Oley Valley School District
Digital Newsletter - January 2022
Invention Convention
5th graders in Ms. Gardecki’s science classes recently completed a unit on engineering where they learned all the steps of the design process. Students were challenged to think of a problem they have either at home or at school, and how they could possibly solve that problem. In small groups they worked to come up with a design and build a prototype of their invention or innovation. Once all redesigns were completed they filmed persuasive videos explaining what their design was, how it worked, and why it was needed. All students were engaged and did an amazing job with this project.
One group of students, Grayson Cogan, Evan Murray, and Cort Peifer, realized that a problem in all of their classes that they wanted to solve was how to help students sit properly in their chairs. Since kindergarten they have witnessed students falling off their chair as a result of leaning forward or back on it and they wanted to come up with a device that would prevent that from happening. Together, and through several redesigns, they built The Chair Lock - a chair that has a base which prevents it from tipping over and therefore keeping the student safe from falling!
Their design & initiative was so impressive that Ms. Gardecki approached them with the possibility of entering The Chair Lock in the PA Invention Convention competition. They worked after school to film an “elevator pitch” and write a detailed explanation of their invention and submitted all their documentation to be judged in the middle school category. They recently found out that they were chosen as a finalist and will be competing against 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders from all over Pennsylvania in the statewide competition taking place in Hershey, PA on February 8th. Good luck Grayson, Evan, and Cort!
Alumni Speaker
Full STEAM Ahead…..!
Seen here, 7th graders in STEM class welcome 2022 by showing off their work. All 7th graders experience one trimester of STEM class. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, (Art) and Math. In 7th grade, students study Automation and Robotics, a challenging project-based course where students build engineering projects and code robots. STEM classes help prepare our students for a new world in which ALL jobs will have technology demands. The STEM courses offered in our Middle School are designed to fit with the STEM courses in the high school, giving students a wide variety of STEM-technology pathways to consider.
Archery Tournament
Congratulations to the winner and runner up in our Archery Tournament held during the Lynx period on December 21. The winner was Ty Yerger (Penn State shirt ). Runner up is Nate Fatkin.
The 16 student tournament consisted of students from Mr. Fennelly and Mr. Coldren's Phys. Ed. classes during the 1st semester.
FFA…Food, Fun, & Awards at Farm Show
This year was the 93rd annual Mid-winter FFA Convention at the Harrisburg Farm Show Complex. Each year, many FFA students get to travel to Farm Show and explore the complex center. The Farm Show is a way to portray agriculture in different ways and to help inform people who come to visit. It shows different parts of the industry and how it goes “from field to plate.” They have equipment exhibits, animals, and businesses as well. Many types of farm animals are shown there like cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, goats, and rabbits. The majority of the food served at the Farm Show is produced by Pennsylvania Farmers. The food is a big hit like creamy milkshakes and delicious French fries, but also things like lamb, or fried cheese cubes and a variety of mushroom dishes. While we were there many members visited the butter sculpture, which is made completely out of butter. The theme of the butter sculpture was “Harvesting More Together.”
Our chapter entered two displays for the Farm Show. One was a landscape exhibit that a few of our members put together. The theme was “Down on the Farm” and they received third place. We also entered a window display board informing people about wildfires. It was titled “Burning Up Over Wildfires” and the board received 5th place.
Lastly, the FFA MidWinter Convention started at 2pm and this year’s state officers performed the FFA’s opening ceremony and then the PA Secretary of Agriculture, Mr. Russell Redding welcomed everyone. This year we had 9 members receive their jackets. Eleana Arrowsmith, Tate Yerger, Wesley Hoffman, Robert Kowalski, Natalie Baum, Bailey Hornig, Leah Walters, John Allmendinger, and Nigel Patches all earned their FFA jackets. The students earned their jackets from the PA FFA Alumni Association by writing an essay about what the jacket means to them. We also had three members receive their Keystones Degrees. The Keystone Degree is the highest FFA degree that a member can receive from the Pennsylvania FFA Association. It is based on leadership, chapter involvement, academic achievement, community service, and completion of an SAE with $1,000 earned or invested or has a minimum of 300 hours completed. Addison Arrowsmith, Sarah Berger, and Kendall Rohrbach earned their Keystone Degrees and received their keystone chains to wear with their FFA official dress. Congratulations to everyone who received awards and jackets at the Farm Show.
