The Donaldson Daily Published Every Nine Weeks Volume 1, Issue 1
November 1, 2013
DONALDSON STUDENTS NAME SCHOOL NEWSPAPER
Donaldson Elementary School students had a voice in naming their school newspaper, which will be published 4 times per year. During this democratic process, students were given the opportunity not only to vote for a newspaper title, but to also submit entries for the newspaper name. On September 17th, the Horizons students explained and distributed entry forms to each homeroom. Entries for possible newspaper titles were
Staff Writers: Andrea Russo Cerina Wichryk Francis Wichryk Kate Miller Rebecca Miller Mason Palaima Morgan Shansky
collected on September 24th. Horizon students narrowed down the submissions to the top 11 choices. Mrs. Vestal, school computer teacher, created an online Google document to vote. The top 11 choices were: Donaldson Elementary Newspaper, Donaldson News, The Donaldson Daily, The Donaldson Paper, Donaldson Times, Donaldson School News, Donaldson Daily News, What’s News at Donaldson, Donaldson Delivers Your News,
Donaldson Elementary Newspaper
19
9%
Nathan Gunderson
Donaldson News
28
13%
Editor-in-Chief: Mrs. Nolan
The Donaldson Daily
48
22%
The Donaldson Paper
7
3%
Donaldson Times
21
10%
Donaldson School News
16
7%
Reese Bielecki
Contributing Editor: Mrs. Koraido Editor: Mrs. Schultz
By Morgan Shansky
Donaldson Discoveries, and Donaldson Digest. 217 students voted and The Donaldson Daily received the most votes at 48. Students that submitted The Donaldson Daily were Ava Pustover, Logan Wickline, Kate Miller, Macie Wingert Ashton Kochhar and Lauren Nikora. Those students received a small token of appreciation and were highlighted on the morning announcements. Thanks to all who participated. See graph for more information.
Staff Writers Pictured In this issue:
Band Newbies PTA Fundraiser Pumpkin Carving D.A.R.E. DeMario‘s Weather
3 2 2 4 6
Teachers Receive Grants 5 Relay for Life Event 5 TOP‘s Grants Awarded 6 Open House National Denim Day
3 5
Olweus Assembly Pasta for Pennies
2 5
Math 24 Challenge Author Visit
2 2
PTA Walkathon Summer Movies
4 4
Independent Study Donaldson Delivers
4 6
Book Fair Asset Science
2 3
Freelance Writers: Ambria Slutiak Tommy St. Claire Audra Cook Gianna Giacomino
Donaldson Daily News
24
11%
What's News at Donaldson?
22
10%
5
2%
22
10%
Donaldson Delivers Your News Donaldson Discoveries
Top Row: Reese Bielecki, Kate Miller, Francis Wichryk, Nathan Gunderson Bottom Row: Rebecca Miller, Cerina Wichryk, Mason Pailama, Morgan Shansky, Andrea Russo
NATIVE AMERICAN PROJECTS ON DISPLAY By Cerina Wichryk
Native Americans have moved into Donaldson School! 5th graders have constructed Native American model shelters for a social studies project. The materials they used ranged from twigs to tape to sugar cubes. Students built: longhouses, wigwams, igloos, pueblos, hogans, and tepees. The students also typed descriptions of how they made their shelter, which tribes used that shelter, materials they used to build that shelter, and the name of the shelter. The homes were on display beginning on September 19th. This Native American shelter project has been assigned to the 5th grade students at Donaldson Elementary for approximately eight years. It originally was an extra credit project, but has since changed into an important part of this social studies lesson.
