The Art Show was held on Thursday, May 19th. The turnout was outstanding, and it was great to see student talents on full display! Ms. Paula Conrow, Ms. Olivia Roberts, and their students created a wonderful evening for the arts.

After a three-year COVID hiatus and on the heels of winning our fifth-consecutive NAMM Award for Best Communities in Music Education, the music ensembles from Skyview and Arcola made their return to represent Methacton at the annual Music in the Parks festivals and had amazing success! On May 13th, the Arcola choruses and on May 20th the Skyview performing groups competed in the Dorney Park Festival, while the Arcola Band, Jazz Band, Orchestra, and String Ensemble competed on May 20th in the Hershey Park Festival with the following results:

Skyview Band: 1st place and Superior Rating

Skyview Orchestra: 1st place and Superior Rating

Skyview Chorus: 1st place and Excellent Rating

Skyview All: Esprit de Corps award for excellence in presentation, sportsmanship, and demeanor.

Arcola Select Choir: 1st place and Superior Rating

Arcola Girls Ensemble: 1st place and Excellent Rating

Arcola Chorus: 1st place and Excellent Rating

Arcola Band: 1st place and Superior Rating

Arcola Jazz Band: 1st place, Superior Rating, Overall Best Middle School Jazz Band of the festival

Arcola Orchestra: 1st place and Superior Rating

Arcola String Ensemble: 1st place, Superior Rating, and Overall Best Middle School Orchestra of the festival

It is transition time here at Arcola and we are very excited about hosting the 6th Graders from Skyview for their tour of the school on Wednesday! Our students from the National Junior Honor Society will be facilitating the guided tours.

A new opportunity has opened up for our 8th Graders in 9th Grade. If they have an interest in taking a technology elective next year, Principles of CAD (Computer Aided Design) is now available. If they would like to add this to their course requests, have them send Mrs. Berardelli an e-mail requesting that add or stop in and see her.

There is a lot of negativity in the world today, and it is hard to get away from it. We (and our children) are constantly exposed to things that can bring us down via TV, social media, and the internet. As parents/guardians, anything we can do to bring positivity into our children’s lives can have a powerful impact. One way to accomplish this is through words of encouragement. They are essential to helping our children stay motivated and see their worth and ability. Contrary to what we may believe, studies show that children become less motivated when they receive praise, but encouragement works because it builds them up and helps them understand how their actions influence the world around them. Here is an article about encouraging words/phrases that every parent/guardian should teach their children:

https://www.powerofpositivity.com/encouraging-words-teach-kids/

A Math Virtual Helpdesk is available to students who need assistance Monday through Thursday from 7:00 - 8:00 PM. This is a great opportunity for students who need assistance! Please see the attached flyer for details.

The Methacton Backpack program is up and running in each of our buildings and serves district families in need with supplemental food and non-food items. This program helps create food stability for breakfast and lunch when our students are not in school. Weekly, the program sends home a bag of breakfast, lunch, and snack items for the weekend and holiday breaks for students in Kindergarten through 12th grade. Families who qualify for free/reduced meals are eligible to participate in the Backpack Program. Please contact the school counselor if you would like to register your child for the Backpack program.

In order to continue to sustain the program please consider contributing and donating items to the program. Items can be donated directly to the school or you can place an order through Amazon and ship it directly to our school from the Amazon page.

Methacton Backpack's Amazon Wishlist

Please remember to select, “No Weekend Delivery.”

What items can I donate?

Individual Serving Food Items

· Single serving boxes of milk (shelf-stable/not refrigerated)

· Mini cereal boxes

· Canned soup (cans with “pop tops”)

· Oatmeal Packs or cups

· Applesauce and fruit cups

· Chef Boyardee, Hormel, Dint Moore Meals, etc.

· Easy Mac Cups

· Cracker packs

· Sweet snacks: Fruit snacks, pudding, granola bars, individual bags of cookies, etc.

· Salty snacks: pretzel packs, goldfish crackers, popcorn, etc.

· 100% juice boxes