More than 350 attend Lancer Legacy Banquet
May 23, 2018
More than 350 guests attended the 10th Annual Lancer Legacy Banquet last night.
The Distinguished Alumni Award was presented to Bethanee Schlosser (’92) and Steve Halmi (’89).
Schlosser has been part of the dermatology practice at Northwestern University hospital in Chicago and a faculty member at Northwestern University Medical School. She has volunteered with a variety of organizations, including the Community Health Clinic in Chicago. She graduated from Bucknell University with a Bachelor’s in Biology and earned both her Master’s and doctorate degrees from Penn State University in Cell and Molecular Biology.
Halmi is the owner and engineer for Deiss & Halmi Engineering. Halmi graduated from Penn State with a Bachelor’s in Civil and Environmental Engineering and a Master’s from Cornell in Civil and Environmental Engineering. He worked at Richard A. Deiss & Associates before acquiring the business, which became Deiss & Halmi Engineering. He serves on the Curly Halmi Memorial Athletic Scholarship Committee and
The Lancer Legacy Award for Distinguished Service to the General McLane School District was presented to Dixie Corwin, and the Lancer Legacy Award for Distinguished Service to the General McLane Athletics was presented to Sid Manchester.
Corwin served as an elementary teacher for thirty-two years within General McLane School District. She started at Edinboro Elementary School during the 1971 school year and taught in various positions before heading to McKean Elementary to teach Kindergarten in 1989, where she remained until end of the 2002-2003 school year.
Corwin fostered a love of literacy among her students through her Author Story-time, Literacy Parties and a variety of new projects and programs that she implemented throughout the years. She also created and organized the first Writing Center at McKean Elementary School, which created 1000 student-generated books during her first year, and headed a Learning Center project, which provided education workshops for area teachers.
Hired in 1976, Manchester taught Health and Physical Education for 34 years at General McLane School District. He re-started the General McLane Baseball Program in 1978, which had been discontinued in the 1960s. Within three seasons, Manchester coached the team to its first District 10 Championship. During his 18-year tenure as coach, the baseball team won seven Erie County League Championships. In addition to baseball, Manchester also coached boys basketball, girls basketball and girls volleyball.
Following the presentation of the Distinguished Alumni and Lancer Legacy Awards, the Annual Academic Awards Ceremony for students took place. More than 330 high school students were recognized for achieving Honor Roll at least three terms during the 2017-2018 School Year. Students who received an Academic Letter were also recognized.
The General McLane High School Academic Letter Program is designed to award excellence in academic performance by its students. Implemented in the 1990s and proposed by students, students may accumulate points on a yearly basis for Principal’s Honor Roll, Honor Roll, National Honor Society, Academic Challenge Team, School Sponsored Competitions and Non-Athletic Activities. To earn this award, freshmen must accumulate 8.0 points and all other students 10.5 points during the defined year.
General McLane School District is the only district in Erie County that has an Academic Letter Program of this sort.
GM students place in PJAS State Meet
May 22, 2018
Results from the PJAS State Meet are in, and multiple General McLane students took first and second place.
The 84th annual PJAS State Competition took place May 20-22, 2018 at The Penn State University in University Park. The Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) is a statewide organization of junior and senior high school students designed to stimulate and promote interest in science among its members through the development of research projects and investigations.
General McLane High School students Andrew Yonko and Nick Tysiachney took first place and Calder Martin earned a 2nd place award.
James W. Parker Middle School students Holly Shreve, Zachary Rolland and Aiden Seeman each took first place. Jamie Roberts and Chloe Kiser each earned second place. Rolland also earned a perfect score, an excellence award and $75.
Congratulations to our students!
EE hosts ABC’s of Kindergarten
May 22, 2018
Edinboro Elementary School’s Kindergarten class hosted the ABC’s of Kindergarten last week.
Students in Mrs. Pfeiffer’s class sang and signed a variety of songs and performed skits, including “Ready for First Grade.”
McKean’s Reading Rocks
May 21, 2018
McKean Elementary School’s first grade classes just started a new program, ” Reading Rocks”. The students are reading books, painting a rock based on that particular book and then hiding them around the community. McKean’s first grade teachers are hoping to keep students excited about reading by challenging those that find a rock to keep the Reading Rock going by: reading a book, painting a rock and hiding it!
McKean hosts speakers to promote safety
May 21, 2018
McKean Elementary School recently hosted three speakers for our fourth graders to promote safety.
Cor’Rales Dupree, founder of Protect My Brother, spoke to students about overcoming a near-death experience as a result of domestic violence. Dupree is a previous TEDtalk speaker and a current Edinboro University student-athlete, majoring in communications and participating as a member of the wheelchair basketball team. He shared his experience overcoming challenges and tragedy.
Jack Ogden from the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) presented the Safe Kids Erie’s curriculum on gun safety, a program formed between LECOM and the Erie County Department of Health. Since 1991, Safe Kids Erie has worked with local parents and families to raise awareness of injury prevention through educational programs and community initiatives.
General McLane School Resource Office Jose Montes also spoke to the students about gun safety.
The speakers were organized through Lisa Roberts, McKean elementary health and physical education teacher. Safety is one of General McLane’s 10 core values.
Character: Be About It
May 15, 2018
McKean and Edinboro Elementary Schools have brought in a new program to its Health and Physical Education curriculum.
