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Monthly Digital School District Newsletter January 2013

Upper St. Clair SCHOOL DISTRICT

Upper St. Clair residents are among the nation’s most giving, according to a survey posted in The Chroni-cle of Philanthropy’s “How America Gives” released in August 2012. This trend carries over to the Upper St. Clair schools, with a longstanding tradition of significant phil-anthropic activities sponsored locally throughout the fall and winter months by students, parents, and staff. Here is a review of recent charitable projects and fund-raising.

High SchoolSeveral students from the Chanteclairs performed

for the “Hugs for Healing Hearts” Memorial Service at St. Clair Hospital on December 12, which is a memorial for pregnancy loss.

Chanteclairs members Bill Zou, Noah Manalo, Jacob Ryave, Becca DeGregorio, Jillian Vlah, Nick Sembrat, Dan Finkel, Jon Wang, and Grace Trocano performed at the “Hugs for Healing

Hearts” Memorial Service.

The High School Outreach Club has partnered with Operation Safety Net, a charitable organization affiliated with Mercy Health Systems. Their mission is to provide homeless individuals in Pittsburgh with access to housing in various neighborhoods in the city. An important part of the process involves “finding” furniture and household items clients need for their apartments. The High School Outreach Club has made it their mission to reach out to the Upper St. Clair community for donations that can be used to support the placement of these clients into apartments. The most common needs of the clients are beds, mattresses, bedding, dressers, couches, chairs, small kitchen tables with chairs, kitchen appliances, pots and pans, dishes, kitchen utensils and silverware, show-er curtains, bath towels and any other common house-hold items that are used on a regular basis. Additional

information can be found on the High School’s website (http://www.uscsd.k12.pa.us/Page/783).

Fort CouchFort Couch students participated in their annual

Reach Out campaign. The campaign, led by the Student Council, is a two week program during which students are encouraged to do chores, carol, babysit or find a creative way to earn money that is then donated to pre-determined charities. The students collectively earned and donated $11,885.33. They gave $5,000 to the Upper St. Clair Police Department to distribute to families in need throughout our community. Other charities includ-ed: Fort Couch Jr. Partners, the MS Bikeathon, Hearts for Haiti, sponsoring a child in Haiti, sponsoring a classroom through The Education Partnership, Grady All Stars, and Autism Awareness.

BoyceThe Boyce PTA Outreach Committee sponsored a coat

drive for South Hills Interfaith Ministries (SHIM) and col-lected approximately two hundred coats.

Students donated some of their Halloween candy and wrote thank you letters to our military troops. Twelve box-es of candy with letters were sent overseas under “Opera-tion Treats for Troops.” Extra candy was delivered to local nursing homes.

Boyce students Kaela Leonard, Nikki Gibbons, and Landy Mertz get ready to mail the boxes for “Operation Treats for Troops.”

Charity Begins at Home with Holiday Gifts and Reach-out Projects

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I would like to extend my best wishes to our students, staff, families and community members for a happy and healthy 2013.

This month’s Connecting with Dr. O column highlights the School District’s school safety, curriculum develop-ment process, student achievement, and School Board recognition.

School Safety – At the end of 2012, we were all deeply

saddened by the tragic event in Newtown, Connecticut. It is important to remember that despite this recent trag-edy, schools remain very safe places for children. How-ever, those horrific events in Connecticut have placed an enhanced focus on school safety.

I want to assure our families and our community that the security protocols of the School District are continu-ously being reviewed, and we have dedicated a great deal of resources toward student and staff safety. In coopera-tion with the Township police, we have invested in addi-tional security equipment and ongoing training each year.

I recognize that one of the most powerful safety components any school can have is caring relationships among our students, staff and community. Safe schools also require vigilance. It is critical for everyone to report to police and/or school officials any unusual or question-able behavior of individuals.

We have expanded our security presence in all schools. In addition, our Raptor visitor management system will be in place at all schools by February 1. We will also be host-ing a spring open mike to discuss school security.

