Brandywine Wallace - Mrs. Leib

We are working hard to complete writing and science PSSA make-up tests and will celebrate when the final boxes leave the building! The long PSSA window this year has been draining. The entire staff worked together in supporting students to show all that they know on these important assessments.

East Ward - Mr. Argonish

First Grade Savers

Representatives from Penn Liberty Bank presented our first graders with an interactive program that teaches children the importance of saving. The children really seemed to enjoy the lesson that was shared with them from the bank. Students learned about saving money, budgeting, and the importance of a bank account. The program really seemed to help our students to understand the concept of spending and managing money.

The RESPECT Program

 RESPECT - (Respect Everything So Planet Earth Can Thrive) visited East Ward second through fifth grade students on Wednesday. The Respect Program is a free educational assembly program, developed by J.P. Mascaro and Sons, that teaches students about respect for people, property and the environment. This interactive assembly is geared toward second through fifth graders and meets many of the Pennsylvania Department of Education academic standards. There are also interactive activities for students to practice respect at http://www.therespectprogram.com/ .

Third Grade Math Idol

 Our third graders have been challenged to develop a math song that can be sung to the tune of an existing song. Their lyrics must demonstrate an understanding of many of the math concepts learned in third grade. Their songs must include vocabulary and, if possible, examples and numbers. Their performance is set for May 11th. More information to follow.

DASD Wellness Day Activities at EW

 All classes were given a menu of activities to choose from to enhance fitness throughout the day. An outside schedule was also provided for our students to get up and move! Our fifth grade classes joined their teachers for their very own Zumba class this afternoon! Zumba involves dance and aerobic elements. Zumba's choreography incorporates hip-hop, soca, samba, salsa, merengue, mambo, martial arts, and some Bollywood and belly dance moves. Squats and lunges are also included. Zumba was certainly a fun, yet challenging, aerobic activity that anyone could do to enhance their fitness levels. During math today, our fourth grade students attacked some nutritional word problems that included serving sizes and calories. Students worked to find out how many calories were in some of their favorite snack treats. It was certainly a learning experience for all, myself included! Second graders were found doing stations this morning on the field. The children had relay races, run/walks, hula hoop, and learned basic yoga! Third graders were spotted outside playing various tag games too! The day seemed to be quite enjoyable for students and staff alike!

Lionville Elementary School - Dr. Hessinger

GARDENING HAS BEGUN

JOANNE MACBRINE

Recently retired teacher, Joanne MacBrine, passed away on Monday, mid-day due to complications related to ALS. Joanne taught special education. Cards are being received by : The MacBrine Family,

WELLNESS DAY AT LIONVILLE

All students participated in a wellness activities today and may teachers joined in as well! During the encore time period, each class went outside with their encore teachers, under the direction of Sheron Johnson and Jon Zelznick, our PE teachers, and walked around the East campus track for 45 minutes.

Pickering Valley - Mr. Fernandes

Monday night, April 23rd, was the Stop Hunger Now packing event here at Pickering Valley. Many students and their families came out to culminate thisyear-long project and pack 11,250 meals.Meal packets were made in steps. First, the vitamin packs, veggies and rice were funneled into the bags. Next the bags were weighed and then sealed up tight. After they were sealed, they were packed into boxes and sent out to the truck. This will provide meals to support school feeding programs all around the world.

Upper Uwchlan Township celebrated Local Government Day on Thursday, April 19, 2012, with the 5th grade introducing them to all the things that local government does for its citizens.   On hand was Township Manager, Cary Vargo, Township Secretary, Gwen Jonik and John DeMarco, Chief of Police. Each official taught the students what their job was about. Chief DeMarco showed the students all the equipment in a police car that officers have available to do their job. At the conclusion of the program, the students had the opportunity to go out on the playground; see up close the equipment that is used in the township, meet some of the township crews and ask questions about their jobs. Thank you Upper Uwchlan for sharing Local Government with us!

The Pennsylvania Bar Association is very happy to announce that Mrs. Blust's 5th grade class video was selected as the winning video for the Pennsylvania Bar Association's 2012 Law Day "I Have a Dream..." Video Contest! The PA Bar Association will be visiting Pickering Valley School later in May to celebrate with them. Congratulations to Mrs. Blust's 5th grade class!

Shamona Creek - Mrs. Welsh

Did you know that one in every eight people go to bed hungry in Chester County?  Together, we can help fight this battle! Plants need 5 things to be successful. Sun, water, soil, seeds, and LOVE! Shamona Creek spread the LOVE on April 20th.

Each grade level built, filled and planted a raised garden bed under the guidance of Chester County Food Bank experts. Students used drills, mallots, screws and TEAM WORK to construct the beds. The garden experts asked each class how they could show love for the plants. A kindergartener replied, "I could hug the plant?" He was close! Each vegetable and herb got a student kiss before it was planted. Group kisses were given to the seed packets.

