Oley Valley School District
Digital Newsletter - March 2019
Elementary School News
Facebook: www.facebook.com/OleyValleyES/
Twitter: @ElemOley
No Place for Hate
The Oley Valley Elementary School participates in No Place for Hate. In order to earn the No Place for Hate school designation, we must submit and complete three projects that are checked by our No Place for Hate Representative. We have recently completed our first project and have submitted it for approval.
In this project, students watched an “I Am Human” video clip distributed via Schoology. Students were able to watch independently, as a class or teacher may read the book aloud (copies were available from the school library). Teacher introduced the I Am Human collage project stating:
"This year, we will be creating an avatar collage showing each student in our school as a black-line avatar."
You will design your own avatar to represent you and the features that make you unique. Each avatar picture will include a statement about how you can support or celebrate diversity in our school community. We will trace over our avatars with black crayon or marker to make a final copy that will be displayed in our school hallways and remind us of the ways we can support our beautiful diversity.
Students will discuss “I Am Human” and our collage project. They began by defining the words unique and diversity and were answering questions about what are some things that make you unique? Is it okay to be different? Is it okay to have friends that aren’t exactly like us? We gathered all the avatars and created our collage that will generate great conversation for the next month!
Book Fair
Middle School News
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OleyValleyMS/
Twitter: @OleyMS
Congratulations to this year's Geography Bee Winners!
All 7th and 8th grade students participated in the annual National Geographic Bee in their social studies classes in early January. Students in each social studies class competed in 7 rounds of questions and the top scorer moved on the final school wide round. 13 students participated in the final round of the bee. The 3rd place winner was Karlee Howard. The 2nd place winner was Kirsten Batschelder. The 1st place winner was Rachel Short. Congratulations to these top geography students.
Seventh Grade present their final projects for STEM class.
Two sections of seventh grade students pictured here presenting their final project, designed, built, and operated a production line prototype using Vex Robotics and LEGO Mindstorms components. The line included a conveyor belt, robotic production equipment and featured motors, sensor and automation coding. Students agreed that, “It wasn’t easy. It was a lot of work, but in the end it was really satisfying to see it run.” Each trimester students learn about automation and robotics through exploration projects featuring the engineering design process. STEM class, taught by Mr. Daniels, is based on curriculum developed by Project Lead the Way (PLTW) and is specifically presented in middle school to engage students and build excitement for the career pathways available in the high school.
Eighth Grade students experience manufacturing.
Eighth Grade students visit Palmer's Candies!
Holiday candy came a little early this year! As a capstone STEM class activity, students got to see production first hand and meet some of the wonderful people working to make our favorite products here in Berks County. Recently, a group of 8th grade students visited Palmer’s Candies factory in Wyomissing. They toured the plant as pounds of sugar and cocoa became chocolate bunnies and other beloved holiday candies.
Middle School students work together with local manufacturing companies to produce a commercial.
STEM in the Valley extends beyond the classroom to offer clubs and competitions to interested student groups. Among these opportunities are the What’s So Cool About Manufacturing? (WSCM) commercial competition. Middle school teams from each school in Berks and Schuylkill counties are paired with local manufacturing companies to produce a commercial that defines the company’s mission, products and impact in our region. Our student team included Cenora Grim, Carli Ronco, Mayven Small and Tetje Williamson who worked with Brian Fadrosh, Personnel Coordinator and William J. Straccia III, Owner and President of Electro-Space Fabricators in Topton, Pennsylvania to produce our entry to the competition.
WSCM is a statewide program designed to engage middle school students in educating our region on the amazing opportunities, advancements and success of local manufacturing. This year the Berks/Schuylkill Chapter of WSCM included a team from every middle school in Berks and Schuylkill counties and gathered over 150,000 online votes for favorite video. Votes are cast by the public and each team and school community takes an active role in publicizing their entry and recruiting votes. Thank you to everyone who helped with the production, marketing and voting for our team this year!
Oley Valley Middle School Drama Club Presented...
Spelling anyone?
Middle School Spelling Bee
This year's middle school spelling bee, held on Wednesday, March 13th, was quite a nail-biter, running longer than most bees in recent memory!
