MAKING HEADLINES
are learning English. The global-wide
exchange includes corresponding by
email, sending cultural capsules, and
participating in Mystery Skypes. Mystery
Skypes offer a fun way to master fluency
by asking questions about one other’s
country in order to determine where a
school is located. Spanish teacher Steven
Vayanos employs these and many other
activities to fully immerse students in the
Spanish language and culture.
Carnegie Elementary second
graders who are members of the
Early Act Club collected, matched, sorted,
and boxed over 400 pairs of shoes, which
were then shipped to the nation of
Nicaragua. Children in the Central
American country cannot attend school
unless they are wearing shoes. The
students hope their efforts of community
service will enable others to receive an
education just as they do. The Early Act
Club is sponsored by the Carnegie-Collier
Rotary and aims to promote empathy,
respect, tolerance, and leadership.
High school students enrolled in
Spanish II created videos to
feature the junior-senior high school and
describe (in Spanish) the building and
academics to newly made friends in a
school in Uddevalla, Sweden. The global
collaboration involved Swedish pupils
who are learning Spanish in their school.
Likewise, a class of Spanish III Dual
Enrollment students have connected with
a school in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The
exchange is helping native Spanish-
speaking students to learn English while
giving English-speaking students a
chance to practice their Spanish. Another
Spanish III Dual Enrollment class has been
conversing with Brazilian natives from a
Spanish governmental school in Sao
Paulo, Brazil. While those students speak
Portuguese, they are proficient in
Spanish, and the collaboration between
schools is teaching them English. Spanish
4 and 5 Dual Enrollment students have
connected with Spanish-speaking
students in a school on Santa Cruz Island
in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, who
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CARLYNTON
Pictured below, John Polny from
The Cellular Connection provided
a box of school supplies to third grade
teacher Brenda Dzurko as well as all
other teachers at Crafton Elementary as
part of a “Teachers Rock” campaign. The
kits, valued at $80 each, were filled with
Kleenex, notepads, markers, crayons, glue,
pencils, and more. Recognizing that
teachers spend a lot of their own money
for supplies, The Cellular Connection (the
largest retailer for Verizon), selects an
elementary school to receive the supplies
every year as part of a community
outreach program.
Congratulations are in order for
the first place America Bowl team
winners Simon Schriver, Colin Dugan,
and Gavin Corrado. Hosted annually by
the Baldwin School District, the seventh
graders collaborated to successfully
answer questions related to American
history. Categories included geography,
states, presidents, landmarks,
entertainment, bodies of water, and even
sports. The boys landed the top prize
among hundreds of students from 10
local school districts.
Seniors Anthony Killen and
Miranda Pinchot, and junior
Jordan Williams (far right) created a new
piece of art to hang among student
artwork in the halls of the junior-senior
high school. The artwork, created after an
original painting by Mexican artist Diego
Rivera, was completed in a Drawing and
Painting class as part of an
interdisciplinary unit in math and
Spanish.
Students participating in a
forensics tournament advanced
to Finals held at South Fayette Middle
School is late February. Congratulations
to the following top place finishers:
Sean Hart, grade 7, in the
extemporaneous category; Sean had to
describe the underlying issues between
Saudi Arabia and Yemen, defining how
the conflict fits within the context of
politics in the Middle East and offering an
opinion on what position the U.S. should
take.
Ella Snyder, grade 7, in the poetry
category; Ella recited the poem, The
Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe
Bailey Vetter, grade 7, in the prose
category; Bailey performed stand-up
comedy to Cinco, by Jim Gaffigan