N o r t h
October 2013
Upcoming events
November 4 – Elementary Conference Day–
12 Noon – 7:45pm
a l l e g h e n y
s c h o o l
d i s t r i c t
Tiger News
Happy Halloween 2013
Halloween is a fun holiday for children, but it is also a time when extra safety precautions should
be taken to ensure that every child has an experience that starts and ends
with a smile! Following are some safety recommendations
from Safe Kids USA for parents to consider.
Children should:
November 5 – Elementary Conference Day–
8am – 3:45pm
• trick-or-treat with an adult until they are at least age 12.
November 4 & 5 – In Service Days (No Classes)
• cross streets at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks when they are available.
• only trick-or-treat in familiar areas that are well lit.
• walk on sidewalks or paths; if there are no sidewalks, walk
facing traffic as far to the left as possible.
• never dart out into the street or cross in between parked cars.
• wear light-colored, flame-retardant costumes decorated with reflective
tape or stickers.
• wear well-fitting, sturdy shoes to prevent trips and falls.
• carry a flashlight or glow stick to make sure drivers can see them.
• wear face paint and makeup instead of a mask that may restrict their
ability to see clearly.
Please take time to talk with your child about Halloween safety before s/he
heads out into the neighborhood tonight!
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All of the NA elementary schools had Halloween parades on Thursday,
October 31. Students and staff circled the school campuses
in their Halloween costumes. Parents and
friends were invited to enjoy
the happy spectacle of
goblins, princesses, super
heroes, ballerinas, ghouls
and creatures of
all kinds marching together.
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NA Tiger News E-Newsletter
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N o r t h
a l l e g h e n y
s c h o o l
was a Blast!
October 2013
N
d i s t r i c t
!
l
o
o
h
o Sc
Thanksgiving
Break
November 28 –
December 2, 2013
School resumes
December 3
In
mid-October, the NA Student Assistance
Program sponsored a Boys Night Out event
at Marshall Middle School. Almost 300 young men
and adults attended - including middle school
students, their fathers and friends, faculty mentors, and NAI and NASH student volunteers. Special
guest speaker, Joey Delsardo, started the evening
off with his personal story of overcoming peer
pressure, self-esteem issues, and drug addiction.
Men and boys alike responded to Joey’s honest
message of struggle and hope. His frank style made
everyone stop and consider the important issues he
addressed.
“The program prompted a great follow-up
conversation at home. My son asked some interesting
questions that he might not have asked otherwise if
not for this program.”
– NA Parent
A group discussion was also part of the evening.
The faculty mentors, along with NAI and NASH volunteers, shared insights about their middle school
experiences and encouraged the boys in attendance to connect with friends – of all ages – who
will have a positive influence on their lives.
Local sponsors provided great food and raffle prizes
that helped to make the evening one of the best
Community Connection events ever! Many thanks
to all those who made this evening such a big success.
“Thank you so much for having this event. The
A special thanks to sponsors who donated prizes
and food for the event!
the right time.”
www.northallegheny.org
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program was very much appreciated and was
the right content for the right audience at
– NA Parent
N o r t h
a l l e g h e n y
s c h o o l
d i s t r i c t
“At My Stop – You Stop!”
November 13 – DAA Ceremony and School
Board Work Session @ CAO Bd. Rm. 7pm
Two NA students won First Place in their division at
the State level in PennDOT’s 2013 School Bus Safety
Poster Contest. Franklin Elementary student Tarun
Kumar won First Place Division I (Grades Kindergarten–2) and former Bradford Woods Elementary
student Eric Mole won First Place Division II (Grades
3–5). They were entered in the state-level competition after being selected District Finalists. As First
Place state winners, Tarun and Eric were recognized
at a ceremony held at the Governor’s Residence in
Harrisburg. Their entries will also be included in a
National competition.
Bradford Woods Elementary School
McKnight Elementary School
Division I:
Division II:
November 20 – School Board Regular Mtg.
