The Monthly Snapshot
The Electronic Newsletter for LES and NPL
Important Announcements
- For grades 3 - 12, the third quarter ended on Tuesday, March 26.
- There is no school on April 5, and April 8 is a make-up day. Currently, there is no school on this day as well, making a four - day weekend.
- There is no school on April 19 and April 22, making another four - day weekend in April.
- PSSA tests for students in grades 3 - 8 are fast-approaching. The ELA PSSA will be on April 16, 17, and 18. The Math PSSA will be April 23 and 24, and the Science PSSA will be on April 30 and May 1.
NPL bocce takes fourth place in State Tournament
The team traveled to Hershey, PA on Wednesday and competed in the first round of the tournament during the early evening. Here, they went 1-1 as they won versus Shaler but lost to Henderson. On Wednesday morning, they were one of the eight teams to earn playing time at the Giant Center. In their rematch against Henderson, they squeaked out a win, 7-6, by getting a four-point frame at the end of the game. The Mounties then lost a close game to Bald Eagle, 4-6. Bald Eagle went on to win the State Championship.
In the Bronze Medal game, the Mounties lost to Sun Valley, 7-4. Sun Valley won the State Championship last year.
Team members of the NPL bocce team included Jacob Bergstrom (junior), Brandyn Choplosky (senior), Ethan Delker (senior), Dutch Litzelman (junior), Chase Person (junior), Eva Rice (sophomore), Darrian Snyder (freshman), and Taylor Thompson (senior).
The coaches were Miss Flook and Mrs. Mattison.
Congratulations to the players and the coaches on an outstanding two-year run! Also thank you to the parents for all of the support.
To learn more about bocce and unified sports, please visit the SPECIAL OLYMPICS PENNSYLVANIA website.
Winter changes into spring
The kindergarten class has been having fun experimenting with snow and ice. We've been making predictions and then completing short hands-on experiments to test our theories. The one surprise was that the room temperature heat in our closet melted snow faster than the little sunshine coming in the window on a cloudy day! Another great detail noticed by the students was the patterns created by the salt crystals in the melted ice. After the ice was melted, they were excited to check out all of the interesting patterns made by the salt in the water.
Another change in the primary wing of the school is me, Mrs. Foley! I've had a really great time getting to know the students and create my own space and routine from all of the wonderful supplies and materials left for me. This is a fantastic group of kids, and it is great to see them learning and growing. I look forward to a wonderful rest of the school year!
Morning mentors connect, engage, and promote positive school climate
Each morning, our primary hallway at LES is filled with students interacting through a cross grade level reading partnership.
Grade 6 students have been paired up with reading buddies in grade 1 or 2 to be skilled listeners while their partners read books, leveled passages, or stretch and decode words.
Mrs. Schmouder, Ms. Mattocks, Mrs. Kutz, and Mrs. Williams collaborated on this initiative using the guiding principles of Southern Tioga School District. The goal is to help grade 6 students become mentors and grades 1 and 2 students to improve their reading accuracy and fluency.
Each grade 6 student was trained how to be a good friend and an active listener for a primary reader. Sometimes the partners may even share breakfast as they are listening and reading. The nurturing environment has been a very positive experience for all students involved.
Cross-curricular connections promote learning in grade 7
By Mrs. Litzelman
Our grade 7 team of teachers has been meeting and discussing ways to integrate cross-curricular concepts.
In grade 7 English, the students read the novel called Day of Tears. This book is about the largest slave auction in history, and it is the story of how it affected the slaves. The slaves were auctioned off and sold to other plantations and split from their loved ones. The slaves wanted to escape with their loved ones and head to freedom in Canada.
In grade 7 math, the students were learning about proportions, so they used an atlas to see how many miles it would be for the slaves to travel from Kentucky to Canada. The students used the scale on the atlas and proportions to calculate the actual miles that the slaves would have traveled to freedom. After the students did this manually, they then used Google Maps to see how close their calculations were. The students even went to the gym, used the treadmill, and saw how long it would take each individual student to walk a mile. Students used proportions again to figure out how long it would have taken them to travel by foot from Kentucky to Canada.
This project was an eye-opener for many of the students. They also used Google Maps to compare their walking distance to the estimated time given through Google Maps. The idea was to put each student into the shoes of a slave traveling to freedom.
The cross-curricular connections seemed to magnify the students appreciation of reading Day of Tears as well as reading maps and using proportions to calculate miles, times, and steps.
Grade 7 students experience sugar shock
By Mrs. Bubb
While studying food labels, the students in grade 7 family consumer science class learned about the amount of sugar present in popular drinks today.
The students were asked to bring an empty container to school of a drink they had consumed. They then learned about the labels on the containers including the ingredients in each of the drinks. The students really did not understand the amount of sugar until we converted the grams of sugar into teaspoons and then measured the amount into a drinking glass. They displayed the drinks with the least amount of sugar to the greatest amount.
This activity really made sugar consumption real to them, and some of the students made the statement that they are never drinking soda again. After the activity was over, I was asked to combine all of the glasses assuming that someone could possibly drink all of those drinks in day. Even I was shocked when the glass was almost full of sugar!
Preschoolers have much to offer high school students
By Mrs. Bubb
NPL’s preschool program is busy as ever with ten wonderful preschoolers! Even though the students taking the course plan lessons for the preschoolers, the preschoolers themselves teach our students so much about child development, teaching, and parenting.