Students pictured from left to right:: Andrea Russo, Trinity Susanek, and Rebecca Miller
IT WAS BUCTOBER By: Morgan Shansky
Let‘s Go Bucs! Your 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates finally made it into the playoffs. They haven‘t been in the playoffs since 1992, which was 21 years ago. The Pirates had a great regular season with a record of 94-68. The 2013 Pirates worked very hard and got into the postseason playoffs. Every Bucco fan was very excited. It wasn‘t just
October- it was Buctober! Francisco Liriano was the starting pitcher in the Wild Card game vs. Cincinnati Reds to put them into the first series of the postseason playoffs. In the Postseason against the St. Louis Cardinals, 3 of the Pirates‘ games were at Busch Stadium, and 2 were at PNC Park. The Pirates lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 3 times, and won twice. The scores were 9-1 Cards., 7-1 Bucs., 5-3 Bucs., 2-1 Cards., and 6-1 Cards. The pitchers who started for the Pirates during the postseason were AJ Burnett, Gerrit Cole, Mark Melancon, and Charlie Morton. How did they do it all of a sudden? Clint Hurdle, Pirate manager, must have magic to have turned this ball team around! Donaldson Elementary school students and teachers supported the Pirates by wearing their Bucco gear to school on the days of the games. Congratulations Pirates! Pirates‘ 2nd baseman Neil Walker high-fiving the Pirate Parrot.
STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN FUNDRAISER By: Mason Palaima and Cerina Wickryk
The students of Donaldson School participated in the Reach Out to Family and Friends Fundraiser. This fundraiser was sponsored by Donaldson and all students K-5 could participate. The students completed packets with names and addresses of family and friends who could purchase or renew magazine subscriptions. Donaldson‘s profit was based on total magazine sales. The proceeds from the fundraiser may be used for school events, such as assemblies and field trips. Students received the
Family and Friends Fundraiser on September 9th. The representative was fondly nick-named ―Monkey Man‖ because prizes awarded in past years have been duck, frog, and monkey key chains. This year was the ―Year of the Monkey‖ and the monkeys came in many forms including: ghost monkeys, hula monkeys, spider-man monkeys, and 17 others! Magic Monkey
SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIRBy Morgan Shansky
Every year, Mrs. Schultz, the Donaldson Elementary School librarian, sponsors the Scholastic Book Fair. The book fair this year was open from Monday, September 16th—Thursday, September 19th. Each class had their own time to shop from MondayWednesday. The book fair was also open at Open House which was held on Thursday the 19th from 6:30-8:00 pm. Parent Volunteers were on hand to help out at the fair. Students were welcome to buy books at the fair, including Survivor 2, Happy Birthday Hamster, Chupacabra, and much more.The book fair also sold bookmarks, erasers, pens, pencils, and posters. Proceeds from the sale benefit
OLWEUS BULLYING PREVENTION PROGRAM KICKED OFF BY THE JOSH AND GAB SHOW By Reese Bielecki
OLWEUS ANTI-BULLYING PROGRAM KICKS OFF WITH THE Josh
Verbanets and Gab Bonesso are two Pittsburgh -based writers, performers, educators, and public personalities that entertained and informed Donaldson School students on September 23rd in a PTA sponsored assembly.
Gab Bonesso and Josh Verbanets
As part of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, together Josh and Gab presented a unique and unforgettable musical bullying awareness program. The Josh and Gab Show spotlighted their own unique humor- through singing popular music and talking about their own experiences. Students also got a chance to volunteer to be a part of the show. Josh and Gab have been featured on WQED television and in national press, and recently kicked off 2013 with an official partnership with the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum. Gab is best known as the host
24 game is being used in 4TH GRADERS PREPARE FOR MATH classrooms throughout the 24 TOURANAMENT world to help make students By Nathan Gunderson
become better thinkers and problem solvers. Wilson and McKee’s 4th grade students have also met to play the game. In the spring, 4th grade students will meet again for another round of play. Each building will chose their best three players and an alternate to represent their school at the district level tournament scheduled for Spring 2014.
