Weekly Roundup
Students and Staff Bid Farewell to Officer Modrak
In This Edition BP NHS Welcomes 62 New Members at Induction Ceremony - PG 3 Biology Students Mix Math With Cereal - PG 4 Students and Staff Bid Farewell to Officer Modrak - PG 5 Attention Student And Parent Drivers - PG 6-7
BP NHS Welcomes 62 New Members at Induction Ceremony By Greydon Tomkowitz On the evening of April 19, the Bethel Park Chapter of the National Honor Society welcomed 62 new members. The induction ceremony was held in the BPHS auditorium. All current NHS members as well as the parents of the new inductees were in attendance, as well as several school officials. The ceremony began with the national anthem and BPHS alma mater, sung by the BPHS Top 21 under the direction of Mr. Todd Kuczawa. Current NHS officers then described the four pillars of the National Honor Society: character, scholarship, leadership, and service. Following the description of these pillars, NHS president Jeff Hoffman introduced the night’s keynote speaker, CMU Professor and NASA Astronaut, Dr. Jay Apt. Finally, the certificates of membership for the new NHS inductees were presented by Dr. Jansante. NHS inductee Evan Welsh said, “NHS represents a reliable group of people that I can use to plan events.” Following the induction ceremony, the new inductees and their families joined current NHS members in the cafeteria for a reception.
“NHS represents a reliable group of people that I can use to plan events.” - Evan Welsh
Biology Students Mix Math With Cereal By Kara Brunner and Bridget Heh During the week of April 10th, students in Mr. Zehnder’s biology class combined their creativity and math skills to make cereal boxes. This was a part of their lesson as a way to learn about volume. They could make the cereal box in any shape they wanted. Junior Ryan Anderson made a cylinder. Students got creative by coloring and even putting games on their boxes. Junior Jenna Kroboth made a color by number on hers. They were given 80 to 100 cubic inches of paper to create and design a cereal box. At the end of the unit, they are going to put cereal in their boxes to see if they did their math right. “It was pretty fun,” said junior Ryan Anderson
Junior Ryan Anderson does the calculations for his cereal box.
Students and Staff Bid Farewell to Officer Modrak By Haley Radcliff In the morning hours of Wednesday, April 12, Dr. J came on the announcements and asked that students and staff quietly make their way to the main gym. It was not a spirit assembly nor a volleyball game– it was a surprise goodbye party for the beloved Officer Modrak. Modrak had earlier announced that he is resigning as the school police officer and will be taking a job at the Bureau of Mines in South Park. He had initially requested to make a quiet departure, but Dr. J, along with other faculty, felt as though he deserved a more comprehensive goodbye. The mass of students on the gym floor held signs and cheered when Officer Modrak entered, and listened while he said a few words about how thankful he was to have been a part of Bethel Park High School. After the crowd dispersed, some students and staff came to say goodbye individually. Officer Modrak acknowledged that it wouldn’t be easy to go when friends began to talk about how much they would miss him when he leaves.
ATTENTION
Student And Parent Drivers!!!!!
Use Proper Pick Up And Drop Off Locations Student drivers: Have you ever been inconveniently stopped or even late to homeroom due to traffic build up on Black Hawk Drive? Our high school staff have noticed this issue and want to make the student drop off policy clear.
Dr. J sent out the following email to parents in the District on Tuesday, April 11: “Good Morning Parents/Guardians of Bethel Park Students: Please be aware that the locations for morning drop off and afternoon pick up are at the Athletic Entrance and at the far end of the building at Purkey Baseball Field. Please do not drop off or pick up your student in front of the building. We are experiencing a large back log as well as a safety issue. I have asked the Bethel Park Police to assist in stopping this unwanted situation. Thank you in advance for your support and assistance in this matter.� To clarify, this means that parents are NOT allowed to drop their kids off at the front of the school near the lobby. Parents are expected to drive to the Athletic Entrance path and students should enter through the gym. Another option is for parents to drive to the Purkey Field drop off loop where students should enter through the courtyard. Both of these entrances were built specifically for student drop off and the community is expected to use them.
This clarification is meant to make getting into the student parking lot and entering school quicker and more efficient. Students, please relay this message to your parents and follow the instructions in the morning going to school and in the afternoon leaving school.
By Kayla Dell
Home Rule Charter Subject to Change in Upcoming Election By Greydon Tomkowitz
In the November general election, Bethel Park voters will cast votes regarding potential changes being proposed for the Bethel Park Home Rule Charter.
The Bethel Park Council agreed at the April 10 meeting to place four additional questions o the November 7 ballot. Changes to the Charter are rare, only six amendments have been made since the Charter creation. The last change to the Home Rule Charter occurred in 2015, when BP residents voted to change the chain of command in the police department. The police chief now rep to the municipal manager instead of council members. The proposed amendments are not expected to cause any controversy, they are mainly procedural changes for the Bethel Park Council. If voters approve these proposed changes, the interval to update the municipality’s comprehensive plan will be increased from 5 to 10 years.
Budget deadlines would also be extended with these proposed changes. Currently, Munici Officials have until July 1 of each year to submit the capital fund budget to the Bethel Park
Council and Sept. 1 to submit the general fund budget. The proposed changes would mov these deadlines to August 30 for the capital budget and September 30 for the general bud
Another proposed change involves the start time for the council organizational meeting. Th
change would move the meeting start time from 8 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on the first Monday in January.
Bethel Park Mayor, Jack Allen, in replying to a Hawk Eye inquiry, stated, “All four changes
are minor and in my opinion, should have no problem being approved in the General Elect in November.