Article written by Lily Hetrick
Biomedical students utilize their lab techniques in a creative art project Alternative title: Science + Art + Math in Biomed program
Before winter break, students in the PLTW course Medical Interventions participated in a lab workshop called Micropipette Art in order to get ready for an upcoming DNA Microarray simulation. In this workshop, students needed to demonstrate their micropipetting skills by designing their own art project with specific criteria. They had to use 3 different color water droplets, use 5 different volumes staying within the range of 500-1000 microliters, and maintain a ‘drop register’ to keep track of their colors and volumes. Check out their creations!
Lab workshops are common in Medical Interventions because it gives students an opportunity to practice and fine-tune their motor skills when using delicate scientific equipment. So far this year, the Biomed students completed workshops on micropipetting, growing bacteria, using the aseptic technique, and making agar for gel electrophoresis and Petri dishes.
Poetry Out Loud Contest
On Thursday, January 13th, nine students competed in Oley Valley High School’s Poetry Out Loud contest. The annual competition is open to all students in grades nine through twelve. The 2022 contenders included Kaylee DeLong, Kyra Dragan, Cheyenne Endy, Charlotte Fisher,
Allison Hassler, Megan McElderry, Jaela Mulholland, Corbin Teeters, and Sophia Touti.
This year’s competition was precipitated by an exceptional presentation from Mrs. Marci Nelligan, the Poetry Out Loud regional contest coordinator; and Mr. Dominique Jordan and Ms. Tina Ortiz – both poets who perform at various venues. Mr. Jordan and Ms. Ortiz, along with Mr. Terian Mack (a poet/painter/musician and educator), served as judges for the contest. Mr. Kallis and Mr. Mast also volunteered as accuracy judges.
Each student had to memorize and present two poems from a list of possible choices. Performing “A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky” by Lewis Carrol and “Curandera” by Pat Mora, Charlotte Fisher won the contest and will represent Oley Valley at the regional level competition. Cheyenne Endy, a sophomore, earned second place, and Corbin Teeters, a senior, earned third.
Fisher commented, “Being a part of the Poetry Out Loud competition has really opened my eyes to a new side of being on stage. I’ve been in many different types of performances for the theater department, but I’ve never performed poetry on stage. When performing poetry, it’s just you, no props, no costumes, and it’s all about how you can express the poem through your voice. From participating in the Poetry Out Loud competition, I’ve realized that this is something that I love to do and will continue.”
Many of the students who presented experienced performing on stage for the first time. Hassler stated, “This was an amazing opportunity to push myself out of my comfort zone. Mrs. Kallis and the incredible judges ignited a passion for poetry in me that I didn't know I had. I believe this competition was the start of something bigger for the other competitors and me, and I am so thankful for everyone’s encouragement.”
Any student who would like to participate in the future is encouraged to see Mrs. Kallis, the POL coordinator for Oley Valley High School.
Congratulations
Congratulations to eleventh grade student Samatha Malone! Her watercolor painting was selected to be showcased at the BCIU this school year. Every year the BCIU selects one artwork from each area high school to be showcased in their boardroom. This years theme was "Architectural Design in My School and Community", and Sam decided to do a painting of a very well known building right here in Oley Township.