Curriculum Development – Curriculum development

is the foundation of our instructional program. There are two times during the school year that the formal curricu-lum development process takes place, January and June. The curriculum development process follows these steps:

1. Curriculum leaders and department chairs prepare rec-

ommendations as a result of ongoing work with teach-ers, administrators, students and parents.

2. Preliminary panel meetings are held and recommenda-tions are reviewed by leadership teams at the elemen-tary, middle school and high school levels.

3. At a final panel, the revised and/or edited recommen-dations are reviewed again by K-12 discipline teams and Central Office administrators.

4. The Assistant Superintendent and Director of Curriculum & Professional Development review the recommendations with a community curriculum input committee.

5. The Superintendent, the Assistant Superintendent and the Director of Curriculum & Professional Development prepare ad-ministrative reactions to the recommendations.

6. The recommendations are presented to the School Board for review and/or final approval. Curriculum improvements and enhancements move

the District forward. You will notice that our recommenda-tions relate to the District’s tagline of “Customizing Learn-ing, Nurturing Potential…Delivering Excellence” and also to the four goals of our Strategic Plan, which are to:

1. Develop the fullest potential of the whole child.2. Foster high-level thinking and learning among our

students.3. Challenge students to contribute and succeed in an

increasingly interconnected world.4. Develop student and staff competency in current

technologies. The theme of this year’s fast track curriculum recom-

mendations includes the following: • Leveraging technology to support the customization

of learning• Focusing the sciences at the high school level to

support the movement to promote STEM-related (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathemat-ics) opportunities

• Providing greater choices for high school students related to core content and electives

• Advancing students’ understanding of our intercon-nected world

• Creatively utilizing time both within and beyond the traditional schedule and school year

• Adding texts that meet students’ needs and interests

All USC Schools Receive Adequate Yearly Progress

(AYP) for 2012 – I am honored to announce that once again all schools have received Achievement Recognition awards from the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) for making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for 2012. The School District is proud to once again partner with our families in helping students attain the highest levels of academic achievement. Benchmarks must be achieved in the areas of attendance, gradua-tion rate, test participation and academic performance in

Connecting with Dr. O...

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order for a school district to achieve AYP. Our students, staff, and community are to be commended.

Each of our schools has provided us with a photo of

students displaying their Achievement Recognition Award from PDE for making AYP for 2012.

1) Baker – Students Tim Pollock, Abigail John, Keating Leavey, and John Sukernek

2) Eisenhower – Students Deborah Chu, Aaron Gilbert, Grant Lewis, Nolan Mulhern, and Jenny Wang with Principal Mark Miller

3) Streams – Students Chloe Perko and Ami Doshi with Principal Claire Miller4) Boyce – Student Sam Dvorin with Principal Karen Brown5) Fort Couch – Student Council President Roderick Smith and

Vice President Eric Lehman6) High School – Students Pat Myron and Kailyn Wood

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Connecting with Dr. O… (continued from page 2)

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Say Thanks to our School Board Members! – Every year in January, we salute a special group of individuals who establish the poli-cies and vision for our schools, the

nine elected members of the Board of School Directors.

Our Board of School Directors have distinguished themselves and the community in this non-paid, volunteer, public service commitment. They devote numerous hours to making difficult decisions. They are friends, neighbors, community members, and parents at your school who are the community voice in the important public school deci-sions. They make sure your concerns are heard and the unique challenges, qualities, culture and circumstances of the community are reflected in how your children are educated. As federal and state funding gets tighter and regulations increase, the job of these nine individuals has become much more challenging.

There is no question that it takes a lot of dedicated individuals to successfully run a school district, includ-ing teachers, administrators, bus drivers, cafeteria work-ers, maintenance staff, secretaries and aides, to name a few. During January, however, we ask everyone in the community to take time in some way to thank a school director for the time and effort they put into helping our schools. Thank them for the long hours spent at meetings and reading through paperwork. Thank them for mak-ing the difficult decisions on our behalf. Thank them for listening to our concerns. Thank them for serving every child, every day.