The bee included contestants from three grades: sixth graders Joseph Adelson, Ryan Cahill, Dominick Davis, Dylan Kauffman, and Chase Parisan; seventh graders Ivy Bell, Erin Day, Vinny Dick, Lauren Habakus, and Lorelei Obst; and eighth graders Zoey Hamilton, Kaydance Vogelei, Anna Weidner, and Jeron Zimmerman. Eighth grader Hannah Lanphear was absent.
After ten rounds of competition, seventh grader Erin Day defeated returning champion Jeron Zimmerman; Erin's winning word was deliberately. Special thanks to Mr. Marks and our judges: Mrs. Boyer, Mrs. Anoia, and Ms. Jagielski. Also, thank you to the middle school Student Council (provided prizes) and all of the middle school ELA teachers!
-Ken Bagenstose
High School News
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oleyvalleyHS/
Twitter: @OleyValleyHS
Devin Stark and Mr. Jeffrey Dietrich
Trent Heflin
Krystal Arroyo
Berks County Intermediate Unit's Art Show
Oley Valley High School's Devin Stark, Krystal Arroyo, and Trent Heflin have earned special recognition at Berks County Intermediate Unit's annual art show, hosted by the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading.
Devin placed 1st in the category of wheel-thrown pottery and also won the Stanley G. Seltz Award for Outstanding Achievement in Design and Craftsmanship - an award granted very selectively by the Reading-Berks Guild of Craftsmen. Krystal placed 2nd in the category of printmaking. Trent created an ink painting that will be featured on a Fast Lane Art billboard - a related program organized by the Berks Arts Council.Mrs. Wellman's Class
Mrs. Wellman’s class practiced employability skills at the Crowne Plaza Hotel this month. Students completed a variety of jobs in the kitchen, ball rooms, and laundry room. The students enjoyed refilling salt and pepper shakers and sugar caddies. They swept back hallways and vacuumed the ballrooms. Students also sorted and folded laundry and linens. They practiced setting a ballroom table and sorting dishes in the dish room.
Kiss the Sheep?!
Mrs. Saenger was the winner and had the pleasure to kiss a sheep. The FFA had a contest going to see which staff member had the most food items donated by the students to the Oley Valley Food Pantry.
Oley Valley Music Rocks!
Oley Valley High School Presents the Second Annual Mosaic Concert
This year was the 2nd annual Mosaic Concert, presented by the Oley Valley High School Music Department. This year’s concert, which has been in the works since October, was made up of 25 different performances, spread over two acts, and included all ensembles in the school, including marching band, choir, jazz band, orchestra, concert band, men and women’s choirs, and so many more. Over 200 students participated in this exciting show of light and sound, which was performed two nights in a row. Mrs. Lynch and Miss Stewart are incredibly proud and thankful for the hard work and dedication from the students, parents, community, and the other building faculty during preparing and performing this concert.
Congratulations to the winners of the Archery Tournaments!
Mr. Coldren and Mr. Fennelly held an Archery Tournament during Lynx period 1st semester in December. Two to three students are selected from each of our PE classes to participate in a 16 person single elimination tournament.
The winner first semester was Dan Turchi( left w/Hill shirt) and runner up was Luke MacDonald (right).
The 2nd semester winner for our Archery Tournament in March was Koen Schultz(right) and the runner up was Zach Trace(left-white drawstrings).
They were both close finals.
WorldQuest Team does it again! Super! Awesome!
The Oley Valley High School Academic WorldQuest Team is incredibly thankful to have been able to compete in the Local Academic WorldQuest competition at Albright on February 26th 2019. We are even more excited to have been able to win the competition for the 6th consecutive year and 9 times over all. Our team is incredibly grateful to the district administration and teachers who prepared us for such competitions throughout our academic careers. We would like to offer special thanks to Mr. Small our advisor, coach, and mentor. Without your support and help we would not have been able to succeed and defend our title. Team Blue and Team White had such a wonderful time competing at Albright College. Albright College was an incredible host, and provided a great venue for the competition. The staff was delightful and incredibly nice. Oley Valley High School’s Academic WorldQuest Club is looking forward to competing at the national competition in Washington DC and hopefully bringing back a national title for the Oley Valley School District.