@ CAO Bd. Rm. 7pm
Redistricting Meeting Schedule
NASD will be redistricting at the elementary and
middle school level for the 2014-2015 school year.
Franklin Elementary School
Division I:
Division II:
2013-2014 is a planning year, during which new
school boundary scenarios are being developed
and transition plans are being drafted.
School Focus Group Meetings
All Meetings are 7 PM – 8:30 PM
Division I:
Division II:
PES & HES – 11/7/13 @ PES
All MS - 11/11/13 @ IMS
1st Nina Pietrzak
2ndRachel Littke
3rd Andrew McLaughlin
1st Addison Wood
2ndScott Nalepa
3rd Kyla Repine
Peebles Elementary School
Division I:
Division II:
1st Sierra Wise
2ndRachel Malko
3rd Annie Polk
1st Bridget Paytas
1st Jessica Golden
2ndDylan Zhao
3rd Katelyn Lucas
1st Brianne McDonough
2ndTorie Buerger
Ingomar Elementary School
Division I:
Division II:
MCK - 12/3/13
MES/BWE - 12/9/13 @ MES
The basic PowerPoint presentation that will be
used at each School Redistricting Focus Group
Meeting will be posted on the NASD website for
public review on November 6.
1st Tarun Kumar
2ndBrayden Kushner
3rd Katherine Hu
1st Roshni Thakkar
2ndJoy Zheng
3rd Lydia Cwalina
Division I:
Division II:
Hosack Elementary School
IES - 11/6/13
FES - 11/14/13
1st Dana Pitell
2ndJazna Dumont
3rd Claire Fiedler
1st Eric Mole
2ndClaire Shao
3rd Emily Thompson
A luncheon to honor all District-Level winners was
held on October 22. Congratulations to all of the
elementary students whose posters won awards.
1st Claire Cho
2ndRitchie Lynch
3rd Gabby Miller
1st Alyssa Lasch
2ndHannah Phillips
Marshall Elementary School
Division I:
Division II:
www.northallegheny.org
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1st Jacqueline Chalifoux
2ndMichael Chalifoux
3rd Ella Robertson
1st Faith Nguyen
2ndRachel Robertson
3rd Olivia Mark
Photo courtesy of Karuna Kumar
October 2013
School Bus Safety Poster Contest Winners
N o r t h
a l l e g h e n y
s c h o o l
d i s t r i c t
October 2013
Annual Diversity Contest Kick-Off November 11
North Allegheny Board of School Directors
Distinguished
Achievement
Award Program
This year’s first Distinguished
Achievement Award (DAA) ceremony
will be held on November 13, 2013.
The nomination form may be found
by clicking here.
Every fall for 13 consecutive years, students in the
North Allegheny School District have been confronted with the thoughtful challenge of finding a way
to express their individual feelings about belonging
and diversity through creative writing, music, or the
visual arts. Year after year, students have produced
excellent works of art to illustrate what they know
about the importance of being both unique and
accepted in the world.
The annual Diversity Expression Contest is sponsored by the NASD Marcia Martin Unity/Diversity
Committee and is open to all NA students in grades
K-12. This year, entries will be accepted between
November 11 and December 6, in every NA school
office. Submissions must address the theme: “Each one of us is wonderful;
together we are diverse and strong.
Help make NA a place where everyone knows they belong.”
Application forms, which must accompany submissions, are available on the NASD website: click here.
Students may choose to express their own thoughts
about the importance of belonging and individuality using any written form – such as poetry, personal
narrative, play, or essay – or via music, the visual arts,
multi-media or photography. Further details are also
available on the NASD website.
www.northallegheny.org
This year, winners will be honored by the Superintendent of Schools and the Board of School
Directors at an early evening awards reception on
March 26, 2014. The ceremony will occur prior to the
School Board meeting and include a reception for
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the family and friends of the winners, as well as their
teachers and principals. The award-winning submissions will be highlighted and the ceremony will be
videotaped for later broadcast on NATV-Cable.
