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  Bringing you the latest in DASD news and information

 
Downingtown Area School District                          03/06/2015
In This Issue
A Visit from the Governor
Citadel Heart of Learning Award
LMS Teacher Wins State Competition
District News and Information
Congratulations!
District Wide Upcoming Events
Around the District

In the News

 





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A Message from The Superintendent

  

@lmussoline

 It was a great, albeit short, week for DASD.   We had a visit from Governor Tom Wolf (story below), had one of our orchestras play at Carnegie Hall (yes...they did practice, practice, practice) and learned that DHS East Chemistry teacher Brenda Gelinas is one of the 15 finalists for the Citadel Heart of Learning award.

 

With so much happening this week, I had to think hard on what to feature in this column. At this time of year, however I do like to pay tribute to our thespians - the students in our drama and musical theater programs.  The students in these plays can dance, sing and

act as well as many professionals. Whether they are lead performers, in the choir, play in the pit orchestra, design the scenery, or move the props, the professionalism projected from the stage is a joy to behold.

 

Last month I attended a wonderful performance of Oliver performed by students in the Downingtown Middle School. The kids were terrific and the costumes superb. I would like to thank the wonderful parent volunteers who sewed and measured a costume for each child, no matter how big or small their role. From the smiles at the end of the performance (standing ovation of course) you could see that performer was invested in the success of their play.

  

Lionville Middle School will present Beauty and the Beast on March 13 at 7pm, March 14th at 2pm and 7pm, and March 15th at 2pm. Tickets can be purchased by clicking on the link below:

https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?ticketing=lion

 

Downingtown East Theatre is in the midst of practicing for their spring musical, Monty Python's Spamalot.   This modern musical classic will be performed March 19th thru 22th.  Performances will be at 7:30 pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and at 2pm on Sunday.  

Click below to order tickets...

 

Cinderella will be performed on April 9 - 12th at DHS West.  As advertised on the DHS West website, Cinderella is "a timeless, magical fairy tale with Rodgers and Hammerstein's originality, charm and elegance."  Click here for ticket information.

 

 These are just this year's musicals.   We also have students participating in two additional drama programs.   DHS West's drama group known as "Stage West" performed the comedy Rex's Exes and had the audience rolling in the aisles with laughter.  The Downingtown STEM Academy will perform Pygmalion on March 14th and 15th at 7 p.m. in the STEM auditorium.    Tickets are available at the door.

 

And...that's only our secondary schools.   Our elementary performers are just as talented!!!

 

Let's hope that this is the end of old man winter and next week brings us the promise of spring with warmer weather and NO early morning calls from your favorite superintendent.

 

 

Dr. Larry Mussoline
Superintendent 
A Visit from the Governor 

 

 Governor Tom Wolf decided to visit to a school district following his Tuesday unveiling of his proposed $33.8 billion budget.   He traveled to Downingtown in the morning and spent an hour at the STEM Academy.

 

Superintendent Larry Mussoline, Principal Art Campbell and two STEM Academy student ambassadors, Ben Levine and Christie Hong, escorted the Governor and his press contingency through the academy.   Among the rooms they visited were the engineering lab, a French class, music room, the cafeteria and the knowledge commons.

 

"I was just in a physics class", the Governor told reporters following the tour, and the kids were having fun!"

 

Wolf spent an hour in the STEM Academy.  Following the tour he held a news conference in the Knowledge Commons to speak to reporters about his proposed budget.    

Citadel Heart of Learning Award

 

 

Citadel Bank has teamed up with the Chester County Intermediate Unit to honor our area's most outstanding educators. The Citadel Heart of Learning Award recognizes excellence in the classroom by honoring those teachers who go above and beyond the call of duty to meet the needs of their students.

 

Each year 15 finalists, 1 from each Chester County school district and the CCIU, are selected from the hundreds of nominations that are received each year from parents and guardians.  At the Citadel Heart of Learning Award banquet held in the spring, one high school, one middle school and one elementary school teacher are selected from among the 15 teacher finalists and presented with the Citadel Heart of Learning Award, a prize package and $1500. 

 

This year's Citadel Heart of Learning DASD recipient is DHS East Chemistry teacher Brenda Gelinas.   Brenda was presented with her award on Wednesday afternoon.  

 

Thank you to all those who nominated our great teachers!   

   LMS Teacher Wins State Competition

Lionville Middle School's own Susan Mousley was recently honored as the 2015 Pennsylvania Veterans of Foreign Wars Teacher of the Year!   

