CASD Community eNewsletter - March 29, 2016

Go Girls Go! Unique After School Program 

A unique after school program aimed at helping young girls build self-esteem, confidence, and running skills is being offered at Ben Chambers Elementary school for fourth and fifth grade girls.   The program is called Go Girls Go!  

“We’re working with Healthy Communities Partnership (HCP) to bring this program to the girls.  We have 45 girls involved.  We’ve broken the girls into nine groups and each group has two adult mentors.  The response for this program has been unbelievable both from students and adults,” said Tia Mulewich, counselor at Ben Chambers and a mentor for the program.

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Employee Spotlight: Jeff Rosenberry Takes Building and Grounds in New Directions

Jeff Rosenberry, a 32-year district employee and assistant facilities operations supervisor who will retire this August, is credited with taking his department in several new directions during his tenure here. 

“Jeff and I came on board together about nine years ago in our current positions. He has been a great partner and friend in our quest to make Buildings and Grounds better. He has been instrumental in helping to take the department in new directions which include restructuring our maintenance and custodial operations and forming our new grounds crew," said Edward Peters, supervisor of facilities operations. 

Jeff describes himself as a “Chambersburg boy through and through”.  He’s a CASHS graduate and started in the district in 1984 as a custodian.  He worked his way through the ranks as both an assistant night and day supervisor and, eventually filled in for Peters when he was out on health leave.   

“I’ve always just tried to take care of business.  I’m happy with what I’ve been able to do.  I’m happy to know that I’ve had something to do with getting every new school organized and opened.  Now that Marion is going to open, I can finish this and be satisfied,” Jeff said about his pending retirement. 

“What I didn’t know was that I was going out the year of the biggest snow we’ve had since the blizzards of ’93 and ’96.  The storm we had this winter kicked my butt!  We had 30 – 33” of snow to deal with and it was much more than we could handle.  We spread the word and had area farmers come in and help us and we were given the green light to lease the equipment we needed to handle the huge quantities of snow.  We needed all of that help.  I am very proud of how hard our department worked to get the schools ready to reopen,” Jeff recalled. 

“Work with the grounds crew has been rewarding.  It’s not only the snow removal that is challenging, but it is all of the mowing and weed whacking and taking care of all of the outside business around our school buildings that is very time consuming,” shared Jeff. 

Jeff typically starts his day at 6 AM and his first order of business is to make sure that all custodial positions are filled for the day. Sometimes the days and nights can be very long.   “I have had to break a lot of promises through the years to my family because pipes break, there are building break-ins, alarm systems problems, and just things that go wrong unexpectedly in the buildings.”    

Peters, who considers Jeff to be “the best supervisor I’ve ever had”, also credits Jeff with improving the quality/type of equipment and products used in the buildings and grounds cleaning program.   

 “We now use all ‘green’ products which are safer on our staff and students and better for the environment.“  

“Several years ago I decided I wanted to be proactive with our cleaning program and I started to investigate cleaners that were safer for the kids.  Other schools started to get involved in this effort.  We watched costs and looked at safety issues and learned how to disinfect properly, particularly during the winter months and flu season.  Sometimes we have to work overtime to stay on top of this process,”  Jeff explained. 

What will he do when he retires? 

Jeff and his wife, Susie, have four children and two dogs.  Jeff describes Susie as his “best fishing buddy”.  They love to go to Florida and fish.  He says they will look forward to riding their motorcycle and being outdoors; they both love working outside and hiking. 

“I am looking forward to being there for my family.  They’ve been there through the years for me and now, I won’t have any interruptions and I can give back to them!”  he said with a very big smile. 

Happy retirement Jeff!
NJROTC Inspection
NJROTC participated in an  annual area managers inspection recently. This inspection will covered all aspects of the NJROTC (curriculum, instructor adherence to Navy standards, supply, accountability of all gear, community service and support, and participation in school/NJROTC activities) and each cadet was inspected individually. 


PSSA Testing is Right Around the Corner

The Pennsylvania System of School Assessments (PSSA) will be administered statewide throughout the month of April. 

“There are ‘windows’ established for school district administrators to use to give each test.   Within those ‘windows’, administrators may choose the specific days they want the tests to be given,” explained Dr. Crystal Lautenslager,  CASD director of educational programming.

The testing windows are: English Language Arts, April 11 – 15; Mathematics, April 18 – 22; and Science, April 25 – 29. 

“Parents are always encouraged to make sure that their children get a good night’s rest and a healthy breakfast on test taking days,” Lautenslager noted.

It is also important that parents explain to their children that the possession and/or use of a cell phone or other electronic device during the administration of the tests will result in very specific consequences, Lautenslager explained.

A Frequently Asked Questions document from the Pennsylvania Department of Education is available here. 

Recipes for Reading Night at South Hamilton Elementary School 

Students and parents, gathered at South Hamilton on March 10th to create healthy snacks based on book characters.

“The PTA furnished the funds to purchase all the supplies, while the teachers facilitated the stations.  As students and parents rotated to each station, they read and discussed the recipes before gathering the materials needed to create the character.  We wanted parents and children to read and discuss the recipe and encourage them to also think of ways to change it to make it better for their family,” said Intervention Specialist, Mrs. Barbara Buhrman,  

“Many students ate their creation while others took them home. Copies of the recipes were given to each participant.   Mrs. Catherine Dusman was the special guest reader at our reading station. The event confirmed our belief that reading informational text is important and also can be fun,” said Mrs. Buhrman.