USC Board of School Directors:• Barbara Bolas, President• Louis Mafrice, Jr., Vice-President• Board Members: Amy Billerbeck, Buffy Hasco,

Frank Kerber, Harry Kunselman, Louis Oliverio, Angela Petersen, Rebecca Stern

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Teammate Spotlight … Liz WilliardPlease join me in recognizing

Elizabeth (Liz) Williard for being chosen as our “Teammate” for January.

Liz Williard has worked as a teacher aide at the high school since September 24, 2002. She worked as an aide in the nutrition center and library before assuming her present position in the high school principal’s office.

Liz’s warm personality greets visitors to the main office. She is always willing to go the extra mile to help students, staff and parents. The District is fortunate to have such a dedicated, helpful and conscientious employee.

After her regular school hours, Liz has been designing and sewing costumes for the high school spring musicals since the 2003-04 school year. Coordinating an adult and student crew

of as many as twenty volunteers, she is responsible for finding or creating, fitting, maintaining, and storing every costume for what has become the largest student activity presented by the school district — as many as ninty cast members every year. Most of the work occurs four to six days per week throughout the months of January and February in what is affectionately labeled “the sweat shop,” a small room adjacent to the stage right area of the High School Theatre. According to Kay Subosits, student costume crew head for this year’s production of Anything Goes, “Mrs. Williard always makes me feel welcome, and she is so willing to share her considerable sewing talent to better my own abilities.”

Connecting with Dr. O… (continued from page 3)

High School Principal Dr. Michael Ghilani and Dr. O’Toole congratulate Liz Willard for being chosen as the

January Teammate Spotlight.

On December 6 at Fort Couch, fifty students competed in a challenging qualifying exam to fill ten spots to represent seventh and eighth grades in the annual MathCounts Competition. Students who attained the top four scores will perform at both the team and individual levels; students who placed fifth through tenth will compete at the individual level. Practice sessions are held in the winter months in order to prepare the competitors for the MathCounts Competition at Robert Morris University on Saturday, February 2. Students will be assisted by team coaches/facilitators Ms. Connie Gibson, Ms. Yasmina Hough, and Mr. Tim Wagner.

This year’s Fort Couch MathCounts team is comprised of Kevin Chen, Sahil Doshi, Aditi Chattopadhyay, Spencer Miller, Yang Zhang, Arushi Kewalramani, Wyatt Keating, Mahima Reddy, Thomas Vissman, and Vicki Wang. Kevin, Sahil, Aditi, and Spencer will be performing at the team level as well as in the individual competition. We wish them all good luck!

Fort Couch Students to Participate in MathCounts Competition

The MathCounts Top 10 students are (from left to right in the first row) Vicki Wang, Mahima Reddy, and Aditi Chattopadhyay, and in the second row Sahil Doshi, Spencer Miller, Kevin Chen, and

Wyatt Keating. Not Pictured were Arushi Kewalramani, Thomas Vissman, and Yang Zhang.

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Two projects were coordinated through the stu-dents’ guidance classes. During Random Acts of Kind-ness Week, the students made placemats for residents at Friendship Village, created and sent thank you cards to their elementary teachers, and decorated Giant Eagle bags with holiday messages for distribution to their customers. The students also participated in the annual Holiday Friendship Shoebox project where they filled shoeboxes at home for a boy or girl and then wrapped the boxes during their guidance classes. Six hundred fifty-two boxes were collected and donated to the Washington Mission for needy children.

Boyce Student Council organized a Thanksgiving food drive and each classroom was designated a particular food to collect. Thirty food baskets were assembled for needy families and distributed to St. Joseph’s Church

in Coraopolis. Extra food was donated to Washington County Outreach. Student Council also collected hot chocolate mix and coffee for the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Boyce students Paarth Shankar, Katie Knizner, and Nicolette DeIuliis assemble boxes for the Thanksgiving food drive.

