The D-Link

As many of you know, the Downingtown Area School District has established a "Tradition of Excellence" Award. Recipients of this award are teachers, administrators, and support staff members who have worked in this district for 35 years or more. We honor this service by placing their photographs on our wall of honor in the Administration Building and inviting them as honored guests to all three high school graduations.

This year's recipients of the Tradition of Excellence Award are a varied group. They include teachers, a counselor, a custodian and a lunchroom monitor. Many, many thanks to the following DASD staff members for their 35 years of service to the Downingtown Community.

VALERIA DUNN	LIONVILLE MIDDLE TEACHER
BARBARA STEVENSON	BEAVER CREEK TEACHER
GEORGE PHILLIPS	LIONVILLE MIDDLE TEACHER
THERESA HOULE	DHS EAST GUIDANCE
LETITIA DURNELL	UWCHLAN HILLS LUNCHROOM MONITOR
BARRY THOMPSON	LIONVILLE MIDDLE CUSTODIAN
DIANE DIMARTIN	BRANDYWINE WALLACE TEACHER
REGINA GARNETT	DOWNINGTOWN MIDDLE

As I have said several times in the past, our Tradition of Excellence honorees are models for our students and staff. They share their knowledge and skill with their colleagues; shaping, advocating and strengthening an alliance committed to the success of our students and their families. Through their personal achievements, service and dedication, they have contribute greatly to our school district's accomplishments.

Larry Mussoline,

Superintendent

Family Science Night

Don't miss this great event organized by students for students!

Date: Friday, June 13
Time: 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Location: DHS East

Event: Downingtown East students are putting on a show that includes a variety of experiments as well as a stage show! All students and parents are welcome, and admission is free! Come to Downingtown East High School for a night of fun and learning!

Sponsored by the Downingtown Community Education Foundation

New Director of Technology

Colleen Yenser has been named the district's new Director of Technology. Colleen will take over from Ray Kase who accepted another position closer to his home.

Colleen is currently the Downingtown Area School District's Applications and Client Sercices Administrator. Before coming to Downingtown, Colleen served as the Director of Technology for the Perkiomen School District and the Assistant Director of Technology for the Unionville Chadds Ford School District.

"Colleen has a wonderful reputation in the district as a problem solver and innovative thinker,", said Dr. Lawrence Mussoline following the Board vote on May 13, 2014. "I look forward to working with her as she takes over this most important postion."

Three DASD Students Named a Keystone FCU Shining Star

Right, Matthew Todd of DHS East proudly accepts his Shining Star Award.

The Downingtown Area School District is pleased to announce that three students have been named a "Shining Star" in the Keystone Federal Credit Union's fifth annual Shining Star Award program. The program was created to recognize students who have shown noticeable improvement throughout the school year. The areas covered in the award could include academics, extra-curricular involvement, attendance or classroom conduct.

From January through March, teachers nominate their most improved students for the award, writing a paragraph about a student in one of their classes who they feel best embodies the spirit of this award. All nominated students receive a certificate of recognition from Keystone FCU. Finalists are selected from each of the 12 school districts in Chester County.

Shining Star winners each receive a $200 share certificate of deposit and a trophy. Nominating teachers receive a $200 gift certificate to a teacher supply store for classroom supplies.

Congratulations to our 2014 Shining Stars!
Springton Manor - Aubrey Hufnagel

Downingtown Middle - Nick Zouras
DHS East - Matthew Todd

A Student's View by Emilie Gazzerro, senior, DHS West

As graduation quickly approaches, I have begun to reflect on my four years at Downingtown West High School. The huge homecoming dances, crazy football games and elegant proms are undoubtedly memorable, but the smaller, more personal memories preparing for these events are more precious to me.

The countless hours spent with the Student Council constructing every decoration for our Great Gatsby themed homecoming, fundraising with t-shirt sales to buy hundreds of balloons and pom-poms for the East-West football game, and (unnecessarily) panicking with my best friends about finding a perfect hairstyle for prom are memories I can recall more vividly and dearly.

Some of my fondest memories and lessons learned are those made from stepping outside my comfort zone and becoming involved in different activities. Joining the Student Council gave me opportunities to give back to my school and community and hone my leaderships skills as Vice President, and helping with the student section at football games taught me that fund-raising is a lot more complicated than I had expected (and it's impossible to please everyone). Also, challenging myself to take some difficult classes was worth the hard work.