Article submitted by Erin Dillon
Oley Valley High School Drama Department Presents......
“NEWSIES” The Broadway Musical
Showtimes:
April 12th @ 7:00 pm
April 13th @ 2:00 pm & 7:00 pm
RESERVED SEATING -- ALL TICKETS $10.00
Online: www.shotix4u.com; Phone: 484-336-9404
Tickets available at the door
FFA Events
The Oley Valley FFA Celebrates National FFA Week
From February 18th-22nd, the Oley Valley FFA partook in the national celebration of the FFA organization via many fundraisers and activities.
Throughout the week, the Oley Valley FFA chapter collected goods for the Oley Valley Food Bank for the “Smooch A Sheep” event, where high school students placed goods in teachers’ boxes, who were in turn nominated to kiss a sheep. The chapter also posted FFA emblems throughout the hallways in the high school and middle school, which students were able to exchange for a beef stick or veggie straws. Meanwhile, elementary school students participated in a coloring contest.
Our chapter kick started the week with Tractor Colors Monday. On Monday night, the Yellowhouse Hotel hosted its annual dinner fundraiser for our chapter. Thank you to all community members and supporters who enjoyed a delicious meal to benefit our chapter. A generous percent of your bill was donated to the Oley Valley FFA!
On February 19th, high school students were encouraged to show their patriotism via Red, White, & Blue Tuesday. Members delivered apples and mushrooms to the staff and faculty at each school to show their appreciation for their continuous support.
We celebrated National FFA Week throughout the remainder of the week on Flannel Wednesday, Camouflage Thursday, and Blue & Gold Friday.
Our chapter continued to show our appreciation for the Oley Valley faculty and community members on Friday, when we served breakfast from 6:30 to 8:30 am to all administration, faculty, school board members, \and ag advisory board members. If you missed the FFA Faculty Breakfast this year, we encourage you to join us next year for eggs, Christman’s apple sausage, pancakes, Mrs. Youse's fasnachts, and so much more.
Finally, on Saturday night, the chapter hosted a line dancing event at the Oley Valley Fair Center from 7:00 to 10:00 pm. Please join us again next year.
Athletic Update
Athletics
For Athletic Schedules & Information visit www.ovlynx.org
*Please note that you can sign up on the athletic website for schedule change notifications which will send you an email or text message to alert you as soon as games are postponed.
For directions on where Berks County High Schools and Middle Schools play their home contests please visit www.bciaa.org. Please note that clicking on an opponent on www.ovlynx.org will only give you directions to the opposing school’s High School, which is not necessarily where they play their contests.
Follow the Athletic Department on Twitter @OVLynx for varsity scores and live playoff updates each season.
Congratulations to the Boys Bowling Team for finishing as the runner-up at the BCIAA Team Tournament!
Congratulations to Zain Wegman (100 Breaststroke, 200IM) and Camille Christman (100 Breaststroke) for qualifying for the PIAA District 3 Swimming Championships!
Congratulations to Elijah Karas on placing 2nd at the Sectional Wrestling Tournament and advancing to the 3A District 3 ChampionshipTournament.
Congratulations to the following Winter athletes who received BCIAA All-Star recognition:
Boys Basketball –
Matt Knowles – Division 3 Honorable Mention
Christian Moreno – Division 3 Honorable Mention
Girls Basketball –
Lindsey Williamson – All-Division 3
Tessa Freed – Division 3 Honorable Mention
Wrestling –
Travis Lambert – All-Division 1
Max Wehr – All-Division 1
Kyren Turner – Division 1 Honorable Mention
Bowling –
Aaron Fisher – All-County
Brandon Gust – All-Division 2
Travis Reichard – All-Division 2
Sport signups for the Fall 2019 season will take place during lunch periods at the end of April. ALL students who plan on playing a sport during the 2019-2020 school year are strongly encouraged to pick up a physical packet during the Fall Signups (even if only planning on doing a Winter or Spring sport) and attend the 2019-2020 sport physicals which will be held on Monday, June 3rd. More information on scheduling your appointment for the school sport physical will be included in the 2019-2020 physical packet.
