T
he Franklin Regional Middle School
(FRMS) Science Olympiad Team placed
second at the PA Southwestern regional
tournament held at California University of
Pennsylvania on Wednesday, March 6th. The
Science Olympiad competition is a series of
23 events that use various methods to test
the students’ scientific knowledge, including:
written tests, problem-solving activities, and
building events. The students have been
working since early October to prepare for
these 23 science oriented events. The team,
coached by FRMS science teachers, Joe
Racchini and Jennifer Joyce, moved on to the
state level tournament, which was held at
Juniata College on Saturday, April 27, 2019.
This will be the middle school team’s 19th
consecutive trip to the state competition.
To earn the team’s second place finish,
team members took individual medals in 19
of the 23 events:
1st Place medals: Elastic Launched Glider
- Tim Cao and Praneel Varshney, Meteorology
- Tim Cao and Praneel Varshney and Mystery
Architecture - Ellen Liu and Grace Wang
2nd Place medals: Disease Detectives
- Urvish Jain and Sam Morton, Dynamic
Planet - Tim Cao and Praneel Varshney,
Road Scholar - Ben Hollerman and Praneel
Varshney, and Thermodynamics - Darius
Colangelo and Conner Zhou
3rd Place medals: Anatomy & Physiology
- Abhinav Komanduri and Salome Martinez,
Battery Buggy - Ben Hollerman and Josh
Selvakumar, Boomilever - Tim Cao and
Conner Zhou, Circuit Lab - John Ciecierski
and Darius Colangelo, Crime Busters - Ellen
Liu and Hannah Zheng, Density Lab -
Thomas Hieber and Josh Selvakumar, Fossils
- Thomas Hieber and Urvish Jain, and Potions
& Poisons - Thomas Hieber and Sam Morton
4th Place medals: Experimental Design
- Urvish Jain, Abhinav Komanduri, and
Grace Wang, Heredity - Salome Martinez
and Hannah Zheng, Roller Coaster - Salome
Martinez and Josh Selvakumar, and Water
Quality - Ben Hollerman and Sam Morton
FR Designated as One of the
‘Best Communities for Music Education’
N
ow in its 20th year, the Best Communities for Music
Education designation is awarded to districts that
demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide
music access and education to all students. To qualify for the
Best Communities designation, Franklin Regional School
District answered detailed questions: funding, graduation
requirements, music class participation, instruction time,
facilities, and support for the music programs. Responses
were verified with school officials and reviewed by The Music
Research Institute at the University of Kansas.
“This recognition comes at a time when music education
and musical extra-curriculars are at their most vulnerable,” said
Pedro R. Rivera, Pennsylvania Secretary of Education. “Franklin
Regional enjoys strong music programs in its schools thanks to
the efforts of talented and effective music teachers.”
Research into music education continues to demonstrate
educational, cognitive, and social skill benefits for children
who make music. After two years of music education, research
found that participants showed more substantial improvements
in how the brain processes speech and reading scores than
their less-involved peers. Students who are involved in music
are not only more
likely to graduate high
school, but also to
attend college as well.
Everyday listening
skills are stronger in
musically-trained children than those without music training.
Significantly, listening skills are closely tied to the ability to:
perceive speech in a noisy background, pay attention, and keep
sounds in memory. Later in life, individuals who took music
lessons as children, show stronger neural processing of sound;
young adults and even older adults who have not played an
instrument for up to 50 years show enhanced neural processing
compared to their peers. Not to mention, social benefits
include: conflict resolution, teamwork skills, and how to give
and receive constructive criticism.
A 2015 study supported by The NAMM Foundation, “Striking
a Chord,” also outlines the overwhelming desire by teachers and
parents for music education opportunities for all children, as
part of the school curriculum.
MURRYSVILLE
❘
SUMMER 2019
37