Volume 3, Issue 17: February 8, 2020
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.
Kind Kids Club
The Kind Kids Club is just one of the new initiatives of the The STEAM Learning Center at Penn Lincoln Elementary School. The goal of the club is to motivate students to be positive, willing to help others, spread kindness throughout the school and extend that kindness into the community. This past month club members posted positive messages around the school as encouragement for students and staff. Club members also paired up to read A Little Spot of Kindness to each classroom followed by a classroom discussion of what it means to be kind. Guest readers loved reading to the younger students and the younger students enjoyed interacting with the older students.
Seeds to Salads
Aquoponics Tower
group photo
It's time to harvest in Mrs. Winterburn's Kindergarten class at Ebner Elementary. Students were excited and proud to talk about the plants they were growing. Plants included bib lettuce, basil, rainbow chard and kale. As part of their study of the life cycle of plants, students first planted seeds in rock-wool pods. Once the seedlings begin to grow they were transferred to the aeroponic Garden Tower. Students will partake in a salad party next week enjoying the fruits of their labor.
Special Delivery
AAHS Student Council officers stopped at the Humane Society this week with a special delivery. Student council officers Anna, Gianna, Hannah and Vydalia delivered over 1000 trash bags that were collected at AAHS recently in a student council led collection. It’s just one of the items the humane society is in need of in looking after the animals under their care!
What Do You Want to Be
When You Grow Up?
The AASD Learning Express Preschool students in Mrs. Hawkins' class learned about community helpers and jobs in our community. Students enjoyed pretending to be doctors and assembled a skeleton together.
Rachel's Closet Now Open
Friends of Rachel (FOR) Club students at both AAJHS and AAHS have been working with teachers, Sharing for the Holidays committee (AAJHS) members, Guidance and Nurses to get the closet ready for students to visit. Any student in need of clothes will have an opportunity to visit the closet. A ribbon cutting and "Grand Opening" is being planned. More information to come!
Sixty-eight students piloted the Digital Version of the ACT at AAHS on Saturday, February 8. The ACT, traditionally a paper-pencil exam, is an entrance exam used by most colleges and universities for the purpose of admission decisions. The exam measures English, Math, Reading, Science and includes an optional Writing section. The test was free to the students piloting the digital version. For more information about the ACT and to get test dates go to: ACT
Mrs. Piper's ninth graders in the research & design engineering class met Olivia, a fictional patient whose stomach cannot handle medicine. Students created an enteric coating designed to keep medicine from dissolving in the stomach while allowing it to dissolve quickly in the small intestine. The research team of Sean and Ryan won the challenge. Their medicine survived 15 minutes in Olivia’s stomach and dissolved in less than 90 seconds when passing to the small intestine. 
Census Day is April 1, 2020. Be sure to count everyone in your household. Families should receive a letter early March providing the opportunity to respond. Funding for programs such as Title I, Special Education, Classroom Technology, After-School Programs, School Breakfast & Lunch Programs and many more are based on the number of people counted in our community. For each person residing in Pennsylvania who is not counted in the Census, Pennsylvania stands to lose over $20,000 in federally allocated funding over the next 10 years when the next census will take place.
Joseph F. Cohen Blanket Award
Adam Port was presented with the 2019 Joseph F. Cohen Blanket Award on Wednesday, February 5.

A big day for Port, as he also announced and signed his Letter-of-Intent to continue his football career as a member of the Lafayette College Leopards football team in Easton, PA.

Student Athletes Announce Post Secondary Selections
Seven AAHS student athletes announced their post secondary selections at a ceremony on Wednesday, February 5. Friends, teammates and family attended to celebrate their successes.

AAJHS and AAHS student athletes interested in participating in spring interscholastic athletics are required to report for physicals. Physical forms can be found on the Athletics Page on the AASD website or picked up in the Athletic Office or AAJHS Main Office.