1800 Mt. Royal Boulevard
Glenshaw, PA. 15116
412-492-1200
Shaler Area Launches Go Bucket Project In The District
Shaler Area School District
Welcomes Second School
Resource Officer
Shaler Area School District welcomes
Millvale Borough Police Officer Brenan
Jackson as the district’s second school
resource officer.
The Shaler Area School Board of Directors
approved a three-year contract with the
Borough of Millvale for the school resource
officer beginning the 2019-2020 school year
during its August 21 voting meeting. Officer
Jackson will join Shaler Township Police
Officer Frank Spiker, who has been with the
district as a school resource officer since
2014.
“Shaler Area is very fortunate to have such
strong, cooperative relationships with our
local police departments,” Superintendent
Sean Aiken says. “The addition of a second
school resource officer will provide
increased uniform police presence in all
of our schools and a direct connection to
additional area police department resources
to assist staff and develop special classroom
programming for students.”
Officer Jackson graduated from the
Allegheny County Police Academy in 2009.
He worked for the City of Clairton, Rankin
Borough, and Braddock Borough police
departments before joining UPMC Children’s
Hospital. Officer Jackson joined the Millvale
Police Department May 2018 He lives in Pine
Township with his wife and son.
The Shaler Area District Parent Council, in partnership with the district, is launching
a new initiative in the 2019-2020 school year to help teachers be more prepared for an
emergency situation.
The District Parent Council, which includes representative parent-teacher organization
members from each building, organized the Go Bucket project to provide classrooms with
an emergency kit.
The Go Buckets are five-gallon buckets that include items that can be used in an
emergency or extended lockdown situation such as flashlights, first-aid kits, duct tape,
rope, a space blanket and whistle. The buckets serve as a container for the supplies and
doubles as a stool or an emergency lavatory when fitted with a plastic trash bag, toilet
paper, and a shower curtain for privacy.
“We are excited for the opportunity to put these Go Buckets in every classroom to give
teachers and students additional resources to use in an emergency, but we also hope that
the teachers never, ever have to use them,” says Heather McGregor, DPC president.
The DPC’s initial efforts collected enough items to assemble 29 completed Go Buckets.
The program’s launch will outfit each classroom in Marzolf Primary School with a Go Bucket.
“In addition to the safety measures put in place and the training our staff and students
receive, the Go Buckets will provide teachers with one more tool in their toolbox in an
emergency situation,” said Superintendent Sean Aiken.
The District Parent Council is looking to expand the program so that every classroom
in Shaler Area has a Go Bucket. The group has set a goal to complete enough buckets
for every classroom in the high school by the end of the 2019-2020 school year. They are
looking for community support through donations of five-gallon buckets with lids, and gift
cards to Amazon or the Dollar Tree.
For more information or to make a donation, contact [email protected].
Marzolf Primary School
Adds Sensory Path
Students at Marzolf Primary School
have a colorful new addition to their
playground that provides a space for
“brain breaks” throughout the school
day.
Over the summer, Marzolf Primary
art teacher Therasa Joseph designed
and painted a sensory path on
the sidewalk behind the school. The sensory path is a colorful obstacle course that
requires students to hop, step, and jump through the designs. The physical movement of
completing the sensory path helps students focus better in the classroom and provides a
“brain break” from classroom lessons.
“We have several students that need a sensory break during the day and the path outside
gives them a change of scenery along with giving them an engaging activity for their
body and brain,” Joseph said. “This will give some students a nice break to get some extra
energy out. It also will provide our students with an extra activity during recess.”
In designing the sensory path, Joseph said she took into consideration the needs of the
students. She incorporated gross motor skills into the path which is designed for students
to hop, leap, side step, spin and jump to different elements on the path. The path also
has students applying foundational academic skills by moving along the letters of the
alphabet and from numbers one through ten.
The idea for the sensory path came out of the school’s schoolwide positive behaviors
and interventions and supports (SWPBIS) committee to provide a resource for all students
in kindergarten to third-grade.
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