McClellan Connects
with the Community
Two presenters from Humane Animal Rescue came for an
assembly with the whole school. They talked to the students
about a variety of local animals that have “super powers”
and even brought along two friends… a barred owl and
a porcupine. The owl had an injured wing which needed
rehabilitated and the porcupine was abandoned by its
mother, most likely because of a food allergy!
Speaking of birds, we also had a visit from the National
Aviary. As part of their Neighborhood Nest Watch program,
they came to our school early in the morning and set up
huge nets in the wooded areas around our school. Then
they would go and collect any birds caught in the nets
and place color-coded bandings on their leg. This process
helps track the nesting and migratory patterns of the local
birds in our neighborhood. Fourth and Fifth graders had
the opportunity to experience this process up close and
personal in their science classes. And a few lucky students
were given the opportunity to hold the birds and release
them back into the wild.
In Mr. Dobos’s fourth-grade science classes, he had a local
entomologist, Mr. Gore, bring in his bug specimen display
cases, edible insects, and some live bugs. Students had the
opportunity to hold hissing cockroaches and race them
as well. They were also given the option to take home a
lollipop that had ants in them, and a box of salt and vinegar-
flavored mill worms or bar-b-q flavored crickets. Fifth
grade had a visit (via Skype) from Casey Leicht, a systems
engineer for the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren
Division. He talked with students in Mr. Thomas's science
classes about the Expeditionary Fire Support System
(EFSS) that he is currently working on with his engineering
team for the United States Marine Corps. Not only did
Mr. Leicht teach the students about the steps that he as
an engineer must complete, but he also directly related
his presentation to how the students are following those
same steps while working on their Kinex cars as part of the
Motion and Design unit. The pictures show some students
in Mr. Thomas' classes using knowledge of friction, weight,
and mass to design a car which must meet a distance and
weight requirement within a 30 minute deadline. These are
similar to requirements that Mr. Leicht faces as a systems
engineer.
Mrs. Thomas's fourth grade math classes worked on a
project to create a video game truck. They had to figure out
costs of operation, design a truck, and create a name and
slogan. Also, they had to create posters for the teachers to
vote on, and made it resemble a "Shark Tank" competition.
Mr. Liberatore surprised them by bringing in a guest "shark",
Brad Michaelson, the owner of Steel City Gamerz (Bethel
Park), to help make the final decision. To the students’
surprise, he also brought his game truck. The students had
the opportunity to sit in the gaming truck and ask questions
of Mr. Michaelson about his business. He even offered a 10%
off coupon to the winning group, which was the Galaxy
Gamers – comprised of Ella Frantz, Aislin Majoris, Natalie
Driscol, Olivia Della Lucia, and Marina Branchen.
West Jefferson Hills | Summer 2017 | icmags.com 61