Each winning student will receive prizes from the
Unity/Diversity Committee, the Superintendent of
Schools, and Barnes & Noble Booksellers. A reception will also be hosted by Barnes & Noble at their
store in Cranberry Township, where all winning
entries will be on display for a period of time in the
spring.
N o r t h
October 2013
You are invited
to attend the
Superintendent’s
a l l e g h e n y
s c h o o l
d i s t r i c t
“No Kid Hungry” National Writing Contest Winner
NASH Senior Bret Anne Serbin
won First Place in a National Writing Contest aimed at encouraging
students to be advocates to help
end childhood hunger in America.
Participants were instructed to write
a letter to a local or national leader,
tell them why ending childhood
hunger in America is important, and
ask them to take action.
Bret’s letter was addressed to
Congressman Rothfus and began
with these compelling words:
“Starvation has come to be known as a disease of
French Revolutionaries, Donner Party pioneers, and
impoverished third-world citizens. 21st
Century America—the land of McDonald’s, all-you-can-eat chicken wings, and
widespread obesity—seems to have no
place for such a dilemma. Yet in spite of
our fast-food consumer culture, hunger
has still managed to find a place in the
growling bellies of one in five American
children.”
Bret was awarded a $500 scholarship
and a $500 donation toward a child
hunger nonprofit of her choice. More
than 1,600 students entered this year’s
contest. The full letter Bret wrote to Congressman
Rothfus, can be found here.
Happy Birthday Marshall Middle School!
December 5, 2013
Franklin Elementary School
9:30am
Twenty Years of Making a Difference!
Students and staff members at Marshall Middle School celebrated the 20th birthday of MMS on Friday, October 25, 2013!
A visitors’ reception was held in the library classroom, followed
by a birthday celebration in the auditorium. The program
included words of advice from Dr. Kainaroi,
Mrs. Michalowski, and Grace Councilman,
as well as remarks from Mr. John Schwoebel, founding principal, and Mohammad
Khatami, president of the student council.
The birthday celebration also featured
performances by the MMS 8th Grade Band,
the MMS Cheerleaders, and the 8th Grade
Chorus. Happy birthday, MMS!
Report Cards Will Be Available Online Via the Student Data Portal
This year, NA is transitioning to online report card
delivery. The District will no longer be printing paper
copies of report cards and sending them home with
students on report card day or mailing them home
in hard copy at the end of the school year.
Parents will be able to print a copy of student report
cards from the Student Data Portal, if they choose
to do so. An archived record of all electronic report
cards issued this year and in years to come will be
available to parents over the course of the remainder of a child’s time as a North Allegheny student.
www.northallegheny.org
The first elementary report cards will be available on
5
Friday, November 1, and the first secondary report
cards will be available on Monday, November 11, as
indicated in the District Activities Calendar.
Parents who have not yet taken the opportunity
to visit the Student Data Portal are being urged to
do so prior to the first report card dates. There are
instructions for new users on the NASD website.
This transition to online report cards is one more
step the North Allegheny School District is making
toward increasing operational efficiencies, saving
money, and increasing the use of technology in
communications.
N o r t h
October 2013
a l l e g h e n y
s c h o o l
d i s t r i c t
NA Schools Join National Campaign to Raise Awareness
NA students participated in National Red Ribbon
Week from October 21st–25th. Most schools held
special clothing days throughout the week to symbolize important messages of the campaign. Some
activities included:
“Exercise Your Right to Be Drug Free” – wear “warm-up gear”
“Go Green – Don’t Let Drugs Pollute Your Life” – wear anything
green
“Be a Hero Everyday – Live Drug Free” – wear red, white and blue
“NA is Too Smart to Start” – wear black and gold
“Drugs and Alcohol are Scary” – wear orange and black
“Our Future is Bright No Drugs In Sight” – wear neon brights
November 19 – 23, 2013
Reserve seating: $10 adults,
$7 students • All tickets $10
at the door.
