. Below is a list of 6th and 7th grade award winners. Hoops for Heart will be held on
Friday, February 20th during the special area times. Mr. Herling will be running this event for our
students.
Also, please consider viewing the Panther Valley Middle Schools video by our team on the subject of
What’s So Cool About Manufacturing. Voting opened up on Thursday February 19th and last for three
days. As they say vote early and often.
Please view the student videos at dreamitdoitpa.com and vote (2/19-2/21) for
your favorite/s. These videos answer the question, "What's So Cool About
Manufacturing?" and are very informative for students, parents, and teachers.
The ACE Team will be competing in their competition on Friday, February 23rd and 24th at
Northwestern Lehigh. The PVMS team includes Amanda Fegley, Aaron Eidem, Aaron Miller, Jordan
Serina, Trey Turner, and Erica Tout. The advisor is Mr. Terry Bonner.
Looking Ahead......
March 6th - Act 80 Day
March 13th - Activity Day and Spring Pictures
6th Grade Awards – Quarter 2
Principal
- Madison Heckman
- Logan Polak
- Elizabeth Surotchak
- Matthew Kokinda
Participation
- Klarissa Wilder
Perseverance
- Amber Schwoyer
- Kristen Nunemacher
- Julian Mutula
- Emily Newton
- Jacob Boyle
- Bryce Krapf
- Peyton Burns
AR (45 points and above)
- Kasey Ansbach
PURR
- Jacob Welsh
- Natalie White
- Derek Pavlik
- Seth Berk
- Morgan Brimmer
- Erika Dubosky
- Autumn Steibler
- Mallory Gould
- Jacqui Kokinda
- Hannah Reed
Perfect Homework
- Valerie Dillee
- Mackensey Evans
- Kaylee Gilbert
- Sammie Woods
- Joseph Anarumo
- Caleb Brown
- Shelby Hill
- Julian Matula
- Molly Jones
- Brittany McLaughlin
- Tommy Edwards
Most Improved
Reading
- Evelyn Reis
Social Studies
- Louis Clouser
- Layla Santiago
- Luis Santiago
- Camryn Jones
- Kristen Nunemacher
- Brittany McLaughlin
- Kourtney Pilla
- Makyi Wright
- Kaitlin Sturdik
- Jacob Boyle
- Megan Digiglio
- Isabella Goida
- Molly Jones
- Violet O’Connell
- Lilth Vogel
Language Arts
- Derek Moore
- Alayna Eisenburg
- Hailey Hausman-Silfies
- Justin Pursel
Science
- Amber Schwoyer
- Tommy Edwards
- Kaden Gelches
- Savannah Smyth
- Cierra Ohl
- Samantha Self
- Makyi Wright
- Johnny Byers
- Erika Dubosky
- Kaylee Gilbert
- Jacqui Kokinda
- Matthew Kokinda
- Jason Lin
- Antonio Perilli
- Hailey Shreffler
- Elizabeth Surotchak
- Jacob Boyle
- Alexis Cooper
- Cora Izzo
- Emily Newton
- Cierra Ohl
- Madison Heckman
- Carly Heffelfinger
- Molly Jones
- Kayla Little
- Kristen Nunemacher
- Luis Santiago
Math
- Carl Hosler
- Kourtney Pilla
- Seven Simons
- Hannah Reed
- Samantha Self
- Dominic Bellucci
Highest Average
Reading
- Isabella Goida
- Marcus Lucas-Graell
Social Studies
- Jacqui Kokinda
- Antonio Perilli
- Madison Heckman
- Jason Lin
- Patrick Boyle
- Emily Newton
- Johnny Byers
- Hailey Shreffler
- Elizabeth Surotchak
- Cierra Ohl
Language Arts
- Hailey Shreffler
- Jacqui Kokinda
- Hannah Worman
Math
- Matthew Kokinda
- Jacqui Kokinda
- Antonio Perilli
- Arianna Moser
- Amber Schwoyer
Science
- Jacqui Kokinda
- Antonio Perilli
- Jason Lin
Congratulations to all of our second marking period award recipients—We are very happy and pleased
with your accomplishments!!!!