“Character: Be About It” is a prevention-based program taught by trained law enforcement officers to instill important character traits in children grades K-8. By instilling these traits, the goal of the program is to improve the overall school environment and the relationship between the community and law enforcement, while reducing drop out and incarceration rates.
Officer Charlie Bayle, who is a parent in the District, taught the program, which was received through a federal grant.
JWPMS students build bluebird habitats
May 11, 2018
James W. Parker Middle School students built their own bluebird habitats this week!
Fifth grade students in Mrs. Santos’ classroom built a bluebird nesting box, thanks to the Pennsylvania Wildlife Commission who donated the wood and hardware for 184 habitats.
Wildlife conservation officer Mike Stutts (a parent in the district) did a lesson with the students, helped them to build the habitats and then had a video for the students to watch.
This was part of the fifth grade science curriculum.
GMHS Caring Club wins top award
May 10, 2018
This year, the General McLane High School’s Caring Club earned the top prize for promoting the needs of grieving students on Child Grief Awareness Day (CGAD). General McLane was selected among more than 50 schools.
Child Grief Awareness Day was created in 2008 by the Highmark Caring Place to help others become more aware of the needs of grieving children. This event is an annual event that takes place every year on the third Thursday in November.
General McLane’s Caring Club began promoting CGAD during the 2013-2014 school year and has continued ever since. In 2016, the GM Caring Club enlisted the help of several community partners. In 2017, along with the community, General McLane faculty joined by sponsoring students who had experienced the loss of an immediate family member.
This year’s community sponsors included: Brian & Carol Johnson (Remax Realty), Campbell’s Pottery, Carol Blount (31 Independent Consultant), Eberle’s Physical Therapy, Erin’s Hair Garage, Frank’s Chocolates of Edinboro, Gohrs on Demand, Hurry Hill Maple Farm, John Wildwood’s Pizzera, Mary Smrekar (Coldwell Banker), McKean Veterinary Hospital, Nick’s Place, Season Inn & Sunview Golf, Salon B in Edinboro, Seelinger Services, Shadeland Pellet Grills, Sundance Retrievers, Utz Quality Foods and Walker Tree Farm.
Faculty sponsors included: Gary Astorino, Megan Chelton, Jen Fratus, Brenda Hertel, Lon Jenkins, Mollie Mumau, Mike Smrekar, Timothy Snair, Kim Stawicki and Kevin Wible.
“We continue to be thankful for the General McLane School District and the community partners for recognizing the importance of Child Grief Awareness Day,” stated Kristie Nosich, the Program Manager of the Erie Caring Place.
The Caring Place has offered support to many grieving GMHS students by running peer support groups. The Highmark Caring Place runs approximately six peer support groups for students and their families, at no cost, throughout the year. For more information about the Caring Place or how to become a community sponsor, please contact Brenda Hertel at brendahertel@generalmclane.org. The Caring Club is already planning for next year’s Childrens’ Grief Awareness Day which will be celebrated on November 15, 2018.
6th graders utilize makerspace
May 8, 2018
James W. Parker Middle School’s 6th grade STEM students are using the new makerspace, which debuted at the Creative Arts Expo.
The challenge for students is to build a pasta bridge to span a 50 centimeter opening and be strong enough to hold the remotely operated vehicle as it drives across. The makerspace is a collaborative work space that allows the students plenty of space, tools and materials for engineering, making, learning, exploring and sharing.
GMHS Envirothon teams make history
May 7, 2018
Four General McLane teams participated in the local Erie County Envirothon Competition and made history when they swept every category with an award for the first time ever.
Team Shrimpnado, consisting of Tim Fair, Evan Zehr, Andrew Yonko, Glory Linebach and Kendra Trezona, took 1st place overall and had the highest score in the county on both the Aquatics and Wildlife Tests. Team Shrimpnado earned a trip to the PA Envirothon State Competition on May 22nd and May 23rd.
Team Xenocrates, consisting of Alexis Throop, Spencer Conway, Nick Halmi, Hannah Wyman and Debbie Fiscus, took 2nd place overall and had the highest score in the county on the Forestry Test.
Team Your Local Bird Feeders, consisting of Chloe McMullen, Emma Noyer, Nick Tysiachney, Ben Kalmey and Landon Grafton, took 3rd place overall and had the highest score in the county on the Soil Test.
Team Beavers, consisting of Abby Parker, Akayla Lewin, Lizzie Bennett, Olivia Evankovich and Jessie Johnson, took 4th place overall and had the highest score in the county in the Special Topics Category.
There were seven schools and 18 teams who participated in this competition. Envirothon is an annual environmentally themed academic competition for high school aged students organized by the NCF-Envirothon, a program of the National Conservation Foundation. Students compete in field testing using their knowledge in five topic areas – Soils and Land Use, Aquatic Ecology, Forestry, Wildlife, and Environmental Issues. A current environmental issue is chosen each year as the “hot topic” for the focus of this station as well as the oral presentation component.
Team Shrimpnado at a testing station…Kendra Trezona, Glory Linebach, Tim Fair, Andrew Yonko, Evan Zehr
Team Xenocrates at a testing station…Nick Halmi, Spencer Conway, Hannah Wyman, Alexis Throop, and Debbie Fiscus
The Envirothon Crew on the bus afterwards, showing off their awards: pure maple syrup, magnifying lens, and other various awards
