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Pennsbury Partners Program

2014 - 2015

Annual Report

The Pennsbury Partners Program (PPP) has forged over 1,000 partnerships with businesses and local community organizations for the last 20 years, benefiting Pennsbury students, families and the community.

These partnerships enable the School District to:

demonstrate real-life applications of the Pennsbury curriculum;

offer opportunities for students to provide community service; or

offer mentoring programs and other career awareness and development activities to prepare students for satisfying careers.

Each partnership helps to prepare students for higher education and the workforce of our future.

PARTNERSHIP & GRANT SUCCESSES SUMMARY

The Pennsbury Partners Program had another busy and successful year. Some highlights include:

1. Established FOURTEEN new partnerships this year- a record number- including: The Lower Bucks Leader (formerly The Levittown Leader), House Paws Veterinary Services, ShopRite of Yardley, Kidsville-L.E. Publishing Company, New Horizon Learning Center, Bucks County Conservation District, Yardley-Lower Makefield Lions Club, VCA Delaware Valley Animal Hospital, Inspire Federal Credit Union, The Brain Gym, T Abrams Print & Design Inc., Flowers by Jennie Lynne, FirstTrust Financial Resources and Yardley Pharmacy & Supply.

2. Celebrated the 16th year of recognizing outstanding business and non-profit partnerships via the Annual Partnership Recognition Dinner. Approximately 150 business people, non-profits, administrators, school board members, teachers and community members attended.

3. The Pennsbury Partners Advisory Board Mini-Grant Committee awarded eleven schools with 16 special corporate-sponsored grants for a total of $6,735. The main purpose of the annual PPP Mini-Grant program is to foster partnership development in each school. See page 10 for more information.

4. Corporate sponsorships received for next year’s PPP Mini-Grants topped over $7,000.

5. This year, the PPP Office provided over $1500 for transportation costs to school classrooms for five different partnership opportunities.

6. In addition to the PPP Mini-Grant Awards, a STEM partnership continued for the second year- a partnership activity with all three middle schools and the National Aerospace Training and Research Center (NASTAR). Three grants were awarded, $400 to each middle school, for a total of $1,200 for these new activities, Middle School Young Adults in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Partnership Program.

7. This year over $56,000 in grant/sponsorship money was raised to support school and classroom activities. See page 9 for more information.

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16th Annual Partnership Recognition Dinner

With an attendance of over 150 guests, the Pennsbury Partners Program celebrated its 16th year,

recognizing outstanding business and non-profit partnerships.

The William Penn Middle School Cafetorium was transformed

with red, black, and silver decorations for an “Oscar-Themed”

night to remember! Inside, our partnership guests networked

with District School Board members, administrators, and

teachers who attended. The guests were entertained by a

quartet

from the

Pennsbury

Concert Jazz Band.

This year’s dinner theme was “Italian Fiesta”.

The Nutrition Group prepared a fantastic meal while

guests were treated to a wonderful musical

performance by members of the Pennsbury String

Orchestra throughout dinner.

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During the highlight of the night, the prestigious Pennsbury Partners Program Recognition Awards were

presented to the outstanding school/business and school-non-profit partnerships. The recipients of the

awards were:

2014-2015 School-Non-Profit Award

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6393 and

The Jewish War Veterans Post 697

2014-2015 School-Business Award

PECO and The Franklin Institute

From l/r: Lynn Gordon, Teacher - Charles Boehm; Russell Davidson, Commander - Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6393; Jonathan Sherman, Commander - The Jewish War Veterans Post 697; Theresa Ricci, Principal – Charles Boehm.

From l/r: Christina Kerrigan, PECO, Dianne Haley, Teacher - William Penn, Kristin Slota, Teacher - William Penn, Paul Meehan, Principal - William Penn

From l/r: Emily Hawbaker, The NEED Project, Sharon Kiefer, The Franklin Institute,

Dianne Haley, Teacher - William Penn, Kristin Slota, Teacher - William Penn, Paul Meehan, Principal - William Penn

Special Recognition Award

Dr. Gregg Amore, Character.org

From l/r Dr. Donna Dunar, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, Dr. Gregg Amore, Character.org, Pennsylvania state affiliate; DeSales University.

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Annual Partnership Highlights Around the District

In the 2014-2015 school year, more than 100 partnership activities were logged into PAK, the District’s

partnership database. Listed below are examples of outstanding school partnerships by school, focusing on

Curriculum, Career Awareness and/or Community Service opportunities:

Afton Elementary

The Lower Bucks Leader - Gerard Mullin, Pennsbury Partner

and editor for The Lower Bucks Leader, visited fourth grade

students at Afton Elementary to discuss the writing process

and its real-world applications. Mr. Mullin took the young

authors on a "writing journey" that began with an idea and

ended as a published piece. This presentation served as a

"newsworthy" introduction to Afton’s Informative Writing Unit

of Study. The "Afton Journalists" are now looking forward to

submitting future writing pieces to Mr. Mullin for his

professional feedback.