Panther Valley Construction Update
The process and discussions of the reconfiguration will certainly take center stage as we move into the
month of March. Please realize that there are many questions and discussions that require our attention
and we are happy to sit down with everyone and have these conversations. I think that once we
progress through March many questions will be answered and we can all breathe a sigh of relief.
I did recently conduct a walkthrough of the addition and am providing photos from the visit. Please
realize that this is a work in progress and may not be very appealing right now. But it will be simply
terrific!
Panther Valley School District
Handprint Trees
The handprint trees that many of you helped to create are FINALLY on display in the board room. The
trees are a collaborative effort on the part of our staff and students. The hands that make up the trees
represent every student in each of our three buildings. The trees could not have happened without the
cooperation of the administration, staff, and teachers that facilitated the creation of the handprints.
Thank you to all of those who helped.
Please try to visit the board room to see them, if you are able. The sheer number of hands is impressive;
there are approximately 1800 of them. They had to be placed very closely together, so that they would
fit onto the bulletin board, which is quite large. It is amazing to consider how many lives we touch and
the connections that we form within our school and community. Each one of those hands also
represents what is entrusted to us as educators.
Panther Valley Elementary School
Professional Development Opportunities
Mrs. Scarcella, Mrs. Szczecina, and Mrs. Hadnagy traveled to Carlisle on Thursday Feb.12th for a training
on THE CHALLENGE OF LEARNING TO READ. It was a very informative session.
The staff members will be attending three other modules in March and April. A focus on literacy and
literacy instruction is key to making PVES and PVSD the very best it can be.
Our dedicated teachers are seen above with the presenter Dawn Durham.
Panther Valley High School
PV cheerleaders won the Mountain League Championship at Bald Eagle Area High School. They beat
West Branch High School (A) and State College High School (AAAA) in our division. We also won 1st, 2nd,
and 4th in Jump Offs and 2nd and 3rd in Tumble Offs. They will compete this Sunday at the Kedron Spirit
Classic at Ridley High School. Good Luck Girls!!!!
1st Row: Claudia Smith, Abby Yusella, Caitlin Werkheiser, Alyssa Bartelt, Kayla Reese
2nd Row: Haley Karnish, Kiley Boswell, Kaitlin Reimer, Jocelyn Steigerwalt, Cassie Woodward
3rd Row: Shelby Stempa, Grace Williams, Hailey Henninger, Alyssa Buss, Samantha Williams, Desiree
Abadia
4th Row: Coach Hallie Seiwell, Kiersten Kunkel, Kayla Boswell, Coach Heidi Seiwell
Mr. Gunnels provided a report on the PVHS STEM program. Pictured are Allysa Schultz and Ron Distler,
Freshman STEM students in Mr. John Smulowitz's STEM seminar class. The students were working with a
computer programming application called SCRATCH. The program was developed by software engineers
at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to introduce computer programming skills to novice
technology students. Students learn basic computer programming protocols and procedures without
having to know machine languages such as; HTML, C, C+. The Students pictured successfully completed
and assignment requiring that they use "sprites" to animate the letters in their names. Our freshman
students were extremely creative expressing themselves using their new programming skills.
The Greatest Generation
There are a number of historical events to commemorate in 2015. It is the 70th anniversary of the end of
World War II this year. The 70th anniversary of Iwo Jima, the liberation of Auschwitz, this winter
(December 1944) also celebrates the sacrifices made by our servicemen and women during the Battle of
the Bulge. When you see some of our older citizens and veterans please keep in mind these patriots and
their efforts. Below you will find one of the most iconic images of World War II.
U.S. Marines of the 28th Regiment, 5th Division, raise the American flag atop Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima,
on Feb. 23, 1945. The Pacific island became the site of one of the bloodiest, most famous battles of
World War II against Japan.