The Penn Hills School Board voted 9-0 on April 23rd to approve a new contract with the District's teachers.  Earlier in the day, the teachers voted to approve the contract by a vote of 326-51.  To view the teachers' agreement, click here.  The salary schedule for the contract is available by clicking here.

On Wednesday, May 12th, renowned speaker Horacio Sanchez will give a presentation to parents and the community on "Resiliency - What Every Parent Should Know."  The event is being sponsored by the Penn Hills School District Diversity Committee and PTA and is part of the Parent Support Series.  Mr. Sanchez is President and CEO of Resiliency Inc., an organization which trains individuals to successfully deal with students in order to improve academic achievement and reduce negative behaviors.
 
According to Mr. Sanchez, "There is one thing that determines if your child and you will be successful.  It controls who we are, what we do, and even the ability to change.  It determines if you are in control or being controlled, if you feel safe or threatened, and even if you win or lose.  There are no exceptions; it applies to everyone.  Parents love their children and want what it best for them.  Every parent should know this one thing and teach their child how they can be successful." 
 
The presentation in the Linton cafeteria will begin at 6:00 p.m.  A light dinner will be held at 5:00 p.m.  Admission is free.  Those who will be attending are asked to RSVP by May 7th to 412-793-7000, x1255.

Penn Hebron Elementary 5th Grade Teachers Melissa Tamburrino and Kristy Bair decided to read the story "Flat Stanley" by Jeff Brown to their classrooms. The story is about a boy named Stanley.  One night, while he is sleeping, a bulletin board falls on Stanley and makes him flat.  Stanley then goes on an incredible journey because he can fit through places that normal kids cannot.  One day, Stanley's friend wants him to come and visit him in California. Stanley knows that his parents cannot afford this, so they decide to mail Stanley in an envelope, making sure he has food with him on his journey.  

Once the fifth grade students were done reading the story, they then created their own Flat Stanleys.  They each got to pick who they wanted to send their Flat Stanley to, along with a journal.  The person who received their Flat Stanley had to take pictures with Stanley for five days and create a journal of what Stanley did each day.  Ms. Tamburrino said they had so many good projects come back. Flat Stanley was sent to North Carolina, New York City, England, Florida, and more. 

One of her students, Julian Bennett, sent his Flat Stanley to President Barack Obama.  President Obama and his family completed the project and sent Julian a letter, along with a picture of himself.  The letter stated all of the things that Stanley did at the White House.  He was very busy there and even got to play with the President's daughters and dog Bo.  

Ms. Tamburrino said her students were so excited.  "This project was a blast and it's not over yet," she exclaimed.  Both classrooms are going to create PowerPoint presentations in the computer lab.  The students will also get a chance to take a quiz on this story to earn Reading Counts points.  "This was an awesome experience," she stated, "that we will remember forever."
 
Julian will be recognized at the May 4th School Board meeting.  To view the story done by KDKA on Julian, click here.

Gannon University annually sponsors a Computer Programming Competition designed to reward high school students for excellent work in the field of computer programming.  High school students in all grades are eligible to participate and can submit work individually or as a group.  All students who enter must have a sponsoring teacher from their respective high school who is familiar with the students' programming skills.

Entries can be written in any programming language as long as they are executable on a PC running LINUX or Windows.  Students are allowed to write any type of program they want, including a videogame if they are capable.  All entries must be submitted to Gannon along with complete documentation of the program's capabilities.  Entries are judged on effectiveness at solving the documented problem, clarity of code design, and conciseness and completeness of documentation.  Final submissions were due in March.
 
Over 100 high schools around the country had students enter the competition this year.  Gannon graduate students and professors judged all of the entries and awarded prize money and national recognition to the top seven high school programmers.  Of those seven winners, four of them were from Penn Hills High School.  This is the first time any high school has ever had more than one winner.  According to High School Business/Technology Teacher Ted Gabrielson, "Our students dominated the competition."
 
