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The Monday Memo Jan. 23, 2017
Volume 2, Issue 11
York City
School
District
McKinley motivates with ‘bling’ The McKinley Middle School
Academy shines more than ever with
the opening of the McBling Store! Sev-
enth and eighth graders show off their
hard work and achievement by earning
Bearcat Bling and the opportunity to
visit the McBling Store. Students can
spend their Bearcat Bling on a variety of
small items, such as candy, chips, Ga-
torade and headphones. There are also
bigger-ticket items like basketballs,
phone cases and chargers. The students
are more motivated than ever in their
classes to earn the Bearcat Bling!
Bearcat Bling is given to stu-
dents who are making good choices
exemplifying PRIDE values all over the
school. The students are beyond excited
to have the opportunity to earn Bearcat
Bling and visit the McBling Store. Teach-
ers and staff have seen great changes
among all the students all around. Stu-
dents are working harder than ever!
Every Friday morning, the
McBling Store opens to the students.
Mr. Bailey and Ms. Gehris gather the
students and take them to the store.
Students are coming with simply one or
two Bling to more than 10 recently
earned Bling. Inside the store, the stu-
dents enjoy shopping and we see noth-
ing but smiles as they leave.
With the students’ motivation
running high with the potential of earn-
ing a Bearcat Bling, the success in the
classrooms continues to grow each day. The McBling Store is a great step in
right direction for our 7th and 8th grade
students!
— By Ashley Gehris, McKinley
7-8 Learning Support Teacher
On January 12, 1st and 2nd grade Davis K-8 students from
Ms. Mulrooney, Ms. Johns and Ms. Buczek’s classes went on
a field trip to the Hershey Museum to experience the
Hershey story. The children painted with chocolate and
learned about the factory and its employees in the
1900s. The children experienced many of the hands-on
activities the museum offers. Everyone had a great time.
The weather outside has not been so frightful, but the walls and classroom doors of Devers K-8 look so delightful! Staff and students
in many grade levels took on the challenge of creating winter bliss at doorways to “ring in” the cold, snow, and fun season around the
holidays. Snowmen, snowflakes, and cold weather animals were at the top of the decorating list. Devers K-8 participated in A Winter
Wonderland door-decorating contest as a way of using their creativity, but also to WIN!. All the doors and halls were so wonderfully
decorated that the special judges had difficult decisions to make. The favorites were the fifth grade hallway, room 4, room 26, room
11, and the office door. So there might not be snow outside, but there are snow and snowflakes inside our school.
We are developing additional opportunities for students to
be leaders at Ferguson K-8. The Safety Patrol/Junior
Monitors team will consist of a voluntary group of older
students helping younger students be safe throughout the
school. We will have Safety Patrol assist in crossing
students, monitoring students in the café and the bathroom
(near the café), assisting in the line movement from lunch to
class, as well as assisting with the cafeteria ladies in the
morning (picking up after breakfast). It will promote and
reinforce key social skills such as leadership, communication
and modeling positive behavior consistently. It’s another
positive incentive for positive students who want to make a
difference.
Puppets make learning fun at Goode
Giving back is routine at Jackson Jackson K-8 is in the midst of the Penny Brigade to raise money for the Dollars for
Scholars Program.
Earlier this year, Jackson students and staff also held a dress down day to raise funds
for cancer research.
Starting in February, Jackson K-8 will be participating in Student Series this year with the Pennies for Patients program! The pro-gram is scheduled to start Feb. 2, and the educational assembly to kick things off will be Monday, Jan. 30 at 9 a.m. The Amazing Kid and Super Doc assembly utilizes superheroes to explain both LLS and what cancer is. A script will be sent to the school in advance of the date of the assembly, so staff and students are able to review and select a few students to be in-volved. This program supports the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and helping to cure blood cancers! These are just three ways the great stu-dents and staff not only work to be suc-cessful in the classroom, but work to help
others by raising funds for worthwhile causes. Jump Rope for Heart will be coming to Jackson in the spring, so as people can see Jackson K-8 is working all school year long to give something back to the community and think about others. — Dr. Philip Livelsberger, Jackson Principal
Walk into room 44 at Goode K-8 and you might be asked, “What
would Moe and Zippy do?”
Students in Mr. David Donaldson’s Life Skills/Learning Support classroom use puppets, affectionately named Moe and Zippy, as a means to teach problem-solving skills through role play. The puppets also help students develop expressive language and cop-ing skills, which can be used in every-
day situations.
The puppets are used along with activity cards. The cards have a color-ful picture on front that illustrates a potential problem, thus setting the stage for students to use the puppets and improvise their own solutions to the problem presented in the picture. The back of the activity cards include ideas to help guide classroom discus-sion — although most of the time students are able to find solutions on their own — and a chance to prac-tice appropriate behavioral and verbal
skills through puppetry.
One such scenario has best friends Moe and Zippy arguing over who gets to play with a certain toy in the class-room. Class discussion includes look-ing at the faces of Moe and Zippy, and getting clues as to how they are feeling. Next, the class brainstorms
solutions about how Moe and Zippy can solve their problem and still remain friends. Students then volunteer to act out
a solution using the puppets.