However, taking the difficult classes did not pay off the most in academic terms like helping my GPA, but I learned that pushing yourself is rewarding and getting a bad test grade is not the end of the world. (Like Mrs. Mapes always told us sophomore year, "Your GPA and SAT score will not be on your tombstone!"). I took a chance and enrolled in the new AP Psychology class this year where I met a new best friend, which in itself made taking the tough class worthwhile as our friendship is much more gratifying than any A I received on a Psych test.

Throughout my years at West, I learned various lessons that I plan to take with me to college. First, getting involved and stepping outside your comfort zone

will pay off. Working hard and challenging yourself academically is always important, but you are more than just an SAT score. And finally, be kind and open to meeting new people... you may meet a best friend when you're least expecting it!

Summer Reading Lists

Summer Reading Lists are Available

Nothing beats a reading a good book on a nice summer day!

Students in our secondary program can now access their summer reading list on our district's website. Click here!

We are pleased to announce that Barnes and Noble will again host a summer reading book fair fundraiser for the Downingtown Area School District (summer reading lists are posted online and were given to students this week). This year's event will be from May 18-25, 2014. All purchases in-store and through Barnes and Noble online (except gift cards) count towards the fundraising total...even coffee and a magazine count towards the sales total. The entire school population, extended family members, and even friends may participate by making purchases at Barnes and Noble. Additionally, the book fair will work at any Barnes and Noble store in the country.

When you shop the Barnes and Noble book fair online or in the store, use our code: 11355385. If you are able to do so, please consider purchasing an additional copy of a summer reading text to donate to DASD and having your child bring it to his/her classroom teacher.

Looking for a Great Summer Program for Your Child?

Just a few spots remain in the Downingtown Community Education Foundation's Summer Program, The Experience. The Experience is a one-week (4 half-days) program for DASD students in grades 3 - 6. Although our Robotics camps are full, there are a few remaining spaces left in Engineering or Forensic Science.

The classes will run from 9 A.M. to 12 noon, and be taught by highly qualified educational professionals who currently teach in the Downingtown Area School District.

Click here for more information, or to sign up now!

Kudos

Beaver Creek

Beaver Creek Buddy Bench

Felling sad? Sit down on the buddy bench and a friend will soon join you. A new playground bench is available for Beaver Creek Students. This bench was recently installed by the DASD facilities' team. In partnership with a local business, ProSigns, the school prodcued a BC version of the Buddy Bench sign, pro bono. Our hopes are that this bench will provide an opportunity for all kids to have a great playground experience!

East Ward

The first annual Flick for Farouk family movie night was held on March 28. The young East Ward student is fighting hard to beat a serious illness. Flick for Farouk raised $18,000!

The Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House was selected to be the annual recipient of this fundraiser. In December, Farouk was hospitalized at CHOP due to complications from the chemo. The family stayed at the RMH during Farouk's hospitalization.

As one of the organizers, Renay Schoenfeld, noted, "We wanted to bring families together to show support and love for the Alazzam family. We wanted to celebrate Farouk's bravery and resiliency. We wanted Farouk to know that we are fighting for him!"

DHS East

Students at DHS East enjoy the Taiko Drum Assembly.

This summer, Japanese teacher Beth Buglio will be getting ready to welcome a teaching partner from Japan. Ms. Buglio applied to be a Lead Teacher in the J-LEAP program. Downingtown has been chosen as one of only nine sites in the US for placement of a new Japanese Assistant Teacher. The visiting teacher is not only a native speaker; she is a trained language teacher with experience teaching in Vietnam.

The Japan Foundation will fully fund our training together at UCLA and her salary for two years while she co-teaches with me at DEHS and DWHS. They have also provided $1000 for instructional materials. That's a lot of yen coming to benefit our students and a extraordinary opportunity for both teachers to grow professionally!

Around the District

Beaver Creek

Beaver Creek Elementary School held its 8^th annual Family Heritage Showcase to celebrate the diversity of our school family. As a school community, we recognize and honor that we are all from many different places and cultures. Some of us immigrated to the United States recently, while others of us have family members that came here many, many years ago. The theme of this year's showcase was The Games People Play. Beaver Creek students selected a country and then researched games that are currently played there and those that were played long ago. Games ideas included: board games, card games, outdoor games, etc. Students then selected one game and explained it in class either on a poster or by playing it with classmates, teachers and parents. Parents joined us on Thursday, May 15th to learn about and play games from around the world. In the photo below, a student is demonstrating a German game.

Bradford Heights

Whenever you hear the word "OLYMPICS" you think of the best of the best. Well, Special Olympics brings out the same feelings here at Bradford Heights. Our students that participate in Special Olympics are the best at what they do. The morning of Special Olympics at Bradford Heights, the entire school gave our Olympians a warm send off with cheers, banners, signs and smiles.