An Eagle Scout will be protecting our crops from the neighborly deer and the local ground hog. Our Healthy Zone Website will be posting recipes to coordinate with our harvest in the fall.    

Uwchlan Hills - Mr. Giering

Uwchlan Hills Kindergartners have been very busy learning to use science inquiry skills, in observance of Arbor Day and Earth Day, with a specific focus on trees. The students have been learning about the importance of the leaves, branches, trunk, and roots. The students examined leaf samples, and learned that oxygen comes from the tree leaves. Teacher and students discussed the oxygen and carbon dioxide cycle and how interdependent trees are with people. The kindergartners went outside and selected their favorite playground tree. Every child placed a piece of paper and crayon against the bark of the tree and made a tree bark rubbing. Afterwards, the teacher demonstrated measuring the girth and the students counted the rings to determine the approximate age. Cross sections of maple and aspen trees were passed around to better observe the rings. These sample cross sections were supplied from the science curriculum Foss kits. As a sign of gratitude for our self-selected trees, the students gave their tree a big hug, and said, "Thank you." When the students finished their explorations and observations, every student constructed a tree shaped book with recordings and illustrations of their science inquiry learning related to trees.

Downingtown Middle School - Mr. Indeglio
 This Tuesday and Thursday nights, DMS Administrators, teachers, and guidance counselors got a chance to meet our incoming sixth graders and their parents. As parents cycled through informational centers, they were able to get all of the facts about programming, sixth grade transition process, and scheduling. Parents asked great questions while students had fun with teachers in our auxiliary gym. We are looking forward to having them join our DMS family in the fall.

DHS East - Mr. Hurley

Chemistry Olympiad :

Two students from Downingtown East High School have been selected to participate in the 2012 U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad National Qualifying Examination being held April 21

st at LaSalle University. Juniors, Heather Cai and Jonathon Wells are among 22 students from 15 schools in our area to qualify for the national exam. They were selected from among 499 students from 26 local high schools based on their test scores on the regional test.

Twenty of the top scoring students from this National Exam will be invited to a two-week intensive study camp held in June at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado. At the camp, students will be working with three mentors and will receive college-level training with emphasis on organic chemistry. At the conclusion of the study camp, a four-member team is named to compete in the International Chemistry Olympiad held in Washington D.C. in July of this year.

Congratulations, Heather and Jon!

DE FBLA CHAPTER:

Every student represented our school with pride, displaying the courtesy and respect that makes our students' among the finest anywhere. Details of our school's accomplishments are listed below and in the FBLA story above. :

Approximately 3800 students attended the Conference at Hershey.

FBLA Highlights:

Downingtown East was nominated for "Outstanding Chapter" and blue ribbons were placed on each of our members' name tags which we proudly displayed for the entire conference.

16 out of our 34 competing members from Downingtown East placed "top ten" in the State!

National Qualifiers:

(see story above)
Other members who placed:

4th Place - Chad Coakley, Albert Guo, and Nick Possi-Moses - Banking and Financial Systems (team event)

4th Place - Megha Reddy - Introduction to Business Communication

4th Place - Patrick Vincent - Sports Management

5th Place - Angela Cai - Business Math

4th Place - Payal Gadura - Introduction to Parliamentary Procedure

8th Place - Andrew Hoffman - Personal Finance

9th Place - Heather Cai - Business Calculations

9th Place - Rohan Shah - Business Math

10th Place - Vamshi Voruganti - Health Care Administration

Other Achievements:

Bennett Warner was one of 2 students to intern for Cybis Communications during the event. He helped set up and run the technology that made the State Leadership Conference possible.

Earlier in the year, Ben Rowles was elected President of Region Nine of PA FBLA for 2012-2013.

Students were supervised at the conference by Michael Spishock, Peggy Alvarez, and Heather Malliard.

Congratulations to Spanish Students!

Congratulations to these students for earning wonderful achievements on the 2012 National Spanish Examination.

The following students were awarded these honors:

Silver:

Benjamin Rowles, Level 5

Bronze:

Amanda Beitler, Level 4

Andrew Hoffmann, Level 4

Rachel Wolfgang, Level 4

Steph Diewald, Level 5

Honor:

Tyler Folta, Level 5

Sarah Ranney, Level 4

Lauren Salig, Level 5
Catherine Sampson, Level 6
Jacque Tawney, Level 5
Patrick Vincent, Level 4
Francesca Maestas, Level 6

Congratulations!

10th Grader Haley Buckner won Honorable Mention in a contest sponsored by the Philadelphia Writing Project. The poem she wrote for Ms. Luzenski, her English teacher, was an assignment for A Tale of Two Cities. Out of 450 students in the Philadelphia region who participated, she was recognized for her excellent writing.

Congratulations to Art Students!