Important upcoming dates:
April 11th – Spring Athletic Booster Club Meeting – 7:00PM HS Library
May 13th – Spring Athletic Booster Club Meeting – 7:00PM HS Library
May 31st – All-Sports & Senior Athletic Banquet – 7:00PM HS Auditorium
June 3rd – 2019-2020 Sport Physicals – 6:00-9:00PM
2019-20 Coaching Vacancies:
HS Assistant Boys Soccer
MS Head Boys Soccer
MS Assistant Boys Soccer
HS Head Girls Basketball
HS Assistant Wrestling
Oley Valley Community Education Foundation Annual Stone Auction Fundraising Event
The event will take place on Saturday, May 18, 2019, at Rolling Rock Building Stone, Inc. 40 Rolling Rock Road, Boyertown, PA. Bidding will start at 9 AM. There will be 200 lots of stone and landscaping products or sale at the auction. The Foundation will receive a substantial portion of the profits from this event.
Oley Valley Community Education Foundation
OVCEF seeks nominations for Distinguished Oley Valley Alumni and Distinguished Service to the Oley Valley School District Awards
The Oley Valley Community Education Foundation (OVCEF) is seeking nominations for the 2019 Oley Valley Distinguished Alumni Award and for the Distinguished Service to the Oley Valley School District Award.
One or more awards are presented each October to alumni for outstanding achievement in their professions, humanitarian efforts, volunteerism, or service in their communities, or a single exceptional achievement. One or more awards may also be presented to individuals who have provided unselfish service to the Oley Valley School District.
Award nomination forms are available at the Oley Valley High School Office, 17 Jefferson Street, Oley; the OVCEF website www.OleyValleyCEF.org; and the OVSD website www.oleyvalleysd.org. The deadline for receipt of nominations is June 30, 2019.
School Board Reports
Elementary School March Board Report
Elementary staff and students presented the STEM / LEAP programs to both the Oley Valley Business Association and Pennsbury School District. Both groups were impressed with the opportunities offered to elementary students through the STEM / LEAP programs.
The elementary school held parent-teacher conferences the evening of March 7th and during the day on March 8th.
Family Fitness Night took place on Thursday, March 14th. The evening was filled with family participation in different fitness activities and presentations by several community groups. Thank you to the OVES staff who organized this fun event.
The Trout in the Classroom program is a big success at the elementary school. Currently we have eighteen Brooke Trout that will be released in early April into Furnace Creek behind the high school.
Congratulations to team Kook K’NEX Kreators who took 2nd place and “Fan Favorite” in this year’s K’NEX challenge at the BCIU. The team competed against 46 other teams from Berks County in the elementary division.
The annual Fourth Grade Sleepover was held on Friday, March 15th. Thank you to the PTO for organizing this fun event.
Elementary students from the Safety Patrol and Student Council will help at the annual Pot Pie prep on Saturday morning.
Middle School March Board Report
· Congratulations to our OVMS January Students of the Month. They are:
o 8th Grade: Mary Carl and Lukas Ursoi
o 7th Grade: Sean Hoffman and Faith Meals
o 6th Grade: Kayla Matteoli and Caleb Teeters
· The Middle School is happy to be partnering with the Oley Valley Community Education Foundation in receiving the support and sponsorship of our Students of the Month Program. The new signage is being installed in all three buildings this week!
· On the evening of Thursday, March 7, the middle school held spring parent-teacher conferences.
· On Wednesday, March 13 the middle school held our annual school-wide spelling bee. This year’s event lasted longer than any previous event! No speller was eliminated through the first five rounds. We almost ran out of words! This year’s winner was 7th grade student, Erin Day. She outlasted defending champion and 8th grade student, Jeron Zimmerman. All of our spellers were outstanding!
· The 2019 Spring Musical was a success! This past weekend, the middle school did our own interpretation of the Dr. Seuss book “Horton Hears a Who.” Congratulations to the entire cast and crew!
