School District
McKeesport AreA Area
School District
Americanism Essay Award Winners Honored by the American Legion Auxiliary
MCKEESPORT AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS
cKeesport
Although the annual American Legion Auxiliary Americanism Awards are typically geared for middle school, the district was well represented in participation with more than 30 combined from Founders Hall and the High School participating this year. The Awards’ Dinner held May 7th at the White Oak American Legion featured some of the awardwinning essays from each of the grade level categories.
Council winner was seventh-grader Derionna Harper who read her essay at the dinner, saying: " America the Beautiful " is a powerful and beautiful term that has a deep meaning. When I hear this term, I think of America and what makes it so beautiful, its origins, and how it makes me feel. It makes me feel an immense sense of pride, joy, peace, and sometimes grief thinking about how much effort it took to get us to this point, The amount of soldiers who laid their lives down, the wars, all the hardships, and many more struggles. I mean what would beauty be without its flaws?” Other seventhgraders chosen to read their essays included middle-schoolers Lucas O’ Toole, Logan Keenan, Summer Ura, Kameela Miller, and Jocelyn Orbin. Others honored to attend the dinner and be recognized included Julius Berback, Ethan Coccia, Edward Harmon, Hector Jones, Joseph Jones, Triston Landymore, JaNelle Lewis, Ryder Marton, Jaxon Teoli, and Ameila Wanless.
Eighth-graders from Founders Hall selected to read their Americanism essays were Nevaeh Bowman, Juliana Johnson, Sakia Lewis, and Tori Thomas. Additional eighth-graders recognized with certificates included: Kai’ leigh Bryant, Makayla Burrell, Eleanor Homer, Juliana Johnson, Dakota Kirk, Sakia Lewis, Brayden Ross, Tyler Swauger, Ciairia Anderson, and Zeke Tavaglione.
In the ninth and tenth grade category, Maggie Badstibner was selected to read her essay and McKenzy Bulischeck was chosen the
Pre-K Graduates 50 Students, Ready to Move onto Kindergarten
Supervisor of School Services( which includes overseeing the grant-funded Pre-K program) Tom Knight welcomed parents, grandparents, family and friends to the Pre-K graduation of those moving onto kindergarten in the next school year at the Founders Hall gym on May 29th.
The full-day program is held in several classrooms designated for Pre-K at Founders Hall, and the children are taught by certified teachers who help prepare them for kindergarten. There are some income guidelines as designated by the grant, but Knight explained that“ we typically start with 72 students, ages 3 and 4 with preference to those 4 who will be turning 5 and going to kindergarten. Some students do benefit from the program for 2 full school years. It runs during the school year with the regular holidays and summer off.”
Anyone interested in the Pre-K program should contact the district for more details at 412-664-3612.
36 MCKEESPORT AREA
Council Winner. Others honored in ninth and tenth grade included Shia Ethridge and Reagan Sheposh.
In eleventh and twelfth grades, Saniya Rivers was the Council Winner and read her award-winning essay. Rivers summarized her feeling in her opening paragraph:“ When I hear the phrase " America the Beautiful," I don ' t just picture majestic mountains or captivating cities. I think about the people who live here-their bravery, sacrifices, and struggles. For me, America ' s beauty isn ' t just in the land; it ' s in the stories of those who have fought to make it what it is today. But I also know that beauty can be complicated, especially when it ' s tied to histories of pain and perseverance.” Others honored from 11th and 12th grades included Brody Bernard, Victoria Fast, and Nie’ Zhay Jefferson.