The winning students from Penn Hills were Senior Mike Ferraco and Juniors Joey Gelpi, Darrell Neal, and Connor Wilczek.  Darrell was awarded second place and $150.  Mike, Connor, and Joey placed 4th, 5th, and 6th, respectively, earning an award of honorable mention and $50 each.

Mr. Gabrielson said the reason why the students from Penn Hills did so well is because "You cannot find another high school in our area that offers a computer science curriculum that is even comparable to that of Penn Hills."  Students in the Penn Hills program learn the languages of C#, Small Basic, Python, QBasic, VB.Net, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.  Because the District offers a three-year program, students are given the opportunity to learn how to develop large-scale projects over several months at a time.  "The bottom line is that our students simply know more about computer programming than the vast majority of students who entered the contest," he stated.

 

To view descriptions of the winning submissions, click here.

On Saturday, April 24th, before a record crowd of 54,000, Dorian Rumble, Tyree Squires, Thorn Catlin, and Charles Anderson accomplished something no team in the history of the school has done by qualifying in the 4x800 Championship of America race at the 116th Penn Relays Track Carnival at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. Their 9th place finish time of 7:50.67 is the third fastest time in the state. The relay team qualified the day before by finishing in the Top 12 out of 70 of the best high school teams in the United States and Jamaica.
 
The girls' 4x100 relay team of Deshaun Squires, Iman Wilkerson, Christine Roberson, and Paige Field placed 5th in the Tri-State Championship meet, which has the best teams from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.
 
Richard Rouse placed 9th out of 22 of the best triple jumpers in the country.
 
These athletes were able to perform at their best in this prestigious event competing against the best competition in the country, according to Coach Lee Zelkowitz.  Olympic champion and world record holder Usain Bolt ran the anchor leg for Jamaica in an event that took place between the girls' and boys' events.  "This will be a great story they can tell their grandchildren," he said.
 
In less than two weeks, these students raised over $2,600 to completely fund this trip. They represented Penn Hills very well with their exemplary behavior and performed with humility, Mr. Zelkowitz added.

The Board approved the following amendment to the 2009/2010 school calendar at the April 6th meeting:

In recognition of April being Autism Awareness Month, Washington Special Education Teacher Justine Ulyas sent a letter and flyer home to parents outlining planned activities.  The school celebrated the week of April 19th to April 23rd to help make students aware of autism and show their support by having them participate in different activities to raise money for Autism Speaks.  These activities included:

All money collected during the week was donated under the name of Washington Elementary School of Penn Hills to Autism Speaks, which uses the funds to help change the future for the autistic community.   Over $800 was raised.  For more information on this organization, visit their website at www.autismspeaks.org.

Recently, 110 students from Penn Hebron raised $3,636.63 in donations to make a difference for research and education that could help decrease disability and death from heart disease and stroke.
 
These students gathered in the gym on Thursday, April 22nd, for one hour of jump roping fun and exercise.  Room 114 had the most participants with eight, while Room 115 raised the most money ($372.00). Marlee Hill from Room 101 was awarded a medal for being the top fundraiser.  Pictures and names of the participants can be viewed near the cafeteria outside the gymnasium.
 
Due to the success of the event, Penn Hebron will be issued a $200 gift certificate from US Games for physical education equipment.  The students' thank you prizes should be arriving at school in the next month.   A special thank you goes out to the 110 students and their families for promoting healthy habits that contribute to the entire community's welfare.

On April 15th, three Penn Hills students were recognized as 2010 Trib Total Media Outstanding Young Citizens.  They were Seniors Dena Gula and Christopher Mannella and Junior Erica Stevens. 
 
Students are nominated as Outstanding Young Citizens by family, friends, teachers, and school officials based on academic performance, character, and community service.  One hundred students are selected as Outstanding Young Citizens and invited to attend a banquet.  At this banquet, students receive a certificate and a gift.  Then, ten of them are selected by a panel of independent judges to receive the Outstanding Young Citizen Gold Medal.
 
This year, Christopher was one of ten students named a Gold Medalist.  It was the second year in a row that he received this honor.  Christopher is involved in activities such as National Honor Society, Engineering and Robotics Club, and Spanish Club and serves as Assistant Manager and Projection­ist at the Penn Hills Cinemas.  He will be attending Ohio State University in its Architecture Scholars Program this fall.