On Wednesdays in October, an average of thirty-two 4th grade students gathered in the Donaldson LGI room to play the Math 24 game. Math 24 is a game that tests how fast you can add, subtract, multiply, and divide four numbers to get twenty-four. The Math 24 game was created in 1988 by Robert Sun. ‘’Knowing the answer is always 24 alleviates a classic brand of math anxiety— getting the right answer— and instead puts the emphasis on the process and patterns, what I like to call “the method behind the math,” says Sun. According to the Pictured from left to right, Ella 24 Game website, the Math Chandler, Ava Pustover, Rachel
Mamula, and Caroline Bachowski.
of American Eagle‘s AEO TV. She is also a frequent ‗‘best comedian‘‘ winner from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and a top 10 finalist at the New York Underground Comedy Festival. Josh is best known as the front -man of acclaimed rock band Meeting of Important People, received WYEP’s Top Local Artist Award in 2009 and is a published songwriter. His songs can be heard in television shows such as Keeping Up with the Kardashians, MTV’s- the Real World, Jersey Shore, and the Ghost Whisperer. Donaldson Elementary has been using the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program for the past 4 years.
you, meaning that the money helps pay for author visits and birthday books. The Scholastic Book Fair is always a huge success every year in raising money for our library and school.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” Confucius– Chinese Philosopher and Reformer (551 B.C.—479 B.C.)
5TH GRADE STUDENTS CARVE MATH OUT OF PUMPKINS By Cerina Wichryk On October 23, 5th grade students celebrated Pumpkin Day. Students brought in their own pumpkins. Parent volunteers cut open the pumpkins and 5th grade students scooped out seeds for a variety of math lessons such as estimating and determining the mode, mean, median, and range of their seeds. They also wrote poems about pumpkins. 5th grade teachers have been using this pumpkin project to reinforce these math concepts for at least 5 years which allows students to learn in a hands-on way.
AUTHOR VISITS SCHOOLS By Mason Palaima
The three elementary school librarians: Mrs. Schultz, Mrs. Howell, and Mrs. Medwick arranged for author Lindsay Barrett George to visit Donaldson, McKee, and Wilson schools. Every year a different author visits because the librarians want to give students the opportunity to meet a famous author in person. On October 25th, Ms. George talked about writing and illustrating her books. Students, with their parent‘s permission, purchased autographed copies of her books including: That Pup, Maggie‘s Ball, Around the Pond: Who‘s Been Here?, Alfred Digs, The Secret, My Bunny and Me, and others. Everyone enjoyed her visit. Happy reading!
Pictured top clockwise: Mrs. Morton, Alex Morton, and Anjali Vishwakarma, Olivia Crisanti, MacKenzie Cruise, Mrs. Sunseri, Ethan Cooper
Lindsay Barrett George+, Inside Mouse, Mrs. Schultz, and Outside Mouse
Volume 1, Issue 1
BAND NEWBIES
OPEN HOUSE A SUCCESS On September 19th from 6:30 to 8:00, Donaldson Elementary School held an Open House where parents could come and meet their child‘s teacher. Parents looked around their child‘s classroom, and explored the rest of the school. All the classes made projects for parents to see. Kindergarten classes drew pictures of themselves on the first day of school. First grade students made palm trees. In second
grade, Mrs. Hensler and Mrs. Bosenberg‘s classes made projects that told about how they got their name and what it meant, Mrs. Claus‘s class wrote about what they wanted to learn in the coming year, and Mrs. Stone‘s class made hermit crabs. In the third grade, Mrs. Augustin‘s class made owls, Mr. Demario‘s class made a bulletin board about weather, Mrs. Sekelik‘s class made self portraits, and