·The PTSO is presently doing sign-ups and preparations for our second annual Rock-a-Thon. The Rock-a-Thon is an overnight 7pm Friday to 7am Saturday event on March 29 and 30. This is a fund-raising event that helps the PTSO support our middle school class trips. We already have about 25 high school students signed up to support this event.
· March 29 is our final early dismissal in-service day of the school year.
· Preparations and training are underway as we inch closer to assessment season. The PSSA window is unique this school year as it wraps around the Easter weekend. PSSA schedules are posted on the district website and parent information letters are being sent home this week.
High School March Board Report
Our faculty spent our recent professional Development time on looking at the research of building positive relationships with students. This has been a focus since the start of the school year for OVHS. Staff participated in an activity focusing on this topic.
FFA week was wonderful and took place during the week of February 18th. The annual breakfast was held on February 22nd. Sheep also made an appearance to OVHS on Febraury 26th.
BCTC student recognition events took place on Friday 2/22. It was great to honor our BCTC students.
HS Mosaic Concert took place on 2/28 & 3/1. Students & Staff did a terrific job! It was two nights of really special performances!! Awesome job to everyone involved in this project!!
OVHS students submitted their Berks Best applications on or before 2/28.
K-12 Parent/Teacher Conferences took place on 3/7/19. It was nice to continue our work to strengthen our teacher and parent partnerships.
Upcoming Events:
3/24- Pot Pie Dinner
3/28- End of 3rd Quarter
3/29- 1 PM dismissal & Staff Development
4/12 & 4/13- HS Musicial
Community News
Important Upcoming Events
3/23/19 – Community Pot Pie Dinner Prep
3/24/19 – Community Pot Pie Dinner
3/26/19 – ES PTO Meeting, ES Cafeteria 6:30 PM
3/29/19 – ES Movie Night 7:00 PM
3/30/19 – Community Pot Pie Prep (Snow Date)
3/31/19 – Community Pot Pie Dinner (Snow Date)
4/4/19 – ES Spring Picture Day
4/4/19 – FFA Banquet
4/5/19 – ES PTO Bingo Night
4/5/19 – 7th and 8th Grade Dance 7:00PM – 9:30PM
4/10/19 – School Board Combined Committee Meeting 7:00PM
4/11/19 – Athletic Booster Club Meeting
4/12/19 – HS Spring Musical, HS Auditorium 7:00PM
4/13/19 – HS Spring Musical, HS Auditorium 2:00PM & 7:00PM
4/15 thru 4/18/19 - SNOW MAKE UP DAYS – SCHOOL IS OPEN
4/19 & 4/22/19 - SCHOOLS CLOSED, EASTER HOLIDAYS
4/25/19 – ES Art Show 6:30PM – 8:00PM - Rescheduled to 5/30/19
4/26/19 – PSSA ELA Testing Window Closes (Grades 3-8)
4/26/19 – ES School Store
4/26/19 – ES Movie Night
4/26/19 – HS Fashion Show, HS Auditorium 7:00PM
4/29/19 – PSSA Math & Science Window Opens (grades 3-8)
4/30/19 – ES PTO Meeting, ES Cafeteria 6:30PM
Oley Valley School District Board of Directors
David R. Pollock Jr., President
Stephen S. Burns, Vice-President
Carl J. Kubitz, Jr., Treasurer
Eric Clemmer, Member
Robert A. Heckman, Member
Darrell L. Markley, Ed.D., Member
Ralph Richard, Member
Stuart Salen, Member
Dawn Zackon, Member
John M. Stott, Esquire, Board Solicitor
Maria H. Jones, Board Secretary, non-member
Oley Valley School District
The Oley Valley School District is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Educator who fully and actively supports equal access for all people regardless of Race, Color, Religion, Gender, Age, National Origin, Veteran Status, Disability, Genetic Information or Testing, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity or Expression and prohibits Retaliation against individuals who bring forth any complaint, orally or in writing, to the employer or the government, or against any individuals who assist or practice in the investigation of any complaint, or otherwise oppose discrimination. Compliance issues/questions should be directed to the Office of the Superintendent.