StreamsDr. Claire Miller, Streams Elementary School prin-

cipal, and her staff collected $445 that was sent to the American Red Cross for the victims of Hurricane Sandy and also collected another $330 for needy families.

The Streams Outreach Committee conducted a food drive for South Hills Interfaith Ministries (SHIM) in January.

EisenhowerThe Eisenhower students held their annual food drive

for the SHIM food bank. There were enough donated items to “stuff” a shuttle bus with non-perishable food items.

In addition, new hats, mittens, and gloves are being collected during the month of January with the goal to have one hat and glove/mitten set for each child at Kelly Elementary School (430 students) in Wilkinsburg.

BakerTo honor our veterans during the holiday season,

Baker students, through Baker Gives Back, decorated holiday cards that were sent to Walter Reed Memorial Hospital. The students were also asked to donate $1 toward the care and maintenance of the Upper St. Clair Veterans Memorial. Because of our students’ generosity, Baker was able to donate $175.00.

Charity Begins at Home with Holiday Gifts and Reach-out Projects (continued from page 1)

The 2012 Montage, the high school literary arts magazine, won first place in the American Scholas-tic Press Association (ASPA) national competition. This is the fourth consecutive year the Montage has placed in the competition, and the third year they have won first place.

Editor-in-Chief Anna Rosati, Layout Editor Liam Klutch, Literary Editor Laurie Shonberg (2012 graduate), and the en-tire 2012 Montage staff are commended for their creativ-ity and dedication to literary excellence.

Montage Achieves First Place in Literary Arts Contest

1) Basking in feelings of pride and accomplishment are (front row left to right) sponsor Ms. Elizabeth Cecelia, Anna Rosati, Sara Collins, back row John Benhart, Brooks Wilding, Liam Klutch, Sarah Meiman, and Kelly Conners.

2) This cover design helped Montage to earn an ASPA First Place prize.

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The Toe-Tapping Musical Smash Hit Anything Goes Comes to USCHS!

No Broadway musical does a better job staging the age-old story of “boy-meets-girl” and the hilarious com-plications which ensue than Anything Goes. Showcasing the best tap dancing and most memorable Cole Porter songs, like “You’re the Top,” “Friendship,” “I Get a Kick

Out of You,” “It’s De-Lovely,” “Blow, Gabriel, Blow” and, of course, “Anything Goes,” will be the upcoming Upper St. Clair High School spring musical performed over the first two weeks in March: Friday and Saturday, March 1, 2, 8, & 9 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, March 3 at 2 p.m., and Thursday, March 7 at 6:30 p.m., in the USCHS Theatre.

The show’s plot involves the stowaway Billy Crocker (played by Nick Sembrat) desiring to woo heiress Hope Harcourt (Jillian Vlah) on an ocean liner bound to London from New York. He is helped or hindered in that quest by such characters as his boss and Wall Street heavyweight Elisha J. Whitney (Jonathan Wang), Public Enemy No. 13 Moonface Martin (Ben Nadler) and Erma, his floozy ac-complice (Eliza Luxbacher), Hope’s mother Evangeline Harcourt (Genny Tankosich), evangelist turned night-club songstress Reno Sweeney (Morgan Hogenmiller and Hannah Lane), and Hope’s fiancé Sir Evelyn Oakley (Daniel Finkel and Luke Graci).

Providing overall guidance to the 200+ student com-pany and 100 Theatre Angels (adult volunteers) are Executive Producer/Music Director Paul Fox, Drama Director J.R. Hall, Choral/Vocal Di-rector Lorraine Milovac, Choreographer Shari Opfermann, and Producers Jane Dodd and Tim Wagner, along with the extraordinary talents, hard work and dedication of Musical Technical Director Terry Willard, Stage Manager Chuck Dodd, Scenery Painting Director Mary Beth Werner, Costume Director/Designer Liz Williard, Assistant Costume Designer Karen Williams, Make-Up Directors Rosanne Stevens and Debi Blazek, Props Directors Bud and Janet Marlett, Sound Engineer Michael Binkley, and Box Of-fice Coordinator Joyce Vance.