We are so proud of our special Olympians, Abbey Faciana, Colin Warter, Jacob Dowlin, Alex Brown, Justin Rozecki, Zev Cohen, Luke Garvic, Jayden Ricks, Santiago Herrera, Mason Hinkley, Reagan Rollins, Henry Franklin, and Bennett Skelton.

Brandywine Wallace

Our annual Art Show took place on Thursday and featured artwork for all students. Visitors learned about artists from student presenters and visitors also had the opportunity to complete a scavenger hunt that took them throughout the building. Thanks to Mrs. Rosario for organizing this annual event.

Field trips this week included second grade's stream study at Paradise Farms and first grade enjoyed a performance by the Walnut Street Theater Group.

Springton Manor

The following Grade 5 students were announced by Mrs. Tanya Beaver, Art teacher, as yearbook design winners:

Matteo Busterna ~ YEARBOOK COVER DESIGN WINNER!

Gretchen Hartenstein, Shiv Katakam, Alexa Houseknecht, and Liam Keisling ~ YEARBOOK ADDITIONAL DESIGNS

We thank Mrs. Beaver for her guidance. We thank these students for their artistic efforts

Uwchlan Hills

Uwchlan Hills' Art Teacher, Krissy Krygiel-Evans, hosted A Tribute to Georges Seurat at our annual art show and opening reception on May 2^nd. Featuring the artwork created by the students of UH, inspired by the pointillistic paintings of Georges Seurat. Over 600 pieces of artwork were displayed and enjoyed by parents and students alike!

Uwchlan Hills' second annual Mud Run was held on Saturday, May 3rd. The Mud Run is an obstacle course run for all ages and athletic abilities. Participants from ages 3 to 70 had a wonderful time on the tire roll, log carry and greased lightning slip and slide, and the "kiss of mud"! Special thanks to our community, sponsors, volunteers and wellness committee for making this event a huge success!

West Bradford
West Bradford Elementary Celebrated the Earth and ART together in one fabulous week! Students, Faculty, Family and 30 Amazing Artists came together at West Bradford Elementary to show that "The EARTH without A-R-T would just be ...EH"! Starting on April 22nd, everyone showed up to school wearing Green and enjoyed a record-setting Low-Litter-Lunch Day. On Wednesday, 30 local Artists including some friends and relatives of our own students and Art students from Downingtown West High School shared their love of art with West Bradford. Volunteers toured small groups wearing festive rainbow colors around the school and even outside to see Artists in action using different mediums. The Artists shared why they love art and even how some use recycled materials and lots of creativity to express their unique styles. Thursday, students wore white and "powered down" turning lights and appliances off when not in use. No lights were needed because the halls were ablaze with our students' art pieces to be displayed during the evening Art Show. The lobby displayed 3D tree sculptures made of recycled materials. As the WB community wandered the halls taking in the beauty of our WB Gallery and enjoying a scavenger hunt, Artists from Wednesday's Artist Day returned to sell their artwork.

DHS West

Stage West Drama Club will present it's final play of the year, Neil Simon's "London Suite" on Wed, May 28 and Thurs, May 29 at 7:00pm in the West auditorium. Laughter guaranteed!

West cheerleaders volunteered at the special Olympics track and field event. They have also raised over $5,000 for the relay for life event taking place this weekend.

The Band Concert is next Tuesday May 20th at 7:30pm.

Thirty-one Seniors displayed their work at the 40th Anniversary of Living Arts, titled QRts for the QR code students had on their work. The visitors could scan the QR and learn about the creative process in the development of the artwork. Throwing on the wheel, silk screening, arm knitting and quilling were demonstrated on Friday. Twenty one students were inducted into the National ART Honor Society for 2014.

STEM Academy
the Junior class engaged in the Group 4 Project. The Group 4 Project is a collaborative experimental science project for the entire junior class of 175 students. To provide direction to the students, the TED Talk by Simon Sinek "How Great Leaders Inspire Action" was used to remind students to focus on the "Why" more than the "What" of their ideas. Students broke into groups of 4 to 6 and were given 10 hours of work time during the school day to develop a project completely of their own design. Simply given the choice of prompts of "Sports and the Environment" and "Natural Disaster Relief", groups were given the freedom to create a product, a plan of action, or research trends. An example of their work included revised recycling procedure for the University of Michigan's Football Stadium. At the end of the 2 day event, all groups presented their ideas to 2-3 other groups of their peers, teachers, and industry professionals who volunteered their time to give feedback to the students.