 

Mrs. Mousley was recognized by the Downingtown chapter of the VFW and Ladies Auxiliary for her tireless efforts to promote patriotism in our community.  She currently organizes both the Veterans Day and Memorial Day ceremonies for LMS. 

 

Mrs. Mousley also started the LMS "Patriots Club" this year as a way for our students to get directly involved with supporting our nation's veterans.  Now that she has won the PA title, Mrs. Mousley's name will be placed in the running for the national award presented later this year.

District News and Information

 

Did you catch the shout out to Downingtown from DHS graduate Kyle Weber?  Kyle is an assistant producer working on the hit TV series Modern Family.   In a recent episode, a news story about a fire in Kyle's mom house shared the screen with Claire and Phil Dunphy.  

 

It was the week of Dr. Seuss's birthday and our schools responded with a splash.   All through the district students participated in a wide variety of events celebrating what would have been the revered author's 101st birthday.  Born Theodor Seuss Geisel, Dr. Seuss wrote and illustrated his 46 books.   His birthday has been adopted as the annual date for National Read Across America Day, an initiative created by the National Education Association.

Congratulations
The Daily Local News and The Mercury's "It Can Wait" contest was open to students in grades 9 - 12.  DHS West's Alexandria McClelland (grade 9) was the winner of a $50 gift card and is entered in a chance to win $500 in the Pennsylvania News Media Association and AT&T sponsored contest. 

 

Southeast Regional Wrestling Champion (and DHS East student) Wade Cummings and teammate James Meyer have made it to the state quarterfinals.  Still in the run for a state medal is DHS East wrestler Billy McGinley.  We wish them much luck tonight.  

 

Congratulations to the STEM Academy Team that placed second at the 1st Annual Governors PA State STEM Competition. The Academy team consisted of Sophomores Karthik Imayavaramban, Saranya Sampath, Manish Hari Suryapalam, and Brandon Barker led by teacher mentor Mr. Eric Brown.

 

DHS West Girls' and Boys' Hockey teams have qualified for playoffs.  The boys team advanced in the Flyer's Cup Tournament following their win against Council Rock North. 

 

Indoor State Track and Field
  • 200 meter- 7th place medal - Dan Chisena DHS East (set new school record)
  • 4 by 200 - 2nd place medal -  Mike Riddick, Matt McCool, Josh McLemore and Nate Allyne  (their time puts them in the top 10 in the nation) 
  • 4 by 200 - 4th place medal - Dan Chisena, Jeremy Jennings, Mike Gwouh, Kameron Hammond from DHS East  (set new school record)
  • Boys DMR - 5th Place Medal - Josh Hoey, Nate Alleyne, Henry Sappy and Ryan Barton
  • Boys Triple Jump - Darina Alston - 7th Place
  • Girls 4 by 800 - 8th place medal - Lexi VanBlunk, Maddy VanBlunk, Sara Salavitibar, Andrea Squeri  from DHS East
  • DHS East's Jeremy Jennings set a new school record in the 60 meter.

 

Academic Teams
The DHS East JV and Varsity Academic competition teams will be competing for the county championship on March 17th.
The county schedule on March 17th will be as follows...
7pm - Junior Varsity - Downingtown East, Unionville & Conestoga
8pm - Varsity - Downingtown East, Unionville & West Chester East
The competition will be offered on live stream at: http://ccitv.cciu.org/

 

Winners of the Tel Hai Art Contest
People's Choice Awards:
  • 1st Place, Victoria Pan, Once Upon an Autumn Dream, Painting on Canvas
  • 3rd Place, Jessica Huang, To Swing or Not to Swing, Sculpture/Mixed media
Juried Awards:
2D Artwork
  • Victoria Pan, 1st Place, Painting on Canvas 9/10th grade, Once Upon an Autumn Dream, Oil on Canvas
  • Selia Koss, 1st Place, 2D Mixed Media 9/10th grade, The Pond
  • Nephele Agrafiotis, HM Drawing 11/12th grade, Hidden Beauty
3D Artwork
  • Jessica Huang, 1st Place, Sculpture 11/12th grade, To Swing or not to Swing
  • Nicole Woodruff, 1st place, Mixed Media, 11/12th grade, Sunday Coffee
 DECA Sate Competition (recognizing emerging leaders and entrepreneurs I marketing, finance, hospitality and management)  
  • Amanda Boileau & Claire Kennedy - STEM - Finalist: Creative Marketing Project
  • Ritika Bajpai - STEM -Finalist: Personal Financial Literacy
  • Philip Ruffini - STEM - Top score: Role Play
  • Ryan Hassing & Brian Petersen -  STEM - 3rd Place: Sports & Entertainment Marketing
  • Shray Patel & Manas Rajasagi - STEM - 3rd Place: Business Law & Ethics

 

West Bradford Elementary School held its annual Jump Rope for Heart and broke a school record, raising over $9000 for the American Heart Association.