For every adult position, there is at least one student “running the show” behind-the-scenes. The “leadership team” includes Student Director

Emily Violi, Assistant Director Grace Trocano, Rehears-al Assistants Kelly Conners, Meredith McDonough, Macy Miller, and Julia Pfatteicher, Student Produc-ers Kathy Chen, Julia Dixon, Deepika Narayanan,

1) Anything Goes leads practice their songs with choral director Lorraine Milovac.

2) The pit orchestra is learning many new jazz licks and styles in this show.

3) Come see Luke Graci (left) portraying “Sir Evelyn Oakley,” Jillian Vlah as “Hope Harcourt,” and Nick Sembrat in the starring role as “Billy Crocker.”

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Mandy Seiner, Nicole Shoemaker, and Cameron Walker, Costume Designer Kay Subosits, Make-up Heads Nicole Churbock, Sophie Hasco, and Jasma Mody, Pit Orchestra Heads Maura Boston and Shannon Gallagher, Dance Captain Emily Lloyd, and Technical Director Taylor Weiner.

Opportunities exist for local businesses to advertise and become show sponsors and un-derwriters for this and all remaining musicals held at the USCHS and Boyce theaters in 2013. In particular, the Performing Arts students and staff are inviting local and regional companies or associations to enhance their image within the community by earning promotional lime-light for the purchase of state-of-the-art wire-less microphones to be used in all future Upper St. Clair school productions. For more information, please contact Mr. Paul Fox at 412-833-1600, extension 2235, or go to his HS Teacher Pages (http://www.uscsd.k12.pa.us/Page/1034).

Reserved seats are available for sale to the general public beginning on February 20 at 6:30 p.m. After this time, the regular Box Office hours are Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday mornings from 10:30 a.m. to Noon, and Monday and Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Tickets will also be sold one hour prior to the start of each show. The Box Office is located in the Arts’ Lobby of the Upper St. Clair High School, adjacent to the USCHS Theatre. Please use the main parking lot/center archway entrance.

After February 1, feel free to call 412-851-2060 (the Music Activity Hotline and Box Office extension) for de-tails on ticket pricing, parking accommodations, and oth-er information. A unique tradition of USCHS spring musi-cals, senior citizens who reside in Upper St. Clair (with a valid ID – Gold Card, Silver Card or drivers’ license) and

school staff members will receive up to two complimenta-ry admissions. Manned by parent volunteers, the Box Of-fice 412-851-2060 phone will answer during ticket sales, when possible, after February 23. However, since all seats are reserved and tickets are limited, sell-out shows are likely. Please support the Upper St. Clair School District Performing Arts, visit the Box Office in person, and pur-chase your tickets early!

4) Dan Finkel (left) plays the double-cast part of “Sir Evelyn Oakley” with Hannah Lane as “Reno Sweeney.” (Not pictured is the double-cast lead Morgan Hogenmiller, another reason to attend more than one performance of Anything Goes.)

5) Waiting for the rehearsal to begin are Emily Lloyd, dance captain, and Eliza Luxbacher, actress selected for the part of “Erma.”

6) In the “sweat shop,” Liz Williard (far right) reviews sewing techniques for Anything Goes costumes with (left to right) Theatre Angel Wendy Sembrat, student costume crew head Kay Subosits, and Theatre Angel Karen Williams. Liz is Dr. O’Toole’s staff focus for the January eBLAST (see page 4).

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The Toe-Tapping Musical Smash Hit Anything Goes Comes to USCHS! (continued from page 6)

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Fort Couch students, along with several students from Boyce, participated in the AMC 8 Mathematics Competition on November 14. The AMC 8 is a twenty-five question, forty minute multiple choice examination in middle school mathematics designed to promote the development and enhancement of problem solving skills. Students demonstrated extreme-ly strong critical thinking skills and received many accolades for their performance. Team coaches/facilitators, Ms. Connie Gibson, Ms. Yasmina Hough, and Mr. Tim Wagner, assist-ed in student preparation and test administration.