STUDENTS STUDY SCIENCE Donaldson Elementary School students are studying science through the ASSET stem education program. Asset is an acronym for: ―Achieving student success through excellence in teaching‖. This year Kindergarten will study Trees. First grade will study Weather and Living Organisms. Second grade will study Changes and Butterflies. Third grade will study Rocks and Minerals, Plants, and Chemical Testing. Fourth grade will study Physics of Sound, Magnetism and Electricity, and Land and Water. Fifth grade will study Variables, Mixtures and Solutions, and Motion and Design. The Trees unit will help kindergarten students understand trees and their place at school and in the community, and will also help them understand all plants. The Air and Weather module provides opportunities for first grade students to explore the natural world by using simple tools to observe and monitor chance. In the Organisms unit, first graders make and keep a woodland
By Rebecca Miller
By Kate Miller
habitat with pine seedlings, moss, pill bugs, and millipedes. The Lifecycle of Butterflies unit introduces second grade students to life cycles through the Painted Lady Butterfly for eight weeks. They also study the Changes unit where they learn about solids, liquids and gases. In the Rocks & Minerals module, third grade students explore the differences and similarities between rocks and minerals by investigating samples of these earth materials. They also discover what plants need to live and grow in the Plants module. The Chemical Testing unit introduces third-graders to the science of chemistry by exploring the chemical properties of sugar, alum, talc, baking soda and cornstarch. In the Physics of Sound module, 4th grade students learn to tell the difference between sounds made by dropped objects, how sounds can be made louder or softer and higher or lower, how sounds travel through materials and how
ists include Brett Kot, Amelia Wheatley, Anthony Snyder, and Julianna Schuler. The trumpeters are Nicholas Mimna, Nakayla Roberts, Mason Day, Jake Blunkosky, Grace Drinkhall, Riane Gontas, Ronald Matthews, and Alyssa Croco. Saxophonists are Braden Medved andSamantha Berthold, and the only mellophonist is Joseph Pustover. The fourth graders will get the spotlight twice this year. Their first concert will be the Christmas Band and Chorus Concert, which will be held on the 16th of December. The second concert is
Mrs. Barr‘s class made newspapers about themselves. Fourth graders in Mrs. Shaffer‘s class, Mrs. Buser‘s class, and Mrs. Ordich‘s class made collages about themselves, and Mrs. King‘s class made animal connect the dots. Mrs Koraido had a table where students could sign up to do an Independent Study Project. Open House was well attended by parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and siblings. sounds get from a source to a receiver. Students use stream tables in the Land and Water module to study how water affects land and visa versa. In the Magnetism and Electricity module they will explore properties of permanent magnets, learn the essential parts of an electrical circuit, construct electromagnets and a telegraph. In fifth grade, students will fling, float, fly and flip objects in the Variables module. In Mixtures and Solutions, students will learn about chemistry, and in the Motion and Design unit, students combine the physics of forces and motion with technological design. The geologist, Mr. Jeff Smith, (below) presents a program about geodes to 3rd graders
the Spring Band and Chorus Concert. Its date is yet to be determined. Be sure to mark your calendars for the upcoming concert to hear some rocking tunes!
Students pictured from left to right: at their band lesson: Sydney Watters, Nathan Gunderson, Rohan Penumetcha, and Mikie Crowe
RIDDLE OF THE DAY
What has three feet and no legs?
JOKE OF THE DAY
Why didn’t Superman know he could fly? He didn‘t know he had CAPE abilities.