Penn Hills High School students Nicole Innes, Paige Robinson, and Lewis Fenoglietto attended the Future Business Leaders of America State Leadership Conference in Hershey from April 11-14th.  Students participated in workshops on various topics (over 40 to choose from), including "Becoming a Team Leader," "Etiquette Experts," and "How to Succeed in Business Ethically." 
 
During the Opening General Session, students heard Keynote Speaker Russ Peak talk about being motivated, using teamwork, and developing leadership in everything you do in life.  Mr. Peak has given workshops all over the country for corporate giants such as IBM, AT&T, Intel, Yahoo, and Disney to motivate their employees.
 
Sophomore Paige Robinson participated in the "Introduction to Business" competition.  Paige placed 12th overall in the state, with 100 participating in her event.  She was the second place winner from our region.  Sophomore Nicole Innes participated in the "Introduction to Business" competition.  Nicole placed 19th overall in the state, with 100 students participating in her event. She was the first place winner from our region.  Junior Lewis Fenoglietto participated in the "Personal Finance" competition.  Lewis place 19th overall in the state, with 90 students participating in his event.
 
While there, Nicole, Paige, and Lewis also toured the Hershey Chocolate Museum, Chocolate World, and Hershey Park.

On April 10th, the Senior High School Team coached by Barb Donnelly participated in the Odyssey of the Mind State Tournament in Williamsport.  The team, composed of Andrew Christman, Christian Donnelly, Ryan Donnelly, Robert Fello, Loyal Jasper, and Mario Janakis, solved the problem Nature Trail'R.  This problem involved designing, building, and driving a human-powered vehicle and camper required to go through a series of challenges on a nature trail also created by the team.  The team came in 8th in Division III of the competition.

In March, three Penn Hills students were inducted into the National Technical Honor Society at Forbes Road Career and Technology Center.  These students were Junior Cody Havash, Automotive Technology; Junior Cameron Pawlowski, Health Science Technology; and Senior Kym Swinton, Emergency Response Services.

 

The National Technical Honor Society requires students to have a minimum 93 percent average in their vocational class, be involved in extracurricular activities, provide community service, and miss no more than 2 days per quarter. Knowledge and the seven attributes stressed by the society--Skill, Honesty, Service, Responsibility, Scholarship, Citizenship, and Leadership--were highlighted by students during the ceremony.

 

For additional information on the technical school, click here.

Linton students and staff celebrated March is Music in Our Schools Month in a big way.  On March 19th, 15 sixth grade vocal music students attended the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) Singfest in District One East held at Fox Chapel High School.   Choral director Melissa Newell nominated these students and helped to prepare the music for the daylong workshop and concert.  She then spent the day with them as they enjoyed both music workshops and the final evening concert.  The students involved were Jordan Bell, Chelsea Cerra, Tiffany Diaz, Elise Felker, Marcello Frollo, Brooke Gongaware, Lawrence Hill, Katie Kaczynski, Megan Karafa, Nina Kennedy, Ramsie Monk, Khadijah Pearson, Breanna Scampone, Bryant Stanton, and Courtney Tyler.

On April 16th, the administrative offices began their move to the new administrative complex at 260 Aster Street, in the rear of the Linton Middle School.  Everyone from the Business Office to Special Education made the trek down Collins Drive and up Stotler Road to their new home--except for the Tax Office.  The Tax Office will remain at 309 Collins Drive until May 1st, when this office will also move to the new location.

In addition, the District recently installed a new phone system which eliminates the 412-795-3000 line.  Calls will now go through the main number at 412-793-7000.  Extensions for most staff members have changed and can be found on the District website.

Coming next month in Penn Hills Pride, Interscholastic Invention Convention results, NJROTC End-of-Year Awards Ceremony, PTA/PTC Scholarship Night, Senior Awards, Best Buddies visit, and student achievements.  All this and more in the next edition of Penn Hills Pride.