Students received the following AMC 8 national awards:

Yang Zhang, Sam Ding, and Kevin Chen tied for top score and School Winner. These three student “math-letes” also received the Distinction Award for placing in the top 1% of students and

the Gold Award for achieving first place in their section. Both Sahil Doshi and Thomas Vissman received the Honor Roll

Award by placing in the top 5% and the Silver Award for achieving second place in their respective sections.

Braden Yates received the Honor Roll Award by placing in the top 5% and the Bronze Award for achieving third place in his section.

Joe Finkel, Tommy Bednarz, and Keshav Reddy received the Bronze Award for achieving third place in their section with tied scores.

Matthew Higgs and Dina Leyzarovich received the Honor Roll Award by placing in the top 5%.

Additionally, Boyce students Sam Ding, Braden Yates, and Dina Leyzarovich received the Achievement Roll Award for scoring in the top 50% as 6th graders.

Students Receive AMC 8 Math Competition National Awards

Boyce students proudly displaying their Achievement Roll Award are (left to right) Sam

Ding, Dina Leyzarovich, and Braden Yates (photo 3).

Fort Couch AMC 8 participants are (left to right) Anvi Kumar,

Kevin Chen, Ian Ong, Matthew Higgs, and Sahil Doshi (photo 1), and Joe Finkel, Thomas Vissman, Yang Zhang, and Tommy Bednarz

(photo 2).

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Coach Danny Holzer “Slam Dunks” 300!Congratulations to High School

Boys’ Basketball Coach Danny Holzer for achieving his 300th ca-reer win on Tuesday, January 8, defeating Peters Township 67-62 in double overtime!

The victories keep rolling in! As of January 29, Coach Holzer has earned 307 career wins ver-sus 148 losses. Known as one of the busiest people at the high school, in his “free” time off-court, Mr. Holzer also serves as social studies teacher and Director of Student Activities.

1) Danny Holzer accepts congratulations for achieving his 300th win at the USC vs. Allderdice HS Varsity Boys’ Basketball Game on January 8.

2) Team and fans alike celebrate the Panthers beating Mt. Lebanon by a score of 51 to 50 on January 15.

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1) Fort Couch top scoring students are (left to right) Shelby Zahren, Arushi Kewalramani, Paul Abrams, Mahima Reddy, and Angelo Rhad.

2) Eighth grader Paul Abrams was the winner of school level competition.

3) Boyce students earning honors at the National Geographic Bee were (left to right) Katie Hobart, Grace Wagner, Jeffrey Belack (first place winner), Sean Martin, and Gabriella Ferenchik.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education released a list of average SAT scores for 2012 and Upper St. Clair High School stu-dents earned the highest scores in the Pittsburgh region. The 343 students tested received an average verbal score of 568, average math score of 583, and average writing score of 576. Congratula-

tions to our students for their excellent achievements on the SAT tests!Each academic year, millions of students take the SAT at nearly 7,000 test centers in more than 170 countries.

Nearly all four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. — including test-optional institutions — use SAT scores be-cause the SAT is a reliable measure of college readiness as well as a fair and valid indicator of likely college success for students from all backgrounds.

The SAT measures the reading, mathematics and writing knowledge and skills that are part of a rigorous high school curriculum and how well students can apply that knowledge. The SAT also measures academic preparedness for college by examining how a student reasons, communicates and solves problems.

The Yaghan were a nomadic tribe indigenous to Tierra del Fuego, an island group that is divided between Argentina and what other country? Answer: Chile! This was one of the final questions in the National Geographic Bee held at Boyce Middle School in January. The students had to answer oral questions based on U.S. and world geography, state nicknames, conti-nents, and topography. Jeffrey Belack, a sixth grader, came in first place! The other students who made it to the final round were Gabriella Ferenchik, Katie Hobart, Sean Martin, and Grace Wagner. The Geography Bee was conducted by teachers Mrs. Diane Ecker and Ms. Susan Fleckenstein.