is separated into two groups: four in each group, since there are a total of eight people. The flutist this year are Sierra Mangan, Nicole Nikora, Marianthi Halkias, Julia Prologo, Morgan Pichi, Rachel Mamula, Caroline Bachowski, Kaylie Stein, Emma Stone, Ella Chandler, Ava Pustover, Lauren Toulouse, and Jacob Rose. Those playing the clarinet are Christopher Morrison, Michael Darbous, Olivia Norris, Emilee Brown, Erica Prologo, Colin Rakolta, and Faith Miller. The percussion-
A yardstick
58 fourth grade students joined the Donaldson Elementary Band this year. Lessons started on the 16th of September, and are being taught by Mr. Hoffman, who has been teaching band for 28 years. Their first full band rehearsal was held in October. This year‘s band consists of four baritones, four saxophones, eight percussionists, eight clarinets, four trombones, one french horn, twelve flutes, and a WHOPPING fourteen trumpets. For lessons, Mr.Hoffman separates the students into groups according to instrument. For instance, the Percussion group
By Andrea Russo
Sergeant Bates teaches D.A.R.E. to 5th grade students
STUDENTS ATTEND D.A.R.E. By Mason Palaima Every year at Donaldson Elementary, Sergeant Bates teaches D.A.R.E. (Drug Awareness Resistance Education) to students in grades 1-5. Sergeant Bates visits because he wants to teach students how to stay away from drugs, why not to use drugs, to help someone who is getting bullied instead of being a bystander, and good decision making skills. He also teaches students about risks and consequences, telling and tattling, how to become good decision makers and how to be responsible and confident. Thankyou Sergeant Bates. ;).
PTA SPONSORS WALK-A-THON By Andrea Russo
On Friday, October the 18th, Donaldson‘s fourth Walk-A-Thon was held. Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students and teachers walked at the Donaldson Campus. The students that walked raised money for the PTA. The PTA will use that money for programs like field trips and assemblies. To raise the money, students asked family, friends, neighbors, and community members to sponsor them at the Walk-A-Thon. From 9:30 to 10:15 a.m., the AM kindergarteners
and 1st graders walked, the 2nd graders walked from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m., the 3rd graders and PM kindergarteners walked from 12:45 to 1:30 p.m., and the 4th and 5th graders walked from 1:45 –2:30. All were given a healthy snack. The PTA gave out 3 different types of awards. The top award was given to the student who raised the most money in the entire school. Nitya and Dhruv Tandon won in that category. Awards were also given to one student from every grade that collected
the most money. Those students were Nathan Athanas A.M. Kindergarten, Emerson Mirich- P.M. Kindergarten, Bryce Boros-1st grade, Julianne Brindle-2nd grade, Aidan Porter-3rd grade, Connor Giura-4th grade and Adam Crawford and Ethan Cooper-5th grade. The last award was for the class that collected the most donations. Mrs. Cartisser‘s AM Kindergarten class received that honor in the form of a healthy snack. The Donaldson Walk-A-Thon was a great success collecting $5,000 overall. Thanks to the PTA and everyone who walked and donated.
150 PROJECTS EXPECTED FOR INDEPENDENT STUDY By Cerina Wichryk
When you walk into the school, you will see a graph that shows the number of students signed up for Independent Study Projects. Beginning on September 19th at Open House, Mrs. Koraido began giving out permission slips for any student interested in completing an Independent Study Project. Students could choose their own appropriate topic for their project, and are asked to research their topic and create some type of display such as: a written report, a book with words and pictures, a video, a PowerPoint presentation, a demonstration, a concept web, a storyboard, a brochure, a diagram, an oral presentation or a scrapbook. When the students finish their project they will return them to school by December 6th. The students will present their projects to their class and then, give them to Mrs. Koraido. The students in Mrs. Koradio‘s Horizon‘s class will then summarize the students‘ presentations. The summaries will be read aloud on the announcements each morning. After that, the projects will be on display in the lobby between December 6th and 16th , and at the Band and Chorus Concert on December 16th for everyone to see, read, and learn about their topics. This is the 4th year that Mrs. Koraido has sponsored these projects. ―This is
the most we‘ve ever had. I am so proud of Donaldson students,‖ says Mrs. Koraido.
Owen Cassucio (left) and Sammy Ripple (right) check out the Independent Study Bar Graph on their way to class on October 3rd. The graph displays names of participating students.