So, while the use of puppets encourages students to use their words and good manners to solve problems, it provides the teacher an easy mnemonic when con-flicts arise, “What would Moe and Zippy
do?”
And best of all, using puppets to teach social skills is plain fun! Just ask the stu-
dents in room 44.
H. Penn empowers students to write
McKinley building student leaders
The seventh grade students in Ms.
Janel Sager’s ELA class recently wrote
essays on gun violence.
Expository writing is something that is
taught in middle school ELA classes,
though most middle school students are
reluctant to write, especially when they
know they have to write a five-
paragraph essay.
The Junior Leadership Program, offered through the after-school program at McKin-ley, is designed to develop and discover leadership qualities among the students. The program is voluntary and staff can recom-mend to the site manager those children who they recognize as having leadership potential. This is not forced upon the stu-dent, but staff will ask for the students to
volunteer.
The program is a rigorous one, but we take measures to ensure that students are not set up for failure.. All training will be commensurate to participants’ age and ma-turity. The areas that they will be trained in are problem solving, team building, coping skills, being role models, public speaking, communication skills, written and spoken
clarity and the importance of body language
A lot of the training will be in the class-room, but most of it will be done through practical application. The children will learn the art of debate. They’ll be given instruc-tions verbally and in writing to see how well they can follow them. They will in turn give
instructions verbally and in writing to others to
test and improve their communication skills.
They will also be challenged to solve problems beyond their ability to solve to see how they handle frustration. We want them to learn cop-ing skills. They will do individual and group pro-jects. At some point in the program, the chil-dren will be expected to become role models instrumental in helping staff. They will even be asked to assist with running aspects of the after
school program.
Finally, at the end of the program, all partici-pants will be required to articulate to the site managers why they entered the program. We’ll
also recognize their accomplishments.
Again, the leadership program is designed to be rigorous but also fun! Kelsey Castillo was the first to earned her leadership t-shirt. The front of the shirts are printed with the leadership mission statement, “Lead By Example,” which the students developed. Their names appear on
the back.
— Laurie Freeland, McKinley after
school site coordinator
York City Schools offering mental
health services
York High senior earns award from Human Rela-
tions Commission
York High grad carves out exotic,
uncertain career
The students were taught how to
hook the reader with their opening,
establish a thesis statement, and to add
details to their topic sentences. The
paper was set up with a cause and
effect format.
Since the topic of gun violence is at
the forefront of many urban kids’
minds, especially those who live here in
York City, Ms. Sager felt the topic
would be easier to understand and write
about. For many students, gun violence has
affected them first-hand, so they were able
to use their own life experiences to incor-
porate into the paper.
Students who thought they could not write
were able to write superior essays that
were several pages in length.
Teachers weigh in on looping By DR. BILL MCNELIS
With January winding down, I’d like to
update you on the progress of our looping
teachers across the district.
It seems like only yesterday that I visited
the traditional looping classrooms in the
fall and heard comments from teachers
like: “The benefits of having routines and
expectations already established opens the
door for more academic time. The bond
between families and teacher remains
strong, and allows more time to focus on
‘new’ students' families. I already know my
students' levels, their strengths and weak-
nesses, and this knowledge allows me to
customize my lessons to meet their needs.
I am so much more vested in their growth,
academically, as well as socially.” (Ms.
Cathy Bard, 2nd Grade at McKinley K-8)
These comments are being reiterated by
several other traditional looping teams, as
I have been meeting with them throughout
the months of December and January.
Comments from teachers in modified
looping classrooms were also positive, and
I am hearing many of the same comments
four months later. For example: “I really
am enjoying the schedule so far. I feel
refreshed after my first group leaves and
am energized to teach another new
group.” (Ms. Wendy Watters, Grades 3 & 4
ELA and Social Studies at Ferguson K-8)
Another teacher had a similar comment
and noted: “I am enjoying the looping
experience. I'm able to move at a steady
pace with my sixth graders building upon
the academic foundation and positive,
classroom culture we established last year.
The fifth graders have adjusted well to
switching classes and are demonstrating
responsibility with the handling of materi-
als. I'm excited to see the academic growth
from both groups this year.” (Ms. Talyn
Smiley, Grades 5 & 6 at McKinley K-8)
One more comment expressed by several
teachers noted that “having students from
the previous year is an advantage because
you have already started building a rapport
with the students and their parents, and
this rapport will just continue to become
stronger the second year. A final benefit is the trust you build with your co-worker
and colleague to have honest conversations
about students who may be successful in
one room and not the other. Together we
can develop positive strategies and bounce
ideas off of each other for classwork or
projects to see how we can create some
interdisciplinary lessons.” (Ms. Angela Cona-
way and Ms. Kollene Stauffer, Grades 5 & 6
at Davis K-8)
Are There Any Concerns Identified
by the WAVE 1 Looping Teams?