Fort Couch Middle School students took part in the National Geographic Bee on Monday, December 17. Congratulations to

all students who participated, with special congratulations to Paul Abrams for winning the school level competition. Paul went on to take a written qualifying exam in January which will determine if he continues on to the state level competition on April 5. The top scoring stu-dents in the Fort Couch competition were Paul Abrams, Angelo Rhad, Arushi Kewalramani, Mahima Reddy, and Shelby Zahren.

Middle School Students Place in National Geographic Bee

USC High School Students Earn Highest SAT Scores in Pittsburgh Region

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Junior Melody MacLachlan was selected to participate in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) District 1 Senior High Orchestra festival, serving as Prin-cipal Oboe II and performing the masterworks of Bizet’s Carmen Suite, Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, and Selections from West Side Story. This year’s District Orchestra was conducted by Pittsburgh Symphony Principal Bassist Jeffrey Turner on January 12 at Pine Richland High School. Melody was ranked very high by the PMEA in competitive auditions held in Western PA (third place in Honors Band and sec-ond place in District Orchestra) and has already won a

seat in the PMEA Western Region State Orchestra Fes-tival to be held in Hollidays-burg, PA, on February 20-23.

USCHS band musicians Maura Boston (senior clari-netist), Natalie Fiedler (soph-omore tuba player), Ben Humbert (junior trumpeter), and Tony Wang (sophomore on euphonium) were recent-ly honored with an invitation to participate in the PMEA District Senior High Band held on January 23-25 at Baldwin Senior High School. This is the second music festival for Maura Boston and Ben Humbert, who also performed in the PMEA Honors Band at Carnegie Hall in Oakland. All students of Mr. Frank Eisenreich, they will have the opportunity of auditioning for membership in the PMEA Region State Band at Mercer High School on March 7-9.

“Graduate” members of the Elementary Leadership Academy from Baker, Boyce, Eisenhower, and Streams, served as volun-teers at The Educational Partnership from Saturday, January 19, through Saturday, January 26. Staff members, Miss Lauren Mechler, Miss Katie Martin, and Dr. Claire Miller joined the students in providing ser-vice to this organization. The mission of The Educational Partnership is “dedicated to addressing educational inequities by providing and enabling access to the tools and resources necessary to support teach-ers and enhance a student’s ability to learn and succeed. Their approach to address-ing educational inequities is pragmatic and results-driven, as best exemplified by the organization’s core program – providing

school and classroom supplies at no charge to schools where at least 70% of the student body qualifies for the National School Lunch Program.” During their visit, stu-dents were given the task of sorting and then repackaging crayons for distribution by this organization. In thinking about stu-dents who lack these basic school sup-plies, one of the volunteers commented, “I’ll think twice the next time I see a crayon just lying on the floor!”

Band Members “Toot their Horns” at Prestigious Local Music Festivals

ELA “Graduates” Volunteer on National Day of Service

1) Oboe and English horn player Melody MacLachlan is also an accomplished pianist, member of the Pantheon Choir, Wind Ensemble, Musical Pit and Symphony Orchestras, and Marching Band Drumline, and participant in the Three Rivers Young People’s Orchestra.

2) Students (left to right) Natalie Fiedler, Ben Humbert, Maura Boston and Tony Wang (inset) will represent Upper St. Clair High School at PMEA District 1 Band.

1) ELA grads gather at The Educational Partnership warehouse. 2) Madison Noschese, Anoushka Markose and Christina Conte had

fun sorting through cartons of crayons!

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Steve Franz, graduate from the Class of 1979, had a vision of inviting choral alumni to get together for a practice in December and then carol at South Hills Village as in the “old days.” Steve and his former classmates have fond memo-ries of their former teacher, Mr. Robert Gielas, a member of the Upper St. Clair High School Arts Hall of Fame and director of the USCHS choral department from 1969 to 1981.

