IN Canon-Mac Spring 2019 | Page 50

Rubican Recognized By State as Counselor of the Year Karen Rubican with Michael Daniels, superintendent Canon- McMillan School District. K aren Rubican was recognized as the Secondary School Counselor of the Year by the Pennsylvania School Counselors Association at its annual conference in November in Hershey. Rubican is a counselor at Canon-McMillan High School. In addition to working with a student caseload of more than 430 students, she currently serves as the college and career counselor and coordinates SSD accommodations, fee waivers for SAT/ACT, and scholarships for the high school. Previously, she served as AP Coordinator when the high school was recognized as being on the AP District Honor Roll. She was the recipient of the multi-level College and Career Counseling program award, also from the Pennsylvania School Counselors Association, prior to her employment at Canon- McMillan. In 2018, she was a finalist for the National Superintendent’s Association Women in School Leaders Award. In addition to her work at Canon-McMillan High School, Rubican is a past president of the Washington Fayette Greene County Counselors Association, served as a Unit Rep for IU 1 for PSCA, and holds memberships in the American School Counselor Association, the Pennsylvania Association of College Admissions Counselors, and the National Association of College Admissions Counselors. She gave presentations at PSCA and at PACAC in 2018. Rubican was also recently awarded an Imagine Grant, which provides financial support to attend the NCAC conference in fall 2019. Rubican has a BA in Psychology from California University of PA, a Master of Science in Education in Community Counseling Services, as well as a second Master of Science in Education in K-12 Educational Administration, both from Duquesne University. She is a National Board Certified Counselor, and holds professional certification from the Pennsylvania Department of Education in Counseling and Educational Administration, as well as a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies from Duquesne University. Fourth Graders at Muse Elementary School in the Canon-McMillan School District Received a Grant to Plant the Muse Butterfly Garden The students began learning about the functions of a living organism by observing the life cycle of monarch butterflies from the egg stage found on local milkweed. Over several weeks they learned about the importance of pollinators, such as butterflies and honeybees to our environment. The class also discussed why the numbers of monarch butterflies and other pollinators have declined; because of habitat loss, disease, and pesticides. Throughout the discussions, students began working together to plan a garden, doing parts to help the monarch population grow. With the help of Bedner’s Farm and Greenhouse, students learned about different types of plants that would attract, feed, and provide a safe environment for monarchs to lay their eggs. 48 CANON-MAC In early September, the process began when students planted asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed), asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed), Joe Pye weed, Aster plants, coneflowers, and common milkweed. The students happily found within days, that the butterflies had found their garden and made it their home. As the students worked to water the plants, many of the butterflies greeted them, some even landed on a few of the students. Near the end of the month, the classroom butterflies were ready to be released on their migration south to Mexico. The students were thrilled to be able to release them outside to their garden where they could feast on the many flowers they had planted. When spring weather returns, the fourth graders will plant wildflower seeds to attract the returning monarchs and other pollinators to their beautiful garden. The students look forward to their garden being enjoyed by their fellow students and community members, as well as the monarch butterflies, for many years to come.