SERGEANT BATES VISITS 3RD GRADE CLASSROOMS By Rebecca Miller In September, Sergeant Bates visited the classes of Mrs. Augustin and Mr. Demario. He spoke about what a police officer does and he talked about the important jobs of a police officer. Also, he showed the class how to put on handcuffs. This is the first year he has come to do this, but Mrs. Augustin says, ―I would love for him to come back next year.‖ The students in the classes of Mrs. Augustin and Mr. Demario compared and contrasted
SERGEANT BATES PRESENTS HALLOWEEN SAFETY PROGRAM By Andrea Russo Every year in October, a spooky assembly is held by Sergeant Bates, where he talks about Halloween safety. This year he came back with an updated slideshow, and talked about enjoying Halloween, but being extremely careful while walking through your neighborhood, and staying with an adult. Sergeant Bates has been showing Power Point presentations on Halloween
By Andrea Russo
was Mrs. Rukas‘ class, collecting 928 labels in all, and were given a special treat. Co chair persons Vicki Danzik and Michelle Hollyfield receive a check from the Labels for Education program based off the total number of Box Tops. Box Tops vary in value depending on what is noted on either the Box Top or label. For instance, if a label has a value of one, it equals one cent. As always, it is Donaldson students who benefit from this fundraiser! Thank you PTA and everyone who participated!
By Francis Wichryk
veyed, Despicable Me 2 re- Epic ceived the top honor, which Monsters U was my favorite too! See Despicable Me 2 graph for more details.
6
3%
36
17%
111
51%
Turbo
4%
Smurfs 2
26
12%
Planes
10
5%
Haven't seen any
19
9%
LABELS FOR EDUCATION CONTEST SPOSORED BY PTA DONALDSON DELIEVERS From October 7th through October 21st, it was a ghostly race sponsored by the Donaldson PTA to see who could collect the most Box Tops and Campbell‘s Soup labels through the Labels for Education Program. Every classroom was striving for first place as the students throughout the school collected these labels from 16 different products, including Bic, Campbell‘s, Danimals, Emerald, Glad, Pace, Pepperidge Farm, Pop Secret, Post, Prego, Spaghetti O‘s, Swanson, V8, V8 Splash, V8 V-Fusion, and Wolfgang Puck. School wide, 2,594 Box Tops were collected in all. The classroom with the most Box Tops and labels
safety for many years. In the past, Donaldson students have received color-changing glow sticks and lighted whistles to use on Halloween night while trick-or-treating. This year students received orange reflective slap bracelets. Thanks to Sergeant Bates for giving his time, D.A.R.E. (ing) to keep Donaldson students safe on this candy-filled Halloween night!
STUDENTS CHOOSE FAVORITE SUMMER MOVIE Donaldson students had the opportunity to vote on their favorite summer movie in the computer lab with the help of Mrs. Vestal. Mrs. Vestal created a Google document in which students were asked to choose their favorite movie. The six choices were Epic, Monsters University, Despicable Me 2, Turbo, Smurfs 2, and Planes. According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, where movies are rated on a scale of (bomb) to (classic). Monsters University, Epic and Turbo got three stars, Despicable Me 2 got three and a half stars, and Planes and Smurfs 2 got two and a half stars. Out of 217 students sur-
Sergeant Bates and Officer Buckle from Officer Buckle and Gloria, which the class read earlier this year from their reading book. Mrs. Augustin thinks this helps the students better understand the characters and she really enjoyed having Sergeant Bates come to talk to their
This year Donaldson students are donating canned items for a food drive, sponsored by Mrs. Hensler called Donaldson Delivers. All donated goods go to the West Allegheny Food Pantry. Mrs. Hensler is expecting 80100 bags of food. The donation schedule is as follows: October5th grade, November4th grade, December– 3rd grade, January-2nd grade, February1st grade, and kindergarten will donate in March.
ByTommy St.Claire
Finally, the staff will donate in April and May. Mrs. Hensler said, “I enjoy participating in Donaldson Delivers because it is a nice way to help the community and get the kids interested in helping. The program was very successful last year and the people that work at the facility appreciated that our deliveries were spaced out through the school year.”