Box office hours beginning
November 5th
Tuesdays & Wednesdays 10am – 1pm
Thursdays 12 – 3pm
Friday, November 22nd 10am – 1pm
and 30 minutes prior to each show
Students watched videos, welcomed guest speakers and participated in age-appropriate dialogues
about the importance of making healthy and wise
decisions.
The Red Ribbon Celebration brings millions of
people together to raise awareness regarding the
need for alcohol, tobacco and other drug and violence prevention, early intervention and treatment
services. Recognized nationally in 1988, it is the largest, most visible prevention awareness campaign
observed annually in the United States.
NA Awarded Three Grants – In Total Nearly $60,000 To Support
STEM Studies, Food Services, and Anti-Bullying Programs
Successful software engineers Justin and
Julie-Ann are about to introduce their respective
parents to each other over dinner — Justin’s
alcoholic mother, and Julie-Ann’s straight-laced
parents. Although none of these eccentric adults
have met, the young couple hopes to not only
introduce the adults, but use the fortuitous
moment as an ill-fated opportunity to announce
their engagement. Into this doomed scenario
drops, literally, via the balcony upstairs, Paige
Petite, a former “dancer” and her dim, gun-toting
body guard who is employed by her controlling
mobster boyfriend. Paige and her protector proceed to wreak havoc on Julie-Ann’s meticulously
planned dinner party. In the end, the audience
will leave agreeing that while true love can never
be manufactured, it
MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY
No one under the age of 14 admitted
often arrives at the
without a parent/guardian
strangest of times!
The Alcoa Foundation recently awarded a grant
to NA in the amount of $35,000 to support NASD
initiatives in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). The purpose of the
grant is to increase student interest in STEM, in the
number of AP course selections related to STEM
areas, in the total student enrollment in AP courses,
and in career opportunities for students in STEMrelated jobs upon graduation.
www.northallegheny.org
The NASD Food Services Department received a
grant from the Mid –Atlantic Dairy Association in
the amount of $22,300. The purpose of the grant
is to facilitate the purchase of two dairy vending
machines that will offer students the option of milk,
yogurt and cheese selections before, during, and
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after school. Part of the grant funding will also support the conversion from milk cartons to plastic milk
bottles District-wide.
Hosack Elementary School and Marshall Middle
School have each been awarded $1,250 from
the Highmark Foundation in recognition of their
exemplary efforts to reduce bullying in their
schools and local community. Earlier this year,
participating schools across the State were asked to
share insights and lessons learned from their experiences implementing the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. HES and MMS were two of only eight
schools in Pennsylvania selected to receive an award
for their programs.
N o r t h
a l l e g h e n y
s c h o o l
d i s t r i c t
m o m e n t, j u s t li k e
K
ac
“O u
n n er 5 B
r art piec e is
– Ta
Visit the NA page
on Facebook!
As a related library project, fifth graders created a PowerPoint project about the art projects they crafted at camp. The presentation
included a slide for their video interview and another slide for an
Animoto. These will be shared with families during the Art Show on
March 27, 2014.
p
ed
tu r
”
OK
October 2013
Before going off to Camp Kon-O-Kwee this fall, fifth graders at IES
learned about the art of Andy Goldsworthy. Inspired by his example
of art created with elements from nature which decompose and
return to the earth, they worked to create their own pieces while at
camp. Coming back to school, they were asked to reflect on their
experiences and write quotes to express their feelings about their
projects.
a
Creative Inspiration at Camp Kon-O-Kwee
“Art with nature is
really beautiful,
but one day or another
it will fade away”
–Cesley 5B
time
“As
www.facebook.com/northallegheny
passes, art wil
l cr u
mb
le.”
“When our art has been
destroyed, it will become
part of nature.”
– Aiden 5B
“A picture is worth a thousand words,
Follow our daily updates of good news –
our students shine!
a painting is worth much more,
but nature’s art is worth
words galore”
– Chloe 5A
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advertising.