Edgewood Elementary

Barnes & Noble – In a partnership with Barnes & Noble, students performed their Holiday Sing. The young

performers were part of a group who will be attending the OAKE conference in Minnesota. Edgewood

administrators and teachers were guest story readers. With this partnership, Edgewood was able to raise

money for the OAKE trip through purchases made at Barnes & Noble during this event.

Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary

G.O.A.L. - Through a partnership with G.O.A.L.

(Greenbelt Overhaul Alliance of Levittown), students

at Eleanor Roosevelt were involved in creating a

beautiful interactive courtyard that all of the students

can enjoy for years to come. The landscape design

was created by Dale Frazier and Ed Armstrong of

G.O.A.L. and used native plants in their designs. This

fantastic project integrates the arts into the science

and social studies curriculum.

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Fallsington Elementary

Fallsington Library – Kindergarten classes at Fallsington

Elementary partnered with the Fallsington Library as part of their

PPP Mini-Grant award. The students learned about dinosaurs,

chickens, and ink writing on scrolls. They participated in hands-

on activities with a real chicken! The students also learned about

the creation of ink with blueberries and made designs on

parchment scrolls.

Makefield Elementary

Penn State/4H Cooperative Extension – A great partnership with The Penn State/4H Cooperative Extension

provides an incubator and eggs for the school and gifted program to watch the eggs hatch. The whole school

witnessed the process this year through our KWN news channel. It is always such a wonderful experience for

the students to watch the process unfold.

Manor Elementary

Wells Fargo - In a ten-week partnership with Wells

Fargo, Fairless Hills Branch, bank representative,

Chris Perrault, visited Manor Elementary to read

aloud to all first grade students. Chris brought the

book alive by giving the characters different voices as

well as integrating literature into their math unit.

Students were excited and couldn’t wait for his

return each week! Additionally, each of the 10 books

were donated to Manor’s library.

Oxford Valley Elementary

Fairless Hills Fire Company - First Graders from Oxford

Valley Elementary paid a visit to the Fairless Hills Fire

Company. The students pretended to be firefighters

and use the fire hose, tour the station, see the trucks

and all the tools as well as learn about all the gear and

how the firefighters sound while wearing the masks!

Annual Partnership Highlights Around the District

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Penn Valley Elementary

Snipes Farm & Education Center - With funding

from a PPP Mini-Grant, Penn Valley Elementary

partnered with Snipes Farm & Education Center

to present a healthy eating program to the

kindergarteners of Penn Valley. In addition to

teaching the students about eating a variety of

healthy foods, the farmers of Snipes Farm

brought samples and taught the students about

eating a rainbow of colors.

Walt Disney Elementary

House Paws - Dr. Dana Koch - Dr. Dana Koch came to visit

Walt Disney Elementary’s first grade students on a couple of

occasions. She also shared three books that she wrote about

her therapy dog, Winston. She brought Winston to meet the

group. The students have an opportunity to read to Winston

and Dana. This helps them build fluency and confidence in

reading.

Quarry Hill Elementary

Bucks County Conservation District - The Bucks County

Conservation District, a new PPP partner, paid a visit to the

second grade at Quarry Hill to perform a play about the

migration of the monarch butterfly. The play went into detail

about the life cycle and the parts of a butterfly. The students

had a wonderful time and were able to ask questions after the

play.

Annual Partnership Highlights Around the District

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Charles Boehm Middle

The Artist’s Cellar - As part of a PPP Mini-Grant, Charles Boehm students

took part in a weekly book club to read and discuss the book, Wonder, by

R.J. Polacco. As a culminating activity, students visited The Artist's Cellar

and painted a picture based on the book. This partnership was a connection

between art and literature and was especially meaningful to our middle

school students at Charles Boehm where they focus on character education

across our curriculum.

Pennwood Middle

First National Bank & Trust Company of Newtown- In a partnership with First National Bank & Trust

Company of Newtown, eighth grade students were presented a lesson on credit reports, debit and credit

cards, loans, personal saving and checking accounts, and small business loans. Other topics addressed by Bill

Scheffer from First National Bank were: managing a budget, entrepreneurial opportunities, and career

opportunities. This was a great “real world” lesson for the students of Pennwood Middle School.

William Penn Middle

PECO – As part of William Penn’s PPP Mini-Grant award,

seventh grade students participated in a PECO Energy Audit.