CAN YOU FIND TEACHER NAMES IN THIS WORD SEARCH? E K J Z R Q N G X R Z J X Y F G T L N H U M B E R T L J
E M L E R E V R B N S I N S P U Y A U G U S T I N W Z H
Augustin Barr Bauer Boesenberg Bouwers Brookman Buser
L V R W U D S Q N C Z A M O R D S F T Q S G M A R C H C
A E S G O X P S X Y E H A I R T T T G P I C H I P U N N
G N K I Q J D I I X V D C H K E Y K O O F Q E L S S W K
N F Y R K X T W R T I I B D P B H X J U K T T Z G C O V
Campbell Cartisser Claus Curigliano DeChicko DeMario Dierker
I H J A W M I A T E R P U R R R B B I L T C Z F W O L U
T N C H S U B C S R S A Z M E S E V C D A T I I Q T R K
H S O Y E K C A M Z J N C N H L N V I P L T C H K T A O
Floyd Gardocki Groba Haas Hari Hensler Heron
G U Y N S Y O K C M E H U A I H S E A U Y K S I C D H V
I A C E A K J T C N B K F S Q O R N H D E D L E J E S C
N N Q E M R G Y A F R F M U G K I C E R E E B U V V D A
Hoffman Humbert King Koraido Lambert Mackey Mangan
R D D E A Q I F M U E O R D E K S E S H K T O F A U K N
J J E A R Q D I P R F O K R Z A H H H E H R E L B F C G
I X A U A H B K E W J R O O F M U S F K X C E B W E O R
Mahramas March McKissick McKoy Merhaut Nightingale Ordich
SCHOOL NURSES $1385. ―It really helps SPONSOR DENIM DAY with Breast Cancer Re-
K R R O M G O W L Y A N N Y N Z E F Y L I Y N H B R T U
C U I Z N U U R L G E P B Q D A M X A U M P B H R H N O
O J O Q A F W B K T J A K G S A I M J W H I E A O A A D
D H S H G D E P J X R C I P N D B L X H A G R T O U R I
Pichi Prevade Rink Rukas Schultz Scott Sekelik
R U H S N C R F E R I K H I U E B R G D N V G C K T A A
Shaffer Sharlow Smith Spotskey Stone Stout Sunseri
By Audra Cook
School baseball field. called Relay for Life. The teachers participating in the Relay for Life will run, jog, or walk around the field. This will continue for a twenty four hour period of time. While this event is occurring only one of the participants can be on the field at once. Our staff is doing something very important. The 5th grade Student Council will be supporting this effort by selling chance tickets for a dollar each. The money
G D I R M T O W S Y P O L T U Y L B K U R A I D A V L O
W Y D E I T Z I R I N K A Z M S C I N A X U U L N O Q K
F E R U S W K R X B M T U A B J E A C D X K C N C H Z Z
H H O A A C H T I M S G S U P G T R R K A B O R G K U J
C Z N B M B Q S A K U R N C C I E F U T E H F G V H N W
I W F I Y E K S T O P S C B Y K X K E G M R G W N W J S
Taranto Tracy Tracy Turici Vestal Vukovcan Wickersham Wojtaszek
DONALDSON SCHOOL STUDENTS FILL BUCKETS WITH SPARE CHANGE FOR CANCER RESEARCH By Rebecca Miller
STAFF PARTICIPATE IN FUND RAISER FOR CANCER RESEARCH Mrs. Campbell and a group of Donaldson Elementary School staff are participating in a relay team fundraiser to raise money for cancer research. The fundraiser is being held for the first time this year. The relay will continue for an entire year, concluding with the largest of events to be held in May 2014 at the West Allegheny High
A Z C E A M S N Z S L H C B R E J O W I U O E L M T T R
search,‖ says Mrs. Bauer. Thanks to all of the staff and Donaldson Elementary School faculty who helped the participated in the Leukemia Cause. GO DENIM! and Lymphoma Society‘s Pasta for Pennies fundraiser presented by Olive Garden and sponsored by Mrs. Tracy and Dr. Dierker. This fundraiser raises money to help people who have blood cancer like Leukemia and Lymphoma. The fundraiser ran from September 30th through October 11th, and it is the sixth year in which Donaldson School participated. Students and staff brought in spare change and Pictured left to right: Mrs. Claus, put it in the bucket that Mr. Lambert, and Mrs. Hari
By Andrea Russo
