lum Borough
PLUM BOROUGH SCHOOL NEWS
High School Highlights
SPIRIT
Plum Borough High School is forming a SPIRIT student committee. SPIRIT stands for Student Problem Identification and Resolution of Issues Together. This is a research based program through the Pennsylvania Department of Justice. This program empowers students to identify concerns and collaborate on solutions. The school staff will identify natural student leaders who will participate in the program. SPIRIT helps improve communications among diverse student leaders and helps to improve student / teacher relationships. SPIRIT works to prevent violence and conflict among students in schools with changing demographic populations. The benefits of this program are:
• A student-driven program that teaches problem solving techniques.
• Students are empowered to identify and solve problems.
• Students learn new and better ways to develop solutions and make decisions.
• Natural student leaders from diverse backgrounds discover commonalities and appreciate differences.
• New safeguards are created to prevent conflict and minimize tensions.
• SPIRIT establishes a proactive model to use for collaborative problem solving.
Warhol Youth Arts Council Martin McPherson was chosen to serve on the Warhol Youth Arts Council. He was 1 of 12 high school students chosen from the Pittsburgh region to help plan, organize, and participate in youthcentered events at the Warhol Museum between January and June. He’ ll get to go behind the scenes at the Warhol Museum, meet and work with exhibiting artists and museum educators, and explore connections between art, social justice, and community activism. He’ ll have an opportunity to create original artwork in a variety of techniques and learn about career opportunities in the arts. Most importantly, he’ ll plan and present public events at the museum such as their Youth Invasion and Annual Teen Takeover all while representing Plum High School in the process. He is very excited!
TMC17 Conference
Plum Borough High School teachers Stephanie Reilly and Tamar McPherson will be hosting a conference for teachers, by teachers, in Atlanta, Georgia in the summer of 2017. These teachers( Tamar and Stephanie are proud to count themselves among them), blog to reflect on their practices, share ideas and questions, host weekly chats( on twitter) about different educational books, host“ global math department” meetings every Tuesday evening( online) where volunteers present on topics such as differentiation, common core, favorite lessons, etc. Annually, these teachers host a real 3.5-day conference, complete with keynote speakers and full of valuable sessions. Teachers from across the U. S. and around the world attend.
This session will expose educators to Coding, Bootstrap, and Python. Coding gives students a one-shot exposure to coding in a nonthreatening and positive environment. Bootstrap combines algebraic concepts and coding through a gaming interface where students write the code to create their own game. Python is an easy to learn code that can be incorporated into all levels of math class without students needing a background in coding. Using trinket. io, educators can set up classes and provide templates for students, so they can focus on instructing the computer how to do the math( without worrying about the syntax!).
36 Plum
Becoming Better Math Students with Think Through Math™
Students in grades 3rd- 6th are taking part in a new software program in math this year. Think Through Math™( TTM) was recently purchased by the school district to support its current math program, and to provide necessary remediation to students who need it. It is comprehensive in nature and engaging for the children.
Students regularly log into their TTM™ accounts and take advantage of personalized instruction offered at their ability level. They can do this both at school and at home. As the students progress through the lessons, they receive immediate feedback and corrections as needed— a live tutor is also available for assistance. Classroom teachers monitor their progress and can use the information to guide their instruction.
This personalized software is also fun! Students are rewarded for their hard work, effort and perseverance with points, avatars and prizes as goals are reached. Classroom teachers set goals with their students, collect the points and can use them in a variety of ways. Nearly 1,000,000 points have been earned by Plum Borough students since October— that’ s a lot of math work!
Here is a photo of Mr. Nesbit( classroom teacher), Mrs. Caruso( parent), Lisa Wise( Think Through Math representative) and Daniel Caruso. Daniel Caruso, 3rd grader at Pivik Elementary, was chosen as the winner in a nationwide contest recently. He won a Fire tablet, t-shirt, and travel bag as a reward for his work on the Think Through Math program over his holiday break. Congratulations, Daniel! Keep up the hard work!
Additionally, 2 classrooms have already met their goals and have earned a pizza party. Not only is hard work rewarded by TTM™, but community service is also encouraged. Students may turn their points into dollars and donate them to charity. More than $ 60 has been donated to charity this year. The Plum Borough School District also had a student randomly selected to be the winner of the“ National 12 Days of Christmas Contest”. Dany Caruso, Pivik 3rd grader, used some of his winter vacation time to complete math lessons in TTM™. As a result of this, he became eligible to enter the contest. He won a Kindle Fire. Working hard and going above and beyond, especially in math, really does pay off.