From left to right: Students Lilah Ridley, Kaitlyn Cichowicz, Chloe
Cichowicz, Christian McLaughlin.
Student Greysen Galley.
Sheridan Terrace Elementary
School students at work in the
new garden for the Farmers
Market.
SHOW CHOIR SERVICE
PROJECT
Helps HEARTH Shelter
Mothers and Children
30
NORWIN
S
tudents at Sheridan Terrace Elementary School recently
grew vegetables and opened a Farmer’s Market at the
school. The hands-on experience taught them essential
skills while also raising money for charity.
A grant from the Norwin School District Community
Foundation, and generous donations from Norwin Landscape
Supply, helped the school to launch the program with six planter
boxes filled with soil, tomato cages, watering cans, and a variety
of plants.
During the summer, the students in the Extended School Year
(ESY) program prepared the soil and planted the first seedlings
of fruit, vegetables, and herbs. Sheridan Terrace students began
reaping their first harvest in the late summer.
Students used the tomatoes and herbs to make pizza and
salsa. Left-over produce was then sold at a farmer’s market run
by students in the upper grades. This allowed the students to
have the opportunity to practice social skills as well as counting
money.
All proceeds from the market were added to the team’s
donation at the Laurel Highlands Autism Walk, which was held
September 8, 2019 at Idlewild Park.
The gardening supplies were part of a unit called “The Garden
Project.” Activities included daily living skills such as caring for
plants and learning the life cycle of a plant, fine motor skills,
and social skills. In addition, this project has been tied into
cooking and academic lessons, which have covered topics such
as fractions, comparing and contrasting, following multi-step
directions, and following a recipe.
tudents of the Norwin Show Choir
continued their long-standing support
of the HEARTH Shelter (www.hearth-bp.
org), which is a nonprofit organization
that provides safe, affordable housing for
survivors of domestic violence or other
trauma.
For a recent service project, the Norwin
Show Choir students organized a day at
Kennywood Park for mothers and children
living at the HEARTH Shelter.
The Show Choir organized a coach bus
to transport the moms and kids from the
HEARTH Shelter to Kennywood; arranged
for a luncheon for the guests; provided the
Show Choir’s signature music, dancing, and
performance fun; and arranged for a special
appearance from Kenny, the Kennywood
mascot. Kennywood graciously donated a
quantity of tickets for the event.
The moms and kids of the HEARTH
Shelter were grateful for the opportunity,
and they enjoyed getting to know some of
the new Show Choir members. Mrs. Bridget
Faulk, Norwin High School Choir Director,
said: “Norwin Show Choir kids are the ‘good
news’ for our district and our future. They
made me very proud!”
This service project was made possible
by a collaboration between Norwin Show
Choir and the Expressions in Harmony
Foundation (www.expressionsinharmony.
org), which was founded in 2012 to help
foster community service through music.
The Norwin Show Choir is the top
performing choral ensemble at Norwin
High School. Students audition each spring
to be part of this select singing group. The
group ranges from 30-40 singers in 10-12th
grade. The Show Choir has performed from
New York City, NY to Walt Disney World, FL.