On Friday, October 4th, did your teacher wear jeans to school? Well, if so, chances are he or she participated in Lee National Denim Day, which raised money to support Breast Cancer Research. The faculty and staff of the West Allegheny School District were asked to contribute five dollars to be able to wear jeans to school. This fundraiser was sponsored at Donaldson by Mrs. Bauer, school nurse. According to Mrs. Bauer, this year, Donaldson raised $235! The district total was
J U M Q H Q O F B I S L P O Z R A L S O J A S A U M M Q
By Nathan Gunderson
collected from the chance ticket sales will be added to the grand total raised. The lucky winner of the chance ticket sale drawing on October 25th, had the honor of cutting Mrs. Campbell’s hair braid off, which will in turn be donated to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths Program for the creation of wigs for those that are suffering from cancer. The event will be called ‘Cut for a Cause’.
their classroom was given. Donaldson participated with 600 other schools, and has been recognized as one of the top donating schools in the western part of the state. The classroom with the highest total won a pasta party delivered from Olive Garden. This honor went to Mrs. King‘s class with a total of $283.33. Also included this year was ―Music for the Mission‖, where students paid to vote for their favorite song, that was played over the PA system during lunch. Last year, Donaldson contributed a total of $1,756.22 to this needy cause. This year during the first week, $975.97 was raised. Mrs. Shaffer‘s class was in the lead with $118.83, but Mrs. King‘s class had the heaviest bucket which earned extra recess for their classes. At the conclusion of the fundraiser, Donaldson collected a total of $2,412.14 to donate to aid in cancer research. Every penny counted. Thank you Donaldson students and Staff.
3 CHEERS FOR 3 TEACHERS By Gianna Giacomino
DONALDSON SCHOOL CELEBRATES HALLOWEEN
Three teachers at Donaldson School were awarded TOP (Technology Opportunity Proposal) grants, offered by the West Allegheny School District. In order to be eligible to receive this grant, these teachers had to complete a process by writing an essay about using technology in the classroom. The teachers also had to receive a Digital Driver‘s License (DDL) by attending training in the summer. Basically having a DDL means they know how to work the device and can show others how to use it too. Mrs. King and Ms. Nightingale have received Microsoft Surface RTs. A Microsoft Surface RT is a tablet focused on its operating system. Mrs. Bouwers received Ipads for her students. All three teachers are passionate about learning and technology. Their plan is to bring these two together by introducing a new way to learn on these devices. Because of this grant, each and every student would be able to have their own minicomputer. Mrs. King said, ―Kids can get answers right at their finger tips.‖ These devices are fun and functional! Kids at Donaldson are lucky to have these resources- but it wasn‘t easy. Ipads have many different apps and websites that you can explore. The tablet has different functions from the Ipad such as: Microsoft Office, PowerPoint, Excel, Sky Drive and a spot for a flash drive. Congratulations Teachers!
By Ambria Slutiak
On October 31st, Donaldson School celebrated Halloween with parties and a parade. The students brought in special treats like cookies, candy, and even healthy snacks. The parade began at 2:00 p.m. and parents were invited to come to see the costumes and watch the parade. After the parade was over, all students went back to their classrooms to have their class party. Some of the costumes included Princesses, Ninjas, animals and even superheroes. In conclusion, everybody had a ghostly great time!
Pictured from left to right: Ms. Nightingale, Mrs. Bouwers, and Mrs. King