IN Fox Chapel Area Spring 2019 | Page 21

SECONDARY HIGHLIGHTS High School Quarterly Magazine A Staple Since the 1970s Fox Chapel Area High School’s student news magazine, Fox Tales Quarterly, has evolved dramatically in the past few years. Dating to the early 1970s, Fox Tales began as a school newspaper. In 2015, the students revamped the layout and design to create a full-color magazine that spotlights student achievements, events, and topics of local interest. “I like writing for Fox Tales because we are given the creative freedom to make our magazine whatever we want it to be,” said junior Claire Fenton, who has been a staff writer since her freshman year. Teacher Lisa Gibson, who has sponsored the Fox Tales club for more than a decade, said she is very proud of her student writers. “They have an intrinsic enthusiasm for highlighting the achievements of their peers and covering topics they feel are relevant to the student body.” The publication is distributed in hard copy throughout the high school and is available to the public electronically on the high school website. Students Take the Plunge for Special Olympics On February 22, 40 Fox Chapel Area High School students participated in the Special Olympics Cool Schools Pittsburgh Polar Plunge at Heinz Field. The students raised $2,995 to help support Special Olympics Pennsylvania’s Interscholastic Unified Sports programs. A portion of the money raised will support Fox Chapel Area High School adding a second Unified Sports Team, Unified Track. The school added bocce as a Unified Sport last school year. According to sophomore Ben Friedman, who plays bocce and also plans to compete on the new track team, “It is important for everyone to keep exercising. I am proud to represent my school.” The Cool Schools Polar Plunge brings together students from throughout the Pittsburgh area to celebrate inclusion and to promote acceptance and respect for all students with and without disabilities. Prior to taking the “plunge,” freshman Jeff Robitaille said, “This is going to be awesome to jump in the freezing cold water with my friends!” The Fox Tales staff Monster Science Lesson at DMS Mixing monsters and science is never scary! Dorseyville Middle School sixth-grade students explored topics of heredity through designing and making imaginary monsters. The lesson involved the students learning about traits and characteristics that were passed from monster parents to their offspring through reproduction. By utilizing and applying the important concepts of genetics, the students brought their work to life in the innovation lab by creating 3-D models of the offspring. The lab further encouraged hands-on creations through collaboration, group work, and creativity. Student Francesca Iasella enjoys learning in the innovation lab. “I come to the makerspace almost every day for lunch. It was so much fun to use it to show what I learned in science class.” Student Matthan Ricci enjoyed working collaboratively while learning and making a project. “I liked it because it gave us a chance to be creative and work together.” FOX CHAPEL AREA ❘ SPRING 2019 19