Here are some of the recipes and characters that were created:

The Hungry Caterpillar – was made from green grapes on a skewer

The Cat in the Hat – the hat was made from a sliced strawberry and banana on a slice of green apple

The Classroom at the End of the Hall – flavored water

Charlotte’s Web – spider made from a banana and pretzels

Poppy – A mouse from a strawberry
Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program

The Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program provides scholarships to eligible students who wish to attend a participating public or nonpublic school of their choice.

For more information, click here. 

Six Flags Read to Succeed

Students at Scotland and Guilford Hills Elementary Schools participated recently in a free educational reading program sponsored by Six Flags® that provided them with the opportunity to win a free ticket to the park.  

“Students were required to keep a reading log until they logged six hours.  All students who turned in a completed and signed reading log will receive a free Six Flag ticket in May.  The ticket will be good for any one day this summer at Six Flags Baltimore/Washington D.C.,” said Mrs. April Ledebur, librarian at Scotland and Guilford Hills Elementary Schools.   

“The Six Flag Read to Succeed Campaign required students to read from the start of January to February 19th. This year the number of students who turned in reading logs was almost double what it was two years ago when the library last ran the contest,”Mrs. Ledebur explained. 

Scotland Elementary had 70 students read for tickets, while Guilford Hills had 42 students. 
State Music Competition

Three Chambersburg Area Senior High School students have been selected to participate in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association All-State Festival in Hershey, March 31 to April 2.

Hayden Johnson, sophomore, will participate in state band, while juniors Elary Mede and Marisabel Cordova will  participate in state chorus.

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School Board News
All School Board meetings and times are available  here .
Chevy Hockenberry
 Chevy Hockenberry finds joy in the simplest things in life like birds chirping, rain puddles, and even a dreary day.

“Chevy was diagnosed with Hurler’s Syndrome in 2012.  He underwent a stem cell transplant at the age of one and spent six months in Hershey Medical Center,” said his mother, Melissa Hockenberry.  
Hurler’s Syndrome is “a rare disease of metabolism in which a person cannot break down long chains of sugar molecules” due to the lack of a specific enzyme.  Without this enzyme, the sugar molecule chains can build up and cause organ damage.

Chevy attends a primary Life Skills class at Fayetteville Elementary where he has learned to write his name and understand letter sounds.   He also has learned his numbers and colors.

“He’s at a beginning reading level.  Since he’s joined the class, he has come so far.  He has made wonderful progress,” said Sara Fisler, his teacher.   “Chevy enjoys the simplest things in life.  He brightens everyone’s day and loves to make people laugh.” 

In a Life Skills classroom, teaching is quite individualized for each student.  It is about functional academics such as learning to read and to write.  Each child has his or her own Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that is developed to address his/her specific needs. 

As a result of the Hurler’s Syndrome, Chevy has scoliosis and ketosis; he has had his gall bladder removed and he suffers from cloudiness in his eyes and a hearing loss.  He’s had chemotherapy and radiation and will have to undergo a back surgery in the future, according to his mother.

“He loves life.  He has an iPad and he loves to bowl.  He helps me around the house and when dad is home, Chevy is outside with him.  He loves his two sisters, too,” said Mrs. Hockenberry.

“We try to be positive all of the time and that is how Chevy is.  He will sit and watch the birds for hours and he has a great imagination.  He just doesn’t want to see anybody sad,” his mother said.

“I have been in education for 20 years and I can honestly say I had never met a student, or an adult for that matter, that is always happy until I met Chevy! He makes everyone he comes in contact with smile on a daily basis. We are lucky to have him at Fayetteville!” said Andrew Nelson, Fayetteville principal.

Third Grade Biography Project is Cross Curricular

For the past two months the third graders at Scotland Elementary School have worked on a biography PowerPoint project that has taken them to the library, the art room, and their regular classroom. 

“Students started their research work in the library.  Then the lesson expanded to art class where students created a 3D portrait of their famous person.  Eventually, the lesson will expand even further and return to the regular classroom when their third grade teacher, Mrs. Tonya Fox,  will have them create a “Wanted Poster” on their person,” said Mrs. April Ledabur, librarian.   

During their library time, students were assigned to work in small groups and they had to pick a famous person from the library’s biography section of books.   Next, they created a web with five major topics to research.   They were instructed on how to use the book and websites to conduct their note taking.  After two weeks of research, they were able to fill in a five slide PowerPoint outline, which they then used to create their PowerPoint.  After they were finished adding pictures, changing the fonts and backgrounds, they presented their PowerPoints to the class, explained Mrs. Ledabur. 

Halfway through the library project, the third graders were challenged in art class to create 3D portraits of their biography project subject.  They used their knowledge of drawing portraits to create their subject’s face and then used their creativity to design an outfit, hairstyle, and any accessories that would help showcase defining characteristics of their subject.  They collaborated with their team members to come up with these portraits and referenced their research material to make their representation as accurate as possible.  They utilized a wide range of materials to create their mixed media masterpieces! 

Finished PowerPoints can be viewed on Scotland Library Website here.