IN Brentwood-Baldwin-Whitehall Spring 2019 | Page 82

Baldwin-Whitehall
SCHOOL
WHITEHALL STUDENTS WIN PITTSBURGH
PENGUINS HOLIDAY CARD CONTEST BHS PRESCHOOL TEACHERS EXTEND LOVE
FOR TEACHING OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
Rhinanna Lavelle (fifth grade) and Rhorie
Cancilla (fourth grade) have been chosen
as two of twelve winners in the Pittsburgh
Penguins Foundation Holiday Card Art
Contest. The girls showed great creativity
when designing a holiday card around a
Pittsburgh Penguins theme. The students
worked on the cards in Mrs. Tortorice’s art
class and put in more time on the designs at
home. Their designs were displayed on the
Pittsburgh Penguins website and social media
platforms and were distributed as the official
Penguins Holiday card. For their hard work,
they each received three party-suite tickets to
a Pittsburgh Penguins Hockey game in December and copies of
their card. Baldwin High School Preschool is known
for the wonderful students that take the
class and the amazing relationships that the
seniors build with their preschoolers. What
you may not know is all the volunteering that
these students do outside of the class.
This year, the students have volunteered
at McAnnulty’s Fall Festival and the Whitehall
Elementary Science Fair. They are slated to
help out at several more events this year,
including the Whitehall Library events, Whitehall Elementary
Holiday Shop, and Kids Kount Community Outreach.
These students’ passion for teaching extends beyond the
classroom as they volunteer in the community.
TECHNOLOGY ROLE MODELS BUILD
STUDENTS’ SKILLS
BUZZ
This year at McAnnulty Elementary,
first-graders in Mrs. McPaul’s room
have teamed up with Mrs. Lacey’s
kindergarten computer-classes to roll
out the first-ever technology role model
partnership. The first-grade role models
exhibit excellent collaborative and
leadership skills, as well as being caring
and compassionate towards the younger
students! They help students with basic
computer skills, and they escort the
kindergartners to the restroom while reinforcing school-wide
rules like walking quietly in the hallway. Theses students are
not only learning from peers, but building lifelong friendships
as well. The students’ eyes light up when they recognize a first-
grade helper that rides their bus or is on their baseball team.
ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS BENEFIT
LIFE-SKILLS STUDENTS
During the holiday season, students
around Paynter Elementary School undertook
entrepreneurial endeavors to help their
classmates. Many cultures use the symbol of
light in their holiday celebrations. Ms. Brooks’
fifth-grade class made friendship lights with
tree and snowflake designs that they sold at
their Friendship Light Boutique. All proceeds
benefited classmates with special needs at
Paynter Elementary School.
Life Skills students opened a holiday pop-up shop of their own.
With the help of Mrs. Thiros, Occupational Therapist, the students
prepared gifts, food, and drinks for the teachers at Paynter to
purchase. The store included a popcorn cart, fruit punch, and
hand-made tiles! The Life Skills students were assigned jobs, such
as cashier, bagger, and greeter. With the support of the Paynter
staff, the kids made $81! The money made from the store will be
saved up to buy adapted keyboards for the Life Skills and Autistic
Support classrooms.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS CREATE ART
INSTALLATION TO HONOR TREE OF LIFE VICTIMS
A group of eighth-grade students at Harrison Middle School created a
project to serve as a tribute to the victims of the Tree of Life shooting, as well
as the international Butterfly Project, which intends to create one ceramic
butterfly for each of the 1.5 million children who were lost to the Holocaust.
The project was spearheaded by Daniel Shaner in collaboration with fellow
teachers Ms. Rogiero, Ms. Hawk, and Mr. London. The installation is an 8’x8’
work of art with over 200 paper butterflies created by the eighth-graders,
placed in the shape of a large tree. On top of the paper butterflies are 140
ceramic butterflies painted by the students. Eleven of those butterflies are
shown flying off of the tree, in recognition of the eleven lives that were lost in
the shooting. The tree itself was designed by Ms. Rogiero (art teacher), and the
frame was built by Mr. London (industrial arts teacher).
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