Students surveyed the school facility by collecting data in

different locations in the building. Student lab teams executed

the school energy audit using light meters, flicker checkers,

digital humidity/temperature pen, digital waterproof

thermometers, and Kill-A-Watt meters. The students collected

and recorded data about air temperature, water

temperatures, light levels, types of lighting, energy used by

appliances, and more. After gathering data, students analyzed

their data to make recommendations for increasing energy

conservation William Penn Middle. All 7th grade science

teachers asked their classes (12 sections) to complete the

energy audit as an extension activity, during the studies of

Energy Conservation and Earth Week.

Annual Partnership Highlights Around the District

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Pennsbury High School

Drexel University - Please join me in congratulating the Pennsbury Sea Falcons Submersible Robotics Team, for winning 5 awards, including first place for overall Best Robotics Team at the Sea Perch Submersible Robotics competition, held at Drexel University. In the 10 years of the competition, there has never been 5 awards given to one team in one year, until the Sea Falcons. The team has also been invited to 2 STEM symposiums in May.

Charles Boehm, Pennwood and William Penn

National Aerospace Training and Research (NASTAR)-

Students from all three middle schools travelled to

NASTAR, and attended presentations on types of

engineering and technical careers for consideration,

including a tour of the commercial air and space

training and educational facility. Students were

enamored by the amazing aerospace equipment,

especially the functioning centrifuge, ejector seat,

flight simulator and hypobaric chamber. They were

able to ask questions about the world of aerospace

engineering and training. Students were especially

excited to watch a foreign air force pilot train for

combat and aircraft carrier landings.

District-Wide

Children Helping Children in Need- Once again this year, in

Partnership with the Pennsbury Partners program and the Levittown-

Fairless Hills Rotary Club, Pennsbury elementary schools held a food

drive, Children Helping Children in Need. Several tons of canned

goods and paper goods were collected to benefit families at the

Family Services Association Homeless Shelter.

Annual Partnership Highlights Around the District

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Successful District & School Grants and Sponsorships

The Partners Program is happy to announce another successful year with various grants awarded to the Pennsbury School District. Competitive and partnership awards** include:

Partner Funding Opportunity Amount

Davis Acura Sponsorship Pennsbury’s Odyssey of the Mind $6,000

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company

Young Women in Technology- Charles Boehm, Pennwood and William Penn and NASTAR Partnership

$1,200

Waste Management Environmental Education projects at 4 schools

$4,000

PECO Energy Grant Award William Penn partnership with PECO, The Franklin Institute and NEED

$6,000

Wells Fargo Bank Community Partnership $1,000

Library Services Technology Act (LSTA) Edgewood Library Grant $30,951

Kinder Morgan Foundation BCPAC Music Support $1,500

PA Department of Education – Farm to School Mini-Grant

Fallsington partnership with Snipes Farm & Education Center

$1,200

Partnership Funding/Sponsorships Dinner Program Ads for PPP Mini-Grants $7,400

TOTAL $56,551

** Also awarded, but not accepted, a $25,236 grant from the Bucks County Drug & Alcohol Prevention

Commission.

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PPP Mini-Grants

This year, the PPP Office awarded one mini-grant to each school that applied! Applications were reviewed by the PPP Advisory Board Committee, and the following eleven schools received sixteen PPP mini-grants for a total of $6,735.

Edgewood Elementary ($500):

Beth Golder – The Bright Space Project

Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary ($500):

Nancy VanDerBas – Children’s Musical Theatre After School Program

Fallsington Elementary ($435):

Kristen Cahill – Let’s Learn About Safety

Monica James – Fallsington Gardens

Sheila Miley – Fallsington Library Visit and Art Projects

Makefield Elementary ($500):

Fifth Level Teachers - 5th Grade School to Work Program

Oxford Valley Elementary ($500):

Cherie Lynne Kooker - Have you Filled Your Bucket Today?

Penn Valley ($500):

Sue Kline – Healthy Eating Program/Chick Hatching Program

Walt Disney ($1000):

Lorie Becker – Little Zoo on Wheels

Katie Duncan – Exelon Renewable Energy Education Center

Charles Boehm ($800):

Donna Bradshaw and Linda Brescia – Kids Helping Kids

Maria Gregory – “Wonder” Book Club and Painting Project

Pennwood ($500):

Linda Alampi – Career Connections (ITT Technical Institute, Bucks County Community College)

William Penn ($500):

Dianne Haley, Sue Maloney, Mary Miller, and Kristin Slota – William Penn Middle School Energy Audit

Pennsbury High School- East ($1000):

Frank Mayo - Career Fair Support

Jaclyn Pitt – The Aquatic Science Experience