The students in the child development class are amazing at caring for the children, as well as planning learning, art, and gross motor activities. Some of the highlights for this year include preschoolers finding all the letters of their name to make a snowman, making furry penguins with cotton balls, painting feet to create a moose, making trail mix to eat for snack while studying birds, performing the Hokey Pokey, marching using rhythm sticks, and dancing to the Baby Shark song.
NPL FBLA heads to states
Twelve NPL students are heading to states on April 6 to compete in various business related topics. Emma Williams, Sam Shedden, Courtney Bower, Elizabeth Williams, Kylee Kirch, Emily Clark, Anna Paulhamus, Diana Dawes, Cory Sponenberg, Jenna Harris, Emma Harris, and Katie Nealen all qualified in their events to earn an opportunity to qualify for nationals in San Antonio, Texas.
As a new adviser, I really did not know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised that our FBLA members appreciate the organization and take competing very seriously.
This year, the NPL FBLA also had the chance to work with grades 7 and 8 in a project called Build Your Legacy. The students spent three days creating a business plan and building a prototype that was later presented to a panel of judges. It was like having the TV show Shark Tank in our school for a day. The ideas were awesome!
Video productions staff works to improve quality of broadcast
By Dr. Brion
Throughout the year, the video productions staff at NPL has explored ways to expand their knowledge of audio and video technology.
Each morning, they present a live broadcast of the school announcements which has given them a platform to examine the effects that different microphones, lighting scenarios, and green screen backgrounds can have on their productions. Both technology and location can have a tremendous impact on the quality of the video and sound, and they are experimenting with different spaces to see how that can affect sound and lighting. This has included not only spaces within our building, but these students also volunteered to run the sound and light booth during the Hamilton-Gibson production of The Crucible in October.
As you can see in the videos below, the production quality in their December video improved dramatically from their work in September, and they continue to look for ways to apply the latest technology to their work within the video productions course.
My experience with Poetry Out Loud
Poetry Out Loud was both a frightening and exciting experience that helped me gain new knowledge and become more confident in public speaking.
This started off when Mrs. DiFuccia mentioned Poetry Out Loud one day in class and asked if any of us were interested in trying. I raised my hand because I love poetry and didn’t mind public speaking. I also thought it was going to be easy to memorize two poems. But the ones I chose were challenging and hard to figure out the right rhythm. So I spent a lot of time rewriting and speaking them out loud in different ways, until I found a way I felt was right.
As the big competition came closer, I got busy and kept forgetting about it. Yet, the first two poems stuck in my head and the third one came easier to memorize and recite. Every English class I would have to recite them out loud once to the class. This was intimidating, because they were my fellow peers, but it helped me with the pressure.
Then it was the big day to present. I was really nervous and there were more people there than I thought there was going to be. But when I was sitting with the other competitors I started to relax, because they were all nervous too. As I was on stage, I realized I couldn’t see the crowd over the light and spoke the poems as if I wrote them myself. I felt so confident and every time I walked off the stage, I couldn’t help but to smile. Even though I didn’t get first or second place, it was still a great experience, and I definitely look forward to doing it again!
Making math attainable
Getting young adults to realize that they are going to use the math they are learning today in the future is hard. Math is hard, and then when letters are added, it’s really hard! So let’s make math attainable.
My one math class is taking their math concepts of perimeter, area, and volume and making real word problems. Because we all enjoy drama shows, we have perimeter down to a science. Every police show sets up a perimeter. Finding the area of rooms we want to carpet or paint has helped us understand area. To understand volume, we are going to design a container to market. We need to have the best volume for the value of our product. Unique containers are always fun to design!
My other math class is calculating which is the best cell phone contract. It won’t be long until they have to pay their own cell phone bill! They have to look at the contracts and compute the best one using the monthly service fee, unlimited/limited data, and price per minute. They are always shocked that sometimes the one with the lowest monthly service fee isn’t always the cheapest monthly contract.
It is always interesting when students start to see that they are using their math in real world situations.
Read, set, sew!
This year a sewing club was introduced as an activity for Mountie Minutes.
This activity has allowed students to plan and prepare the making of specific items such as a pillow case and table runner. Students are also involved in conversation with each other and helping one another.
Their current project is an apron with “yo-yo” flowers. Students are in the process of sewing their flowers (yo-yos) and then will be sewing aprons together.
Pictured below on the left is a finished pillowcase. The image on the right shows the beginning and end stages of the “yo-yo.” Rickrack will be added as the stem, petals, and leaves will be the “yo-yos.”
Background Credit
In this project, the students constructed Kente cloth paper weavings that were inspired by African folk art textiles.
Upcoming Event Calendars
Liberty Elementary School
Email: jeglesia@southerntioga.org
Website: http://www.southerntioga.org/?page_id=249
Location: 8622 Route 414, Liberty, PA, United States
Phone: 570-324-2521
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LES16930/
Twitter: @Lbrty_Principal
North Penn - Liberty Jr./Sr. High School
Email: jeglesia@southerntioga.org
Website: http://www.southerntioga.org/?page_id=193
Location: 8675 Route 414, Liberty, PA, United States
Phone: 570-324-2071
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NPLiberty
Twitter: @Lbrty_Principal