STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS
Rotary Dictionaries for 3rd Grade
Third graders received dictionaries from the McMurray Rotary .
Each year the McMurray Rotary donates dictionaries for 3rd graders at Pleasant Valley and Bower Hill in honor of former Superintendent Dr . Howard Jack . This month the books were distributed and students were eagerly looking up vocabulary words and were excited to learn that the books were their ’ s to keep .
Race to the Moon Lands at McMurray Elementary
Members of the Venetia Heritage Society visited McMurray Elementary this month to donate posters they had received through their partnership with the Heinz History Center . The posters detailed the Race to the Moon and the Apollo 11 mission and will be shared with our 5th grade staff who teach this as part of our science curriculum .
National Merit Students
Five students from PTHS have been named semifinalists in the annual National Merit Scholarship Program . Seniors Jackson Busche , Caleb Eynon , Wenhan Lu , Robyn Strazisar and James Wang will now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships , worth more than $ 30 million , that will be offered next spring . The 16,000 semifinalists nationwide represent less than 1 percent of U . S . high school seniors .
In addition , nine students have been named Commended Students in the program . Seniors Brendan Bell , Jason Briegel , Paige Feltner , Maya Nagiub , Ryan Shannon , Hannah Smith , Chase Stauffer , Wyatt Tune and Scott Zhu are among 34,000 of
the highest scorers on the PSAT in the nation and will receive a Letters of Commendation in recognition of their outstanding academic promise .
Bower Hill Read-a-Thon
Congratulations to our Bower Hill Read-a-Thon winners – the students who read the most minutes per grade were : K-AM - Manny Roumbakis ( 870 minutes ), K-PM - Abby Hart ( 1,200 minutes ), First Grade - Teagan Villani ( 2,330 minutes ), Second Grade - Teige Villani ( 2,330 minutes ) and Third Grade - Riley Bender ( 2,436 minutes ). Overall , Bower Hill students read for an amazing 246,245 minutes and raised $ 24,000 for the school .
PMEA District 1 Honors Orchestra
Two students from Peters Township High School have been selected by audition to take part in the PMEA District I Honors Orchestra . Senior James Wang ( violin ) and junior Anne Chang ( viola ) rehearsed and performed with the ensemble on November 20th and 21st .
Fire Safety Week at Pleasant Valley
October was Fire Safety Week at Pleasant Valley and students are learning so much from our Peters Township Fire Department . Students came home with some great safety tips following their in-class visits with the firemen and their tours of the trucks and equipment .
1st Annual PTMS Walk-a-Thon
Students raced their teachers in the Walk-a-Thon
October 22 was the first annual Walk-A-Thon at the Middle School , a creative fundraiser to support the efforts of the PTA in the coming year . Students in each grade gathered sponsorships for the walking they did at the stadium . The event culminated with all students in the stadium and a special foot race against the teachers , followed by prize presentations and a surprise costume race from the staff ! Their fundraising goal was $ 10,000 but the chance to take part in a race against their teachers put them over the top with a grand total of $ 13,181 ! eters Township
PETERS TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS
PETERS TOWNSHIP ❘ DECEMBER 2021 / JANUARY 2022 71