Students of Downingtown East High School's Art Department earned some heretofore unprecedented and impressive accolades this year at the annual Hussian School of Art poster contest. Senior Beverly Huang claimed top honors in winning first place out of thousands of student entries to the contest entitled, "Portmanteau". Ms. Huang had some very talented company from senior Lydia Walters who earned third place. In addition, Jenny Kim, Alison Franciosa and Nephele Agrafiotis, all garnered Honorable Mentions and Marissa D'Andrea earned a Certificate of Merit. Earning the prestigious honor of first place in Hussian's annual high school student art competition marks a first time in Downingtown East and the District's history. Students in Downingtown's two high schools have traditionally participated alongside many others high schools from all over the region, submitting their visual solutions to the various thematic challenges put forth by Hussian. This year's challenge was to illustrate their concept of a portmanteau: a combination of two words.

Downingtown East's art teachers were delighted but not altogether surprised at the unprecedented achievement and shared the student's sense of exuberance from the momentous accomplishments. Veteran art teacher and current Downingtown East Teacher of the Year, Becky Lister, is credited with helping to guide the talented Ms. Huang's creative energies and focus.

DHS West - Mr. Mulvey

The Downingtown High School West Ecology Club/Energy Team Members attended the annual SWEP (Society of Women Environmental Professionals) grant awards dinner and ceremony in Philadelphia on Thursday, April 19, 2012. The team's grant application was chosen and received a $1695.00 award. The team plans to purchase an Ecotricity 1800W Solar Power Generator, which will be used to power a computer cart containing 25 classroom computers. Student members of the energy team will be conducting energy conservation research, by designing an experiment and collecting data on pre and post energy consumption and savings. A report will then be written and they will have the opportunity to present their findings in October at the SWEP regional meeting. This is the second grant awarded to the team this school year for their work in creating a "greener" school community. They previously received a grant for $1950.00 from Project Learning Tree (PLT) Green Schools Program and the Pennsylvania Department of Education. With this grant they will be purchasing the BERT (Best Energy Reduction Tools) energy control devices for the high schools printers. The BERT system plug turns on and off according to whatever schedule is programmed into the PC-based control program using the buildings existing WiFi network. The BERT system eliminates wasted energy and can save up to 35% of energy costs. The student members just finished their pre-installation data collection on printer energy consumption and will conduct additional data collection once the BERT system is installed. They will then compile their results in a report that will be sent to PLT's headquarters in Washington, D.C and to the Pennsylvania Department of Education's Environment and Ecology Education Advisor for review.

Downingtown High School West is honored to sponsor and present The White Rose Exhibition. The opening ceremony for the exhibition will be on Friday, April 20, 2012 from 9:15-10:15 AM in the Downingtown West auditorium. Congressman Jim Gerlach will deliver the keynote address. This extraordinary traveling display recalls the noble actions of The White Rose, a resistance group during the Third Reich that opposed the Nazi Regime. The exhibition will be on display from April 20 through April 27.

Matt Collinson was chosen as Mr. West 2012. He beat an impressive field of contenders by performing an impressive 7 minute freestyle rap and holding off his competitors in the swim suit, tuxedo, and questions categories. Also a big thank you to Nadelle Kijewski for organizing and supervising the event and Ryan Farrell, Patty Bell, Karen Mapes, Kathy Meyers, Brandon Mitchell, Megan Dunn, and Joey Germani for judging.

Downingtown STEM Academy

GAPP EXCHANGE

The STEM Academy welcomed it very first group of GAPP exchange students on Friday, March 23. The twelve students from the Gymnasium Fabritianum in Krefeld, Germany, accompanied by their principal, Dr. Horst Obdenbusch, and teacher, Annika Grundmann, will be at the Academy until April 11. They attend classes and engage fully with school activities and the family life of their hosts. The students have already formed great friendships and are looking forward to seeing each other in the summer, when George Fiore, principal of the STEM Academy, and Jessica Staub, German teacher, accompany the STEM GAPP group to Germany.

 HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Because of our Physical Activity Units, students are starting to really advocate for their Physical Health and ask to go a "step beyond." Multiple emails from students have asked to join our new "Cross Fit" Club after school. "Cross Fit" is a company that has started a new revolution in working out years ago that includes various high intensity exercises. At STEM this has begun with two students, Dan Couser and Jared and they have now spread the word to friends and other athletes in the school. We now have 8-10 students involved and plan to be around 20 students by mid-April. Students are learning 21st Century movements combined with the old Military style training and they love it! This is both a competitive program but also very supportive!

The STEM Academy and East High School teamed up to help the Uwchlan Hills H.S.A. create a DVD video of the UH student talent show. The show took place Friday, March 30th and was recorded by two of our STEM students: Alice Zheng and Maham Quraishi. Wes Robinson from East loaned video cameras and helped with the set up and direction. DMS/STEM Music teacher Brian Lloyd helped get the student videographers set up to record audio through the sound board. STEM Art teacher Janette McVey coordinated the equipment and helped the girls set up cameras and tripods on Friday before the show. Editing was completed by STEM Technology teacher Jocelyn Long. It was really a team effort by all three schools!