EXCELLENCE
TODAY
FOR TOMORROW
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT– June 2009
Fifth Grade at Indian Lane
As a class gift, our fifth grade class created a legacy project with artist Clair Brill. The project is a sculptural tree displayed in Indian Lane’s lobby for all to enjoy. The children chose the theme of “Go Green”. They created their own clay hand prints which are the leaves of the tree and the trunk contains their messages about helping the earth. The children produced tiles in the shape of their hand, glazed them and helped put them together in this awesome mosaic. They learned about art and the earthat the same time. The final project is truly a unique gift to the school and will send a message to future students to “Go Green.”
Juvenile Diabetes Walk-A-Thon
Glenwood Elementary partnered with The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation on a fun, school-wide walk-a-thon that took place on the Glenwood field. A former student with diabetes, from a Glenwood family, has been named a Junior Ambassador for JDRF, and it was he who approached Mr. Dougherty to ask if our school would participate in a fundraising walk. The purpose of the walk was to raise awareness about the disease, to raise money to support the Foundation, and most importantly, to have a fun afternoon of healthy exercise walking together. Diabetes is a disease that affects many of our Glenwood families. Some of our students have diabetes, and many others have friends and relatives who have the disease. The entire school walked together to the beat of some lively tunes. We enjoyed the exercise and the sense of accomplishment in raising funds to help prevent and treat diabetes.
Family Fun at the Media Family Picnic
Hundreds of students (past, present, and future!) gathered for an evening of fun, food, and friendship. Zac’s Hamburgers served up 600 hamburgers and 250 hot dogs. The adults relaxed on blankets and chairs while their children played baseball, kickball, soccer, tag, and danced to the music that was provided by DJ “Sparks.”
Fifth Grade Recognition Ceremony
Our 71 fifth grade students were honored at the annual Fifth Grade Recognition Ceremony that was held at the historic Media Theater. Proud parents and friends packed the auditorium to be a part of this special time. Two highlights of the ceremony were the dedication of the Fifth Grade Legacy Project tile mural and the presentation of the class gift. The tile mural was created by students under the direction of artist-in-residence Claire Brill and Media art teacher Jana Maxwell. The mural adorns the ReadingGarden which is on the Monroe Street side of the building. The class gift is a beautiful leaded class window that was created by Susan Schroeder, Media High School Class of 1971. The window proclaims, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you will land among the stars!”
8th Grace Scholar Athletes
Congratulations to Rachel Campbell and Jeremy Gonzales who were honored as the top scholar athletes for SpringtonLake. Both are three-sport athletes and maintain high academic standards. Rachel and Jeremy were honored at a banquet at Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield with the entire scholar athletes selected from the middle schools in DelawareCounty.
Hall of Fame Induction
The fifteenth Annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony took place in the Penncrest auditorium followed by a recognition luncheon at the Towne House. Four distinguished alumni joined the Hall located outside of the auditorium. This year’s inductees were Bruce Braun, PHS Class of ’81, Paul DiMeo, PHS Class of ’76, Dr. Loretta (Somerville) Polhill, Media Class of ’61 and Dr. Elizabeth (Stabinski) Webb, PHS Class of ’61.
Teacher Recognition
Sixth grade teachers Shawna Cliff, Jo Dizon, Margaret Hudak, Cathy Poulos and Betsy Spardel were recognized for their fund raising campaign to help the Delco SPCA. The teachers raised over $900 to help care for sick and injured animals.
Annual Community Service Awards Banquet
Dr. Cecilia Evans—Dr. Evans is driven by dedication, pride in the community and hope for the future. One of her goals is for everyone to develop a love for writing. She designed a program ten years ago called, “With Pen In Hand.” Writers meet most Saturdays at the Media Fellowship House. Over 400 people have gained extra writing, editing, and public speaking skills from this program.
Mary Gabel—Mrs. Gabel has children in Rose Tree Elementary School and Springton Lake Middle School in the strings program. She has effected lasting improvements in the instructional program. She has donated an enormous amount of time and resources to the strings program for several years.
James Hess— As a former Penncrest graduate, Mr. Hess is always ready to assist our school community. He is the owner of the Sunoco station on the corner of 252 and Rose Tree Road. It is impossible to count the number of car washes he has hosted over the years to help Penncrest fund their many activities. We thank him for his kindness and dedication.
Robert Malkovsky—For twenty years, Robert Malkovsky, Senior, known to faculty and students as “Mal Senior,” has served all our science academic teams at Penncrest. He has built equipment, competition devices, measurement tools, and carried cases for both Physics Olympics and Science Olympiad. Being an outdoorsman, he has collected animal skulls, hides, tails, plaster cast footprints and “samples” for Envirothon. More importantly, he has worked after school with our students in developing projects and competition devices for class and science tournaments. He does so by critiquing their work, brainstorming with them, and often builds his own device—then challenges students to beat him. He leads by example. Finally, he has counseled many students applying to his Alma Mater, MIT, and the military academies for engineering. He has been a friend and advisor to faculty and students alike.
End-of-Year Ceremonies
During the month of June many ceremonies were held in every building to culminate to conclusion of another exciting and successful year at RTM. Each elementary school held an awards assembly to distribute certificates of promotion, and SpringtonLake had a Standing-room-only crowd for its closing ceremony to award certificates of promotion to all students. And finally, The Graduation Ceremonies for Penncrest held on June 4th were outstanding. The student speakers were phenomenal and every detail of the event was well-planned to the nth degree. Many have said this was the best graduation year! We thank all of those throughout the district who went out of their way to contribute to these wonderful celebrations. These are some of the best memories that our students take away with them.
An finally, we are all looking forward to a very productive 2009-1010 school year and many plans are in the works over this summer. Our goals are set and we are fine-tuning all that we will be working on to continue on our path toward greater student achievement.
We wish all of our families and community members a safe and healthy summer.