When asked to share some of the con-
cerns they have experienced, Ms. Conaway
and Ms. Stauffer reported: “On the con
side, 5th and 6th graders are caught in the
“middle” because we have two different
dress code policies and two different re-
port card policies. Additionally, the ELL
and Special Education services are spread
thin to support the students for the cor-
rect amount of time and/or correct assign-
ments.” They concluded by noting:
“However, we both feel the looping is a
great step for staff and students that bene-
fits will be seen in a couple of years.”
Professional Learning Community
Meeting Structure
An interesting component of the looping structure is the teacher teaming and the
Professional Learning Community (PLC)
structure incorporated this year. I asked Ms.
Monica Handler what she thought of the
structure and she said: “I would say that
PLCs run a lot smoother due to the fact
that we have multiple ways to pair up. One
day we all meet as an entire team, the next
day we meet as a content area, and the
third day we meet with our looping partner.
The communication and camaraderie is
better.”
Future Looping Events
As you can see there are many positives
about the looping structure becoming evi-dent as we have moved through this school
year. However, as we plan for converting all
of the district Grades 1-6 classes to either
the traditional or modified looping structure
on August 21, 2017, there are still many
questions that need to be answered.
The Administrative Looping Leadership
Team has begun to identify those questions
and is in the process of finding solutions.
Please stay tuned to future Monday Memos
for ongoing information regarding this initia-
tive.
In conclusion, I would like to recognize all
of the WAVE 1 looping teams, their princi-
pals and assistant principals for all of their
efforts in having this initiative start off with
such positive results.
Date Looping Activity
March 8, 2017 WAVE 1 and WAVE 2 Looping Group Training
May 10, 2017
(Tentative – Possible DL training takes precedence)
WAVE 1 Looping Team – Evaluation Year 1
WAVE 2 Looping Team Group Planning
May 24, 2017
(If needed)
WAVE 1 Looping Team – Evaluation Year 1
WAVE 2 Looping Team Group Planning
August 14 – 18, 2017
Day - To Be Determined
WAVE I and WAVE 2 Teams plan for the First
Two (2) weeks of School:
August 21, 2017 All Grades 1-6 classrooms across the district will
implement Traditional or Modified Looping
Page 6
By ROB BERNHARD Human Resources Director
Over the past year, politics have
garnered a lot of the nation’s at-
tention, and many of the players
haven’t cast the political profes-
sion or the process in the most
positive light.
However, despite everything
that’s cast a dark cloud over one
of the most sacred of institutions,
and has provided tons of fodder
for the political pundits and come-
dians alike, there are still many
positive things being driven by our
legislators within the hallowed
halls of Washington, D.C. and the
capital of the commonwealth in
Harrisburg. One such effort is the
driving force behind this article.
In 1984, Congress created the
Crime Victims Fund and it is based
on the simple premise that money
the government collects from
those who commit crimes should
be used to help those who were
the victims of crime. Pennsylvania
Republican Congressman Scott
Perry has taken up the matter
along with a bipartisan team of
other state legislators by introduc-
ing the Fairness for Crime Victims
Act.
A statement released by the con-
gressman’s office explained that
from 2010-2014, this fund collect-
ed $12 billion, but allocated only
$3.6 billion for crime victims, with
Congress using the other $8.4
billion difference for other spend-
ing.
If adopted, Perry’s bill would see
to it that payments from the fund
would rise by millions of dollars
and would be dispersed by the
U.S. Department of Justice to
states’ victims’ service groups such
as Children’s Advocacy Center,
Some politics serve our children
domestic violence shelters and rape
crisis centers to support victim com-
pensation and assistance programs.
York County is fortunate to have a
Children’s Advocacy Center, whose
mission is to reduce the trauma of
child abuse investigations; foster pro-
fessional collaboration and coopera-
tion; and provide education advocacy
regarding the prevention of child abuse
within the community.
As a member of their Board of Di-
rectors, I see firsthand statistics of the
positive impact this organization has
on the children of the York communi-
ty when faced with situations that may
involve child abuse.
Congressman Perry held a news con-
ference to unveil this proposed legisla-
tion (H.R. 3984) at the York County
Children’s Advocacy Center on Tues-
day, Jan. 17, 2017, which I had the
honor of attending.
Local officials on hand at the news
conference included York County Dis-
trict Attorney Tom Kearney, York
County Assistant District Attorney
Tim Barker and Dauphin County Dis-
trict Attorney Ed Marsico. Also pre-
sent was U.S. Senator Pat Toomey’s
State Director, Bob DeSousa.
Interestingly, Congressman Perry’s
bill is similar to legislation (S. 1495)
introduced in the U.S. Senate earlier
this year by Senator Pat Toomey.
If adopted, disbursals from the fund
would rise from $745 million in fiscal
year 2014 to $2.6 billion in fiscal year
2016. Funds for victim service groups
such as Children’s Advocacy Centers,
domestic violence shelters, and rape
crisis centers will virtually quadruple
compared to 2014 levels.
Representing the York County Children’s Advocacy Center, from left
to right: Bill Greenawalt, Betty Markle, Nichole Lehr, Kim Duffy,
Congressman Scott Perry, Deb Harrison, Jason Loper and Rob
Bernhard.