Volume 4, Issue 20: March 21, 2021 |
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Welcome to The Mt. Lion Roar where you can read about some of the things happening in the Altoona Area School District. With nearly 8,000 students, AASD is the area's top choice for Academics, Arts and Athletics.
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AAHS hosts Leadership Blair County and Leadership Blair County Youth Meeting |
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The AAHS B-Building was designed with spaces that are conducive to collaboration. Most recently this was demonstrated by the Blair County Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Blair County Adult and Youth combined meeting on March 11, 2021.
Adults and students from Blair County schools met for their monthly meeting in one of the large classroom areas. The topics covered in this month's meeting included introductions of business leaders and students, Servant Leadership Reports, Team Building activities, Current Issues, Mental Wellness, Human Trafficking, and Generational Discussions.
The day ended with a tour of AAHS by the Leadership Blair County Adult group.
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School's In, Let's Stay In |
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Mr. Routch’s fourth grade class planned and implemented a special newscast via Zoom for the entire Juniata Gap school this week.
Students created their own segments including sports and the weather while Mr. Routch handled the lead anchor responsibilities. The newscast was used to advertise Juniata Gap's “School's in, Let’s Stay in” program.
"This program was started when we returned hybrid to encourage school attendance, completion of work, and good behavior," said Principal Mrs. Rosas. The students can earn a special green rocket fuel each day to be entered into our special prize drawing at the beginning of April.
Prizes include bikes, Legos, dolls, remote control cars, and gift certificates to local businesses.
Mr. Routch and his students did a fabulous job and the entire building enjoyed the presentation.
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AAHS Students work with Artist in Residence Evgeny Krayushkin |
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(L to R) Ashlinn Battan, Samantha Chestnut, Makenna Taddy, Grace Brown,
Jacinda Erb, and Jake Hicks.
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Twenty-five AAHS students in Mr. Hoovers Survey of Art, AP Art and Sculpture classes participated in a 20 day virtual residency through the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art with artist Evgeny Krayushkin. Mr Krayushkin worked with students developing an art piece that reflected their feelings/experiences of virtual learning. Students used polymer clay to design their art piece. In addition, a tree was designed using recycled wire and painted dark brown. The ornaments that hang from the tree were student designed.
"Art is about the journey and the discovery (whether external or internal) and ultimately, my goal is to teach that concept," said Krayushkin. A mental health therapist by trade, Krayushkin believes that art can heal, inspire, and tell some really great stories.
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National Merit Finalists Honored |
AASD Board President Sharon Bream, Alex Thaler, Elise Abbott and Dr. Charles Prijatelj |
The National Merit Scholarship Program was initiated in 1955. In each annual program, about 50,000 academically talented high school students are honored, but only some 16,000 of them are named as a Semifinalist.
Students who qualify as Semifinalists based on their performance on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying test are the only program participants who have the opportunity to advance to the Finalist level and compete for National Merit Scholarships. Approximately 15,000 Semi-Finalists advance to the Finalist Round. About 7,600 of the outstanding Finalists will be chosen as Merit Scholarship Winners this year.
AASD Board of Directors honored two AAHS students who qualified as a Finalist this year in the program, Elise Abbott and Alex Thaler. Scholarship announcements will be made sometime later this month and we hope both Elise and Alex will be selected as a Merit Scholarship Winner.
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Judith A. Rossi Educator of the Year |
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Each year the Blair County Chamber recognizes the Judith A. Rossi Educator of the Year Award sponsored by the Delgrosso Family of Companies.
The criteria of the award includes:
• Nominees must be directly affiliated with the Blair County educational community.
• Nominees should have made some positive impact on students, schools or educational systems that also benefit the local business community.
• Nominees should be people who are genuinely reluctant to receive acclaim for their efforts/involvements.
This year’s Judith A. Rossi Educator of the Year Award selection was Mrs. Lindsay Bumbarger, 2nd grade teacher at Baker Elementary School..
Lindsay has worked at AAJHS, Learning Express, and Baker Elementary throughout her time at AASD. She is a trailblazer and one who sets high expectations for herself and her students. She is humble, kind, and looks for no recognition. Lindsay cares for her children, school community, and our district as a whole. Congratulations to Lindsay for being selected as this year's Chamber's Judith A. Rossi Educator of the Year.
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Strike a pose: Celebrity photographer Tim Boyles volunteers time to shoot senior portraits
March 19, 2021
To read the full article, click HERE
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Ben Blackie received a Best of SNO for his recent article: Strike a pose: Celebrity photographer Tim Boyles volunteers time to shoot senior portraits.
Best of Snow showcases the best student journalism from the members of the SNO (Student Newspapers Online) network.
Congratulations Ben!
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Fruit Loops Sorting and Graphing |
Sorting, graphing and art, students in Mrs. Hawkins' class at LEX used fruit loops to practice sorting by color, graphing the colors to see how many of each were counted, and and then use the same fruit loops to create rainbow arcs.
What a fun way to practice these skills!
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Pleasant Valley Elementary students in Ms. Mignogna’s third grade Science class where not afraid to get their hands dirty creating their own volcanic eruptions.
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Good Luck to the spring sport athletes and coaches as they begin their competitions. For a complete look at the spring sports schedules click HERE
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ALTOONA AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT IS NOW HIRING!
IMMEDIATE OPENINGS
Adult Ed Instructor
Special Education Aides
PT Security Officers/Greeters
Custodian/Laborer Substitutes
Bus Drivers
Substitute Teachers
Open until position is filled
EOE
For application details, go to:
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