 

STEM Academy seniors Shannon McWiliams and Becca Samsel led a team of inspired individuals to help raise over $30,000 in this year's Cure4Cam event to benefit pediatric cancer research.  Cameron Evans died of pediatric cancer when he was in 8th grade and would have been a STEM Academy student.

 

The Downingtown Chapter of the VFW and Ladies Auxiliary recently recognized three LMS students for their outstanding writing. The "Patriot's Pen" Essay is open to middle level students from our area. Lionville took 1st, 2nd and 3rd place on outstanding essays from Laura Null, Enya Rohatgi and Jordan Lambe. All three students won certificates and substantial cash prizes for their achievement.
 
Downingtown High School West and Downingtown High School East Swim and Dive teams recently put their friendly rivalry aside and collaborated to raise money to support pediatric cancer research through their inaugural Relays4Cam event. The brainchild of Cameron's ("Cam") close friend, 17 yr. old Alexis Rauth, a student at Downingtown High School West, the concept for Relays4Cam started as a single fundraiser for the Upper Main Line YMCA (UMLY) swim team National group and has now blossomed into a multi-team (both high school and club) campaign to support kids with cancer. The two teams jointly presented a check to Regina and Doug Evans, Cameron's parents and co-founders of the Cure4Cam Childhood Cancer Foundation in the amount of $4329.64.
  
  
District Wide Upcoming Events

March 2015

Looking for some fun entertainment?

 

DHS West

  • Art Madness will be held on March 11, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. in the DHS West cafeteria.    
  • The Entrepreneurship class will hold their annual Dodgeball Tournament on March 26th from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.   Wagner Gym.
  • The World Language Department is hosting Mult-Cultural Night in the cafeteria on Thursday, March 26th from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. to benefit the Hannagan Family.

DHS East 

  • March 28th - Spring Craft Fair at DHS East from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

STEM Academy

March 11, 2015 from 6 - 8 p.m. in the Knowledge Commons - Opening reception of the IB Art Show.  Artwork by our 9th, 10th and 11th grade students will be on display.   Original music by Academy students. 

 

 Around the District

 

Beaver Creek

Students at Beaver Creek were excited to each receive a free book from REAL (Reading Excites all Leaners), a Chester County based non-profit organization which supports reading literacy and comprehension. This donation was set up by Maryanne Parsons as a part of "Partners in Outreach." To learn more check out www.partnersinoutreach.org. The special event was a precursor to Dr. Seuss Day and Read Across America. We also had a bulletin board called, "Once Upon a Time Before They Were Teachers" where students could guess who were in the photos based on familiarity and the posting of their favorite book as a child.

 

East Ward

East Ward second grade students took part in a Kindness assembly. The program talked to the children about being kind to one another and to our Earth. They played a version of Family Feud that quizzed them on ways to be kind. The children also sorted objects that could be recycled and objects that should be placed in the trash. We learned many ways to be kind, and a lot about recycling

 

LMS

Last month, LMS students visited the Lionville Elementary School first grade classrooms yesterday to talk to the students about kindness and provide lead a project that the first graders will give to someone else. The girls visited with the students in all four classrooms and spread the message of our LMS Wonder mission, "Choose Kind". As you can see from the pictures, they created a presentation involving a segment where the first grade students had the opportunity to role play acts of kindness. Students then presented their craft idea, a card, and helped their elementary friends form sentences to write inside their card.

 

STEM Academy

After hours of preparation, the Class of 2015 has the opportunity to show the IB Organization what they can do. Twenty seven boxes have already been shipped to four continents containing Extended Essays and IB Literature Writing Assessments (or WA's). These WA's are a culminating 1,500 word assessment reflecting on almost an entire semester worth of class presentations and student led discussions on several novels.

 

This week also saw the completion of Modern Language Interactive Oral Commentaries (or IOC's). Every senior is required to speak in their language of study for ten minutes about a captioned photograph with only 15 minutes of preparation. These recorded commentaries are then uploaded to the IB server for examination.
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