LYNX EXPRESS
The Lynx Express served Chicken Noodle Soup and Toasted Cheese Sandwiches to 14 staff members who had preordered at the Oley Valley High School on January 21, 2022. This was quite an adventure for the students. They prepared the soup ingredients by washing, peeling and cutting the vegetables a few days before making the actual soup. Then on the day, they had fun putting all the ingredients together! Students are learning life lessons on how to plan ahead, make changes and socialize. The actual application of spreading butter on the bread, flipping sandwiches on a griddle, and putting the soup into containers were new areas for these students. The best part was seeing the excitement from the customers as they received their food. Quite a few customers expressed how good the meal tasted! Thank you to all who participated. We plan to have another soup and sandwich day in the near future!
NASA/IPAC TEACHER RESEARCH PROGRAM
High school teachers and students continue doing real astronomy research
despite the global pandemic.
In many ways, January 2022 is not a typical January. Most years, we announce at the
winter meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) that the current class of
educators from the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP) has
graduated, and a new class of NITARP educators is starting up.
However this year the January AAS meeting was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Nevertheless ... NITARP carries on!
The graduating NITARP educators started their work just before the global COVID-
19 pandemic in January 2020. NITARP has been running for more than a decade,
and a lot of our teams’ work is done remotely, so the program was able to continue
through the COVID chaos.
Central to the NITARP experience, though, are trips to visit the California Institute of
Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, CA to do intensive in-person data analysis and to
the winter meeting of the AAS to present their results. The NITARP group that is
finishing worked through all of 2020 and 2021 in the hopes that they would get to
travel to Pasadena or to the winter AAS meetings in January 2021 or January 2022.
But the teams did not get to travel in summer 2020, January 2021, summer 2021, or
January 2022; the first three of these meetings were held only with remote
participation, while the January 2022 meeting was cancelled entirely.
Despite the unprecedented challenges of a global pandemic and “telecon fatigue,”
the teams persevered and managed to finish several posters on their work. (They
also presented intermediate results at the January 2021 online-only AAS meeting.)
At the moment, they are hoping and planning that they will be able to present this
work at the June 2022 AAS meeting in Pasadena, CA, although no one can predict
what twists and turns may arise as the pandemic continues.
Concurrently, the new educators selected for the 2022 class had hoped to meet their
new teams at the January 2022 AAS meeting. These teams have met each other
online via teleconference software and are now getting started on their own
projects. We are nothing at NITARP if not adaptable! It will be challenging to work
entirely without having met in person, but we will make it work.
From NITARP’s early years through the 2022 class, a total of 131 educators from 39
states have participated or will participate; this year sees our first participant from
Vermont. NITARP works with educators because, through them, NITARP reaches
thousands of students per year with information about how science really works,
what NASA does, and the wealth of astronomy data that is freely available to the
public.
Here are the teams that were prepared to present posters at the January 2022 AAS
meeting. These teams began work in 2020 and continued through the pandemic into
2021.
2020/2021 team working with Dr. Varoujan Gorjian (JPL/Caltech):
• David Strasburger (Concord Academy, Concord, Massachusetts) – mentor
teacher for the team
• Neal Boys (George S. Parker High School, Janesville, WI)
• Alyssa McElroy (Houston Middle School, Amarillo, TX)
• Raghida Sharif (KIPP NYC College Prep High School, Bronx, NY)
• David Temple (Longview High School, Longview, TX)
This team used variability at optical and infrared wavelengths to study the size of
accretion disks around supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies called
active galactic nuclei (AGN). The infrared light curves were obtained from NASA’s
Near-Earth Object Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) satellite’s all-
sky catalog. The optical light curves were obtained from the ground-based Zwicky
Transient Facility (ZTF). The optical light from the accretion disk is reverberated
(absorbed and re-emitted) at infrared wavelengths by outlying dust. The difference
in time between changes in the optical and the same changes in the infrared indicate
the separation between those two light-emitting regions, giving the size of the
accretion disk. At the conclusion of their effort, they had identified several
promising candidates that seemed to show optical light being reverberated in the
infrared.
