The Band & Orchestra had their first spring concert since 2019. It was well attended, and the performances were outstanding. Well done, students!

On Friday, May 13th, the Arcola chorus members competed in the Music in the Parks Adjudication Festival at Dorney Park. All three chorus ensembles took first place in their respective competition categories. Combined chorus and Girls’ Ensemble both took first place with excellent ratings and the Arcola Select Chorus received the highest score of the groups with a superior rating and the first place trophy. The students were then rewarded for the year of hard work and effort by spending some time enjoying rides and activates in the park.

Congratulations to the Arcola Science Fair Team. The team competed in their last competition of the season over the last few days at Penn State. ALL team members earned awards. First place: Rasika Sivakumar, Adhara Reddy, Cameron Cauffman, and Aryan Ardeshna. Second place: Tarini Saravanan. Special thanks to Chelsea Lian and Abbie Roeger who were chosen to represent our region as technicians. A fun time was had by everyone!

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