“Art is nature and
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a
aw
n
blow
y”
To place your ad, call
ircle of life that will soon be
“It is a c
7
nature is beauty”
–Katie 5B
N o r t h
a l l e g h e n y
s c h o o l
d i s t r i c t
NA School Board Member Recognized for Service to Children
October 2013
!
h
c
u
o
t
ay in
St
NA Alumni
Association
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in the advertisements. (School Board Policy
#2580 – Approved Commercial Advertising.)
www.northallegheny.org
NA School Board president, Maureen
M. Grosheider, was selected by the
Pennsylvania Association of Elementary and Secondary School Principals
(PAESSP) as the 2013 recipient of the
PAESSP Service to Children Award.
Allegheny in her role on the School
Board since 1995. Prior to serving on
the Board, she helped many children
and their parents as the President of
the Special Education Parent Support
Group.
This award is given to an individual
who has had a broad positive impact
on all children in our elementary, middle and high schools. Mrs. Grosheider
has been serving students of North
The award was presented to Mrs. Grosheider at the PAESSP Conference, held
October 27-29, in State College, PA.
A Bit of History:
Connecting NA to Dr. Jonas Salk
On October 10, a ceremony was held locally to
install a plaque commemorating the site of Dr. Jonas
Salk’s home in Wexford along Route 19. Jonas Salk
developed the first effective polio vaccine while
raising his family in this home from 1947-1954. The
location of the former Salk residence is the corner
of Maple and Route 19, where a tall blue historical
marker now stands.
Dr. Salk’s son, Peter, and his grandson, Michael, came to Wexford for
the installation of the historical
marker and spoke briefly at the
ceremony.
“Being here reminds me very clearly
of my family experience growing
up…this whole area was trees and
fields. What a delightful childhood it
was for us. What a wonderful community of people it was then and still
is today,” he said. “I still feel connected to this place and understand so
well why my father felt strongly that
this was the place where he wanted
to raise his family.”
Peter Salk thanked the representatives of Pine Township who financed the installation
of the marker, as well as NA Historian Joe Bullick
and Mr. Salk’s childhood friend, Ken Hartman, who
facilitated the ceremony and the memorial. “Even
though there may be members of the younger generation who don’t know who Jonas Salk was, we have to
be very proud of the fact that he lived here and did this
important work right here in our neighborhood. Jonas
Salk saved many, many lives.”
In 1947, Salk accepted an appointment to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. In 1948, he
took on a project funded by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. Dr. Salk developed a
research team which conducted the most elaborate
program of its kind in history, involving 20,000 physicians and public health officers, 64,000 school per8
sonnel, and 220,000 volunteers. At the time, polio
was considered the most frightening public health
problem of the post-war United States. Annual
epidemics were increasingly wide-spread. The 1952
epidemic was the worst outbreak in the country’s
history. Of nearly 58,000 cases reported that year,
more than 3,000 people died and more than 20,000
were left with mild to disabling paralysis. Most of
those affected by polio were children.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
was the world’s most recognized
victim of the disease. He created
the March of Dimes Foundation,
which funded the development of
a vaccine.
Dr. Salk introduced the successful
vaccine in April 1955 and made
it available for use by all with no
personal patent. He made it clear
that his interest was in solving the
problem, not personal profit.
During this period of intense
research and development, Dr.
Salk took time in the fall of 1954
to participate in the opening
ceremony of the North Allegheny High School on
Cumberland Road. That building is now the North
Allegheny Intermediate High School. A copy of the
Opening Ceremony Program signed by Dr. Salk still
hangs in the NAI lobby – a reminder of his generosity and community presence during the period of
time when this area was transforming from a farm
community into the beginnings of the North Hills
suburban region. Dr. Salk always emphasized the
importance of education in the lives of his children
and supported the efforts of the community to
provide good public education opportunities for all
children.
In 1954, the Wexford area was still a part of the
North Allegheny School District. The Pine-Richland
School District was established in 1958.