Greetings,
Today we're taking a look at some of the"amazing results" that are a hallmark of a Swain education.
Science
With the guidance of their 7th/8th grade science teacher Deb Lindsay, Swain students have the opportunity to expand their interest in science at the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science annual competitions.
Building on the knowledge they have accumulated over their Swain years, each student devises a hypothesis (question) and then creates experiments to substantiate it. Do facial wipes have an effect on e. coli bacteria? Let's look at the ability of various materials to block cell phone signals. What is the permeability of various types of soils?
With results in hand, the scientists 
create a presentation to share the hypothesis and data, substantiating the resulting answer. Along with students from dozens of other middle and high schools in the area, they took their presentations to a regional competition held on Feb. 28. Each presenter was evaluated by a panel of judges, and awarded a first, second or third place.
Swain had 21 students participate, and 17 of them received a first place (including seventh grader Olivia McLaine, who was awarded a perfect score) and four had second place awards.
Next stop is Penn State, where the state competition will be held from May 17-19. The students with first place awards will again make their presentations. The second place awardees will also travel to State College, to serve as technician assistants for their peers.
In addition to their knowledge in science, participating in PJAS uses students' writing, presentation, and technology skills as well as their organizational and time management skills. Much of the work is done outside of class, during the busy middle school musical season.
Another example of 'amazing results'!
Pictured above: (kneeling, from left) Zoe Sharpe, Hannah Starorypinski, Noel Yacoub, Peggy Stansbery, Leah Cohen; (standing, first row from left) Ben Kraft, Michael Long, Madi Reger, Aidan Reese, Camryn Aviva, Arnav Krishna, Alex Becker, Gusti Henry; (back row from left): Olivia McLaine, Henry Rakos, Luke Spagnoli, Tomas Augello.
Music
While Swain students have been participating 
in PJAS for many years, last year was the first time the school was involved in the PMEA district events. Band Director Caitlin Worrich is a member of PMEA (Pennsylvania Music Educators Association), and had participated in the events as a student.
Upon Miss Worrich's recommendation, sixth graders Emily Rakos and Aedryss 
Benkrid (left, with Miss Worrich) participated in PMEA District 10's Elementary Band and Orchestra Fest on April 8. They had the opportunity to work with guest conductors during the day and then present an evening concert at Wilson Area High School, along with other student musicians from Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton and Pike counties.
Then on April 10, seventh grader Michael Long and eighth grader Alex Becker (below, from left to right with Miss Worrich) participated in a similar event for Intermediate Band and Orchestra students. Over 200 seventh and eighth graders gathered at Freedom High School for the day-long fest.
In other music news, Aedryss auditioned for and 
was awarded the Budding Musician Scholarship at the Community Music School in Allentown. This provides him with eight weeks of private violin lessons with one of the CMS teachers. Michael won one of the scholarships last year, so this is the second year in a row that a Swain student was a recipient.
It is exciting to hear about these new 'big opportunities' for our Swain instrumental musicians.
Social Studies
We were thrilled to welcome so many families and friends to our annual Social Studies Fair on Thursday evening! This is a great showcase for the important social studies and history explorations that happen at Swain.
You could
- meet "Famous Pennsylvanians" Benjamin Franklin
and Tina Fey in the third graders' Wax Museum - learn about Henry Ford and Laura Ingalls Wilder from the fourth graders' presentations
- immerse yourself in Asian culture in the fifth grade classrooms
- meet Mentuhotep (from the 11th Dynasty) or an Egyptian farmer in the sixth graders' "Hall of Antiquity"
- witness history in the making as the seventh graders debated the components of the constitution
- see how 8th graders reflected historical moments using social media, in "Tweeting History" (@TSSRoom204)
If you have photos from the evening (or morning's Wax Museum) that you would be willing to share on our SmugMug photo gallery, please
use this link for our easy uploader.
Thanks for reading this issue of Swain Stories - remember to follow our daily adventures on Facebook and Twitter!
