CARLYNTON SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS

with Mason Glover, Sean Hart, Michael Kozy, Lukas Prepelka and Owen Schriver acquiring Honorable Mention. In the junior high event, a team of Jaimee Cabili, Alexandria Cross and Maggie Reigle were honored for Most Creative Car Design; Jonah Hunt and Ben Carothers cleared the semifinals to advance to the final round and Eric Burcham and Anthony Scheers received Honorable Mention.

The elementary schools take great pride in showcasing student work. Displays of classroom projects are often found on tables in hallways or hanging on walls. Also brightening the walls is student artwork, sometimes self-portraits, landscapes or collages in a variety of mediums, one creation after another. Earlier this year, Carnegie Elementary art teacher Diane Criste observed third grader Eddie Wilson, a student who participates in adaptive art, making strides in the art room, an area that was once a challenge. To recognize his efforts, Mrs. Criste designated a portion of a wall outside the art room as“ Eddie’ s Gallery” to display his artwork. The

Third grader Eddie Wilson stands alongside a gallery of artwork he created in art class.

gallery has provided positive reinforcement for Eddie and continues to keep

him engaged in art class where he is now illustrating great pride in his work. Weekly, Eddie takes great care to craft a unique piece of art to add to this special gallery.

The Carlynton High School gymnasium was the site of music, laughing and dancing on the morning of St. Patrick’ s Day as students from nine neighboring high schools gathered for a STARS event. STARS, or Schools Together with Athletes Reaching Success, is a school-based organization intended to provide meaningful relationships and activities for students with and without physical and intellectual disabilities. The gathering was arranged and organized and hosted by the Carlynton Best Buddies group.

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Crafton Elementary kindergarten students in Amy Rynn’ s classroom looked forward to visits from drama artist Barbara Russell who came to the school biweekly for eight weeks in partnership with Gateway to the Arts, a division of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Using developmentally-appropriate arts techniques, students participated in character roles using their voices, movement and imagination to act out stories such as I’ m a Frog by Mo Willems and We’ re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Osenbury. Mrs. Rynn credited the sessions as a rich experience for her students.“ We had a tremendous amount of fun being frogs, traveling with a little blue truck or going on a bear hunt all without leaving the confines of our classroom,” she said. The Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning through the Arts contributed to funding for the early childhood activity which introduced new approaches to enrich the curriculum and increase student participation in the classroom.

On April 6, well-known author and storyteller Jonathan Auxier met with seventh graders in the high school library. Auxier spoke of his experiences as a child that led to becoming a writer. As a teen, he

Author Jonathan Auxier spoke to seventh graders in April, performing a number of yo-yo tricks while sharing his thoughts about developing the characters and manuscript for a book.

Following an informative discussion, Auxier signed a copy of his book for Rose Talmonti and other seventh graders.

traveled the country as a yo-yo professional and he demonstrated a number of tricks while sharing the processes he used to develop manuscripts, most taking years to complete. Pupils in Zeffie Carroll’ s reading classes were well-prepared for the session after reading Auxier’ s most known book, The Night Gardner, as an assignment. Auxier underscored the importance of reading.“ Somewhere, there is a book out there for you. It’ s your job to find a special book that speaks to you. It will change who you are,” he said. Following a question and answer series with students, Auxier signed copies of his books for those interested. Jamie Sonnie, high school librarian, arranged the visit with Mr. Auxier, which was subsidized by the Box Tops for Education Fund.

The winter sports season was polished off with the varsity girls’ basketball team advancing to the WPIAL semifinals and the first round of the PIAA state tournament, where they fell short to Karns City. Senior guard Abigail Greiner and junior Ashleigh Wilson( forward) and Diamond Thomas( guard) were named to the All- Section basketball first team. Abigail also was named and played for the area Round Ball Classic team. Varsity boys’ basketball seniors Manny Burton and Tarik Isak were named to the Finest 15 in the section. In swimming, the varsity girls’ swim team finished the season 9-3. The 200 medley relay team of freshman Katie Kozy, juniors Natalie Quinn and Eva Zenk and senior Nicole Stengel set a school record and placed first in the conference during a MAC conference meet in February. At the same meet, the 200 freestyle relay team of Katie Kozy, junior Juliette Lopez, Nicole Stengel and Eva Zenk also set a new school record. In all, 17 boys and girls varsity swimmers qualified for the WPIAL championships and most broke personal best or team relay records at the meet held on the University of Pittsburgh campus. This past season, seven members of the varsity wrestling team made the play-offs. Senior Adam Corner, juniors Ian Kobistek, Jacob Seitz and Logan Witwicki and freshmen Elias Ward, Justin Wilson and Todd Westerhoff qualified for the section tournament. Logan Witwicki, section champion, advanced to the Regional tournament for the third consecutive year, finishing fourth. Gymnasts Madison Crown, Daphne Kalimon and Sydney