Schools
GV School Board Recognizes Students, Teachers Discuss iPad Pilot Program
At the last school board meeting of the 2010-2011 school year, board members recognized student achievements and learned about an iPad pilot program at GVMS.
With the 2011-2012 Great Valley School District , Great Valley , and , Monday night's Great Valley School Board meeting was fairly low-key.
The board of directors recognized several student achievements, Great Valley Middle School teachers reported on a sixth-grade iPad pilot program, and the board approved several small policy changes.
Student Recognition
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One of the first orders of business was recognizing two teams of K. D. Markley Elementary School students, who tied for first place in the Chester County Envirothon. Recognized were:
- Team A : Ryan Wiersbitzky (5th), Juliette Copeland (5th), Ming Wang (5th), Liam Belleville (5th), Cody Funk (4th), and Roman Silen (5th)
- Team B: Sam Scarfone (5th), Adira Nair (5th), Alex Jouin (4th), Jenna Suchower (5th), Ashley Hancock (4th), and Allison Diefenderfer (4th)
In the competition, students were tested on their knowledge of Pennsylvania wildlife, forestry, aquatic life, environmental issues and outdoor safety. The students began preparation in late December for the event, advisor Gary Jenkins said.
"They gave up a lot of recesses to study," Jenkins said. "… [The study packet] was about an inch thick."
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Also recognized for their achievements were a number of other GVSD students:
- Nithilan (Nick) Maanidhll, 2nd grade at K.D. Markley Elementary School, participated in MastiSpell 2011 - a Junior Spelling Bee competition for students in grade K-4. He earned the 2nd runner up trophy for second grade.
- Five students from GVMS were selected as finalists in the WHYY “Why I Like This Book” initiative sponsored by WHYY and Verizon. Students will participate in a screen test and may be cast on WHYY. They are: Grace Wein, 7th grade; Chris Reynolds, 7th grade; Courtney Payne, 8th grade; Grant Kimmel, 7th grade; and Connal Walsh, 8th grade.
- Danielle Smith, 11th grade, and her team earned Fourth Place in New Jersey Audubon’s World Series of Birding Competition Youth Division C in May.
- Ray Li, 12th grade, was named to the 2010-2011 Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union All Chester County Academic Team.
- Jason Fernades, 12th grade, received the $2500 National Merit Scholarship.
- Junior Dan Dore, and sophomores Laura Beebe, Peter Wang, and Jules DuPont won scholarships through participating in the Future Business Leaders of America Club and placing in the top two in their events at the FBLA State Leadership Academic Conference.
- Juniors Christina Keenan and Teresa DiStefano have been recognized as “Scholars” by the National Hispanic Recognition Program. This is the result of doing well on the PSAT and having a GPA above 3.6.
- Junior Emerson Smith earned 1st place in the Paoli Chiropractic art contest; senior Bruno Forcine earned 2nd place.
Great Valley Middle School iPad Pilot Program
Sixth grade social studies teachers Ben Robinson and Mike Bagnarelli gave a presentation on the ways in which the department's 10 iPads are being used in the classroom to enhance student learning.
"The kids are really enjoying them and using them to learn," Robinson said.
A number of applications, many of which are free, are helpful in teaching history, he continued. In the Ancient Greece unit, students use Google Earth to engage in scavenger hunts to find things like farmland or the Acropolis, and used another app to make a scrapbook about Ancient Greece.
Another app allows Robinson to add in a variety of history-related words and scramble them around. Students then sort and group the words, finding patterns and connections.
I think this is great," board vice president Michael Barratt said. "My kids are in that age range, and anything that has to do with electronics [is interesting to them] … they pick up a paper book they're like 'no way, Dad.'"
The iPad program will continue next school year, potentially opening up the network for students who have iPads and laptops at home.
Policy Approvals
The board also approved Policy #916 - School Volunteers (PDF above, under gallery) and made several minor adjustments to current school policies:
- Policy #008 - Organizational Chart
- Policy #210.1 - Possession/Use of Asthma Inhalers/Epinephrine Auto-Injectors
- Policy #328 - Administrative Compensation Plan
- Policy #718 - Service Animals in Schools
- Policy #904 - Public Attendance at School Events