Their memories “came to life” when Mr. Gielas began posting digital music and photographs from their high school days on Facebook and telling stories of the formation of the Chanteclairs and the growth and development of the Pantheon Choir. Steve and his classmates agreed to do something to thank Mr. Gielas and decided to reassemble the choirs of the past.

The plan came together, and, on the weekend of December 14-15, over one hundred USC graduates returned to Upper St. Clair. They held a choral prac-tice, directed, accompanied, and assisted by former HS musical choral director Robert Gielas, retired HS French teacher George McClintock, USC Hall of Fame member David Brewton, and current HS mu-sical producer Jane Dodd. They also took a tour of the new high school, led by current performing arts curriculum leader Paul Fox, enjoyed a buffet dinner, took the trolley downtown to carol, and also performed at the South Hills Village.

Special appreciation and BRAVOS go to Steve Franz for following through with his vision to thank Mr. Gielas for touching the hearts of so many of our students!

From USC Choir to Flash Mob—Choral Alumni Reunite for Fun Weekend

As a tribute to the outstanding choral teaching career of Robert Gielas (photo 1), one hundred Upper St. Clair choral alumni

traveled to the Crowne Plaza Hotel for a reunion and rehearsal directed in part by USC Hall of Famer David Brewton (photo 2)

and accompanied by retired French teacher George McClintock (photo 3). They also toured the new high school performing arts facilities and talked about “old times” with music teacher Paul

Fox (photo 4), jumped on a trolley (photo 5) to sing holiday carols downtown (photo 6), and even showed up to perform a “flash-

mob” concert at the South Hills Village Mall, as captured here by a family member’s cell phone (photo 7).

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1) Kate Robbins and Keshav Narasimhan were delighted to share second grade friendly letters with Mr. Tom Atkins.

2) Members of Miss Martin’s 3rd grade, including Shane Ayoub, created special favors and served Mr. Matt and Mrs. Kit McLaughlin their selection of school lunches. Also seated at the table are Mrs. Pat Hare and Mrs. Madeline Berster.

3) Yousef Bin Hammad and Garrett Ziegler joined their first grade friends in reading stories and visualizing the author.

Welcome to our USC Senior Citizens! That was the message from the students at Streams Elementary School, as they hosted thirty-two local senior citizens for an exhilarating and informative visit. As a welcome, guests heard an amazing performance by the fourth grade chorus, under the direction of Mr. Jeff Leonhardt. During a luncheon served by third graders, the seniors dined to the tunes of our strings musicians, conducted by Miss Paula Scandrol. Each guest received a special hand crafted card from members of the Art Club under the direction of Mrs. Angela Stevenson.

Next it was off to the classrooms to get a taste of what learning looks like these days! First graders, who have been learning about “visualizing” as an important read-ing strategy, asked the guests to conjure up some visions and share some memories as they listened to the stu-dents read poems. In second grade, students wrote let-ters, sharing their favorite school memories, while seniors shared some of their treasured memories. Third grad-ers modeled their inquiry skills, working with seniors to identify antique artifacts from Pittsburgh’s past. Finally, in fourth grade, students completed electric circuits, a new skill that they have mastered in science. Members of the Elementary Leadership Academy served as Streams am-bassadors, escorting our guests throughout the school.

Building a connection between learners, young and younger, can provide so many rewards for ALL! That was the goal of Learning for All Generations. Learning may look surprisingly different today, and in other ways be rem-iniscent of our seniors’ fondest school memories. How-ever, the goals remain the same – preparing our students to be caring and productive members of our community! We are already thinking about plans for future visits from our newest “students!”

Streams School Hosts Learning for all Generations

Commendations to Students and Staff!Monthly commendations are archived online on

the USCSD home page under “Headlines.” For your convenience, click here to view these

commendations.

There is no school for students on Friday, February 15, and Monday, February 18. In addition, please note … all schools and offices will be closed on Monday, February 18, in recognition of Presidents’ Day.

Reminder —Days Off for Presidents’ Day Weekend!