2020/2021 team working with Dr. Luisa Rebull (Caltech / IPAC):
• Vin Urbanowski (Academy of Information Technology & Engineering,
Stamford, CT) – mentor teacher for the team
• Robert Anderson (JL Mann High School, Academy of Mathematics, Science,
and Technology, Greenville, SC)
• Brandon Rodriguez (Crescenta Valley High School, La Crescenta, CA)
• Benjamin Senson (James Madison Memorial High School, Madison, WI)
This team looked for young stars in a region called IC417, the Spider Nebula. They
continued work begun by a 2015 NITARP team, which looked for young stars here
using infrared excesses. In 2020, they picked up where the 2015 team left off,
including new young star candidates from the literature, and adding some very
intriguingly red stars from a somewhat overlooked portion of IC 417 called the
Nebulous Stream (NS) which is most obvious in the mid-IR (3.6 and 4.5 μm). In
2021, they continued their assessment of these candidates, settling on 710 of them
as likely young stars, 512 of which they are fairly confident are legitimate young
stars. They also began exploring the optical and IR variability properties of these
young star candidates (in ZTF and NEOWISE, respectively), finding that a bit more
than half of them are significantly variable.
All of their posters are available on the NITARP website right now.
https://nitarp.ipac.caltech.edu/event/55-pseudo-AAS-2022
The 2020/2021 educators will now go on to conduct at least 12 hours of
professional development for their colleagues in their schools and communities, at
the local, regional, and national levels, online and in-person.
NITARP is announcing today the 2022 class of educators and their teams, as follows:
2022 team working with Dr. Luisa Rebull (Caltech/IPAC):
• David Friedlander-Holm (The Bay School of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA)
– mentor teacher for the team
• Rita Ciambra (Peoples Academy, Morristown, VT)
• Kathy Gustavson (GLAS Education, Walworth, WI)
• Mary Swigert (Jupiter Community High School, Jupiter, FL)
• Ethan Van Winkle (Southeast High School, Lincoln, NE)
2022 team working with Dr. Varoujan Gorjian (JPL/IPAC):
• Olivia Kuper (North Greene High School, Greeneville, TN) – mentor teacher
for the team
• Jeff Benter (Tri-Valley CUSD #3, Downs, IL)
• Janine Bonham (Oley Valley School District, Oley, PA)
• Anna Karsten (Lincoln High School, Lake City, MN)
They plan to present their results, with their students, at the 2023 AAS winter
meeting to be held in Seattle, WA.
IPAC, based at Caltech, in Pasadena, CA, is leading this program. These teams use
archival data from the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA), the NASA/IPAC
Extragalactic Database (NED), and the NASA Exoplanet Archive, all of which are
based at IPAC, and other NASA archive holdings. Funding comes from the NASA
Astrophysics Data Program.
Oley Valley Business Association
Volunteers from the Oley Valley Business Association will be speaking to students in the Middle School regarding future careers they might be interested in.
Athletic Honors
Student Wellness: Supporting Students Through Challenging Times
The Foundation will be hosting its 3rd Community Outreach Event entitled “Student Wellness: Supporting Students Through Challenging Times”.
This will be an online Zoom event on Thursday, February 17th at 7 PM.
Guest speaker Mr. Matt Moyer will present on topics that develop, promote and advocate for a campus and community environment that creates, emphasizes and supports healthy choices and positive decision-making regarding health, safety and wellness. Learn the signs to look for in a student who is struggling and the resources available to you through the school district and outside private professionals.
A few of the topics that will be covered are:
· How to build better relationships with your children and with your child’s school.
· How relationships can help with children’s social media use.
· Some basic tips for helping your child navigate social media.
· How to recognize the signs that a child is struggling.
· The benefits of a full value contact for the family unit.
To learn more about the guest speaker visit his webpage at https://sites.google.com/view/from-the-principals-office-mat/home?authuser=1
More details regarding this event visit OVCEF’s website at www.oleyvalleycef.com/community-outreach-events.
We hope you will take advantage of this important information and participate in this event.
Zoom Meeting information is below:
Oley Valley Community Education Foundation is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Student Wellness: Supporting students through challenging times
Time: Feb 17, 2022 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 854 8448 0523
Passcode: 847810
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Attention Class of 2022 Students and Parents!
8 Scholarships Available
including 2 Technical & Skilled Trade Scholarships
Beginning Monday, January 3, 2022, the Oley Valley Community Education Foundation is pleased to provide the opportunity for our Class of 2022 Seniors to apply for 8 (that’s 2 more than last year) scholarships that total $19,500. Qualifying candidates are required to complete and submit a scholarship application, cover letter, 3 references and resume, to participate in an interview with a Foundation Board of Trustee and attend an interview recap meeting during Lynx period the first week of April 2022. Interviews will take place the evenings of Monday, March 21, 2022 and Tuesday, March 22, 2022 beginning at 7 PM.
Application submittal deadline is February 28, 2022, 11:59 PM.
To learn more about the 8 scholarship opportunities, visit our website at https://www.oleyvalleycef.com/scholarships
Education Grant in Action
Since its inception, the Oley Valley Community Education Foundation has provided over $578,300 in financial support to enhance the education opportunities for the Oley Valley students. In the past 5 years alone, the Foundation has funded $334,000 in grant requests. Once a year educators can submit grant applications for innovative and creative programs. As an Education Improvement Organization sanctioned by the Pennsylvania Education Improvement Tax Credit Program (EITC), our Foundation awards additional funding for teachers in the areas of science, math, social studies, music, art and leadership skills. All grants awarded enrich the existing curriculum of the students of Oley Valley.
The above graphics show the $75,000 in Education Grants funded by the Foundation for the 2021-22 school year.
The Foundation is currently accepting OV Education Grant applications for the 2022-23 school year.
To learn more about the grants provided by the Foundation, visit our webpage at https://www.oleyvalleycef.com/education-grants
2022 Zackon 5K Run & Walk Plus Fun Run
Registration is now open for the 11th Annual Zackon 5K Memorial Run & Walk to be held on April 9th, 2022
Come One, Come All!
This event takes place in the picturesque Oley Valley. The day-of-race registration table opens at 8 AM and the race begins at 9 AM. Fun Run will begin at 9:10 AM. Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you at the outdoor, family friendly event.
Annual Rolling Rock Building Stone Auction
Saturday, May 14th, 9 – 11 AM
Rolling Rock Building Stone
40 Rolling Rock Rd, Boyertown, PA 19512
Are you planning a hardscape project this summer? Join us for the 13th Annual Stone Auction at Rolling Rock Building Stone on May 14th from 9 - 11 AM where you will have the opportunity to bid on hundreds of assorted pallets of stone. All are welcome.
Thank you to Rolling Rock Building Stone for the many years of partnership on this event. Your continued financial support of the Oley Valley Community Education Foundation helps make a meaningful difference for our community.
For additional details regarding the Rolling Rock Building Stone Auction visit our webpage at https://www.oleyvalleycef.com/rolling-rock-stone-auction
Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness
For families and students who may experience homelessness, information on the McKinney-Vento Act is available on the Oley Valley School District Website or see below.
OVSD Homeless Liaison and Unaccompanied Youth Contact:
Mia K. Pietsch, M.Ed
Director of Student Services
Oley Valley School District
17 Jefferson Street Oley, PA 19547
610. 987.4100 ext. 1187 or ext. 1188
Please Visit the Sites below for information:
Oley Valley School District Board of Directors
David R. Pollock Jr., President
Robert A. Heckman, Vice President
Dawn Zackon, Treasurer
Maria Bogdanova-Peifer, Member
Zachary D. Fatkin, Member
Nancy Jackson, Member
Aaron Keller, Member
Darrell L. Markley, Ed.D., Member
Mary Lou Parry, Member
James Mancuso, Esquire, Board Solicitor
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.